myturn0421

Dr Charles Beall did my husbands surgery 05/2007 and did mine 10/2008. I wouldn't trade him, or his staff! So far my husband has lost between 80-100 lbs, and I've lost 45 lbs. I have to give major props to the Mother Frances Bariatric Deptarment all together. My surgery in general was a great experience. The office kept in touch with me at all times durning my 6 month pre stuff/diet and seemed to get just as excited as I did when I was approved. Surgery went really well, I had a scare the night of surgery - about 9 PM that night I got extremely nauseated and actually vomitted, Chris called the "on call number" and Dr Beall called back in less than 5 minutes. I was OK, just scared. My first 6 months has been great, they keep me on a pretty regualr schedule to come in every 6-8 weeks for evaluation and/or fills if needed. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to PM me!!

Thank you so much for the comments - they all make sense. I am really begining to think I'm not eating enough. I keep track off and on with sparkpeople too and going over the past few weeks I realized I'm not accurate. I'll log a 350 cal Lean Cuisine but I only ate half of it. There are days I stayed in my 1000-1250 cal range, but I probably only ate 2/3 of everything. Thank you so much, sometimes you just need to hear things you already know, but from someone else.:thumbdown:

224 even - I lost 0.4 this week. I know it's my fault, I didn't work out at all except Monday.:thumbdown: All I want right now is to get out of the 220's!! :laugh: I've been here for 3 months now!

Are you in a lot of pain? If you are, then yes, call your surgeons office and request something in liquid form. Most pain meds upset my stomach badly, I have to take them with a full meal - well, that's not possible. If you're not hurting too badly, have someone go get you some liquid Tylenol. That's all I use(d).

Woo Hoo!! That is wonderful! Congrats!! :thumbup:

I joined Curves a few years ago, and it wasn't my favorite. My husband and I just joined at Anytime Fitness and so far, we both love it! :biggrin:

Woo Hoo!!! I lost 2 lbs this week! My new belly dancing class is really helping! :biggrin:

Yeah! I lost 1 lb this week. Always wishing it was more, but it could have been a gain. That puts me at 226.6:willy_nilly:

Happy Friday Everyone! OK, it's not the greatest news, but it's not bad news either. This morning I weigh 227.6 - thats a 0.6 loss. I thought I was doing better than that. I have been stuck in the high 220's for way too long.

The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! This virus will wipe out your private life entirely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system. You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is, sadly, controlling your life. Get help immediately.

Kinda long, but this one is my fav... For those of you who wax, you will understand fully. Those who don't,let this be a lesson to you! :cursing: hair Removal... (I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but .....WHAT A RIOT!) All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on......... My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.' So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it *was* a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip. There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot Water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!* I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter 'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!' There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?' She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT WORKS!! It works!!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I'm going to try hair color... :cursing:

Thankfully, I haven't had that feeling yet, or been stuck. My surgeon told me if I ever feel anything "different", to go an liquids for a few days (3 minimun). That way, if there is any type of blockage, I won't make it worse. If by the time I get back to solids, I still don't feel right, he'll get me in for an appt. Just a suggestion.

Good morning everyone, I'm back. OK, I'm officially 228.2 - that's a total of 37.8 lbs lost. I am so disapointed:frown2:. Oh well, this is today and I have tomorrow to look forward to.

surprisingly, just yesterday! One on the NP's I work with told me to get some plain gelatin and take it like a shot every day. I'll try ANYTHING (almost:tt2:)

OMG! That's all I can say..... LoveIsLovely and Julie.ann - WOW! You guys are what I need to see right now. I was banded 10/13/2008 and lately I have really felt "lost" in my journey. I was looking for somewhere to post to find accountabillity and I have found you guys. I was doing really well at first, and I know i have gotten too comfortable - that's why I gained so much in the first place. I haven't lost anything in the past 2 months, and I am so frustrated. It's a day early, so I will be back tomorrow.....

I LOVE to wear my heels! I'm 5'8 and my hubby is 6'7, so I don't have to worry about being to tall for him. Now that I am losing my weight, I am begining to feel much more comfortable with myself "standing" out.

I want to be a Vet Tech so badly. I worked at a vet for a while and loved it, but you can't live on $8 and hour. Where I live, that's about average, even with schooling.

We really don't see any difference. I'm postop 7 months and he's almost 2 years. At 7 months for my husband, he'd lost more weight than I have, but he's also a lot bigger than I am. Percentage wise, we have about the same fill, but Chris' is tighter - because his actual stomach is larger than mine. Chris went 6 months without a fill. I guess the only real difference is I get adjusted 0.5-1.0 cc's at a time and he gets 0.1-0.25 at a time. Makes no difference in the weight loss. As for making my decision, I went with the one my surgeon felt most comfortable.

I got my Realize band in 10/08. I can only feel my port when I lay down. So far, I've lost 45 lbs and haven't noticed a difference. My husband has the Lapband and has lost 80 lbs so far - same thing, we can't tell a difference. My surgeon says he prefers the realize port because the surface are is a little larger and makes it easier for him to access. Good Luck!

I agree. I've used the benefiber in the past. I also agree about the oil. I use olive oil or extra virgin olive oil for nearly everything. Just remember olive oil doesn't do well with really high heat - it'll burn.

I'm losing my hair - quickly :smile2: I've tried the biotin, Rogaine, vitamins, and nothing has helped. I called and spoke to my dietician yesterday and there are some "newer" studies that link female hair loss with low iron levels, especially your ferritin level. Your normal range in 20-230. So in all, if your ferritin is 25 it's normal but the study suggests women to have a level of at least 70. I've called my PCP and I have an appt to have some lab work done to check my iron. I'll let you know how that goes. When you get a chance, google female hair loss and iron levels, there's a lot out there. Just an idea, Stephanie:blush:

I'd love to go if it's not too expensive. My hubby would go if he knew there would be more guys . We went to the one Coach Cher did in Dallas, it was OK. Chris was one of five guys - three of them being guest speakers:thumbdown:. Coach Chers' really seemed to focus on pre-band, even though there were only 2 people the pre-banded (me being one of them).

I wish I had an answer for you, I think of theses things from time to time seeing as my honey and I haven't had kids yet. I know there is a forum on here strictly about the band and pregnancy - they might have an answer....

A REDNECK LOVE POEM SUSIE LEE DONE FELL IN LOVE, SHE PLANNED TO MARRY JOE. SHE WAS SO HAPPY 'BOUT IT ALL, SHE TOLD HER PAPPY SO. PAPPY TOLD HER, SUSIE GAL, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER. I'D JUST AS SOON YO' MA DON'T KNOW, BUT JOE IS YO' HALF BROTHER. SO SUSIE PUT ASIDE HER JOE AND PLANNED TO MARRY WILL. BUT AFTER TELLING PAPPY THIS, HE SAID, 'THERE'S TROUBLE STILL.' YOU CAN'T MARRY WILL, MY GAL, AND PLEASE DON'T TELL YO' MOTHER. BUT WILL AND JOE, AND SEVERAL MO' I KNOW IS YO' HALF BROTHER. BUT MAMA KNEW AND SAID, MY CHILD, JUST DO WHAT MAKES YO' HAPPY. MARRY WILL OR MARRY JOE; YOU AIN'T NO KIN TO PAPPY. *************************** (Kinda brings a tear to yer eye, don't it?) :smile2:

I don't know where I got this one, but I keep it posted at my desk: "I may not have all my ducks in a row, but at least I have them all in the same pond"