brandyII

Don't feel bad, I would have no idea when shopping for clothing and get so screwed up when sewing anything with a pattern, I still have to figure out what "selvage" is. I went to an all girl prep school and home ec was not an option!

vegwannabie, I think you mean 80's chick but that's ok! take care brandyII.

Numbrgirl, It's funny how different people are especially when it comes to the band. I am the type of person that when I know I have to diet, which on the band I still have to diet I then become fixated on food. I become fixated because I know I'm only allow a certain amount, a certain type, and basically any rule that goes with the "tool". If you are not fixated on food anymore then this "tool" must be working for you in the correct way or maybe you are the correct person to use this tool. I tend to gain weight when I am fixated on food which happens during times of stress and also during times of diet which in itself can be a time of stress. I'm not attacking you by all means even though I have used bold and italics in my post. I'm basically commenting and relating my situation to you post. I'm kind of coming to terms with my own progress/failure/journey and I think the fact that I've yo yo'd for so long and my metabolism is so bad that I have to take into consideration the fact that I'm not doing myself any good anymore by this "dieting" and self hatred I've been doing since I've been banded.

Well you're lucky, I still need L.B. stores as they've been my refuge for many years. I'm bigger on top than bottom so it's always been hard for me to shop in regular stores. They told me to get a size smaller because of the spandex in them which I did and then the legs and butt weren't too big and the waist still fit, thank God! My daughter is 6 feet tall and it's nice that they have a good selection of tall clothes too. brandyII

So we're not talking bad posture and back fat it's an actual lipoma? I don't know much about those but I do know that with my posture and my back and front top weight I've developed cervical arthritis which causes me pain and I end up going to PT for when I get the time. I'm assuming these are two totally different situations??? brandyII

Watcher, I know I don't think for most people but when I read I don't care what color, pink or poka dots or what religion or sex it sounds more like people just saying what they want you to hear, sometimes. After my daughter took a class on racism in America at her university it makes you question almost everything you say and think! What do you think will happen in the black community if B. Obama is elected? Positives? Negatives? I know it can't erase past slavery and oppression but what things do you think will change. My youngest brother's first born son is black and was adopted at birth, my niece lives with a black man and has a child by him as white people my family is fairly liberal and my eldest brother is a B. Obama delegate for his state. My husband on the other hand is more or less inclined to go the McCain route. I decide after debates on what to do and sometimes vote my conscious and sometimes vote my wallet. I'm just being honest. Just curious of your opinion of what changes may occur for the US black population if Barack Obama is elected president. brandyII, (born in Wash.D.C.)

I finally broke down and went back to Lane Bryant today to buy a pair of zipper jeans as I had gone up in size from my last pairs and refused to buy any hoping I'd lose weight and they'd fit again. Was wearing those pull up spandex jeans that you can buy at Penney's or Walmart. Lane Bryant has totally changed their sizes and styles of jeans since I previously had purchased the smaller ones. Anyway being an apple and always with the big waist and no butt or legs it sucks getting zipper jeans but now I'm a yellow, won't mention the number but it's bigger than a 5 and smaller than a 7 and we're not talking "juniors". Anyway they're more comfortable and always seemed to become too short on me anyway so I'm ok with breaking down and buying the bigger jeans especially since the numbers have chanced so I don't know if I'm a 24 or a 22 or what now. brandyII.:tongue2:

I don't think it's controllable Froggi, I think they're probably just curious as we would be to peak into their room every once in a while although I doubt it's as exciting as it is here!!!! So maybe that's why. Just pretend they're not here, it's the best you can do! Maybe it gives them a little insight to the opposite sex and they use it as a learning tool.:cool2:brandyII.

Man, I hope I wasn't being subliminal or Freudian, maybe I was and just didn't know it!!! It's the new drugs, sorry!:thumbup:

cantweight2go, I got a fill today and I'm at 3 ccs now and I can drink without a problem. I don't know much about issues with blood in the urine and have never had that but I'd call the doctor on that one! Good luck brandyII, still awake on the East Coast....................

I have to admit that's a tough one BJean. brandyII. But I'm sure you have a good response that would make sense because you always do!

Well isn't the point of OA that it's anonymous, and that you don't have any records because they wouldn't be taken. At least that's from what I remember 26 years ago. What hoops!:wink2:

I want a magic wand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I think part of my problem with the band was that I like the poster above do more snacking than sitting down and eating set meals which is what you're supposed to do. Also you have to avoid the slider foods like the fatty/sweet junky type processed foods because they will go through your band. Being overly tight I was more apt to eat those foods but have loosened up a bit and trying to follow the rules a bit better now. Everyone slips up once in a while but if you're pretty consistent with eating the right foods as they say you should do well. I had second thoughts also but once I decided on the lap band I went in thinking positively. Good luck to you, brandyII.:wink2:

Thanks Frangi But on the other hand I was a bit disappointed when it came to the PA making those comments about the fluoro. I kind of wonder what percentage of lapbanders actually get them done. You bring it up and they're like where did you hear this????? If I really want one done I'd go to my primary and ask him to give me a script for one. Right now I'm going to not delve on that and hope that going to "lap band group" will help. She gave me some advice which was nice and said that the next time I have a craving for something sweet to write in my journal, anything, just to get my mind off it and my hands doing something else. So we'll see, I'm an old dog and maybe I can be taught some new tricks!! thanks brandyII. Oh and good luck with your PS, did I read you were getting it?

Readysg, What great pics and congrats on Marcie's degree!!! You need to put a new avatar pic up with your beautiful smile! brandyII.:wink2:

Hi all, Ok, went to see the PA today and was going to request the fluoro, so here's the good and the bad. The bad is "oh we don't do those" and I got a cc put in. Ok, and if this had been the whole appointment I probably would have cried and left more hopeless than usual but I think my guardian angel was sent there today, even if one doesn't believe in them I think you'll understand my meaning. Normally a nurse weighs you prior to getting to see the PA or the surgeon and takes your blood pressure. Well today was a "new" nurse who started actually talking to me about my issues and why I felt like a failure and told me that she's going to help me get on track and she's starting a lap band group beginning on Monday and I am to come and she also gave me other advice and was really nice. She has the bulk of her training with psychological issues and addictions etc... So long story short when I'm at my downest (new word) someone just happened to pop up at the time I really needed it. So anyway hopefully I can get things turned around, at least there is hope again!!!:thumbup:brandyII. Oh and I'm down a pound since the last time I was there so I'll have to fix my ticker someway somehow.

bamab, My mask covers my nose and sits above my mouth and I can't sleep without it either. I flip the hose above my head, it's now more like my "trunk". I put my hair in a ponytail too on top of my head and I sleep on my side. At one time I tried taking a large size hair clip and attaching the hose to my ponytail, but it's really not necessary. I go to CPAPtalk.com when ever I have probs with the machine and that seems to help.

I'm starting to see a pattern of people who like to be over-tight in their bands so that they can only consume very little and are getting their Protein in through their shakes. When I had gained weight I asked them if I could just go on shakes for a while and they told me no, that's not how you work the band. Well obviously what I was doing was also wrong. Now I see that's how a lot of people are working the band. This is coming from someone who has a hard time restricting her intake of sliders but was able to do the liquid phase of the diet prior to banding. It seems that every one works the band differently and I see a lot of extremes. Is there one way that we should work the band. Also what are the health risks of being too tight, is that how erosion happens? It's almost reminds me in a way of doing "speed" in the 70s, whatever kept you from eating you did. I'm too old and too far from that place to do that again but I still want to lose but not sure if the band is what's going to help me, brandyII.

I lost weight on a 5 week preop diet, 25 pounds, liquid Medifast but after my first fill they thought I had the small band, 4cc one and I had the large 10 cc band and so my first two fills totaled less than 1 cc. So like I was taught before to chew chew chew I was doing that but then one day I found out that I had no restriction and didn't have to chew any longer. That's when I met with my surgeon and he withdrew all the saline and found the mistake and then put in 3 ccs and so I was full at 3.5 around Thanksgiving time. So for the first three months it kind of messed with my head thinking I had restriction then boom I had it. Then the holidays came and along that time Cookies and because I finally had restriction I'm pbing all Protein and finding out that Christmas cookies and fudge go through the band. So I put on probably 10 pounds from surgery through the holidays. So probably around January I go to the PA and I've gained 10 lbs so their reaction is to give me a fill. Come back in two weeks see how you're doing. Two weeks later I've gained five pounds, give her another fill she's gaining weight. Mind you I hadn't gone to the forum yet. That fill was a mistake somehow she put in one too many and wrote down the wrong amount and I now had over 5 ccs and that's when I was vomiting for 10 hours straight my own saliva and met with my daughter's surgeon who took out all the saline and looked at my chart and found the mistake and removed the one extra leaving me with 4 ccs. Since then I've gone from 228 to 248 and at my last appointment which was with my surgeon I begged him to take out 2 ccs so that maybe if I didn't have as tight a restriction I wouldn't eat the slider foods and eat healthier and start losing again! He didn't want to but he did and so far I've been adjusting, haven't gained but haven't lost stayed stable. So now I don't know what to do. Tomorrow I meet with the PA, the one who gave me three bad fills and I'm going to ask for a fluoro, and thanks for the warning but it's one of those risks we take that we try not to think about, and I still don't know whether I should get a fill or a partial cc or not. Sorry to lay it on you and you may have read this before but it's just been pretty frustrating. In some ways I wish there was something wrong with the band so they'd remove it and I could get an RNY like my daughter has!! I did want this to work initially but I just may have been the wrong candidate and these other mistakes just made it worse, who knows. But anyway you've done very well on your band so congrats to you and I wish you well and if anything comes of this I'll let you know, thanks brandyII.:thumbup:

So far the only way they've really been able to tell how much was in me was by withdrawing all the saline in the band. There have been some mistakes made by the PA but the surgeon has done it twice. I've had at least 7 or 8 fills/unfills since 8/07 but I'll say something to the PA tomorrow and hopefully they'll agree to it. I still don't know if my failure with the band is all me or partially the fill issue. Thanks brandyII.

That reminds me when the first and only Krispy Kreme opened up here and then the big "Atkins Diet" came back around again from the 70s and then the Krispy Kreme died it's natural death and is no more here. There were lines causing all sorts of traffic jams at the time. I did finally get down there, it was a few years ago and they were good but not worth the hassle and not a choice anymore anyway. The one sweet I can't tolerate! yahoo!!

Thanks guys, I wonder if they even have one in their office, they're kind of an offshoot of the hospital so I kind of doubt it. But my fills have been screwed up 3 times already (2 thinking I had the smaller band and giving me very little) and (1 thinking putting in an extra cc by mistake) so hopefully they won't give me any trouble when it comes to it. I'm starting to lose faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, my port has always been easily accessible so maybe that's partly why no fluoro but I'm going to ask tomorrow, I'm sure it won't be done tomorrow but at least I can have peace of mind like you say. thanks brandyII.

As one who was always fat as a child but lost it all at 20 and gained it all back and lost it again and gained all back I've been on both sides of the fence. Won't mention my present condition but at a family reunion during one of my thin phases I actually had an older cousin come up to me who hadn't seen me in a while tell me as she saw I was thin at that time that my mother had told her on her death bed that she had said that her one wish was that I be thin! Maybe it's just me but I would have rather she said "be happy" or "do well in life" or something that wasn't so superficial. brandyII:frown: