brandyII

Hi, Just got your post. She'll be 20 in July. I've already stocked up on all the vitamins and stuff she needs for now and she's pretty good when it comes to following directions about certain things so hopefully she'll continue to do this even if she's not living with us in the future. One of the nurses at the hospital kept stressing that the people that "come back" to the hospital are the ones that are dehydrated or not taking their vitamins etc... and she wasn't playing any games. I'm wondering if she had the surgery herself because she was so adamant about it and none of the other nurse even discussed it with her. How old was your daughter when she had the surgery? It's nice to know she's led a normal life since and has had a baby and all. It's a bit scary though the difference in the two surgeries. I mean I was sore but lifting myself up and a lot of the soreness was from the gas. She was on the pain pump for the whole time she was in the hospital and sent home with a liquid pain Rx. Plus they didn't take out the gallbladder and so she's on some preventative for stones and also on meds for acid and just tons of stuff. It's so much more intense than the little lap band! I guess unless you get a real problem with the lap band but still it seems like I went through nothing during my surgery and post-op. Anyway has your daughter seemed to keep most of it off? I know she had a baby and that can add weight. Is she still happy that she had the surgery? Sorry to ask so many questions but I'm a worrier about the whole situation. Anyway when you get a chance, thanks, Nancy.

BJean, It still amazes me how many people are so angry about this topic and how they're afraid their right to spank/hit/tap/slap whatever their children maybe taken away from them. Are we animals? I feel so many people are out of touch. Isn't this the 21st century?:thumbup:

Okay, you know I think spanking in general is wrong but be that as it may, the father spanking the girls in the family seems a little weird to me:confused2:

With all the good shows in repeats now what else can we watch?

Do any of you that have the problem with the sweets, which I did too for the first 9 months it seemed, have other issues that could be contributing to this. Are you over-filled? I found when I had taken my 10cc band from being full at 4 ccs down to 2ccs that I can focus on eating a lot more healthy foods than just settling for the sweets. A variety of foods. I seemed to crave certain foods but because they were difficult to eat I would eat the easy ones. I still feel restriction at 2 ccs but I'm not choking on every piece of Protein now and I feel more satisfied and don't have to rely on the "slider" foods anymore because they go down so easily and taste good. I know it's much harder during certain times of the month but I guess I have to give myself some slack. If I buy sweets I'll buy just enough for a one time deal and not keep a box or a couple boxes around anymore because that's just too tempting for me.

Wow sounds like you went through some bad times! I hope you feel better soon, take care brandyII.:sad:

I think there are people that can't help it. For whatever reason. Maybe they're pmsing and they can't control their sweet tooth, there are 100s of reasons. But you must admit there is a bigger problem than just buying the junk food. The problem is that we know if we eat a bit of Protein it may get stuck, we eat a cookie it will go down. What person who is in a weakened state for whatever reason, wouldn't do that. I did not know all junk food went down the band prior to banding but once I realized that it went down easier than the healthy foods my brain did a 360 and now I'm trying to over come that by letting out a large amount of fill so that I can "fill up" on healthier choices. Before I couldn't because I was too tight and every time I went to the doctor and gained weight they gave me another fill to fix it! We're all very different. If it were that easy for some of us to give up certain trigger foods to begin with we would have lost weight without the band but that didn't happen and so here we are. There are a few of us who are not as disciplined and may need a bit of extra help to get through the hard times! We're human and we make mistakes, we also have lap bands and we want them to help us and be the tool we paid for and expected. It may help a person who likes to eat bowls of Pasta at a time but not the one that likes a couple or too many chocolate chip cookies! For me I did find out that if I was over filled and I was that I would compensate for the lack of healthy foods by eating the non-healthy slider foods that go right threw me and I don't think I'm the only one who has struggled with this problem, brandyII, (still recovering from Guiradelli brownie overload at Christmas):sad:

Thanks Patti, She seems to be doing well, first night but has a pain pump and I'm hoping she'll do well through the night. Left her sleeping around 9 and will go back tomorrow and help her get up and do that walking thing! She has an upper GI also to make sure no leaks, anyway thanks for sharing, there seem to be a couple of us who have the lap band and our daughters have the RNY! Go figure, thanks brandyII. We raised smarter kids?

Well my daughter is 6 feet and was 350+ when she started and lost 35 pounds. But the combo of being six foot and a girl and then overweight was just too much for her to handle even though she's a really great person and probably one of the nicest and smartest people I know. Okay I'm her mother what can I say. But she did well considering. I don't know anyone personally who has gone through this surgery. I knew it would be harder than the lap band but they also have her on more pain meds and treat her differently. She has the pain pump, I never had one, guess I probably didn't need it either. She still has a catheter in, I'm pretty sure mine was remove before recovery. She's been sleeping most of the night and I'm going there first thing in the morning. I was only physically with her from 7 pm to 9 pm but she slept the whole time and I wanted her to get as much as she could and we'll go tomorrow morning first thing and she'll probably start feeling some of the pain then. They'll also have her walking etc... She gets to come home Thursday but tomorrow they give her an upper GI to make sure the staples aren't leaking. Anyway thanks, it's been really scary for me. I'll tell you that it's really difficult dealing with a teen who has a weight problem. They're usually sad and or angry. You want to help them but whatever you say they usually end up taking it as some kind of attack or something. I really had to let her come to me and when she expressed how important this surgery was and since she was still young enough to be covered under our insurance and old enough for the surgery we had to do it. She's been in therapy for a few years, high school was not kind to her and if I had it to do over with I probably should have taken her out and home schooled her because of all the stress and anguish she was going through. To be honest I would have rather let her have the surgery then bury a daughter due to suicide. Wow what great choices but in the end hopefully this will work out, I really had no choice. But I wish you luck with your son, it's really not an easy thing to deal with because kids can be so sensitive at their age and boys as well as girls have body issues now. I don't think there is ever one easy way to deal with it! Take care brandyII.

Although I think that she (mstrina...) may not be posting in the right area because this is for someone who has had their lap band removed or looking to and trust me I'm not the happiest camper in the world when it comes to lap bands but I don't think there's any need to insult anyone on any forum and it's not Rants and Raves, brandyII, (just my little opinion)

Just the sweet spot in general, I don't know if I'll ever have one. I have a feeling that everyone has a different opinion as to what one actually is, or am I thinking too much! I can't help but be a bit too emotional about my daughter's surgery it really does break my heart and I let her do it anyway. I guess I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. I guess in a way I think she might have harmed herself if she didn't. I know that's bad but it's true!

These kinds of discussions remind me of the people who think that people who get WLS are taking the "easy way out". Everyone has their own opinions and some maybe anti drug, some anti band, anti RNY, anti anti. No matter what you do there's going to be someone who can tell you that it's bad for you and give you statistics to back it up. People get the lap band and gain back the weight, it happens. Same with RNY, we all take these risks for the same reason. No one wants to hear that whatever they choose to do can have bad side effects or possibly fail in some way. It's human nature. Do you think if there was a pill that I thought my daughter could have taken to make life better and not be obese and depressed and have panic attacks that I would have let her go through RNY surgery today, hell no! It's extremely upsetting to me that my 19 year old just put her body through that hell and what will I do if the freakn pouch stretches etc. or it doesn't work out. But I had to do it for her own emotional health and physical health and I can only hope and pray that she will be successful. Did I hear correctly on the news today that 6 out of every 10 children in the US are overweight? You'd think there could be less drastic measures out there to solve this problem. I'm probably a bit too sensitive today in my own personal life to post in a normal manner but it does anger me. brandyII:frown::eek::sad:

I was going to jump in the middle and ref but I'll step aside and let you two have a go, I'm too tired! brandyII

BJean, My daughter went to university in Germany last year, and she said the kids were really well behaved over there! Coincidence, maybe, maybe not....:sad:

That sweet spot thing has now confused me even more. I actually was a bit stressed and broke down today and bought ice cream on the way home from the hospital after my daughter's surgery, which so far so good with the RNY! But today is only her first day actually she had surgery at 12:30 and didn't make it up to her room until 7:00. Anyway typical me stress, and tired I went for the ice cream and one portion filled me up. Is it a miracle, I don't know? But it is a first! And no smart arses, one portion was not a gallon:sneaky: brandyII.

Thanks Lizzy, I appreciate it. Of course I'm still worried but I'm trying to think positive thoughts. I should go to bed now so I can be awake tomorrow. Thanks again, Nancy.

Okay, Once I moved up to NY no more Dolly Madison Zingers, now Walmart sells Zingers, but I haven't bought them yet!!!!!!!!

Lizzyh, Sounds like you're starting to feel better. I think we go through down times anyway. My husband is a nail biter, mine just break on their own, it sucks! But I hate acrylics, can't type! Anyway good luck to you. We all have stuff that can screw us up a bit but we can deal with it and probably have been for a few years. I went away to school and low and behold there was a pharmacist in the dorm room next to mine and made it easy to lose weight then! I don't think I could put my body through some of the stuff I did at that time of my life now and so it's much harder to lose weight but health is my main focus and getting into my jeans doesn't hurt either. Take care brandyII.

For $30,000+ I want pretty and successful! lol.jk

Thanks so much PattyU, I think the same thing but then again who knows, I probably would have found a way then too. I'm sure I'd be the person who didn't get dumping syndrome! Anyway it's a totally different focus when it's your child and she's just starting out her own life, 19, for c's sakes! Her weight has really affected her in a terrible way and it's the only thing we could do for her and so far she's lost 37 lbs since her preop diet and she even looks like a whole new girl. And smiles! She's suffered with depression also and it's not a good combo. Anyway I only want the world for her as I'm sure you do for your daughter, thanks for the well wishes her surgery is noon tomorrow so I probably won't sleep tonight. Thanks again, brandyII.

thanks mstrina27, brandyII

linesj, When I'm at my weakest point and have brought junk in the house, and mine's not chips, they can be in the pantry for weeks, it's sweets I have done a major house dumping and it's awful but sometimes it's the only way not to eat them. Does anyone remember a Seinfeld episode where George was caught getting a chocolate eclair out of the trash and eating it by his girlfriend's parents. Haven't done that yet, well maybe if was in a box, I might. But keeping it out of the house is the hard part, I don't know if I'd ever be at a point where a chocolate cake could sit on the counter and I not ever touch it, just being honest, brandyII.

I've been up to 5 in a 10 cc band and now down to 2ccs and while it's not the "sweet spot" or the "g spot", I'm not pbing and I can eat a "healthy" amount of food. I'm trying to avoid the "sweets" as they are my downfall and am losing probably too slowly for even a snail to see but I think things are definitely changing for the better. If I'm too tight I want to fight it now because it's just the way my make up is. I'm also on antidepressants and other meds that may not help me with weight loss but would much rather be on my meds than off of them and a crazy a** "B":w00t: It's true, I really haven't had the right amount noted unless a surgeon has done it, that's not a good thing is it? All of my band fill screw-ups were done by "fill techs or fill nurses" and it wasn't until the surgeon got out all the saline out that I ever knew the exact amount and the problems then resolved. So what I've learned is 1. get your surgeon to do your fills, 2. if you can eat a couple pieces of pizza you're probably not filled enough, 3. if you can't swallow your own spit, you're over-filled, if you can eat ice cream and Cookies, cakes and brownies you're not going to lose weight:blushing:

Even though I respect your wisdom MacMadame, I do think it is a bit more drastic to go through the procedure of having WLS even if it's done laproscopically usually as in the lap band . The only medication that my doctors were concerned about was that I had previously taken phenfen (sp) and did an echocardiogram to check the condition of my heart. I had success on Meridia and feel that someone may need an extra tool to jump start her success again on the band. The band is a tool and has been found to reverse it's success on some people and once you start putting back the weight what toll does that take on one's heart?

Don't be scared some people get cranky when they're losing weight, but I'd stay away from this section for a while, it can get kind of freaky!!!!!