Morsaille

Hey Meow, sorry I missed the post, we posted simultaneously. Cool. How early is it there?

Swamped with work at 4am? Something just seem so WRONG about that! Sorry... Ooh, the abandoned board is also like the empty school if you ever participated in an after-school activity. You couldn't help but want to run around screaming and waving your arms. Or sitting in the middle of a freakishly empty hallway, and listening to the quiet, while picking your nose or taking off your shoes...

It is 12:38 here. My family is asleep. It IS nice and quiet isn't it? *crickets* We used to do Denny's to come down after a night out. Coffee and maybe a scoop of ice cream and three spoons. Whoa, cool flashback. Thanks for the novelty thread. It has been kind of dry and business-y lately. Enjoy the sunrise out there Funny, Brenda

I do it too! I have given away lots of things (big things) I would otherwise have thrown out! I haven't been quick enough yet to ask for the things listed there though.

The pre-op isn't fun, but it is soon just an unpleasant memory. Fruit has sugar. Just a few strawberries and half a banana will erase any progress you have made in reaching ketosis where you are using your liver's fat stores for energy instead of ingested carbs. FRUIT BAD In my pre-op diet I had to remain under 40 carbs each day. I was allowed Protein bars with 1 or 2 "net" carbs. My doc still called this Liquid Protein. If we had to cheat he suggested dry unseasoned chicken breast or drained tuna. The two things that scared me into following orders were fear of bleeding and fear of all the pain (and expense) of surgery with no band to show for it. If you liver is too big, most docs will close you up and send you home. If they try and place the band, they could damage the liver trying to move it aside and you could bleed internally. Get through it, tough it out, and put it behind you. The headache will suck for the first 2 or 3 days but it goes away with the hunger. If you are like most of us, it may be the last white-knuckle diet you ever have to do. Onward to Bandland(ia)!

That's All Michael Buble did a super remake of it. Hope your wedding is incredible! Brenda

Glad you are home and that you aren't having gas pains. I would think that being banded and having your gallbladder removed would be enough without having gas pains too. Aren't good husbands incredible? Take care and check in lots!

Time2live, Hey there. I am a Kuri girl too. We do have an obscene number of choices down here, but if you have the Pria bars, do you have Pria select? The caramel Peanut Butter are SO tasty and softer than the chemical cardboard tasting shmoo. You only have to count net carbs or impact carbs. Sugar alcohols and Fiber don't count toward the 40/day. Slimfast also has a high Protein with 1 or 2 net carbs. This is usually labeled in a prominent area on the front of the package. I got so sick of sweet, we are discussing the 'headache from hell' on another thread, but it goes away by day three. Congratulations so much on your upcoming surgery!! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions... It is all still pretty fresh in my memory and I took good notes.

I think you should add bandaids, a spanish/english dictionary, and slip-on shoes to the list. The loose cotton dress is a must! I adored mine! The lipbalm is also important, I bought some at the pharmacy because I was dry and cracking. I always pack q-tips because if you don't have them, you will need them. Weird huh? Enjoy your trip and make sure you can roll your luggage. Get someone else to lift it for you!

You should really find the best shoe for your foot. I wore my pair of Asics into the ground. I loved them because they were squishy, lightweight, and much wider in the toe area than Nikes.

Sunshine, the only thing I can offer to help you feel better is to let you know about he headache. It gets better! It really does. I had a nasty perma-migraine for the first 2 or 3 days while I broke my addiction to carbs. After the headache goes, so does the hunger. Then there is the joint pain, it is so much easier than the headache though! You should definitely get a new contact person. The pain you are going through right now will be worth it when you are succeeding! Take care and don't give up.

I go to Dr. Neals office for my aftercare/fills. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about him, but have never met him personally. He is the only doc with fluoroscopy in the area. There are cheaper fills, closer fills, and cheaper, closer fills. I still go to Olympia and love meeting other bandsters in the waiting room. He also has support groups that meet monthly and other activities from what I have heard. I wish I could help with the surgical aspect, but never researched his surgical record.

mcteri, WELCOME!!! Glad you finally joined up! I can really understand where you are coming from. I only have one little girl who is almost three. I want to set a positive healthy example for her so that she will never know the torture of being fat in public school. Lucky for her, Dad is a long, lithe, Danish thing. She takes after him so much already. If you have nay questions about MX, PM (private message) me and I will let you know about my very positive experience.

Me too. Written exclusion that was added while I waited for my sleep study. There is no way around it. It is not technically discrimination since a provider can choose NOT to cover anything they choose. Wheetsin explained it very well once. Your insurance can choose not to cover X-rays, that doesn't mean that they are discriminating against those with bones. I found a great surgeon in MX.

I used an AOL cd in order to find an ISP online. It was OK until the month was nearly over. I called and they put me on hold. I couldn't wait that long so hung up after 45 minutes! When I called back two days later, the call would not connect. Just a nice long beep. I sent a cancellation note/request through the mail and only had a few marketing calls after that. B*****ds

I have been banded five months and have only recently found restriction. I am not losing a lot of weight, but that is a minor concern for me. Fills have been hard for me to take. Even with fill number three I am only at 0.8 cc. My restriction (finally) can be extremely variable and I wonder if it is restriction so much as increased spasm. I have a hard time consuming solids until two or three pm, but can eat most anything and lots of it after five. I am doing well with nutrition and am getting between 700 and 1100 calories per day. Most of those calories happen between five and eight pm. I think about an unfill all morning, mere hours later I am wanting to increase my fill. I am self-pay, I have a local-ish doc, but was wondering if anyone has found a way to relax the little bugger at home. It doesn't feel all that great when it gets going. In searching LBT I found the people with spasms were nearly all freshly post-op. I can handle being rare as long as I can still succeed. Ideas? Thank you all for your help.

Sorry Dasharoo. I am sure you are famished if you are still on the clear liquids, have you called your doc? Is it the size of your swallows? If I sip, I am golden. The first time I take a big swallow and I am hungry... it is an invitation for disaster. Try this... take a small sip of warm shake, then do a short task. Come back and take a few more but keep them small. With any luck this should get the stoma used to the whole idea of eating all slow and friendly-like. It works for me if I wait until the mid-afternoon. Look at me... offering advice on my own "complications" thread... *blushes*

Room temp protein shake starts the internal cha-cha. I drink a small cup of something warm, like tea, then I warm my shake a little in the micro or cut it with a little hot coffee. I can do fluids with little trouble, and I am not hungry until the pouch relaxes either. It is just a pain. Thanks ladies for the quick responses!

I think we may have found the missing link here... If these unloved children had had the education, nutrition, and nurturing that their "wanted" counterparts were raised with then there would be no argument on either issue. Outlaw abortion, but adopt those precious fetuses when they are born. Before you read the inflammatory gunk at the bottom. I am pro-choice only because I do not believe anyone has the knowledge or experience to choose for anyone other than themselves. I would never have one. If one day I have to eat those words due to rape or tragic circumstances I can not imagine from where I sit now, I would be... well no one has the right to eliminate a safe medical means to an end. I wonder if the number of self induced hemorrhages or babies born with mother induced deformities has been reduced because of legal abortion? not serious! for arguments sake only! Or better yet, abort all fetuses if the parents fail to graduate from "parenting 101" It may completely eliminate crime, deviant behavior, mental illness, homelessness, and will significantly reduce unemployment. Why don't we "weed out" the genetically weaker while we are at it? It will mean a major tax cut! not serious! for arguments sake only!

Hey Wheetsin, fun test! I haven't taken it since HS I had my DH take it too, I was going to PM... but... I am an INTJ, my guy is an ISFJ

Slimfast Optima Cappuccino Delight. I have a hard time with solids before 2 or 3pm. I would get an unfill, but by 6pm I am WIDE open and bedtime isn't until 11pm. Whew.

Ask your doc first, definitely. I didn't have any problems with de-fizzified soda until my last fill. I would just give it a really l-o-n-g pour over ice, then stir it with a straw. It was great. Then with my last fill, even that small amount of carbonation made it impossible for me to eat soup and gave me a fifteen minute air-golfball. I quit, right then, cold-turkey, no regrets. I suppose that is what they mean when they say...as tolerated.

All of the terminology is on "stickies", but to save you time and more frustration: PB is a "productive burp" the pouch found something disagreeable or is too full so it rejects either a little or a lot and you uurp it back up. It is a phlegmy, chewed mess but so much better than vomit. Stomach acid usually does not get into the pouch. SLIMING is what happens when you get a "golfball". The body makes mucousy saliva and lots of it to try to lubricate the stomach. If you swallow this "slime" it usually becomes a PB. Best advice with sliming is to spit and put something hot on your sternum.

Economic Left/Right: -7.01 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.69 Looks like I am a Communist too. What a great group of people we have here! Thanks Wheetsin for the fun quiz. I was wondering about this...

I can totally understand wanting a bandless vacation. The really cool thing about the band is... right about the time I don't WANT the band, I have to realize that THAT is exactly when I NEED the band. If you eat when you are hungry, you will be able to eat until you are NOT hungry. The band is made for that. If food is a coping mechanism or if you are all about stuffing or quantity, the band is going to make you stop before you are "satisfied". If you are looking to stuff an emotion you will have to try something else because it will stick in your throat like a fiery golfball. Like has been said so many times on this board, there is a definite learning curve. Some people get it right off, others learn the hard way. It teaches me about myself every day. It is teaching me about the last 20 years of bad behavior, teaching me how to fix it, and teaching me how to be healthy for myself and my family. I love my band!