Morsaille

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

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 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.

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!

I had the raised vein post-op. Please call your own doc but I will share what I was told to do. I called the consulting nurse who explained to me that this was normal at the IV site especially when I had been given so much Morphine. Morphine is irritating to the vein. I did have clots there so I chewed baby aspirin to thin the blood a little for a few days making sure to rinse the pouch well after since we aren't supposed to use aspirin with the band. It went away in about a week. The scariest part was that the clot migrated. Maybe your doc has a better option. Call 'em and find out. Make sure to take a Multivitamin like chewable Centrum or Flintstones complete. That might help with the cramping and general body "freak out" About the arriving daughter... She should be able to not only help you lots, but can move boxes too. Sorry to hear about your niece, having family around you will be a good thing.

After my fill I lost 9 pounds in a day and a half. 288 to 279 Then I regained five of those pounds. I have not changed my ticker and hope it is water weight. The barium from the fill really cleaned me out and hopefully dehydrated me a little. I have no idea how I could be gaining when I consume between 600 and 1100 calories per day. I really do not think I am in "starvation mode" but I am really ready for significant, steady loss too!

Kat!!! Too cute! I love the apron set and what is candlewicking? Sounds fun. I taught myself to knit when I was pregnant, it just seemed the right thing to do. Now I have a huge bag of knitting in my room just like my grandmother used to, weird. Purling is no biggie, and worth learning since everything looks so much better when you knit a row, purl a row... Is that the garter stitch? I still can't figure out crochet... Oh well.

BillieBeth, I ended up not going to see Kitty and Robin because my port is too deep. They only have the 2" needles and I need at least a 3", maybe 4" since this is still new for me and my port is located deep on my waistline. If you cannot easily feel your port, you may want to hold off on using them for now. I plan on keeping the contact info they sent through the mail and when I have lost some more weight I will give them shot. For now, I have chosen to see Dr. Neal in Olympia. The fluoro is worth it for me. If I ever get enough time and money to drag my butt to Mexico, I'd see my surgeon, Dr. Kuri. But thankfully... I have restriction now! YAY!

Your kids are definitely worth a brag or three! Cuteness! Here is my little crumpet, eating a waffle.

Does anyone else have one of these? Mine is kind of embarassing and something only a fat girl can relate to. My bra keeps sliding up my back until it is right between my shoulders and my girls are looking... "depressed" This is so distressing for me. In Jr. High I had the same problem in reverse. My back was getting fatter and my bra would slide or roll up because it was just too small. I was just sure everyone noticed, they probably did. I know I should be overjoyed, now. This is happening because my back fat is no longer thick enough to hold the darn thing down. I am shrinking, slowly, but surely. I am going to accentuate the positive (and buy a new bra) while you all tell me your NSV's you would rather just skip.

Mine was placed using the pars flacida technique. According to my docs post-op note: The Gastric Fundus was fixed to the Crura (Diaphragm) with stitches of Ethibond 2-0. I thought this could have been the reason why I had hiccups for a week or so post op. I have read on both techniques and am glad to have had my band placed in this manner. Medical spam sucks and in this little community we have here it seems to be everywhere.

voted 4 days or less: I am in home with my daughter. I would say I struggled for the first two weeks (at least), but was doing my darndest 3 days post-op.

Bitter pill, huh? Sorry the liquid makes you ill, is it just gross? Crush the pill or cut it into pieces. Vicodin is nasty tasting. You could ask for another painkiller...