mini_me

THIS JUST IN: All current and new LBT members will henceforth be subject to standardized testing to evaluate their postworthiness. All members or prospective members who fail to achieve a passing score of 75.2 or above will be confined to a special education for lap bandits class. Your cooperation in this matter is mandatory. Grammar Gestapo

pain and redness? these are signs of infection that my doctor would want to see in his office POST HASTE!!!!! U NEED TO CALL UR DOC IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

oh, yaz, i am so glad you are going to give it a try!! i hope this is right for you!!! best of luck!

FIRST OF ALL... let me just say, LMAO @ farting RAINBOWS!!!!! we all learn from each other. good, bad, or indifferent, I wanted to read every single post I could find. My advice to you, if you don't like what you are reading, go to the next thread. I am certain you will find one that interests you!! good luck to you.

your body probably thinks that it is starving to death, so it has shut down your metabolism to preserve the fat reserves!! just hang in there. things will get better! some of us are slow losers. slow is not impossible, it is just slow. dont give up! i lost about 20 lbs immediately after surgery and then hung out at that weight for well over a year, then quite suddenly, i lost 25lbs in just a couple of months. i am not losing weight right now, but i am losing sizes...started in an 18, now an 8. i have been banded two years. good luck to you.

ANOTHER IMPOSTER...BUSTED?

Yipppieeeeeeeeeee!! Congrats!

and DONT FORGET TO MAKE LIKE A TRAIN AND CHOOOOOOOOOOO CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

YAZ!!! omiGOD!! 14 lbs is GR8!!! that is a huge percentage of your excess weight...i mean, if your goal is 130, then you had about 60 lbs or so to lose...14 lbs is almost 25% of your excess weight, if my math is correct!! you are already 1/4 of the way there!! i think you will feel much better now that you can experiment with your old solid foods and find that the band helps you to be satisfied with a HEALTHY amount, instead of the old SUPERSIZED amount that we used to eat!!!! best of luck to you sweetie!

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep chewing. Ulysses S Grant ((ok, so he did not say chewing...))

now that i re-read, the word 'uninspired' seems a little harsh. i think that you are a person that would benefit from discussing this with others, and i think that is why you are here posting. subconsciously, you want to hear every thing we all have to say. i hope you are still sticking around reading.

this is normal...we all feel it in the beginning. it might just be a passing thought that is driven from our minds immediately, or it might be a horrible lingering foreboding feeling that we can't escape. whatever it is, i believe it is normal.

wow...i am so sorry. i wish you luck on this journey. i will say a prayer for you tonite.

you know, i guess i am just a little more optimistic when i read responses. sure, there are a few responses here that read with a bit of a sharp tongue, but overall, i read support and encouragement...i don't think the majority of responders are trying to make her keep the band, nor do i think anyone wants her to get rid of it. we all just want her to think it through and do what is right for herself! Yaz: if getting the band was wrong for you, and you did not foresee that, even gained weight to GET the band, then perhaps your ability to think things through is a little uninspired. the important thing here is that you ARE in the predicament that you are in...and you cannot change that right now. find a way to deal with the hand you have dealt yourself, and consider your option to remove...while keeping our words in mind. i don't think anyone here will judge you in your final decision, however, i cringe at the thought of you possibly making another wrong decision for yourself. the band can be a great ally...don't cheat yourself of that because you miss your favorite foods already. i am 2 years in and i have not had to completely give up any of my favorite foods! those first few weeks are rough. i wish i could bottle up some strenghth to send to you, just to help you get through this part.

and btw-- WOW AT 99.5 LBS LOST!! THAT IS GR8!!

well said, linda.

hmmm... i don't think there was any malicious intent in quoting a statistic that the poster had bouncing around in their head...((regardless of its legitimacy))... what i got from that post: losing weight is really hard, and most of us lose, then gain the weight back, with a little extra. perhaps it is worthwhile to consider this in your decision-making process. and despite the ALL CAPS, i did not read this as though the writer was YELLING. i read no ill-will in the stat post!! i dont think we should be so harsh with a 21 year old who made her 3rd post here only to be bashed for putting in her .02.

Dr. Collier is really growing in popularity around here, but i went with dr. spivak in houston. i live just north of conroe, so it is a bit of a drive for me, but i just love the man...and his staff rocks too!! you could not go wrong with either of these doctors. ((spivak has been around the lapband community longer, and his self pay fee is down to 12k or so))

i definitely had regrets early on...but i was able to stay rational enough to suppress any feelings to take action on my regrets. without a fill, i can eat any and everything that i want. you are stuck right where you are for a few weeks, irregardless of whether you chose to remove or not. the doc is not going to go back in and take this out until you heal and are strong enough to endure another elective surgery. you have to abide by the post surgery rules now, or you risk injuring yourself. you may be able to take the band out later, but you cant reverse the fact that you have doctors orders that must be followed for the time being. since you are stuck where you are right now, just find a way pass the time while you follow doctors orders and let your body heal. once your body is healed, you will see that you will likely be able to eat anything you like. revisit your idea when you are healed. an unfilled band is almost like a non-existent band to me. perhaps it will be the same for you. go on with your life. if you gain more weight, like most people do, and you grow up a little and decide you need a little help with weight loss, then the band will be there for you. i sincerely wish you the best of luck, but you obviously did not think through your decision to get the band. don't make another rash decision to have it removed. especially when you can eat like you always have if you leave the band unfilled. find a way to stop hating your band. you just met it. you don't even know it yet.

i lost from 218-206 before surgery, then 206-198 with no fill, then 198-190 on six fills for about a year and a half...and finally i lost down to 165 with the seventh fill, and i just had my eighth fill (3.5cc/4cc band) and lost another two. it has been two years since my surgery.

thanks jack!!! and kimmi, hang in there. there were several times over the years when i asked myself if i had made a mistake. i truly felt like this was not working for me. i knew that i was eating MUCH less food, but the weight just stayed there. well, i guess if you just keep eating the smaller, healthier portions, your body will eventually be FORCED to respond. i just got my fill on wednesday, and i have dropped a couple more pounds. i get more and more excited each day because i am so close to goal now. each pound seems like so much more of an accomplishment! keep the faith in your band...she will come around.

Ok, so I started this journey in Feb 2006 at 218 lbs. I am currently at 165 lbs and I am just tickled to death!! I started at a size 18, and I am currently in a size 8!! The loss has been slow, but I am getting there…very close to goal!! I met my original goal, and now I have set a new goal. I have included some pics of me at around 190 wearing an orange shirt and tan capris…then I am in the same clothes at 165lbs. I just did it for reference. It was fun to see the difference. Sometimes I forget to give myself credit for my accomplishment. Putting on the old clothes helps me remember just how big I really was compared to my current size! Here is before @ 208, surgery day, then current, in progress--in my size 8s!! Annnnd Before: And this is fun...me at 190 something: And again at 165: A few inches and a silly girl: And finally, I am just happy now...I actually let people take my pic!!

Congrats!!!

i did not tell anyone because i did not want this to define me. i did not want the first question out of everyones mouth to be about the band or weight loss. when you are losing weight, it tends to pop out of everyones mouth first thing...so the weight loss is already going to strongly define you while in progress. in addition, i did not want to face the judgement of those jealous and/or ignorant people who want to judge me, or judge the effectiveness of the band (in the event that my weight loss was slower than most people feel it should be following wls). i am pretty sure that i have lost most of the weight that i am going to lose. it has been a really slow rate of loss for me, but a significant loss nonetheless. but now that the drastic part of the change has passed, i am telling more people. when folks ask how i lost weight, i usually say that i eat small portions, which is true. if they accept that, fine. but when a fluffy friend comments on how impossible it is for them to eat small portions and compliment me on self control, then i feel obliged to tell them that i have help. i think it is unfair to let my friends admire me for practicing self control, when in reality i have absolutely no self control. i dont want them to think less of themselves because i am able to control my portions when they cannot. but my thin friends, they dont really question things the same as someone who struggles with weight issues...so i dont share it. if anyone asks me directly if i have had wls, i dont lie. i tell the people who i share this with that it is not a huge secret, but i would like to be the one to tell people who need to know. i ask them not to volunteer or share the info with anyone else. i ask them to suggest to anyone talking about it, to come ask me.

If anyone knows how to make the photo show in the journal, as opposed to a link showing...please pm me. Thanks. http://lapbandtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4957&d=1149350679