Roustabout

I was banded on August 8, 2008, weighing 365. I lost more than 40 pounds the first month, with no fills, eating carefully avoiding sugars and high glycemic carbohydrates, which I've always known are my down fall. I'm full of energy and feel wonderful when I've cut out the bad carbs. Always have. Now it's November 8, just three months hense. I've had two fills and spent considerable time upchucking bits of grape skins, or a piece of meat or whatever. After the second fill, I never know exactly when I'm going to get into real pain. I've eaten fast my entire life. If I eat just two grapes fast, or forget for only 30 seconds when eating, the pain will start and last for as much as an hour as I try to throw it back up. The training is hard, this learning to eat properly. Too frequently I've injested sugar... in cold ceral, or a cookie, or holloween candy or. When that happens I pay by feeling dragged out and worn down. It's self inflicted and stupid and I've fought it forever. Today I weigh 298 so in three months I've lost 67 pounds. :rolleyes2: That's a start. Now to get better at being a responsible chewer. David Martin:thumbup:

I was banded on August 4 and followed a liquid shake diet for the first two weeks. In that two weeks I had one bowel movement. On the 14th day I felt I really needed to go...I was hurting. I was glued shut like a steel trap. I've been constipated before but this was I may have to have an operation constipated.:biggrin::thumbup: The night prior to the surgery, I had to have an enema. They were cheap so I bought several. Having an enema available on a Sunday night saved me. There cheap, so why not have a few around?

I'm one of those assholes of the male gender. I've had the pain that leaves you hollow and you think that life's just not worth the effort. I'm into my third marriage and had six other engagements broken off. I swore off women for ten years after my second divorce. Africa for three years, Alaska for two, then lived on a Korean Tuna boat in the West Pacific for three years. Every woman viewed me as almost. There were several good things about me and they could correct the other faults. I was a fixer upper. My current wife of ten years doesn't think like that. It's blissful. Ma'am it hurts when you care about someone more than they care about you. It tears your guts out. I know that feeling well. Nothing I can say will make it go away. Here's the deal. It will go go away in time. You will recover. You will be able to look back and wonder. Right now the best thing you can do is throw yourself into something to not dwell on it. You have one thing you can throw yourself into, taking care of you and your health. By the time you've arrived at your goal life style and weight, this will be better. Then you'll have to watch out for those males with one thing on their mind...your great smile. Bonne Chance David:biggrin2:

I had the surgery on Monday 4 August. In and out the same day. Two weeks of liquid diet. For the first time in years, I am not interested in sweets or other high glycemic carohydrates. The only time I think about food at all is when I smell my wife's cooking. It's not like hunger, but remembering how great it did taste. I weigh too much for my home scales to measure so the first goal is get back onto 300 pounds scales. I started out at 365. I note my face getting thinner and my legs and ankles aren't retaining lots of Water. I feel good. In two days I see the surgeon and start on the mushy phase for two weeks. I haven't had one problem with the whole thing so far. Soon the 39 bills from different departments who don't follow instructions will start to come in. That will last for the next year. Then the surgery will be officially over.:thumbup:

I'm retired military and live a long way from a military base. Instead of paying $400 plus per year for Tricare Prime then having to have a primary care physian referral for every thing, I pay nothing and have Tricare Standard. With Standard there is no referral requirement. I just make an appointment with the Doctor I want to see and proceed. Tricare's requirements for lapband is published as 100 #s over your weight and one co morbidity. Less requires two co-morbidities. No morbidity requires 200 over. As you in Tricare know, at most they just read and react. I had a nearly two:blink: months snafu because the doctors office didn't send the paperwork forward for nearly three weeks after I saw him and then sent to the wrong place. After lots of time on the phone, I located the correct Tricare office, to find they had never heard of my desires for the surgery. I got a correct fax number and called the doctor's office again. They faxed it on Friday, it was approved the following Tuesday and six days later I had the surgery.

Elayne, Sleep Apnea has several excellent support forums just like this one. This biggest obstacle for me was finding the kind of mask I could tolerate. A full face made me clostrophohic. The small ones with nose prongs are wonderful, but I can't seem to get enough air. The one I settled on was a mask covering just my nose. I'm not a mouth breather. I have about 1,400 hours under the hose, but it's still a chore when I use it. A bad hip forces me to sleep sitting in a recliner. At that angle I don't have apneas (Breathing stops) so it doesn't impact when I don't use the hose. The rewards of sleeping with a CPAP machine are outstanding.

Elayne, I've solved the sleeping with a cpap mask dozens of times only to lose the threat again. When I'm able to sleep 4 or more hours with the mask, I have so much energy the next day, it's like I'm on drugs. Once, I slept 9 hours, 7hours and 8 hours with the hose in three nights and I honestly don't remember ever feeling that good. Now, due to a bad hip, I sleep sitting up in a recliner and don't have apneas, so the mask doesn't help. It was hard to get past in my mind. Imagine having a tool that will make you feel like superman, but not using it.

:biggrin2::cool2: Finished at 230 pm today. Now 11 pm and I'm still waiting for the first unpleaseant:biggrin2:. Of course my fingers tingle and feel like hams, making typing a chore. Like someone said, relax and enjoy.:thumbup:

Moe, I was joking about being in your rear view mirrow. I was more exasperated because I'd wasted nearly three months getting it done. When I turned 50 the AARP sent me a document titled the ten commandments of growing old gracefully. Number one is, "it doesn't matter." Wish I'd taken that to heart when I was 30. Would have saved a lot of heart burn and perhaps wasted relationships. :thumbup:It' 11 Pm. I was finished banded about 230 pm, today. I still have tingly hams for fingers and keep hitting wrong keys. I'm still waiting for the first hurt to hit. I drank a cup of chicken broth for my only meal since yesterday and have drank a lot of Water. Clear liquids only for two days then liquids only for 2 weeks.:cool2:

It's Sunday afternoon, August 3, and the clock is ticking toward a tomorrow morning happening. I'm torn between continuing on the liquid diet or binging on a thick grilled steak like the rest of my family is doing. After losing more than 400 pounds in my life, I've drawn a line in the sand and drink a Protein drink. No more buffets for David. Just wish it was 24 hours later so I could type how great it went and how wonderful I feel. For now I'm scared spitless just like for every elective surgery I've had in the past...shoulder, hip replacement. It's the anticipation and worry about how many other attempts have failed. Most of us can expect that.:teeth_smile:

Busy time. Last Monday it had been 3 months since I started trying to have this happen. I called the doctor's office to find they were still waiting for Tricare (retired military) to send approval. I called Tricare and after being passed around finally talked to the right people to find they had nothing on file requesting lap-band for me. I got their fax number and called the doctor's office. They said they'd faxed it two times before to different numbers. They faxed to the new number. Approved Wednesday morning (two days). Surgery scheduled for five days hense. I could have had this surgery in May and lost a ton of weight already If I'd gotten more involved sooner. :scared2::cursing: The older I get the dumber I grow. Now, I'm behind Moe 128 forever. David

12 years ago, I took a sabattical from my work for a year and rode a bicycle seven days a week, 4-6 hours per day. I weighed in at 260 # s and in that year got up to riding several 100 Kilometer rides in Fort Collins, Colorado. I rode a good mountain bike then for the big tires. Mountain bikes are heavy and take more effort to ride. It was a Diamond Back costing $800. At the same time I bought a 25 year-old Volvo for $600 as my car. Now, I weigh 360. I recently bought a recumbent bike because it takes much of the pressure off my back. So far I haven't figured out how to ride it. It's a different balance. I've been riding my wife's Trek hybrid bike. The tires are smaller than a mountain bike and larger than a road bike and the weight is right in the middle. Whatever you get, pay particular attention to the seat. Those little brittle ones are back/butt wreckers. I'd try for one without the low slung handlebars. That's a real hard position, hard on your back, neck and shoulders. Yes, you need a riding helmet and gloves. I laughed when told that, then wrecked at 35 miles per hour on a railroad crossing. Checked out the helmet, gloves and long trousers on the pavement. Take it slow and steady and you can get into riding. It's fun. David:cool2: