argon

Check it out! I know about the losing sleep thing, LOL! Imagine agonizing over this for 15 years! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=19055

I asked this in the "Lounge", curious what the general consensus was. I said: I'm wondering... if you're going to someone's house, when you walk in the door, is the first thing you do is take off your shoes? Do you take off your shoes in your own home? Does it depend on if you know the person, like it's a friend or family or not? (this probably seems pretty stupid, but for the longest time, when I was younger, I always noticed on TV how people never took off their shoes, and thought it was an 'American thing" LOL ... Then when I finally knew someone who was American, I asked him, and he said NO WAY would he take off his shoes in someone's house that he didn't know. I just thought that was bizarre, and have always wondered if it's a common thing) Anyways, now that I have access to all you wonderful people, I have a good way to find out this thing that has bothered me forEVER! I personally think that is IS a normal thing that we do in Canada, but... hey... I haven't been everywhere, so I'd like to know what you guys do. So, I'm making the same poll, to ask you Canadians specifically!

Hey Cloe, I too haven't been able to find liquid tylenol here. I stocked up on the kids stuff before surgery, but never used it more than once, although it wasn't that bad. What I did do alot was buy tons of Junior strength chewable acetaminophin... I normally would take 2 Extra Strength tylenols, so it takes about 6 to equal that (junior strength is 160mg). They taste good, so I don't mind. Then I ran out of those, and saw 'Tylenol Rapid Release Gelcaps" so I tried them. They're not full of gel or anything, they're like normal 'caplets' but coated with a gel. I just snapped them in half and took them like I normally would. They're smaller than normal tylenol caplets too. That was a few weeks ago. Ran out of them, so I went and tried my reg. caplets, snapped those in half, and haven't have a problem. Anyways, LOL, ,what I'm saying is that you should first try those chewable junior strength tylenol's... then once you get sick of chewing 3 or 5 pills, start taking normal tylenols, and just break 'em up into as many pieces as you can! (Tylenol tastes disgusting, but I throw 'em in my mouth and swall with lots of Water as fast as I can!) Mandi

Woo! Yay Cloe! Sounds almost exactly like my experience! Glad you're doing well! And Jude, good luck, update us as soon as you can! And if your ticker is any indication of what you've lost with Optifast, then that's AWESOME. I only lost 15 pounds, and I started heavier than you, so I should have probably lost more. Whatever you lose now is less that you'll have to lose later on! (and don't weigh every day!)

I'm wondering... if you're going to someone's house, when you walk in the door, is the first thing you do is take off your shoes? Do you take off your shoes in your own home? Does it depend on if you know the person, like it's a friend or family or not? (this probably seems pretty stupid, but for the longest time, when I was younger, I always noticed on TV how people never took off their shoes, and thought it was an 'American thing" LOL ... Then when I finally knew someone who was American, I asked him, and he said NO WAY would he take off his shoes in someone's house that he didn't know. I just thought that was bizarre, and have always wondered if it's a common thing) Anyways, now that I have access to all you wonderful people, I have a good way to find out this thing that has bothered me forEVER! Thanks, Mandi

I had a pre-op diet for 2 weeks before surgery, so no... I just had ALL my last dinners in the weeks before my pre-op diet began!

CLOE! *slaps you on the hand* Now get over to the Canadian 'area' and tell us how it went ! :hug: Mandi

Animation!

Congrats, Giblert! and welcome! I'm sure the time will fly by Mandi

I won't go into details, but last night, I was stuck on an icy roof with Alan Thicke and Flavor Flav. The night before, I dreamed that Jared Leto, complete with blond dreadlocks and a red "Thriller" leather jacket, robbed me and my parents. I love my crazy dreams!

The dieticians name? No, I don't... she just gave me the phone number for her office and told my friend to call and set up an appointment. ? Did you maybe see her too? I bet is was Dr. Descoteaux that was your surgeon. Sound right? I think he was there when Dr. Cobourn was doing my fill, but there were so many people watching, I didn't know who was who! So that's who did my fill... Cobourn. I went and saw him when he was there those 2 days to train. I am thinking I need another fill soon, so I'll probably go see Dr. Mitchell. Do you know how many bands they are doing? I heard that it's kind of in trial stage, and they're only doing something like 25 (total) the whole year.... do you know anything about that? Mandi

Interesting. When I was there, I asked for my friend, what she should do to get in on this... the dietician for the program was there, and told my friend to give her a call to get things going. I know my friend tried calling and left a message to be called back, but I don't know how that turned out. I'll have to find out! Best to get in ASAP, before everyone finds out about it! So your surgeon was Dr. Mitchell? That's so great that they are doing it in Alberta now. :grouphug: Mandi

Hey AMF! Wow... what day did you have your surgery? I was in Calgary for my fill on May 10. Which Dr. did your surgery? Did Dr. Cobourn 'assist' or anything? Do you mind me asking what your BMI is? (or at least how tall you are, and I can figure it out for myself) Cause I heard they were only doing people with very high BMI's... (guess cause it's covered) and I've got a friend who lives in Calgary, and would love to get it done. Glad you're doing well. Mandi

I know what'cha mean. :hug:

Thought I'd add some stuff: - I don't want to be struck with fear when I sit down and hear a creak. Or sit in someone else's chair and have them look at me like "Oh, please don't break my chair!!" - Why are plus-sizes so damn expensive?! There's never anything plus-size and COOL on sale! I want cheap clothes! lol - I want to see whatever my boyfriend apparently sees in me.... and believe it. - I want to be hit on! And not just by drunk old men! - I want to fit into my prom dress, and have it be WAY too big. So big that I have to have it altered to fit me, and look nice. And THEN, I'm going to make my BF rent a tux, come with me and get pictures taken, and then go crash some kid's prom! - I want to look forward to my reunion too. I want people to be BLOWN away... to wonder WHO I am. - I want to get a tattoo(s). I never got one because, mostly I have such a hard time coming up with something I LOVE, but also because I'm embarrassed to have to expose any of the places I'd get one... and I always hoped I'd lose weight (and feared I'd gain more), distorting it. - I would like to not be so scared that someone might see my underwear and laugh. (like freshly washed, in a laundry basket, or worse, not clean, and on the floor... and wonder when we went camping!) - I want to let my boyfriend pick me up... or at least be comfortable enough to let him try. He always tries, but I do the 3 yr old thing, and turn to Jello, sliding through his arms and to the floor so he can't! Better that than have him have some inkling of how heavy I am. - on that note: be on top and not want to cover his eyes, or hook up a respirator so he can breathe. Come on guys, let's get some more!

Good luck Cloe!!! Let us know how it goes!

Aww... that sucks that you missed him! Lucky you didn't drive 9 hours to get there like me! I met him for the first time the day before my surgery too. The fill was ok. I was a demo-model for everyone to stand around and watch Dr. C doing my fills. Went ok though! (although I'm thinking I may need more, soon) He was actually there training 4 Dr's, including Mitchell ! And thank you... I'm hoping to lose more... someday! LOL Mandi

Cool... I'm a fan of my pasty white skin, but I'd give it a try, just to see. Perhaps when I have no rolls or creases that would miss out on the spraying!

First of all, 19lbs in 5 weeks is nothing to say ONLY about! and yeah, I heard spinning can be brutal, good luck with that! Mandi

Yeah, what Tricia said! My 'gas pains' only lasted about a week... haven't felt them since then (about 6 weeks ago). And for my itchiness, I used some tea-tree/vit e oil AROUND the incisions... it helped me. Just wanted to say hi to a fellow Cobourn-er. :eek: Mandi

TellyMelly, I do this too. Not so much now that I'm banded.... but I used to quite a bit. If I have anything in the house that I remotely like, I'll 'get up' in the middle of the night and eat it. Pre-made Rice Krispy Squares, granola bars... NUTELLA! That was the worst. I'd never know I did it until the next morning when there were wrappers by my bed, or a chocolatey spoon. I don't use sleeping pills either. A friend of mine has this really bad... she'll actually wake up and MAKE things, like chocolate puff wheat cake... then wake up in the morning with chocolate smeared all over her face, hands and bed. Luckily I'm pretty clean with what I do! Mandi

I had 5.... sounds like it ranges from 4 to 6 incisions. Good luck also, Susan.

Hey Cloe: I got my fill about 10 days ago. It's going good, I think. I've been out of town, which I say is my excuse for bad food choices, and I think that's why I believe I've gained at least a pound. Back home now, and I think things will get better. I think I must not be chewing as well as I think I am, and often get a 'stuck' feeling. It passes pretty quickly with some deep breathing (read that on here) and a couple minutes or less. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a catheter during surgery. You keep your underwear on when you go into surgery, so I'm sure if they thought they'd catheter you, they'd not let you wear your underwear. You're not allowed to drink Water (or food) after a certain time the night before surgery, so, there was nothing there to catheter out anyways! Nope, no barium swallowing. Just a good ol' bottle of water.... and was it ever nice. I was harassing them before I got knocked out and as soon as I woke up for a sip! It would have been nice to have a barium swallow just to check... but nope. I was neither glued or stapled! The incisions are held closed with Steri-strips. They're supposed to stay on for at least a week. Some of mine fell off after a few days, but the incisions looked ok, so I didn't mind. I just wanted to make sure my big one stayed covered... so when too many steristrips fell off that one (I think I must have had like 7 on there!), I got some non-stick gauze and paper-type tape, and kept it covered a bit longer. It made me feel better having a little more padding inbetween my stomach and whatever I managed to run into and bang it. Yay! 3 days! You must be so excited! Good luck Mandi

Hey guys. I got banded on March 29, and: - I'm sitting at about a 26 lb loss (total). (think I gained about a pound) - I got my first fill about 11 days ago. 1cc. I've been out of town, and eating poorly, so I think that's my problem. I *think* I can eat less than before the fill... I often get a 'stuck' feeling though. Kinda sucks, but it stops me from wanting to continue to eat. I'm always sure I've chewed enough, but I guess I'm not! I'm working on that though. - no one (who doesn't know about my band) has noticed anything. I've barely noticed anything myself. I catch myself 'feelin' up' my neck and collar bone area quite often, and I think I notice a difference there. Some of my jeans are looser.... and tshirts are looking not so tight anymore. I'm wearing a sweater I stopped wearing 6 months ago, because it was toooo tight.. but now it's good! - only issue would be the 'stuck'-ness. Not a huge problem, and I'm training myself! Mandi

Sunshine, I'm not sure who Kathy is... are you sure it was a Kathy? I've talked to Karen (Dr C's wife), but only by email.... then there's Rose and Marie. Those 2 were always super nice. Hmm... I don't know. Carol/Woodys, yeah, I don't know how they determine who's an 'out of towner'. I believe the discount is because some one who lives far away isn't going to be able to come in as often for fills, like someone close could. I know if I was 2 hours from them (and was banded by them) I would be there as often as I needed to... but then it just depends on the person. Doesn't seem all that fair. Even at 2 hours away, it could be as difficult for you to go there as someone who's 8 hours away. I'd give them a call, and tell them that you heard that out of towners get a discount... see what they say. It's worth a try! Let us know what they say! Mandi