argon

Don't get Metamucil! It 'puffs' up and gets really thick when you add the Water... you don't want things that expand in your stomach. Benefiber is 'non-bulking', so it's the best way to go. lol, you called me Aragon. Isn't that someone from Lord of The Rings? It's Argon (my name on here)... but that's what I get for choosing such a stupid name :Banane56: Glad you're feeling better. Mandi

Hi, sorry, when I said Cloe is my post, I was just meaningthat that portion was meant for Cloe. :Banane56: I'm Mandi. I really would appreciate if you could find out about fills for other patients and if other patients are welcome. That would be great, thank you. That's great that you at least stayed at the same weight! Good to hear that you're back on track. Mandi

haha! There are some pretty funny ones! (and some a little questionable! lol) I did my bf's name too, and his was "Think Once. Think Twice. Think Dan."

Hey CG1955, Very good advice/suggestions. Does Dr. Beausoleil normally not charge for fills on patients that are not his own, or is it because you help out? Are the support meetings for only HIS patients, or any surgeons? (I'm guessing 'any', but since you said you help out with the meetings, maybe you're a special case)? How many people are usually part of the meetings? When do they typically start? (cause if I were allowed to go, I'd have to make sure I had the time to make the drive there) Also, sorry to be nosey... but you said what you've lost was in 10 months.. what has the rest of the time been like? Thank you :Banane56: Cloe: I'm doing great. I feel awesome. I wouldn't even say I was ever in pain... felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach for about a week, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I never even needed my prescription that they gave me. Same with the gas pains... they only lasted for maybe a week, and towards the end of them, they weren't even a bother enough to make me take any Gas-X. Don't wanna compete, but I was in surgery at 11am and was gone by 1pm! I was awake half an hour after surgery, and harassing them to give me some damn Water, I was sooooo thirsty! Everyone there was awesome though, I can't say enough good things. I think your anxiety will soon turn to hatred of Optifast! I had a really hard time with it, but I lost 15 lbs anyways, so it was kind of worth it. lol ! Controlling my nerves: I really wasn't nervous.... more excited than anything. I was really confident in Dr. Cobourn, and once he told me that so far he's had no slips or erosions, I was at ease! (stupid Complications board, for scaring me!) Good luck with your surgery, you're gonna do great! Mandi

Good for you! Did you lose all the weight you wanted to? Are you still in Moncton? I'm curious cause there's a possibility of me moving to Miramichi, and if there was someone in Moncton who could do my fills, that would be fab! Was it Dr. Beausoleil? (think that's the right name) Congrats! Mandi

This is kinda funny. Go to the website, http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi ,type in your name, then hit the "sloganize" button and see what it generates. No cheating, you gotta use the first one it comes up with, no matter how dumb! Mine is : An Army of Mandi

I'm a big fan of Benefiber... it's like Metamucil (that's the area you'd find it in at the store), but tasteless, and non-bulking. I'm sure that would help. Have you been using Gas-X? Maybe you've got some pent up gas too that could be causing the discomfort. And I'm sure having your period also contributes. Try some Gas-X if you're not already (make sure it's chewable), it's worth a try. If you think you're 'tight', it's probably cause you're still a little swollen from surgery. I'm only 3 weeks post-op, and I don't think I'm 'tight'. I believe you'd determine this if you had any difficulty with foods going down, or in your case, fluids (or maybe you've moved on to mushies already?) Anyways, I'd give those things a try! Good luck, and let us know if it gets better! Mandi

haha, good job and attitude

Hey MelAnne, So you're 3 days post-op? You probably haven't 'really' lost 10 pounds... no. My Dr's scale weighs me a few pounds heavier than my scale does, but as long as I use the same scale everytime, I know for myself that at least it's moving. Maybe your Dr's scale is off too, who knows.. just stick to one scale for consistancy. I don't know for you what weight would make you a size 14/16, but you're not gonna get there in a month. Are you in a race? Don't compare your self to your sister. Yeah, RNY-ers lose faster, but they come with their own whole different (and worse) potential problems. You said "Now, I sit banded. And will not loose this weight." You're only 3 days out! Don't weigh yourself everyday either! You're suppposed to think of any weight you lose before your first fill as a bonus anyways. I originally wanted the RNY too. If I had been able to, at that time, and was given the choice of the 2, I probably would have gone for the RNY. But I didn't, cause I didn't want to wait the several years it takes to get it done here. I started researching the Lapband instead, and discovered that 'maybe it wasn't so bad'. I thought I needed the malabsorbtion and restriction... that I needed to 'dump' which some RNY-ers do.. and I wanted to lose fast, fast, fast! But I realized that I DO want to eat sweet things again, without feeling sick after... (the guilt is a different story! ha!) And losing fast, nice as it would be, isn't necessary. I wasn't scared going into it... and I think I would have been, going into the RNY. Just don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sorry you feel like you were forced to get a surgery you didn't want. Good luck, Mandi

Good luck, Yoda!

Gas-X, walking and a heating pad (on the stomach, I believe) !

Thanks everyone who responded... good info. It's not that often that I'll drink to the point of feeling nauseous, but I just wanted to be safe and know, just in case. MeganA - the anti-nausea suppositories - you used it when you were already drunk because you were worried about puking, or the morning after? I wondered about that, because I know that there are people who purposely mix alcohol with Gravol, for a 'high' ... I suppose if you're on your way to just going to bed and will be sleeping through it, it would be ok? Greg - thank you - I'll remember those things. I planned to stay away from carbonated mixes anyways, but maybe now I'll make a point of having citrus-y ones and eat some cheese before I go out! Sleepyjean - I won't be jumping on you! - I don't know if it's a compulsion, especially when it's not something you do everyday (drinking excessively) (in which case, it would be being an alcoholic). I think we all *could* stop after a couple drinks, and do when it's called for, but I guess when you're having fun, and your drinks taste good, things can get away from you, and before you know it, you've had too much. I'm lucky in that drinking too much doesn't always make me feel like hell. It can be fun, and you never know how you're gonna end up feeling the next day, but I suppose if i KNEW for a fact how it would end up everytime I drank, I wouldn't drink that much. So anyways... thanks again everyone. I hope some more people respond as well, cause I'd like to have as much anti-nausea ammunition as possible. Mandi

Ok, so, I know that alcohol can irritate the stomach, and is full of calories, but that aside, I'm sure lots of people still drink with the band. Right? I'm not talking a glass of wine or 2 at dinner... but you know, going out to a party/pub/bar or wherever you do your recreational drinking, and actually getting drunk... purposely. If someone were to do this, to the point of feeling nauseous... is there anything that can be done? What about a bad hangover with the potential for puking? Probably just some Gravol, right? I'm not a huge drinker, and I actually haven't had a drink in months, but I know that it's gonna happen again (and I'm looking forward to it!), so I just want to be prepared so that if I drink too much, and start feeling sick, I know what kind of things might help. Thanks guys, Mandi

Hey Yoda! Hello from SK! My steristrips started coming off pretty quick. I did end up buying some gauze and paper-type tape, and made sure I kept my port incision covered (had several strips on there and lost most of them after about 5 days) for a while longer, cause it was the most tender, and the one I didn't want irritated. Plus, for some reason, I don't know if everyone has this, but I had a stitch hanging out (that I had to have trimmed off after 2 weeks), and I didn't want to snag it! Good luck! I've heard nothing but good things about Dr's Joffee and Yau. Mandi

In the User CP, go to edit signature in that blank space is where you would enter your ticker info. Mine looks kind of like this : [ url=http://www.tickercentral.com] [/url ] but without all the spaces. Hope that helps!

No, OHIP won't cover anything, from what I've heard from everyone else. Sorry :|

According to that, I'm 25, but my real age is 31! I wonder if it's a way to get certain info out of us.. like how if you're on medication, what specific brand it is... and do you go to church... ? Hmmm... Thanks, it was interesting none the less. Mandi

LOL waterlily! That's exactly what I told myself!

What are boardies and swimmers? I likely wouldn't ever be comfortable waltzing around in a bikini, even if I could. Mandi

You know, I would love to look good in bikini. But I know it will never happen.. even if I were a size 2. I've got such hideous stretch marks, that unless theres a way to replace my skin from my bra-band line to my 'underwear' line, you'll never see me in public in a bikini. I'm worried enough that I'll never be able to wear a tank top, which is something *I* long for. I have stretch marks on my shoulders, and on the insides of my upper arms... I haven't worn a swimsuit since I was about 9 years old. How bad is that? Even at that age I was embarassed. I wasn't fat, but I was chubbier than everyone else, and we all knew it. I don't know what it's like to be a size ___ because if I ever was, say a size 10, I was probably 10 years old. I have nothing to reference to tell myself what size I want to be, cause I've never been. I don't think I've ever bought clothes that were anything other than a XL, XXL or XXL unti ran out of those options and had to go to plus size stores and buy 22,24 and 26's. So.. uh... what was the question again? Oh yeah, am I aiming for a bikini bod? No. I'll take whatever I can get, but I'll never wear a bikini.

Tybalt, I was the same too. Optifast for 2 weeks prior to surgery... it wasn't fun. I did get less hungry, to the point where I'd opt to not eat anything rather than have another Optifast , some days. Have you tried anything to make the Optifast taste better? Try adding a single serving package of Crystal light to the shake. Are you making it with ice and Water? That really helps. Some people add cold Chai tea or cold coffee to it too. The crystal light really helped me... it ended up being the only thing I'd drink it with. Good luck! Mandi

I wish my grocery store was like that... the 'ring' around the store goes: produce, bakery, meat, dairy, pop, chips, then pharmacy! Thank you for the suggestions :Banane04: Mandi

Thank you Donna, shoresexy and Kim. I'll say 'no comment' on how they were. lol BUT thank you for the visual on the stitches pulling and bleeding... that really made me think... and it wasn't worth it. I just hope I didn't do any damage... I just imagined as I was eating them and chewing them up that they were virtually pureed... UGG... I hope I didn't screw anything up. I had a applesauce cup tonight, and i'll be sticking to the things I should be eating. It IS hard, and I obviously was never good with diets. But I will go out and get some fat-free Jello pudding cups, and this time stay far away from the baked good section. Thanks guys, I just felt better admitting it to someone, cause I have no one I feel comfortable telling my failures to, 'in real life'. Hopefully this won't be a common type of post for me! :Banane04: Mandi p.s. No, the 20 pounds isn't since banding! I wish. That includes my 2 week pre-op diet... only 5 pounds since.

I have to tell someone what I did, so here it goes. I'm 2 weeks post-op, started 'pureed' today, and ... I ate a whole pack of those mini 'one-bite' cupcakes. That's 12. I ate 6 at first, and an hour later had the other six. I don't know why I didn't just stop and throw 'em out after I has the first batch, because I was feeling bad enough about it after that, but I didn't. I feel sooooo bad and sooooo stupid. So that's it. I'm just so ashamed of myself, and wanted someone to tell me *something* and to smarten up. Thanks. Mandi

Hi! I'm glad it went well for you! Yeah, everyone there was soooooo nice... I'm happy I chose them. Oh man, I can't wait for some broth, I'm gonna have some soon! Talk to you later, Mandi