JulieNYC

What is the difference in a beltline lipectomy and a lower body lift?

Maziemommy, I'm 34 -- just like you, and formerly 350+, just like you! I'm certain you'll be a BIG loser in a year. Woohoo! Yes, I'll certainly share some "honest" pics of the recovery when the time comes. I can't believe I begin the journey a week from today. CRAZY.

Oh, Betty, I'm so relieved. That's just fabulous news.

Oh Kat, that's so scary! I'm so, so thankful that Rick is OK. I know you'll baby him for a few days until he's right as rain. I'm so glad everything turned out ok. What a relief. Give him a big hug for us all -- you too. And teach him how to chew like a bandster. Betty -- I know you won't see this for a few days, but I'm really thinking about you hard today. I feel strongly that Alan is going to be OK, but I am praying hard for you and can't wait to get an update when you have a minute. Eficka, you're just flat out gorgeous. No other word for it. Margi, welcome to the thread! Your surgery is going to be great. I can't wait for April 12th to be behind you. We're all here to answer whatever questions we can for you. You're almost through the hardest part -- the waiting.

Waterlilly, the track sounds like a fabulous idea. Way to go. Tracy, my good friend Angela has a Gazelle and loves it. I've never been on one myself, but she really thinks it's fabulous.

Name..........................Starting…...…..Current….…..Goal…....To Go Juliegeraci.......................238............. .........236.................228..............8 Lapbandit.......................231............... .......220………….199.............21 Waterlily........................300.............. .........281.................264.............17 Roiansmom....................299.................. .....299.................270.............29 Libra..............................248............ ...........241.................228.............13 JulieNYC.......................212................ .......199.................185.............14 Elisabethsew................. 282.......................274..................264 .............10 PeaCeJ..........................338............... ........333..................318.............15 RidinMyHDDream.........297.......................2 90 .................281...............9 Babygirl1234.................260.................. ......251.................240.............11 Leecelove70..................228.................. ......228.................200.............28 Josette...........................351............. ...........351.................335.............16 Well guys, I have been with this thread for a long time. When I joined it, I was newly banded and so, so looking forward to getting to Twoterville where I felt "at home." Today, I'm happy to share the following news with you: Crazy, huh? Wink,

Thanks to you all! I feel relieved. I'm not going to weigh for a week, just to prove a point to my therapist. No more scale obsession for me. I think I'm going to sleep great tonight. I don't know why this had been weighing on me so much, but it had. And now it's done. Never to change first digits on the scale again, unless I become a little old 99 lb lady in my 80s or 90s! Thank you all for your support and patience with me during my crazy days. And, Dawn, thank you for the poem. I'm sure that's what made the difference. Lastly, I ran 3 miles this morning. Fifteen down, 4 to go. I've got to get them in this week since next week is my PS!

I'm running out the door and can't even stop to read the posts, but I wanted to share this with you all before I left. I'll be back this afternoon to check in further. Check it out....Sorry for my pathetically poorly maintained pedicure. I was trying to wait a week so I'd have perfect toes for my surgery before changing the polish.

For me, it's within 5 minutes of eating the offensive piece of food, but I've never had an experience where I couldn't control when it came up. Meaning, I always have time to get to a bathroom, even if I have to wait in line. It's almost muscular at that point -- kind of like how you can hold it even when you really, really have to go to the bathroom. Pre-band, I worried that I would somehow spontaneously PB so quickly that I wouldn't have time to get somewhere private, or would have to run to a sink, etc. For me, it's never been like that.

I kept my promise and ran my 5 miles on the treadmill today, in lieu of my race. Now I'm headed off to the Rangers' game with a girlfriend. With all the hockey I seem to watch these days, you'd think I'd have a boyfriend! The witchy scale still said 202 this morning. Tomorrow, if it's still 202, I'm going to start writing poetry about that number since it clearly has such significance to my body. "Ode to 202, how I hate you" or something of the sort....

Amourette, I'm so thankful you are ok. I know you have a wide net of support to help you through this major anxiety and I hope you go back to work soon. Go on and face that fear sooner rather than later, and I think that will be the best course of action. When I was 9, I was traveling alone when we had mechanical failure and had to land on the belly of the plane with no landing gear. After 9/11, I couldn't force myself to fly at all for several years (which makes no sense because it was the old fear of the crash that came back and not a fear of terrorists) and to this day I can't fly without medication. OK, this probably isn't helping. I know you know this, but flying is statistically so, so safe. Even moreso on the types of big planes you fly, given your international status. It's not a rational thing to fear flying, even when you've had an incident like what I went through or what you went through. Push through the fear and go back to work. I think it'll give you the distance you need from the incident. Again, I'm so glad you're ok.

Wow. A week in bed. OK, I get it. My caretaker is a plastic surgery nurse, so I know I'll be covered there. Keeping me still for an entire week is the challenge. Wow. A WEEK in bed. Crazy!

Chapstick....

I did a double session with my trainer tonight to make up for not racing tomorrow. She kicked me in the rear! It was some serious training. I feel good though. It's been a long time since I did a full body workout in one sitting. Usually we do just upper or just lower.

My race for tomorrow morning is off. The running club hasn't officially cancelled it yet, but my team isn't running irrespective. We've got bad snow and it's supposed to sleet all night and into the morning, well past race time, so running really isn't safe. Do I sound like I'm justifying? Probably. But I'll be justifying from under my covers at 6:30 in the morning instead of in the park! I promise I'll go to the gym and run the same miles, but in dry, warm conditions....

Spydr, Thank you so much for your openness about your surgery. I'm in such a similar spot to you. I'm about the same size (or will be in a couple of weeks when I have my TT and BL) and have a similar body type, so it's really useful to me to see your pics. Thank you again. Question for you about the pain. You're 3 weeks out -- do you work outside the home? If so, are you back at work? I have a desk job and I've taken a month off, but I'm hoping not to need the whole month. With my band, I took a week off and went back on day 2 simply because I was bored. I understand you're in more pain right now than even a couple of weeks ago as the nerves reconnect. How much does the pain get in the way of your functioning? Thanks.

Derick, I'm not moving, per se, but I'm changing jobs in a couple of months, which, when you live in NYC, is kind of the same thing (in that you rarely see the same people on the streets since there are so many, so changing jobs is really changing 95% of your daily contacts). Everyone at my current job knew me at 350. Everyone at the new job will only know me at 175. Kind of cool.

Molly, Ditto to what Dawn said. I started running just a little at about 250 lbs -- like 1 out of every 5 minutes. I did the "couch to runner" program on coolrunning.com, which was the perfect thing. I doubled each step, so it took about 4 months to get to running 3 miles comfortably without stopping. Now, I run 3 miles on "easy" days and 4-5 miles on challenge days. I try not to run more than 3 times a week because I think I'm still asking too much for my poor knees at my weight. If it didn't feel so good cardio wise, I probably wouldn't run at all until I was at goal. Anyway, you'll be walking and then running in no time, particuarly since you're a former runner. Dawn, yes, please come shout at my scales for me. Thanks for that response. It was perfect -- it made me laugh and took away my jealousy completely -- my scales better watch out or Dawn's going to come beat them up! They did flicker on 201 this morning before settling back in on 202. That's usually a good sign for tomorrow. I have promised my therapist that I will be less scale obsessed the second I'm in Onederland. I'm going to keep that promise here too.

I have my hair colored and I get regular manicures now. I never did those things pre-band because I didn't want to sit in a salon (i.e. worry abouth whether the salon chair would be comfortable at my size) and look in the mirror for an hour. Now it's part of who I am. I'm working on being more social as well, but those changes are harder.

This isn't a surprise to me, Betty, given our symbiotic internet family. (Wink). I'm really thinking about you and Alan this week. I can't wait for your post telling us all that he's sailed through surgery and recovering even faster than anticipated. Dawn, be super nice to your knee. You're already ready for your race. Don't push your training from here to 9 days from now. These 9 days are nothing -- the past 3 months are what got you ready. Really protect your knee. Don't run through any pain at this point. If you can't run at all until race day, that's totally fine. You WILL finish the race just with the training you've done. I know you'll probably feel fine by tomorrow, but just please go easy. I so want us all to be longterm runners. So many of my friends are former runners who ran through the pain and now can't run. I don't want that for us. Anyway, congratulations on the scale moving again! I must confess, I'm flat out jealous. I've been expecting Onederland all week and the scale hasn't budged. The good news is that when it does, it'll probably go down 2-3 lbs all at once (knock on wood), but I'm still growling at it every morning as it scowls 202 at me. I really think once it says 199, I'll never care about the scale so much ever again. That's probably short sighted, but it's the way I feel right now. Boo, I ate at Hale & Hearty yesterday -- split pea -- yum! I can't wait to do our Phoebe run together around the Reservoir. When can you come to NY?

Well, the concert was fabulous. It was a teach and listen type thing at Lincoln Center. The first violinist and the conductor gave some instruction about the motifs to listen to in the piece, then the orchestra played it, then they took questions from the audience. An hour and a half for all 3 parts of the evening -- perfect for me. My attention span for classical music isn't much longer than that! So, I didn't make it to the gym last night, but I made it tonight for exactly 40 minutes of elliptical. Tomorrow I meet with my trainer, then Saturday morning I run 4.9 miles in the SNOW with all the other crazies doing this weekend's Central Park race.... Hope yall had a good day.

I'd take the pills, assuming your band doc is OK with you taking pills at this stage of your recovery. Bandster hell is the worst period of being banded -- you feel like you just had major surgery to help with your weight but you're in a holding pattern until it kicks in. I agree 100% with everyone who said this time isn't about weight loss. You shouldn't beat yourself up about anything that happens during this period (I gained about 7 lbs between going on solid foods and getting my first fill). That said, if I had another tool (like a pill) to help me at least not gain for the short term until I got a fill, I'd have done it. No matter what, you're going to do great. Your fill will be here in no time!

WOOHOO! Way to go! That's fabulous news.

Michele, I'm so sorry for your loss and the stress you've been under. I know the exact temptation you feel (i.e. to make it feel better by throwing up). I find that if I get in that cycle, going back to liquids for about 3 days to let things settle down really helps. Then, when I move back to mushies, then solids, my stoma isn't irritated at all and I can tolerate solids perfectly. I really have to give it a full 3 days for things to settle down, but it really works. Good luck to you.

Betty, I'm with you -- moving Alan up is a good thing. The sooner this is behind you and he's on the mend, the better for you both. Let us know if there is anything we can do for either of you. Think -- this time next week, the worst will be behind you. I got my run in today. Probably taking tomorrow off -- going to Lincoln Center for a concert. Not sure what concert -- I'm tagging along with a friend. Nite.