ElusiveQuality

Jaime, Sorry if it bugged you, but a big difficulty of addictive behaviour is being honest with ourselves. Whether it's food or alcohol and food (in my case) addicts tend to torture themselves and put themselves in unpleasant situations for other peoples pleasures. Everything I said to you applies to me. I've had the surgery, I've had to let family know, I've had to explain why I do and don't do things. You're right, I don't know your in-laws. All I know is you're scared to death of them. I think that's the problem, because you're willing to knock yourself out cooking dinner and then try to hide your surgery by eating a Thanksgiving dinner in front of them. Just curious, why do you want to wait until the results show before telling them? Are you afraid the lapband surgery won't be successful? There's tons of folks here who'll hold your hand and tell you to submit to other people's demands, be timid, be afraid to confront a problem. I'm from the other school. Stand up, be honest and I think a lot of those projected future worries you have will go away. Cal

Why are you accepting this situation? First off, regardless of whether or not you just had surgery I don't understand how someone else forces you to host a party for them. Second, you will have just had surgery and it's unrealistic for you to be working all day in the kitchen regardless if this was WL surgery or otherwise. Third, your relationship with food is going to change drastically and you will not be taking a regular seat at the familial gorging events. I think you stated it best here: Yup, this is crap. I think you're worried too much about someone else's opinion and not your own. They don't know you're fat? You think they won't notice when you drop 70 pounds over the next five months and eat a third of what you do now? It just happened by magic diet dust? Start being honest with yourself and those around you. If they can't handle the truth, it's their problem. If they think there's something odd or strange about what you're doing, screw 'em. You need to be honest with you. If you insist on hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, for goodness sakes have it catered in. You should be able to handle the potatoes and maybe some dark meat loaded with gravy. Good Luck, Cal

I'm confused about a couple of things here. What's wrong with voting for the naked chick and why aren't you naked also? Good Luck.

Sounds to me like you're in a good spot. I don't think there's a reason to change as long as your still losing and able to eat enough of the right foods to give your body the nutrients it needs. If something changes like you stop losing weight or start losing your hair, feeling weak, bleeding gums then I think it's time to see your doctor and have the fill adjusted. Cal

Hunger should not go away but it should come less frequently and be more easily sated. After my first fill, I noticed just a bit of restriction while my pouch adjusted to the fill. After a couple days, I couldn't feel much of anything w.r.t. restriction but I noticed it took less to feel sated. Had my second fill this week and am still adjusting to the new amount. I have some restriction but I expect that to go away once the pouch adjusts to the fill. Cal

The pain in your neck isn't from gas, it's referred pain from the trauma to your stomache. It will go away gradually and figure it to be gone once you're ready to transition to solids. Tylenol is probably the best solution.

Why are you afraid to speak with your mother? Something is missing here.

Yup, that's what it sounds like. Go back to liquids or mushies for a couple days and it should go away.

ISO-Pure peach-mango flavored drink. Tastes just like orange gatorade to me. 40g protein, 90 calories.

The band will help with portions. He just needs to define for himself what a man's man is. Someone that's 4 spins on the scale and can't walk really doesn't fit my definition, but everyone is different. Have him read the forums. It is hard to imagine that such small portions will make you feel full, but it does happen. Honestly, the only way it's going to happen is if he wants to change. He's got to want to change and have faith in the program. He needs to want this for himself.

Support groups exist so you can share your concerns with people who have experienced the same thing as you. You learn about what's going on and thus have fewer fears and are more able to work the program (the band is just a tool). I've also seen that RNY and LB patients don't mix well. The topics at these meetings don't stay on "weight loss" but tend to shift towards the eccentricities of either procedure. RNY folks seem to view banders as less committed than them and I guess you really need to be gung ho about things to have your stomach split in half and a few feet of your small intestine removed. LBT is my support group. I'm here daily poking around and if I have a question or concern I've found it has been asked and addressed at least 10 times already by those that came before me. Does it lack the immediacy of face to face conact, yes. However, LBT does have hundreds of active members and special interest areas that can direct you to the help you're looking for.

You have us there. We have no need to talk about our periods, breast sizes, husbands, IUDs, shoe sizes, implants, mons, orgasms, (or whatever topic currently is on the first page of the powder room). :biggrin: We are delightfully simple creatures and enjoy being such. However, it is entertaining to read about your collective consternation. If I somehow feel compelled to discuss something with Plain, we'll go over to the espn boards and handle our burning issues in the proper context.

What the forum is doing is the same as any other internet site does. When you make a connection, your IP address is logged. The host site creates a cookie (small file that LBT gives to your browser to store on your machine). The host site remembers certain things pertaining to that cookie (user names, IP addresses, etc) so it can do things like monitor use, remember your log in credentials when you return, etc. LBT does this. Yahoo does this. Amazon.com does this. If you don't like it, disable Cookies on your browser. Learn more here: http://windowsxp-privacy.net/?id=198760092

Take a swim.

The only pre-op diet instructions I had was clear liquids the day before the surger and nothing the day of. Pretty quick transitions back to solids too. Allowed to have soft meats the third week after surgery.

Jeter, This is coming from someone who is ADHD (not diagnosed until I was 46 and it helped drive me to alcoholism) and banded. Starting off, your sister has the problems, not you. I have no idea where all of this stems from but she's worrying too much about your life, not her own. You are taking care of your business and trying to make things as good as you can for yourself, your daughter and your mom. Your sister is mad and confused about some part of her life and is trying to blame you. Do you best not to just keep on living your life to your standards and expectations. Your sister's opinions and valuations of you should have absolutely no bearing on what you do. As for ADHD, medications can help in some situations but they don't work by themselves. You need to start working with your daughter on how to cope with ADHD. There are tons of books out there that can help (Hartman has written several that are OK, plus "you mean I'm not lazy, crazy or stupid?" book is good). You are fortunate that your daughter was diagnosed so early in life. There are habits she needs to start developing now to cope that will help her for the rest of her life. I wish my parents knew about this when I was 8 years old. ADHD is a blessing in addition to a curse. There are parts of the ADHD mind that really help with creativity and problem solving. Learn about the ADHD mind and you'll find ways to really improve your daughter's life. Back to your sister. You may want to examine her drinking habits and medication use. From your description, her behaviour is not rational. Good Luck. EQ

Mine took about 4 months. The group I went with intentionlly slow rolls the process to make sure you're ready mentally for the surgery and want to do it, not just a desparate grab at a solution. I didn't need to do any supervised dieting, the process was just that slow. I started off with the informational seminar then set up an appointment with a doctor (2 week wait). Got his approval and then had to do psych, pulmo, diet, etc. All set up by me and nothing had a quick lead time. After that, I had to wait for formal insurance approval (3 wk) then I got to do the ultra-sound, blood work, ekg, etc. Once all that was cleared I got a surgery date a month out. I started out in late March and got banded on July 18. Your experience will likely differ.

Julie, Can you and your parents visit some Al-Anon meetings to learn about enabling alcholics? If he's un-employed, where is he getting the money to buy booze? Your parents are probably living in as much fear as your brother but don't know what to do. In Al-Anon, there are parents that have lived through the same problem and can work with your parents to learn how to better handle the situation. Welcome to Al-Anon and Alateen Please PM if you'd like to chat. Good Luck.

I'm doing fine on liquids and Proteins. The two things that work for me are: 1) Isopure Peach-Mango flavored drink. 20oz of liquid plus 40 grams of Protein. I drink a half of one 2x/day over crushed ice and it tastes just like orange Gatorade. 2) EAS low-carb chocolate protein powder. Blend with 2oz crushed ice, 4oz milk and 2oz half and half and it comes remarkably close to a milkshake.

Unbelievable. I got banded Friday and left the hospital 24 hours after waking. They wanted me to stay the night because of my apnea but I never would have lasted at home. Came home today and I'm totally crapped out. Gas pains are the worst.

FFL writes: For me sobriety came from having something to live for (my wife and son) and total surrender and acceptance of the problem. Went to rehab and learned about the disease. Went to therapy and learned my root causes for drinking (learned about ADD 40 years too late). Joined AA for the fellowship and support. Got a sponsor. Worked the steps to learn about myself and correct my life. I'll be banded just one week short of my one year anniversary or sobriety. What is important is that you do what you need to do. If you need help, don't wait for somebody to get back from vacation. PM if you'd like to talk.<!-- / message -->

Well, since you're already banded I'll happily buy you a coke as long as I get to watch you pound it down.:embaressed_smile: Anyhow, I've been sampling the liquid Proteins for about a week now prior to surgery and the nasty after-taste doesn't affect me anymore. I don't really notice it as much as before. I used to have to fire a shot down and then hit a chaser of black coffee. Now, I just dilute the milkshake drinks a little and can handle the isopure with no problem. I bought a case of the Mango-Peach isopure and plan to be hitting them hard after the surgery. Like Fenton said, 20oz Fluid and 40g Protein. Good combo.

ISO-PURE drinks are good if you find the right flavor. You need to drink one or two to get used to the finish, but after a while it became just like a Gatorade to me.

Updated the list for my surgery on the 18th. 1 wsw27 1 tillydog 1 doedoe1961 1 staylucid 1 mygirlayanna 1 Rdk211 1 kiwifruit_77511 2 minidriver 2 slim2be 2 BethO 2 mrsgriffin2u 2 trudeip 2 Barbiek 2 annabella 2 SanDiegoSusan 2 anita reyna 2 jjenkins2411 3 BigBander 3 scoutmama 3 2GoodDogs 3 kimlam 4 joiful 7 slim1 7 ginnyc 7 AmyWA 7 Redheada 8 blaze 21 8 Louisville Lesa 8 zeama 8 cinda 8 flowers 8 JaJeanne 8 Booklady 8 IntoLess 9 Ailie 9 Sarv 9 MarylandMommy 9 siouxsie Sioux 9 Rivieramaya05 9 lalaredd 9 missrach 9 aliNSanDiego 10 sallen21 10 Goobe 10 2Blite4life 10 melmel 10 Fancy Nancy 10 vannie 11 Applebottom 11 vra123456 11 wstone 11 falloons 11 melallot 13 OvrLvl 14 MaidMarion 14 Chellets 14 pbpunisher 15 Fearless55 15 Flowerpurr 15 lynlynkr 15 pschmolle 15 perfectforme 15 PENTURN 15 mellimel71 15 Melody2006 16 eyespy 16 lisainbohemia 16 lotzasunshine 16 SciTeach 16 lynlynkr 16 michkor 16 jomomma 16 Charlene K 16 nanaislosingit 16 moez02 16 aclubb 17 OCBreeze4U 17 3m’smom 17 tnag86 17 Long2bFree 18 PDXBandster 18 toogoode4u 18 CapitolChick 18 ElusiveQuality 21 clayverde 21 just1more 22 Moocatschade 22 zillyanne 22 TeriVA 22 kimaly 22 lleighton5 22 Choromom 22 annesan 22 thatDEgirl 22 Laniev00 23 BABOOMER 23 shellbell99 24 daniml 24 nyllrap 24 linksmom 24 lisadental 24 Frypan 24 Diva21 25 NewJEM 25 Kiki220 25 Nachtigall 28 ann71 28 splfrd 28 mamanmidwife 29 Cherub 29 Chellets 30 orea15