barbara465

If you are looking for bedside manner, don't chose Spiegel. Spiegel is matter of fact, a surgeon first, and full of himself. For me, I wanted him because he is competent and has an ego. That's what you are looking for in a surgeon. Lapband surgery is a little different in that there is a great deal of aftercare. That's where I feel Spiegel doesn't cut it. His office is disorganized, not useful giving out information, blunt and brash. The surgicenter, where surgery and fills are conducted, is absolutely great. The staff is helpful, kind, courteous, and will work with you on any issues you may have. If it wasn't for them I would be very disappointed in Spiegel. They handle my aftercare, and for that, I am very happy and satisified. I have heard Spivak takes a more personal interest. He appears to be a good surgeon as well. The choice is yours. From a surgical standpoint, I don't think you can wrong with either one of them. It all depends on how much "hand holding" you require. Cattle call refers to the way the crowd is herded into the seminar, herded into the consult with the doctor, the brevity of your time with him (avg. 2 minutes), and the in-personal way you are treated. That is how Spiegel's is handled. I understand Spivak is different. I am totally satisifed with my surgery with Spiegel. I didn't expect aftercare, so I'm not disappointed.

Leila, sorry to hear the news, but so thankful they are not cancer. The bright side is there should be a couple of lbs of weight loss. :girl_hug: Let us know how you are doing. Go to www.photobucket.com to store pictures, etc. There is a place you can change your picture to an aviator, but make a copy. You can't resize it back to original size once you reduced it. It seems to work pretty well. Glad to hear from a few of you we haven't heard from in a while. We are always here for support so check out our awesome Junebie thread from time to time. I'm not losing at the moment. I've gone to more solid Protein so its taking a while. I'm not too concerned. Just learning to manage the new style of eating.

Some people are tighter at different times of the day. For instance, some are tight in the morning. If so, drink a protein drink for your meal. At least you will be getting in nourishment. My doctor actually recommends that. I am not tight at any time so it isn't a issue. Others try a warm liquid before they eat. It seems to expand the stomach and allow food to go down easier. You might have to eat small meals more often. I know they say 3 meals, but if 6 small meals work better for you go for it. Just don't get a fill until its under control.

Carol - sliming and froathing are the same as PB almost. You don't always get "stuff" up with a PB, but sliming means you are stuck and too tight. I would not get a fill until you have this under control. You are eating too much at one time if you ate 2c of Cereal. Portion the food out and stop. If you are really, really hungry 30-45 min later than have something else. You need to get on hard Proteins and then you can tell if you have adequate resriction. I understand the scared part because so am I. Don't eat anything you are not supposed to eat and then if you slime you are eating too fast, too big of bites, or your fill is too much. Randi - sorry about the teeth. Good luck with that. Guess you will be on liquids for a while after the surgery. Keep us posted.

Fantastic. You are looking great. I can't wait to hit that mark as well. Continued success.

Its easy. They will not notice if everyone is busy talking and visiting. The hardest part is cutting small enough so you can eat and then chewing, chewing, chewing. Once you start to lose weight they will notice. You can just say I'm dieting and I don't eat as much. Both are true statements. It's your business and you have the right not to tell people how you are losing weight. Just act natural. I missed the first few of my social obligations by saying, relative in town, business trip, or under the weather. Its the first couple of months that are the hardest. I hosted a dinner a few weeks ago for 14 people. No one noticed what I was eating (or not eating).

Great BeacheeGirl. Sounds like you have restriction. Try to avoid those PBs if you can. I really believe that this protein first is a good thing. The hardest for me is waiting 90 minutes to drink something. I get really thiristy and want to drink after 30 minutes. I also have twinges and aches around port and top incision. I think its just everything settling in and we are moving around more. I do know that my body doesn't like me bending over. I get real pain and sometimes nausea if I've just eaten. I avoid bending. Have fun in Hawaii. I love it there. Do shop at Hilo Hattie's. Its so much fun. I wear my mumus in the evenings instead of a robe. My are really getting old so I think another trip should be planned. Umm Welcome Shatell. We have a great group here.

Since you were not married you don't have to get a "divorce". However, Texas is a community property state and does recognize common law marriages. If the state believes it is a marriage, you have to get a divorce. There is also tax deduction for income tax purpose and you should get it upfront that you will be claiming the deduction. Although my first thought was he is being cooperative go with it, my second is, consult a lawyer to be safe. You don't want problems later that's for sure.

Barbara 12 - Ofcourse we can. Let's lose 2 lbs for the next 15 weeks!!!! I'm with you on that one. Melissa - Did you think maybe you were just lucky? Maybe it didn't go down, but is still floating around. Maybe it did go down. Not sure if you need a fill or not. Wait until you get back and decide. SOmetimes I think we are just more "open" then other times. Have you noticed that you can eat more on weekends? I have noticed that I do differently on weekends. I wonder if its we're more relaxed and not so much into our "weekly" routine. I don't get in as much water, but I tend to eat more at my meals. Although sometimes I don't get lunch in because we are out and about. My husband just said something interesting. He says this sure has been an adventure and stressful. I laughed and said stressful on you? I didn't realize how others are effected by our decisions. Maybe we need to be kinder to our support.

Good morning Junebies! Haven't seen much posting going on in our group lately. That could be good or that could be bad. Hope everyone is doing well. Sounds like from prior posts that fills, unfills, and PBs are still consuming us. I can't begin to describe how much better I feel after the last unfill and the restriction I now enjoy. I can eat almost anything that I dare, but get full and stay full. I think this is what its supposed to feel like. I don't try things that I have been told not to eat so I don't push my boundaries. I had steak last night and it was delicious. I ate my alloted amount and felt full. Stayed that way the rest of the evening. Let's hear from everyone. Some are going through some challenges. We are here for each other. How's the Christmas goals going? I have about 35 lbs to lose to meet mine.

Ditto what Leilia said. Go slow and if you PB get an unfill ASAP. I am doing so much better after my unfill and don't feel hungry. Go figure!

So sorry to hear about the tumors. At least they have got it early. Its better than suffering. I'm sorry about the hysterectomy. I had a total one at 29. I did have one child before everything had to go. The upside has been mentioned and for me I was ready. Some women really suffer through this removal. You know, the "head" side. Take care. Keep us posted.

Go to the Before and After Thread in General Lapband discussion. It's almost the last page , if not last page. They should be there. Saw a few people today that hadn't seen me for a while. They noticed right off. Makes you feel good when they start to notice! Hope everyone is doing well. I have pretty good restriction AFTER my unfill. I'm eating protein first and that seems to be working. Not snacking anymore. Now we'll see if I can lose eating food!

The ribbons seem to come and go. Like they are gone during the day, but come out in the evening. I finally posted some before and after pictures in that thread. I can really start to see a difference. I had to do that because you see yourself everyday and don't notice. I'm hoping to get into a 16 when finished , that my size 8.

Let's see if I can do this right. Night before surgery 3 months September 7th -30 lbs

I think, in part, she is playing the game. I was finally convinced when they showed that DR session where she said "I just love this game". That was after convincing Janelle to get rid of Will. I think she does believe Boogie, but she is not opposed to playing the game against Janelle. She had to do it to stay in the game. She wasn't going to give up $500,000 by taking Janelle. She couldn't win. Now she has a good chance to win against Boogie. It boils down to the lesser of two evils. I would vote for her because she was the ultimate floater. The boys were entertaining, but I don't like their methods. She will need the money after she hears the hateful things that were said about her.

Another dinner of protein first. It really works. I had a Tyson mesquite chicken breast filet. It was really moist. I dipped it in guamole (sp). That must count as my vegetable. I was full and left just about 1/4. I also had 4 french fries that were baked. That's all I needed for the rest of the night. Maybe this hard protein first to fill the band will work. I also drank at least 6 bottles of water yesterday. I was so thiristy. I hope this was just my body replenshing after the weekend and not an indication of something else going on. I feel good though so all is well. I plan on having a better weekend than last. Friends getting together for a brunch. We collect Longaberger baskets and our group gets together every month for friendship and buying. We invited a jewelry person to this so this should be fun. I also hope to get and get a few clothes. I ordered some slacks from Land's End yesterday, but need some tops. I don't want to spend lots on clothes, but I do need to look semi presentable for work. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

I just can't watch any of it anymore. I knew this was going to happen from the live feeds, but still held out hope. Ericka purposely lost. You could see it. This way Janelle won't know for jury that she was back with Boogie. The big loser is Ericka because when she sees how she was played she will crumble. I don't care which one gets it. Both of them are dirt in my book. I'm just bitter!

Go back a few posts and you'll find the link to our ribbon. Mine doesn't seem to be showing today so not sure why. It was working. Congradulations on your marriage. Glad everything went well and you had a wonderful honeymoon. Glad the scale is moving in the right direction!

Glad to see nothing changed and you didn't get better treatment than me. :couch2: I don't think you will ever see him again, unless you have a major problem. I get my fills, unfills, etc. at surgicenter. They take good care of me and I've grown to like the staff there lots. I feel more comfortable with them. However, I haven't had major problems, other than overfills. Glad you are doing well. Don't forget to keep on drinking the Water and walking. It really helps after surgery, weeks afterwards.

Give it a couple of weeks and at least one week on solids before you decide. I now know that fills for me "kick in" after 6-9 days. It just happened. Only for me, not just full, but stuck and in trouble. Both times it was on OK food, so you never know. I've had to go and have unfills to get better. I was hungry out of surgery and continue to be hungry or get hungry very quickly after a meal. I try to stay within my bandster boundaries so I don't overeat. I will have to "sneak" up to restriction as I cannot seem to tolerate fills of any volume. The fluro doesn't always tell the story as it shows the barium flowing right through me. They always want to put a little more in. The little more gets me in trouble later. When I had a small fill I did better, although still not to the point of restriction. This is a slow process so don't be in too big a hurry to reach your "sweet" spot. And as others have said, everyone is different. Don't compare to your spouse. Good luck

These are great. Thanks so much for posting this site. I have already downloaded and started planning some of my new meals. :couch2:

My fills kick in after 6-9 days. Both times I had a reaction I PB'd on allowed food, chewed carefully, was not eating fast, etc. It just him me, bam! I can't seem to recover from then either. I go on liquids immediately, but that doesn't save me. I've had to go for a slight unfill. I'm beginning to understand my banded body a little more each day. I still get hungry and have to watch my every move or bite.

People are so cruel and just because they are teachers doesn't exempt them. Speak out now and maybe save those boys from harrassment. It's cruel out there and everyone needs to learn compasion and tolerance. That teacher needs to be asked "how does that help" and what's a better way to motivate.

Brad welcome to LBT. I hope you find all the answers to your questions. Mine to you is "are you a rules player or do you do what you want?". The reason I ask that is because there are rules for living with the band. Your doctor will have their own rules, different from other doctors. If you live by the rules you will probably do OK. If you always want to push the limits, see if you can, take chances, etc. you might not be a good candidate. There are lots of people on here that can eat bread, rice, popcorn, Pasta, to name a few with no consequences. They can eat what they want, but in limited quantities. I don't even go there. Why? because my rules say don't. Simple as that. I'm not a saint. I just am too scared to try the limits. I know what pain is and I'm not into it. :couch2: THe other trap is sweets. They seem to go down well, especially the liquid form like ice cream. That could offer you lots of challenges if you fall into that category and definitely could eat around the band. There is also something called pouch packing. That is when you eat more than the pouch is designed to hold. This can cause long term problems and halt your weight loss. So, look at everything carefully. Decide for yourself if you are ready to make this life altering decision. My regret is that I made it at 59 and not 39. It has been a great experience for me and one I would make over and over again. Good luck on your decision.