TheGh0st

Call your doc's office if only to be on the safe side. Post surgery you should be carefull not to lift anything over 5 pounds for around 6 weeks to allow everything to heal properly inside. This is true for all surgeries as far as I know not just the band. But then again I am neither a doc nor do I wish to play one on LBT.

CoolCrystal - thanks for the update. Don't know why I didn't see it a few moments ago. BBK is in my prayers.

BBK - How are you feeling today?

I'm worried about the choking sensation you mentioned. Please let us know everything is alright.

Oh, and I'm jealous, I don't envy all the problems you have had but I'd love to have a port (or a band) in a shadow box.

I wish, but here I am nearly 11 months post op and still wearing the same size clothes as before PS. Mind you they fit and look better on me but still same size.

I'm trying to convince the DH to let me join the Malley Boot Camp but with a 5 year old at home, a full time and a part time job it is hard to get out of the house on the few nights I'm still actually home. He thinks I need to just suck it up and get to work on the treadmill sitting so nicely in our family room.

But as a friend of mine I walk with on Wednesday likes to say her and I are co-dependent when it comes to exercise. If we exercise together we get a lot accomplished, once we even walked over 7 miles. But left alone it is pure torture to just make it one mile on that dreaded treadmill no matter how good the show is that I'm watching.

Well I sent back the unjury shake mixes I had sent for, they made me sick after surgery, ended up being intolerent to whey Protein, I am now using soy Protein and feeling much better. Advantage Edge chocolate is good with an extra squirt of Hersey's no surgar chocolate Syrup. I have also a soy protein with 25 grams per scoop plain no flavor and put that in my Soups now that I am on the Soup stage.

In my third week tomorrow and going to eat pureed fruits and cottage and ricotta skim milk no fat cheese. Yummy LOL

No real desire to eat anything, just healing and waiting for my first fill in September.

Good luck everyone.

Pati

I absolutely LOVE milk and cheese but if your body isn't tolerating the whey protein supplements well I'd be carefull with adding back in the cheeses and milks slowly as they may also cause you problems as well.

After all the old name for cottage cheese I believe was "Curds & Whey".

I've heard of several bandsters that have developed or discovered they were allergic to foods they never thought they had a problem with before such as dairy or nuts. My completely un-founded, non-medical suspicion is that they already had a mild allergy to the food before but hadn't realized it as they were diluting it with the large quantities of other foods they were eating unlike us bandsters who can sometimes consider one or two cheese sticks an entire meal.

I have to second what both Tapshoes and Gone4Ever had to say. There is no way any of us can tell you what to do in your life but we are all here to support you as you move forward.

Karey, no suggestions here but a lot of sympathy and well wishes. Keep us up to date.

OK one suggestion but its pretty obvious don't just let them brush you off. Keep pushing to find out what is causing the nasea and the Fluid in the pelvis. Sometimes we women can be just a little to stoic about our aches and pains.

I read emails from so-called educated folks at work and I realize that the whole damn world is grammar dumb.

The number one thing that drives me bananas is when I send an email with three questions and only the first one is answered.

Grr....Do I really have to send three different emails in order to get their attention? 'Cause I will!

In general as long as I can figure out what someone is trying to say I am very forgiving of any grammar or spelling errors on sites such as these.

However, my biggest pet peeve is when I ask some one if they would like to do X or Y and their response is a yes or no. Tell me how can you answer with a yes or no to a this or that styled question?

Me: Do you want to watch "Dr. Who" or "Stargate Atlantis" on Tivo tonight?

DH: Yes

Me: WTF???

Still hijacking thread here - Has it affected all aspects of your taste or are there some foods that you can still taste such as cinnamon or mint? I have an aunt who has practically lost all ability to taste mainly due to the cocktail of medications she is on but those particular flavors still work for her. One of her favorite things to eat now are those Girlscout thin mint chocolate Cookies (aka Keebler grasshopper cookies) She too is struggling to not lose weight at this stage so is not too worried about the high calories.

No offense Alex but my vote was for "no". But, I'd like to qualify that vote.

I am all for former bandsters who have lost their band for whatever reason continuing to visit LBT. Wether any of us meet in person we still form bonds and friendships on various levels and I'd hate to lose thos connections just because someone no longer had the band. I also feel it is just as important for pre & post bandsters to here input from those who no longer have the band.

That said I think the best place for threads specifically relating to WLS options other than the lapband are better suited in the "Life After Lapband Removal" Forum. Giving the other surgical options their own Forums on the main level just adds to an ever growing list of main forum areas and can also appear a to confuse the primare focus of this website to begin with.

Green - thanks so much for the update. I've been thinking of you often. Glad to hear the tumor appears gone, hopefully you will be feeling more like celebrating soon.

Until then your friends and family will just have to the celebrating for you.

When researching Plastic Surgeons Dillow and Cannova were the only two I checked into. Dr. D is the one Hoehn/Hitchcock's office recommends and Dr. C is the one Dr. Malley's office recommends. I'm no expert but my research seemed to show they were both equally certified, capable and experienced with PS on WLS patients.

In the end I chose Dillow as he was only slightly less expensive on the particular procedure I chose (Cannova would have been less expensive on the full lower body lift) and I also seemed to hit it off just a little better with Dillow. But like I said from what I saw and from grapevine hearsay they are both top-notch docs.

If you search through the PS thread you should be able to find one on my Extended Tummy Tuck. I was very impressed with the scar line he left on my tummy tuck. After following his aftercare advice I have absolutely no raised scar tissue. The line is still slightly discolored but should fade away over the next year or so.

Did you get a chance to see Dr Cannova at Malley's meeting this month?

Yes, hugs from me as well. I'm glad it sounds like your husband and you are handling it calmly.

Boy, do I know what you mean. My son is turning 5 in a little over a month and I'm having a hard time looking forward to it because all I can think about is how much junk he already has cluttering up his room and the family room. And that is after already selling a huge chunk of it off at a garage sale earlier this summer. I'm seriously thinking of setting 1 or 2 large plastic tubs in the middle of the room (1 for his bedroom and one for the TV room) and telling him he can only keep what he can fit in the containers.

I know it may sound harsh, especially at his age but when we did the garage sale earlier this summer it actually went pretty smoothly after I explained that the toys we were selling might help some mommy or daddy give there son a toy to play with that they wouldn't have been able to afford at the store. We live in an "oasis" in the middle of an urban area so even at his age he has a small understanding of the concept of parents not having enough money to get things they need or want for their children.

OK so I also bribed him with the idea that some of the money he made from the garage sale would go towards a fun day out of his choosing and some ice cream but 2 months later it is the fact he helped give another boy a toy to play with that he remembers and tells his grandparents, not the icecream.

Nora - Very interesting. I'm just coming up to the 3 year mark next month myself.

I've always felt I would never cheat on my spouse no matter what, even though I had friends who did and had even understood the whys and hows that had led to it. But neither your comments or my acceptance of my friends infidelities have made it any easier now that I'm on the verge of doing something myself.

Logically I don't want to hurt my husband, son or my overall life situation but emotionally I'm struggling almost minute by minute to keep myself in control. I keep finding myself daydreaming about ways to get out of the house to a club or bar and see if someone might make a pass at me. I've even fantasized about random men I've seen walking down the street or mowing their lawns.

Worse yet there is one guy in particular that I've been feeling a chemistry with the last couple weeks. He is completely the wrong kind of guy for me and I have no illusions of love for him just pure lust. There have been nights I've barely slept just thinking about the possibilities (good and bad) of something happening with him. I actually spent over half of Church last week thinking up ways to get some alone time with him on the chance he would try something and the other half praying and bereting myself to stop thinking such horrible thoughts (especially in the middle of Church!)

What is wrong with me?!!!

Julie, I think I could have written your post myself. Though my DH & I are not in any counseling at the moment and he currently has no idea how I'm feeling. I just don't know how to break his heart by telling him I'm just not attracted to him and never really was. He was just the "safe guy" after a string of bad relationships.

To make things worse we have a wonderful son who will be turning 5 soon and I can't bring myself to put him through the trauma of divorce just because I don't have the "hots" form my DH. Still it is hard not to long to experience feeling a mutual sexual desire with someone. The more I lose weight and regain my lost self confidences the harder it is becoming to live without those feelings.

Don't get me wrong I don't think all marriages should have some eternal sexual spark if they did I think the divorce rate would be over 90%. Still I'd like a spark to make an appearance just once in a while as opposed to the never that I've had with my DH, not even when we were dating.

Leslie, kudos for being "brave" enough to share that you have used these lists. Honestly I've considered it before myself. I get what the others are saying about it appearing rude or materialistic, but I get tired of having to either return duplicate presents for my son or worse like the other poster said those that I can't return as they were already opened but never get used.

We have a fairly large extended family even more so with divorces and remarriages and its hard to come up with a list that is long enough to parcel out bits and pieces to all the different people who will call and ask for ideas. Our son just doesn't need that many things. The list either ends up so small I'm practically telling each person exactly what one item to buy or I end up giving a few the same suggestions and invariably get two or even three of the same item.

Having a registry with a selection of sensibly priced items ranging from clothes, necessities to toys & educational items seems like a pretty good idea to me. Assuming the relatives are open to the idea. I don't think I would just send it out unrequested to everyone on a birthday guest list. And it wouldn't be a big deal to me if they just used it as a starting point and purchased something off the list that they though my DS would like. But it would be nice to have available for those that are always calling for ideas.

The one that burns me the most is when my MIL (who believe it or not I love) will call me up with some idea she has for a present for my son asking if I approve. But in all reality she has no intention of listening to my response and just forges ahead anyway.

For example I live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks and too much traffic for a 4 year old to play in the street even supervised and yet she insisted on buying him a big wheel for Christmas even after I gently pointed out he would have NOWHERE to ride it. So here it sits never used. Worse, my son loves the idea of it and frequently laments (OK Whines) over his not having anywhere to ride it.

UHGHH! I know she meant well but how inconsiderate is it to buy something you KNOW isn't appropriate and put the parents in the position of dealing with an upset child? I'm not saying she didn't have a good idea. It just wasn't feasable in our situation and yet she was completely unwilling to listen to reason even though she asked for our opinion before buying. Honestly that's what bugs me the most. If you have no intention of changing your mind on what you are going to buy then don't ask the parents opinion!

Oh and back to the list idea. Like I said we don't need many materialistic things, so I'm always trying to encourage the family to think outside of the box and give them suggestions of presents that you wouldn't buy in the store like a "gift" of a Picnic in the Park with Granny (or Cousin/Aunt/"Fill in the Blank") Or a day at the Zoo, or baking Cookies together. My son would get more pleasure and long term memories from any variation of the above than he would a new toy robot, pirate ship or dare I say it Game Boy.

Sorry to hear about your Knee surgery. But hopefully you can take advantage of it like you said and have one recovery time with the other surgeries. Sadly, my local PS refuses to even consider doing PS at the same time as any other surgery.

Welcome to LBT! I'm in the Kansas City area as well. Congrats on the weightloss so far. I can completely relate to the whole issues with exercise. Even know just a few weeks from 3 years out and my treadmll is used more by my 4 year old as a race track for his toy cars than it is by me. Though I have managed to walk once a week (most weeks) for the last year with another bandster I met online. We meet at a local mall on Wednesday nights and walk anywhere from 3 to 5 miles depending on how much shopping or talking we are doing (more shopping = less walking / more talking = more walking)

Last night we were talking so much by the time we were done I think we had walked over 6 miles! Something I never could have done before.

PS - If you have trouble getting the ticker to work by inserting the HTML code into your signature line it also works to just highlight the picture of the ticker right click copy then right click & paste it into the signature line on LBT's control panel.

UPDATE - Well, according to the doc's office I've gained 3 pounds in the last 3 weeks without my fill. But mind you I didn't take off my shoes, or take the time to select "light" clothes yesterday. Plus I went right after having lunch with my son. I know I gained some weight but don't think it was the full 3 pounds.

Happily, the nurse practicioner actually complemented me on not having gained more considering how much Fluid had been taken out of my band. She was very nice. She gently reminded me that it's not the best idea for me to be eating as much cottage cheese as I have been lately. Only because it is such a soft food and won't keep me feeling full as long as more solid protiens would.

Just a quick note. I just heard about a free Protein sample you can get from the following link. I've signed up for mine but have never used their products before.

7 Natural Laws teaches you how the benefits of whey Protein supplements, and healthy eating can help you lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle

I'll post again after I get it and let you know what I thought of it but I didn't want to wait to post the link as most free-sample offers out there are usually only good for a short time.

My first re-fill is scheduled for tomorrow and I'm SO ready for it! I believe I've only gained 1 or 2 pounds over the last 6 weeks but I'm still nervous to get back on that scale. Even more so as the nurse practicioner (sp?) will be the one administering the fill.

She has always been nice to me in the past but has a reputation for occasionally coming across as if she is scolding some of the patients for their behaviour. She has only been working with the band for less than a year so I'm not too sure how I'd take it if she started in on me considering I've lived it for 3 years. Then again I probably would deserve her comments as long as they didn't sound like she thought she was telling me something I didn't already know.

I've found an easy way to save some money shopping online and possibly earn some extra income.

BigCrumbs.com gives us cash back when we shop online at places like Best Buy, Target, Gap, Old Navy, Overstock.com, even E-Bay as well as a lot more.

Even better, when we tell people about it and they sign up, we get paid every time they shop!

And it's COMPLETELY FREE!

http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/frontpage.jsp?r=TheGh0st

This is one of those portal sites that if you go to this site first then click on their link to the site you want to buy from they give you a percentage of the purchase back. I've been using sites like this for years, but they were always sites that gave me back frequent flyer miles not money, and it never gave me anything for referring other people.

Now for the begging. If you plan on making even one online purchase this year please, Please, PLEASE. Sign up using the above link so I can get a referral credit. Like most people nowadays every penny counts around my house.

Great Post Jaqui!

You know it may sound crazy, oh how do I say this without it coming out wrong?

... I've always felt like I would never be successful at reaching my weight goals unless I fixed all my head issues with food, exercise shoot and life in general. And every time I would start to get close to my goals I'd find myself self sabotaging it like I didn't feel I deserved to get there as I hadn't "fixed" all the other issues yet.

But when people, like yourself, who I look up to as an example of Lapband success are willing to open up and share their continued struggles with food and or exercise it really helps. Not because misery loves company or that I want to feel my own failings are being validated. But because it helps to remind me that I can succeed on the scale even while I'm still struggling with the head issues.

Who knows I've spent my entire life stressing and struggling with my weight. More importantly I've always assumed the "beautiful people" in life didn't have those same issues and that was why they didn't have the problems with the scale that I did. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe they aren't all that different than me and are dealing with many of the same problems with food. Maybe they have just learned to catch themselves and bring themselves back from the brink before there is any permanent weight gain.

My suspicion is that the true difference between the "beatiful people" and myself is the level of guilt I associate with my slips and how that guilt tends to pull me even deeper down rather than just shaking it off and moving forward.

Hey there Esmerelda & T/N. Glad to see you two.

Congrats on the baby T/N. Is it a boy or girl? How are you finding the time for exercise with a little one?

I'm due to go back in next Wednesday for my first refill after letting my esophagus "rest" I hope I start to get some restriction back soon. I've only gained 1-pound back according to my scale at home but I feel like I'm eating like crazy.

Ofcourse after spending over a year with a fill that was too tight who am I to say what normal is any more. But I highly doubt it is an entire 24 ounce container of cottage cheese in one sitting.