TheGh0st

Just a quick post. (or at least that's the plan) Hope all had a good Easter. I went to the P.S. meeting last week I didn't take nearly as many notes as I expected to but would be glad to answer any questions I can. He had some very interesting pre/post pics of various different surgeries to remove the excess skin around the body. He was very personable and the real shocker for me was that when I read the literature I found he was from my home town of 20,000 in Nebraska. My mom even knew and worked with one of his parents (also a doc). A couple of interesting notes. First he said nearly 95% of people wanting breast reduction are approved for insurance compared to less than 5% wanting excess skin removed in the stomach. He also said his office wouldn't perform the insurance covered stomach surgeries even though they do take insurance for breast reduction. The problem he said was that the insurance companies that would approve the procedures usually only approved the pannis removal not a full body lift or tummy tuck. The aesthetic results of a pannis removal are not nearly as good as the other surgical options. The insurance also only paid out around $600 which he said wasn't nearly enough to cover his overhead much less anything left over for his own salary. On a more postitive note he said for people having more than one procedure even months or years apart he gave a discount for the additional surgeries. But he didn't give exact costs for any of the surgeries. I'm planning on setting up an appointment with him sometime in the next month just to have him give me a professional opinion on how much more he thinks I need to lose before I start with the lifts and tucks.

I'm close to goal but having problems. Lately I've been living in a bit of denial I'll look at the scale and see it says 168 but seconds later I'm thinking "Isn't it cool I'm already down to 186... wait I mean 168!!!" It's like my brain can't accept that I'm in the 160's. By the way, I have no idea where you are on the scale (not that you need to say) but when looking at my weight you have to keep in mind I'm only 5'2" and wearing 12's & 14's. Question, have you been having any problems with guilt over the weight loss? I can't seem to stop beating myself up. One minute it's why can't you buckle down and lose those last 15 pounds. the next minute I'm feeling guilty for even wanting to lose those last pounds when so many other banded friends of mine would be thrilled to even get to a point 20 pounds heavier than I already am. Sometimes I even feel guilty for not having started this whole process at a heavier weight. I guess I feel kind of in the middle. Like my "skinny" relatives and friends still think of me as the overweight girl who is just kidding herself is she thinks she is one of them yet. And my Banded or un-Banded friends that are early stages of the journey are more focused on how far I've come than how far I have left, making me feel like they no longer think of me as one of them that they can relate to any more either. Am I completely crazy, or have any of you felt this too? Any chance any of you know of a thread for people at or nearer goal that are talking about issues like this?

Congrats on the fill. I'm glad it went well. Keep us posted on your progress.

IMHO - is that there are several factors that come into play whe adjusting a band, especially a larger band. The first which is true for either band is that the doctor will want to be relatively cautious when giving fills. They would much rather give you too little than too much and risk needing an unfill (in a worst case senario at the ER). Even though they make you drink some water after a fill to make sure its still going down there are those that find they are more restricted a couple days after a fill than they were immediately afterwards. But what I feel to be the bigger factor in that ever-ellusive "sweet-spot" of fills whith the larger band. Is that most of us were given the larger band (myself included) because we had a larger fat pad around the stomach wall. This fat pad will also naturally shrink as you lose weight causing the band to feel looser again. Which is why with the larger band I feel you usually end up finding and losing that sweet spot more often than not needing more tweaks until that fat pad has stopped shrinking. Personally, I ended up with over 12 fills in my first year. But have only had 1 in the last 6 months. And to be honest it probably was a mistake as I think that last fill left me a little too tight for several months. :eek:BTW - Am I reading your ticker right. The last time you posted your ticker said you were down 29 pounds now it reads 37. WOW!!! One bit of advice if you feel you are continuing to lose right now more on good ol' will power rather than "band-power" Make sure to emphasize that with your doc or he's likely to suggest you don't need a fill with such drastic weight loss. My doc refused me on either my first or second fill as he thought the band must be fine considering how much I had lost. But I was starving all the time and only restricting my intake through sheer effort. :ban:But I was so new to the process I didn't think to explain that to him and went away with out a fill. Coming back for one a few weeks later and after an unecessary 2 pound weight gain.

:welcome2: Hey Jonathan! Don't remember seeing you here before. Nice to meet you. Both Malley's & Heartland's are open to all patients. Hitchcock&Hoehn's is closed to just theirs. I believe there is also a open group that meets at the Independence Mall. There is a yahoo group called KCBandsters that lists some of these groups on its calendar page. There use to be a website that listed most of the groups for KC & St. Joe area but the link wasn't working the last time I looked so the site might not exist any longer. Were you banded by Hoehn/Hitchcock? :clap2:BTW GREAT START!!!! :rockon:29 pounds in 29 days! :target:You are BURNING though the pounds right now. How are you feeling? Are you having any problems adjusting? If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I'll be there next week. I'll double check my clothes as well, I might have a top or two but I've already given away most of my early day clothes.

Mary, My husband ended up watching Brian so I didn't need to bring him. I'm a short red-head. I was in group #1 at the front of the room when we split up. I'm also the one who said when Sabobathy comes next month one of the topics he might discuss was the changing dynamics of relationships with those around us. Like my mother-in-law that had been very close and supportive of my surgery but now that I'm approaching a weight near her own seems to be becoming more distant and less supportive.

:faint: Sorry Mary - I meant to ask you to join us as well. Maybe next we can do it again next time.

I just wanted to say I had a great time at Dos Reales with all of you! Chantay - It was good to meet you & your mother. The next 4 weeks and 5 days will go by in a flash. Angela - I now what you mean. I still refer ppl to Dr. H as I also have complete faith in him & Billie. But I've begun to casually suggest to people that they check out both Dr. H's & Malley's office. I have absolutely NO (I REPEAT NO) regrets in using Dr. H and not once have I suggested to anyone that Malley is better, just that he is another good doctor in town and it is always wise to look around before you decide where you are more comfortable. For anyone that might be curious... Here are the pro's I know about Dr H: - My own personal doctor trusted him to perform surgery on her son when he was critically injured a few months before I had my band - A personal friend of mine that is an RN at SMMC who has been known to critisize other docs at SMMC had only praises for Dr H. - He has been doing the lapband since 2004 on over 300 patients - A member of his staff has been actively working to help create the testing and standards for RN's to specialize in Bariatrics. - The SMMC location has just been named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. Some of the pro's I know about Dr. M: - I have multiple friends who are his patients and fully support him and his staff. - I regularily attend support groups hosted at his office as well. - several members of his staff have also had the band. - He has been doing the lapband since 2004 on over 600 patients - He is a general surgeon but works exclusively with the Band now. Only performing non-band related surgeries (like Gallbladder removal) on current banded patients of his. - Inamed has certified him as a proctor for training new Lapband surgeons in the Midwest.

OK make me look it up on the site will you? I probably should have checked there to begin with. Yup, that is the the same room as the seminars. The parking lot (if still there with all the construction) is on the far east side of the building. The other room was in the middle of the building so to speak. And with the construction going on I usually parked on the far west side and walked across to it. Would have been quite the hike all the way over to the seminar room. And what happened to Sabobathy being there this month? Must have had that wrong as well. - Diane

The room by the gift shop that we were using for meetings is not the one where the seminars are held but the group was getting so big Bobbie had said a few months ago she planned on moving it to the same room as the seminars so I bet you are right. Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't mind using it for my own walking goals but I'm usually late as it is, and I'll most likely have my 3-year old son in tow this time.

:welcome: Hi Mary, nice to hear from you I'll be at the group tomorrow as well. Look forward to meeting you there. :gluck:Hey Chantay, let us know how your appointment goes today. Good Luck!!! :grouphug:Hey all!:attention: let's get together for some grub at the mexican place across from SMMC after group this Thursday. Any and all interested I'll see you there! :hungry: :mad: BTW - anyone know which room we are meeting in this month? I remember there being talk that the group was getting to big for the room by the gift shop. - Diane

I think I was at that meeting. Didn't we have a little Christmas party that day? I would have been sitting with Hollie. As to where everyone is I don't know. A few months ago we were all posting nearly every day. Personally I hit a bit of a weightloss slump and think I sort of allowed that to cause me to withdraw a bit. Ofcourse that's probably when I needed to be connecting with others the most. My scale still isn't really moving so I'm trying to get myself reconnected to the group and shape up. I'm planning on trying to make this months meeting. I'll most likely bring my 3 year old son with me this month.

Thursday March, 22nd @ 6pm. I was told by Billie that Dr Sabobathy is going to be there this month. I'm not sure yet if I can make it but I'm going to try.

I will keep you in my prayers Chantay. - Diane

Angela, You look ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS!! :hail::cheer2: I can't believe it's only been one year since I have met you all. I feel like I've known everyone for so much longer, but at the same time when I look back time seems to have gone by so fast. Just like my weight on one hand I look at my old pics and think "was that really me?" then some mornings I feel like I haven't changed a bit and am afraid all the weight is going to come rushing back on as fast as it left (or faster). Let me know if we can all get together to celebrate Angela's one-year. It's been too long since I've seen you all! If we can't get together sooner maybe we could all meet up for something before or after the plastic surgeon night coming up in April.

Hey all, Can't believe its been so long since I've visited. Where did the time go? Just got up to speed on all the old posts. Sorry I missed the support group last week. Sounds like I'll have to make it next month though. I'm still a ways off from needing that surgeon but I'd still like to start planning/budgeting now. I'm still stuck within 2-3 pounds of my October weight. Its really wearing me down but I just haven't been able to kick myself in the butt hard enough to get back on track and quit making some of the poor eating choices I've been doing for some time now. I'm still pretty convinced I'm too "full" but can't bring myself to pay for an unfill. Some days I practically choke on a few sips of fluid then a few hours later I can eat an entire single serving of frozen quiche that is easily over 1 cup of food. I don't get it. My heartburn is better now that I'm taking nexium but I still have food/fluids going up and back down most nights. Which even though it doesn't hurt it still tastes nasty! - Diane

Sorry for the grief. Its easy for me to "raz" you about going because I worry about my friends. But I'm just as bad. I don't tend to go to the doc unless I'm practically drug there by others. Case in point my own gallbladder. I swear I had those stones since I was in college and didn't get them properly diagnosed and removed for over 10 years. I could go for months even a year with no pain so maybe they were "passing" and reforming, or just moving around, I don't know. But when I'd have my bad spells. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with pain so strong I was OK with the idea I might die. But I still didn't go to the doctor until my husband woke up once and found me lying naked on the bathroom floor trying to "breathe" through the pain. Even then the ER ran NO tests, gave me NO pain meds and sent me home saying I had a pre-ulcerous condition. (MY @$$!) 5 years later he & my mom caught me in the restroom again. (Clothed this time) and forced me to go back to the ER. This time I played up the tears and moaning as much as I could rather than hanging tough and they finally gave me some meds and treated the pain more seriously than before. Still they wouldn't have got the diagnosis if it weren't for my mom being there and insisting they try an ultrasound. Oh, for me the only "relief" I could find from the pain was if I lay flat on my back with my bare skin against a cold tile floor and my knees raised breathing like I was going through contractions. The problem with that was the whole time I lay there I was usually severly nauseous and had bad diarehea. NOT a pretty sight.

Well put Robyn. We expect to hear how the ultrasound went by next week or we might have to take matters into our own hands here.

My gallbladder pain felt almost like contractions. Strong lower back pains with an intensity that would come and go over several minute intervals. Also accompanied by nasea and diarea most of the time. I actually had them for years. Would go months without an attack then have several in a row. It finally took someone else asking me to have the doctor check for it before they diagnosed it right. OK completely off topic. I actually got on to post a quick, funny story. I had to go to DH's company Christmas party Saturday and wanted to wear a top that was still a little to tight in the stomach. Mainly due to how the skin is sagging. So I found a new use for the all purpose duct tape. Instant tummy tuck! I tried an Ace chest wrap and a control top, but good ol' duct tape wrapped me up the best. It really helped flatten out all the lumps and bumps around the waist. Most of Ben's co-workers hadn't seen me since last year and were all shocked. The top was also a bit more low cut than I would have liked. I practically had to tape it in place as well to keep the bra from showing. DH & I were quite nervous about that going into the party but it was actually quite fun for both of us to watch where all the guys eyes were when they said hi to us. DH said it was the best work party he had gone to. He kept looking around at the other spouses and thinking they looked pretty homely compared to me. Ofcourse we also had the nights to ourself with Brian at the grandparents for the night so the compliment may have just been a form of foreplay but either way I had a good time as well.

LET'S PARTY! I wanted to invite anyone and everyone to a Holiday party I am having at my house for anyone that has or is thinking of getting banded. Saturday January 6th, at 5pm. I will make some band-friendly Hors D'oeuvres. But if anyone wants to bring some food or wine just let me know. Anyone interested in coming just drop me an e-mail at DTh0mas69@aol.com or call me at 913-710-3390. :Banane57: :Banane34: :Banane53: :Banane42: :Banane22: :not_ripe: :Banane08:

What a gorgeous dress Nola. I am so happy for all the weight you and the rest of us on the board have lost. Reading your post about your physical and emotional struggles with weight (or perceived lack thereof) for the last five months was like reading about myself. I couldn't have put any of it better. I've lost 20-25 pounds in the last 5 months. The last 5 pounds taking 3 months to lose. At 1-1/2 pounds a month I definitely feel I'm on a plateau. But again, no real diet control, other than that the band gives in restricting my portions. No organized exercise. Daily I swing between happy with how much I've lost and how far I've come to feeling frustrated and depressed that I still am not happy with where I'm at now. I decided to go in for a fill yesterday (at Hoehn's BTW) and hope that jump starts the weight loss again. I'm not sure how loose I really was though I was able to eat 1/4 of a bagel with no problems last weekend and you would think if there was any kind of bread that would stick it would be a bagel. Some of the benefits of a fill for me I think are mental as much as physical. It helps refocus me on the whole process. Getting me to rededicate myself to drinking the Water and watching my Protein intake. - Diane PS - I just looked at my ticker. Funny, I set it up before Halloween based on my morning pre-dressed weight and yet it is exactly the same weight I was at the doc's yesterday.

I know, first cottage cheese chocolate pudding and now tofu pumpkin pie. I think I get it from my father's side. Growing up he was always having my mom try to cook odd recipes he'd find. He was really into re-inacting different era's of American history. From the cowboys & indians to the Vietnam war. Once he had my mom make a vinegar pie that was suppose to taste like lemon. A few of my highschool friends that didn't know it was made with vinegar were fooled, but OH MY did it stink while it was cooking. Smelled like homade mayonaisse gone bad.

Hi and a belated Happy Post-Thanksgiving to all! I still haven't got used to the snail's pace of the dial-up I have at home and don't get the chance to post while at work at my new job now. I'm about 2-3 pounds up from my lowest post-band weight from early October. But I've been doing NOTHING to try to lose weight either so I can't complain. In fact I'm a bit happy that I can live for short periods like this without worrying about any real weight gain. I'm a bit torn between just coasting through the rest of the holidays without a gain or loss and start afresh then or trying to kick it back into gear and lose another 8 pounds before the end of the year. (8 would put me under the next decade) But despite that short spell where I was losing 5 pounds a week after 2 months at the same relative weight) even 3 pounds seems like an impossible feat. Too bad I wasn't so lazy/busy I got an interesting recipe pre-TDay for pumpkin pie made with Tofu to bump up the protein. Didn't get a chance to make it though. I was asked a couple months ago to host a Holiday party for any and all area Bandsters. I'm still planning on doing it but probably won't have it until the 1st or 2nd weekend of January. Maybe I can try to make the Tofu/Pumpkin dessert then. A great and completely decadent dessert I did have over the holidays was a pumpkin crisp. Made just like apple or cherry crisp you know "fruit" in a bottom of a pie-crustless pan covered with a crumb topping. I tried to fool myself into thinking that the lack of a pie crust cut down on the carbs and made my 3 servings in 2 days "OK" I feel like I'm in DT's over it now that I'm back home. DH is out shopping and I'd kill to eat some more but before he returned but it's at my mothers house not here. I suppose that is a blessing. Will try to be better about posting. Especially since I haven't been to a support meeting for several months.

My port is just a bit above the incision. I think as the weight goes and the skin sags most of us will have the scar below the port. Sorry, I haven't been posting lately. Things finally came to a head at work. After we had dinner and it looked like my boss was going to "match" or beat my new offer. The offer he actually gave me worked out to be a pay cut from when I use to be full time. It was an accident on his part but rather than go back and forth. I just took the other offer. So now I've been stuck with my old dial-up at home instead of the Trunk line I had at work and when I have had time to get on in the evenings I've been spending my time trying to get all my e-mail updated on all the various sites that have it in their records. I may be needing to invest in a higher speed access at home soon. The new work is going well. Wednesday was my first "official" day though I did go in a couple days the end of last week for some training. The weight loss has completley stopped. I haven't lost an ounce and have probably gained a few since the end of September. I've pretty much fallen off the wagon so to speak. On the good side even off the wagon I haven't gained much. Now that I'm feeling a bit more settled at work I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things with the band. I think I'll try to go to the other support group at HS&S next Tues night. My husband even wants me to go and normally he's complaining about how it means he's alone with Brian all night.