Smeeper

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It's nothing like extreme PMS. It's usually a lack of menstruation or excessive. In most cases, it's lack of. Following that is infertility, hirsutism (excess male pattern hair) due to too much testosterone. Hormone imbalances are HUGE. Insulin resistance is the other big issue and a main cause for the weight issues. Help any?

<p>Here are my photos for my year (tomorrow.) I didn't figure I'd be changing much between tonight and tomorrow so here we go!</p> <p> </p> <p></p> <p><p></p>

So you have your first appointment on my anniversary!?!? Groovy! My gyno had me down to eating 1000 calories a day. She said women with PCOS pretty much have to starve themselves to lose weight. So, I was doing that and I was miserable. Now I'm lucky if I even touch 1000 calories a day!! My band is my best friend; truly! Yes, my hubband is worn out most of the time due to my high testosterone levels! I think I make up in testosterone what he lacks sometimes. Heh. Good luck and let us know how your appointment goes! For those of you struggling with the eating, I must say I could eat a whole bunch still before my first fill. Just remember, though, that it's up to you to know when to stop eating before you get your restriction going. Just because you CAN eat half of a cow doesn't mean you HAVE to! (I'm not meaning that rude or derogatory.) I'm just saying, part of my initial success was saying, "Ok, I'm still hungry, but I've eaten enough that I'm comfortable for now, so I am going to stop." Just a suggestion for those struggling. Another suggestion is that you kick up the protein. Protein will make you feel full longer and quicker. Good luck everyone! Debbie

Good evening. I think it's been a long while since I've posted anything on lapbandtalk. I've had a lot of business going on in my work and personal life. I think that we have all felt that about wishing our after pictures could look like some of these people's before pictures. Tuesday it will be a year since I was banded. I've had very few complications throughout the year and have been utterly satisfied with my band. I have lost 115lbs. I have gone from 61.1 BMI to 41.4 and I feel wonderful. I had very little wrong with me before my band, other than being overweight and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.) As anyone with PCOS and a weight problem knows, losing weight with this problem is very very difficult. I am thankful that there is this tool for all of us out there to utilize. As I have told my doctor... he has saved my life. Because the weight lifting off of my shoulders knowing that there is a freedom from the weight has made all the difference. I hope that anyone else that is contemplating this surgery truly considers the benefits and makes a wise decision. I hope that those out there struggling find a way to overcome your obstacles. Kick up the protein. Kick up the exercise. I was starting to get into a slump, but I've added an extra scoop of protein powder to my morning meal and an extra mile to my daily walk and it's working again! Thanks for letting me share! It feels wonderful to be a part of this community. Smeeper 356/241/160

Here is an update. Tuesday will be 6 months out from surgery and today I am 75lbs less than I was the day of surgery.

Ok... I hadn't posted on here yet, because I hadn't seen such a big different until now. Here are my before and right now photos. I was banded April 24, 2006 and have lost 63lbs so far.

Why do our parents have to mess us up so much? I mean, some kids have parents that never make them feel bad about themselves. That's how it should be. Some parents are so determined to make someone else miserable because they are for some reason or another, that they just project it onto their kids. It's just such a shame. It's part of the reason that I'm glad I'll be smaller when I have my first child. I don't want them to feel the negative effects of my own self-loathing (which happens to have started going away the past few weeks - my band... it's all about my band.) I was sexually abused as a child. The last day that I remember being a child and being carefree and happy was age 8. Today... 24 years later, I remember the happy child I used to be and I'm getting back to that. You'll be that person again... the one before the parents ruined your outlook. It may take a while, but it's possible. I'm living proof. Deb

Heh. From what I've been told (my boss' daughter had RNY several years ago) the psychological exam isn't that bad. I was relieved that they didn't require it (even with insurance) at my doctor's office. They do, however, require the 6 month supervised diet if you have the insurance to cover the surgery. But, I didn't and so I didn't have to. Here is how it has always been in my family. My parents were both fit as teenagers. As years went by... blame put on pregnancy (mom) and alcoholism (dad), my parents are pretty hefty people themselves. My entire life I've never seen small parents, except the pictures of them as teenagers and when they got married. A typical time for me with my Dad was "the entire family is going on a diet because Debbie is fat." Excuse me? The entire family (except my brother) is fat. Why is it now my fault that we all have to change our eating habits? Then they don't change them anyway. A typical time for me with my Mom (a nurse) was taking me to the doctor who would tell me I was fat and that I needed to lose weight and then giving me all these different diets and/or pills to try. So, instead of my mom straight out telling me I was fat... she relied on the doctor to do it for her. When I was 21 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and finally had a reason why I was trying all these years to lose weight but with no good results. 11 years later, today, my mom says "Well, your father is just beginning to understand that being overweight wasn't a choice you made." Who cares? I mean, come on Dad... you're a fatty. Not everyone chooses to eat ungodly amounts of food and most of them certainly don't do it consciously. Why is it so easy to point out my obvious problem with obesity when you are dealing with your own? Grrrr. So, she tells me the other night that she's joining WW and I said, "good luck." and left it at that. Of course, my brain was saying, "HA HA HA, you're not going to be able to do it. You're going to fail and it will make up for the two years you and Dad PAID to have me on Jenny Craig and I lost only 20lbs and it was your fault because every other night you were sending me to Baskin Robbins to get you ice cream or sending me to the grocery store to get chips and dip so you could have them for watching a movie and then telling me 'oh this will just be a good test of your willpower.' Screw you mom. Screw you dad." Oh wow. I feel better. Hehe. Thank god I didn't have to see the psychologist.

I dunno, I kinda like my men clean.. But, don't stop the "interesting" chatting that happens here. We all need it. Deb

Why do you have to go to the psychologist? My doctors office doesn't require it for lap band surgery, since you aren't altering your internal situation. They do require it for RNY and DS and whatnot, but not the band. With those, you are actually making a physical cutting/change to your body and that's why they require it. They want to know that you are mentally able to make such a huge decision. Strange. I didn't see a psych doc. Maybe you should revisit the issue with your Doc?

Can I just add something here about the failing at Lap Band when you've failed at all other things? One thing I told someone in another support group forum... there's a huge difference (even though you need to eat responsibly after the band as well) from having this or just simply doing a diet without this tool... and that difference is the physical discomfort you are going to feel from eating too much or eating the wrong foods that don't agree with your new stomach, or not chewing properly and not taking small bites. Having the band is a learning process, especially as you get more fills. Before my first fill I could still eat breadsticks at Olive Garden. After my first fill.. nope... PB and slime here I come and it was awful and I will NEVER do that again. We are like Pavlov's dogs. Maybe not so much a ringing of the bell triggers our salivation, but the concept of conditioning yourself to the responses you'll have eating certain ways and eating certain foods really will give you an advantage after having this band. There is also, something about being a self-pay that makes you strive really hard to make it work. I was a self-pay. Of course, I'd strive really hard to make it work without having been a self-pay, but if you're going to dole out $14k+, you sure as hell better follow the plan. At least that's been my mindset. This is a great plan too, because, some of the things you couldn't eat before you can ... but you eat them in moderation. I've been off the sugar for so long, the sugar problem isn't really an issue for me, but I can eat some of the veggies and fruits that were not low carb approved now and I'm fine and I'm still losing weight. Please, don't get discouraged. As for the parents - they are my biggest weight enemy. Every day of my life has been a constant battle with the grudge I hold against them for making me feel like the fattest living human on the earth. I love them very much, but when they (fat also) decide to do a diet... I relish in the fact that they are going to fail and I hope that their failure is quick, because they made me feel like poop for a very very long time. Mean, I know, but the truth. I have sooo much resentment against them on the fat front. This band has set me free. Debbie

Just checking to see if my new signature works

I've had two fills and am at 1.5ccs I had my second fill last Tuesday. The weight (minus the gain from AF this past weekend) is just falling off me... and I couldn't be more thrilled. I swim everyday and eat about 1000 - 1200 calories a day. Here is the link to the first page. http://soulcysters.net/ladies-losing-large-100-lbs-vol-3-a-154346/

Well, if you are ever interested, I've been a member of a WONDERFUL PCOS support group thread on the Soul Cysters website. Let me know and I'll send you the link. 39 is amazing too! Keep up the good work. How many fills are you working with right now?

Of course, there is also the having the RNY and gaining it back... I realize this is a possibility with the lap band, but adjustments can be made with the lap band. It is still my contention that this banding was the absolute best thing I've ever done for me. I feel wonderful (even if the flight attendents don't get sensitivity training.) :tea: I think everyone is doing great. Personally, losing 48lbs in less than a year has been a big change for me. Losing 48lbs in less than 4 months is an even bigger change for me. That has made all the difference. Everyone should be proud of the successes they've accomplished so far - SV and NSV! :bowl: Deb

TY for the warm welcome. Speaking of planes. I flew to Maine a few weekends ago and was enormously proud of fitting in to the seatbelts!!! Until I was on the way home and on a smaller plane. Smaller plane - smaller seatbelts apparently. I cried half of the flight home because I felt like poop. My hopes had been dashed that I'd actually accomplished something else on my list. But, such is life. At least this plane ride the flight attendant didn't make me feel like a freak show. I flew down to Florida in March to visit the family and needed an extender and the flight attendant was all loud and obnoxious and "you can't have an extender if you are sitting in the emergency exit, you'll just have to move," then to everyone else behind me, "would anyone be willing to switch seats with this lady so she can have an extender?" Someone was kind and moved and then I cried on that plane trip down. Took that extender with me when I got off the plane, so I wouldn't have to face that on the way back too. I did that on this last trip for the connecting flights. I wasn't about to have to ask twice. Someday, I wont have to ask. :confused: Deb

How lucky was I to come (no pun intended) across this thread on the site!?!?! Everyone needs a place to call home. I think this place is my new home! :confused: Can't say that I've ever experienced the gag reflex before.... so maybe I'm doing it wrong. But, I'm with the one that said they don't swallow "cream of salt." Sorry, did it twice, wont do it again! Blechy. My virgin band will remain a virgin to that! Doesn't mean I don't enjoy pleasuring the hubband frequently. I just have more strategically placed areas for hubband juice to go. Ahh, this has given me a good laugh for the day. Deb

Thought I would join your thread. I'm still a little over 50 on the bmi... actually as of this morning I'm at 52.9. I started out at 65.4. Ghastly. I had my surgery April 24, 2006. I am down 48lbs. I weighed 356 the day of surgery. 308 today and hopefully less next Monday (which will be 14 weeks.) My surgeon was very pleased with my progress at my second fill last Tuesday. I was just as pleased that he was pleased. I'm feeling good. I had/have very few medical problems. I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian sydnrome) which being fat is a symptom of. I'm trying to relieve the symptoms of that, as so far I have been unable to have a baby. But, for the most part, this weight loss is all about me and I feel wonderful so far - so I know it can only get better! Here's a link to my profile on OH if anyone is interested in pictures of me. I have two more pounds before taking another picture... but it will be updated again after those two have bit the dust! http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=P1140485974 Good luck and I look forward to getting to know all of you. Debbie

I'm sorry to hear that you've had to have your band removed. I know one lady on the OH site had her originally removed and just had another put in. I know there was some time in between, but cannot recall how long. Maybe after your body has healed they can reband you?

Hi there. I haven't had my surgery yet, but I'm scheduled to for April 24th. I was hoping to read about other success stories and get some pointers and hints on my own journey. Thanks, Debbie