blklab70

Susan, I do some crafty things, or use to, but I too love my animals and spending time with them. We just got back from the dog park and two of them are sleeping next to me. I love taking them and they get so worn out they sleep all afternoon!!! Even the puppy is zonked out! LOL

RM, we are miles apart but our doctors sound the same. Mine said the exact same thing about eating. He would like to see me take 20 mins, three meals a day and no snacking. We are pretty much the same age and both at our sweet spot. There has to be something to be said about a good doctor! I do take your advice as gospel since you always give the best and I have learned I can depend on what you say. Malarky? I don't think so!

The first fill I don't think I felt till a couple weeks later. Then the second fill was tight at first but then nothing. This time I have been with the third fill for a week and it was good from the start and after a week it is still good. By golly, I think I got it!

Mine does the same, I lay down, he numbs the area and then takes everything out so he can see if I have a leak (I think that is why), then he puts it back with more. I then sit up and he gives me water to make sure I can drink it. Out the door I go. It is funny how everyone is just a little different.

I play the piano too, I just go put a CD in it and turn it on! I wish I had that talent to really play.

My boss who is near 400 said it was the easy way! LOL They have no idea that this is not in any way easy, it is a tool, just a tool. When I hear that I just laugh to myself and bruch it off as ignorance on their part. The hardest thing we humans have to do it ignore what people say. How cares? We have eachother here to share, cry, praise with. We don't need to take uneductated persons opinions! So, you go girl. It is a wonderful journey you are taking along with all of us here who are your friends on a mission!

Small world! We are just south of Morgan Hill, in the east foothills of Gilroy/San Martin. We love on a farm. I know the waiting the worst, but just keep in mind time goes fast. Keep your weight down, you can lose weight before your surgery to just help the doctor when he does your surgery. I have blue cross and they did cover my surgery. I had surgery in Burlingame. The hospital was over $40,000 but my cost was just $250. My doctor is covered completely except for the co-pay of $20. I hope you are working with your insurance now. Have you started all your pre-op counseling? I had to have three shrink appointments and two with the diet person. I had my insurance approval prior to starting everything. Why did they put you off so long for surgery? You will not be sorry, I wish I had done this sooner. I think what pushed me to go was someone in the office who is fat, fat, fat. She was talking like she was going to do something about her weight and I could not let her beat me since we weigh about the same (then). LOL Nice to meet you! I it is beautiful in CA today, in 70s. Going to Morgan Hill tomorrow for fireworks.

Welcome to you too, Bre's! Keep us posted and ask questions as you have them.

There is such a difference in the two procedures, I would not let her get to you. Remember, in the long run we end up the same and perhaps we are even better since our skin can shrink up as we lose. I am sure we have done it the best way for us. Thanks for letting me know I am not the only one with the ups and downs. I think the only way to cure my scale problem is to have hubby hide the scales! LOL

I have the same happen to me, but what I have found is I need to slow down, chew better and I am fine. I can eat about 3/4 -1 cup of food and I am completely happy. Slow down, I know when you are hungry that is hard to do and that is when I get that aweful pain. But I stop, let it pass then chew and take my time. It is always better at that point. I try not to let myself get that hungry that I am back to my old habit of gulping my food down. We are still new, we just have years of bad habits to adjust. Give yourself time to learn, eat slow and chew, chew, chew. I don't believe you need an unfil, but that is my opinion and only you and your doctor can determine that. Good luck!

My doctor took me off insulin just before my surgery and I have not gone back on it. I did lose well before being taken off insulin, I just ate it back on! I am now 55 pounds lost and my sugar in the morning is down to 124, still a little high but coming down with just pills and he has cut those down too. Good luck!

We live on a farm and raise Call Ducks, have horses and three labs. I love to be outside even if it is cleaning stalls! I don't do housework, so I clean outside. LOL If stuck in the house I knit baby blankets for Stanford Neo Unit. They are always needing blankets since every baby is given a blanket to keep. Need something to do? Look for how you can help in your community.

My doctor makes me drink water after each fill to make sure I am not too tight. I have a 10 cc band with 6 cc now. Everyone gets to their sweet spot different. I have reached my sweet spot with my last fill. Nothing being taken out to make it that way. I am pretty new at this, but that just does not sound right to me. Anyone with more experence that can reply?

I did a yahoo search on this even though I thought it was pretty silly. It is true, it is an exploding business! The band itself is not exploding, but the surgery is exploding in the number of people having the surgery. Thanks for a great thread and do know we are not laughing at you, but at the person who told you that.

I would find the best doctor I could, then travel to him/her. You could maybe find someone closer for fills, but the surgery I would want the best experenced doctor. Good luck, keep us posted. We are all here for you. Restless is awesome, gives great advise, you can ask them anything and you can take the advise as good.

Slim2be & Bigpapa, that is awesome! I am so very proud and happy for you. You are both doing so well and such an example to me. I am only 5 months into this, lost 55 so far. I find myself addicted to my scales, weighing everyday. I don't know if it is normal, but I will lose a few pounds then gain, then lose, then gain. When I am losing I am very motivated, but when I gain an oz well, I just freak! Can't wait for my 1 year and that 100 pound mark. Thanks for sharing!

Welcome Tory! You will find answers here to all our questions and concerns as you go along this journey. I know when I was starting out I came here often and found there are some people who are very helpful and some who just like to get you thinking about other ideas and current happenings. You will learn which people you can depend on and focus on them. I have a group of about 6 people that when they post I pay attention to them. Most of all, everyone here is for you and on your side. There is lots of support and any questions you have can be answered by several people with different views but all for the same cause. When I was finding myself always cold, well, I found out that is perfectly normal. The burps, the gas, well, all normal. So, just ask or read what has been posted. It is a wonderful journey with new friends to help you along the way. I am so glad I have done this and only regret that I did not do it sooner. Keep us posted on your progress!

RM, that is so totally cool! You had a wonderful doctor who cared about you not just you being a paying patient. Wonderful words for all of us to live by. Thanks!

I believe we have all been there. You are still very young and I know exactly how you feel cause I did too. Being young you can do it alone, but can you stay with it? I kept thinking I am losing so well before my surgery that I did not need it. Well, how many times have I said that to myself and then I would lose a pound or two and get a little lax with my eating and pretty soon everything I had lost was back and then some. For me, I wish I would have done this months or years before my 10 Feb 2009 surgery. If you are uncertain, then maybe you should not do it. But for those of us who can admit we needed extra help, this was the answer to so many prayers. I am only down 55 pounds at this point, but I find it much easier to move and to play with my grandkids. For me,it was the best thing I have ever done for my health. Good luck, keep researching till you are comfortable and keep us all posted.

I say who cares if they want to talk about you. It won't stop your weight loss and it sure won't stop your eternal progression! Be proud of who you are today and where you are going. You don't have to wear a badge that says you have a lap band, but if they ask, then I say tell them. I have only lost 51 pounds, but it is enough that people are noticing and one of my clients said he wished his girlfriend would loose too, so she later called me to ask me how I did it. I always say that if people have nothing better to talk about than me and my weight, well, we should feel sorry for them! LOL Good luck to all of you, let me know how you are doing on your weight loss.

I remember watching a show, Oprah or something, one time when they were trying to show that you really are racist even if you say you are not. The test went like this: your car breaks down and you are in a town where you do not know anyone. Outside of their houses are two people, one your race the other a different race. Which one do you go to for help? They were trying to say that if you did not go to the one not of your race then you were racist. My thoughts were, what does the house look like, how if the person dressed and which makes me feel more comfortable. I think that most of us would think the same way. You are all so smart and I wish you could go on a talk show to educate others. I am proud to be associted with all of you!

I have also noticed a change in how I am treated when my hair color just turned blond (ok, I helped itturn). People treated me different then when I was a brunette. Aren't we all funny!

You said that so beautifully, he was good enough to die for our country. There are so many good men and women of all color fighting for our right to be racists if that is what we choose to be. Sad if you ask me. As for my house, we judge people for who they are not what color they are. I have met people of all colors who are good upstanding citizens and in the legal business, I have defended people of all colors who are not so upstanding. Hey people, it all starts with us. So far I have met some really good people here.

I have had two things happen in my life that stand out and I will never forget. One was in the military. My husband was an officer and I had made a friend of an enlisted man's wife. She was black and I am white. We had not seen eachother for a few weeks since we had moved onto Post, and we met at the commissary where we greeted eachother with a huge hug. Boy did my husband, who was in uniform, get a look from an upper class officer and his wife. To me it was who cares, this is my friend, but the military did not look at it that way. Back then it was not just that she was black, but she was the wife of an enlisted man! OMG! I would do the same if I saw her today! Then, a couple of summers ago my husband and I were walking on the wharf in San Francisco and a group of black women were walking behind us and making comments about me and threatening me. I had done nothing to them but be white! So folks, it goes both ways. We need to stop looking at each other as any color and just look at each other as members of the same human race. I grew up in a home that was racist and I will not stand for that in my home. Thanks for the thread, may we all learn something.

I know what you mean, there are people like that here too. Ours is a small ward, and we have two wards and a branch here in Gilroy CA. Seems that some people need something to talk about! LOL I am just not one of those people who care if they talk about me. I have better things to do than worry about them. I understand what you are saying about being private. Sometimes it is not easy to have your life be your own. Best of luck to you. I am glad you found us here. BTW, I can't imagine a small ward in UT! It seems to me like there is a ward for every block. I think you are lucky to have so many around you, even if they want to talk about you. Would love to visit the area again myself, has been a long long time since we have been there.