Marmite_crumpet

I know a lot of people have received nothing but support for their decision to have WLS and I am pleased for them. I just know how my family and colleagues are: family are judgemental about everything (and ignorant/bigotted!) and I am surrounded by skinny colleagues who are obsessed with competing to be the thinnest girl in the Company! I have told my children (who have been fabulous), my partner and 2 close friends. I don't think it is only people who've never struggled with their weight who make nasty comments either. How many times do we read threads from people who had WLS and their overweight friends make negative remarks?

...about having the band. This story about Jay Hunt, a television presenter in the UK, had the bypass last year. Excellent read of her diary and the accompanying photos all make a fabulous success story. All good so far. Now scroll down to read the comments from readers... TV presenter Jay Hunt on her gastric bypass :thumbup:

It has taken me over 6 months for this "lightbulb moment". Now that I follow the rules - and work with the band, rather than fighting it (then sulking about the outcomes of not losing weight, pbing from not chewing enough), the pounds really are falling away. Start following Jachut, RestlessMonkey and Jack. They talk sense and tell it how it is.

I literally laughed out loud at: :thumbup:

Can I ask what happened to enable you to get past it?

case in point :wub::thumbup:

Absolutely *nods* And don't get me started on some of our other differences with our common language. E.g., when I say "I want a fag", it means something quite different from what it means to you guys! Also, nobody here would discuss their "fanny" in polite society :sad:

Hahaha! Yes a "stone" is 14lbs! Funnily enough, when I hear you guys talk in terms of pounds, I always have to do a calculation into stones, to get a better idea of how much weight you are talking about :biggrin:

Full story here This made my blood boil. :thumbup::cursing: This woman is the poster child for who NOT to offer WLS to: I can't afford to eat healthily' says £600-a-month benefits woman who weighs 22 stone By Eleanor Glover Last updated at 8:40 AM on 29th July 2009 Laura Ripley receives £600 a month in benefits, weighs 22 stone after a gastric sleeve operation, and is deemed fit to work but has no plans to find a job A 25-year-old unemployed woman who was given an £8,000 operation to help her lose 16 stone is complaining because, as well as her weight loss, her benefits have been reduced. Laura Ripley, who has never worked, was given the operation on the NHS to help her slim down from 38 to 22 stone. But the 25-year-old, who receives £600 a month in benefits, is unhappy because as a result of losing weight she can no longer claim disability allowance amounting to an extra £340 a month. This, she says, means she cannot afford to eat healthily - causing her to pile the weight back on. 'I can't afford to buy WeightWatchers crisps and Cereal bars any more so I eat Tesco's chocolate bars and packets of Space Invaders crisps, sometimes four of each a day', says Laura, who spends seven hours a day watching TV. 'People ask why I don't snack on an apple - they're cheap, but emotionally I don't always feel like an apple.' The disability allowance money she used to receive was spent on gym workouts, healthy food and having her hair highlighted. She adds: 'Without my disability allowance I'm left with just £210 incapacity benefit which I get because of my depression, and £100 income support I receive every two weeks and out of that I have to give them back £70 towards the cost of the £500-a-month flat I'm living in.' Since the extra allowance stopped Laura has put on a stone in just three weeks and claims she is being treated unfairly. 'It's heartbreaking that after all my hard work losing this weight someone's come along and ruined it.' Laura has been offered another operation on the NHS, which would normally cost £12,000, to remove the saggy skin left behind after the dramatic weight loss, but only if she sheds a further five stone, and until then she has no plans to find a job. Morbidly obese: Laura, then aged 15 and weighing 25 stone, Snacks on crisps and chocolate because she says she cannot afford healthy food 'I'm not even applying for work at the moment because I'm only going to have to have lots of time off when I have more surgery.' Speaking from the two-bedroom flat she shares with unemployed boyfriend Simon Hawkins, Laura describes how she was shocked into embarking on the weight loss plan after her mother Doreen died of obesity-related complications on Christmas Eve 2005. 'A doctor told me that unless I lost 20 stone I wouldn't live to see my 25th birthday. He recommended I have a gastric sleeve op.' Prior to the surgery Laura lost eight and a half stone by cutting out junk food and drinking diet shakes and has since lost a further seven stone after her stomach was shrunk by 75 per cent. However, without the extra benefits Laura is worried she'll put the weight back on and says she can feel her stomach stretching after binging on the unhealthy snacks. 'I sometimes feel guilty about all the taxpayers' money that's been spent on me but I only want an extra £100 a month, that's all', says Laura.

With the sleeve do you still get the 'stuck' issues? What about vomiting (I refuse to call it productive burping - it is way more than that for me!).

Hahahaha! That's what I was thinking too :confused::cursing:

Gawd. Ain't that the truth!

The latter would be a dream for me! Unfortunately, mine doesn't work like that at all. I've had 2 fills with the last one having to be slightly unfilled. I get stuck quite a bit - not to the point of PBing every time - but to the point of discomfort and loud gurgling. However, it seems to empty relatively quickly after that and I am hungry again in an hour or two. I don't know if that is how it is for most people, or whether I actually need another fill? But then I would get stuck even more easily, so I just don't know. Advice/thoughts?

It is exactly that sort of comment that made me decide not to tell everyone about the band. Who can be arsed trying to explain to the ignorant? (No offence to your Mother!)

I'd love to hear more about how/when it all changed for you - the moment you reached that point and the difference it made to you. Perhaps we could discuss this in pm? Or would you be prepared to say more here, or start a new thread about it? I am sure many here would benefit from the feeling of hope your story would inspire. :confused:

You look stunning. I am so jealous! :blushing: I shall be visiting your Blog for inspiration. Just one question, did you lose consistently throughout, or did you have periods of no loss followed by weight loss kicking in again?

Wow! This I must try next time I am stuck. *mental note: do not do in public* :thumbup:

Hmmm. Not sure that makes sense to me. The food will have to go through at some point so, surely, it will just delay the inevitable PB?

I've seen many of your posts and am always in awe. Have you always been this driven about exercise, or only since having the band? How did you get so motivated?

So difficult walking the tightrope of balance between too much restriction vs not enough isn't it? Good luck.

Have you had your gall bladder investigated? Symptoms sound similar.

It astonishes me that with the huge amounts of weight they all seem to lose - through the insane workout/low calorie regime - that more of them don't need hospitalising! Let's not forget that these are not "normal healthy fit" people stepping up their physical activity. They are very overweight, unfit, often with co-morbidities and go from zero to flat out in one jump.

We all now the experience of which you speak. Having suffered an unpleasant incident with a rollmop herring only last week, you have my full sympathy.

Your trunk sounds very impressive. Tis good that the world can now enjoy it in all its splendour :thumbup: