warmmorningsun

Hi! Aimee from Louisiana. I"m 35, to be 36 July 30th. I have the most beautiful 4 1/2 year old little girl (I'll argue that she's the most beautiful with anyone! Gorgeous But isn't that how we all feel about our babies?- I know I"m biased...) I've been banded since 6/7/06 and I"m patiently...er....slightly patiently awaiting my first fill. I'm starving. HUNGRY. I'm just trying my damndest not to gain what I've lost.... Hi to everyone!

I do agree that this is the best way to go; you have the right to do everything everyone has suggested here, and would probably have more personal satisfaction from it...but you're on a timeline, right? If that's the case, call your surgeon, let him/her know what happened and ask that they give you the name of a PCP that has worked with them in the past to get med recs, etc. to them. In other words, someone who's going to request you med record with the full intent of documenting a positive recommendation that you receive the surgery, etc. And understand the need for moving this process along. YOu can even have your WL surgeon's office contact the new PCP so they know what's going on. Once you've gotten that taken care of, THEN write your letters, egg his house, spit on his front lawn, etc. :bananajump: I'm sure his attitude in general will help him reduce his workload down to a more manageable load of, oh, say 2 or 3 patients.

Call your MD and see if he/she'll prescribe you some phenergan. I had that too, but once I took the phenergan, it made a world of difference. I was nauseated to the point of feeling horrible, but not puking. I dry heaved once and it was EXTREMELY painful. When I called my MD, he said it was important not to vomit because of the stitches, etc. Your MD will probably be happy to prescribe it, you'll feel better,and it will be easier to keep/get down whatever you're currently supposed to be digesting. Hope that helps!

My MD prescribed phenergan, I had SEVERE nausea (I couldn't stand up without feeling like I was going to puke) for 5 days after surgery. Then, it went away. I still have about 20 phenergan if it returns, but so far,almost 4 weeks out, no more nausea. I felt a little queasy at times when I was on just liquid, but once I went to real mushies/food, that disappeared. Hope that helps.

Hi all, I've not posted much, just read alot of posts. I'm so proud of all of us! Making this choice to change our lives. I'm 15 lbs down at 4wks post op. I"ve not beem making great food choices. I'm scheduled for my first fill on July 10, but I think I'm going to call my MD tomorrow to see if he would consider doing it sooner. All in all, I"m happy I haven't gained since going on solids, but would love to see the scale start moving again! Love all of ya!

I'm by no means an expert, I've only been banded for about 4 weeks...but the one thing I can't emphasize enough is to CHEW your food thoroughly. I"ve tried lots of different foods, and the only, ONLY problem I have is when I don't chew it thoroughly enough. Hope that helps.

I'd love to see Gale. She's awesome. Down to earth, in your face. Not pretentious in the least. I also agree about Elizabeth. I think the benefit to the View was that they did have differing opinions, and it's nice to get a wide range. But Elizabeth....she has no opinion. Just a closed mind. Just my two cents.

Does 'vigorous' sex count? *LOL*

I'm 5'7 1/2" too I hope I have success like you have had, that's wonderful. I had surgery on Wed and was at work the next Monday. I probably needed that amount of time though, I was having port pain a lot. It HAS improved, but I still hurt some. I sit behind a desk all day and it seems the waist on my pants, etc hits the port at just the wrong spot. Are you having less problems today w/your fill?

I personally went on strike against my scale and threw it out. I only weigh now at the MD's. I had to, because I was determining my success, outlook, how my day would go, EVERYTHING - on the number that device gave me. And I'm more complicated than just a number

Thank you I know the pain of being hard on yourself, I've done it for many years. I have to keep looking at my journey from really far up, looking at it as a whole, because if I micromanage it, I'll drive myself crazy. Conversely, the only way to do that is to concentrate on one day at a time. I've made it a practice in the morning to look at my previous day and really think positively about what I achieved. That, and I threw my scale away! The only advice I can give anyone approaching this really wonderful, courageous decision they've made for themselves is to think of it as a new start. Which means different things for different people. For me, it means I'm going to be gentle with myself from here on out. Best wishes to you on your surgery :Banane10: I'll say prayers that everything turns out right!

I'm an Executive at a Large Healthcare company with the responsibility of Leadership and Manager Development. I LOVE my job.

Would you be willing to list the supplements you take (vitamins)? I'd LOVE to go 10 years without the flu/cold!

I grew up down the street from James Carville! But you're right, excellent example of opposites attract

I felt mine from day one also. I can even feel the outline of the circle where they put the injection. I've got a high BMI, so not sure why it's not buried in fat! *LOL* Mine is right under my largest scar. I'm still feeling a bit of pain there, but not much. Banded 06/07/06

You bring up a good point FunnyDuddies...currently the band is approved for use as a tool for treatment, rather than a tool for prevention...a thought to ponder another time I guess My belief is that there are those of us who are desparate for intervention with our weight problems and desparate to get what seems to be a successful intervention and treatment for that problem. I don't agree with 'gaming' the system so to speak, but more on a personal moral ground. It's lying and I think lying is wrong. I think on the other hand though that the insurance companies are not in touch with preventative medicine and if they were to address what causes obesity, they wouldn't have to treat it as much...kwim?

Economic Left/Right: -2.13 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.62 This was cool! Of course, my fiance is so far authoritarian right that I am considering more pre-marriage counselling.... :faint: I'm hanging closest to Ghandi...but am still a little further right than that. The epitome of a "moderate"

Kim - Nothing is wrong with you. You've taken a huge step towards helping yourself and the fact that there's no instant gratification/restriction is disheartening, I know. You are absolutely worth the choice you made to stop overeating, and this tool that you've given yourself will help you. but it may take a few weeks before you really start to find the benefits. Think of anything in your life you've had to work towards that took longer than you expected or wanted (college degree, buying a house, etc.) It will be the same way with this band - hard work, setbacks, seeing results, not seeing results.... Take a deep breath. slow down a bit and think about taking this one day at a time. Don't require so much from yourself. Ask yourself to do small tasks first: one meal without overeating. One day without eating more than you've been told. One day within the restrictions your MD has set for you. Then do it again. If you mess up, it's okay. Start again. We've all had weight issues, probably most of us for the majority of our lives. One week or two weeks is not going to change that. It's going to take more time. The difference between this time and any other time before is that we now have a tool that is going to eventually force us to come up with some other mechanism to deal with what's wrong. We will no longer be able to turn to food. I am sending you lots of hugs and prayers and PEACE with your decision. concentrate today on staying peaceful and in control

Is there another more experienced surgeon that accepts your insurance in a surrounding area? Maybe you could go with a more experienced surgeon and do your follow up care with him? I know everyone has to start somewhere, but it stands to reason that his level of confidence would be higher if he had more successful surgeries under his belt. Which would translate into (hopefully) a higher success rate for you...

Lizzie, I am now one week post op. My MD didn't require me to do anything but get on clear liquids 24 hours before my surgery; but, I"ve noticed my clear liquid stage is longer than most here have said: 10 days. He said I had no complications at all during surgery, so maybe it's only for certain health types, weights, etc? Not sure what the rhyme or reason is?

Vicki P, I also read it, but don't have an answer as I've just been banded one week now. But I didn't want you to feel like no one was concerned. So, no answers, but a huge congratulations to you on your weight loss, that is awesome!:confused: We started at about the same weight, I started at 305; how tall are you? Have you had any complications? Did you or do you still now have port pain (at the incision site?)

I'm home! :clap2: I had my surgery on Wed, Jun 7 at 730a at Vista Surgical Hospital in Baton Rouge LA with Dr. Bellanger. Things went well - the last thought I had before surgery was in the room when they told me I could pray (I had requested that they allow me to do that before they knocked me out) and the next think I remember was in my room! I slept through recovery, step down, everything!:faint: I had some pretty vicious nausea but after they found some phenergan, I was much much better. I had to do a post op xray and I didn't think I was going to be able to make it until they gave me that. I was trying to look up at the ceiling, putting the a/c on 60, fanning myself, ice chips, ANYTHING not to puke! I spent the last few days at my mom and dad's house to get some help with my 4 yo daughter, and we just came home... So far, the diet has been not hard at all. I"m on clear liquids for 10 days (a lot different than what you guys are doing?) because Dr. B said the healing time is extremely important. I haven't had any problems with gas either, so don't know if that's related? The one thing I am having problems with though is pain at the port site. :Cry: I have to tell you, I'm a pain crusader, I did a 26 1/2 labor natural, so I'm not really a 'wimp'. But I'm hurting here quite a bit. I LOVE my ice pack. I am returning to work tomorrow which I'm a little nervous about because I don't know about sitting behind a desk all day! I'll bring an ice pack incognito-like and hope and pray for a smooth day. Good luck to up and coming June Bandits! Thanks to all for prayers and well wishes.

Hi everyone, going in tomorrow morning, 5am (surgery at 7a) and would like to ask you all for prayers please. I am a bit nervous about 'complications'. Thank you!

I know myself to the extent that if I got on a scale daily (like I do now) I will beat myself up everytime it's not showing a loss. I get discouraged. So I'm thinking that I will now toss it and just keep working on my effort and see the results at the MD. I may change my mind when I'm further down and further along on my goal (I might want to weigh myself three times a day at that point!) but for now, I'm throwing it out!

It really is a very personal decision I think to have the surgery and I completely understand the choice to limit sharing it with others. I think my choice to "share" has come from years of hiding so much about who I am from my family and parents - you know, always trying to be the perfect daughter, sister, etc - and I've come full circle with that so probably disclose TMI (too much information!) now as an extreme opposite of how I was before *L* I'm in "take me as I am" mode these days. I love this thread, it's so neat to read about the different thought processes and feelings behind everyone's very different decisions...