GinaJ

Congratulations Tammi, and Welcome.

I have lost 70 lbs since June which brings me to 205. At a family Christmas gathering my uncle decides to announce to the entire group, "Gina sure doesn't sweat much for a fat girl". No one said anything so he repeated it louder. What an A**.

Drew: I'm glad you are as happy with Dr. Carcamo as I am. You are so close to getting your date. I know how excited and anxious you must be. I hit my halfway mark today. 65 lbs lost, 65 lbs to go.

At OH the other WLS patients don't have to click on lap band message board, but they do and they bash the band on the lap band message board.

I voted no because of the "MY WLS is better than your WLS" feuds on OH. I don't like going to sites that put down the band. It is also very confusing to people who are at the begining of their research to read so many negative posts about the band from people who have had other WLS. I like having a support site for lap banders only.

I too am a RN, and researched for over a year. I know nurses that work in the OR at various hospitals and asked them who they would choose. Several of my coworkers, nurses, went with Dr. Wright and Dr. Carcamo. You should ask around.

Mine started doing this about 2 years ago for a period of 2 months. It stopped when the doctor took me off of Yaz. Then, yesterday it did it again. My heart beats fast for about 1 1/2 to 2 min, and then it gets very irregular as it is slowing down. Yesterday I thought I might pass out. I had an EKG done yeserday which was normal, and lab drawn. I guess I will have to go back to my cardiologist.

Dr. Carcamo and Dr. Wright are both in the OR at the same time when you have your surgery. They work together. You will only see the one that you chose when you go for your visits. Go to a seminar and see which one you prefer. I liked the fact that with them, one surgeon is assisting the other.

Amen, sister.

I did not tell my family I had surgery. My mom has made numerous negative comments about my friends who have had WLS. I would never hear the end of it if they knew. In 2005 everything I had, including my job, was destroyed by hurricane Rita. I ended up moving 6 hours away from my mom. As hard as it is to be away from all my friends, and my support, it has been wonderful to be this far away from my mom. I hardly ever cry since moving away, and I use to cry all the time about the way I was treated.

What a JERK!

I am the only one in the family with a weight problem. My mom and one of my sisters use to walk ahead of me when we were in public because they did not want to be seen with me. When I was a substitute teacher where my youngest sister went to high school, my mom told me that I better not let anyone know that I was related to her. My mom and youngest sister actually told me that I was gaining weight to get back at them. My mom use tell me, "Just when I think you couldn't possibly get any bigger, you go and prove me wrong". She brought me to my first weight watchers meeting at age 16 and 135 lbs. The lady weighing me in asked my mom if she was serious, or was this a joke. My mom told me she said that because she felt sorry for me.

Some of my mom's comments stick out the most to me right now. When I was 3 mos pregnant, and had a 17 month old, my husband left me for another woman. When I called my mom to tell her that my world was falling apart, she said, "Well, what did you expect him to do with you being so big?". My family actually felt sorry for him for having to live with someone as fat as me. My mom called me to bring something to her work. She said to call her when I got there so she could come out to the parking lot to get it. She said for me not to come in to work because she did not want the people there to know she had a fat daughter. 5 years after my divorce I started dating some one from work. When my mom found out she said, "Anybody that would have anything to do with you can't be worth much".

I am a nurse, and there is no way I would have surgery at a hospital that had patient care issues with their patients. I want to be some where that is following the doctors orders.

Some are better than others. It is nice to see people that don't look like they have ever had a weight problem. That is very inspiring to me.