TopTier

Great news! You're on your way!

?? your band is inside your stomach lining? Kooky.

I probably couldn't do a good job of describing it, but I googled it and read up a bit. It doesn't seem that it's something I would be interested in doing. Not a fan of surgically altering any of my organs, if I don't have to.

Some people just have no sense, sometimes. In a way, they are trying to show you they are "supportive." It's a way to show they love you. But I would get annoyed big time! Tell them it was a lap-band and not a magic wand. This isn't Biggest Loser where next time you tune in, there's 20 pounds down the drain! Remind them that you can eat basically most anything you want, just smaller portions of it. And promise them they will be the first to know when you have some really BIG "not so big anymore" news to share!

Silly you! You're a fountain of inspiration!

Lap-band. Well, perhaps karma, in its infinite wisdom, knew what a key motivator would be ! More likely to comply if it's coming out of my own pocket, perhaps?!

Congratz, Judy, (and Lindsay)! So happy for you both! Every pound gone is another pound gone!

Aw, I know exactly how you feel! I learned that my insurance policy doesn't cover weight loss surgery at all, so I can relate. But I'm working on a self-pay, so, as my husband said, we will do this one way or another!

Tick tick tick tick tick tick. . . . . Getting closer!

There is no benefit at all for Weight Loss Surgery of any kind in my insurance policy. That means I can appeal till the cows come home and it will get me no where. Self-pay, all out of pocket.

Hi, BMB, and good luck on your journey!

Aw, Tracy, hugs to you! We can all be each others' inspiration!

I tried to practice chewing better tonight! It was gross!

OMG! Two days of clear liquids?! Ugh! I just had a colonoscopy today and had to do clear liquids yesterday. I thought I was gonna puke if I drank another flavored water! UGH! All my best to you!

Okay! Luck wishing heading your way!

So thrilled for you guys, but can relate to the tween stage you're in right now. I remember telling my dad (who got banded just a couple weeks ago), "You never thought you'd actually be excited to nosh on mashed potatoes, did you?"

HB! Great job!

GOOD job, NoRoutePlanned! :grouphug:

By the way, my daughter loves strays. When she was a little girl, she was always bringing home damaged or lost kittens and pups. When she got older, she did the same with boys/guys. Some of them were more "damaged" than others, and some were very damaging to her. But I could not help her with her working out why she felt the need to pick up strays (even as a young girl). She finally, on her own, after a particularly bad relationship choice, decided to see a counselor. As it turns out, her father (my first husband), abandoned her when she was 4 years old. He took off and, except for one week when she was 12, she basically never saw him again. The "strays" that she was picking up were her way of attempting to "fix" her bad relationship with her father. It didn't matter that myself and my second husband (who treated her every bit as a flesh-and-blood daughter) made her feel safe, loved, and secure, that damaged relationship from her dad affected the "little girl" inside of her. She needed help bringing that little girl up to speed with the rest of her. She was always a strong, independent, confident girl, then woman, but the broken relationship (which I could not fix for her) from her dad affected her in ways she didn't even realize. She needed a "tool" to point her in the right direction, from the inside out. She (my daughter) did all the work herself. But she really did need a professional to help her on her way. I believe they actually only meet about 4 or 5 times. Anyway, it doesn't really have anything to do with self-esteem, though there are times when self-esteem may be in the mix, it's rarely the root of the problem. Rather when self-esteem is an issue, it's generally a symptom of something else, instead of the other way around! I have faith, though, based on your input, that you're going to be figuring this out! I certainly hope so, anxiety attacks are miserable things!

You misunderstand. The self-esteem thing is a non-issue. Yes, there are people who are overweight who have low self-esteem. But. . . there is more to it than that. Now, granted, the weight was not your only protective covering. This is why I strongly recommend that you spend a few sessions (it won't take many, you are obviously acutely self-aware) to help you sort out the parts of you that need a little ompf to get up to speed with the rest of you. I can't stress this enough, it's not that you or any part of you is "broken," there's just some "cleaning up" and "putting into the right files" that needs to be done. Remember, the counselor or therapist doesn't "solve" the problem, they just help you clarify it for yourself. They are a tool, just like your lap band is! ;-D

Yikes! I've never heard of that happening! That's pretty scary! How did they manage to puncture your lung?

"Natural" is better? Gee. I guess I wasted money on those eyeglasses, and then the lazer vision correction surgery! I shoulda let "nature" just be "nature." Squinting. That's "natural" vision improvement, right? Sammy, these people are possibly well intentioned, but they really aren't thinking these sound bites through. Lap band is "natural." As natural as hip replacement, eyeglasses, hearing aides, dentures, pacemakers, by-pass surgery. . . all these things are tools to help us live our lives better. That's all a lap band is, too. A tool to help us help our body to a lower weight and keep in there. It's "natural" because the doctors used their "natural" skills and their "natural" knowledge to develop a tool that would do what this one does! Gotta love science!

These are all really good questions, but they are all tied up to your waaaay inner self, what "she" is "worthy" of, and whether she "deserves" happiness, etc etc etc. Again, it's not that you are broken, there are just some things the very deep little girl inside of you needs to learn and understand. You are "vulnerable" at this smaller weight, and you are making "vulnerable" choices to reaffirm that. You need to learn new tools for being "safe." I can't stress enough that you should find a therapist who can help you find those new tools, then you will feel much more comfortable in your "new" body, and also feel like you can still make the same "safe" choices and be a strong, decisive woman again. You still ARE that woman, just the little vulnerable girl inside you needs to know how to manage her. By the way, this is not unlike what women who experience emotional trauma go through, for example, women who have been victims of a violent crime, say, rape, for example.

Hi, Ladies! I'm from Kentucky, too, and MY name is "Michele"!! Small world! I have my first surgeon's appt this Weds. in Louisville. Unfortunately, I'm a self-pay, but really anxious to get this started!

You didn't lose her, she lost her "protective shell." The weight provided you with the comfort that you were "safe" and no one could touch (hurt) you through that flesh wall. When you lost the weight (your wall), you hadn't developed any protective/self-protection mechanisms, and now are feeling fearful. You can fix it with a good counselor. That doesn't mean you are "broken," just that your weight was more than just uncontrolled eating or more calories in than you burned. You just didn't tell yourself that little secret yet. It's not at all uncommon and you can correct that safety mechanism. You are still strong. Or you wouldn't have been able to get this far! You just need the little girl inside you to catch up to the rest of you!