edieparks

Welcome Deb, You will find out about the good,bad and ugly here . I couldn't have had such success without the knowledge and support I found here. edie

Nicole , I bet your surgeon or his or her office will have some suggestions. You will probably have to pay a high interest rate . Yuk. I was self pay 17500.00. If I knew then what I know now I would have financed 35000.00. My food muzzle has been so worth it. edie

I'll never want to give up my food Muzzle. edie

If we had control we wouldn't be fat. I read a book WLS for Dummies and it talked about the last meal mentality and not to do this. Somehow it made me step back and then I became very stingy on what I would eat. It had to be delicious and only what I wanted really bad. My suggestion is get REAL PICKY. It helped me. I stopped the mindless eating and just ate like I would never get to eat this certain food again. Now I know it is not true at all. Good Luck and don't beat yourself up , edie

Yes your fill will help you. I used sf popsicles as my crutch. I ate a lot of popsicles. A lot. edie

Dear Mamota, I remember feeling like I was having an out of body experience when I went to have surgery. I was so excited but I was thinking This is ME doing THIS!!??? . It was like winning something . Too good to be true. Now 11 months post op if I had only heard of it sooner!! Your surgery is on a Thur and if all goes well you will feel pretty normal by the next Wed . 1 week after I went back to lifting heavy dogs with no problem. When I would twist in bed sometimes I would feel like ohh I shouldn't move like that. If I would move carefully it would be ok. Then eventually I can do my usual tossing and turning. Thanks for all the encouragement and appreciation of why we are are here. Lots of different reasons for lots of different folks. You can always find someone you can relate to. I have two friends in cyber space that I am mentoring the best I can. A big shout out (lol) for Waitingtiljan banded jan 30 07 ( you GO girl) & Tanderson (newbie) banded June 4 07 ( my hand to her forehead ,be HEALED I say) These two women are amazing to me (don't get me started) and I am so happy to have met them and help them with my band experiences with my band. Thanks again to Alex . from your soon to be band sister, edie

thank you for pointing out the date/time to me chickie. edie

Alex, We love you. Thank you so much. You do what you need to do for you. I am enjoying the ride. If this ride stopped for whatever reason I would be so lost and sad. The little cartoon you use always gives me a chuckle. edie

My sister-in-lawy asked me tonight now that you are at goal and staying at goal , when r u going to have the band removed" I responded "Never" I need my food muzzle!!!! That is what I am going to call my band from now on. I thinks it explains it to everyone in my life what my band does for me. edie

Welcome Bud, I could not count how many question and concern were answered for me very quickly . I would have a concern or just wanted someone to understand how I was feeling with my band. You have to be banded to know how it feels. Bud, my band doesn't let me overeat. My band doesn't choose my foods for me , I have to do that. It DOES tell me when I have had enough. At first it yelled with pain (heartburn) but now I know the feeling I get before the heartburn. I get the "signal" on different amounts of different foods. I KNOW the signal very easily now 11 months after surgery. Just a "little food for thought" ( corny lap band joke) tee hee edie

My customers told me I was gonna blow away at 190 lbs. Haha. I would tell them I had 30 more lbs to lose and they would say but you don't need to ! I would say but I want to be healthy not just look better. That would shut them up. My family who are very supportive have been quiet about how much and just compliment me. They have been with me thru weight loss and gain it back so the jury although supportive is still out. tee hee Surgery was in July 06 and this is June 07 and SO FAR SO GOOD. I wish the dates were on these posts and threads. I am so grateful for Alex and this free and wonderful site. edie

Dear Roc, The difference in my life . Where do I start. MY weight was "weighing" as much on my mind as it was on my body. It wasn't just making my organs ill but my soul too. My healthy mind has been just as much help to me as not carrying around all that weight. I was banded July 06 and today is June 11 07 and the changes in how the band affects me amazes me every day. Today I had go to a dealership to pick up a truck part for my husband. I just parked made my way in, asked where the parts department was , did my business and walked out. Before I would have trudged in huffing and puffing ,hot and sweaty , felt everyone's eyes on me (all men of course), I would know they were grading me , men do that, it would have been a bad experience and when I left there, I would have felt bad about myself and hoped they enjoyed the show, and felt like they talked about how big that one was.... Today with my band success it was just a simple transaction. Thats all. edie

What do you mean you don't lose weight , Miss 58 lbs gone ? edie

I have two loved ones who ... for lots of reasons do not want to band. Over the years we have shared diets and walking . Had long and many many big discussions on why we are fat how we can lose fat and most of all how miserable we are being fat. So here I am a living breathing example of the band and nothing with them. They have been very interested in my journey the last year . Of course fat people love to talk about losing weight . They both have been there for me in the good times and bad of the banding. Very supportive both of them. I want to shake them and say Yes you have to give up stuffing yourself . But you also have to give up shopping in the Tents R Us dept as I used to call my size of clothing. I know I cannot run the world but I would like to. Just needed to vent because I want these very special people in my life to have what I have. If I just had a magic speech to make them see the light. Both have told me they don't want to give up eating "normal" . I don't want to be cruel to them but I know normal to them is overeating. I love these very important women in my life . I will just keep setting an example and keep my lip zipped. That is why I like this site (thanks again Alex) I can speak my mind and know someone has felt as I do and can understand how I feel. If I have to go to their funerals and they died from obesity problems I will want to kick myself. These women are 10 years younger then me but both are at 300 lbs . I know I could still have heart problems in the future but I am better off now then June 06. Damn I feel better, edie

I just choose low calorie. I tried to get food that made me feel full. I ate a lot of Orville Reddenbacher Carmel Popcorn cakes . They really filled me up for 40 per cake. They look like rice cakes but made out of popcorn. edie

lap-band.com to find doctors in or near your zip code. edie

I can eat pizza (thin crust) and toasted bread. I will slice off the top of a dinner roll when eating out. I have always been able to eat Pasta. I couldn't count how many stoffers mac and cheese I have eaten. I cannot eat a whole one now . I could between surgery and first fill. Since fills only about half of individual serving. Sodas are gone for me. They just make me burb even after trying to make them go flat (leaving one out over nite!!). Soda is no brainer compared to the way my size 12 jeans make me feel . edie

Yes. There will be lines at the movie theater for a Soprano movie. I thought the story line about Tony and that girl (Michael's friend)a in Las Vegas was hot. Tony was a family man but he was still drugs,sex and rocknroll too. edie

17 lbs is a nice little chunk . Almost a 20 lbs bag a dog food. Think about carrying around that all day long! If I am getting this question right, I think you are worried about the calorie content. When my scales started slowing down, I (dang it) started counting calories. I kept it to about 1100 a day. I also drank 4 20 ounces bottles of sf drinks a day too. And of course at least 30 minutes of walking each day too. If your question means how will my little band react to sweetner. I had to problem with sweetners before or after. Good luck, edie

Jen, No you do not have to give up your favorites. I thought my life of eating good stuff was over. Wrong. It is the amount ONLY that changes. I did give up carbonation. I tried my diet mountain dew after letting it set out overnight (dr recommendation) and with every very small sip I would have to burp. Diet Mountain Dew was my all time favorite but this size 12 jeans feel like a good trade. edie

I'm sacrificing any panties that are not the perfect fit now. I'm still not sure what size I do wear. Oh the problems of being skinny. Yes I said skinny. I decided the hell with small or slim. I'm skinny. tee hee edie

Hey ! My girl has made quite a few movies. All scary ones too. I know because I have seen then on the sci-fi channel. They all went to video not to movie houses. I thought they were all awful too. So she has tried to be an actress. She is just a lousy actress so she can only get "b" movies. What is the world coming to when money can't buy you a good part in a movie!!!! Just FYI. Edie lol

Yes I vote for fill. I had my second fill right before big xmas party. I enjoyed myself ,ate a little and felt so in control. edie

The juice of Campbells bean with bacon or New England Clam Chowder. How about Progresso's selections. The soup isle is your friend. edie

Ouch I thought you were talking about me for minute. Childless and doesn't want to adopt. Stung a little but I'm over it now. edie