ElfiePoo

My surgeon always referred me to my primary care for any care that was non-band related because they have a longer, more consistent history with you than the bariatric surgeon. If they don't normally check your BP, logic would suggest they're going to refer you to your PCP...or should. .

I forgot to drink my water yesterday. Wondered why I felt so tired and out of sorts last night and through the night just had some major joint aches. It's amazing how dehydration can kick your butt...and how quickly! Lots to do today and I'm still just feeling wiped so hopefully, as I get hydrated again, I'll get my energy back! Hope your day is starting off beautifully! I posted a "why people own dogs" video to my FB book. Every morning should start off with a laugh. Have a good one! .

But are you hungry? The band was not designed to restrict food (even though many surgeons 'sell' it that way). Some people do get physical restriction, but at the cost of constant stuck and sliming episodes (yes, there are exceptions). It was designed to put pressure on the vagus nerves which tell the stomach to stop producing ghrelin, the hunger hormone. If you're hungry after eating a reasonable meal (according to my surgeon that's 3 oz of Protein and 1/2-1 c. vegies), then it's time for a fill. .

Rainy, If someone tells you they can reverse it, then they're not doing a sleeve. Sleeve involves removing most of the stomach and there's just no way to put it back. Have you checked out verticalsleevetalk.com yet? Perhaps you'll find some of your answers there. I know I did. .

Yep...it's because they band our stomach when they should be banding our brain. Don't beat yourself up. Just pick yourself up and start again...right then. Don't wait for the next day. Remember, this isn't just about removing the hunger (which you may still be dealing with...you didn't say)...but you're changing a lifetime of bad habits. Keep working at it! .

I would call myself 'irreligious' because I am a person of faith...not a member of a religion or a follower of man-made traditions. My husband is, by his own admission, a 'dirty rotten heathen' although he gets these wild thoughts every so often to start his own religion...something to do with all the tax benefits they get. .

Oh wait...I think I forgot to tell you all about the *best part* of my one day hospital stay! Those on FB probably saw this but after the cardiologist and I had our chat and knew I was not spending another night, he left the room to do my discharge papers. Fifteen minutes later, the nurse came in with a puzzled look on her face and said, "I thought you decided not to stay?" Uh...yes? Then told me that the doctor didn't write my discharge...he wrote a DNR (do not resuscitate) on my chart and didn't discharge me! My husband didn't think it was funny but I have to admit I did. I tried to tell him that if I had stayed the night and something had happened and they didn't resuscitate me, he could laugh too...all the way to the bank since they had no signature from either of us authorizing it. Ok...so I have a sick sense of humor. .

Somebody said in another thread on this topic that he actually did a 'fair' coverage. I may have to go see if I can find it on the internet. .

OMG Fran, you're killing me! I came down with the flu on Saturday and spent several hours throwing up my guts. I woke up this morning with ribs so sore it hurts to laugh and the visual I got of you standing there wondering where your plate went...well let's just say belly laugh starts at the ribs...and is painful. ROFL...but hey...at least it worked out for the best in that you didn't overeat and suffer for it later. <still chuckling over what your face probably looked like...thinking a toddler who's just had their lollipop taken away...ROFL> .

Fantastic job! Congratulations! You look mah-vehlous! .

As long as you strain out the egg. Clear liquids must be anything you can sort of see through - coffee, tea, broth...no 'milky' stuff (so no Protein shakes) and definitely no solids. Oh and good luck tomorrow!.

I just made some *wonderful* lemon-horseradish fish cakes for dinner! I found the recipe in my Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food" magazine but here's the link to the online recipe. Really easy, very flavorful and not bad on the carb count (about 6 per cake)! Here's the original recipe. Since I don't do wheat, I subbed the crushed saltines with a 50/50 blend of almond meal and flax meal. I think next time I'm going to lightly brush a baking sheet with oil and oven 'fry' them since that's how I usually do my crab cakes. .

Oh Bummer! Given the choice...I'd rather diet than exercise...but whatever works for you! C'mon Crystal...you have done phenomenally well! You can get through the next month! Just take it one day at a time. .

Ok...first, be glad for the posts that talk about the negatives. When I was doing my research, nobody was talking about these things so I went into surgery with a whole different perspective. Knowing then what I know now...I might (stressing might) have made a different decision but at least I would have had the full story. I read an article (I swear I need to print these off or bookmark them) that said only 4 out of 10 banders are successful...success being determined as only losing 50% of their excess weight and that's only of the percentage who don't end up losing their band from erosion or other medical complications and I can't remember whether these problems were 60% or 40%...sorry. I had my band out two weeks ago due to chronic phrenic nerve pain. My insurance did not have to give prior approval since it wasn't elective...it was due to a 'complication'. I'd guess most insurance companies work that way. My surgeon wanted to do a revision to the sleeve. I would have had to go through the whole approval process (psych eval mainly) again for that one. My insurance company had no problem in approving the sleeve (I didn't get it by the way) because the band was being removed because of a complication...not because it didn't work. Even then, the surgeon said they know how to word the paperwork so insurance companies will approve. Oh, and according to my surgeon, the band is not considered 'restrictive' but the sleeve is so again perhaps it's just in the wording? You can read about the experiences of others...good and bad...but it still won't tell you how you'll do. Ask yourself this...if you don't get the band, then what will you do? Yes, there's a risk you'll be one of those who fail at the band *or* are failed by the band (and it happens more than the manufacturers would like to admit)...but you could also be one of those who are successful. Personally, I wouldn't give up without trying. .

My response to these people..."Yeah and I'll bet you know someone who's been in a car accident, but you still get in your car everyday, yes?" Don't let them get to you. Do your research...ask your questions...and then make the decision based on what *you* want. Everyone else will just have to deal with it in their own way. .

Awww..y'all are making me blush, but thank you for your kind comments. Guess I'm going to have to go see if I can find the Oz/Band show on the internet. I forgot it was on this afternoon and I really wanted to see it. Glad to hear it wasn't a horse and pony show. .

Is it possibly because they generally disagree with you? That would certainly be why you 'believe' they are. If you believe my posts are so 'incredibly negative', you can always put me on ignore and then you won't be bothered by me. .

pizza...I remember that...I think. .

Does it matter that you don't have the usual comorbidities? I was once 237 lb on a 5'3" frame. Eventually I found myself at 330 lbs, unable to walk across the room without being out of breath. The fact is that you're carrying 237 lbs on a 5'2" frame. That should be enough! Why wait until you've spent enough years at that weight...or higher...to develop joint problems, heart problems, etc.? Remember that you're doing this for you...not your family. It's always nice to have their support, but that's the nice thing about the LB. The vast majority of the people here are very supportive so make them your support group. Also check with your surgeon. They may also have a list of support groups for banders in your area.

I would ask your doctor to give you specifics or point you in the direction where you can find specifics. If he won't do that, then I'd be tempted to disregard his 'opinion' and tell him you want the referral anyway (assuming you need him to refer). Our doctors are only human with all the same emotions we have and it be just that he and this guy had a bad falling out somewhere. If his is the only dissenting opinion and you're getting glowing reports from others who've actually used the band surgeon, I'd go with that. .

My son likes Oscar Mayer bologna <blech> so I weighed one slice and it comes out to 1 oz. Then I weighed the deli homestyle ham sliced just the way they do in the deli (kind of thin?)...2 slices.

While I believe a low carb, higher fat diet free of grains, starches and fruit (and obviously sugar) is a healthy diet, I also recognize that not everyone can stick to that WOE long term...and it may be unnecessary for them to do so if their bodies can deal with those types of carbs. I was never a junk food eater. I got fat eating the very diet that the current regime considers to be 'balanced'. I went from hypoglycemic to diabetes on that same diet. Now I'm grain, fruit and starch free...losing weight at a steady pace, feeling wonderful and, best of all, of all my diabetic meds. In addition, a lot of the symptoms doctors designated as 'chronic fatigue' completely disappeared. So, yeah, I miss my fruit more than I miss everything else. I'd love to have even a small dish of brown rice...but the reality is that my particular metabolic disorder doesn't handle these carbs and I'd be foolish to eat them. If you can tolerate them, and handle them, then by all means why should you give them up? After all, there is no one correct way of eating in a healthy manner...although there may only be one right way for each of us. .

No I don't shoot people down as being misinformed for having an alternate point of view. I do point out where they are in error...and it's not my opinion...it's based on facts. For example, when someone posts to the board that Atkins is all Protein and fat but they like another diet better because it allows you to have vegetables, then I correct their error. Atkins, from his original 1972 books, has *always* included vegetables. When someone posts that Atkins is all about eating a pound of bacon a week, then I correct their error. Nowhere did Atkins ever say you could eat a pound of bacon a week. In fact, he made it quite clear that if you eat too much fat, you'll most likely gain weight, or at the least, not lose. Nowhere did he say you *had* to eat fat until it was flowing out your ears. When someone posts that Atkins is a fad diet when the very definition of a fad diet is that it is not nutritionally sound and cannot be sustained for life, then I correct their error because it is nutritionally sounds and can be sustained for life. Even better, current studies are concluding that a low carb, high fat diet is actually more beneficial (not just in weight loss) than a low carb, low fat diet. So when someone says they read Atkins and followed it for years, but still doesn't understand the above, then I can only believe they really didn't read the book and they might have been following *something* but it wasn't Atkins. As for any critical posts...I am unfailingly polite to those who deserve it...but when I am attacked, I don't sit back quietly although I do try not to make it personal. Any perception that I have been anything other than that is...well...just that person's perception and something I have no control over. .

Sadly, even dieticians knowledge tends to be based on what is currently acceptable. I have both a Bachelor's and Master's and discovered that I could take the classes from both and would need only 4 semesters of degree specific classes to get my bachelor's as a dietician. I managed to make it through 2 semesters and it became exceedingly difficult because when I challenged long held beliefs with actual studies that have been done over the last decade (and could prove it with references), they shut me down. Would not even look at the material. My husband says I should just shut up, regurgitate, get my degree, suffer through the internship and then try to make changes from within. Personally, I think I'm getting too old to be beating my head against brick skulls and closed minds that believe there's only one right way.

Well hang in there...by the time you get to mushies, you'll think dinner they're the most lavishly elegant meals. .