BJean

I asked my dietician why with the band, only the bad stuff goes down so easily like ice cream, chips, etc., and the good food: veggies, salad, meat, chicken, etc., get stuck easily. She said it's because the bad stuff is laden with fat. The fat helps in the break down process beginning in your mouth. The less fat something has, the harder it is to break it down. I wish someone had told me that sooner because it has been a frustrating experience with the band trying to figure out what the heck not to eat when I am with people in a restaurant. Bring on the sleeve!

Well Lee, you must be doing something right - you've lost 44 lbs. sinxce Feb! But you really should treat yourself with a visit to Walmart. It leaves a lasting impression. All that merchandise and all from China. At least I haven't been able to find anything made in the USA. Of course that's true of most stores, especially the ones claiming to be thrift oriented. And no, I haven't done a complete inventory for you naysayers, but I've never found anything made in the USA at Target or Walmart. And Target is one of my favorite places to shop. If you see something you like at a top-notch store that is too expensive, you can usually find a knock off at Target. Ummmmm, cocoa dusted almonds! Who can resist?

Me too, Stacy! I have been feeling inferior and disrespected for so long and I'm ready to stand up straighter and hold my head higher. And I expect to spend lots more time laughing and not worrying about food so much. Good luck tomorrow! Is "break a leg" innapropriate in this case? :-)

Daisy, that's great! There are WalMart's everywhere! Thanks for the tip. I'll get some this week. Congratulations, btw, for your fantastic success! It must be an unbelievable feeling to be at your goal (even below goal.)

When you're on such a restrictive diet it seems like the weight should be falling off at the rate of 10 lbs. per week. But our metabolic rate and other things keep us from having those kinds of losses consistently every week. But VV, you've lost 30 lbs.!!!!! That is absolutely fabulous. Do you know that's like losing a toddler? It's as if you were carrying around a little kid all the time - trying to function with a permanent kid hanging onto you. Just think how much better off your body is without that 30 pounds! I too worry the most about my head. I've always used food in unhealthy ways. Like when I'm bored or unhappy or lonely or tired or for just about any emotion I ever had. But I have to tell you, the happiest I've ever felt in my life was when I was slender. I felt so good about myself when I was able to wear cute clothes. It was great going places and having people treat me with respect, instead of going places and having people discriminate against me because I'm fat. Having people look me in the eye when they talk to me and smile, instead of people avoiding eye contact and not really listening when I talk. I'm married but I would like for a nice looking guy to strike up a conversation with me and act like he would like to hear what I have to say. Instead of men looking right through me like I'm not there. And most of all I want to have a normal blood pressure and not have to worry that I'm going to become a stage II diabetic like the rest of my family. And having energy instead of not being able to walk because my knees hurt so much... Now if I can just remember these reasons for going through this surgery and learning a new way of dealing with food, I'll be one very happy person. And that's what I wish for you. I'm sure that each day is a challenge for a while but when we're 6 months or so out from our sleeve date, and we've learned a lot more about how to live with our new stomach, everything will become easier and we will be happier and healthier and glad that we took charge of our lives instead of allowing food to be in charge of us. I apologize for the length of this. I think I just made a pact with myself right here on this thread. And your posts have helped me do that. Thanks.

Oh yeah Bob. He was the one I was talking about too. The little diatribe of his that patty decided to post one on top of the other for about 5 pages.

Devana they're in a frenzy. An hysterical frenzy. They don't make sense. They just glom onto anything they think might sound like a legitimate reason to protest - never mind that it doesn't make any sense. The right wing extremists think up the things that they'll yell about next and then they sell it to the tea baggers and anyone else who will listen. Actually there's big money behind it. People like Rupert Murdoch and that goon from Oklahoma - an oil man - the one who concocted the "swift boat" campaign to smear John Kerry with. Can't think of his name, but he provides a lot of the money behind the hype. It's hard to read and listen to. But here at LBT and at other websites the good thing about it is that it gives sane people a chance to point out the lunacy and disinformation and the logic and knowledge that is missing from their arguments. So there's that.

Daisey may I ask where you get the cocoa dusted almonds? When my sister had cancer, they told her to never eat sugar and to eat at least 10 raw almonds a day. So they must have some antioxidant qualities.

Good grief!! Thank goodness you finally got some answers. I can't believe he put restriction in during surgery. And I am too tight when I have a fill of 3.2 so I can imagine what you must have been going through! I don't know if you'll be able to get reimbursement, but if not, I would certainly try to get him to give you some of your future follow up visits paid for. To the tune of $300 at least. Some doctors are willing to give you more restriction and then have to back it out than to be overly cautious and make you come for fills more often. I don't really know which is preferable since I didn't have much success with my band. But it seems to me that the people who have more aggressive doctors than I had, tend to lose more weight. Just a thought... And to try to keep it real about your future fills with your doctor. He may have learned that his patients lose better with more restriction at the outset. Hang in there. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck!!

If that 63 year old whiner still had Bush for a president and a Republican dominated congress he could bet his bottom dollar that he would still be having to work his arse off with no end in sight! How the heck does he think the economy got so bad that he's still having to work? Because of president Obama or the Democratic dominated congress? Well that can't be right. They haven't been in control long enough to have made him worse off. And as a matter of fact, he is not worse off, he's better off. What a loser! He's too stupid to know what's going on around him. No wonder he hasn't planned well enough for his retirement. Or maybe like Cleo and many others he lost his nest egg to Goldman Sachs or Lehman Bros or fill in the blank. I'm getting sick and tired of the whiners. Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and get to work. If you want changes, put your money where your big mouth is. Otherwise you don't want changes you just want to bellyache and whine. Get a life!

Stacey I asked on another thread if your doc was in Mexico. Please ignore that question, I see here that you're going to TJ. Have a safe trip!

patty didn't write it. She really isn't all that clever. But a law student did, supposedly. And that explains a whole lot, right? I could tell a bunch of "lawyers are sharks that feed on people" jokes but I don't think that's necessary. We all read it for ourselves. And that thinking is the reason for the division in this country. That kind of radical, hateful, selfish mindset that keeps us from negotiating or compromising or doing anything at all for the good of the country. So thanks for sharing patty. Now go resume your regularly scheduled right wing programming.

Oh yeah, let the economy go totally down the tubes and we can all stand in bread lines like our parents did. Makes so much sense. We need to allow the government to step up to the plate and regulate business instead of allowing the greedy folks to run us all into the ground. Which is what they nearly did.

Her musings aren't any more extreme than some of the things that the anti-choice people say. As for women regretting having abortion, I believe more of them regret having gotten pregnant and are devastated at the prospect of having a child. While obtaining an abortion isn't the most delightful prospect, it is quick and final and can save women's lives. Children are very important - perhaps the most important thing we can ever do. So why would we have one in this world that we can't take care of and don't want? Just to make some person happy that can't have children? Giving babies up may be the answer for some women who can deal with pregnancy and the birth and the fact that they have a child that they gave up. But for many, many women they could never give one of their children away. They would be traumatized far more by giving up a child than to terminate a pregnancy that was unplanned and unwanted. So for them, abortion may be a necessary choice. They might regret having become impregnated and regret having to have an abortion, they don't regret having had one. In fact, they are flooded with relief afterwards.

First I'm no doctor. But from my own experience and years of participating here on FB, I believe that what you're feeling is the gas they use in your body that allows them to see your organs during surgery. You need to walk and move around - a lot. The more you move around the quicker you will get it out of your system. This usually only lasts a couple of days but you can speed it up by walking, walking, walking. I know you don't feel like doing it but that was the advice I was given and when I started walking around the house for 20-30 minutes at a time, I started noticing an improvement in the pain. No, they don't put any restriction in when they do the surgery. There is a swelling of the area that takes place from the surgery. That takes a while to go down and they shouldn't be putting in any restriction until after several weeks. I didn't want to eat much at all during the first week. I think that's fairly normal. Just take it easy on the shakes and don't worry too much about it. Just walk, walk, walk. You'll feel better soon!

Here's an idea for you. Get taxed on the number of children you have. Get taxed on how healthy you are. The rich do have their money and if they have to pay their fair share and the jobs go away, that's no worse than your idea of allowing General Motors and all the banks go bust.

Oops, I mean tweet. I'm a twit.

I don't twit but I am glad to know that there's someone out there talking about this stuff!~

ariscus you're the one who is naive! I can't believe that you're going to bat for corporate subsidies - you and all the wealthy lobbyists... that's some sweet company you keep!

Well I'm really dreading the nausea and stomach spasms but I'm mostly worried about the depression and feelings of having made a mistake. I can tell you this, I am grateful for your posts and honest feelings. It will help a lot when I go through it. I won't feel like the lone ranger and I'll know I can come here and do some venting. Keep on doing well and if others are the norm, in 6 months you will be very glad you had the surgery and you'll be totally involved in the new you! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

phat, I think the same thing about me and the low carb thing but I'm having a hard time actually getting started!! gatorman, interesting that your doc advises a sleeve if possible. That sounds good to me!

I'm not down playing the racist faction of the tea baggers but I remember all too well the things that they did to candidate Bill Clinton and later to President Clinton and he's a WASP himself.

I sure didn't mean to insiniuate that middle class Americans are paying more in taxes than they used to. What I was trying to say is that the middle class is paying more than their fair share when they're compared to the conglomerates that get government subsidies and tax breaks. And when the extremely wealthy have enough loopholes and deductions that they don't pay much either, guess whose taxes have to pick up that slack? As for the WASP members of the Tea Bagging party, I know there is some discrimination going about race. But I honestly think that the basis for the whole movement is that they enjoyed 8 years of Republican rule and they are delirious and frenzied because they are no longer in control. They're scared to death that they're going to wind up having to pay their fair share for a change either personally or through their businesses pocketbook. And another faction that makes up the Tea Baggers is the anti-choice maniacs. They will wave the no more govenrment banner and hold up signs about "Obamacare" and the rest but their agenda is simply to give the current administration a hard time because they are sure that the president is not anti-choice and it's killing them.

P.S. My dietician today said that with most sleeve patients they do a very low carb diet for 3 weeks prior to surgery. However for revisions from band to sleeve, it isn't as important. And that's a good thing since I don't have 3 weeks. My BMI is at 35 which is probably lower than for most new sleeve patients.