BJean

Oh thanks for the heads up. Is a troll someone who lurks on threads and then jumps in and insults people? I've never been real clear on that. I'm not being a jerk, I really don't know.

My doc wouldn't let me swim until the steri strips had fallen off (which is when your incision has healed.) The steri strips on the incision where he removed my stomach didn't fall off for about 4 weeks or longer, I can't remember exactly. That incision opening was as big around as the size of his thumb and a very important spot to get healed properly. An infection there could be pretty bad.

Oooh this IS fun. I don't know which comment was more telling. The one where sumthingwong says, "... u cant never tell with a woman!" or the one where lisalu insinuates that sumthingwong is a misogynist troll. Good stuff.

barbann, that sounds great to me! Congratulations on your success in meeting your goal! I hope you're right and we don't have to worry a lot about stretching. morgan, it is scary to think about long term success and the variables. But after having the band, this seems much less likely to develop problems than the band did. There are so many more things that seem to go wrong with it, with pretty bad consequences. This almost seems too good to be true. Guess we all need to keep our fingers crossed!

The thing that patty, and others, don't seem to understand about progressives thinking that they are racist is because the president is actually doing the work that Bush did not do and he's also reparing some of the terrible stuff that Bush did do. And many of those things are the very things that tea baggers and conservatives complain about! So if they are against the president, but he's proven that he's not as far to the left as they claimed he would be, his actions have actually been quite centrist, and he's hasn't raised taxes on them which is another thing they complain about, and hasn't taken away their guns and all that, then what's left for them to dislike him for? Trumped up rhetoric that doesn't hold water for a second. It's pretty darned obvious when you go to a tea party rally and idiots wave racist signs and shout racist slogans and suggest that the president wasn't born in America. There's just nothing else a reasonable person can believe if one is following their words and their behavior that is so provocative and hateful. Especially since the things that they want for America seem to be the things that the president is trying to do for America.

I would like to think that I'm kinder than those people and not mean spirited but sometimes when I see how people react in public to overweight people, I secretly hope that they become obese one day and see what it's like. I do not think that becoming obese necessarily has everything to do with "head" issues. I believe that there are some biophysical aspects that have been triggered, possibly by overeating. And the head games and depression may possibly be a side effect, not a cause. Psychologists have been practicing for years on the premise that people who are obese have been abused, usually sexually, as children. I think that's a cop out of a kind. Something to blame obesity on, perhaps to take away some of the guilt that obese people experience. But I don't believe that anything like sexual abuse has been adequately proven to be the root cause of obesity. They've also tried to blame bad parenting skills (parents who are perfectionists with their daughters) for anorexia. But although psychological counseling that uses that approach may have helped some women fight through anorexia, I doubt seriously if they have actually proven that anorexia is caused by certain parental behavior. I'd be willing to bet that like obesity, there is a physiological, metabolic reason behind it and many of the psychological manifestations are intertwined with those physiological ones through a lack of or too much of certain hormones and nutritional deficiencies. And no, I have no medical research to back me up, but my guess is just as good and probably as educated as some of the stuff that the diet industry regurgitates every day.

Perhaps that is due to the type of steeve restriction that he personally does. In other words, he may have seen that outcome in his patients but that may not necessarily mean that other doctors have the same incidence of stretching over the first 2 years.

There may be other studies going on as we type. This is a relatively new procedure for weight loss - particularly being done in the numbers that they are now. My doctor will still place a band if someone insists but he tries to educate them and let them know that the VSG is producing better results. I read somewhere here on this forum that in California Keiser isn't paying for the band anymore, but I don't know who posted that or where they got their information. I also heard that as to the lack of appetite, our bodies will eventually adjust and figure out a way to produce feelings of hunger. It's a survival mechanism supposedly. But again, all this may be mostly conjecture since we can all do that just based on our own experience.

NtvTxn, I definitely do think I'm going through the same slow realization because I had to buy new lingerie and pjs and there was only a size "medium" in some gowns that were on sale. It was such a fantastic sale that I decided to go ahead and get 2 for future when I reach goal. However I got home and even though the tops are fitted, they fit! I bought size XL in the other stuff, thinking I'd be thrilled not to be buying a 1X or 2X. But they XLs are actually too big and I have to return those. Some people seem very surprised when they see me. Others act like there is nothing different about me. I feel slender but I know that even though I'm much smaller than I was, I'm still overweight for my height. So I don't want to feel too contented with this size. Does that make sense to you? All the dieting and rebounding I've done has made me distrust the mirror and my own commitment to being a slim person. I never realized how big I was unless I saw myself in a photo. That never stopped being a shock to me. Crazy as a loon, huh?

You're on. Just give me a few more months to lose this other 30 lbs so I can keep up with you!

Yay Donna!!!! You are spot on! The weight loss industry in America is obscene. And the more we fall for that crap, all of it, the worse off we are and the more we hate ourselves.

At some point she probably gained 10 lbs and that's the basis of her claim of having overcome being fat. Susan Powter used the photo of herself when she was pregnant. And some of the Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem people have done the same thing. We ALL had to lose weight after pregnancies. That's not the same thing as fighting obesity. Except of course for Jaffa. Doubt if pregnancy played a roll for you. Man, you're going to be so glad you got the revision! It's the best thing I've ever done for my health and my appearance. At this point I haven't had it very long and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this elation I feel, lasts. I agree with SarahD on that. I've been through so many ups and downs doing every diet imaginable and struggling after every re-weight gain following the strict dieting. No wonder we don't want to share our surgery with everyone. We have a hard time believing this is going to work long term ourselves so why should anyone else think it will? We've been through so much disappointment ourselves, we don't need to see it reflected in our friends eyes. I imagine my friends wonder what I've done because I've lost so quickly. And when they ask and I tell them I have another 30 lbs to lose, they say "Oh that's too much!" But of course 30 lbs will only put me at the same relative weight that they are right now. Slim people are clueless about what obese people go through.

HA! How do you look in your jeans when you're picking oranges? One owns a chain of jeans stores and the other sells irrigation for organge groves. I must say, most American gents respond well to British accents of any sort. And you're so right... it never hurts to ask! I'll let you know when they're ready to adopt you. But they better adopt me in the process as well. I'm personally all in with my Okie influenced Texas drawl. And no, there sure ain't no call for that unintellectually stimulatin' verbiage. In fact, it's practically all my one man can handle. Bet you can imagine that.

Honestly if it were my daughter contemplating having part of her stomach removed, I'd worry too. But knowing how positive the results are now, I would be happy to hold her hand and do all I could to support her. I hope yours get comfortable with it and aren't too scared and when all is said and done they are very proud of your strength and determination to get healthy. Glad you have a date now. It helps a lot to have a date once you've made up your mind. Best of everything to you! Keep us posted.

Jane I noticed you've dropped another couple of lbs. Cool. Btw, my friends invested a ton of cash in cosmetic surgery so they wouldn't have to photoshop I guess. :-) I don't know if I really think that cosmetic surgery is the right thing to do. They're a little older than I so perhaps I'll someday change my mind but I watched a facelift on the tube and it was frightening! They actually lift your skin up off your face to reposition it.

I cannot tell you how extremely happy I am with the results of the sleeve procedure. I got the band in 2006 and struggled and was pretty miserable with only marginal results (44 lbs) It has been a completely different story with the sleeve which I got in April. Although I do think that the misery with the band prepared me well for accepting any discomfort from the sleeve surgery without regrets. And I will say that although I was more uncomfortable after the sleeve revision surgery than with the band, it was very short-lived. And I haven't had one episode of nausea since the first hours after surgery (where they managed it with meds) and I haven't had one episode of serious pain from eating more than I should. It is easy to know when to stop eating with the sleeve whereas with the band I could overeat by a single tiny bite and not know it until a few minutes later when I experience terrible pain for hours. I'm one of those who wishes this surgery had been available 30 years ago! I am the happiest I have been since I was in my 20s. I not only would do this again, I am hoping that my husband will do it too. He's taking meds for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. and I don't want to lose him! The only piece of advice that I could give someone considering this surgery is that they make sure that they get the best possible surgeon in the best hospital they can afford. This is not minor surgery. The side effects can be as minor as mine were, but they can also be life-threatening if not done properly. You're wise to consider all your options and do lots of research. But your success is almost guaranteed with the VSG and with the band it's a crap shoot. (I accidentally put RNY when I meant VSG! Duh.)

No drain tube for me either. My surgeon does a leak test while you're on the table in the OR. He has never had a patient develop a leak. And he's done hundreds of sleeve procedures. I had a drain tube with an adominal surgery years ago with a mid-line incision. I can tell you that my recovery was so much quicker without the tube and big incision! There is really no comparison. But if your doc is only comfortable using the tube, then you just suck it up and deal with it, right?

P.S. Something about being anonymous here defnitely works like alcohol on my inhibitions! In fact, I've been known to get rather brash and offensive. It's lots of fun, I have to admit. And quite liberating for someone who normally prefers to be politically correct in polite company.

Set me up for that transplant! LOL I just saw recent photos of old friends on Facebook. They look younger, after 11 years, than they did when I lived near them. Well... some teeny bit scary deer in the headlights eyes, but no saggy chins or winkles anywhere! Amazing what money can buy.

Big sigh of relief! Hope you don't encounter any repercutions from swallowing your gum. But you've enlightened many of us about something we were totally unaware of. Thanks.

Well I've always enjoyed getting a good buzz and have been known to have a few too many from time to time. But alcohol just never has made me feel as good as ice cream used to. Weird, huh? I totally understand the dependancy transfer situation. I imagine I could figure out how to do that. Not that I'm on self-destruct, mind you. But I am a girl who likes to have fun. Many of my friends like me better with a few drinks in me because I'm generally so darned uptight all the time. I'm one of those chicks who grew up needing to have everybody like me and so I've been bad about trying TOO hard, if you know what I mean. That kind of behavior often makes others uncomfortable and kinda feel sorry for you. Gawd, youth is wasted on the young! Thanks for the feedback, Jane.

LOL, ROLLEYES, LOL!!** **That's what we get from you when you have nothing you can come back with. If I'm a dramaqueen (one word?) what do you think that makes you, my dear?

You know, don't you, that wealthy men confer with and back Rush Limbaugh, right? And we all know who is backing Fox networks and various newspapers and the other interests that Rupert Murdoch runs with an iron fist. And that jerk oilman who claims "wind power" is his gift to America. And we know about many other extremely wealthy men who influence the Republican party and the Republicans in congress. And that's who the tea party movement supports - and guess what? The tea party's roots are within the wealthy influence peddlers. They're intertwined, big time. And they've sucked in Americans who like to think of themselves as conservative, God-fearing, patriotic Americans. They love capitalism, hate welfare, are outraged at the thought of socialism in any form, think they should keep every dollar they make, etc., etc., etc. Well if they had a clue they'd understand that the people they're supporting in congress and the money behind campaigns to destroy Acorn and the president and the speaker of the house and other Democratic politicans, is handled by the extremely wealthy billionaires, who do very little to provide jobs or pay taxes to help run this country. And yes, Americans are becoming expendible to them. Or have already become expendible when it comes to the labor force. When I was talking to the DirecTV folks the other day, trying to make some changes to my service, I was routed to a person whose job it was to clarify the order and make sure I understood the charges. I could understand about every third word she spoke due to her very heavy Indian accent. It was extremely frustrating and par for the course these days. What used to take about half an hour (at worst) took me most of 2 hours! This used to be such a fine place to live, work and raise your family. Now it's turned into a fine place for billionaires to get richer and the middle class and poor are finding it more and more difficult just to keep their heads above water.

Yup, those two things, the travel and the wilde beests, are the reason I haven't wanted to make the trip. But I dunno if I had the chance to go I probably would. Your photos of the Sex in the City party were very cute. You're a better man than I for being able to manage those shoes until the wee hours. Which brings up a good question: wine? I have teetotled since surgery because of all the stories I've heard. Plus my dietician says that alcohol is hard on the tummy. Have you had any problems? I have a tendancy to get drunk on small quantities (being part red Indian, ya know) so I've been afraid that I would totally make a fool of myself by waking up with a lampshade on my head and burn marks on my knees.

Sounds fab. Do you have to worry about sharks there? How long does it take to get to Australia from your neck of the woods?