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Hi Gummie, I'm sorry that you are hurting so much. And arthritis in cold weather is never any fun. You know that your doctor is the person you need to check with when there is pain. But until you do. I wonder if you still have your gallbladder? If this pain comes a little while after eating, that might be an area to explore. Many folk who are losing weight, sometimes have issues with gallstones. Here is a link to a previous discussion about gallbladder problems that you can look over. If you want to know more, just enter "gallbladder" into the Search box at the top of the page and you will get lots and lots of postings. Good luck, Jo Ann Click here: Has anyone had gallstones? - LapBandTalk.com - Lap Band Talk Forum - A forum for Lap Band Discussion and Lap Band

Glad to help. Jo Ann

The fluorscope my doctor uses is a large standup device that you step up to, get in postion, and they can look at your innards. no clamps, no pokey things and you get to keep your clothes on. Yes, you do drink something; less than an ounce of barium which is a contrast element that lets the doc see exactly what happens when you swallow and see if there are any restrictions or reflux. My doc uses one for every fill. Hope this helps. Jo Ann

OMG K@t! With this much contrary behavior going on with your band -looks like you are going to have to sit down with yourself and have a serious talk with your band and remind that the both of you are on the same team and that when it goes its merry way, you are the one who ends up paying the price! :frusty: :) :faint: I hope you heal up fast and the soreness diminishes rapidly! I'll say a quick prayer for you at dinner today. Jo Ann

Hi there and :welcome2: to the forum. Dropfoot doesn't only come from a stroke -- there may be other forces at play. I couldn't find anything that specifically mentioned vitamins as a trigger, but this link explains some of the neuro-muscular things that might be going on. Click here: Drop Foot (Foot Drop) and Steppage Gait (Footdrop Gait) I'll share also that earlier this year I was tripping a lot and once fell out flat on my face while walking around the neighborhood. :faint: Since I had broken my ankle several years prior, I thought this was the result -- dropfoot. I went to my orthopedist and he took X-rays, watched my walk and pronounced that I did not have dropfoot, I was just a lazy walker and did not fully pick up my feet! Duh! I can report, no tripping since then. Hope your story turns out well for you. Hang in there! Jo Ann

BBG, I am so sorry that you've had such a rough week! Sending you mucho hugs and comfort. :) :girl_hug: I'm no doctor (and I don't even play one on TV) but you may just be jumping the gun a little on band slippage. The monthly cycle is one of most intense times for our bodies; hormones make everything a challenge and you know that with 7 days of PMS -- nothing makes any sense at all. :noidea: My advice is to BREATHE, allow your body to finish its hormone dance and make no decisions until that cycle is complete. Do the non-food things that give you comfort like:bathbaby: :drum: , or whatever makes you feel good. Instead of fighting your body and band, follow the lead it offers; eat when you can, and BREATHE when you can't. And of course, check back here whenever you get "squirrelly ." :hug: :hug: and best wishes, Jo Ann

Hi Bill and Happy Turkey Day to you! I too am grateful for this journey with the lap band and for the opportunity to have more control over how and what I eat. As I am the chief cook around here, there won't be time for that long walk before the meal, but I'll bet I can muster up something later in the day. With this beautiful Houston weather, it would be a shame to miss out. Best to you and yours, Jo Ann

:welcomeB: to Lap Band World Cindy-IL! Hope your firm date comes right away and that you have an easy time of it. Take the time to look all around the forum. Lots of questions you have will be answered! Jo Ann

I've been looking at the Houston area support groups and many seem to be northeast and northwest of the city. I'm down in the southwest in Sugar Land. Is anything happening there? Thanks, Jo Ann

I'll play! PMing my information now. Jo Ann

Dear Mom, There's lots of good advice already given by other banders. I think you were right to take the suicide talk/attempt very seriously. Now the next step is to find her the right kind of therapeutic support -- meds and therapist. In my opinion, your daughter cannot move forward until her brain chemistry is working better and until she feels like she has the resources and ability to identify a plan for managing herself and her weight better. Both are easier to accomplish with meds and therapy. I work with a child psychiatrist for my daughter who, like yours was consistently off the chart with height and weight for kids her age. In addition, she had ADD and depression and anxiety. From the psychiatrist, I got some good leads for therapists who speak "young teen." When you get out of the woods emergency-wise, you might like to explore these web sites for clothes that might appeal to teens. My daughter's complaint was that everything that fit her made her look like an old woman. These sites have a younger feel. Of course, as Mom, you will have to look for things appropriate for a girl of 12, but you could be a hero this Christmas with some trendy clothes. :clap2: Here are some websites that have clothing that might appeal to a plus sized teenager. Click here: www.dELiAs.com Really good for a 12 yr. old. Click here: extended sizes < Alloy Click here: Gurley Gear Virtual boutique Home Good luck and check back to let us know how things are going. Jo Ann

Karen, I have not had your experience and can offer you no practical advice, but I'm sending you big hugs to let you know that your cry of despair was heard. How frustrating and frightening it must have been to have your initial concerns just brushed off. Now, with better information, new possibilities can open up for you. All I ask is that you not give up completely -- continue working the system to get it to serve you in the way that you need, and the solution will manifest itself. Take good care of yourself and please let us know how things are going for you. Jo Ann

I've got several ideas: 1. Click here: LAP-BAND® - Home -- at the bottom of the page there is a surgeon locator. 2. Check on the main page of this site for the forum on Doctors and Hospitals -- and see if any names from Inamed are listed. 3. Look at the USA local Lapband and support - forum and look for Atlanta. These folks can probably make some good recommendations that you can research. Good luck, Jo Ann

Hi Martyn and :welcome: to LBT. This is an excellent place for information and support. I'm not sure from your post how much weight you have lost to date and like everyone else, we all wish it could be more! When you say that the aftercare from Mr. Super (what a name!) is non-existant, what are you expecting that you are not getting? Raise some of your questions here and there will be someone who can offer you some of their wisdom. In addition several medical professionals look at the site and make comments from time to time. Stay in touch, Jo Ann

That caffeine headache is a bitch, isn't it?:frusty: I'm of the opinion that caffeine needs to be weaned off just like any other strong drug (like heroin) Going cold turkey is possible, but life isn't much fun until you survive the first, most awful days. What I did recently when I attended a weekend retreat where coffee was not going to be served is to buy a box of Ultra Pep Back -- a newer version of NoDoz which is pure caffeine. I popped one bad boy in the morning and did not think about caffeine for the whole day. No headache, no crazies, just not on my mind any more. Maybe this will work for you! Good luck! Jo Ann

Most importantly, to myself! Thanks, Jo Ann

WP, I'm sorry about that extra night in the hospital, it must have been very scarey when things turned as bad as they did. Hopefully, that is all behind you and the IV got things all juicy inside again for you. Many of us were not great at drinking quantities of Water prior to the lapband, or we were used to drinking mainly with meals and the surgery calls for an immediate adjustment to the way we get our fluids. I know for me, it was and still remains challenging not to drink with my meals. What I have found that seems to work the best is to scatter water bottles all around the parts of the house where I spend the most time; the kitchen, my bedroom and my office. Then I play a game with myself that if the notion of "water" crosses my mind, I must stop and have some to drink. I've already had to stop three times and drink something since I began writing this note to you! :-) How can we best support you here on the LBT? Jo Ann

1. My ever deepening and rich relationship with God and Spirit 2. coffee -- that first one in the morning -- Nirvana! And the 1/2 decaf tall Americano mid afternoon 3. Extensive and wacky email/Internet network - including LBT 4. 21 year marriage to DH and delightful DD and DS offspring 5. Puzzles, games, books, Sirius satellite radio, and NPR Jo Ann

I'm getting my second fill the Monday after Thanksgiving, hoping that will make a difference. I'm pretty frustrated too! Jo Ann

Thanks. Doesn't Dr. Spivak just rock?? Jo Ann

It's a b*#ch isn't it? Most of us feel like you do, I'll bet and I hope you get a lot of good ideas from other bandsters. The best way I know how to feel good about myself that doesn't involve smoking or eating or brazen promiscuous sex is to do something for somebody else. Every time you do something for another human being, it heals something inside of you. Build a house, hug babies in a hospital nursery, staff a hotline, volunteer at a kid's school. Are there volunteer opportunities you have been meaning to get around to? Now's the time to follow up. If you are the least bit "crafty" I came across this website and bookmarked it to come back to "someday". Maybe you can beat me to it! Click here: Snuggles Project - Home Best wishes, Jo Ann

Dear AZ I appreciate your candor and willingness to engage with this topic. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have a situation like this in your own house that you cannot "inspire", "guide", or "teach" to make things better. Men like to solve problems with action, especially men who can make a lot of things happen all the time. As a woman who has chronic depression and is fat, I can tell you from experience that "fat" is not going to get handled until the depression is addressed. Depression makes anything harder to do and trying to motivate yourself to "work" on some area of your life is nearly impossible to do. Better to get the brain chemicals back in balance and the rest will follow. I'm about to say something very contradictory. On the one hand you are not likely to get anything to happen for her if you continue to see her as a problem that must be fixed. The message you convey by pushing her to change is that she is not alright with you just the way she is and that she needs to take some sort of action to get your approval and praise. Ask yourself inside if that isn't the place you are truly coming from? If so, you can see why she may be passive/aggressively resisting you. On the other hand, I see no problem with a husband (who has stopped imposing his solutions on a wife), lovingly saying to his wife, "Honey, I'm so worried about you. You look sad and upset and the smallest things make you blow your top. It must be miserable for you too. I've been noticing the sadness for ___ months and it breaks my heart to see you this way. If I went along for support, would you be willing to talk to the doctor/health professional about this"? Ideally you would be able to have her seen by a psychiatrist -- not because she is crazy, but in my experience, psychiatrists are better at prescribing the dosage of medication needed to effectively start working as soon as possible. The regular doctor is very nice, but they are trained to be extremely conservative with the dosing. It is harder for them to make the adjustments in dosing that sometimes are required. The psychiatrist can make the recommendation that talk therapy might be very useful as well. The two, taken in combination have the best success rate of managing depression. I wish the best for you both. Jo Ann

Tall or petite? tall Under 40 or over 40 ? Jo Ann

My first love is and will always be Motown, R&B and Soul. However, the new music is too suggestive/crude and not very well sung and I ventured into New Country last year. Big fun! Songs that tell stories, surprises and twists -- what a hoot! I love to read and prefer series so I can really get into the story and the world of the author -- sci-fi/fantasy -- Robert Jordan -Wheel of Time series, Kate Elliot - Crown of Stars series , Diana Galdabon - Outlander series [they call this romance, but it is really about time travel], Katherine Kurtz - the Deryni Chronicles series. Historical Fiction -- anything by Dorothy Dunnett - I started with the Niccolo Rising Series Mystery -- two female writers who are excellent are Karen Kijewski -Kat Colorado series and Julie Smith - SKip Langdon series Stop me, before I get too wound up here!! Jo Ann

Kathy, I've got a small gripe too with Kinky and "One tough Grandma" splitting the vote for Bell. It would have only been too delicious to have voted Perry out! :heh: However, as a resident of District 22 -- I can proudly say that a Democrat is going to Washington as our Congressman, although we'll have to put up with a Republican write-in for several weeks. :clap2: :clap2: We also had a number of unopposed candidates here in Ft. Bend County outside of Houston -- particularly among the judiciary. Not a very comfortable feeling. I've lived in Texas for the past 17 years and always in a very Republican /conservative area of either Dallas or Houston. What struck me this election were the largest numbers of Democratic lawn signs and newer signs for "vote straight Democratic ticket" that I have ever seen. My guess is the Democrats will be "out of the closet" here in Ft. Bend County! Jo Ann