kareyquilts

Susan: So glad your home and all is well. Glad the tumors are benign and all is well. Appreciate your sharing your experiences. Keep healingQ

I had silicone, still love them!

Glad you made it home safely and all is going well! Thanks for allowing us on your journey. I'm rooting for you!

Congratulations! You're almost there! Get the wedge pillow and a toliet riser. You'll be very glad that you did. Also, hopefully you have some one that will be with you and help you for the first days. You'll need help getting up and down, etc. Get some funny movies and just plan on chilling! Wishing you the best!

Frangi: You're awfully quit what have you decided?

Isn't it easier to detect breast cancer if the implant is behind the muscle?

Congratulations! Thanks for the details of your experience. It's really helpful. Glad you're feeling well. Do you know if all sleeve patients are on Nexum? Is it a permanent thing?

Susan: I'm glad that you made it through both surgeries! Sounds like your doc is very thorough. No leaks is a good thing. So sorry about your nausea, it sucks to be nauseous. Hopefully will resolve soon! Thinking of you and wishing you the best!

Esmeralda: My band has to come out and I will still have to pay the hospital, etc. just like I did this summer. Unfortunately, my lapband has been a very expensive propostion for my family.

Dr. Pleatman: Is that what you charge when you have to remove a lap band also? Doesn't the company that makes the lap band do anything for the patient when their band fails? Is this why my doc says he'll do the surgery for "free?" I did check out your website and I was impressed. Also watched a video on U Tube where you are demonstrating a sleeve procedure. It was very interesting. If I had complications you would be a long ways from me, but it sounds tempting.

Sherry: So sorry for your loss. I know how you are feeling. I have been having anxiety attacks, especially when I slip up! I really like the book U on a Diet by Oz Mehmet, because it is upbeat and has a lot of ideas to help you feel full. Here is one thought: He says to go on the GPS diet. When you make a wrong turn, does the GPS berate you? No, it simply says, at the next available place, make a U turn. We need to get rid of the all or nothing thinking. If we're not perfect, we make a correction and keep on going in the right direction. That is all any human being can do. I'm sorry your doctor has not called you, but who needs a doc like that? Don't let anyone take away your power and tell you that you WILL gain your weight back. That can be like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You might gain some weight back while your learning to maintain your weight in a non-lapband manner. It feels different and there is bound to be a learning curve. If you decide that it's too difficult and you can afford it, consider the gastric sleeve as an option. Daniel Cottam in Salt Lake is doing the operation. Look into it on the internet and think about it. You have the power, you can get a different surgery or you can determine that you will do it without surgical intervention. Join an online support group for weight loss. There are many of them out there, check them out and see what feels helpful and comfortable. There are no easy answers, if there were, half the population wouldn't be struggling with their weight! I wish you the very best. Please keep in touch. Esmeralda: My doctor feels some responsiblity for my slipped band, so he is offering to do the surgery for free. He is a good man. I will still have to pay all the other fees, hospital, assistant surgeon, etc. It will still cost about $10,000 should I choose to have the sleeve.

You're going to love the flatlands!

Susan: Will be thinking of you today! I'm sure all will be good. Bless you!

Good luck Elisabeth, you'll be in my prayers!

Yellow: I'm sending positive vibes your way! Wishing you the best. Good luck!

Wow! You've got some skinny going on! It's going to keep looking better and better. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Susan: What kind of protien powder are you using. My nausea is getting worse. I don't think I'm going to be able to wait another month to see if my lap band is back into position. I'm going to have to make a decision soon. I am really leaning towars getting the sleeve vs going solo.

Susan: Glad you're not starving. I have contacted Dr. Aceves office. Not sure if I'll use him or my doc, but I'm going to be watching your journey carefully. I'm very excited for you. Wishing you the best.

Dr. Pleatman: I just looked at your website. I'm wondering how important you think experience is in performing the sleeve surgery. There are people on LBT that say that a doc needs to have done 250 sleeve procedures before you let them operate on you. What do you think about this? How common are leaks? What should I really be asking my surgeon before I let him do the surgery? I would really appreciate your perspective. Thanks!

Dr.Pleatman: Thanks for your opinion. I am strongly leaning towards the sleeve. It's frustrating because all around me, family and friends and even some of my doctors think I can do it without a replacement surgery. They make it seem like I am copping out to want the sleeve. I'm very nervous about the amount of stomach they take out, but love the no appetite and restriction part of it. Glad there are options.

Godschild: How did you find a counselor? Do you think you need one that specializes in eating disorders?

Thanks for the link. Good luck with your weight loss journey!

Thanks! Keep thinking about it. I am about 10 pounds from my goal weight. It's a big decision. According to my doc's bio he helped pione the sleeve gastrectomy at the University of Pittsburgh. I have not been able to ask him how many he has done yet. Won't see him again for a month.

Susan: Good luck with the liquid diet. I found it easier to not watch TV. I never think about the blasted food commercials until you are on liquids than everything looks good! Wishing you the best! Looking forward to following your journey.

I really appreciate everyone's well wishes. I am experiencing a lot of nausea since the fluid was taken out of the band. I don't know why, but I guess I will cope. I am really trying to decide how to proceed. My children and friends think that I can maintain my weight without the band (my husband isn't so sure). I want to think that, but I know that the stats aren't in my favor. My orthopediac doctor had a very nice conversation with me today. He said that I have been on a great journey and the culmination of this journey would be having the confidence in myself to maintain my weight without the band. I had expressed to him that I thought there was something inherently wrong with me that I had let myself get so heavy in the first place. He said that I should not let fear rule me, that I was obviously not average and could do it if I would give myself the gift of believing in myself. I have thought about that all day and went to the bookstore and purchased a book about Mindful Eating by a doctor who practices Zen buddism. This is how I look at it. Having over 2/3rd's of your stomach removed is like someone with the breast cancer gene having a mastectomy when they don't have breast cancer, but are worried that they might get it and have seen people they care about die of breast cancer. The question is: Is she acting out of fear or being proactive and taking care of her health? This is what I need to decide for myself. I don't look at it as a simple matter of self control. I have a lot of self control, but that only goes so far. What do all of you think? I could really really use some feedback here? If you lost your band what would you do?