Betsyjane

Hmmm. Soul mates. I've been married for a long time to a very pleasant man, but as I deal with issues of wrinkles, lack of energy, arthritis, and unwanted hair, I have this wonderful fantasy of just driving off, living in my van, having no ties, and just wandering around the country looking unretouched. No responsibilities, no home...occasionally renting a great hotel room, but mostly just being unfettered in a t-shirt until it's time to lie down for good. MY road trip in my head puts me in a better mood.

I have lupus and have been on a variety of NSAIDs. MY Rheumatologist has started switching me to other things, telling me that chronic use of them is too stressful to the kidneys and liver, apart from any band concerns.

Just be sure your doctor has lots of experience doing lap bands! I found at the beginning, that when I ate out I was very cautious abotu how I ate. If it had happened, though, I would have had plenty of warning, left the table for the bathroom, popped the food out and back to the table with no problem.

What part of Houston are you in? Oops. PB=Productive burp That doesn't describe it well though....

Hi Houston. Welcome to the journey. You're smart to start asking questions! The jury is out on carbonation. Some Drs. say it can stretch your pouch or lead to gas. Some say there is no evidence of a problem. Some say to let it go flat before drinking. My Dr. said no carbonation, so I gave up my addiction to Diet Coke the day of surgery. I was sooo addicted, but with all the other changes going on, I'm surprised to say I never missed it. Now I drink a Diet Coke on rare occasions and have no problem with it. Your best bet is to do whatever your Dr. tell s you to do, and later after you are well healed, you'll experiment a bit. I frankly don't think I could have given up Diet Coke before the surgery. Just seemed like one more change at the time of surgery, though so it was much easier. Ah slime. Here's the deal. Our bodies are amazing. When something gets stuck and won't go through the little hole from the stoma to the big stomach, we produce a much thicker saliva to help it go through. That's all. And that's not all. What sometimes happens is that you fill up with slime, even into your mouth. Or the slime and the stuck food make you PB....throw up the whole thing. The good news is that when you throw up, there are no stomach acids involved so it pretty much pops out the way it went in....and the other good news is that that whole process is just there to tell you you did something wrong...didn't chew enough, took too big a bite, etc., so with some practice you should be able to avoid sliming and PBing. But you will screw up on occasion and it will happen. Until you get used to the band, you'll find when you go in a restaurant, you sit near the restroom, or at least know exactly where it is!

Hi Micki. Your honesty will serve you well on the next leg of your journey. So many of us get stuck, and digging out of old behaviors we thought we had conquered can be disheartening. They say with alcoholics, one of the goals is to fall off the wagon for shorter periods of time each time. For us, when old behaviors crop back up, we shouldn't be surprised. We spent a lot of years cementing them into our brains. The nice thing about the band is that it will essentially allow you to be a laggard for awhile without that rapid weight gain we USED to get when we screwed up. Catch your breath for however long you need to, and when you are ready, get back to work. List the basics of living with the band, and figure out what you want to tackle first. Keep a log of your calories for a few days and see what bad stuff has snuck back in. This is all about how we learn to live permanently with new behaviors, and sometimes it's hard work. Don't kick yourself. It's just all part of it for some of us. I had a stretched pouch. I went in for a fill and was already full, but she could see from the fluoroscope pics that my pouch was bigger. She says it happens from things we do wrong, or even from doing nothing wrong. I'm very restricted in the morning, so even liquids in the morning could take too long to go through and stretch the pouch as they sit there. Many people then get a complete unfill or a partial unfill and let the stoma rest. With mine, I went back on liquids for 3 days and I was good as new. I also started sipping rather than guzzling my Breakfast. I guess the big deal with stretching is that if you try to live with too tight a restriction for a long time and with the subsequent stretching, you can get into a more chronic problem. I know when she told me I had a stretched pouch, I thought the world as I knew it had ended, and it turned out to be an easy fix and a cautionary tale. I keep a list of the rules of living as a bandster taped on my refrigerator, and I'm always finding something I need to do better, or that I just didn't do for awhile. Congratulations on your journey so far! Oh, and I also found out that for me, I am the worlds best at talking myself out of going to the gym. But I put Tony Horton's 30 minute routines on my portable CD, turn the sound off and turn the TV on, and I watch 1/2 hour of TV while I do his worout routine, and it's over before I know it. I find that I'm not going to be a major athlete in my life, so I need to have lots of different strategies for getting in exercise. I also found that sitting and watching TV is my worst emeny, so exercising in order to give myself permission to watch seems to work.... I hope you get lots of responses to this thread. I'll be interested to see what others are doing.

I was a Diet Coke addict morning noon and night. I didn't try to give it up until the day of surgery, and then I did it without a glitch. I think so much changes the day of surgery that it's hard to even notice just one more thing. I also decided I didn't want to replace it with other artificially sweetened things, since they raise blood sugar just like sugar does, and I didn't want to end up with cravings. So I became an avid water drinker. I'm not kidding---I think the key for me was doing at as of the moment I was banded so it just went along with al the other changes....

Has anyone done this? I'm wanting to get rid of my saggy jowls.....

Do you guys know anyone who had the Lifestyle Lift? Now that my poor old face is getting more droop and more jowls, and some crepe skin where I used to have 3 chins, I was wondering if that procedure could tuck me back up. Haven't done any research yet......

Southeast Texas Record | Couple sues doctor after daughter's obesity surgery Hmmm. When was it that Dr. S started mandating visits and support group with him?

First and foremost, start a dialog with him! Ask him your questions and tell him that you want to do what's right. He's had the experience and might be a great coach. Let it bring you two together through some good conversation.

You might also ask if you could be mantained on a diabetic med that has small pills.....

I crushed mine and chewed my flavored chewable multivitamin after. BUT thanks to the band, I'm now off all diabetic meds!!!!!

I've never had a painful PB. PBing is just a reminder that I didn't follow what works for me. Let's put it in perspective.... I weight progressively less. I no longer take diabetes meds. As of yesterday's test, I no longer have osteoporosis. And I no longer shop in the plus size department.

Congrats on your weight loss! Can't join you-bad back and Lupus- but will be cheering you on. PS: I no longer have to take diabetes meds! Thank you band!

Here are 2 other bonuses for me....I have stopped taking meds for diabetes, and I no longer have osteoporosis, according to my test yesterday!

It's not as hard as you think it will be...and it's harder. Remember that most people have time to begin to adjust because after surgery, there are still fills needed for the restriction to be complete. For me, that gave me time to learn what I was doing, and get used to it a little at a time...although I was soooo impatient to get full restriction. I was ready fro it when I really got restricted. Then I had to deal with by reasons for eating, a harder challenge than I thought. I couldn't figure out what to do if I couldn't eat when I was bored. I couldn't figure out what to do while driving, if not eat. The good news on all of it is that the learning comes in stages, and you just peel back the onion a bit at a time as issues arise. I never felt like I'd been dropped off the edge of a cliff and wanted to panic about not being able to eat. It wasn't that harsh, so you end up working on things.... I guess that's the good news/bad news. It's not so automatic. You develop a working relationship with your band: Sometimes you let each other down, and sometimes you get it right. The nice thing for me is that screw ups no longer mean that I gain weight....just means I lose less until I get back on track. I can live with that~!

It's funny. I've alwasy been able to eat salads! Dry or wet! I do find though that baby spinach in a salad is the easiest to chew up......and salad with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil on it makes it so hearty tasting, and well, anything goes down better with a slider! By the way, congrats! You are close to your halfway mark! Woo hoo!

Yeah, I've heard people say that. Mine's in the middle too, but I don't notice it. I do hear that that goes away with weight loss....... Congrats on your 10 pounds! I just found out today that I no longer have osteoporosis! I don't take the meds for it....The only changes since last year are weight loss and weight bearing exercise! I've gone from the red danger zone in both hips and my spine, to the green safe zone in 2 areas just barely not into the safe zone yert for the third area! Cool! I thought giving up my diabetes meds was fun...This is great!

Hey listen to this! I had a bone density test today, and also had one last year at this time. Last year, my spine and both hips were in the danger range. This year, both hips are in the green/safe range and my spine is in the caution area and almost the safe area. I haven't taken osteoporosis meds and haven't changed my calcium intake...all that's changed are my weight and doing weight bearing exercises! Thank you, oh magic lap band!

Hey listen to this!!!!! I just got my bone density test today. I also got one 1 year ago. Without being on any of the osteoporosis meds, my bone density has improved to the point that there is only one area where I am even in the cautionary area. Last year I was in the cautionary or badly osteoporotic range in my spine and both hips! I haven't changed my calcium intake....the two things that have changed are my weight and doing weight bearing exercises. Thank you oh magic lap band.....

You don't feel the band around your stomach. The "tightness" is that after you have the band, you go back in for a series of fills in order to tighten the band so your eating is restricted. So you feel restricted or tight, which is a good thing. It's what lets me eat a meal of only 4 ounces and feel full! I can feel the port with my hand, but otherwise I don't feel it. You're wise to ask questions. There's a lot to learn to accomplish the bandster lifestyle. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Had a great time tonight!

Please think seriously about coming! I really want to hear what happened with your Dr..... I'm mostly over my cold, so I'm going to come and not hug anybody. Just crank up that A/C in the car and head on!

From Humble, go east on 1960 to Atascocita. It's on the left sort of across from Walmart. How are you feeling and how is your blood work lately?