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I know that I am in perimenopause. My GYN diagnosed that last year after I kept complaining about hot flashes. This year is the first time that I have skipped periods without being on some type of bc pills. I am hoping that I won't have to go the route of hysterectomy. My mom had hers done in her 30s. I am already starting all of the problems she had plus PCOS. Thanks EVE for screwing it up for all womankind! lol

Tuesday Menu-Well I had another near miss with falling off the diet train yesterday. I credit the power of a full belly via lunch, and also credit mindfulness with keeping me sane and eating healthy-on plan food. Instead of having a mini binge or rather a hedonistic meal, I was able to feed myself a very filling and healthy lunch which allowed me to really get in touch with my feelings so I could process them. And that allowed me to make and eat a very delish, simple, and healthy dinner rather than shoving carby, salty, fatty food down my piehole. This morning I woke up in a much better frame of mind and feel like I "won the day." B-yogurt/cottage cheese blueberries almonds and Fiber One cereal bowl with 1oz Fairlife skim milk, 2 pieces bacon MS-carrots and hummus L-Fried Egg and Swiss low carb wrap AS-psylli tea, peanut butter and GS apple D-blackened tilapia, green beans in garlic and olive oil, Greek salad with Nicoise olives and feta BS-pomegranate seeds, Lily's SF dark chocolate chips, toasted almonds Daily Totals: 1493cals; 98g protein; 80g fat; 93g carbs; 39g fiber; 54g net carbs (Dayum! I have GOT to get my protein down and my fat up! This is entirely too much protein for me.)

I didn't want anyone watching me and playing audience participation in trying to be a part of my journey. I know what to eat and when. You don't need to ask if I can/should have what I am about to have. Mind you, I got me taken care of. I told very few people. SOme of my closest friends don't know. Because it's none of their BUSINESS and people can think that's BS all they want. Not all of us are open books and not all of us want to live this journey out loud. I got ME and MY JOURNEY handled. You worry about yours.

I have the mirena and have had a period 3 out of the last 4 wks. I'm sure it's related to surgery tho bc I've had it for a year and my periods have been regular (never stopped for me). If this continues I'm going to switch to the para guard. Yes you can use tampons normally, and it's effective immediately.

Kero you have made some excellent observations, some of them I subscribe to. I do understand there is now a psychologist on staff but I don't know how you get to him before or after surgery. I live in BC and know firsthand how long distant patients can get lost at TLBC. The aftercare support is second to none for Toronto and area patients. However, anyone long distance must give heed to support very carefully. For instance, for me to have a FREE fill, it costs me roughly $1,000 to fly to Toronto. Also, not being able to attend the "Boot Camp" and other support meetings can leave a long distance patient very much alone. As everyone knows the first few months everything that is unusual such as pain, vomiting, etc. can be very frightening. Not being able to get answers locally can equally be frightening. Where one clinic supplies fill nurses/doctors throughout Canada, TLBC does not do that. They rely on a DVD which has never been accepted by our ER or my GP as a training tool. BC now has a Dr. that does banding trained by Dr. Yau but he will not do fills for any patient other than his own. Mercifully, I was accepted as his patient before he stopped taking on others. All my points are yes TLBC is an excellent Clinic and Dr. Yau is the most experienced. Their aftercare is second to none, except for long distant patients, which can find it a bit tiresome getting help. Zena probably would back me up on this. As for comments on Nancy, I don't think it is the language barrier at all. I I had arranged a surgical date to have my port corrected but she was the direct cause of the surgery being cancelled. She used two needles and 5 tries to get the saline in as a test and told Dr. Yau there was no need for surgery. As a result I lost $1,000 for that trip only to make it a few months later AGAIN and this time I had it corrected. Nancy knew I was from BC but that didn't stop her from "advising the doctor" there was no problem putting in saline. Even when I told Dr. Yau it took 4 needles and twenty minutes to get in a fill. I thought the next day I would get anoher fill before going home On this trip, I told them I only wanted the band corected not moved. In the dressing room, Dr. Yau asked where I wanted it moved to. I was furious and told him to fix the damn thing I didn't want it moved. I really wonder if they talk to each other! FLASH! I just have received word that Nancy will be coming to Victoria, BC for fills. TLBC never told me. Communications anyone?????

Hi girls~ Been a crappy few days. My DD is not well. She got an ear infection, and the glands below her ear and just behind it swelled like nobodies business. She has been to the ER 3 times, only managed to get seen once, and he made her an appointment with an ENT, for next week. She was supposed to come back if 2 days on steroids, and antibiotics and pain killers did not help. They didn't, it swelled more, and moved up into her ear itself, the cartilege outer part is swollen, oozing, and now black, and the skin has broke down. Well as we sat in ER again, I saw my own ENT, he saw her...because he didn't know what else to do with a crying Mom! She has staph infection, and is not good. The area below and behind her ear is like a rock, and so swollen, she does not even have a jaw line. She hurts, and they are concerned, as she is also septic. And the concern is the proximity of the brain to the infection. Kinsey is handling it better than I expected, her Mama being sick. Manda is such a good Mommy, she does everything she can to make sure Kinsey is ok, and not too stressed. I have hives on my hives. Went to get Ricks heart meds, and insurance changed their formulary the first of the year, and his meds went from $40 a month with insurance, to insurance not covering them so now it is $174 every 30 days! I called and he even went and saw his PCP here today, and he refuses to change the cardiologists orders, so somehow, somewhere, some day we are going to have to try to get an appointment, and get to Albuquerque to his cardiologist and see what can be done. It is 186 miles each way....with my DD sick, we are just going to have to deal with it for now. His job did the first round of lay offs, and we managed to survive, but figure we are looking at a couple of weeks max. And they are not offering any severence packages at all---cheap ass company! They are HUGE and world wide.....and corrupt as the day is long. Claim to be all about family....such BS!!! Anyway----I'll be in when I need to destress!!! Y'all take care!!! XOXOXO Kat

Stacie, I'm so sorry you are having to endure a leak. I had one as well, and it was a very long road to a full recovery, BUT, I can tell you once you get passed these speed bumps, life with the sleeve is awesome. I had a leak 2 days post-op my band to sleeve revision. I had leak repair surgery, where they sutured the leaked area with heavy sutures. My lungs would not recover after the 2nd surgery so I landed in ICU on a ventilator, in a medically induced coma for 5 days with a grave prognosis for survival. Once my vitals stabilized I was woken up, and then released a couple of days later with a central line in my arm and force fed 1800 calories a day through a TPN bag and sent home with drains and an in-home health care nurse. I was only 32 at the time, with an 11 year old son, and my husband was deployed to Afghanistan and was not allowed to come home. I completely empathize with you, but what got me through all of the trials of the complications, was my sheer determination to recover and beat the odds. My mother drove to FL from TX to get my son. I was alone for over 3 weeks and not able to eat or drink anything for 22 days. Nothing passed my lips from June 2 to the 25th with the exception of 2oz of contrast Fluid used for the leak tests. I won't deny being scared, and wondering what the heck was I thinking, but I have zero regrets because I survived, and learned about myself, and my strength to endure pure hell. I know it's not everyone's mentality, but I honestly believe that a positive attitude will help you overcome these obstacles through your journey. I was hospitalized for a week, 6 weeks post-op for abscesses in my abdomen and pelvic cavity. I was dehydrated, and once again came home with drains in my abdomen for a 2-3 weeks. But, I am stronger because of it. It's been researched, and documented that positive mental status will help you recover. You can and will "WIN" if you want to. You can and will "RECOVER" if you can will yourself to believe it. That's the only thing that got me through my recovery. I had to resign from my job, and now can not find another one. My husband went through severe emotional distress due to my condition/complications while being in a war zone. BUT, here I am almost 8 months out, and firmly believe that I endured all of it, and I've won. I'm healthy, happy, and my life is full of joy because of the trials and tribulations I endured, I cherish every day more than the last. If you need to talk, vent, or cry, please feel free to contact me via Private Message feature here.

Lapbandanna- glad to know I'm not alone It's hard to not eat just to eat. That's always been my biggest problem. Not eating bc I was hungry- but eating bc it looked good/smelled good/was out w friends or whatever other reason I had. Hunger was rarely ever the culprit.

Hi Jennifer, believe me I feel your pain. My BMI is 67.2 It took me a long time to realize that I needed help to get and keep the weight off. For a few years I went back and forth with myself about losing weight. People don't realize how hard it is for a "obese" person to lose weight. I work @ a hospital and losing weight is always a topic at lunch. It bothered me inside because I couldn't understand why they could lose the weight and I couldn't. Like u I have BC/BS and I was referred by my PCP, met the surgeon then started a 6 month weight management class, dis all the pre-op test, now I am at my last hurdle. My suegery is Sept 12 and I cant believe that it is here. I would see and hear about people who have wls and I would be like , Wow that could have been me. And now my time is here, just like in a few months it will be your time to shine. Believe me, u have made the right decision for yourself. Just be patient and now that we are all here for u when u need it the most. Good luck!

Hey amykins! I think i've seen you around the forum. :-) Imabear: i had it pretty easy. I was one of those whose doc did a long postop diet. It was about a month before I ate solid food. So when I did, I was ready. I've never overeaten, have never hurt my tummy or sleeve. I do eat something every 2-3 hours bcs I get hungry. And I am back to eating my pre-surgery pace. It doesn't take me long to eat. The only issue l had was 6 weeks post-op my gallbladder had to come out. That slowed down my weight loss a bit bcs I couldn't exercise. It's a great life, being a sleever.

@TXMissy You probably could have gotten another visit with NUT covered if you asked your doc. I went to doc for my first free consult April 17 and then did my psych eval, endoscopy, heart stress test, NUT apt, and pulmonary function test. Having Surgery June 1st. It all went much faster than I anticipated. I didn't have to do any supervised diet etc. I have BC/BS of Texas

I was told never again can I have carbonated drinks,bc it swells the stomach and the air that gets trapped in the stomach makes you feel real bad, also the sugar content is real high so you could get a sugar high then low, also not good... Although I was told by someone at a support group I attended that she bought these drops that you add to your Water and it tastes like fanta orange or grape, said she bought them at walmart in the section that has all those water enhancers. Might could try those... Oh and my dietician said I could take a coke zero (no sugar) and shake the carbonation out and have like a half cup, but to do that rarely because it might tempt you to have it with carbonation.

I decided to go with RNY over sleeve bc of my acid reflux and diabetes. I'm sooo excited bc my surgery is scheduled for 9/17 ????

Goooo girl. A lot of people won't understand nor will they get it Bc it's not them. I'm Having this issue at work. People chatting about why I'm not at work. And others telling why I'm out. At the end of the day it's the persons decision. We all kno what we have to do for us. Everyone one else can kick rocks Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Oh god, I've got a list..... broccoli salad. It's basically blanched broccoli, cauliflower, in some mayo/cream sauce with a ranch seasoning mixed in. We used to sell this at the grocery store deli I worked at(schnucks if you are a midwesterner in the St. Louis area) I thought it was healthy so I'd buy that, but OMG the facts on that one I would have been better off and probably less hungry if I had eaten a whole rotisserie chicken! In that same vein is 7 layer salad. lettuce, mayo, peas, cheese, spinach, and some other stuff I can't even remember layered up like a big giant lasagna. I thought "hey it's salad it has to be good for me" but I easily put on 10lbs eating it. It's all the yummy fat and mayo and cheese that sink that one, but makes you want to eat it. Also melba toasts. I convinced myself that by putting ham and cheese on melba toasts that I wasn't eating that much, but would blow through literally a pound of meat n cheese combined before I was done, when if I had just made a regular 4oz meat and 1 slice of cheese sandwich I would have been full and done. On the subject of what mom fed us that turned us the way we are....my mom has and always been mentally ill. She's schizophrenic and hears voices in her head that tell her to do things that she wouldn't normally do if she were in her right mind. She's a loving mom when she's well, but when she's off her meds it's a whole nothing creature. I've come to a place where I understand that now and have forgiven her, but the damage was and is still something I suffer from her illness. When I was 4yrs old the voices in her head told her I was going to be fat! HUGE! Just like my brothers. They were all well over 300lbs by freshman year in high school that I can remember. So she put me on a diet that the voices in her head gave her which consisted on 1/2c cottage cheese and one half of a cling peach from a can. That's all I was allowed to eat once a day. If I snuck food and got caught I was given a punishment of several days with no food at all while they ate infront of me big giant meals and taunted me with how delicious it is and how I couldn't have it. I went from being able to eat whatever I wanted and never gain a pound and never hungry to a stark raving starving hungry person who gained weight at the snap of a fingers who went to my grandparents houses and first would hide from food and then shoveled food non stop. I went from being slighly under weight and taking up to a few days to eat a package of M&M's to severely overweight and ravenously ripping the package open and swallowing them all at once literally overnight. In essence, her illness started me on the road to a life long battle with weight and the inability to get the starvation mode turned off. Then when I was taken away by CPS from time to time when they bothered to follow up, the fostercare people would feel sorry for me and stuff me with yummy stuff I never had before like oreos and ice cream and potato chips and brownies and cakes for your birthday just for being alive(who knew about these things!) and it was the first time I had froot loops or Burger king or deep dish pizza! I fell in love with that stuff and as I got older and bounced between home and fostercare, those special treats became my comfort and it's amazing how our parents or even well meaning people can really screw us the hell up with food! I still want the comfort of stuffed crust pizza after a bad day and I still want a bowl of ice cream when I really need a hug instead. It's a process to break those associations for sure! I'm struggling now with the help of a good shrink to undo the damage, but cottage cheese to me always equals punishment. I've struggled with that my whole life and even though I bought some this week to try to develop a new association with it, I can't bring myself to open it. It's just sitting in the fridge taunting me! I know this is one I have to get past because I've read the post op diets and cottage cheese is a huge component in the soft food stage plans I've seen, but my body is already rebelling at the thought.

I've used the pill since I was 16. That'd be 15 years. I ran out right before surg (July30) and haven't gone back to the OB yet. But I'd like to be on something! I'm wondering what other types of BC y'all like and that work well, but are not pills?? Any suggestions? And if so, why and do you gain weight?

Wow - well done Penni! That's fantastic - I was getting fed up on my plateau too, and did my measurements - I did them the night before surgery and had never re-done them - I had lost 35" overall!! I couldn't believe it! The scales are harsh sometimes - hard to remember they aren't the only measument of weight loss I'm so happy for you Penni xx

Yup, there was a realy nasty period of time not too long ago and I think she needed a break from all the BS.

Hey Lisa! I'm in NC and have BC/BS and, as you can see, I was banded in Mexico by Dr Kuri. I went to BC/BS online and registered, put in my plan nuber and read the weight loss surgery coverage, which specifically excluded the Lap Band. I didn't even try to fight it. I just researched and went to Dr Kuri and paid cash. So, where in NC are you? I'm just outside of Charlotte. I see Dr Gonzales in Winston-Salem for fills, or at least I will in July. I haven't even met him yet! But I called before I scheduled in MX to be sure I could be seen by him and yes, he would follow up with me and do my fills. Welcome to LBT! I'm glad you found us, it's a great site and I couldn't possibly do this banded thing without it!

People often ask me what's it like post op. I'm almost 4 months out. My explanation. Have you ever been around a baby when it's being fed? Yep that's me. They eat one bite yay, then the second. If my tummy decided it didn't like the first, even if it did 100x before. You guessed it out it comes. So the story of my new life. Finally able to eat eggs and sausage for a few weeks. The inside of a sausage burrito from McD's. This morning "roo" my pouch says nope I no longer like that. After working a 10 hour shift at one client on my way to a 5 hour client now I just want to go home and hug my specially devoted trash can. Ugg. So I regret my decision, not one bit, but some "roo" cooperation would be nice Sent from my 5054N using the BariatricPal App

I am not sure if it is the pills, but my weight loss did slow when I started back on my BC.

BS (before surgry), like my friend Jim, cheese its and bbq potato chips were what i craved.....longed for and would give up tarheel tickets for.......now, it no longer bothers me....(i guess its the salty/crunchy stuff i lived on)...my tastes have changed AS (after surgery)...now i crave fruit/veggies....weird huh...but still mourn coors light.....

Back in the 1960's, I saw an episode of Star Trek entitled "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" in which Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise come across two humanoids; Bele and Lokai, from the planet Cheron. Each of them is half black and half white, starkly separated down the middle of his body. The only difference is one is black on the right side and white on the left, while the other is exactly the opposite. When I saw the show, I thought of it as a satire of race relations in the USA, but today I thought about it and realized that it might be more fittingly mocking the Jewish/Muslim battle now taking place in the Middle-East. If either Bele or Lokai were to stand in front of a mirror, he would see the image of his most hated enemy. A mirror image of a man white on his left would be a man white on his right. That is so fitting of today's (and yesterday's and probably tomorrow's) senseless slaughter taking place in and around Israel, because the Israeli and Muslim enemies are mirror images of each other. Abraham (Genesis 16) had two son's, one by his wife's maid-servant Hagar and then one by his wife, Sarah. The two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, are generally considered to be the fathers of Islam and Judaism, so the fight between Jew and Muslim is basically a family feud. In the "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" episode of Star Trek, when Bele and Lokai return to their home planet of Cheron, they find a scene not too unlike that of Lebanon. The whole planet is now lifeless except for the two of them who beam down to continue their fight to the finish. Must the Middle-East lead the rest of the world down the same path taken by Cheron? Some will blame the problem on the Israelis. "They are bullying the Palestinians and the Lebanese", they will say. Some will blame it on the Muslims. "Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist groups" they will say. "Iran and Syria are terrorist states arming terrorist groups" they will tell you. Bele and Lokai also had their excuses. "I'm white on the right, can't you see the difference?" Yet the Jews and the Muslims are both using the same tactic. Kill civilians until they put enough pressure on their leaders or until they choose new leaders to get their side to stop. But what has the despicable killing of civilians actually done? It has hardened each side's populace. There are many fewer Jews now ready to make piece with their Muslim brothers than there was three weeks ago. You might remember that after 911, the Republicans and Democrats came together in the US Congress to give President BuSh anything he wanted. There was unity in the streets of the USA. People; Black, White, Hispanic, Democrat and Republican were then Americans first. Osama Bin Laden and Al-Quaida brought the political left and right of the USA together. Well Israel's killing of civilians in Lebanon has brought the Sunnis and Shiites of the Middle-East together as never before. Even the Christians of Lebanon are now united with both the Lebanese Sunnis and Shiites. And the Sunni counties that have been friends of the USA are now criticizing Israel (and the USA) as if those Sunni countries were Shiite. President BuSh claims to believe in the sanctity of human life. He has vetoed legislation that would (in his opinion) destroy human life that is smaller than this period. Yet, he and Condoleezza Rice have proposed a piece-plan that must have "a lasting piece" which is a code-phrase for "when Israel wins". The Israeli prime minister told Ms. Rice that he might need 10 days to two weeks to win. Are we willing to watch both Israeli and Lebanese babies die for the next two weeks? Are those children any less valuable that the embryos that BuSh wants to protect? Sunday, a building in Lebanon was blown up with about 60 casualties. About 30 to 40 children died. About 600 Lebanese civilians including about 300 children have been killed in less than these 3 weeks. There have been about 30 Israeli civilians killed. Ms. Rice and Mr. BuSh claim that terrorism must be stomped out in the Middle-East (and around the world), but is it not terrorism to launch missile strikes, to fire artillery and use F16's to bomb populated areas? Hezbollah is wrong. Hezbollah is a terrorist group, but that does not make Israel right, nor does it make Israel any less of a terrorist country. People and countries must be judged, not by their friendship with the USA, nor the "Good Guy" sign that they fly, but by their actions. Israel is killing 20 Muslims (and Christians) in Lebanon for each Israeli that dies in the Hezbollah missile attacks. Doesn't "an eye for an eye" have any meaning to the Israelis? The bible does not say "20 eyes for an eye". Both sides are wrong. Both sides must stop fighting now. The USA must insist that there be talks. The USA must drop the BS line that we don't talk to terrorists. Pretending that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran do not exist just keeps the killing of babies going on for a longer time. Can't we learn something from Bele and Lokai, and Star Trek, or must the Earth wind up like the planet Cheron?

I am 38...had surgery in April of 2015. Made goal within 8 months (over 150 pounds lost). I went on birth control (ortho-tricyclen) 3 months after surgery. My doctors and nurses assure me that BC does not cause weight gain. Literally ever since I have been on it, I ONLY lose weight during the week of my cycle. The day I take that first white pill I gain 2 pounds and it stays until the day before my cycle starts and then it's gone. Before I was losing 10 to 15 pounds that week. This past month I only lost 4 and have already gained that 2 back. What's even crazier is that I go crazy on carbs during my period usually. This past time I didn't because I had a stomach virus and ate NOTHING. I like the BC because I have PCOS and my cycles were crazy before I had surgery. Since you don't have to be careful about getting pregnant (due to BF) then I would probably go off of them or get a different kind.

Yeah don't listen to people who tell you to stop losing weight. I can see if you were in mid onederland or something but 300 lbs. Yeah it's bizarre that they'd say that. Plain and simple they are full of it and just want to keep you from succeeding either that or they're being phony. I'm relatively new to the weight loss surgery game but I think life has a messed up way of trying to bring you down when you're winning and people can be down right evil. Just ignore them or make them feel stupid if it annoys you that much but you keep going toward your goal and don't let anyone's bs hold you back. Do not listen to them I don't think they have good intentions. I think they're just trying to throw wrenches in your plan.