G'day fellow Aussies!

Our section of LBT has been a little quiet lately - there seems to be a few regular Aussie LBT posters, but I am sure that there's many more of us lurking around...

...so, it's now time to show yourselves.

How about a quick post onto this thread to let us know who you are, where in Australia you're from, your progress so far etc.

You are welcome to include any questions / issues / information you have for discussion, or any support that you may be needing right now too - after all, we're all here to help each other!

Okay - I'll start:

I'm Anna from Aspendale. I hang out here at LBT most weeknights, and sometimes over the weekend too if I can get time. I particularly enjoy reading the Aussie posts on LBT - the Aussie perspectives are highly relatable, common sense, and refreshing to read. I'd like to see more Aussie involvement around LBT, and in our own little corner of the forum (one of the reasons why I started this thread).

I am counting the days until my pre-op fast begins (16) and operation (30). I'm currently enjoying the last days of not concentrating on chewing every bite, but also wanting the banding to begin! Worried / working on strategies to deal with head hunger issues post-banding - this is one of my biggest concerns right now.

Looking forward to hearing from all the other Aussies around LBT. So it's cheers from me, and good-onya mates!

Wow - August that would be great. I went private and still had to wait about 4 months from first appt to op, although I could have been done a month earlier, except i had holidays planned. What state are you in?

Hi my is Angela and I live in New Norfolk, Tasmania. With my hubby and five children. I was banned on the 25 of November 2005 at a starting weigh of 101kg and now weigh in at 73kg. I have just found this site, an buy what I have seen so far I wish I had found it sooner. Chat with you soon, Angela.

I'm in Victoria. I couldn't afford private... so yea, it was either public or nothing.

Hi Angela!

Hi gals,

did anyone watch The Truth About Size Zero last night? Really shocking. And made me very glad I dont do low carb!

I tried low carb, not much fun! Not very effective either... not when it wears you out like that, and you're already tired all the time.

It was very scary though. o.o And I saw on Dr. Phil today something about yo-yo dieters and fad diets. Your risk of heart problems goes up by 70%! o.o And on top of that, a woman was on there... she'd lost a lot of weight. And her skin had sagged, and she hadn't done anything about it for three years.

Rava, maybe you should draw a circle around the port and see if it moves from that circle. Just my idea!

Thanks Ses, for replying :eek:

Thats actually a good idea!

I have my first follow up appt with my Dr next Thursday on the 26th - so hopefully all will be well.

Again, thanks so much for answering.

Thanks for the welcome Ses!

:biggrin1: Is anyone else from tassie?

Hi everyone,

I've just discovered this amazing forum. I was crying to my husband about my stupid band and he suggested I try to find others in the same boat. I'm so glad I did. I thought I was totally alone.

This is my story...

I had my operation on September 11, 2006 (an auspicious date) with Dr. James Ritchie in Sydney. I weighed 125kg at my surgery. He seemed quite disinterested and cold but I thought he was the best I could find. There didn’t seem like a lot of choice. He left me with quite a big scar across my stomach – about 10cm. Is that normal?

Since I’ve had the surgery I have lost only 6kg. It’s been 7 months. I’ve had the band tightened 3 times and it’s ¾ full. Every time I eat I get a lot of pain like the food is “stuck” but once this passes I’m pretty ok to eat a bit more. I am eating about ¼ of what I used to.

The problem is I’m absolutely exhausted. I sleep 12-20 hours a day. I’ve quit my job because I couldn’t cope. I’ve also lost most of my hair at the front.

I can’t understand why I’m not losing weight. The dietician at Dr. Ritchie’s office says I need to eat lo-fat, lo-carb and mostly vegetables. She also wants me to exercise. I can barely even get out of bed. I can’t understand why I even bothered getting the surgery if the only way to lose weight is diet and exercise.

Has anyone else had these experiences? :think

Realising how the band works can be a bit of a shock. You need to learn to work with it, not wait for it to stop you. If you eat slowly enough and chew carefully enough, or eat foods that go down easily for you, you can quite easily eat around the band.

What the band will do is help you to find it easier to stop after a reasonable portion. Just because you can eat more doesnt mean you shoudl eat more. If you're not hungry anymore (as opposed to full) you need to stop eating. YOu probably know that and please dont think I'm assuming that you're not practicing it.

It sounds like you're not eating a lot though if you've become malnourished enough to be losing hair and it sounds like you need a lot more support from your doctor! If you're that tired that you can barely get out of bed, you need to address this situation. What do you eat on a daily basis? Are you eating what you need? Or could something else be wrong. The fact that you havent loss would seem to me to be reason for seeking further tests, perhaps your thyroid isnt working properly or something else could be wrong.

I would go so far as to say exercise is at least AS if not MORE important than what you're eating. It is just plain essential if you want a good result and a result that lasts - so you really need to sort out those energy levels.

I feel for you, it would be horribly frustrating to find that its just not working, but i think that amongst a group of obese people, you're definitely going to find a reasonable incidence of health problems such as hypothyroidism, insulin resistance etc etc, there's reasons why people get so fat in the first place. The first place to start would be with your doc to sort this out if you're 100% sure you're doing exactly what you should be doing and still not losing.

Good luck, and perhaps try posting this on the main part of the board as well as there's many many more people who've had similar problems.