Just checking... haha!

To start off this lovely Friday (well, not so lovely because I have to work), I will tell you of my latest NSV -- my old scrubs fit again! And they are loose!

I also had a stress test (more on that later) on Wednesday, and I did pretty good! Better than I did a few years ago.

Hope everyone has a good start to their weekend!

Maria

Gosh Tonya,

You have had more misfortunes that anyone I know. And all of them legitimate!! Such a bummer. I am getting achy from not exercising. That's my story and I'm sticking too it.

We are having a beautiful night...lightning and thunder for the first part, a drizzle of snow, and now beautiful lights in the clouds. What a spectacular show. I'm in watching Dancing with the Stars. I need a routine like that...to get in shape.

Hope that you heal fast and get back with it.

Hi ladies! I have been lurking and reading on and off but I wanted to run some things by everyone to see what you guys thought.

I am 20lbs from goal or so. I had a couple of consults for ps and I am really conflicted by what they told me.

My 1st consult was with a Dr, beautiful office, very clearly upper end clientelle. What he told me was so interesting. He believes that we all have a set point when we will lose weight to and then the tissue will hinder our BMR and we won't be able to lose any further. He was completely content doing the surgery on me, lbl and inner thigh and said I would get awesome results. He said that I am tiny underneath my tissue and had great skin.

The 2nd Dr is an older man, has been in the business for years and said that I needed to lose more weight in my thighs to get the results that I want.

So Dr number 1 sees a friend of mine that has about 50 more lbs to go. She was banded 3 years ago and her weight has stabilized and she is just ready to get her tissue off. Is content with losing 105lbs. Well he operates on her and takes off 38#s! 16 from lipoing her legs and then 22 from around her body. She had a lower body lift. I am amazed! So my question is, have any of you guys heard of this theory that we will only lose to a certain point and then ps is our only next resort? And if so many drs feel this way why not get 40-50 lbs from goal instead of busting our azzes to get to goal?

I don't think I can go through with any ps! 3 weeks no driving is a deal breaker for me but I am just wondering what everyone else thinks?!

I wish I had more of an opinion about plastics but I am such a lazy person that I just do what I think I should do without researching anything the right way. I am eager to hear the responses to your post though.

Update on me: I saw a new doctor yesterday. He is affiliated with the hospital I was born at. Maybe that is a good sign? He seemed pretty good, and really knowledgable. I have him a run down of my history, and he had copies of the operative notes forwarded from my former doctor's office. Told him I had no restriction even though I had a fill on 5/5. He injected my port to check the volume in my band, and he came out with nothing, but said that my port had "a lot of resistence". Whatever that means. Now he is concerned that there may be a problem with the cathedar. Of course, why wouldn't there be with me? Other case scenario, my former doctor "missed"? Is that even possible? Although I had some issues with my former doctor, I do not question his ability. He was just not as available as I needed him to be considering my circumstances. Also, although a seasoned surgeon with regard to the bypass, he was relatively new to lapband when I came on board...and I came with a whole array of problems. I think maybe it is best that I have a doctor with a little more experience so maybe I can get everything together once and for all. On the plus size, I mean plus side... I have gained nearly 20 lbs since my emergency surgery in March. I really don't care that much. I have to remember how sick I was and how quickly I was losing weight because of it...and as long as the size 6 still fits I am a-ok.

I have an upper GI series tomorrow to check my insides. Yay...barium. YUM!!! Ugh. I'll keep you all posted.

What are pb's that you folks talk about sometimes?

What are pb's that you folks talk about sometimes?

PB stands for Productive Burp - its when your food get stuck, you have to spit it back up.

Hey all,

I'm still shaking!! I've gotten a new computer and have been working to get things set up on it. Laptop for work, but oh well...

PB...productive burb...sort of a vomit but not quite. Not too tramautic, except for the first time because you are worried about what is happening. You will know when they are coming and will have time to get to a private place. You just "spit up" whatever you just ate. Usually caused by eating too fast, too much etc.

I have found out that celery causes me to VOMIT!!! From my toes. So I MUST stay away from that. Go figure. I'm slow to learn too.

Back to walking this week and it has felt wonderful. I love my morning walks. Just hate leaving the bed!!

How are all of you doing?

It's me again, checking in. I'm 25 weeks pregnant now, and I'm up 14lbs. I have to say, one thing I did not expect was this whole gaining weight head game. I try not to weigh myself at home too much, because that number I see just takes me back to less happier days, and that is SO not what being pregnant is all about, ya know? It's hard though. I just keep working on eating right and keeping up with my walking, and as long as I know I'm doing what I need to do for the health of the baby, then everything will be fine.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in months and hadn't read many posts either. I have to have my band removed and it has been so depressing that I couldn't bear to come in here.

I am having a rare side effect and have gone through several very uncomfortable tests to see if anything else could be done other than the removal of my band but it is the only option.

At this point my doctor and his staff (they are SAINTS, Dr. Michael Snyder) have been dealing with my insurance company trying to get this surgery covered. My insurance has agreed to pay to have the band removed but won't pay for my doctor to convert me to gastric bypass, even though he will already be in there.

Anyway, I sleep in a complete upright position at night with one of those airplane pillows. I am so sleep deprived it is scary...but I can't lay down. I got aspiration pnemonia a couple of months ago and I have numerous ulcers inside my pouch - they are saying stage 4 ulcers - which isn't good.

I am so glad you are all doing well and are so supportive of each other. I will miss you since it will be best for me to go to a bypass website. I will check back as you all reach your goals and I thank you for all of your support.

Aw Jen, I'm so sorry you are having to go through all that. Please take care of yourself and just know that, band or bypass, we are all rooting for you!

Maria

Wow, Jen,

My thoughts and prayers are with you. What a terrible thing. Did you have reflux that let to the pneumonia?

Aren't insurance companies the biggest pain in the ass ever. It is sooo not patient/client oriented. It is about making money for the shareholders or companies. It is such a one-sided process.

I hope that all goes super well with you and you are soon on your way to full recovery. All the best.

Thank you for all the support. Yes, I got pnemonia from aspirating at night with severe reflux.

I have another update - I will have the band removed on Friday but there will be no conversion to gastric bypass (because of insurance.)

I was so distraught, depressed, hopeless, scared yesterday I had to leave work. I couldn't stop crying - well, sobbing actually. I even, was suicidal for just a couple of moments. Don't worry, I got the help I needed and am doing much better now.

Jen - so sorry to hear about your problems. Best wishes to you on Friday.

I am just swinging by to say hello. I've been super busy. My foot is better and I'm back to exercising again. Eating was off this weekend, had a picnic and ate all the bad stuff. But I jumped right back on track yesterday. :thumbup:

Hi ladies! I have been lurking and reading on and off but I wanted to run some things by everyone to see what you guys thought.

I am 20lbs from goal or so. I had a couple of consults for ps and I am really conflicted by what they told me.

My 1st consult was with a Dr, beautiful office, very clearly upper end clientelle. What he told me was so interesting. He believes that we all have a set point when we will lose weight to and then the tissue will hinder our BMR and we won't be able to lose any further. He was completely content doing the surgery on me, lbl and inner thigh and said I would get awesome results. He said that I am tiny underneath my tissue and had great skin.

The 2nd Dr is an older man, has been in the business for years and said that I needed to lose more weight in my thighs to get the results that I want.

So Dr number 1 sees a friend of mine that has about 50 more lbs to go. She was banded 3 years ago and her weight has stabilized and she is just ready to get her tissue off. Is content with losing 105lbs. Well he operates on her and takes off 38#s! 16 from lipoing her legs and then 22 from around her body. She had a lower body lift. I am amazed! So my question is, have any of you guys heard of this theory that we will only lose to a certain point and then ps is our only next resort? And if so many drs feel this way why not get 40-50 lbs from goal instead of busting our azzes to get to goal?

I don't think I can go through with any ps! 3 weeks no driving is a deal breaker for me but I am just wondering what everyone else thinks?!

Hi Renee - I am not sure I buy the theory of a set point. I do believe that we lose and if there is excess skin, we could have 10 or 15 lbs of excess skin and be smaller underneath that.

I think the closer you get to goal, the harder it is to lose, but not sure if I buy a "set point".

I hope everyone has a great weekend.......I'm getting off work early today and I think I'm going to go tan, workout, and go home and Veg

Thank you for all the support. Yes, I got pnemonia from aspirating at night with severe reflux.

I have another update - I will have the band removed on Friday but there will be no conversion to gastric bypass (because of insurance.)

I was so distraught, depressed, hopeless, scared yesterday I had to leave work. I couldn't stop crying - well, sobbing actually. I even, was suicidal for just a couple of moments. Don't worry, I got the help I needed and am doing much better now.

Wow, it must be the name because I have been through similar things as you. I had my FOURTH surgery this Wednesday under the care of a new doctor, with whom I am extremely happy. He removed my original band and rebanded me. It was an emergency procedure, as was the last one in March with my former doctor. I wasn't able to swallow at this point, and I had awful pain in my chest. This was all brought on by tests my new doctor was performing to rule out potential problems with my old band. In my most recent upper GI the doctor determined that the band was not placed properly by the old doctor, and that there was a lot of gas in my stomach. He was able to access my port but not withdraw any fluid. I was only supposed to have had one fill since the 3rd surgery. In this test the doctor injected a contrast into the band under flouro to see if there was anything wrong with the cathedar. Unfortunately, he was unable to withdraw all of the fluid, which caused horrible reflex and vomitting. I went into the ER on Wednesday morning and surgery in the evening. They had to withdraw ounces of fluid from my esophogus before intubating me. After removing the band the doctor withdrew 2.5 CCs of liquid, and found debris in the cathedar, which is what seems to have been causing me all the problems. Since January I had strep throat, pneumonia, stomach virus and an ordinary cold. I started to get better after my surgery in March when the old doctor repositioned the port and shortened the cathedar, but I gained 19 lbs in 2 months. I found this new doctor about a month ago and feel confident that I am finally on the road to recovery. Before going into surgery though he was concerned that he was not going to be able to reband me because he could not imagine why the band was placed as it was. He said it was on a 90 degree angle. He figured it was something anatomical, and if that was the case it would make no sense to put a new band in in the same position. Apparently there was another reason for the misplacement of the band...I would love to know what my old doctor was thinking.

Well, I went from 240 lbs to 138 lbs to 149 lbs to 157 lbs to 149 lbs and today I was 161. Oh god...I know this is from the IV and gas but I am close to throwing my scale out of the window.

I am happy to have this new doctor. He is highly recommended, and the chief of bariatric surgery at the hospital where I was born. That's got to be good for something. Regardless of all my ups and downs, I still do not regret my decision. I do, however, regret not having researched my surgeon more adequately. Bad choice on my part.

Sorry to hear your problems, Jen, but so you know there is someone out here who can identify with you. Message me if you need someone to chat with. Good luck.