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BrooklynIrish59

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    BAnsert100@aol.com
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    Female
  • Location
    Fort Wayne, Indiana
  • Interests
    #1 Losing weight so I can skinny dip instead of chunky dunk.<br />FISHING, Reading, Family, sewing, crafts, travelling, playing with the grandchildren.

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  1. Let's see....beginning with January 2000, my future husband relocated 700 miles to be with me.(we met online in 1997) My mom (my best friend) died suddenly in April 2000. Got married in October 2000 and gained two wonderful stepsons. Daughter got married in May 2001. Wtinessed the collapse of the World Trade Center while sitting on the highway with no where to go. Became a grandma in 2002. Moved from NY to midwest in 2003. Bought a beautiful house with my new husband. Daughter had baby #2 Both stepsons got married and added 4 more grandchildren, making a total of 6. Gained several wonderful friends in my new home town. Had a total hysterectomy (best thing I ever did) Two months later went to Mexico for lapband surgery. Lost over 100 lbs in less than 18 months. Had cancer scare - remove parotid gland. Ran/walked my first 5k race and FINISHED!
  2. You can just ask the attendant when you get on the plane. Good luck with your surgery. You won't regret it.
  3. I set a goal for myself to have lost 100 lbs by my one year anniversary and I made it! I only set the goal back in February when I managed to lose about 88 lbs by my 50th birthday. These last 12 lbs were killers. I still want to lose about 20 more. But I did it AND I'm doing a mini-marathon in a couple of months. =D> I don't know what happened all of a sudden..it's weird...my last fill was in February and for the longest time I didn't have good restriction even with now having 3.4 cc in a 4 cc band. Since then I'd have really tight days and then other days where I could eat a personal pizza and go back for more, but didn't. I even scheduled another fill back in March and then cancelled it because I didn't feel like I needed it when the day arrived. This last week, I've had a hell of a time keeping food down. I don't feel sick, but I have thrown up practically every solid food meal starting with Saturday. I had a small piece of rib eye steak and spinach. I don't know if it was the steak (I'm starting to think I truly cannot tolerate any kind of steak) or if it was the frozen spinach. After bringing up the steak and spinach, I continued to bring up slime for a few hours. It got to the point that my throat was actually burning I guess from the acid. Tonight was no different, one tiny piece of meat and a scrambled egg and guess what...it made a return appearance. I couldn't even get down any veggies. I've had a fill scheduled for this Thursday for the last 2 weeks...but I'm thinking I don't need it. It feels like after one solid year, I finally have hit the sweet spot I read about. I don't post much, I love to read about everyone else's journey, but I just had to post my news. I'm so excited!
  4. Hi Shiney, Congratulations on your upcoming band date. Of course you're nervous and thinking, "what the hell am I doing?" Guess what, most of us have been there. It's surgery after all, and just because we go down to Mexico, doesn't make it any less invasive. However, My 1 year anniversary date is 4/21 and like many people who have gone before us, the only regret was not having it done sooner. And when I think back on my visit to the OCC, it stll seems surreal! You've made a very wise, educated and fully informed decision to make a life long life style change. You will WANT to be a conscientious participant with your new band. And that means being mindful of how you eat. Start practicing now taking small bites and chewing it 30 times. Obviously the food will go down with no problem but at least you'll get into the habit of eating differently. When you do drink (1 hour after eating) take small sips instead of chugging. Everyone's body is different, after banding many people have no problem with the texture of food, just the amount they eat, while despite how small of a bite I take of hamburger patty, that food is a no-no for me. By eating smaller bites, you'll also know what you can tolerate. You can do this, you've come this far not to succeed. As for getting a fill, Dr. Ren at NYU performs fill and I believe it is done under fluoro, which is a plus. I don't know of anyone else out in Long Island and I'm not sure if Fill Centers are anywhere near you. You should start calling around now, especially to make sure they would take a patient they didn't do surgery on. The doctor I use for my fills put a stop on taking on anymore Mexico banded patients not long after he accepted me. Good for me otherwise I would have had to go to Chicago for my fills. As for the gas, I wouldn't say it was painful, just uncomfortable. I tried gas strips, but I don't think it made much of a difference. Walking is what helped the most and I made sure I did alot of it during the first week, even if it was just around my house on bad weather days. By the end of the first week, I was fine. Keep reading the posts, keep asking your questions and maybe we will help alleviate some of the fears. One year ago today I was in your shoes, but I was oh so excited too! Good Luck bj
  5. Hey Kim...I was wondering when you would be back to share your TT with everyone. Good job! You and your belly look fantastic! Barb
  6. As you know everyone is different. My friend and I would get our fills done at the same time, we are both up to 6 fills. She would feel instant tightness, especially in her throat. Me....I would have to say that 5 out of the 6 times, my fill wouldn't kick in for at least a week or more. Since this is your first fill and you don't know how your band is going to react, be patient. You definitely don't want to be in a situation where you are uncomfortable and unable to do anything about it. Good Luck!
  7. Hi all....I work in healthcare and deal with many insurance carriers, including the Blue Cross plans. I can tell you if your policy does not cover something, it isn't entirely the big bad insurance carrier. Your employer is the one who decides what they will include in your benefit coverage. My employer does not cover weight loss surgery of ANY kind with the current policy we have. Three years ago, under a different carrier, they did, but only bypass AND with a monetary cap. So if you developed a complication down the road that could be tied to having had WLS, you were screwed if you already used up your allowed coverage. With the new policy, they made the decision not to pay the higher rates for this benefit because THEY didn't feel it was safe. My co-worker and lap band partner and I had surgery 9 months and are doing great! Happy, Healthy and thinner. We haven't lost a day of work since having the surgery. Knowing you have to start with your employer to make insurance policy changes, we have tried several times to change their minds and allow future coverage for anyone else thinking of the lap band, but have been unsuccessful. Barb
  8. I just love NSVs...mine came about over the weekend. I attended a party for my step-daughter in law. My husband's ex-wife was there. We aren't busom buddies (she's flat chested and I'm not....LOL) but we get along. When my 11 year old step grandson, who I hadn't seen in about 2 weeks saw me, he made a point of saying quite loudly AND within earshot of the ex-wife....."WOW, I didn't recognize you. You can really see how much weight you lost AND you look younger too".....oh my, out of the mouths of babe! Buy that child a new Wii game. There is nothing better than looking thinner and younger than an ex.
  9. The one thing I wish I had thought to buy at the Pharmacy in Mexico was Mederma ointment. It was about $11 USD there while here it about $19-$23 here. I know many bandsters have used it for their scars, although I have to tell you my scars from the lapband surgery I had in April are almost gone. It's still good to have for other scars. Good luck Stormy.... The whole trip for me is still surreal. I can remember reading everyone's description of the OCC and also seeing some pictures before hand...once I was there actually getting ready for my surgery, it felt like a dream. You will do fine, they take exceptionally good care of you at the OCC. Have your husband take some pictures so you can remember what you missed while you were groggy. Ya know, it's sort of like a wedding. You spend months and months planning for everything to be perfect and just like a wedding, you just can't please everyone with your choice of where you have it. Then the big day comes...you're excited, you're nervous, you get to wear new (blue paper) panties for your special day. Then before you know it, it's over in a flash, and the best part....you still leave with a ring! So happy wedding day! Barb
  10. I still haven't told any family or co-workers about my band. As of today, I am down 69 pounds and at 5'1" it shows. Yes people at work have commented and congratulated me...some people say absolutely nothing! Before even thinking about the lapband I had started doing a liquid diet with some co-workers. They couldn't hack it, stopped and gain back even more weight than before. These are the ones who say nothing to me. Others want to do what I'm doing...which they think is protein shakes. I advised them about portion control and higher intake of protein, leaving carbs to last. I even directed them to the sparkspeople.com website to track their food. I drag them along on my lunch time walks. I feel a little guilty...like I'm giving them false hope. I know I couldn't do it before without the band! But at the very least, if they change their eating habits and have more discipline than I did, they will see a change. Barb
  11. Congratulations Kathy....losing even 1 lb is wonderful, but to hit that 50 lb mark....pure heaven! You look wonderful in your picture! bj
  12. I was so hoping someone would ask about the latest NSV....I had one last evening. Normally I take showers, but after my work out at the gym, I decided I needed to take a relaxing bubble bath. In the past, my ass was so wide it would dam up the water behind me, but not last night! I even let the water drain out completely before I got out of the tub so just I could enjoy the moment. Now, not only are my clothes too big...I gotta get a smaller tub! Thanks for letting me share.... Barb
  13. OK...I need some input from everyone about how they are doing with the excess skin that comes with the weight loss. I am 5'1" and started out at 268. As of today, my 4 month anniversary, I weight 201. I just love to see how much narrower my body has become, but when the clothes come off and I stop holding my stomach in, I feel like I don't look any different..and unfortunately that's due to the nasty apron of skin around the belly. I even notice that the inside of my thighs have started to look like drapes. Not a pretty picture, huh? At 49 years of age, I know the skin isn't going to bounce back like a 20 year old, but what have you all been doing to help your skin "catch up" with your weight loss? Is it possible to exercise enough so that your body gets toned? Unless I win the lottery, a tummy tuck or any other tuck is out of the question. I have a gym membership and basically I'm doing the treadmill, the bike and sit ups. I believe a younger bandster will have an easier time of toning the body, but what about us older bandsters? I would love to just relax my body, instead of feeling like I always have to pull my gut in. So what kind of toning moves are you doing and do you think it makes a difference? Thanks Barb
  14. Hi Shasha...so sorry for what you're going through right now. I've not had any problems at all. I'm assuming you are not down at the OCC. I am 4 months post op today from the OCC and the doctors were pretty consistent with wanting their patients to lose weight prior to surgery. One of the reason was to reduce the amount of fat around the area where they would be doing the procedure. They recommended shakes and/or lean cuisine meals depending upon how much the patient's BMI was. Who did your surgery? I read in your blog that you were suppose to be starting a new job right about now. What will happen now? I know the recovery time for the open procedure is significantly longer than it is with the lap band. You'll get a lot of support from the people on this forum. Check back in and let us know how you're doing. Good luck. Barb
  15. I am only 4 months out as of tomorrow and I can honestly say I don't feel depressed over any food I've had to give up. My absolute favorite is pizza, I could eat it morning, noon and night...but I know what it will do to me if I over indulge...or rather TRY to over indulge. The band keeps me in check. I can still eat pizza, 1 slice and slowly. But it's still not a healthy choice for me. You will find that as you lose your weight, you start to feel powerful in choices. You start to feel in control. Yes, there are some things you might still want, but you make the decision not to have them. AND that feeling is awesome. Occasionally I miss a fountain diet soda... maybe it's the fizz, but there are so many other healthy, delicious choices out there, I don't dwell on what I can't have. Sorry to hear about your mom. There is nothing in this world like a mom. I lost mine 8 years ago, just months before my wedding. She would be proud of you taking control of your life and no doubt would support your efforts. Be happy! Good luck Barb
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