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Yeaaahhh riiiiiiiight....even a dumb newbie like me knows that just ain't right! lol But nice try anyway Will!

Jessica ~ I'm sure we will meet there! I am so happy to hear that someone from here will be there that day. We can support each other for sure! Julie ~ I had pretty severe gas with my 2 C-sections, but I know each situation is different, so we'll see. I don't care really...I will live with it just to be able to be banded. The pain of gas can't possibly be as bad as the pain of being fat! And, you are right about having lived with my knee for all this time. Again, I can live with pain a bit longer just to start losing this fat sooner!

This has to be a horrible thing for you Judy. I'm sorry you had this happen. I wanted to relate something to you that might be a coincidence, but you might be spot on with thinking it is related to weight loss. My best girlfriend has recently lost 50# (with diet pills) and she told me last week that she had gone in for her regular annual woman's exam and the doctor had found this with her as well. She had said that sex had been painful for her recently, but didn't know what it was. Hers is apparently not all the way out, but into the vaginal canal some. And, she is only 36 years old! I wouldn't count on a doctor knowing for sure that weight loss could cause this in people who might have a tendency toward it, but I found it interesting that it happened to you and then my friend as well after losing a significant amount of weight. I hope things go well for you and keep us updated...

Well, I have been thinking about this all afternoon and had forgotten that I have already bought my airline tickets, which aren't going to be able to change, so I think I will just go ahead with my banding and gimp around and then do the other surgery as soon as I get back. I guess that the gas is going to get me for sure since I surely won't be able to walk much...;( Oh well, I am not going to let this get me down...I am so excited about getting the band and also them finding out what has been wrong with me for the past year and 1/2 that I am not going to let anything depress me.

HOW FANTASTIC Cathy!!!!! You have to be on cloud 9!!! Just reading this was such an inspiration and I got chills just thinking about losing that weight! Thanks so much for telling us and congrats to you! =D>

I just found out today from my orthopaedic doc that I have a torn meniscus that he is going to have to repair with surgery. This has been a LOOOOONNNNGGGGG process in that I fell over a year and 1/2 ago and have gone to 4 orthopaedic docs and have had 2 MRI's of my left knee. At times I have thought i was crazy since I can barely walk. Well FINALLY my most recent doc has found it and I go in day after tomorrow to find out what his plans are. I am freaking out because I am now only 10 days out from getting my band and am wondering what you guys think I should do. Should I go ahead and have the surgery on my knee and go to OCC with my leg bandaged up, or should I wait til after my banding to have the surgery and go with the bum knee? I've been dealing with it for a year and 1/2 and apparently a piece has broken off and is now loose in there and it hurts like crazy...but i just don't know what to do. My other option would be to put my banding off another week or 2...but I really don't want to do that either...Has anyone ever had an arthroscopic knee surgery and can tell me how long it will be til I can get around again? Thanks guys! :lb12:

Thanks...I will check them out!

I honestly think I could LIVE on chocolate! I know that I will be able to be ok with the protein shakes, but I would like to know what the best tasting ones are out there before I invest a bunch of money. I am going to start on just the shakes next week and I am sure that there must be at least one person out there who can tell me what they think because they are also chocolaholics! I like Slim Fast High Protein shakes, but they really aren't all that high in protein, and I hate the Optima shakes. I will probably either go to GNC or order online overnight, so I am hoping for the most chocolately tasting ones...lol I'd love to know other options too since I will probably get something else for variety...but chocolate is what I'm after..hehe

Welcome back girlie! How wonderful it must be to come home from vacation and not think that you gained a ton! Glad to see you back...

A slow cooker is perfect and a great idea for tender meat. Also, another trick that I have done and it works really well is to buy some skinless chicken breasts, put each one on a piece of tinfoil with seasoning and even some vegetables (I love to put onion on mine). Wrap it up in the foil and you can bake them this way. I usually put a bit of olive oil in as well or really anything that you can use to moisten (soy sauce, worchester, etc). I even used to buy 6-8 of them and freeze a couple and then you just have to cook it a bit longer. Very convenient if you do them all at once and very tasty and good for you.

Amy, I know that I had a horrible nighttime cough with 3 different ACE inhibitors that my doc tried for me for my hypertension. I believe the first was lisinopril, but I also had it with Cozaar and another one that I can't remember. Coughing is a very common side effect and they should be able to change you to another hypertension medication. At least that particular problem can be taken care of by changing meds. Good luck to you!

Congrats Alana! I am exactly one week behind you! I have exactly 2 weeks from today for my surgery and I am the same way...just so excited, scared and nervous that I can't even believe it! I can't believe that the time is going so quickly!!!!

I have been reading a lot that the gas is the most uncomfortable part of the surgery and am wondering the mechanics of it and hope someone can give me a good answer. If the abdomen is blown up with air during the surgery, and this air that remains in the abdomen for a few days is what causes the pain (specifically I hear people talk about shoulder pain), then I am wondering how the medicine that people take for the gas (GasX, Tums, etc) can help? If you chew a tablet or let one dissolve on your tongue, that would go into your stomach and through your digestive system and not throughout your abdomen where the gas is. Is this correct or am I missing something? I remember gas after my C-sections and this was the most God-awful thing I've ever experienced! I'm just curious and want to prepare myself and not talk myself into something that isn't really going to help...

You look just fabulous! You truly are an inspiration and I thank you for putting your photo up. It really helps to see others lose because it shows me that it IS possible!

Julie...you are too kind! I might LOOK young, but I feel about 100!!! Seriously...today has been a bad day with a lot of body pain and I had to think for a minute what I will do when I have this type of pain after my banding since now I eat to "console myself," which is absolutely ridiculous! To be honest I don't think the fibromyalgia will go away, but I know it won't be half as bad if I can get rid of one or two of the other co-morbidities!

Just an FYI for all of you ladies...I am a photographer/digital artist and can tell you that I know how that is done and, in fact, do it all the time for the model portfolios that I work on. I do a lot of slimming of love handles, noses, and even the opposite for lip plumping, etc. It's a super easy process and they probably have several people doing the pics and some probably take off a bit more than others do. It's a cool idea, and can be time consuming to do a photo if you take off a fair amount of weight, so I'm surprised they do it for free. It's a nice thing to offer and fun...I agree!

That truly is one of my biggest concerns with my banding coming up in 2 weeks and 2 days. I am 56 and have a lot of health issues. I have diabetes, Graves disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fibromyalgia and sleep apnea. I take literally a handful of medication every day and I have so much body pain most every day that I can't exercise more than a few minutes before I am in just horrible pain and then the next 3 days I am almost bedridden because of the pain from the exercise. However, I do know that almost all of my problems are weight related and I am really counting on the band assisting me in being able to get a handle on all of this so that I don't have to take so many medications. And, my hope is that once I get some weight off, I will be able to stand the exercise more and start the cycle of weight loss instead of weight gain. These past few years, the weight has just flown onto me and although I blame my eating habits completely, I also know that I used to be able to eat this way when I was younger and not gain...so...you younger gals are so lucky and smart to be able to be banded at your young ages so that you can enjoy life more in your later years.

Hi Stormy, I read your message and feel so bad for both you and your husband. I almost think it would be harder to be going through something like this WITH my husband doing it too. The thing is that everyone reacts differently to situations and it sounds like you are doing everything you can to lose the preop weight and prepare while your husband seems to not be feeling it the same way. We are all different, and your husband will somehow find a way to deal with the surgery....he has to. It might not be the way that you think he should, but he will either sink or swim. I think that right now he's terrified of the surgery and was probably really embarassed that he asked for the pie and probably also because you pointed out that he shouldn't eat it. Then he was probably embarassed that he got mad about it. It's an emotional time for both of you right now. I know because I'm going through it too. I hope that things will settle down for you once you have the surgery, but unfortunately it sounds like things will be getting harder for all of us before they get better. If you need to chat about anything, feel free to let me know since I'm right around the same place you are. I wish both you and your husband the best...

Welcome! I'm new here as well and will be banded at OCC on August 29th, so I can't give you any advice, but I can tell you that you are in the best place EVER for support and friendship! I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we look forward to hearing all about your preparations and I'm sure we will be able to learn from you as well.

I wanted to again come on and thank everyone who supported me though this little drama. I honestly thought it was one of the most difficult things I've ever gone through, and it is all ok now. In fact, my husband is talking to me and planning what I can eat afterwards and discussing things with me that we've never talked about before. This morning, he ran in the Susan G. Komen breast cancer race and of course I waddled along with him. He told me that maybe next year I can walk in the race and that if I did, he would walk along beside me. This really made me happy and I have to say again that I never would have been able to come to the decision to do this for myself if it hadn't been for all of you. Every one of us have our own struggles, and I only hope that I can be there for someone to support them the way you guys have been for me. I barely know any of you, but I appreciate you all so much and am looking forward to getting to know you all in the future. You are the absolute BEST!

I also missed the drama Stormy since I haven't been on for a couple of days, but I have been involved in other forums and I know that there are always one or two people who like to stir the pot, no matter what the subject is. And, then again there are people who are just being people. God knows I am not cheery and happy every single day of my life and I imagine that in about 3 weeks after I have been banded I will come on here and be whining like a little kid saying I can't make it through the liquid phase. I know myself. I'm not a strong person. But, if someone accuses me of whining or complaining, I know I will agree with them and then politely tell them to "step the hell off!" I'm an adult and don't need someone else telling me what to do. I'm here because I want support. I know I will need it. I most likely will always need it. But, sometimes we have to be strong for others who aren't as strong as us. Some people can let that stuff roll off their backs and others can't. So, I'll let everyone know ahead of time that I'm going to be a whiney little thing in a few weeks and if you want to pick on someone, save it up for me. I can handle it. I won't leave. I just might not be as nice as some of you guys are to the pot stirrers...

I am planning on having my surgery at OCC in 2 1/2 weeks, but I have found that some of the most supportive and informative people here have had their wls elsewhere. Everyone here is supportive and you can get so much information. This is a wonderful forum to be a part of!

Awww Michelle...I pray that you find what you lost. A couple of years ago we were burglarized and the burglars took a heavy safe from our house. The safe had nothing in it but keepsake items, but some of these items were irreplaceable and I cried literally off and on for weeks afterwards. I still get that sick feeling in my stomach when I remember some of the things I lost, but I just tell myself that the items were only material things and although it still hurts a lot, it helps some to think of it that way. I hope so much you find your item and I will pray for you to find it and also to help you accept it if you don't find it...

I'm new..so don't know a lot of you...but I have been off for a few days and came back to see this and then went and read what I am pretty sure was what instigated this. I truly hope that a negative person or two won't cause you to leave. If you leave, you won't have any support, and even with a couple of negative people here, there are so many others who are positive. I haven't even had the surgery myself yet (I will in 2 1/2 weeks) and I came here whining and crying about my fear, my personal life drama and other whiney stuff and the people here were Godsends to me. Without everyone here I would have never decided to do this and I would be more miserable every day. We have to realize that there are always going to be people who get up on the wrong side of the bed and try to take it out on others. Like Lori and so many others said...just ignore the "Debbie Downers" and try to get the positivity out of what others have to offer. Sure, you might be sounding negative yourself right now, but that's pretty much what this forum is for...to be able to get our feelings out there and to get help where we can from others. I don't know you, but I hope you decide to stay. We need all the people we can get to support each other...

I changed my date today since my hubby couldn't find his birth certificate. I was going to be banded on August 15th, but now will be banded on the 29th. If anyone else is going that day, let's chat!