2008 Junies and Friends

Zippy I will see the Dr but don't think I need the nexium...

i am still taking the zantax but it all feels good maybe tonight I won't take it and see how tomorrow goes.

Zippy I had my gall out about 8 years ago, Get it out before it causes you pain like mine did. My usually Dr did not take it seriously as I did not perform with the pain but his partner took one look at me rang the surgeon while he said that has to come out. I was in and out within 10 days. The attacks can be quite debilitation.

Deb I hope it all works out for you.

Delia

I feel like an eating machine at the moment. With .6 mls out it is open season. Even large tablets go down.

Did you notice any weight gain losingit after you had it out? Weight gain that seemed particular to the gallbladder removal?

My dietician is quite understanding actually, she's a bit plump and wanted to get a band herself but doc said no as she has MS. I think she dodged a bullet to be honest. It'll be interesting to hear from her whether she has seen other people who were unhappy with the band. I rang this morning and i go and see her on Thursday. I'm going to mention my tummy pain too as it keeps coming and going. It was gone for a few days there and i thought it was all over...woohoo...but then day before yesterday it came back....and get this...it only seems to be relieved by eating..WTF? So now i am eating more than i should because i get this pain, so i eat and while eating the pain stops then about 20mins later the pain starts again. I put up with it for an hour or so then i'm feeling sick and so i eat something again to make the pain stop...then back it comes afterwards. What that about? So you can see i'm eating way too much. Will mention it to the dietician as she will probably send a report to the band doc.

debs

Friggin dieticians - don't get me started on them. They're usually skinny and have never had a weight issue. Not that you'd be wanting to see an obese dietician, but some understanding of the challenges would be good.

I have no issues eating anything since the gallbladder removal. Well, when I say that, no issues caused by the removal, only issues with what the band might let through. On one or two occasions after eating something a bit fatty, I did have a feeling that my whole mouth was coated in fat, and it was difficult to get rid of. Even a mouthful of lemon juice swished around didn't seem to relieve it. It lasted for a few hours but was definitely gone by the next day.

If only I was unable to eat peanut butter . . . . . . . . . . that would probably be a bonus. I have not had a bilious or squirty attack!

LOL

That will be interesting Zip to find out the bloodwork stuff. Hope everything is in order for you in that regard. Never thought of the sleeve effecting levels of things but it makes sense with such small meals...like maybe having a low vitB or a low whatever.... hope everything is good for you zip.

I need to make an appointment to see the dietician today. She's a lovely girl but will probably give me that whole 'back to band basics' speech to try and get it working...she did that through the first year and i kept telling her then i was feeling no restriction (i think i have that thing you have Losingit where its either too loose and you can eat anything or too tight and you'r vometing etc...) I hope she remembers all that from her notes and doesn't try and make me guilty for not 'working with it'. Did you have to see her Zip when you were trying to talk to Dr P about the sleeve?

Good luck with your appointment!

debs

LOL no you are just nuts.

Im off to Gp today to get the results of my blood work up so it will be good to see if the sleeve makes you have low results in stuff cos the band never did for me....but then I was eating more even though it wasnt so varied

Have put on half a kilo...good news so will try and sustain it.... I attribute this to the extra carbs I am adding so maybe this is what I need to do to stop the loss perhaps.

Bit uneasy bout the gall coming out.

Hey loosinit have you found it has made you unable to eat things like pork or peanut butter etc without getting the squirts or bilious.

I can not give up bacon and peanut butter ...I would rather have one of my nuts removed...if I had nuts that is.

This one's for Linda:

Morning ladies!

Thanks Linda, will take it slow and think it through carefullly before i do anything.
Cheers, debs

Just write everything down in dot points so you can just look at it and tell him. I think it would come across better in person than sending him a letter.

I know how you feel. I first saw my surgeon in Sept and said I would get banded in Oct as my mum was coming in Nov. He looked at me like I was mad and I had to go to all these other appointments first. It then looked like I wouldn't be done till the next year. I went on the waiting list for all the other appointments and him as well and was banded on 1 Dec. Don't give up just be smart about how you go about it.

You're probably right Zip, i'm probably too close and passionate about it at the moment. That was what i was worried about, coming off as a begging frau...and him thinking...am i going to have to resleeve her in 8 weeks...she sounds mental, like she thinks this is the be all and end all...the sleeve isn't magic but she seems so desperate she's acting like its going to be magic and she's not thinking clearly..she's not a good candidate...she needs a slap...yadda yadda yadda... I'm thinking of ringing and changing it to a port mac appointment, maybe in four or five weeks...just because i like him better in his own environment. He struggles when he's down here with the Ree riff raff. Bless...LOL



I think i will construct a letter slowly over the next week or so, that way i can refine and go over it and make it so i don't come across as a crazy person. My mum just said to me 'tell him you want it out. Its your body, you're paying for it. He's not doing you a favour. You've hired him to do a job etc..etc..' I guess that's true but i always feel quite tongue tied and a bit 'i'm not good enough' compared to sucessful people. Silly i know...you wouldn't think i'm nearly 40! lol Such a wuss :) I reckon he'd go fair spare if i said i'll go to another doc...can you imagine his face! I don't think i'd be brave enough to say that...WUSS. You're right though, i'll think on it a while....

Thanks mate.

Deb if you could see the all kinda crazy I have taken in there in the past... there have been tears and blatant begging you would not ask if a letter to him was a tinged with insanity. he often shakes his head at my ramblings and then laughs as if he is saying to himself..."oh bejeebus just shoot me"

I would sit on it a week though and get your head straight so your not writing it out of burning passion but can be more objective when putting it together...or wait till after your next visit...though I would not wait the 6 weeks, I would ring in two weeks and tell them your not coping with this and you want an appointment now and see him at 4 weeks instead.

If after that appointment its a no go then either send him the letter or go else where.

However I would tell him at this particular appointment that you are so desperate for the sleeve that if he wont do it you will consider going to another surgeon.

The only issue I have with that is that it will be more expensive for you and your follow up will be out of area.

Thanks ladies for your support and laugh at my little car comparison. lol It made me laugh too when i read it back but when i was typing it i was going at those keys hammer and tong!



Oh Tara, that does sound blissful! If my Dr drags his heels forever i might have to look elsewhere (like a tarty femme fatale) i shall look for someone else to meet my 'needs'. :) Sounds like my doc could use one of your docs chillout pills...or whatever makes him so chilled out.



Linda and Losingit, glad i have you a giggle...its so true though isn't it! We wouldn't stand for that with any other device or service. I think of all the people with working bands now and i bet in 10 years time 90% of them will be back seeing their doc's and have regained the weight.



Zip you're so right about Ree rooms...i hate seeing him there. In fact in my whole two years i've only seen him there twice because i noticed the exact same thing. He always looks so stressed and the waiting room is always overflowing with people to see the other doc thats there. Kylie hides in a little room at the back and Doc is in a room at the back but is always rushed and never as nice as he ususally is in P.



You really think the tears would have helped? lol I felt like crying i've got to tell you but i was so worried he'd think 'what a nutbag, i doubt she'd handle the sleeve. Can i sleeve psychiatric patients?'



I'm like you Zip, i tend to be dopey in appointments and lose the plot...i kind of vague out because i know he's so busy and he just wants to move on to the next person and get back to his own habitat. Plus i always feel like the dumb fatty waited with baited breath for the almight doc to save me. I hate that i feel like that...intimidated or 'less than'.



I was wondering if i should write him a letter actually. The reason being, i can never articulate in words what i want to say, plus there is no time to have a proper talk. I thought in a letter i could explain my reasons, tell him my issue with the band, discuss the sleeve and why i think its a better suit for me, let him know that i don't see it as a magic cure all or a quick-fix. Explain that for long term maintance i think the sleeve would be a better fit because of actual reduced capicity. Explain that i don't intend to over eat and stretch my sleeve, as i've had my band for two years and although i haven't lose a hugs amount of weight, i have lost some and haven't put much back on...etc..etc...



I don't know, is that a bad idea? I just thought if he reads it, he can stick it in my file, mull it over and by the time he sees me next he'll have a better idea of my feelings and thoughts and i wont have to jam it all in in a 10-15 minute consult and come off sounding desperate or insane or whatever... any thoughts my lovely jubblys?



debs

Oh Deliah that is great news... So will you ask for nexium... the up side of Nexium is it tends to take away your appetite... I always lost weight when I was on the stuff cos I litterally wasnt hungry.

How did your birthday go loosinit.. was there yummy cake...did you go out for dinner.. I hope you treated yourself

nah my reflux issues were due to my stretched pouch...and we know how that happens...oink oink..

He felt the area and it was tender also the fact that my last scan showed a bag of marbles and put with the description of pain and the recent weightloss he drew the conclusion.

He made sence about the whole "if it doesnt come out now it will come out later and prob with more difficulty and more discomforting attacks to you... best do it now while its grumbling and hinting at turning bad and we get it before infection or anything turns septic" .... so kinda made sence.

he did say it was a "pity" it needed to be done...what ever that meant, I should have asked but Im dopey during appointments and just lose the plot most of the time.

Debs I always find him more stressed and aloof and "wadda ya want now" at the 'reeee' surgery, he is much more approachable on his own turf in "P".. so make your next app up there.

I recon the "ree" visits are so heavily booked and he is just back to back and then has to rush off back up north for all his arvo appointments that it just puts him in a foul mood. I remember him being so impatient when he would try to do a fill and couldnt then would have to meet me at the tajmahal for an ultrasound fill... it was like "right get on the table I dont have time...here there is a band aid, Im going home"

Where when that happened in "P" he had all the equipment there and would do it casually and have a chat and sit afterwards and ask if there were any other issues I wanted to discuss.

When you go up there he sits and has more time and there is never anyone in the rooms when your waiting.

SO my advice is make sure you see him up there...tears will definitely be a bonus... he needs to see how this is effecting you.

And it is such a pain going for fills and unfills. How much money do they make on that. It is not like we are sick or anything. I think the band manufacturers made a killing & fed all bullshit to the surgeons. Along with a new car or holiday of course.

Loved your whinge Debs. Had me cracking up.

Sorry about another op for you zips. So how do you know it needs removal"? Could it have been the cause of your reflux issues before?

Debs your analogy is perfect - had me giggling away here about the car.

The more I hear about issues with the band, the more I think that it has been a great money-spinner for surgeons. I don't think they all deliberately defrauded us, as they were probably fed a shit-load of lies too. Moving right along . . . . . . . . I think the sleeve is probably a better long-term choice.

Right Debs I'm on to it.

We ship you up here for band removal and sleeving with my doc. And he's cheaper than yours (I think.)
You sleep on my couch (well perhaps as whomever has had surgery can have the bed.)
You mollycoddle me for my recoveries and I'll kill you with kindness after yours.
And we'll both be done and dusted (AND SLEEVED) by May next year !!!!
Woo hoo ... see a problem solver me.

Okay so my apartment is sooooooo TINY (although it does actually have 2 rooms) and your fella may have to do his own washing ad cooking but yep I can see no flaws !!
Ooooh I have lots of Internet for us to use.. no fighting over downloads.

Gosh the more I joke about this the more it makes sense.

Tara

PS -- I think I may have stolen half your sleeving luck cos your guy is being extra contrary and (so FAR) my guy's office are being too easy ! I feel guilty.

That's great news Delia, so glad you've found some relief and are feeling better.
debs

The best day I have had for over a week. Zantas is working a treat but have made an appointment to see Dr next Thursday when I get home.

Delia

Thanks ladies, you are really are a great source of comfort and advice. I'm sure you're all right about him wanting me to make sure its the right decision and not regret and it etc... I just felt so...i don't know...ignored maybe? He really did seem kind of disinterested and like he just wanted me out of there. He probably is over it all at the moment Zip. I can understand it would be frustrating...you do this great thing for people and then they come back and whinge about it and say they want it out, why isn't it working...etc. etc... what shits me though is that the band is not a great as they say it is. They do say its great tool, but you have to work with it etc...etc...but i don't they explain well enough how MUCH you have to work with it.

I mean, you pay out this shit load of cash for something that is supposed to just WORK, it doesn't just work...it stuffs up ALOT, and to get it to work you have to sacrifice a lot of types of foods...all good, and even then the amount of weight loss is not THAT impressive...i mean, i lost almost half of what i've lost so far on the optifast...before i even got the band! I mean, if you paid ten thousand dollars to a mechanic to fix your car, and then he did it and said...'it works but only if you don't drive over 80kms...and it works only if use this particular petrol and oil, and it'll work best for about 1 year but then it might start to chug and blow a bit of smoke and then after a few years it'll probably start not to work and could end up even a bit more broken then when it started, oh, and it could potentially flip and wreck your engine, in which case you'll have to get it out...but its all up to you and how well it actually works. That'll be ten thousand dollars please.'
We'd tell the mechanic to stick it up his arse! LOL But where weight is concerned we'll try anything.


He did tell me to go and see Jodie the dietician in between now and then so maybe that's a positive? I know i do want this done...and i know i don't want to live with the band and all its tempremental attitudes and potential long term risks of it just sitting there. I know the sleeve isn't perfect either, and you can still eat shit and put on weight...but the stats for sleeve are just so much better...and i like that your tummy only has a certain amount of space with a sleeve so there's a physical stop or you'll get sick. With the band you can outwit it easily and under the band you've still got your big tummy. I'm sure you'd have to have to have some really serious food issues to stretch your sleeve...and if in 5 or 10 or 20 years time your sleeve does stretch then you can do something about then....i feel like with the band you're lucky if you get two years of good times before it goes tits up.
Anyway that's my whinge...again. :)


Thanks again girls. debs


ps I was talking to kylie today too and said i was having troubles with the band and she said you just need to keep adjusting until its right. I don't think something that cost $10 000 should be so much bloody hard work...and thats just the band, not the actual dieting...dieting is hard enough let a lone dealing with all the band crap like reflux, tightness, food types, vomiting etc...and if you eliminate those things by losening it up then you may as well not have the band in the first place. OK shutting up now :)

Zip, sorry you need to get your gallbladder out, what a bloody pain. What causes gallbladder problems? Poor thing, what a pain to have to pay for another op. Grrrr...hopefully you'll be without pain after it though.

Linda, i forgot to mention my pain to the doc. Afer he said come back in six weeks i was kind of taken aback and a bit gobsmacked and my mind went a bit blank, and i felt a bit unpset like if i talked too much i might cry and i definitely didn't want to do that. After i realised he was really firm on the six week thing i just wanted to get out of there. I actually wish my band would slip then that would be a good enough reason for him. I hope he doesn't make me wait a year like he did with Zip. I would be gutted. If i go back in six weeks and he says leave it a while longer or come back in three months or something i will be getting that fill put back in. I don't care if it makes me spew...i didn't pay thousands of dollars for something only to have it sit there inactive. It just brings out my stubborn streak :)

Chin up Debs. You will get it in the end. He is just making sure that you are really sure about it. Did you ask him about your pain?

oh yes and it could be because he is a bit jaded ...cos kylie told me he resleeved some woman last week cos she stretched her sleeve by maltreating it severely.

So he is shitty with the whole whinging about the surgery after you have it and the 'I want the op but dont want to work with it'. So maybe he is just anti WLS at the moment and being contrary.

He did make the statement when I asked about the rate of regain that he knows I have the right approach to the whole thing so it wont be too much of an issue...

I think he is just peeved right now Deb...give him a few weeks then tackle him again. And perhaps tell him you really hate having a foreign device inside you, that might work also.

Just be sure this is truely what you want and not something that people like me or others have convinced you will be right for you.

For me it was right because I had such bad reflux with the band that this, in my mind was my best option.

Fark me Debs I would be chewing my way through the pantry too. Yes he can be very hard to motivate but unfortunately he is anti cutting you open.

I dont think they fully understand how debilitating the band actually is. I was having this convo with Kylie today and she said "but its reversable" and I said "because it has to be, there is no way you could live happily with it forever"

I had a hard time convincing him to until my band turned on me. I had been asking for the sleeve for 12 months prio and he kept saying the same to me as he said to you. I think you have to be very determined to get him to do it. Even after my band came out he was still offering to reband me but I was doggedly determined by then to never revisit that island.

I can imagine how disapointed you are sweety. I know I would be...so you have all my sympathies.

As for me... the gall is coming out as it seems that is what the pain I have been having the last 2 weeks was about and not the metamucil I ingested.

SO out it comes on the 13th of Nov... this time I asked for the cheaper gas person as I have paid for 2 of Lerches porches and no way I was gonna pay for another one.

I weighed in at 68 kilos with boots, jeans and a jumper on so that is down again since my last weigh at home... and he suggested I stop losing weight which is an issue because I am 9/10's peanut butter and jelly frogs at the moment.

So I went out for lunch and ate 4 prawns. 2 slices of chorizo and a fork full of salad...yeah huge effort but I was super full and its the best I could do....how ever I did opt to buy a slice of cheese cake to take home for later so that might boost my intake a bit.

I am really sorry you didnt get the outcome you wanted deb, I really am... I will keep my fingers crossed for you that he is more receptive in 6 weeks.

I cant beleive he offered to draw out all the fill and let you live like that.. honestly how rediculouse... but then he might be trying to see how serious you are about this because Kylie said they get a lot of virgin sleevers coming back and saying its not fair you still have to eat healthy with a sleeve to lose weight ( well frigging dah). Perhaps they are worried you might think its a magic fix and he is just making sure you are sure you want this.

Debs that is just the sort of reaction I would have. Well, maybe not hot chips, but perhaps a brown coloured sweet treat of some kind . . . . . .

It's very frustrating . . . . having to explain why you want that bit of silicone out of your body. I think the doc is probably wanting to make absolutely sure that you want to take this next step, as there is no undoing it and he wants to be sure that both he and you are resolute that this is the right path to take.

Annoying as it must be to have to wait another six weeks, in the scheme of things, it is not that long. Doesn't seem like that now, I know, but 2 years down the track you will see it as a blip on the horizon.

Don't lose faith. I'm sure he has your best interests at heart.