2008 Junies and Friends

your welcome Deb, I have found that everything I was told about the sleeve has been true.

Apparently booze posses a problem if you call it that and most (not all) find that half to one glass gives them the buzz that took 3 glasses prior.

I am gonna give it a whirl in a few weeks. Not game enough yet, some of the girls on the thread tried a drink 2 weeks out but I will wait till the month mark I think. Oddly I dont even remotely fancy one where before I would have looked forward to having a drink on the weekends to relax

we shall seeeeee how it pans out.

have you been back to see Nigel yet Deb

Glad all is going well Zip...its so fascinating to read this stuff...you never hear about this in a magazine article or whatever...

I like it straight up with no bullshite, so thanks for giving us that.

debs

this one did... but its only early days. Older sleevers dont have this issue and can shoot the horse pessary fish oil tabs with no issues.

Look if it was gonna happen, it was gonna happen to me.

In retrospect I should have taken a sip of water before I took it to grease the shoot, instead I took it then took a swallow. It was a gel cap so it must have got a little sticky and jammed in there, its all good now and didnt take more than 10 seconds to clear once I sipped some green tea.

Like I said, it was no where as traumatic as a band stuck... it resolved very quickly and wasnt anywhere near the discomfort level.

On lady on my month thread ate a cruskit yesterday ( 1 or half a one is usually all you can get down with some topping) but she liked the taste so much she backed up for a second and a couple of bites into it and it over filled and clogged her new, still tender tummy... she got the squirts along with the issues I had but again it was resolved quickly with sipping some hot tea.

Learning curves, we all have them.

Zips I didn't realise that tablets could get stuck.

love a drop of red but since my last baby it dont like me get all sorts of red hot burning face have tride all sorts of addative and sulphur free ones but havnt found one that is good twice in a row.. flat white gives me heart burn so its now a bubbly. oh gee my baby just turned 12yrs didnt realise I still hunger for that smooth red.

well I got a tablet stuck today... here is what happened.

Sharp pain in the sternem. Lump in the throat like something is jammed in there... slime comes up and your mouth waters and you feel nausous.

I got it down by sipping hot green tea... all in all though it wasnt as bad as the pain with a stuck band.

That part does not change with the sleeve...one must still pulverize food... I believe though something stuck is unpleasant in the fact you feel nauseous and will bring it up but it does not hurt.

I have eaten 1 spoonful too much cos it tasted good and i just felt very full and it just slid back up. not a burp or a vomit but just slipped back up just that one teaspoonful.

YUM sounds good. I am just heating up some pumpkin soup. Ohhhh a crunchy roll how I miss thee. I actually ate half a subway last week. Sh*t it was good! I was out too. I just have to eat and chew slowly. I need to get that message when out.

Andy shocked me Linda.. he was always soo...sooo banded and healthy. Still it is what it is and to me it pointed out as you said, if he went arse up then we should not feel lowley for struggling.

Well I have just put on a biiiiig pot of home made chicken and veg soup to simmer away. When I was in woolies yesterday they had a red light and you could fill up a bag with as much fruit and veg on the trolly as you could fill into a bag for $2... so i got turnips and brocolli and carrots and zuccini and corn and onions. A huge bag and now its all on the stove cooking away with some chopped chicken bits.

Mmmmmm it smells good... going in to get some crunchy buns to go with it and have a coffee later. Dont know how the son will feel about soup after a hard days yakka but stiff chedder he can cook something else as long as he cleans up after.

We are never going to do it with diet and exercise. I went well for 6 1/2 weeks on dukan and that was it. I have only gained back a bit and I am still trying to eat healthily and walk every day.

A bit of research with funds Losingit. Also new doctors. I have 2 friends who have had sleeves with a Melb doc. I can get his details when you want. They are both ex bandits and 1 has had 2 bands. She was the poster girl at seminars from my doctor for the band. Also Andy was the poster boy for bands with his doc too.

Loosinit go on the sleeve site and Pm some of the older band to sleeve converts. I can point you towards some if you like.

I found they were the best to go to. They wont beat around the bush or spoon feed you fairytales.

I have found (so far) that the sleeve is everything I wanted in the band. Now, I will say that it wont do it for me, I will still have to make healthier choices and if I want to sit on my arse all day eating chips and chocolate, Im gonna struggle in which case I should have got by pass.

However it has stopped my hunger which has curbed my need for such things. I have read of regain in some sleevers but its around the 2 to 5 kilo mark and if they go back to good choices it falls back off again.

I am not advocating the sleeve, thats a personal choice but I am advocating research in the right areas. One can only make an educated decision if they are informed.

I know how hard this all is...trust me it did my freaking head in and I too did the whole back and forth on the "give it a nutha chance with diet and exercise thing" and yes it works for some dedicated people...me I aint one and slipped back after a week if I was lucky but usually a day or two. Eventually I realised this was a mouse wheel I wanted off of.

Am I still having WtF moments...ahh yar I am, thats natural in anything like this and I am only a few weeks out but for the most part I am very happy.

I'm actually in a fund, Linda. It's just that my current level of cover doesn't cover band surgery. Now, I don't know if that means that it doesn't cover the removal of the band. I'm guessing the health funds changed their criteria when they got hit with a lot of people getting bands on low health cover premiums, and finding it was just too expensive to cover them for that on that level of premium. Whether the sleeve is covered on my current level of cover is an unknown. I guess I figured I wasn't going to be 'sucked in' by a higher level of cover 'just in case'.

Need to do some research in regard to cover. The sleeve may be the way to go for me. Of course the old doubts surface, and what if I fail with that? I suppose I really need to give the old methods a run first, eat less move more.

Can't I just wake up tomorrow, skinny and happy? Nah - that won't work. I'm NEVER going to be skinny.

the cost in the sleeve is in the titanium staples they use and th bougie.... apparently the staples are equal to the band in cost.

I was reading somewhere on the site that some docs will do the sleeve as a convert to the cost of your PHI and medicare so you have nil out of pocket. Mine did that but it was the gas man that charged me $1200 ...still cheaper than my band when you work it out.

My doc fiddled with the providor numbers to bring it down to nil out of pocket... if he didnt my all up costs with gas would have been about 2 1/2 grand.

A lot of the ladies were given a list of gas people to choose from and chose the cheapest..I didnt get that choice so lurch it was.

Your right loosinit...most of the ladies and men on there who have changed over becausee the have regained all of their weight with the band in place and some have gained more. It is most depressing having weight gain after a wls..its simply not supposed to happen..but sadly it does

A few of the surgeons are refusing to do the band now due to its falure rate and now only offer sleeve and by pass. My doc mentioned he thinks that is the way it will head, though he still offers the band he said he is finding his sleeve patients are much more successful and happy and he is impressed with the results.

You would think the sleeve would be much cheaper than the band. My understanding when I was banded over 5 years ago was the actual band cost $3000.

Losingit why don't you join a fund so you can get sleeved in 12 months.

You have to wonder about the band and regain when personal trainers are having problems keeping the weight off.

There's an idea - haven't made lasagne for ages.

I was just reading some posts on the sleeve site. Seems like all the ex-bandits are over the moon with their sleeve conversions. Some fairly strong opinions there about the traumas experienced with the band. I must say reading their posts makes me feel 1) a little envious that I'm not sleeved, and 2) somewhat heartened to know that I'm not the only bandit several years post-op who is experiencing weight gain.

I would like to know what percentage of banders are happy long-term with their decision. It just seems so many people have issues after a couple years, be it reflux, or throwing up, not being able to eat anything healthy, and generally a poor quality of life.

I also wonder how many surgeons are moving away from the band and towards the alternatives. I don't suppose anyone wants to admit they are wrong, although to be fair I guess they only ever sprouted what was their best advice at the time. I can be a little forgiving, there are some things I would do differently now than what I did 5 or 10 years ago (and I'm not talking about weight-loss here). Most people make a decision based on the best available advice at the time. Things change and what was good advice 5 years ago is not necessarily the best advice now.

I feel like I'm in no-man's land at the moment. I need to do something, but it all seems like too much effort. I can't believe I expended as much effort as I did to get that damn weight off, and most of it has returned. Have always found that letting the guard down for even just a short time results in weight gain. I can't commit to exercising my arse off for the rest of my life, so it looks like I'll just have to be a fatty forever.

bloody hard I have to say Linda... although at the moment I have no desire at all for a 'beverage'... I am sure it will come but at the moment narda zip.

I totally agree lasagne should always be served with half a bottle of red in the cooking ingredients and the other half a bottle at the table when consuming it.

Life is short lovey...a glass of wine is not gonna make is shorter... but it will make it more enjoyable.

That sounds like a lovely lunch out zippy.

I fell off the wagon. I thought I would be able to do 2 straight days in a row as we have bridge on Mon nights. Anyway we didn't feel like going so I made a lasgne and salad and it called for wine to be more enjoyable. It was lovely I must say. I should make it more often.

Aaaaaaaaaaaah yes but Rose while she was in a lather trying to force feed me to no avail...you would get off scott free.

Yes Delia...kids can be very judgemental of their parents. My eldest had a melt down over the band...went nuclea over my tummy tuck and was smug when the band came out soooooo I have kept the sleeve to myself. She does not live at home and works away and we see her once a month when she comes home so I simply said I was having a hernia op caused by the band... in which I got the I told you so lecture.

Yesterday she askes why I wasnt eating and I simply said since the hernia op and repair to the tummy of damage the band did I am off my food and it hurts a bit if I eat too quick or too much....again I got the I told you so look and the shake of the head... but I got away with it.

I dont like keeping it from her but she will make such an issue of it and then discuss my idiocy with other family members and I dont want that. I have only told my husband, my two kids at home and you guys...oh and the sleeve people.

I dont see I have to discuss my personal business with anyone....I am sure they would not discuss a personal op like this with me oooor ask my permission so I wont either.... besides although I rant on and carry on like a rabbit, I am a grown woman and more than capeable of making my own decisions and do not need their ok blessings.

Dont feel like breakfast today so having a 1/2 cup of shake to take my tablets. I need some nutrition to lose the weight. Loss this week was only half a kilo but Im happy with that ...mushies as we all know is the point you stop losing and many on the sleever site are complaining of just this.

I am drawing off my old lap band notes I made and trying to keep my calories protein based with healthy fats in there....very low carb in the way of green blitzed veg or pumpkin

Its never gonna be easy but all we can do is try.... on an up side I have dropped 2 clothing sizes in 2 1/2 weeks.

oops it sould have been Losingit that needs to save me from my mother in law..your welcome to come to perth too zippy but a 1\4 cup stomach isnt going to cut it with her. lol

How is it going Linda?
Zippy that was wonderful of your daughter. My daughter does not agree with the band either.
Delia

Ba haaa haa Rose bud I love the imagery.. it was awesom. My cattle dog is exactly like the dog you discribed so I can see it very clearly.

well I went out for lunch today....would never have done that 2 weeks after getting the band.

My daughter ordered steamed fish with mango mayo and told the waiter we will split it because she wasnt very hungry ( gotta love daughters who take the bullet for you) so he brought out the meal and another plate. Annie scooped a small amount of the fish off for me and some mango mayo and I ate it slowly and it was yummy...no pain...no discomfort nothing just normal like I had eaten a whole slice of fish.

I was so scared of going out for lunch but my eldest ( who doesnt know about the sleeve because she would violently dissaprove) wanted to go...So my youngest daughter told me it would be fine and God bless her she looked after the situation.

Some days you just have to be thankful for the small things that end up being huge that someone does for you out of love.

good luck linda. Hope it gose better then chocolate and me
oh zippy ashame your not Perth way then you be the adoptive daughter in law for my hubbys mum just got through her authodox easter well she dosent realy need an excuse to force feed someone . Sitting at the table telling her not to pressure everyone into eating more and more (hay Iam the one that has to lissen to the kids groaning about stomache pains all night.) When all I could think about was some immage of a scarfed grandmother holding a goose by the neck and and force feeding it up for christmas dinner. and my son just looked like that dog that had eaten all so much that all he could do was flick out a tounge to lick up a bit more before he pops

I am aiming for 5 days alcohol free. Day 1 down.! It helps when Alan goes along with it.

woot wooo Linda thats fantastic news..... I vote you dont do the wasing up ever... ever again!

Its the looking at all the water you know.... it reminds you of being on the boat...best stay away from baths and swimming pools too... so no cleaning the bathroom or scooping the pool....just avert your eyes when looking at a glass of wine....that should do the trick

I had a rock free day yesterday! I didn't do anything. It usually starts when I do the washing up so today I am not washing up. I had a lovely day in bed with the cats.

On Saturday I had a terribly rocky day and had to resort to valium.