MamaMichelle

Hi Jenn, There will be 5 of us there that morning for our first fill (we were all banded on 2/28) it will be so great to meet you and Cassie!

Having to buy new jeans every 2-3 weeks is pretty motivating to me! I have just felt better about myself which has made me want to get my hair and nails done but no I don't have anything pre-planned! Mac- Tell your parents I am available for adoption if they need another daughter... what a sweet deal that is!!

When I walk I do incline of 2.0 and a speed of 3.0 I do that for about 45min for maximum fat burning potential. When I jog I do no incline 0.0 and a speed of 4.5 to 5.0 depending on how I am feeling.

Ok I tried it, it was Ok but I didn't like the fake caramel taste it was almost too sweet I think, lol.. But my hubby liked it so he says thanks for the tip!!

ARTICLE FROM THE LONDON TIMES October 12, 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's a Cinch BY RICHARD McCLURE =============== Why are some women squeezing back into corsets and even binding their feet? RICHARD McCLURE on body training and the painful quest for an hourglass figure At first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Pandora Gorey. She is tall and pretty with a posture to die for, but that's about all, really. It isn't until your eyes wander down to her waist that you notice her most distinguishing feature - the tiny midriff of a pubescent girl. Yet 31 -year-old Gorey is not a painfully thin, anorexic ,or a slave to cosmetic surgery. Nor will you find her sweating it out on the StairMaster to achieve her unusual figure. Instead, she is among a growing number of women who are strapping themselves into severe bindings to reduce the size of their waist, lengthen their neck, and even customise the shape of their feet. Known as "body training," the trend is spreading to the UK from across the Atlantic. Just as tattooing and piercing gradually expanded into mainstream culture, so torso modification is being practised not just by fetish freaks, but by professional, well-educated women. Where once women were forced into tight corsets and foot bindings as acts of subjugation, the same items are now being put on as articles of choice: "I get a great deal of pleasure from modifying and changing the shape of my body," explains Gorey, who has reduced her waist measurement from 25 inches to just 19 inches over the past two years. "I wasn't unhappy with my original figure, but I'm just much happier with a small waist. I think it looks extremely attractive. My ideal is the 1950s body shape of movie stars such as Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren. Although I can never be as sexy as they were, at least I can grasp a part of of what they had." The most common form of body modification, waist training, involves wearing a succession of tighter and tighter corsets over a period of months, starting out with one 3 inches to 4 inches smaller than the normal waistline. By wearing the garment for longer and longer periods each day, lacing it ever tighter, then repeating the process with a smaller size, the waist is progressively reduced, forcing the stomach and spleen upwards and the intestines and bladder down. The constant binding also lessens the appetite, adding to the shrinkage, and, after only a few months, those who practise this type of modification maintain that the average waistine will be 2 inches smaller. By continuing this training long term, a permanent reduction of 6 inches can be made. For Gorey, the inconvenience of such a dedicated regimen is far outweighed by the dramatic end result, and the feelings of confidence it elicits: "It's wonderful to have those curves and look so feminine," she says, "but it is also a postfeminist action. It's telling people you're a woman of power." An insurance clerk from Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Gorey often "trains" her waist while at work and, occasionally when sleeping, replacing her regular £80 garment with a slightly looser night corset or a special training belt, which keeps the waist at its reduced size. Others who have discovered they can change their shape this way are even more fanatical. Karen Wright, a 26-year-old student at Manchester University, frequently wears a corset for more than 12 hours a day, changing it every four hours, and always keeping a cotton layer between her skin and the garment to prevent chafing. Compared with her average-sized 37-inch hips, she now sports an ultraslender size 18-inch waist. "I've always wanted to achieve an hourglass figure, and now I have," she says. "If I didn't body train, my waist would naturally be about 26 inches." Like Gorey, Wright claims her tiny waist makes her feel powerful, but says her reasons have nothing to do with female liberation. "I've never been into feminism - I'm old- fashioned. I'm the sort of woman who believes men should always open doors for me and I body train solely to increase my femininity." Although binding the torso too tightly can lead to urinary problems and poor circulation, Gorey claims the only discomfort she has ever suffered has been a bad case of skin chafing, and occasional bouts of indigestion: "At first there was a lot of pain involved," she admits, "but you soon get used to the feeling of pressure on the abdomen. You can only seriously injure yourself if you misuse the garment." "The real problem is avoiding gassy foods or fizzy drinks, anything that is going to expand your stomach, which means, unfortunately, that champagne is out of the question." Surprisingly, although some doctors consider any form of body modification dangerous, others maintain that waist training, for example, does not pose any serious health risk. Dr Richard Park, a gastroenterologist at Glasgow Southem General Hospital, says: "Because the female body is built to accommodate the displacement of abdominal organs during pregnancy, the stomach and intestines will move with some ease. But wearing tight corsets should be approached with caution. Increasing the pressure within the abdomen pushes the stomach contents up into the esophagus, causing severe heartburn and other symptoms of reflux. If that pressure becomes excessive, there may be a danger of serious damage to the esophagus." Gorey is now taking body augmentation a step further, using a custom-made corset to elongate her neck. The process works on the same principle as the neck rings worn by Burmese hill tribes - artificially increasing the neck's length by pushing down the collar- bones - but the effects are much milder. Even constant use is unlikely to lengthen the neck by more than an inch. Despite her zeal for body training, Gorey insists her goal is modification rather than mutilation, drawing the line at more extreme forms currently practised in Califomia, notably the fashion for sculpting the feet with the use of Chinese-style bindings and a device called a foot bender. Made from metal and resembling something from the Spanish Inquisition, the bender's main function is to tutor the feet to wear extremely high heels: "The bender is strapped onto the foot and wom for a couple of hours at a time," explains Fakir Musafar, a body modifier who teaches foot bending and binding in San Francisco. "By making the metatarsals bend and the ankle move forward, it creates an extreme arch and, carried out sensibly, can reduce the size of the foot." One of Musafar's students, Sharon Nickle, a computer operator from San Francisco, practises both waist and foot training. Following frequent use of a foot bender, her feet are now two sizes smaller than they were and approaching her delicate lotus-flower ideal. Despite the obvious dangers - the Chinese outlawed the crippling custom of binding half a century ago - Musafar says that risk of injury is no deterrent to body trainers: "In the long run, there will be more and more people wanting to modify their feet and torso," he predicts. "Body training is here to stay." Gorey agrees: "Lots of my friends have taken it up after seeing my waist," she says. "Compared with the positive image that weight training has, body training is usually seen in a negative light, which is a shame. Now that's starting to change. As far as I'm concerned, every woman should do it." There are no recognised body modification and sculpting courses in the U.K.

Yummmmmmy- Human Soup, can I drink that through a straw or do I need to blend it??

Thanks sweetie, I am 5'4 (though Dr. Miranda measured me at 5'3 and 1/2 but I refuse to accept that)! I think my driver's license says 5'5 because in Texas they don't measure you they just ask your height and when I got it at 16 I thought that was how tall I was... Eeeek Maybe I am shrinking?? lol I was on the treadmill about 4 days a week, maybe 30min to an hour 4 days a week from the end of week 3 till about the start of week 5.. Now it's more like twice a week I need to get my butt moving again!

It was a seventeen-inch waist, the smallest in three counties . . . lol

I was told to wait 2 weeks when I asked about getting in the hot tub, maybe the heat has more effect on dissolving the glue?

I really can't imagine it causing too many issues, except maybe affecting the healing of your scars since they won't be able to breathe and will have something rubbing against them all day. As for a port flip it is sewn into your abdominal muscles so nothing externally (except maybe being punched in the stomach) would have any way to cause a flip. They give girdles to people after they have liposuction to help the skin snap back faster and that's similar effect to losing weight so I guess it might help. You aren't the only one who likes to be bound, I have a girlfriend who's OBGYN gave all her patients girdles to wear after their babies were born to help the skin shrink back and 5 years later she still wears one daily!

I ended up starting to work out a few days before the 3 week restriction was up, just some faster paced walking on the treadmill!! I just couldn't help it, lol who would have thought?

Don't lose hope, the post op period before your first fill is meant to be a healing time, any weight loss is just a bonus. The first fill changes everything and really shows you want the band was designed to do!!

Welcome to our forum, I'm sure you'll find one or two fellow bandsters that share your date. As for the water there's no limit per-se but you will want to only sip-sip-sip the water, no more big gulps!! As for the tea I believe that you are not allowed to have anything with caffeine so you may have to get used to the decaf teabags for a while! Here is a link to Dr. Miranda's exact post op guidelines, http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5220 that should help answer some of your questions!

I bought some today, will be trying it out for lunch in just a little bit!!

I brought a copy of his book (and a sharpie marker) to have him sign and I forgot, honestly Dr. O only spoke to us for maybe 3 min... I never even met/spoke with Dr. Martinez at all but it was a full house (8 surgeries) and I was the last one so maybe that was it. Maybe I will have him sign it on the 18th when I'm back at OCC for my fill.

I too plan to have another baby in the next 2-4 years and I had terrible morning sickness for about 2 months with my son, so when speaking to my OBGYN she said that from what she knew of the band (she has 2 nurses on staff who have them) that morning sickness is mostly like a PB episode, since there's no food in your stomach trying to come back up through the band there's less chance of damage/slippage since you're just retching (I think that's the work) up stomach acid juices. She says if it more severe she could put me on an anti nausea medication to ensure the band's safety.

My husband and I have stayed at resorts all over Mexico and I can only recall 2 places (neither are anywhere near TJ) that had signs on the bathroom faucet, mirrors and in the showers WARNING you not to drink the water. I would say if there's not a sign you'll be fine!

Chicken Strips and Wine, gee that makes me sound like a Classy Chick, lol!!! I had a horrible airport experience too... I was banded on 2/28 and I flew home on 3/2, I felt fine until the morning of the plane ride home- I had to be in the lobby at 4:00am to go back across the border (our flight was at 8 but another bandster had a 6:30 am flight) I felt some nausea in the morning so I decided to get at hot tea from starbucks, I got the 12oz (small) which I thought was no big deal but I was wrong!! I was feeling fine after drinking about half of it (using a spoon as not to go too fast), but old habits die hard and my brain said I needed to finish the whole thing... it was obviously wayyyy too much for my band so soon... and man I paid the price as I was soooo miserable! For the 2 hrs before our flight took off and all during the 1hr flight had a horrible burping/nausea episode (again maybe it was a PB even though I was only on liquids) It was so awful that gave me some serious second thoughts about getting the darn thing but I was fine after that 3 hours and until last night everything has been perfect!!

PB is a productive burp, it's your body's way of clearing out any food that gets stuck in the band. Another Vegas girl, yea! Are you getting banded by Dr. Ortiz?

1. I was reading that you stay 2 days at the clinic and 2 days at the hotel. Is this correct? I had my surgery done the same day I arrived so I spent the first night in the clinic and then spent the next 2 nights at the hotel. 2. I am assuming that the hotel stay is covered by the price but can your loved one stay there with you as well? How about when you are at the clinic? I'm assuming you have to pay for a room at the hotel for them? Yes the hotel cost is included, if you have a loved one with you they will stay in the hotel alone on the night you spend in the clinic, there is no additional charge as long as you are in the same room as your loved one. 3. What price did you pay for the procedure? I know that in Canada its $16,000. There's a company that can arrange all the details here and they are saying around $8,000 to go have it done at the clinic. I paid $7,950 on 2/28/08 4. I am concerned about the port. Can you see this through your skin? Where is it located? My port is on the left hand side 5 inches or so below my heart... no you can not see it through the skin here is my 1 month post-op scars the port is near the longer scar. The diagonal mark is a scratch from my dog.. 5. Do you wear this port for life? Does the procedure have a life span? Yes usually one port will last your lifespan, sometimes people opt for a lower-profile port once they lose a lot of weight and start wanting 6-pack abs. 6. How filled was your band at first? How long before your next fill? How many fills do you actually need? There is zero fill in your band when it is installed, you must wait 6-8 weeks before getting your 1st fill. 7. How long did it take you to get an appointment? I booked a month ahead of time, another member Evette got an appointment within a week or so of inquiring. Any information would be appreciated. I'll keep reading your posts they are very informative. We are happy to help!!

What a hot Mama!!

Oh Lora, Don't be so hard on yourself... No matter how bad you may think you look in your "Before" pics at least you will always know that from this point on a skinnier and more beautiful you will emerge!! Can't wait to see your "After" shots!! Here's a link to Lora's Gallery: http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?auto...um&album=19 for those of you that don't know how to access the member galleries. Good luck... Only 2 more days! MM P.S. I think you've got a BEAUTIFUL smile and that picture with your family in the LOVE word is precious!

I think that the super greasy food was mostly to blame but I didn't have much in my stomach for the day so maybe the wine did play a part: 7am Optifast Shake 1pm 2 Chicken Lettuce wraps 7pm Optfast Shake and two tater tots stolen from my son's dinner (bad me, have to stop the "mommy grazing") I don't usually eat greasy foods but I was hungry late that night.. I have had chicken before we actually ate there about 1 1/2 weeks ago (it's my husbands favorite) and I had 1.25 chicken strips and about 3 fries with no problems but I promise I will NEVER be eating there again. If you don't have that chain where you live they ONLY have chicken strips and french fries, no salads no burgers so it's really not a place I should even walk into!! I am feeling better this morning, still kind of nauseous but I drank some water slowly and will make myself a shake in a few min...

Best of luck and have a safe trip!!

Lol, my bad for some reason I thought you were banded on 2/24... It was 2am when I was posting last night sorry!