Fall Days and Questions

AS much as I love October, it is a bitter sweet pill for me to swallow.  The days are a lovely temperature and I love all the fall mums, pumpkins and scarecrows.  I love attending all the harvest festivals and handing out candy to the Trick or Treaters on Halloween.  I love it when the leaves begin to change (and I will hopefully have a new camera soon so I can capture those leaves) to all the brilliant colors of Fall.  But the mornings and evenings are are so chilly that already I sit here in my pajamas with a hooded jacket overtop.  The jacket will probably remain in place until mid-May.  I am not a lover of the cold and never have been.  Even at 315 pounds, I was cold all Fall and Winter, so now, nearly 80 pounds less, the chill seems to be setting in earlier than usual.  Heat makes me happy.  Cold, not so much.

Our resident Pre-Op, Susan, has questions as any pre-op would have!  I know that with Lacy, Meg and Kim having gone before me, I asked them tons of questions as my nerves set in with the final countdown until surgery! 

So, today's topic:

Hello everyone, Thank you so much for such good information. I can see where it will pretty much be a trial and error type of thing but I print off all emails and save them so at least I have a reference point.
I am going to see a good friend of mine Saturday night, (we're going to see the new chick flick - Nights in Rodanthe) who got a Lap Band about 5 years ago. While she has had a lot of success with it, she is still not where she wants to be weight wise and it has left her felling very frustrated. Kim, she was an early patient of Dr. "S" while he was still at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, before he went to Hopkins.
My friend is now considering Bypass and I was wondering what everyone thought of having that after a lap band?
In any event I love to get together with her as we have a lot in common, mainly weight issues and have really been supportive of each other. We even go on vacation together, hence wanting to see Nights in Rodanthe....which is a small town on the Outer Banks of NC,where we go on vacation.
Well, back to work ....have a great day everyone ...
Susan

I don't think that RNY after a lapband is all that unusual anymore.  I remember seeing an episode of "Big Medicine" last season about a woman who'd had the lapband and was now getting RNY.  The scary part was that the surgeons couldn't find the band to remove it (*shudder*  That is one of the reasons the lapband was never an option for me.   A foreign body in me was not a comforting thought!).  I just did a Google search to see if I could find any information though and found very little.  I would recommend that your friend go back and talk to Dr. S and get his opinion.  My personal opinion is that the man is amazing.

The other reason being banded was not an option for me is that I know myself.  The band was not going to keep me from eating the wrong things.  I would still be able to consume sugar with minimal, if any, ill effects.  With my RNY, the mere thought of dumping keeps me honest.  Sure, I can have the occasional Hershey Kiss or a bite of a dessert, maybe even two bites, but then I stop.  I've learned to be satisfied with a bite or two.  Though at nearly six months out, I have never actually thrown up, I have had the sweats, nausea and pain that comes with eating something that didn't agree (I think I shared my story about the sugar free candy that had me leaning over the kitchen sink) with me.  That fear is enough to make me not want to push the envelope.  It makes me keep the majority of my choices healthy.  Am I an angel?  Hell no.  I struggle with carbs; I love those stupid honey wheat pretzel twists and a few other carbs that are not full of sugar, but I try to not allow myself to get out of control.

Anyway, anyone else have any thoughts on Susan's question.  Susan, let us know what your friend decides to do!  Oh and I'm interested in knowing how the movie is after you see it!  I read the book, but the problem I had with "The Notebook" as a movie is that Hollywood changed the end and I hate it when they do that!  Just a pet peeve of mine

In gym news, today I used the Titanic treadmill and had a total Titanic experience.  I set the beast for "Intervals" and it went from a 1% to 8% off and on.  The first time that sucker when to 8%, I was reminded of the movie Titanic when the ship broke in half and all the people were sent sliding down to one end.  I usually walk hands-free on the treadmill, but I was holding on for dear life!  But I completed the course though it kicked my butt good and proper!  I still then did 15 interval minutes on the elliptical as well and went home like a wet dishrag.  I have to say though, that I really enjoy challenging myself at the gym.