Hi,

I was also curious about Dr. Ponce De Leon in TJ. I haven't found much information about him either. What have you found out and did you have the surgery?

Hi all,

I'm trying to find an affordable site to purchase vitamin B1 injectables. The place I usually purchase it from has quadrupuled in price, so if you have any ideas, I'd sure appreciate you letting me know!
Thanks!
Margaret

 People overeat and stuff themselves in order to feel good.  It's the pleasure factor that we are all after when we eat.  When we stuff ourselves or give ourselves sweets, we actually are feeding the hormones in our body that give us pleasure sensations and those are the same sensations we get when we feel loved.  We are as addicted to that sensation whenever we choose to overeat, get drunk or take drugs.  All of them give us pleasure and all of us are seeking it.  People just don't understand that food is an addiction just like alcohol and drugs.    I personally realized that I was stuffing myself because I never had the love of my parents.  My mother abandoned me because she chose to be an alcoholic and my father chose to love his second wife more than me and I ended up living with friends and other relatives all of my life.  My father died when I was 15 and my mother died when I was 20.  I harbored anger and bitterness towards them all of my life and chose to 'fill that void' with food because it made me feel good like being loved feels good.  When I realized that fact, it helped me deal with the whole overeating issue itself.  When I chose to forgive my parents and love them despite their failures, the desire to overeat went away.  Granted, the surgery happened before I did that and the weight came off but I've managed to overcome the 'food is my life' issue because I chose to forgive.   See, when you think about it, the people who have surgery are forced to first drink liquids the first week.  Then they graduate to more solid liquids the second week.  Then they graduate to soft foods after that and eventually get to regular food but in small increments from then on.  If you stop and think about it, if a person would eat like that without surgery they would lose just as much weight as if they didn't have the surgery in the first place.   People regain their weight because they never dealt with the issue of why they overate in the first place.  They thought that the surgery would cure the whole fat issue and it doesn't.  They learn how to graze all day or stretch their pouch back out and then wonder why they've regained most or all of their weight.    A person's weight issue will never be solved with surgery.  It can only be cured by finding out why you are overeating and deal with that first and then learn to LISTEN to your body and only eating WHAT and WHEN it wants to eat.  People think that 'mouth hunger' is real hunger but it isn't.  Overweight people usually don't know what it's like to feel a hunger pain because they don't get to that point.  Food is their life.  They live to eat instead of eating to live.  No one really realizes how little food the body needs for fuel each day.    If you ask me if I would have had the surgery again, I would tell you no.  Most WLSers aren't that way.  I would have chosen to cure myself mentally first and then listened to my body and learned what it really wanted and when it wanted it instead of just throwing food down it when I saw a commercial or smelled food cooking.    I don't know what decision is best for you but I do know that you must love yourself enough to cure the inside before you cure the outside, however you choose to do that is up to you.  

Hello - I am looking for some input from others who have had lap band surgery but are considering or have switched to GBP.  I had my surgery in Sept of 2008 and did well for a few months (high of 275 - got to 240) and then had a series of events that got me off track (was in the hopital for 11 days with bi-lateral pnemonia and was put on massive dosages of steroids which had me practically eating the wallpaper off the walls and then caring for my very ill father, etc).

I went for 1-2 fills but always found that I could seem to eat more or was never totally full.  I had no problem with my surgery or doctor (Karl Strom), and am embaressed that I haven't been back or contacted him but now I found myself at a new all time high of 300 and am seriously considering either a mini or gastric bypass.

We initially agreed on the lap band thinking it would be a more slower, consistent weight loss but for whatever the reasons are, it just did not/is not working for me. 

My questions are - has anyone had the lap band and made the switch to GBP - I am trying to find real information/statistics on the reversal and stories (both good and bad) of people who made the switch.

I would apprciate any and all comments.

Thanks!
Anne Prince
Bloomfield, NJ

Good morning my wonderful OH family members!  This is serious...I promise it will work but you have to promise to do this...okay?  OKAY! 

When you finish reading this...get up...that's right get right up out of your chair and head to the biggest mirror you have and strike a pose....go ahead...no one is watching but you.....

Now...how long did it take before you started to giggle at how silly this is?  (But it isn't)

Now...cross your arms over each other and give yourself a squeeze!  Go ahead...I know this sounds silly but I swear...just try it.....

Now, did you realize that you were hugging one of the most important person in the whole world?!?

Yes, you are important...and I just wanted each of you to know that!

Have a super blessed day gang!