Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

I don't know what is wrong with me, I am happ.y, sad, scared, anxious, negative, self sabotaging and excited all rolled into one. Its like a rollercoaster of emotions since I met with the surgeon and picked my date which is 8/24. Anyone else feel crazy? Anyone else abandon their diets to eat everything they wont be able to eat again? Help!!!!

Hello all, I just wanted to introduce myself. I was banded Friday, August 12, 2011. Everything is going smoothly thus far. I look forward to reading everyone's posts!

Hello, just introducing myself. I was just banded August 8th and doing pretty well. Down 12 lbs. so far. Super happy about that. I did start eating small amounts of food. Has anyone else been eating in the first 2 weeks when you're just supposed to be on Protein shakes? I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't eat something. I have been eating just less than 1 scrambled egg and about the same amount of crab meat in a day. Anyway just happy to have started my journey.

So I am officially sleeved as of Monday, the 8th. I've never had any surgery except when I was two, so it was a surreal experience to say the least. However, I'm having issues eating or drinking right now. I take very small sips and small bites of soft food and it hurts when it reaches my sleeve. It feels like a ball in my chest, like I'm having a painful contraction as it goes down. Is this normal? How long does it take for this to go away? It's very uncomfortable, it almost makes me dread eating anything. Thanks for any thoughts!

just wanted to introduce myself, i am new to this site, i had my lap band sx on 7-25-11, its def been a roller coaster ride, i have good days and bad days, but all in all, i love my band, it has helped me to lose 20lbs so far, i look forward to chatting with all of you

HI, I am in the process of getting my lap band procedure. My surgery date is around the end of November. I am getting nervous about insurance and gaining approval. I have been told I am good to go for it but I was told that a year ago when I first started this process. I am hopeful that I will not need to worry but I would be lying if I said I was not starting to get a nervous feeling in my tummy about the insurance company. I am excited about the procedure and looking forward to any weight lost and measure of a better life that weight loss can give me. I wish everyone the best of luck in their Lap Band adventure.

I'm having surgery with Dr. Almanza on September 10th. I am very nervous, but excited at the same time.

My name is Tina and today is the day I put plans into motion to get Lap Band surgery. I am super STOKED!!!

Ok so I want to warn everyone! The day of surgery and 2 days after were no picnic. I am a nurse, and was not prepared for how hellish I felt be prepared for the worst. But on a good note, I weigh 12lbs less than last Sunday! I feel better and better everyday. I am going back to work Monday and I get to advance to full liquids including yogurt. So excited. I am in good spirits and hope to keep it up! Yay!

Hi all! noob here :-) Looking at getting banded. I'm 29, 5'6" 228 lbs (37 bmi) with diabetes (type 2), high cholesterol, gallbladder removed due to gallstones, loads of fun stuff.... I briefly looked into bypass in 2006, but then chickened out. At that point I wasn't diabetic, I still wanted to have a child and i was only about 33ish BMI then. After my daughter was born, gestational diabetes turned into type 2 and the weight went up :-P I've done diets before including 6 week body makeover, taking phentermine, atkins, the whole 9..... Since I'm to the point where I'm not looking to have any more kids and my health is deteriorating like crazy (not to mention my mom wh…

I am new here, got my band in 09. Don't know why I never checked this site. I find it informative, but I am confused by the ratings of the members. Is someone able to explain them to me. I haven't done as well with this band as I had hoped, so I know I need more input. I just want to know more about the ratings of the people who respond.

Hi, I'm Rebecca from IN. I saw the surgeon and everything is a go for my surgery sometime in early October, due to my schedule. I don't have a support group where I live so I thought I would give this a try. So far some great insights that I really needed to know. I know that I'm ready, but still am learning as much as I can. The dietian didn't seem to fill me in on everything that I needed to know, like the pre-surgery diet. Oh well I'm learning it know. Wel lif anyone else is just getting ready for surgury I wolud love to know any small steps that I need to know.

Hi there, I'm Alli and I'm from Tucson, Arizona. I had my surgery about a year ago, but because I've been living abroad I didn't really get involved in a lot of all the support stuff from the get go, but I decided it's never too late to start! I'm probably one of the younger people out there who have had this surgery, but I'm very happy I did and I've gotten pretty good results so far. I've sort of reached a bit of a plateau point in my weight loss, so I'm hoping for some good tips on how to move past that from some other people out there and to keep on going. If anyone out there wants to ask me questions about my own surgery and recovery I'm more than happy to answer.

Hi all, I have been giving little updates on my progress since surgery. It seems to help me mentally to just jot down whats been happening. Maybe it will help others too. Yesterday I overdid it a little by taking my 13 year old shopping for school supplies and running a few errands. I had my husbands truck since he took my car to work. Its a tall quad cab dodge and our driveway is on an incline. It was hard to get in it but once there driving was fine. We only stayed out a few hours but I was pooped by the time we got back. I was really sore last night and it was hard to sleep soundly. I woke with a little nausea... my first nausea! I did not throw up but my bod…

Hello to all, I first want to apologize for being absent on the forums lately. On July 30, 2011 I had a vertical sleeve gastronomy performed by Dr. Mario Almanza. My flight into San Diego was early; in fact I was there by seven thirty. As was walking over to the terminal two meeting place (Jet blue); the stunning realization hit me at once "OMG, I am having surgery in Mexico." I began to have mixed emotions [about this whole trip] I never experienced up until now. Just then, I met up with the other patients. I was traveling alone so even the company of complete strangers was comforting to me. The other patients were a young couple both having surgery and an old…

From Austria surg1.pdf

HELLO, MY NAME IS DANETTE AND IM IN THE "PRE-SURGERY" PHASE! (JUST WAITING ON FINAL APPROVAL!) STARTED MY "Protein SHAKE" DIET, (IS IT ME OR IS IT DIFFICULT TO CUT OUT ALL food AND JUST DO THESE shakes?) IM ADAPTING AND TRYING TO STAY FOCUSED! A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE POSTED SO MANY TOPICS THAT I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS THINKING ABOUT! THEY HAVE BEEN A GREAT HELP IN THE BEGINING TO THIS LIFE LONG JOURNEY THAT I (WE) HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE! IM FILLED WITH SO MANY EMOTIONS. EXCITED, NERVOUS AND A TAD SCARED. MY OUTLOOK ON LIFE AND MY HEALTH HAS CHANGED TREMEMDOUSLY SINCE IVE BECOME A MOMMY AND IM DETERMINED TO GET HEALTHY AND BE COMFORTABLE IN …

Hi all, i am new to this site. I am 44 years old, happily married to my husband for 13 years. Most of my life i was a size 12 but then in 1992 i got an office job and i started to gain a little weight, but then in 2003 i got very sick had sinus surgery and lung surgery and was diagnosed with a disease called Wegner's Granulomatosis Disease. My local doctor put me on massive amount of Cytoxin and 80 mgs a day of Prednisone. Needless to say i started gaining a lot of weight. I switched to a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic who changed my meds and my disease is now in remission since 2004 but i gained 100 lbs while i was on Prednisone for 2 years. I have been trying to lose we…

I started this journey 13 days ago. I woke up, like every other day, but something was different. I felt pissed off, unhappy, ugly and uncomfortable. I sat there and thought for a moment... "Is this how it's going to be?" I am 42 years old, divorced, the kid is grown and out, and I am unhappy and cynical at age 42. I have the whole second half of my life to live and I want it to be great. I realized at that moment that nobody was going to bring that happiness to me on a silver platter or riding on a white horse... It was up to me. I am responsible for my happiness, my self worth, my future, and it is going to require an enormous amount of self discipline. It all r…

Hi all! I am a military wife living in Vegas who is working towards having lap band surgery (ASAP). My husband is being discharged soon so I literally only have a few months to get this done and have it covered by insurance. I have done all of my pre-testing and should get surgery clearance on Wed next week. Meet with my surgeon (Dr. Atkinson) after that and pray for a speedy approval from Tricare. I have found a lot of really helpful info on here and hope to be joining the bandsters soon! :-)

I have been extremely sedentary prior to surgery which was a month ago. Before my surgery, I was lucky to walk 5 minutes without loosing my breath and sweating like a pig. I could hardly stand in place for 5 minutes without breaking out into a sweat. Now a month after surgery, I'm walking more - usually about 15 minutes before I start sweating if it's a cool place and can stand for a good 10 minutes without breaking out into a sweat. For me - this is huge. Well, my local surgeon's practice participates in the Step-Out walk - a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, and the walk is coming up on October 15th at GABP in Cincinnati. It is a 5k walk (3.1 miles).…

hi everybody, My names Dale Green and I've just had my sleeve and was amazed at how it all went,I was admitted on 9/8/2011 i had my op on the 10th and was out of hospital by the 12th,i feel so lucky that it all went so well and the nurses and doctors at Morriston hospital Swansea were so great and very professional ,I,ve been struggling with my weight for at least 10 years since leaving the army due to inactivity through injury to both my knees,but i feel this as given me a new lease of life to push on and try 400% more and to beat the dreaded "Obesity" before the op i was 185 kg,29st 2ib or 408Ib.i know the hard part starts know.HERE GOES!! Dale

So i made it! I went in at 110KG (how happy was i?) The surgery went well but OMG the gas pains after were so awful, i am so glad i've passed that stage. I'm working on getting the Proteins in now and keeping the Fluid intake up. Thanks for all the well wishes and support the advice on here is great i could not have done without my hot Water bottle and cushion!

So I started this journey on June 14th when I went to the seminar. I'm now all done with all testing & on Monday I will be meeting with the doctor for surgery consultation & get a date! I can't believe that time has come & knowing an actually date kind of scares me. But I believe that I'm so ready for this:)

In October 2007 I was sleeved in Perth Western Australia by a surgeon named Jon Armstrong (aka Gorgeous Jon). I had a textbook recovery and without really trying or exercising I lost 50kg (over 100 lbs) in the first six months. I went down from 380 lbs to 260lbs and was feeling great. Then I separated from my husband, and ended up having a nervous breakdown and leaving my job. I was diagnosed with major depression, Binge ating Disorder and anxiety. During this time I turned to my old friend food for comfort and started eating junk food and binge eating. I discovered I could eat a lot more than I had before and fairly soon was back to regaining weight. Bad food cho…

It just erased everything I wrote... Here we go again. Stupid Iv getting in the way. I had heartburn yesterday, all day. The staff thought I was getting in too much liquid, if you can even do that. I cut way back on it but it didnt help much. It was not unbearable just came in little waves but passed quickly too. It was tolerable. I got a shower last night and all my bandages off. That felt good. I get my staples out today and they will put some glue on to hold it. The dr. has not been in yet this morning. Last night I got off the morphine pump and took some liquid lortab. It wasnt that bad. I got it down along with nausea meds and toridal in my drip. I slep…

I have seen some concerns regarding heartburn/acid reflux/ GERD after surgery but i have not seen whether or not this is a permanent side affect. The forum has plenty f info on how to relieve the pain by diet modification and meds but does it go away on its own? Thanks Serv

I've decided to "tell my story" through a video journal. I've watched so many Youtube videos made by others about their VSG journeys and it has helped me so much that I decided to quit being a scaredy-cat and make my own vlog. It will help me to look back and see where I've been and how far I've come (hopefully). So... if you have a few minutes with nothing better to do - check out (and subscribe to, if your a glutton for punishment) my FIRST VLOG EVER! http://www.youtube.com/user/slimmingsara Thanks for all the wonderful support this forum gives! Sara

I feel like i cant relate to a lot of people because I had the lapband surgery done and my BMI was 30. I dont like to talk to my friends abiut it because they think im crazy to have done it. However its my life my decision and its not like its super easy to lose weight even with the lapband. Im still gonna have to work hard. I had the surgery 7/19 and i lost weight before the surgery with the South Beach Diet that I was told to do. So on the day of surgery I weighed 177.2 and now 2 weeks later Im at 168.5. I feel hungry all the time but my doc said now that i can eat meat and veggies I should feel full longer and lose more weight since I wont be eating so many carbs.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life, because today is the day I decided that this weight thing is serious enough for me to start considering the other options. I'm terrified. But, I guess I should probably start out with Hello. My name is Jen, I just turned 30, and I live in sunny Florida with my husband and 4 year old. All of my life, I have been heavy. I remember weighing one sixteen in the 6th grade, which was heavy then because I was just a wisp of a girl. My heaviest was 350, during my first marriage. I dumped the ex, got divorced, and lost 60 lbs by diet and exercise. I had my time of partying, feeling good, met my current husband. That led two two p…

Hey Everyone, Its the poster formerly known as thinkingaboutvsg. Since deciding to proceede with vsg, I figured I should change my name to one that makes more sense.

Hi All, So I am ready to set a date for my surgery! I have had all my pre op testing, everything was covered and went through without any problem. So I got my letter of medical necessity from my PCP and she is all good luck. My company just changed insurance companies at the fist of the the year. So I signed up for the comapny policy and really had no questions regarding surgery since they thought it covered it. Well I got a call from my surgeons office this morning and my insurance won't cover my VSG. My surgical coordinator told me the doctor will do the surgery for free since I work with his Mother and thats not an issue but I would have to pay the hosptial. I am tr…

So I had my vsg on 6/2/11. I am 10 weeks post op tomorrow. I was never to happy with the weight loss. I was losing 5lbs a week for the first 8 weeks, last week I only dropped 3lbs and this week only 1lb so far! So disappointed

I just got banded on monday, I am in a lot of pain. hopefully it will pass soon.

Hello everyone! My name is Teri - I'm new to the site, but have been banded for 3 years. I've lost 130lbs since I've been banded. I was once at 140, but I keep losing and gaining the same 10 lbs. I am completely unfilled right now, due to some weird issues going on. But all is well with my band! I am from Indiana, hopefully I'll see some fellow hoosiers here! I have pretty much kept the lap band a secret, so I would just like some fellow bandsters to talk to!!

I am getting sleeved on Thursday, August 25, by Dr. Morales at St. Clare Hospital in St. Louis! NOW I feel anxious! LOL!

These first two months FLEW by. I have lost 47lbs post surgery 78lbs including pre-op diet. Weight loss has come in fits and starts. Nothing for a couple days, then a pound or two per day for a few days. Then back to nada. Only side effect I have encountered is a complete intolerance for artificial sweeteners (no problem before surgery). This is only a big deal in that it has taken protien powders off the menu, making getting in all my protien a challenge. Now eating any food I want. No prob getting in 60-80 oz Water 4oz wet food at one time (chili, tuna salad, cottage cheese) 2-3oz dry food (turkey, chicken, cheese) Average intake over the last 2wks: 427 …

I am 5 days into my liguid diet. I am having surgery on the 16th with Dr. Domkowski in Sebastian, FL. I am new to chat rooms/forums but I think I need all the support I can get. I may be asking for help in manuvering around this web site which at the moment is causing me more stress then the diet.

Hey, I am on day 11 after my lap band surgery. I lost 12 pounds on my Pre-op diet and I am trying to stay off the scales until I go back to the doctor on Aug 16. My doctor is Kevin Ward from Meridian, MS and his staff have been fabulous! My goal weight is about 145 (depending on when i get there) so I have about 110 pounds to loose. I am in my early 30's and have two kids and and a wonderful supportive husband, so I can't wait to start seeing the results!

Hi everyone! I had the gastric sleeve over a year ago. For the past 2 weeks I've had really bad pains on my left side of my stomach. For the last 2 days, along with the pain I'm having neon yellow diarrhea(sorry i know T.M.I ) I also lost my appitie and in the last two weeks, I've lost 15lbs. I don't know whats going on. Please if anyone had same or similar symptoms, please help.:help:

Hello I have been checking into this website every once in awhile and reading other's post and i thought it was about time I actually join. I am 32 years old, happily married and no children, unless you're like me and consider your dogs as your kids. I have been overweight for as long as i can remember. My lowest and happiest was when i was 21-22 and i was at 155 lbs. Too bad i used phentermine to get me there and that was a short lived time as anyone who has resorted to prescription drugs to lose weight will soon notice you gain it all back plus some in lickity split time!! I'm 3-1/2 months into pre-surgery for the gastric band and it feels like eternity befor…

Just wondering if anyone else getting sleeved or already sleeved with this rare disease (syndrome). I was recently diagnosed with Dercums Disease, it is extremely rare. It causes soft tissue, benign tumors (Lipmoas) to deposit in various places in your body, usually under the skin, but sometimes they can attach to your organs. As they grow they push on nerves causing much pain, also your skin may feel bruised, but it's not. It is complicated to explain. It is known as a fat disorder. Being overweight doesn't cause this disease, but if you are overweight when diagnosed if progresses much faster due to the toxins your current fat gives off, producing more "Dercums…

I had my surgery one month ago (7/11/2011). It went well and my recovery has been great, but my weight loss is nowhere near where I hoped it would be. I started at 278 and lost 9 pounds with the pre-op diet. In the past 4 weeks, I have lost 10 more pounds total and that was mostly in the first 2 weeks. These past two weeks, I have gained and lost the same 2 pounds ... and that just seems wrong. I am feeling like I spent all this money and changed my anatomy and it just isn't working! I have read about stalls, but most folks seem to lose so much early on and I am just not losing anything. The really strange part is that the math doesn't work ... I have been tracking my ca…

Hello, I am a new member and am excited that I found this website. I am competing on the Lap-Band surgery and am doing my homework. I plan to attend a Bariatric Seminar later this month and know that I will get a lot of information but I want to see what I can find out for myself. I have been overweight all my life had tried every diet in the world with some success but the weight crept back on. Now, I think I am ready for a major change. My questions are general but I would like to see what you all have to say: 1-How long was your recovery? Numbers of days in the hospital, what did you come home with and how long where you out of work. 2-Was it hard to follow the n…

More than 2 years ago, I had an auto accident. Some fool ran into the back of us while we were sitting at a stop light then our car was pushed into someone else. We had double impact. I went through therapy and everything but had not settled yet. Just when we were working out a setllement, my neck started hurting close to "natural child birth pain". My neck specialist sent me for an MRI. I should have known when he wouldn't give the results over the phone something was wrong. Turned out, I had two big bone spurs pressing my spinal cord causing nerve damage. After a complete meltdown :cry_smile: , I decided to have the surgery since was almost at my 5th month visit. …

So as of this morning I am officially " with the band". Lol. When I saw the doc after surgery he informed me he "did something different" with me. Turns out I had micro surgery. I have one small incision hidden in my belly button. The other "incisions" look like tiny freckles or moles. Very cool!

Hello All, I'm very early in the process and appericate everyone who post here. I'm 5'11" and weigh 345 lb's. I need to loose around 125 lb's. I live in Huntsville, AL and attended Dr. Mailapur's seminar last night (08/09/11). I also have an appointment scheduled with Dr.Facundus Friday August 12th. I'm planning to move forward with Dr. Facundus as I perfer Crestwood over Huntsville Hospital. Thanks, R

Hi All... My name is David, and I am new to the forum. In 19 days I will be sleeved and in 4 days, I start my pre-op liquid diet. So here is my story, my fears, my hopes - for all to see. I wasnt always overweight. In high school I could run a mile in under six minutes. I could run 3 miles in the morning, go to school, track or football practice after school, and then eat a whole pizza! I was solid muscle at 160 / 5'11" when I joined the Army after school. By college, I was up to 175, but after leaving the Army - my weight went uphill, now topping the scale at 310. Running even 10 feet is not in the equation now! I considered bariatric surgery a few years ag…

Hello all, I am new to this site and was referred by my pt advocate(who has done very well with the lapband). I have started my journey into being a healthier me. UHC requires the 6 mth supervised diet and I have done my 1st visit already. So far I have attended my seminar, had my consultation and met my nutritionist. This has worked out well for me so far because they do everything in the office so, the only thing I need to do outside of them is my psych eval. I'm trying to get this setup quickly since some insurance ask for it at the 3 mth mark (per pt advocate). I was instructed to start a low carb, high protein diet and exercise. Current BMI 42.7, qualifying BMI &gt…

Hello my name is Rose, I am 55 years old wating on approval for lapband, started to get thing togeather back in December 2010. looking for friends on here that are around my age that are going thru this also. I live in Eastern Kentucky, Any advise to help me with my journey will accepted , hopeing to meet you soon