LAP-BAND Surgery Forums

Today I got my 3rd fill at my two week post up appointment for my gallbladder removal. I was pretty down about my weight loss stoping I had gone from 328 back up to 337 when i was having issues with my gallbladder. Since last tuesday I lost 13 lbs!!! Which is great hehe I havent even changed my diet actually since my gallbladder was taken out i was able to eat things.. like my tacos last night. The doc says that its common to have huge loss after getting it removed so i hope im back on track.. especially with getting my 3rd fill today for a total of 5ccs. We will see in 6 weeks how it goes! Can't wait to hear im under 300. Up until april i lost 5 lbs a week every…

When I got married 3 and a half years ago, I searched high and low for a simple outfit to wear (wasn't a big ceremony and wanted something kind of casual that I could wear again one day). This city is filled with pencil thin, boobless model wannabes lol, so my search took ages. I finally found a shop that had a lovely light lavendar skirt and top. It was just what I had been looking for. When I tried on the biggest size, the skirt was super tight Luckily, the blouse came down over my gut to hide it a little bit. I looked around at other shops though and that was the closest I could find to something that looked half way decent on me. This weekend, I fished it out…

Hello, I'm considering the lap band, has the band restricted you in any way?

i was banded in oct 2004 then had my 1st fill of 1.8cc in late dec and felt restricted for a few weeks then it went away, 2nd fill in mid jan for total of 2.5 now and i felt restricted until about a week ago, i lost for the first few weeks of each fill then nothing after? im just confused...i follow the rule etc..and lost about 30 lbs total since oct and have about 30 to go...any advice?

JQ posted this on the Summer weightloss thread, but I thought I would call it out special. He just reached the 100 pound loss mark. One Hundred Pounds Gone. That's tremendous work, you deserve your own thread, and some one to hearld the wonderful news!

Hi I'm up and bored thought we could all come on in chat. I have two screens open so I will be in as long as I am on line... come on we never use this thing!

I had my first visit with the personal trainer from the gym today, she took all my measurements, weight height etc. She also did my body fat %. OMG I nearly passed out when she told me. I am 57% boday fat and she would like to see me at a normal level of 28%. I was horrified to say the least. I didnt want to talk about it anymore after that just move onto something else. Does anyone know how this body fat thing works, and how does it come down, does it move down the same way lbs or your BMI does? Shhhh dont tell anyone

Well, I've Finally Finished With All My Pre-ops And I Finally Got A Date For My Surgery (9-19-05). Now The Wait Is On My Insurance Approval, Hopefully I Won't Be Denied. I'd Hate To Have To Wait Any Longer For This Surgery Cause I Am So Anxious To Have It Done And Be Part Of Lapband Gang. Does Anyone Have Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield? If So, Please Let Me Know If They Are Easy To Approve For Lap Band Surgery. My Surgeon, Dr. Chaudry, Says He Believes It Won't Be A Problem With Insurance And That I Should Have A Reply Within A Week From Them, But Just The Waiting Is So Stressful. Anyway, If Anyone Has Any Feedback On Empire B/c B/s, Please Advise Me. Thanks

hey everyone i am going to the dr. ren on tuesday where i will finally find out my surgery date.....although i am soo excited i am extremely scared at the same time a friend of mine who recommended this site is having her surgery on friday and i am so nervous about what she just went through with the strict liquid diet....she is holding herself together so well and i am so scared that i wont be able to hold myself together and what if i just get so frustrated and i start to eat everything in site i mean lets face it if i was any good at dieting i would have been skinny by now....so how am i supposed to stay motivated on this strict liquid diet for 2 weeks and not be able …

Hello! I am new to this all and have lots of questions. Not yet banded, my 2nd consult is Sept 22nd 2005. Why 2nd? I needed to do some more thinking about this and have finally decided this is what I want. I also know that the support is right here at my fingertips!!! 1- How many days were you off work including surgery, post op and recovery until you returned to work? 2- Anyone from Minnesota? 3- Any comments regarding RNY vs. Lap-Band? (my mother, and many friends have had the RNY. All have done well, however, I would be nervous about "rerouting" the digestive system.) Not a choice I am comfortable with. 4- What are the differences between eating food…

OK- I know I will be banded next week. I'm not on a pre-op diet to jump start the weight loss. I've been eating everything in sight! I've never been a big eater, I just always ate the wrong things. Why is this happening? Is this some sort of mind thing where I'm thinking "I better eat it now because I won't be able to eat it later"?

How do you get the cute little weight scales that everyone has on their signatures? I WANT ONE! Too cute! Can't find them anywhere.

...is the hardest part. ARGH! I hate waiting :ermm . I know I still have some weight loss before I can schedule, and a 4 week liquid plan before I can have my surgery, but I just want to know if I got the OK! :nervous Maybe it is the slimfast talking here, but I am so anxious. I just needed to vent. Thanks

Hey all I am finally banded. I was banded last Friday August 26 and just now really feel like doing anything. Its not as bad as I thought it would be and I lost 8 pounds since friday and today is tuesday. Just thot I would let yall know

I have been very depressed lately because there is so much going on, and I wasn't going to talk about this but now I realize I need to. My mom found two lumps in her left breast and had them cut out last week, so she's been really uspet and sick. She said the cuts aren't small and the first night they bled alot and she got really sick from the anesthisia, so she stayed up all night throwing up. And as if that's not enough she suffers from major migraines, so that brought on her migraine and she had to go back to the hospital the next day. She is home now, but I worry about her, she gets her results from the biopse (sp?) tomorrow and I hope that those lumps were benig…

I was banded 7 weeks ago. I had my first fill last week. Before my fill, I had no restriction at all & could eat anything - although I chose not to. I've lost 20 lbs so far. I am having a hard time eating real food without PBing. I can't eat ANY bread, rice, biscuits, tortillas.......anything made with white flour. They cause very painful PB's even if I chew them to mush. I can get chicken, cooked carrots, eggs & green Beans to go down, but it takes me forever to eat just a few bites. After only a small portion, (3-4 tiny bites) I start to feel pressure in my chest & stop. I know If I eat one more bit, I'll be in severe pain. I ate a small por…

Ok, I am fairly positive we all have them. Those momentary relapses into our old ways. I had mine Friday and I have to come clean because the guilt is coming over me.... My weakness was.... (drum roll)...... a HUGE bowl of double caramel Peanut Butter cup ice cream lathered in hot fudge. There, I said it. I really said it! I told someone! OHHHHHHHHH, the horror! The mayhem! The utter disgust of it all!! Someone please share... when and what was your last weakness???

I think I just had my first PB session. We just got back to Dallas from Memphis. I was craving KFC all the way home. DH said he would take me there for dinner. Apparently the mash potatoes got stuck and my back started hurting really bad. Then came the burps followed by coughing and the potatoes. I have come to the conclusion that KFC does not agree with me after having pain with the chicken too. I now have no desire to ever eat there again, I know that will probably go away too. I am almost 4 weeks out and can't wait for a fill so I can get back on track.

Ok, am I the only one who is the slowest loser in the world? I've exercised AT LEAST 4-5 days per week for the past 3+ weeks, had two fills in that time period, have eaten no MORE then 1200 calories a day Max. (and that was easter) and my average calories are around 1000 per day. I drink a TON too. Am I the the SLOWEST loser in the world or what??? I'm happy with what I've lost, but I wish these Lbs. would just GO AWAY already!!!

I got my period on Saturday & since then, my what I thought wasn't a tight enough fill became too tight. I can only swallow liquids & it hurts sometimes. I hemmed & hawwed since yesterday then today decided I'd better take my own advice & call the doc. Dr. Martinez said this could possibly still be from my period. As long as I can swallow liquids, I'm not in immediate danger & to continue w/the Maalox & liquids & if it doesn't loosed up, go to Dory (my aftercare person here) and have the .2ccs's removed on Monday that she added 3 weeks ago. (She's only on Long Island on Mondays) If by chance I loosen up by then, then that's great. He said h…

Gosh, you all talk about this PB thing like it's the worst thing you've ever experienced! I'm not banded yet, but I'm reconsidering this decision based off these horrible vurping stories. Is it really as bad as it sounds?

Ok as you know Katrina wiped out many MANY families sadly one of the families devastated by this was my parents home in Alabama-they built this house over 50 years ago and it is where everyone of there 7 children grew up-It was my childhood home and the lose of it is devastating-worse than the home is the loss of every heirloom and every photo we ever amassed as a family with exception to ones we as their children had.My parents are 78 years old and it is overwhelming the loss.My parents can rebuild eventually and have 7 children to help them do so but alot of my friends from high school are also in a sad state-people I dont even know but see on television are heartbreaki…

Happy Birthday To You Happy Birthday To You Happy Birthday Dear Penni Happy Birthday To You !!!! Now picture that being sung with a jersey accent LOL. HUGS & KISSES AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY :banana

I've moved the forum to a new server and we should be seeing an immediate performance upgrade. It's pretty amazing, in such a short period of time, without any advertising at all, LapBandTalk.com has almost 100,000 posts and almost 4,000 really great members. Just keep referring our web site to your friends and I'll keep on footing the bill to run this site You can support our web site by signing up for a web hosting account for your own web site at our great web host SuccessfulHosting.com

I was very worried about completely giving up Dr. Pepper after I was banded. Actually I was scared that I wouldn't be able to do it. I would drink 2 Diet Dr. Peppers everday (1 for Breakfast) and almost always have one regular Dr. Pepper fountain drink after lunch. I haven't had the slightest desire to have one - diet or regular. In fact, this is the first time I even though about it and that is because my husband is working at home tonight and he just came in and said he was going to 7-11 to get a Coke. My Dr. didn't say I had to give them up all together, but he did say they weren't good for you and keep them to a minimum, and none until I was on regular food.

Please someone tell me that they have experienced this hair loss! I started out with really thick hair. I would say now it looks thin. My hair falls out in such record numbers that I have to carry around a lint roller at all times. I was banded last November and the hair loss started around 6 months after. Will it stop? I drink a Protein shake everyday. I think I am getting enough protein. Will it grow back? Don't even get me started on this stupid site kicking me off for the last 3 weeks. I had to open a yahoo account just to log back on. I didn't even want a yahoo account! Christine

Hi all, I've been a spectator here for a while, reading and learning a lot from all the great info on this site............this is my first post so here goes. I am scheduled for surgery on Sept 16th (scared) and my dr's haven't advised me to do anything special pre-op. Should I do a liquid diet like Opti-fast before the surgery, will this make any difference. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks 260/ / 160 Surgery - Sept 16th

Twice now, I've hit what seems to be perfect restriction. Both times, after around 3 or 4 weeks, I start noticing that I can gradually eat more and more. Just wondering if this is normal...

Just a quick off topic post - but has anyone else today had troubles with their username/password combination not being saved? I come here a couple of times a day and usually its saved (the tick box is ticked), but today, I've had to sign in everytime. No big deal really, just wasn't sure if I was the only one

Finally, I am having my surgery on 9/16! This site is wonderful!! It is really making me feel confident about this decision. I only have 72 pounds to lose, but I do have severe arthritis now and high blood pressure. I have a 10 month old son and I really want to be around to watch him grow up, not to mention the fact that I would like to give him a little brother or sister in a few years without risking my life at such a heavy weight. The only concern I have, which is really insignificant in the grand scheme of things, is what I have read and been told about carbonated drinks. My husband and I are beer snobs (you know, like wine snobs but we love beer). I am not a hea…

that being banded might be a lot like being pregnant for me. When I was pregnant with Eliza I started out the pregnancy heavier than I had been at 9 months with my second child. Eliza was a very high breech, she sat oddly the whole way and I suffered abominably with heartburn and reflux - I was downing a 500ml bottle of double strength Gaviscon every 2 days plus I was on Zantac too. At the end, whenever I bent over I would just spontaneously throw up (a little bit) and had to pick up all the washing off the floor with the long BBQ tongs, lol. I had heartburn and acid shooting out of my nose in the middle of the night and had to sleep sitting up, when she was deliv…

I have a pair of size 26 dress pants that have some stretch material in them. They are tan. Would anyone like them..I hate to throw them away. I wore them to church a couple of times. I also have a hot pink short sleeve dress top that is a 3x or size 22 or so. Also a strechy velveteen hunter green top...wore it with black pants at Christmas. It is a 3x...size 22-24. I would be glad to send them to anyone who wants them. Pretty soon all my 22s are going out the door to either the mailbox, goodwill or trash. I hit the clearance racks at DressBarn and bought 3 or 4 things, all size 20. They are a bit tight but I can put them over my hips and zip them. 10 lbs by ear…

I got a very interesting letter in the mail yesterday from my surgeon's office. A very short letter which basicly said that they (the clinic) had determined the "program fee" with be discontinued at this time. This program fee was required up front before they would sent my paperwork to my insurance company. The program was just for submitting the paperwork, because I was charged a consultation fee too after seeing the surgeon. The program fee was $300.00 (no small change!!). Anyway, this short letter was accompanied by a check payable to me for $300.00!!!! Interesting, isn't it????? Anyone else experience this?

I am doing everything right and lost weight during the liquid stage last week. But when I started on mushy food I feel like I am bloated and cant lose the weight and havent lost a pound since Thursday and its almost Monday. I am eating 3 small small small meals a day and drinking a lot of water on the weekends, and I am not hungry at all, why arent I losing weight? I dont feel like this is all right for some reason.:bored

I had my surgery on the 20th of July.....lost 17 lbs. in 6 weeks. Lost all restriction.....had a small fill in Dr.'s office on Thursday....felt no restriction.....now today....I think I have some restriction...but what is weird....I ate...and then about 45 minutes later I felt like something was stuck for the very first time.....I don't have the feeling of being full until about 30-40 minutes after I have eaten....shouldn't it only be 20 minutes....maybe my brain is a little slow. Was going to go for more fill next week. The Dr. said next time he would do under a fluoro. I'm confused...I know I am eating too much...I stopped loosing weight...I really liked it after…

Is there anyone who is over 350lbs? I will be banded soon but only see people on here that are 200's . I would like to hear successes and problems. What about exercise? I have heel spurs really bad and it hurts to walk and of course i get winded.

Hi. I love this site and read it often (usually around 2am when I can't sleep and the house is nice and quiet). I'm 5'3, 270lbs and in dire need of major weight reduction. I know you have to have a psych test before you're allowed to have this done and I'm worried that I won't pass. I have a problem with binge and compulsive eating. Has anyone out there had this problem and has still been successful with the lap-band?

As requested !!! Aud x

Well...my band and I are not on speaking terms right now. I was so excited because it is football season and today was the first game of the season for UT. I have season tickets and LOVE to go to thegame and tailgate, etc. I got to my first tailgating party and they had fajitas. I thought--super. I'll eat the meat--no tortilla. A little bit of guac. I had a couple of bites and OH MY GOODNESS. I knew something was wrong so I started to walk and walk, several times stopping to slime. Mind you we are outside in the HOT Texas sun. I ask soemone if I can please go in their rv. I go in there and throw up...not just the meat but a great deal of blood. I finally ha…

This is just my own little survey that I am hoping to give my dietician on Thursday when I go back 4 my 10 day post-op visit. I have noticed that the Mexican Doctors are more lenient with the liquid phase. Some of the American Doctors only require 1 week of liquids, 1 week of mushies, 1 week of semi solids, and finally 1 week of solids then you are on your own. Thanks for your participation. I am not concerned about the pre-op liquid fasting just the post -op diet. Thank you, Dee Dee

Hey guys, I am around the Dfw area and waiting on insurance to kick in. I already talked to Dr. Maese and his office about wanting to get the lapband done and maked sure that they accept my ins..Yes, they do So I am willing to hear any helpful info you may have on all of this...I have been reading alot of your posts and comments lately and they have helped so much. I am 26 and have 3 kids, one of them is a toddler (20 months) who sleeps in a crib. So I have two Questions.... 1) I am the only available person that can put him in his crib everyday will this effect the lapband? Not to mention that he is a Big momma's boy 2) I love to drink Water and it just get's real…

9/4/05 The past few days have not been very good for me. In fact the past two days havent stayed within the rules. I will admit to you all I have had apple pie, cookies, candy, and pepperoni sticks. I almost feel ashamed at myself. I have been so upbeat about my weight loss but I have those old feelings of not being worthy to have this good stuff happen. I have my first fill this Thursday and am so looking forward to it. It almost seems as if I dont have any stop to the amount of food I can eat lately. Im not overeating but I know if I let myself I would. That much I havent done. Im angry with myself. I so want this to work for me. I made a commitment yet I t…

I found this all natural product. It has helped me get my blood sugar under control. My fasting blood sugar was running 175-210. Now 90-125.Evenings before meals 105-110 I cant believe it is GREAT.It has lowered my meds alot. ladysplenda

You see I have lost my best friend.. I have never had a friend that did not judge me, Loved me no matter what. THis friend was always there for me, to Celebrate the good times to cry over the bad times.Supported me in everything I ever did. I can not recall a time or place or family occasion where my friend was not a BIG part of. My friend took on many shapes in my life and has many names... Candy, cake, chips, Fried food.Big portions. Etc< Etc I will mourn for my loss as it is all I had ever known, But now I will learn a new way of life without my friend, my crutch. FOOD I really am mourning food.. But I am only 5 days out from being banded and I have so mu…

I am feeling really, really down right now. I have anxiety churning from the very bottom of my stomach and of course the only thing I know to do is feed it. It's like it's an unsatiable entity that will not be denied it's pleasure no matter what I do. I have tried every distraction know to man, yet it is always much louder and far more persistant than I could ever be and it always wins. In every other way of my life I feel that I am a strong, confident, intelligent woman with many positive qualities and yet this one burden that has been with me most of my life I cannot overcome. What's wrong with me??? I have a psychiatrist, therapist and my best friend is a soc…

So I had my 6 month post op appointment today - 3 days early but oh well lol. My surgeon seemed to be really pleased with my progress so far, stating that I'd lost over 50% now of my excess body weight. He said that his goal for me would be to get to 87kgs, as that will put me out of the health risk category. He said if I wanted to go down further than that though, he's happy to help me get there He did caution me on setting my personal goal too low, as he said that with my build and height, I'll probably be quite thin at 70kgs. Said that he has often seen people set a low goal and then struggle pretty hard for the last 10kgs, making them unhappy and frustrated. …

Like are some easier cases than others and the bit of restriction some people get with just the band enough to motivate them into eating well and cutting back enough to lose their weight. And when you get to goal, say for example your fill level is keeping you to 1000 calories a day. Do you then unfill progressively to the point where your weight stabilises?. Or does dieting and getting off a big amount of weight (and actually achieving it like you can with a band) stuff your metabolism so much that you really only NEED 1000 calories a day for life to maintain your weight? Because that scares me to be frank. I just cant see that's healthy for 30 or 40 years running. …

This will be my first real post ... My name is Tacee and I'm 28, from Oregon. I'm not banded YET!, but I will be. I'm looking at the end of November, with either Dr. Ortiz or Dr. Kuri. I have been reading everybody's post for a while now. You guys are sooooo great, I've learned more at this site then any other place. My question is..... Has anyone had a C-section with the lapband in place? OR... Has anyone had complication due to a C-section prior? The reason I asked was I had a pretty major c-section with my little one...( I do mean little, 1lb 8oz) they had to cut a little different then normal, so now I'll always have to have a c-section. I will definitely di…

O.K., I am very excited about starting my mushies on Wednesday....went to the grocery store looking for mushie stuff and thinking about pureeing different foods to mushies.... Now, let's just take egg salad...a good high Protein mushie, right? But, can I put it on crackers? Now let's just take spinach dip.....can I use raw veggies to dip? I bet not, so how do you eat it then? Suggestions... Now let's take hummus....love it with pita chips, breads, veggies, etc..but, can't do that, right? So what do I put it on? Any and all suggestions are welcome.....thanks

hello, i found this awesome forum while searching for lap-band information for my aunt. last october, she told me that she was planning to have GB. when i asked her if she'd heard of LB, she said no. well, i proceeded to track down and give her as much information as possible. from our discussions, she decided that the LB was for her and convinced her doctor of it as well. since her surgery on 11/22/04, she's lost 75 pounds! she has between 200 - 230 to go and is determined to reach her goal. the lost 75 pounds has already resulted in a better quality of life, and she has hope that she can finally get her weight under control. and she is extremely grateful to me for …