♥LovetheNewMe♥

Agree with above post, if you are having complications due to your excess skin and can document some medical problems some insurance companies will pay for at all or part of corrective surgery. Make sure you keep your appointments with your medical doctor and make sure he is documenting well your complications. Good luck to your and awesome job on the weight loss.

It has taken me 19 months to loss 107 lbs, I am 13 lbs from my ideal body weight. I hit my personal goal of 145 lbs last Wednesday.

Ami, I am not sure there is a right answer here. I do understand your frustration. I was stuck also from last summer until this past January, I had a fill and then the weight started to fall off again. I can't explain it, I was doing everything right, eating and exercising. I searched the forums looking for answers. The one think I did start doing was logging everything I ate faithfully, and I do mean everything I put between my lips. Even the tastes of something when I was cooking or just a bite of this or that. The other thing I did was increase my protein to 90-100 gms per day and decreased my carbs to less than 80 perday. I am not sure what worked, the fill, the really looking at what I was eating, increasing my protein or decreasing my carbs. What I really think worked is the last adjustment, and really being in my sweet spot (green Zone) I honestly don;t think I had ever been there before this past January. Also, you may think this is odd but I have no idea how much is in my band, I lost track along the way and all I know is what ever is in there now is working. Point to my long winded comment, do not get discouraged and stay focused you will start losing again. Keep up the good work.

BreBre, You will have some discomfort post op like with any other surgery. You will have some mild gas pains and possibly some nausea. They will or should offer you pain medication, my suggestion is take it. When I woke up in the PACU I was having a lot of pain in my back, GAS. They gave me medication it helped some but actually the moving around helped me more. My second day post op was my worst, I was very nauseated and had a hard time making my self drink or eat. I lived on GAS-x and phenergan for the first few days. I will not tell you that you won;t have pain because you will, but it is bearable and you will make it. Good luck and I know you will do great.

My hardest fill was after my third fill, it took me 3 weeks to learn to eat again and not get stuck. That being said, I think my third fill put me in my green zone for the first time in 19 months. I rarely get stuck now, only when I eat to fast or eat something leafy like, greens or mixed green lettuce.

One more thing, fibrous vegetables and fruits are not uncommon for bandsters not to be able to eat. Apples and broccoli are both harder to digest. I suggest on the broccoli only eat the florets and cook them a little more than you used to and peep the apple. I also have trouble with fresh asparagus, chicken and anything that is reheated in a microwave.

You may still be a little tight. You are the only one that can be the judge of how tight you are. After my last fill in Jan this year I was tight. I had an over fill last summer and had fluid removed and I never seemed to have full benefit of my band so this time I decided to tuff it out. I was able to keep liquids down with no problem but I struggled with solids for about 2 weeks. I went back to my orginal post op diet plan and gradully progressed my diet, liquids, mushey, soft than solids. Now that being said, that was my choice I made with out my MD's advice. I had been stuck at the same weight for months and wanted to move so I worked through this. I got my protein through shakes. This is probably not the healiest way to do this but again it was my choice because I hate fills and unfills. Talk to your doctor if you still are unable to eat next week, try softer proteins this weekend, fish, add some egg whites to oatmeal (this is my morning stable for breakfast), If you are still unable to eat your solids next week or if unable to get liquids down call your physican. Good luck to you.

I am 19 months post op and I still forget sometimes and eat to fast,if I allow myself to get too hungry. As stated above the negative reinforcement does make you realize how important it is to chew.

Everyone is different, even though I had no fluid in my band immediate post op I still felt the effects of the band. Some people never have a fill, just the band being there is enough to help them to reduce there intake, some people are more sensitive than others to the placement of the band. If you continue to fill painwith eating than I suggest you call your WLS, the physican is always the best solution to real medical problems. Learning to eat with Lap Band is different, as I stated I had some restriction before my first fill and I thought this is not bad, then I got my first fill and I really had to re-evaluate how I ate and how I chewed. You really have to chew your food, the reason he wants you to try fish first is that tilipa breaks down better than most fishes and is a little easier to digest. Again if back pain persists with eating, after chewing and taking smaller bites please call your MD.

@ babasleever, slimming is not fun. I had no idea what it was either until the first time it happened and you know what it is. Slimming is when your gastric juices are trying to pull a piece of stuck food through your band, the stomach produces a large amount of mucus and trys to break down the food but if it can;t it projects the slime and food out. It erupts like a volcano. It is gross, my first slime episode was a chicjen nugget from McDonalds, that was 15 months ago, haven't had another one since. When it happens you will know it. Sorry for the grapic explination.

You just got to wait out the stuck episode. Most pass in a few hours but sometimes you may have some swelling afterwards and not able to eat solids for 24 hours. If during a stuck episode if you try and drink you will generally throw up. It is better to try and walk around, burp or cough to help the food go through. I generaly slime myself and just don't even try and eat until the next day.

Eat the cracker. I stayed true to my liquid diet 90% of the time before surgery than I got a GI bug and I caved and had mashed potatos. The purpose of the no carbs is to shrink liver but one or two crackers will not hurt you. But it you can resist it is a test for how you will do when facing these issues post op.

Glad your test came out ok. I like you was not a true friend of exercise but i did bite the bullet and started exercising and it has made all the difference in my weight loss and has given me more than I thought possible. I have learned to embrace the exercise and it is part of my life now. Give it a try, start just something simple like walking. Good luck.

Jackie, I was banded 19 months ago and down 107 lbs. I will send you a friend request. Also there is a group of us on here that also do myfitnesspal.com and help encourage each other and provide some accountablity. My user name is the same as it is on this website. LovetheNewMe.

Good luck Jan, Today is the beginning of the the new healthy you.

Kim, Congratulations on your success. It is so encouraging to read the forums and see long term success with lapband. You must be so happy with your success. I agree with you totally and am constantly reminding people I work with who want to have this procedure. It takes dedication and major life style changes and if you are not willing to put forth the effort than you will be frustrated. I love my band and know it was the right choice for me. Again Congratulations on your milestone.

A sip of liquids should not hurt your test, but you need to consider why you were ordered the barium swallow. Are the checking the patency of your band? Do the suspect a slippage or erosion? A few hours of discomfort may be worth not having to do the test over, swish your mouth with some cool water and spit it out. Better to be safe than sorry later.

Kim, my plateau lasted for 7 months. Last summer I weighed 175 lbs and the scales did not move until Jan 30th of this year after a fill. Since that fill I have dropped from 175 to 145. I am very OCD and I was following the plan, I looked at everything I was doing, I lowered my carbs, upped my protein, cut back my calories, increased my exercise but I still hovered back and forth between 172-175. My only explanation to this is my body was adjusting to my losses. Have you checked your measurements? I have noticed when my scales fail to move sometimes that I am losing inches, which means you are reshaping your body and developing muscle and burning fat. Do not get caught up in the myth that muscle weighs more than fat because a pound is a pound whether it is fat or muscle. But think of it this way, a bowl of jello weighing 1 lb is a lot more volume than a chicken breast weighing 1 lb. When you think of fat and muscle in this visual manner it really makes you think. Stay positive and celebrate your successes to date, do not get discouraged. The scale will move again and you will get to where you want to be, I am learning that patience and persistence pays off. Good Luck to you.

Congratulations! I remember this feeling all to well. It feels like such an accomplishment, a day to celebrate! Treat yourself to something new. I started early on in this journey rewarding my self with charms to a bracelet along my journey so i could remember each mile stone I hit. I wanted a constant reminder of my accomplishments. Also take pictures of yourself each time you hit a goal, it makes you feel good later to go back and look how far you have come, especially during those times when we are plateaued. Again, great job and you should feel so accomplished today, enjoy the moment and celebrate!

Glad to see you are still so close to ur goal weight. Encouraging, you will get back there soon. Good luck.

If you can believe in yourself. you can make your dreams come through. I started this journey 19 months ago. Like many of you I had been overweight for the majority of my adult life and had tried and never been totally successful with any exercise program or diet. That is why I made my decision to have WLS over the summer of 2010. I was so tired of being overweight, tired of my knees hurting, tired of being short of breath when i walked from my car to the office. Tired of being the girl with the pretty face, the death sentence comment for yes she is really fat but she has a pretty face. LapBand comes with its own set of challenges, we all went into this believing we knew what we were getting into but I am not sure anyone can truly prepare you for all you are going to experience. The early part of this journey was lined with challenges and so much of the unknown. For all of you pre and newly banded you need to know I lived on this web site in the early days, I logged on daily and would sometimes spend hours reading the forums and blogs. I wanted to learn as much as I could from the very people who I was trying to emulate. I learned quickly that there were just as many people failing as there were people succeeding and honestly that scared the hell out of me. I gleamed what info I could from the positive comments and tried to figure out how I was not going to become frustrated. The one most important thing I learned was that I had to be accountable to myself, no one was going ot hold my hand and make sure I ate what and how I was suppose to. This was all on me, my success or failure that is. Lapband does work, it can be the tool that you takes you where you want to go but remember it truly is a tool, it does not make food choses for you. It will not stop bad behavior, actually it will allow you to eat junk. Think about it sugar and starches break down in your mouth not in your gut so chips and cookies and candies will always go down when you have to work to eat protein and vegetables. I am an optimist, I went into this with my eyes wide open. I knew my life would never be the same, I knew I would be changing the life of not only me but also my family. I wanted to embrace my new life, when I chose my log on to this site, "LovetheNewMe". I was far from loving or even liking how I was but I knew that was where I wanted to go. Today, I do LovetheNewMe, I have no regrets with my Lapband. People often ask me, Do you regret having the surgery, instead of doing yourself. I laugh, they have no idea. The band helped me lose the weight but it was only a guide, the food I chose to eat, the exercise I chose to do and the new life I embraced was all about me not the band. You see I see my band as my conscious, it lets me know if I chose unwisely but it never stops me. I stop me, because I followed the rules my MD gave me and on the lapband web site. I have been successful not because of the band but because of me and my determination to be successful. Today was a great milestone for me. I went to my exercise session with my trainer today. Today was weigh and measure day. I weighed in at 145 lbs with a BMI of 27.4 and 26% body fat. I lost a total of 5 inches. My measurements are now 36-29-38, my thighs are now 21 inches and my arms are 11.5 inches. My trainer, was ecstatic, I thought he was going to cry, I think he was as happy if not happier than I was. When I left the gym tonight he told me I was his walking billboard that proved that hard work and determination did pay off. I said to him well you did it and he said no Diane you did it, all I did was show you what to do, you did all the work. I told him tonight, I would be happy staying at this weight but I did still have some goals, I want my waist to be 25-26 inches, I want my arms down to 10 inches. He thinks I will reach my ideal body weight of 132 in a few more months, will see. On another note, the dear hubby tells me tonight, I think your thin enough! Now remember this is the same wonderful fellow who said my thighs were less than optimal. I just looked at him very perplexed. So my new thought process is that I have thighs like a Chinese Shar Pia, because that was the breed of my dear departed Alexander whom I lost 2 years ago. I always said my Ali had only a face a mother could love so I am choosing to embrace my shrinkles and the rest of the world can just. "GET OVER IT." If you take nothing from my ramblings please take this, believe in your self, love your self, set goals and never feel like you fail. Set backs and plateaus are normal, if you stumble, forgive yourself and refocus. This is YOUR life, this is YOUR chance to learn to love your self and embrace a new life. If i can do this you can do this. I dreamed of being here and now I am. Is my journey over NO, this is a life long journey and a commitment. This is my life, my new life!

Great Job and good luck to you.

Your doing great. I will share with you that in the beginning you will have to experiment with different foods. It may take you a while to figure out what goes down the easiest until you get used to learning to feel for soft stops. It took me months to eat eggs. For me a lot of food tasted different to me and my tastes seemed to change. My MD told me he had no idea why I felt these things but he had other patients tell him the same thngs. I ate a lot of greek yogurt and grits in the beginning with protein powder added to everything. Honestly I worried in the beginning if I would ever be able to actually sit down and eat a normal meal and also wondered how in the heck I would ever get down the protein and veggies I was suppose to. All of this comes with time and practice. It really is like learning to eat all over again. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Great and inspirational, thanks for sharing.

Me too, some days it seems worse than others.