Patchouli

How are all you "60 and Olders" doing? There hasn't been much activity here lately - just wondering how ya'll are? I am getting closer to my date (2/28) and am getting very excited. Even tho I read a lot of negative stories about people with bands who aren't having great sucess - I still believe I can make this work to my advantage. I believe I mentioned before that this is not the surgery I initially wanted - I wanted a gastric sleeve, based mainly on my Dr's recommendation due to some other issues I have, and truthfully if my insurance covered it that is what I would be doing. But I can only get the lapband covered with the insurance I have and I am not in a position to self-pay, so this is it for me. I plan to keep a positive attitude and work my band for all it's worth. Someone here mentioned having the date of their banding tattooed on their hand - I am considering the same (altho not on my hand!) because that date is going to be the beginning of a profound change in my life. I am also going to turn 60 exactly one month after my surgery and I like it that I am starting a whole new decade of my life with a whole new outlook and approach and a tool to help me achieve my goals. The most important goal I have going forward, aside from losing weight, is that I have been working my way to becoming vegan (have been a vegetarian for awhile now) and when I have my surgery, from that day forth that is the way I intend to live. I found a very good site that I visit daily for inpiration - it's www.bandedliving.com The two women who run the site have had great sucess with their bands and they are truly an inspiration to me. I believe that is what we need to do as we start/continue our journey with our bands - stay positive and inspired. Don't get me wrong - educating yourself about all aspects of the band is important - I have spent 7 months researching this and looking at it from all angles, the positive and the negative - but now that I know the negative I prefer to move on and surround myself with positive and inspirational people and stories to keep me going. I personally know a couple of people I work with who have had the band and not had much sucess with it - but I also see them raiding the candy jar in one of our co-worker's office, eating large amounts and eating & drinking things they shouldn't. So it's no wonder they are not having sucess. It's so important to remember that this is not a magic pill to cure our obesity but rather a tool to help us - but we must put forth the work and effort to make this work. Yes, there are some banders out there who want to go from the band to a bypass - but there are also by-passers who are now getting "banded over bypass" because their bypasses failed them! As I said, I wanted a sleeve and would go that route if I had the choice, but on the other hand, altho the band may make us have to work harder to lose than sleevers or bypassers, on another level you actually learn to control and discipline yourself in ways you don't have to do with the other surgeries. I can't help but think that's a GOOD thing! And we don't have those crazy side effects to deal with like hair loss and dumping syndrome. All I know is I am going ahead with my band surgery and I plan to give this my very best effort. If I happen to end up one of those people who don't get results despite my best efforts, I'll face that when/if it happens but atleast I'll know I gave it my best effort. Hope everyone of you out there are doing well - have a wonderful coming week!

Hello and thanks for your post. I have been a vegetarian before and even vegan for a short while - back then I found dairy too hard to give up but believe I can do it now - but back in my previous veggie days I never paid a lot of attention to how much protein I was taking in. So that will be a new angle for me with the band. I have many reasons for wanting to get back to a vegan diet, health being an important reason but also have concerns about the environment and the cruelty to the animals we raise in such horrible conditions so that we can eat them. I will take your advise and post on the post op boards - thanks for that suggestion :-) Hi there, I'm a fish-eating vegetarian or a pescatarian (I am not really a fan of that word). I've been so since October of 2008. I was banded last month. I, too, intend to go vegan at some point. I think it would be pretty easy to do it with the band. The majority of your protein would probably come from soy protein shakes. I found one organic whey protein but I think I might be lactose intolerant so I couldn't use that one. I ate a lot of vegetarian fat free refried beans, lentils and tuna on my mushy stage. For my liquid stage, I used mushroom stock and vegetable broth. If I were you, I might retain a solid protein - like fish - until you really have the hang of getting all your protein in without it. The band is pretty limiting at first and, for me, I had two years under my belt without meat so it wasn't too difficult to figure out how to use what I normally ate with the band. Best of luck to you! You might also want to post this on the post-op thread because I think you may get more responses. I've run across a few people here who are vegetarian.

Hmmmm, my Dr. told me hair loss would not occur with the band - that happens because of the malab sorption that happens with the other forms of wls but not the band. Saggy skin - yes, you will most likely have some, altho the younger you are the less of that seems to happen. You can always cover it up with clothing and think about plastic surgery later - altho it is hard to get insurance to cover that. Good luck!

Hi, I am not yet banded - my date is 2/28/11. I will be 60 3/27/11. I too would like to correspond with other banders in my age group as I think we may have a bit of a different experience than younger folks, like slower weight loss for example. I actually did not want a band, I wanted a sleeve but my insurance policy only covers the band so I have no choice. I was very disappointed at first but have decided to go with the flow, keep a positive attitude and work my band for all it's worth. I too live alone - well, not counting my two cats!! I do have a sweetheart but we mostly see each other on the weekends. In the evenings after work I have lots of free time to be on line so cyber support for me will be my main support and much appreciated. I got my band last Thursday, and have been following this forum as I recover. I went to the age "60" forum, and although there are a few posts, nothing is very current. Am I the only old lady doing this? I'd love to hear from others my age. What was your motivation to do this? What are you expectations? I would like to converse with people my age to see if we're sharing similar or different experiences. We could encourage each other and share tips and advice. I live alone, and I'd like company on this journey=a cyber support group. I hope someone is interested. I look forward to hearing from you.

My surgery is scheduled for 2/28/11. Are there any vegetarian or vegan banders out there? I am slowly working my way back to being a vegetarian (was one for a few years back in the 70's - 80's) with the ultimatee goal of becoming vegan. Just wondering how it is working the band as a vegan....