jen120

I'm starting 2 weeks on Monday...I'm really excited to see how much I will lose!

I went through it for about 3-4 months. I just noticed a lot more hair in my hairbrush and all over the place! I could tell my hair was not as thick, but absolutely no one else could tell at all, even when I had them looking. It is not that big of a deal and there is very little you can do to prevent it. It is caused from the stress of your body trying to heal from the surgery and getting used to your new diet. It is not caused by, as many people think, by lack of nutrition or protein as I was eating 100 grams of protein a day, taking vitamins.

I felt the same way in May when I had my band removed. My slip was so bad and painful. I couldn't eat or drink. I threw up about 25 times in 2 days. But after gaining 25-30 pounds since the band was removed and really trying to lose weight on my own...I have chosen to get the sleeve. Good luck!

I have PMDD and just about every month a 7-10 days before my period I cry uncontrollably. It is hormones and it sucks. I have learned that eventually it will pass. But in the moment I feel quite crazy. Hang in there!

I'd call the surgeons office just to double check. When I had my band, I was able to take ibuprofen up until 24 hours prior to my surgery. Of course, the band may be different.

Congrats on your weight loss with the band! I started at 415 pounds (my highest weight was 435) and I know how it feels to be scared to go back there! So glad I found this section of the forum. I'm in the same boat. I had my band for less than a year and major slip and it was removed. I did lose 128 pounds in that time. I went from 415 to 287! I thought I could do it without help, but like you all say, I could never feel full. I gained between 20-30 pounds and have been hovering in that area since May. I finally broke down and saw my surgeon and will be doing the sleeve. Would love to keep in touch to see how it goes!

There technically should be no lapse in coverage. Have you paid the premium? I would bug my HR department everyday until I had formal documentation. When I got divorced, my ex who was on my insurance got a letter about a week before his coverage ended from COBRA with a letter detailing the payments and coverage details. There was no lapse in coverage and he had 1 month to pay the first premium or it would retrospectively be cancelled. You should have received this by now. Be persistent with your HR!!!

Even if you are on someone else's insurance, that does not give them the right to dictate your medical care. It's illegal and HIPAA protects your medical privacy. Your father would have no rights to have sued your former surgeon, he was not the patient. Now, of course he can try to drop you from the insurance after the fact, which in my opinion is a really crappy thing to do to a child. Unfortunately, people in 12 step programs can get extremely over zealous with wanting to share the program. IT DOES NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE! In particular, people with food addictions. As an alcoholic, he can avoid having another drink the rest of his life and live a normal productive existence. Unfortunately, never eating again is not an option. If he had to have just 1 drink a day...I wonder what his success would be? Food addicts are faced with their demon everyday. You are in a tough situation. Personally if you are prepared for the financial consequences of being dropped by the insurance and potentially losing assistance with your tuition, then go for it using the insurance. Hide it from them. Make sure your insurance knows that you will take legal action if they share your medical information with your father or anyone other than you. Laws are there to protect your privacy!! All correspondence should go directly to you if you live at a different address. Call the insurance company and make this clear with them. They can get in big legal and financial trouble for breaking the law! Good Luck...

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this site. I had the Gastric Band placed on 5-23-2011. When I started my pre-op diet I was 415 pounds. On 5-1-2012 less than a year after surgery I weight 287. That was a loss of 128 pounds. I was so happy with my band and followed all the instructions and was very successful. Unfortunately on 5-1-2012 my band slipped, blocking my ability to eat or drink anything. It had to be removed. I thought I could do it on my own...but I can't. I gained about 25-30 pounds and have been hovering between 310 and 320 for the last few months. I finally met with my surgeon and we are going to do the Gastric Sleeve. I was very active on LapBandTalk until my band slipped. I hope to be involved here as well. I am still learning a lot and look forward to being part of this community. All the Best... -Jeannette

For those of you that knew Shirley, I have some very, very sad news. She passed away on Saturday April 21st. Here is a link to her obituary. Shirley A. Stasevich (September 3, 1954 - April 21, 2012) Shirley A. Stasevich age 57 passed away Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the West Branch Regional Medical Center in West Branch. Shirley had been a resident of St. Helen for the past 19 years previously of Hamtramck, MI. Shirley enjoyed fishing and gardening. Shirley is survived by her husband Steven Stasevich of St. Helen, 2 children, 2 grandchildren, and 2 brothers. She is preceded in death by her mother Ann. Visitation for Shirley will be held Monday, April 30, 2012 from 2-7 PM at the Steuernol & McLaren Funeral Home in St. Helen. A visitation on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 will be held from 12-1PM at the Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley, MI. A chapel service at the cemetery will be held at 1:00 PM on Tuesday following the visitation. Memorial Contribution may be given to the family of Shirley Stasevich. http://www.steuernol...795&fh_id=13112 I don't have a lot of information and you may have seen some of her posts recently where she talked about some of her serious complications. Shirley was a wonderful friend and very supportive. She was a very active member on this site and helped me so much in my journey. She is now up in heaven looking down on us...

Yes, they definitely deflate. But I am much older and mine have been sagging much longer.

Yes, unfortunately she is the one.

Hang in there! You are doing great! Like Tracey said above, you may need to shake things up to get the scale moving again. Maybe do 2-3 days of just Protein shakes to jumpstart that scale. Or try a different activity. Also are you tracking all your food and really measuring? I know that sometimes I can get a bit lazy and start eyeballing portions and then I end up giving myself more than I should. Alsolook at this time from a different perspective. Think about it as practice for maintenance. The scale will eventually move again.

Foods that really help me... Frigo Light Cheeseheads Swirls string cheese...Only 60 cal and 8 grams Protein. I have 2 a day, one each in the morning and afternoon. Morningstar Farms Veggie Crumbles Birdseye Broccoli Florets Steamer Bag...It's plain broccoli that you microwave in the bag. It is quick and easy and I always have on hand for when I feel lazy about cooking. Even the one with sauce is low cal.

I took 2 full weeks. I have a 1.5 hour commute each way so driving would have been a bit difficult. I am glad I did. I healed perfectly.

Hi, I am very happy with the band. I didn't have any issues with nausea or vomiting after surgery. I didn't have my first fill until after I lost 90 pounds. My second fill was too tight and that did cause heartburn and vomiting as I couldn't really eat solid food. I had some fluid taken out and now everything is great. I work very hard to stay focused on my eating plan, get in some exercise and continue going to therapy to help me deal with the food issues. The band works great for me and I don't regret it for one second nor do I wish I had done something else.

I was 415 when I started my pre-op diet on May 9th, 2011 and I was 293 when I weighed in last week. So that is just over 120 pounds in 11 months. But I still have another 90+ to go. It really does depend on where you are starting and how much you have to lose. Good luck!

It is common. If you've had a fill, they will actually unfill you before surgery.

I know that about 3-4 weeks after surgery I had a 2.5 week plateau. I was only eating about 700-800 cals a day. I upped it to 1000-1200 and immediately started losing weight again. I lost 60 pounds in 3 months and I am on another plateau. I know that I am eating the right amount of food and doing the right things and that my body will catch up again. But darn it is frustrating! I loved dropping 2 pounds every 3-4 days. I know that pace of weight loss is not realistic so 1-2 pounds it what I am aiming for. I just need the weight loss to start up again!

Congrats!! As a much larger person I think it does take some time before people notice. I've only had 1 person mention it to me that didnt know I had surgery. I sometimes think my friends and family say they notice just to be nice because when I look at myself I dont see too much of a difference except in my face and like another poster said, if you are still wearing the same clothes (like me) they really cant tell. I'm hoping when I hit 75 pounds more people will notice, but its not too important to me. We'll see

Hang in there! You are eating the right amount of calories. I also eat about 1100-1200. Do you have support of a nutritionist through your bariatric center? Maybe they can look at your food diaries and make some suggestions. Can they make some suggestions given your thyroid issues? Can I ask what kind of eating plan you were on prior to surgery? You said you lost about 10 lbs a month doing that. Is going back to what you were doing before an option? I'm dont know if it is "band friendly" but there are lots of people who either do weight watchers or some other diet with the band. And the band makes it easier because they dont have the hunger they had before. I have never been officially stuck but I have been close a couple of times and it is a very sharp pain in the middle of your chest. It usually happens when I take too big a bite of my morning Breakfast sandwich (the only time of day I eat bread). Luckily within a minute or 2 I can feel that food passing out of the pouch and then I'm ok. I think if you are really stuck it hurts for much longer and is accompanied by sliming and I hear most people have to vomit to get it unstuck. Good Luck

Dont limit your Fluid intake. Drink as much Water was you comfortably can with the goal of a minimum of 64oz a day. Personally, since I dont have a lot of restriction I can chug my water without having it come back up. But not something I recommend!

You are less than a week out from surgery. At this point just do your best. You are still healing and depending on how tight you feel, you may not hit your goal everyday. For my mushy foods I was only allowed soft Proteins which included yogurt, cottage cheese, refried Beans, tuna, sliced lunch meat, other cheeses. So the Protein was not too hard to get in. Enjoy!

I am not sure what your doctor recommended but I was able to start Protein shakes 24 hours after surgery. I know every doctor is different. When can you start Protein Shakes? I personally think it is too extreme to be on Clear liquids for more than 48 hours after surgery. I know some doctors say a week. You are starving! Your body needs fuel and nutrition to heal itself. There will be people on here who tell you to listen to your doctor and do only what they say. I agree with that advice up to a certain point. I say listen to your body. Doctors tell us all the time not to do fad diets...not eating for a week seems like a fad and something a 15 year old does when she wants to lose weight and does not seem healthy to me! **Notice** This is my opinion only and not meant to serve as medical advice. Good Luck!

Hang in there! I think we are all afraid of failing! I was pretty tired for about 3 weeks after surgery and I didn't have any of the medical conditions you describe. Many, many people experience what you are going through after surgery. Until you start getting fills, you may be hungry. It does take some time to get to that right level so that you can eat smaller portions and feel full for several hours. In the meantime do the best that you can. Track what you eat. Try to focus on Protein rich foods. Dont be afraid to have a snack if you need to. I have string cheese for a morning and afternoon snack almost everyday. You will do great! We are here for you! (((Hugs)))