~*sarah*~

wanted to share my story too because I always found the success stories to be so inspiring! I was banded in October 2009 weighing in at 242. Day of surgery (after a week of saying goodbye to my favorite restaurant and giving up soda) I was 236. Today I am 169! About a year into this journey I was shopping with my Lane Bryant rewards and the sales lady came to me to gently remind me that it was a plus size store and they smallest they carried was a size 14. I was shocked and giddy!

I have no idea how many cc's are in my 10cc band, I have had 2 instances where they have removed some but then slowly worked my way back up. Initially I didn't need to do anything to lose, it just melted off, but this last 30 lbs have been a struggle. I am exercising and counting weight watchers points. My goal is to be 140 by Christmas!! My band can be my enemy and my friend but I wouldn't change anything! Good luck to everyone:-)

I

What an awesome story!!! Congratulations on your loss :)

I also have all the games listed above with the addition of Golds Gym Cardio workout which is boxing and soooo awesome! lol also have Just Dance 1 and 2 and Dance on Broadway. MY favorite game is Just Dance 2. I Love to dance. lol can't wait till they come out with the part 3. And on the Just Dance 2 game there's an option called "Just Sweat" for exercise where u can weekly tell them how hard u want to work out. And it tracks your "Sweat" levels and intensity. Thats a great game to try.

I have the Dance on Broadway too and I LOVE it! I got it for $10 at Toys R Us and it's probably my favorite "workout"

I also use the step aerobics in the Wii Fit Plus and I have Zumba but I haven't tried it yet.

I'm doing pretty good, I think. I was banded on the 16th and I'm up to pureed foods (3 days Clear Liquids, one week full liquids, now pureed). I have never been so happy to eat a scrambled egg in my LIFE lol. But it's worth it, I've lost a total of 25 pounds! Also, I'm off my pain meds and other than the occasional twinge, I feel fine.

I intended to vote up your post, but my laptop touchpad is sensitive, my hand slipped, and I ended up voting it down by accident! Sorry, dude. Can someone vote up her post to neutralize my vote and its effect on her "reputation score?" Thanks!

Whoops! Neutralized

I only met with my doctor 1 time and my surgery is scheduled for Wed. Today I went for my pre-op visit but met with his associate. He was actually stanfing near the reception area and I was thinking-geeze this man is going to being seeing me completely naked and putting instruments in my body in 2 short days-and he doesn't even really know me! It was just weird. He comes highly recommended though. How many face-toface visits have you had withyour actual surgeon?

I had two. At my pre-op appt I met with a fellow as well as my actualy surgeon, but only for like five minutes.

Hey Everybody,

Just being curious and a little nosy. What will you buy or have already bought, when you hit your goal weight?

I have always wanted some. Never was confident enough. (poor hubby).

Thought it would be fun to see what you guys put.

A new ski outfit. I haven't been in years because of my weight and one of the first things I want to do when I get to/close to goal is go on a long weekend ski trip

This probably won't be my greatest, but it's my first! 7 days post-op and I put on a t-shirt I bought in March. When I bought it, it was tight. Today...it's LOOSE! Doing the happy dance!

Awesome! Congratulations!!

BTW, thanks for asking! I've always wanted to try SCUBA diving and it never even crossed my mind that it might be an issue with the band

This is what I found:

Q: Are there any problems with Scuba Diving or High Altitude flying with a LAP-BAND?

There are no publications on this topic. However, this is high on the FAQ list. Several have called after our advice of "no worries" to confirm that they went diving and did not have any problems.

Fluid is not compressible. Bands are filled with Saline (a fluid). It does not matter what altitude or depth you go to, the Fluid volume 'size' or fill in the band does not change. If there is trapped air in the band, which is common especially soon after placement, then the air will change size. At high altitude it will expand and make the band a bit tighter. At depth (deep sea diving), any air in the band will be compressed.... but when you come up it will re-expand to the same volume it was before you went diving. However, the change in total volume is proportional to the amount of trapped air. Normal band-prep-flushing of bands before implantation should remove 95+% of the air. The tiny air bubbles left behind, even if they doubled in size at 25,000 feet, would not be enough to significantly change the total band volume. And besides, if you find yourself in an un-pressurized situation at 25,000 feet, your band fill volume is the least of your troubles. Lights out.

Worst case: if there is a little air in a band and you go diving, the volume of the band will drop slightly the deeper you go. The tightness of the band will be reduced a bit. The result might be a sudden feeling of hunger. Perhaps you are so hungry you decide to stop your dive and you go up to get something to eat. However, once you get to the surface, the air expands and tightens the band and you are no longer hungry. Cruel trick, but no harm done.

In reality, there can't be enough air in a band to actually make this happen. Over the years we have had several patients ask about this, and a few called back after diving to confirm that nothing had happened. So, all we have is a collection of anecdotes. But I don't plan on a multi-center RCT on this topic anytime soon.

Short story: NO PROBLEM!

From: http://www.totalobesitysolutions.com/lapband_surgery.html#21

Apparently you're not the first to wonder, because it's on their FAQ, lol Hope that helps!

I think you were amazing!! You were classy, calm (at least on paper...I'm sure you were fuming inside) and knowledgeable. Good for you for standing up for yourself like that!

Yup! I was banded on the 16th

Funny, I was told absolutely NO caffeine for something like 3 months post-op. I don't drink coffee but I love iced tea and pop so I gave that up a few weeks before my surgery. I figured I didn't want caffeine withdrawl along with all the other discomfort from the surgery!

I'm very open with everyone that I'm having surgery, and have been met with great support. Of course, those who know me know the strugle i've had to lose weight. I just don't understand why people feel the need to hide that they've had surgery? I'd love for someone to come at me and say it's "the easy way" or "cheating". they'd get a real piece of my mind!

even those who i don't know well are receptive and not judgement about my surgery. Are there really that many people who give such hateful feedback?

Just curious...

Nikki

I was pretty quiet about it leading up to the actual surgery because I was a little superstitious that if I told everyone I was having it done, *something* would happen to prevent me from having the surgery done. My last day of work I told a few of my close co-workers and they were extremely supportive. Now, the only people close to me I haven't told are my father and my sister because they are both the type of people who will find something, ANYTHING negative to say about it. I did mention it on my Facebook page, so if they ever check my page they know, lol. Also, I didn't want to go around telling everyone because in the back of my mind I'm worried that I might fail. I'd rather people be surprised by my weight loss than be expecting a greater loss than I might have, if that makes sense

~*sarah*~

I never expected to be in this severe amount of pain. The vicoden only mildly takes the edge off. It worries me. I keep reading of others who are only mildly uncomfortable and it worries me that I shouldn't be in this much pain.

Please, is there anyone else who experienced this?

I was banded on Monday the 16th and I had the same kind of experience. I had read where people only felt "uncomfortable" as well, but I couldn't believe the amount of pain I was in. My only saving grace was that I'm super sensitive to drugs, so the morphine they gave me knocked me out pretty quickly. The oxycodine does the same thing and the pain has gotten better, but I definitely was several leaps beyond "uncomfortable" for the first few days.

Hope you feel better soon, maybe ask your surgeon about trying a different drug.

Thanks Asher!

Hi everyone I'm Sarah and I just joined today. I had my lap-band surgery Monday, May 16th. I'm so excited about this journey and I hope I can learn a lot from everyone here!