sassyfrass

Sorry to read the bad news on your cousin. I am not banded yet, but I can tell you that the stomach is first place I feel anything when I am shocked, upset, etc.... so it makes sense to me, that you felt it there. It's so good to read these posts to get lots of info since I'm getting banded on Feb 29. I try to get heads up on all that I possibly can, although, I realize that each person can be affected differently.

Thank you for your encouragment and tips, Teri! I appreciate you and your great support. I will be posting some before surgery, I'm sure. Nerves will be getting me. So you will be doing the liquids every other week? Wow!! You are good to be able to do that. I don't know that I could do it every day of the week. Glad all is going well for you.

I just had an appointment with the surgeon on Friday! I barely made the FEB bandster club with Feb 29th date! My Grandma was born on this day so many years ago. (She is in Heaven now . She passed away 12 yrs ago) I will always remember by banding day every year as I think of it being my Grandma's Birthday also, although I will have to celebrate it a day earlier or a day late except every four years when leap year rolls around! I wish everyone well with your surgeries. May we all be blessed with a great surgery and a great journey. It's great to have support on here!! I do have to say I am so nervous now that I do have a date. It just makes it more real!! I don't have to start a low carb diet until Feb 15. Until then I will continue to follow my weight watchers plan. Some days, it's actually quite low carb, in itself, but not always. I do love my carbs, so I will have to do better on that during my 2 weeks pre op for sure. And after. I have been following my weight watchers plan the past few weeks and started losing a little weight with that. Because over Christmas, but mainly a bit after it, I started gaining some weight, so I have lost 9 so far. At my appt on Friday, I was still 1 lb. up from my first consult with the doc in September. They had no clue I had gained 9 lbs and lost it before they saw me again. It's scary how quick I can gain weight. That's why I know the band is definite must for me. I NEED that tool to keep me in check. I will love to read up on all of you Feb bandsters! May we all do well with this!

Well, I have to say I finally have a surgery date! Feb 29!! Oh my!!! But....I am a bit disappointed because my Doctor doesn't want me to add the plication! Go figure! I am not quite sure why he did not tell me this the first time I mentioned I was thinking of it. I guess after he saw my EGD results, etc...maybe that helped him decide. He did say that because there are more risks in having plication done AND I'm not over 300 lbs, he just doesn't think it's the way for me to go. He really would rather me do just the band. He KNOWS I will be fine with that alone based on what I've told him and how he sees other patients doing. I was a bit surprised by that, but I know he knows best, so I will go on that. I told him I didn't want it for faster weight loss, but to help in less chance of slippage and having fills, AND to be able to keep in case there is an issue that comes up with me not being able to keep the band. He understood my reasoning, but suggests I not have it done, so I feel I must go on his suggestions. :0( Having said that, I do want to thank each of you for your comments regarding plication, because it was because of that, that I decided it was something I wanted. I have to believe that this is what is best for me, so I just have to wrap my brain around it. I just wish I had known this much earlier because I have had months of thinking of it over and over.....and getting my brain wrapped around the thought of actually having it....and all the reasons of why adding it will benefit me. Now it's just the opposite. And I feel so disappointed, somehow. So...anyway.....I just have to focus on getting ready for my pre op now. I am getting more nervous by the day now that I actually have a date. Dear God, please help me through this.

I am definitely not going into this, thinking the band will be a 'FIX ALL' for me, but I do look forward to it being a good tool in addition to my eating lesser portions in order to lose weight and get healthier. I wouldn't necessarily say I am a food addict although there are times when I'm so down and out about what "seems" like a food addiction to me. There are times when I have certain trigger foods, that it's very hard to stop so I end up eating 2,3 or 4 servings of somthing before I MAKE myself close the bag, or quit grabbing that item. I do know my trigger foods, for the most part, but I also KNOW that I won't go through life avoiding those items forever, either. I just have to be better about portions. I have found that for the most part, if I separate items out in individual portion sizes, I do better. I DO NOT do well at at buffets even when I try to eat mostly healthy. Even just getting little bits of the things I want to eat; it ends up being a plate solid full of TOO much food. If the band will help me NOT do that to myself because I won't physically be able to do it.....then I will be happy. And probably wouldn't even want to pay for a buffet. I could just order off the menu, only. ( AND take joy in taking half of the meal home with me). :0) I agree with some of the posters above; it's definitely a mental thing. I know I'm an emotional eater so I just have to find other things to take the place of food. May God bless you all on your journey.

My Dr. has patients go on a low carb diet 2 wks prior to surgery. I have done low carb in the past and it's not so bad, really. I just happen to love love LOVE carbs, so I just have to ween myself off slowly and I have been doing that some since I'm back doing Weight Watchers, trying to eat healthier, for the most part, but not all low carb, yet. It does work, just as the article above says. I know your Dr. says liquids, but everyone I know in my area that has had the surgery, did a low carb diet (not just liquids) and it worked great for them. I will be following my own low carb diet in a few weeks, before surgery. I wish you well on your journey.

I , too, am so very nervous about surgery also, so you are definitely not alone. I have my last appt next week where my surgery date will be planned for the next 30 days after that. I have never had surgery of any kind, so I am not looking forward to it, but......I know I NEED this tool to help me get it off and KEEP it off once and for all. I wish everyone well with their upcoming surgeries. I said a little prayer for all on this forum. May God bless and keep us all.

Shelly, I like the way you think! I just finished all of my pre-op appts and will have to go in for my last visit with doc to plan my surgery date. I have already asked him about the plication and I plan to get it. I don't want it for faster weight loss ('cause that will only bring more questions from others that I don't want) but for the lesser chance of band slippage and Less chance for fills. That's the appealing part to me. AND....if there should ever come a day that my band has to be removed, the plication can stay, according the Doc. So many reasons to get it, in my opinion. I don't look forward to a few more possible days of nausea (per doc) but I know it will be worth it in the end.

Ahealthiermommy, you are in my prayers. You may have had your surgery by this time ( 9:95 est.) But I just saw your post and wanted you to know that. May God bless you and keep you.

I have actually tried parts of this also. From time to time, I do the small bites and chew, chew, chewing thing, but I tend to get impatient and just eat like normal. I will defintely keep working on this, as I know it will be a challenge for me too. I sure have to get a grip on it because I sure don't want that to lead to gettins stuck right away. I also tested myself on giving up carbonated drinks during the late summer and found that it was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I didn't have one for 6 weeks. I was quite impressed. I have a diet soda occasionally, but mostly have unsweet tea with splenda or water. I mostly have water. That part, will be a breeze for me. I just have to get a handle on the chewing mainly. And having no water while eating will be tough one for me as well. The things we have to do in order to be healthy. :-) It will be all worth it.

Thank you, Teri! I love the support from these forums. I used to LIVE on these boards until I started the process for the band, then I was getting so nervous that I just quit coming on here and actually slowed down the band process by taking longer to get my appointments in. Mainly to really get my head wrapped around the fact that this IS happening. I am starting back on these forums and getting into my reading materials and getting as much info as possible from very helpful folks like you, so I know exactly what to expect, although my experience may be a little different since we are all unique beings. But thank you so much for your response. I will definitely keep checking in.

Thank you all for posting your experiences with lband and plication. I am almost done with all of my pre op visits so that my surgery can be scheduled. I have been thinking seriously about adding plication with band because if will help even a little with less chance of band slippage, or needing less fills, perhaps, it is well worth it to me. I don't look forward to extra days of nausea, like the Dr. says he has noticed with plication patients. Also, I hope I never have to have to band removed for erosion, etc, but if something does happen like that, at least I will still have the plication that will be left untouched and surely that will help me with eating less.

Nicole, hope all is well with your surgery! I am in the process with other doc visits before I even get a surgery date. Probably in January. I prefer to NOT have to deal with the liquids, etc....smack in the middle of December. I want to start the new year out with a start to a new me. :0) Until then, I strive to follow my Weight Watchers plan. I wish you all well.

I am not yet banded, but I am finally in the works for it. I have had my consult and egd, and have my phsche and nutricion appts within the next month. Then on the the rest. I figure my surgery for mid to late January. I will try to do Weight Watchers as good as I can once I'm on regular foods. I have done WW so long, it's what I know, and I know the support is there when I show up. I do NOT plan to tell anyone about the band. I don't there to be any misconceptions about it being "the easy way", because from all the reading I've done and all the people that I know who have had it, I KNOW that is not true. We still have to make the right food choices for ourselves. Like another poster said, the band is a help with "bingeing" and eating too much of a portion. That's what I needed the most help with. I agree that it would be great to get this going more, for support.

Subie66, I don't just do frozen meals. I find that its easier foe me to have them some days due to the time I get home after work/gym. Sometimes I have them for lunch. I just use them when I want them I like lean Cuisine too, and some of the healthy choice ones also. If I don't have a frozen meal, I have most anything, but grilled chicken is a fave. I also make Taco Soup, chili or any of the recipes on WW boards. I usually make a big batch and separate out by portion sizes and freeze. Its great to just be able to pull something out of the freezer and microwave it in minutes. I do like to buy the individual frozen Green Giant veggies so when I need a veggie its right there. I like the frozen meals because it helps me control portion sizes.

I am glad to read of even more stories of band with plication. I finally have my consult scheduled for mid Sept. Nervous and anxious.

OH, I have to admit this makes me nervous about getting banded.

Thanks Davey and Melissa. I often try eating that way now just to try to get a feel for how it will be. I just wasnt sure exactly how small the pcs should be. I have found that by the time I chew it over and over and over that there isn't much taste left. Very interesting. Thanks for your input. I really appreciate all the comments and advice. I have learned so much on this site in order to be prepared as much as possible before my surgery.

Oh, but the docs were not in on that one.

Glad you are having good results momofthree. Scuffy, I actually did sit in on one of the support meetings right after the seminar because a gal I know who has lapband suggested it because I was so full of questions and fears. The people are nice and it was good to hear how different it is for everyone.

I am right there with ya. I have figured out that I am truly a food addict. I have been overweight at least 34 of my 43 years of life. It's a HARD thing to battle. I have said that same thing so many times about how this is one of the hardest addictions to have since we NEED food to live. I have cried in prayer many times, wondering why this is my cross to bear, but it is something I KNOW I will have to deal with the rest of my life too, even after I get banded. My only hope is that the band will HELP me during those times that I would normally binge. I have been up and down with weight loss so so sooooo many times. It's such a struggle. You are definitely not alone. I just wish that others would not be so judgemental. Those that do not have this problem can NEVER truly know the horrors of having this addiction. I wish blessings to all of us during this process.

I will definitely store this advice in my memory for when I'm banded. Thank you for sharing. I LOVE this site! So helpful.

I have to say that this is the topic that scares me to pieces about getting banded. I feel like I will be too afraid to try anything at all. Can ya'll explain the actual size of your 'small' bites that you cut your meats, shrimp, etc. into? Thanks.