Cazzy

What a difference, well done

Mike I am 2 and 1/2 years post op, i cannot actually see my scars from the lapband, i would describe them as just like a bad acne scar, its keyhole surgery and the scars on the outside even if they were bigger are nothing to the scarring going on inside your body because of how heavy you are.
I started off at 400 lbs myself, i never thought i would do this, but i have, i only wish this operation had been around when i was your age, grab life with both hands and make it happen, life will pass you by if you dont ... good luck and i really hope this works out for you.

I had saggy skin everywhere, but i had lost 237 lbs, theres many factors that contribute to sagging skin, amount of weight u lose, age, hormones, genetics etc, if u are going to get it theres not much u can do about it, is saggy skin worse than skin filled with fat ? i wore my saggy skin like a badge of honour till i had surgery to get rid of it all, but even without the plastic surgery losing weight was far more important. You have to ask yourself why u are worrying about saggy skin, but didnt worry about stretching it by being heavy
concentrate on things u can change and not things u cant ( not without money and surgery anyways )

As promised, here are my before and after pics.
200 pounds lost in 15 months.
I love my band!!

That's funny! It's just the opposite of how we dress and behave when we go in for our post surgical visits, isn't it? I know I wear my lightest shoes, wear lightweight shorts and t-shirt. I hold off on drinking any water 2 hours before I go in so that scale is as low as it can be? tmf

make sure u weigh in with heavy jeans on, lots of change in the pockets and anything else to add the weight .. if u are desperate, Water weight too helps, load up on salt and water the night before like they have done on biggest loser. To be honest make sure u think this surgery is the only answer left for you

Mike I am 2 and 1/2 years post op, i cannot actually see my scars from the lapband, i would describe them as just like a bad acne scar, its keyhole surgery and the scars on the outside even if they were bigger are nothing to the scarring going on inside your body because of how heavy you are.
I started off at 400 lbs myself, i never thought i would do this, but i have, i only wish this operation had been around when i was your age, grab life with both hands and make it happen, life will pass you by if you dont ... good luck and i really hope this works out for you.

finding what worked for me and sticking to it, i weighed every day, did all my exercises everyday and ate similar food every day, sounds boring yes, but i had a lifetime of eating too much good food, i never ate junk food anyways, so a couple of years being rigid with myself paid off , now i am in maintenance i mix it up now and manage to keep my weight stable so it was all worth it

Are you taking any blood pressure meds? I suffered the same symptoms when I first started to exercise heavily but as I got stronger they went away?

And that's true. But we prefer "Geico People" please

I agree with Terry the issue isn't pointing out a concern it's using emotional language and opinion disguised as science and objective facts.
1% of the US population is convinced the world's governments are controlled by Lizard people. That is a fact; but that doesn't make their opinion actually true.
As for the cited expert I'd pointbout that the physician who developed the Hiemlich Maneuver and several other life saving devices also promoted several very dangerous life threatening procedures. Experts are still human and their opinions may have weight but that doesn't make them always right.

here is another (observation)
http://www.wlshelp.c..._medium=twitter
let me add,
i stand by my belief that the small risk of band surgery was WORTH saving my life...i also stand by the fact that ANY surgery can have complications...
msmaui, i find that until you had complications, the band actually helped you lose weight and you seem to forget that...sorry if that is rude but i find your constant harping of the band failures also rude......
yes you are able to post what you want, good and bad....and i respect that and i support you and your recent surgery....

So, the fact that other surgeries have a much higher complication/mortality rate has no bearing MsMaui? Oh look, here is a clinic that does all three types of surgeries as well http://www.trueresul...loss-surgeries. They claim that the sleeve has 3 times and GB has 4 times the complication rates of banding. That doesn't even deal with the much higher rate of people who die from those surgeries.
Let's be fair shall we and stop combing the Internet and posting just what the dangers of the band are. Before you scare someone into having 3/4 of their stomach cut away, and their intestines re-routed post the dangers of those surgeries as well.
I had a surgeon recommend the sleeve to me as well, know why? He was out of state and I couldn't find a Dr. who would do fills in Utah if he did the band. He didn't give a damn about what was best for me, he wanted the income from the surgery, ANY surgery.
Heck, my surgeon has over a 1000 bands by now, he won't do the sleeve or GB because he objects to making major modifications to a person's body such removing major portions of their stomach.

The article you stated was just opinion. Not a study and not fact. Opinion.
I'm sorry but opinions are useless. It's facts that matter.
This is an actual study and fact: "Gastric banding is safe and effective for managing obesity long-term, according to a study of patients 10 to 15 years after their surgeries."
Weight Stays Off Long After Lap Band Surgery

You need to realize two things:
1. What forum you post a topic in is irrelevant. It comes up on the right side of the page and people respond. No one bothers to look at what category it's under.
2. This is a forum. People are going to respond and there is no guarantee you're going to like their responses. When you post something that you know is going stir the pot then either be prepared to deal with the backlash or get a blog where you can post without dealing with responses.
I wish nothing but the best for you and my heart goes out to you with your issues, but your personal issues have nothing to do with making posts that many of us feel the need to defend because they're either not painting a full picture or just plain incorrect. If you want to make a post about what you're dealing with personally you'll get nothing but support and compassion I'm sure. But don't make the mistake of trying to mix those personal issues in with topics that are sure to trigger defensive responses. Keep them separate for your own sake.

237 lbs since january 2011

Feeling a little better now .. some pics of how much skin overall was removed in 11 months 3 Operations and a total of 28 hours surgery.
My surgeon is extremely cautious and takes her time with all surgeries she has done for me. I had a total stay in hospital of 13 days .
Only complication i experienced was allergies to the medical adhesives causing stitch abscesses when i had my thigh lift in October 2012. I also developed an encapsulated seroma in my thigh which was removed when i had my maxoplasty 8 days ago. I developed a haematoma in my left breast and ended up with an additional 2 hours in surgery and 4 pints of blood transfusion.
My band is playing up due to the swelling from all the iv fluids but overall i am feeling much better and looking forward to no more surgery and no more scars
good luck to all of you contemplating skin removal.
   

i was thinking of you when i posted those pics, i actually have ones that the surgeon took that are even worse than my ones, I am too ashamed to post those, i still hate photos, i dont suppose that will ever change.. let me know if u want to see them and i will email them if u pm your email..

I ended up having to have 1 mls removed from my band today, i am 2 weeks post op from my plastic surgery and i was getting tighter and tighter to the point where i could hardly even drink over the weekend.
Please dont leave it like i did and have a small unfill before any surgery, took a chance and didnt this time and have had a miserable time last week getting tighter and tighter. I now am able to eat and drink normally and feel so much better for it. Being tight can impact on your healing process if u get dehydrated etc so its really not worth taking the chance

No need to be alarmed but to be honest u need to see your surgeon/doctor and i wouldnt leave it either, black could indicate something you ate of course , but could also indicate old blood etc, just make an appointment and get it checked out, you shouldnt be waking choking / coughing with mucus, especially if you havent had it before .. good luck !
I had that waking and choking over the weekend and had some removed from my band today as it was too tight, sometimes i could eat normally othertimes i would stick on everything, so get it checked

I ended up having to have 1 mls removed from my band today, i am 2 weeks post op from my plastic surgery and i was getting tighter and tighter to the point where i could hardly even drink over the weekend.
Please dont leave it like i did and have a small unfill before any surgery, took a chance and didnt this time and have had a miserable time last week getting tighter and tighter. I now am able to eat and drink normally and feel so much better for it. Being tight can impact on your healing process if u get dehydrated etc so its really not worth taking the chance

thank you all for your nice comments .. hopefully u can all be as pleased as i was wioth the results
I am actually thinking of going swimming now ...

i was thinking of you when i posted those pics, i actually have ones that the surgeon took that are even worse than my ones, I am too ashamed to post those, i still hate photos, i dont suppose that will ever change.. let me know if u want to see them and i will email them if u pm your email..

Feeling a little better now .. some pics of how much skin overall was removed in 11 months 3 Operations and a total of 28 hours surgery.
My surgeon is extremely cautious and takes her time with all surgeries she has done for me. I had a total stay in hospital of 13 days .
Only complication i experienced was allergies to the medical adhesives causing stitch abscesses when i had my thigh lift in October 2012. I also developed an encapsulated seroma in my thigh which was removed when i had my maxoplasty 8 days ago. I developed a haematoma in my left breast and ended up with an additional 2 hours in surgery and 4 pints of blood transfusion.
My band is playing up due to the swelling from all the iv fluids but overall i am feeling much better and looking forward to no more surgery and no more scars
good luck to all of you contemplating skin removal.
   

No need to be alarmed but to be honest u need to see your surgeon/doctor and i wouldnt leave it either, black could indicate something you ate of course , but could also indicate old blood etc, just make an appointment and get it checked out, you shouldnt be waking choking / coughing with mucus, especially if you havent had it before .. good luck !
I had that waking and choking over the weekend and had some removed from my band today as it was too tight, sometimes i could eat normally othertimes i would stick on everything, so get it checked