Jim1967

I did the band for two reasons..... 1. I was 488lbs when I started the process and thought the was band safer choice with less chance of complications and reversible. I was pretty concerned about being able to survive the procedure. 2. My only options were band or bypass because the Sleeve was not yet offered at my Center and quite honest I never heard of it before. I have had tremendous success with my band and I have been pretty fortunate to have such a smooth journey but if I am being totally honest I don't know if I would make the same choice if I had to do over with today's available Sleeve option. Decision would definitely require more pondering.

Nice reminder to hang on the refrigerator

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and success. We share the anniversary day just a couple of years apart. I come back pretty much for the same reasons you mention above. I try and avoid the negative posts but I like to give back by offering encouragement to those looking to change their life. Seems that new bandsters are slowly fizzling out. I can not visit for a week and still manage to catch up pretty quickly. Part of it saddens me but I completely understand medical technology changes all the time and WLS is no different. Seems like yesterday I was new and didn't know where to start. So many people helped me along the way. Most of them have moved on. I guess some get what they need from the site and move on with life.

I had often told myself during my journey that even if I were to ever possibly hit goal I would never post a success story. Maybe I was being modest or perhaps just really hard on myself or…just not able to forgive myself for ever letting my weight get out of control as it had. I guess a lot of it no matter how you sum it up is really just embarrassment. Well I had a change of heart. That change of heart came because I can remember so vividly the feeling of the hopelessness and despair. At times I felt I was knocking on deaths door and that there was nothing I could do about it. So I am writing this tonight in hopes that if I can help just one person even if only one tiny bit then it is my responsibility to do so. I believe in paying it forward and giving back. If it wasn’t for the people before me that helped me then where would I be? It would be irresponsible for me not to do the same. You are not alone and there are people out there, really good decent people who can help you but YOU have to want it and at some point you need to swallow your pride and ask for the help. Help will not come to you. YOU have to seek it out. I have told my story several times and you can read it on my profile. I lost 170lbs doing Atkins between 2003 and 2004. I went from 393 to 220 and felt great…and then I got sloppy and let my guard down and weight started packing on. I went from 220 to 488 in 8 years’ time. At 488lbs doing day to day activities was quite a chore. My knees were taking a beating carrying so much weight on a 5’6 inch frame. I developed arthritis and serious sleep apnea. Walking from the parking lot to my office was a real task and that was even with the use of an elevator. I had to sit out in the car and have my Wife do the grocery shopping because I couldn’t last more than 10 minutes on my feet. I had to sit and fold laundry sitting in a chair. This list could go on and on about the limited mobility. My amazing Wife stood by me and encouraged me to make a change but we both knew until I was ready to commit to change it would not happen. I am not sure how many other women out there would have put up with what she did. My weight affected us both physically and mentally. I did not feel like much of husband at times and I am sure there were plenty of times she felt more like a caregiver than a wife at times although she never said so or complained. Something had to give and it finally did and in September 2011 with my wife at my side I attended a local seminar for WLS. We listened to the Doctor discuss all the surgical options available at the time and being new and somewhat naïve we decided Lapband was the way to go. It was reversible and probably the least invasive of all procedures. I signed up for a one on one consult with the Surgeon that night. October 2011 I met with the Doctor and told him I ready to make a life change. He told me he wanted to see me lose 24lbs and work on shrinking the liver. Insurance required me to do a 6 month monitored diet so instead of losing 24lbs preop I lost 38lbs. My Surgeon was impressed and after completing all the preop requirements I finally got a surgery date of April 16, 2012. I weighed in on surgery morning at 450lbs on the button. So there I was April 17th and getting discharged from the hospital and all that went through my mind is why the hell did I do this? There was no way it would work and I will be known as the fat guy who couldn’t lose weight with WLS. As much as you research and prepare for this new life it seems at some point you say OK well I had the surgery why is the weight not coming off?? This is so frustrating!!! Well apparently I had never heard of bandster hell. Bandster hell is that time from when you have the surgery to the time you actually get the necessary fills to get the need restriction to control your portions. Some very few people are lucky they have the surgery and automatically get that restriction. Not me, it took me 6 months. 6 months of frustration. Probably one of the most difficult pieces for me to learn was patience. Lack of patience made this road even longer. I stepped on the scale almost daily these last 2.5 years waiting on a large drop in numbers that never happened. How on earth could you possibly see a large drop if you’re stepping on the scale daily? Do yourself a favor and don’t do it. To this day I still step on it daily but now it is about accountability not so much weight loss. Always look for other measures to success. We call them Non Scale Victories or NSV’s. Losing weight is not just about numbers. For a while I was buying new clothes every other month because I was shrinking so fast. I went from a size 62 waist to a 34. I went from squeezing into theater seats to have padded space on each side. I could go on and on here rambling about all sorts of stuff weight and band related. If you’ve read this far then thank you and thank you to those who helped me get here. I would like to especially thanks @@Alex Brecher without him I wouldn’t have a home here and I perhaps would’ve remained lost. If anyone has any questions or comments or just need someone to talk to don't hesitate to message me regardless how personal you think your question may be. My name is Jim and I am junk food addict. I have lost 300lbs and the lapband saved my life. 2yrs and 8 months 488 to 188. Peace!!

I talk to Missy very often. She is doing great and living life. Like most of us who live in the 'winter' states she is waiting for warmer weather to come and thaw and get outside and play again :-) Sadly, I do not speak with CG much at all. I visit her blog every now and then but I don't hear from her much.

MsAnn, I would feel sorry for you but it seems you're doing a pretty good job feeling sorry for yourself and blaming everyone else around you. I agree having support around you is very important however it is not impossible to succeed without it. Not sure what your deal is with your husband but it sounds pretty old school to me (Wife belongs in the kitchen type stuff). Fine make him his food if you must but it doesn't mean you have to eat it. As for the PB and Bread for a stuck episode...in a normal non banded situation that would work so maybe he is just lacking some education on the band and what a stuck episode means? Has he ever taken any interest at all in what you are trying to do? Has he bothered to learn what is important to you and your needs? Doesn't sound like a very supportive spouse to me or at least that is the way your describing him. As for your brother are there any other support groups you could attend without him? I know around here there are several other facilities which have groups and there is no cost associated. My Wife and I are both banded and I know it would be quite annoying if we were being compared all the time. It has come up from time to time but not very often as we were band a year and half apart. You mention switching to the sleeve and I ask what is the point? All of your issues with lack of support will still be there regardless of the surgical option. I am not against any option but at the end of the day all of the obstructions you mention above will still be there. I am sorry my post is coming off so negative but at the end of the day this is your journey and at some point if you want to be successful you need to take the bull by the horns and tame the beast. Find a new support group....get your husband on board and if he isn't willing to put time in to what is important to you then I guess you know where you really stand on the importance scale in his life....(in his kitchen being his wait staff, cooking and cleaning his house and making sure he has clean laundry). My Wife wouldn't put up with that crap nor would she ever have to. This isn't 1950....it's time he wakes up and smell the roses however he isn't going to just do it if you keep giving in. Good Luck to you.....

You'll get there. Just follow the program your Doctor outlined and be true to yourself and it will come. It just takes time and a lot of patience.

You know it's not going to be pretty when they just stick a plus sign next the number of inches forecast-ed. Stay safe my friends. X marks the spot for me

Hey All, Just wanted to pop in and say hello. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying life. Also, wanted to say thanks for the recommendations on the dry skin remedies. Since incorporating flaxseed oil two weeks ago the winter itches are gone.

Congratulations Fred!!

Happy New Year my friends. Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Cheers to all and let us each write our own best Seller!!

Happy Birthday Debbie!!

Cold is a real problem. I am freezing and it is only in the 30's. This is going to be such a long winter and it hasn't even started....well here anyway. End of last winter I had a rough go with the cold and that was somewhere around 60lbs ago. I hate to be a complainer but I am legit cold. I rarely used to wear long sleeves until now. I wear pajamas and a sweatshirt to bed.

@@lisacaron Size of your meals are Green = GO : This is what we should be shoot for Yellow = Caution : "Large 10 to 12 inch full plate" is just way too much food and should be in the red in my opinion Red = Stop : "Small/Medium plate of soft food" I would place this in caution (yellow) because while it is soft food at least the portion size is better as opposed to a large 10 to 12 inch full plate.

Is that second row accurate? I would think the yellow and red should be reversed.

Hi RiskyGirl, Rest assured it can be done. It does take time and you will encounter some frustrating times and maybe even self doubt along the way but the most important thing is not to get too hung up in that and make sure you keep pressing onward.

Ginger, If I could like this post more than once then I certainly would. You have hit the nail on the head exactly. I will talk to anyone about my WLS experiences and more importantly those who are genuinely interested and those who need to know they're not alone and they don't have to live life with limits because of weight issues. When I was at my lowest point I had moments of not caring much about life but rather going through the paces of making it through another day. Scary times indeed....

As many posts I read that push me away because of the negativity I come upon those few, those ones who make me constantly want to come back and stick around and help others out while helping myself. This is one of those posts. I would be downright lying if I said I could have done this without the support of many on this site. Some of you on this very thread in fact. I feel I owe it to those to pay it forward. We cannot ever let the negativity push us away. We need each other and we need this site. We are strong because we all have something in common that a lot of people do not simply understand. I am not sure about you all but I have entered what I consider most frightening phase of my marathon....Maintenance. This phase worries me more then anything because I have been here before with those fad diets. I am hoping it will be different this time but still that worry lingers.

Do people actually post in this group? LOL

Between my half a cup of OJ for meds and a Protein shake I am usually full until around 1-1:30. Too tight for anything else that early in the morning.

Sounds normal to me and you're also describing exactly where my port is positioned and if memory serves that was tender for a couple of weeks. Probably didn't help that my cat jumped on me in my sleep 2nd night banded. Any doubts check in with your Surgeon. That's why they're there. Good Luck!

I think some of you are clearly missing the point. His band is not working at all...period. Telling him consume less and follow a band plan is great advice but if the band is doing absolutely nothing then he is on a diet. I implore you to show him a little compassion. So he can consume two steaks with 14cc in a band. First thing that jumps out at me is a serious band function problem not a 'band compliance' problem. You have to fix the band and get the restriction then you can modify the consumption. Otherwise....it's a diet. I can't even eat steak at all because of my band. I've gotten stuck every time after only consuming a very little and that is with a partially filled band. For once we have someone posting a real band issue where it is clearly NOT working BUT he has not given up on it and he WANTS it to work. He is not eating around this band...it is just not working. Is it possible some of us have been banded so long that we forgot what it was like with out it?

@@4everyoung Sorry you're going through this but do not give up. Press your Doctor to work with you to find a solution. Like others have said after 14cc you should have some form of restriction if even only a little. One thing is certain you should not be able to consume that much food in one sitting and in regards to "band rules" it's not a matter of what you should or shouldn't be consuming at this point it's about your band not doing its part to aid you. Band rules can be followed but if the tool is not doing it's share of the work for you then your just on a diet and guess what....we all fail at diets long term. A solution must be found for this problem. Maybe it came undone like it did for Catfish? Maybe there is a blockage in the tubing which is why Fluid is being pushed back out? At this point does your Doctor have a plan moving forward? I know he's stumped but there has to be answer and if he cannot come to a conclusion then he should be collaborating with peers to find you one and if he's not doing that then a new Doctor needs to be sought out. Perhaps you just have a defective band, port or tubing or the whole thing? It is not unheard of after all they're human made products. I wish you well and I hope you find answers and please let us know how you're doing.

Your Doctor is absolutely right. Band is awful. By the way has anyone seen the 300+ pounds my stupid band misplaced? It's September and I am already freezing without all my excess fat!!

Why can't you do both? Weight loss even with the surgery will not happen over night and it sounds like you're just getting started. I would take part in it and also keep moving forward with the process to get approval and a date.