Joyce Real

I too am an October bandster, I am only down 22 pounds, but that is 22 pounds. I am not going to be bummed out because a loss is a loss. I go for my 3rd fill tomorrow. If he thinks I need one not sure yet. Good luck all!!

Well it has been a couple months now, I am down 22 pounds, not a big loss, but still a loss right? I am learning to use this band and I feel great. Thank you all for your posts. It helped me feel much less alone! DH is always there and has been a great source of comfort. He loves to hug me and tell me how different I feel lol. I am so happy I had the surgery, that feeling came when the pain left lol!!

Hi, everyone. I was banded 12-07-11 and my chest discomfort finally went away today. However, I still experience umbilical and port site pain which is worst with movement. I don't feel hungry at all but I've been trying to follow the post-op diet instructions. I've lost 16 pounds since I started the 2 week pre-op high Protein diet. I'm feeling depressed though!

I am so proud of my band that I tell anyone and everyone. That makes it easier, no one tries to push food off on you. At work we had a Christmas dinner, and they were especially attentive not to give me more than I wanted. Folks are more understanding than even I thought they would be, especially those who know how hard I tried to diet and suffer from failure every time. A lot of people are curious, but if they think I am taking an easy way out, I go out to lunch with them and they see what I eat as apposed to what they eat and realize it is still hard, I just have help, and it is working!! YAY

my pain was bad too, but after the 3rd day seems like it started to get better. Plus the benefits are amazing!! I am eight weeks post op and feel like my old self only 22 pounds thinner. (I know it is not alot, but it is the beginning)

my doctor told me that after about 18 months, your sensitivity to the band goes away and you should unfill for a month, then gradually start filling again. He says it will fill like it did in the beginning. I am only 2 months post op, but he said that is why some people start gaining a couple of years after surgery.

I am a self pay and I chose the band because it was cheaper. Plus I was scared of the more invasive surgeries.

I too am lactose intolerant. I take a daily lactose pill. It lets me have dairy. Plus I buy the lactose free milk to mix stuff with.

That happens to me after a while after every fill. From what I can gather, they say that it is because you have fat around your stomach and when you lose some of that the band gets less tight. Plus, with me I swell each time I get a fill and after it goes down it is less tight too. I am always afraid of a slip too but it sounds normal to me. I am on my second fill too, so I am by no means an expert!

Congrats!!!

I was in for two days, I had a hernia repaired during the surgery, so I had a lot of pain, then the next day after surgery my brother died, and I was super stressed. My blood sugar went through the roof. I was just not ready to go home. So I stayed the extra day. I should have been able to go home after 23 hours but it just did not work out that way.

Dont forget sugar free popsicles! They are great for the liquid stage. Plus some say they help bring down the swelling??? Good luck. My doc did not give me a ton of information but there are some great videos on www.lapband.com.

I am 7 weeks post op and I get the hiccup and the runny nose too. I did not at first understand that it was a Stop sign, and then I had a lot more than a runny nose!! UGH! I know now!!

Okay so I know this is a really weird thing to post and ask peoples opinions on, but I'm just wondering if anyone else faced a similar situation. On Monday the 21st, I will be getting my lapband surgery. I'm psyched about it and I'm all prepared. I don't mind not being able to eat on Thanksgiving at all. However, a guy that I'm seeing (he's unaware that I'm getting surgery and I prefer not to tell him), invited me over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner. I REALLY want to go but knowing that I can't eat anything, I don't know how that's going to work. It would be really obvious and weird to him and his family if I don't eat anything. I don't see any way around this. The sad part is that my mom and my sister are both working night shift that night so we are not really doing anything for Thanksgiving. So if I don't go over his house, I will be spending Thanksgiving alone. I have personal reasons for not telling him. I'm not ashamed at all, I've told lots of people, but he's very opinionated and I have a feeling he would not approve and would share his negativity with me. Also, he seems to like me the way I am. Just yesterday, when I told him I was on a diet, he asked me why. I really don't think there is anything I can do. It just makes me sad that I'll be spending the holiday alone because I can't eat. Just figured I'd throw this out there in case anyone else has some insight. Thanks!

Don't know about anyone else but 4 days after my surgery I did not feel up to visiting or going out! You need to take care of yourself and heal. But I would not plan an outting until you see how you feel afterwards. Happy ThanksGiving.

I was banded on 10/14/2011 since then I have lost 16 pounds. I am coming up on my second fill the 23 of Nov. I am excited because I am really not losing right now. I seem to be bouncing back and forth with two pounds, lol that always happens. Wish me luck folks!!

Hi guys!

I was banded this past Monday. After reading through everyone's blogs for 6 months I didn't expect to feel much pain, silly me! Not only did my incesions hurt I was also incredibly nauseous the entire night, they couldn't put me on stage one of the diet. The worst part was that because I never ate or drank every time I got nauseous I would dry heave which killed my stomach. I couldn't even go for a walk that night, even taking two steps to the bathroom made me dizzy. The next morning I woke up hoping to feel better and even though thankfully I wasn't nauseous I now had the dreaded gas pains accross my neck and collar bone. I can't even describe the pain but contrary to how some people like to describe it, it's not just "uncomfortable" it is very painful. After a few hours they finally started me on the diet and released me from the hospital once I advanced to stage 3 without throwing up. Last night was pretty brutal, my stomach hurt as well as my collar bone but I woke up in a much better place today. I really wish that 6 months from now I look back and know that it was worth it!

In a couple weeks you will feel much better. I had mine done the 14th of October and have had one fill. I feel incredible considering how bad I felt and all the pain. YES it is more than uncomfortable for some of us. I too had the dry heaves for the first two days UGH but all is well now!! Good luck!!

So I was Banded on November 3rd. I woke up around 7:30 in the morning, scheduled to be at the hospital by 9:00am. I got to the hospital around 8:30. They registered me and took me back to the room where I was asked a million one and questions by a million people. It seemed like in no time they were putting that silly little hat on me and wheeling me into the operating room. Once in the room I slid over to the operating table. They put the air cuffs on my legs to prevent clots. About 5 minutes into being in the operating room, I was drifting off to no where land. I woke up in recovery so incredibly itchy! A lovely side effect of the pain medication haha. I will unfortunately openly admit that the pain was a little more then I had expected. I remember asking if the pain was normal, only because I expected to be sore at most. I also had trouble breathing. Apparently because of the anesthesia and the tube down my throat it made my lungs lazy. So I had to be on oxygen. My surgery lasted about an hour, and I was in recovery for about 3 hours. Once I was somewhat awake they wheeled me to do a barium swallow to check the placement of the band and to make sure there was no obstruction. I had to sit up, and that was horribly painful. Around 3:30pm they took me to my room where they gave me some Tylenol with codeine. It did absolutely nothing lol. So the rest of my stay they injected dilauded into my IV. Once I had that the rest of the stay was pretty comfortable. It was tough to get up to use the rest room, and about 7pm the gas pains started setting in. They wouldn't let me take gas x in the hospital, so I had to walk around to get it out. I was discharged the following day around 12:20pm. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The hospital and staff were amazing, as was my surgeon. So far, so worth it!

Congrats!! It was more pain than I thought too, but it was gone in a couple of weeks. I never expected the pain, but I realize that was kind of niave too. I should have known, considering what they have to do to get the band in place. I am glad you had a pretty desent experience!!

just another thought, your body can not flush out fat without Water.

Good day all, Hello, Greetings and Salutations.

My name is Matt.

I'm 32, a veteran and a father of 2.

I've struggled with weight for a while as a child, but was able to overcome it for my last years as a teenager.

About halfway into my military career, things took a turn for the worse and the weight came back stronger than ever.

I battled back and forth with the weight, but in the end, I was out of regs so I could not reenlist. This was crushing to me.

After being turned away by the military, I fell on some trying times, and the weight just kept coming.

I was able to find a median and put the weight in it's place, but losing it wasn't working. So I was stuck.

I watched, followed and waited until I could get the lap band surgery. After a few more job changes, our medical

finally allowed for the surgery.

So here I am, 343 lbs, 5 foot 9, 32 years old.

I was pushing to get my surgery for my birthday (Nov 15th) but my surgeon doesn't do surgery on Tuesdays (sigh)

So Friday, Nov 18th I go in for my surgery. And I can finally close this chapter, and start writing a new, fast paced, exciting chapter!

Thanks for reading,

Matt.

Congrats!! I hope all goes great for you. I am a newbie to the lap band and so far so good!! Good luck.

I'm so glad you are feeling better. After I got banded(the 12th), my cousin sent me an email that he was sure my mom and my aunt were looking down and smiling. I'm not religious but it just gave me a warm feeling when I was hurting and feeling uncertain.

Good lick with the fill. Let me know how it goes. My appointment for my first fill is 11/11. My appetite is back, but not like it was. I've been keeping my calories around 1000/day and concentrating on getting enough Protein.

Arlene

That is how I feel about my brother, he fought his weight his whole life, and had been really sick for the last 10 years. He would be proud for me, as I am sure your Mom and Auntie would be too!! I am not religious either, but I believe our passed folks are still with us in spirit. I am a little nervous because I have gained 2 pounds. I have been consuming more, but I swear I have been keeping the calories under 1200. I just went back to work yesterday so maybe that will help. Plus a little restriction should help too.

I hit enter twice and got two posts. UGH

Wow Joyce. Sorry for your loss. I'm sure your brother is shining down on you with love and admiration for taking this giant step to improve your life. Best of luck!

Thank you! I am much better and you are right, I know my brother would have been proud of me to try my hardest to avoid his fate. I am getting my first fill tomorrow. Not much restriction right now.

I felt this Pop last night in the area around my port. It hurt for a second. Then I fell back asleep. I woke up this morning, a little sore in that area. I just had my staples out yesterday, so I called my surgeons office and the nurse said that woman have a round ligament or something like that that hangs on the port and what I felt was it popping lose. I feel fine today so maybe all well. She also said that when I lose more weight it will quit doing that.

Just got banded yesterday. Port site hurts, I guess not too bad. I feel like I am regretting this. Anyone else feel regret right after? I hope this feeling goes away. Going home today, maybe I just need to be comforted by family. Hope everyone has a successful journey.

YES, I felt regret right after, but give it time. It is a life changing surgery. I am just now on day 11 and I am already done with the regret. I look forward to the future more than ever! Keep your head up.

My next door neighbor had the gastric bypass surgery a month ago. I am giving her my shrunken-out-of jeans now. She is just starting to fit into them. In my lapband support group, we have started talking about a clothing exchange. Considering the fact that I went a little nuts when I suddenly hit regular sizes, and now those things I bought are already starting to get too big, I think helping each other out by handing down clothes makes sense.

That is an amazing Idea!!