CowgirlJane

What makes me sad is that being obese is so emotionally painful, none of us that have weight issues need more pain! I don't understand why women don't treat each other better, tearing somebody else down doesn't put a person up higher.

My surgery date is coming up so soon.. Dec 12th! I have had a lot of anxiety - mostly focusing on the actual surgery. I think I have realized that my REAL fear is of not being as successful as I hope to be. I am doing good on my preop diet, and just keep chugging along....

Not everybody does a liquid preop diet. It isn't the liquid that shrinks the liver, it is the low carb. I guess you need to find out from your surgeon or nutrionalist what is allowed for your surgeon. I have been low carbing since 11/28 and i don't feel great. I am losing weight, I hope that liver is shrinking...

Michelle, I wish you the very best of luck and hope that new surgery of band with plication works out to be excellent. I have not intended to bash anybody for their choice, but rather to share my 10 year experience with the band and why I would not recommend it to anybody now, having the 20/20 hindsight that i do. i cant say that I regret my choice given that it was either the gastric bypass or band - and I still don't want a gastric bypass except that maybe i shouldn't have had any surgery at all a decade ago. you takes your chances, that is what I did. My stomach is in the process of trying to heal from the damage the band caused, so i haven't been sleeved yet to fully answer your question. One thing that I have observed is not everyone experienced feeling "Satiety" with the band. I was one of those people, that say a year out, could have food in my pouch but still felt hunger in the rest of my stomach. I have some sort of imbalance or something - I am quite literally pretty much always hungry. It isn't because of comfort or emotional eating, it just like there is a signal constantly being sent to my brain to eat more. I am praying that the removal of some of my oversize stomach reduces that signal so I not only lose weight, but I am also free from being hungry all the time.

My husband commented on that, how odd the eating rules were with the band. For me, I was fine with giivng up rice and stuff like that, i just hated that it was so inconsistent. and that I was still hungry.

My surgery is December 12th, I am feeling pretty excited. My preop diet is low carb, I am not hungry, but wow I miss my usual fruits and vegetables. I have been trying to find a decent recliner off craigslist but so far, no luck. I thought I would enjoy it post op.

I bought some unflavored unjury to put in other foods. Nutrionalist told me that really helps get the protein in during the early months.

Oma, although i do agree with your end conclusion, I don't agree with all the statements you have made. I was banded in 2001, in Germany, just months before it was approved in the USA. There is 10 years of data in the usa. That data shows fairly poor results over the long haul. I never had to live on Protein drinks when i was banded neither did the many fellow bandsters that i knew - that is a sign that the fill is too tight. There are many problems with the band - and if you do have to have it removed, it leaves your stomach damaged. I know that a very high percentage of people will eventually need or want to have their bands removed. i honestly would not recommend it.

I had my final preop visit with the surgeon yesterday. It was a great visit, I am excited but also really terrified. i feel very confident in my surgeon, i feel confident that I will be successful... I just hate all medical stuff so I have anxiety about the surgery. I am scheduled for the 12th, so it will be here soon!

Michelle, I completely respect that everyone has their own situation and needs to make the best decision for themselves. I decided I didn't want the gastric bypass and it wasn't because of dumping, it is just because I never got comfortable with everything that is involved - but it is a great choice for other people. I totally understand where you are coming from. I just want to say that doing that band IS doing something permanent to your body. I had my band removed and have alot of adhesions and damage to my stomach. You are forever changed once that band is implanted and while it is removable, it is not truly reversible. My risk of leaks when i have the sleeve done is probably 4-5x greater then someone who never had the band. I have seen the pictures they took when they removed my band and it was horrifying. My primary care doc is a band patient herself and cares for many bariatric patients - she is not anti WLS of any kind. Last time I saw her she mentioned that her observation of long term successs is much lower then the studies show. I had a lapband for 10 years and knew quite a few bandsters - ultimately most of them either had to have the band removed due to a complication or very poor weight loss results. My own personal unofficial observation is that MAYBE 1/3 of band patients have long term success, but I think that number is even high. I don't know anything about plication, so no comment there. Best of luck to all of us as we head down the path to getting healthier!

I had my band removed earlier this year. I actually started having problems in '03, by then I was back in the USA and at that time it was very hard to find a bariatric doctor to take on a foreign implanted band. I was also getting discouraged - the usual band problems - reflux with any fill, not losing weight anymore etc. I lost 70# with the band, but never got to my goal. In 2004 i had to have the Fluid completely removed as I was struggling so much with reflux and of course regained everything..... I found out this year that some time between my last floroscopy in 2004 and this year, my band slipped. I dind't have any symptoms, it was found as part of my pre Sleeve testing. Luckily, no erosion and the damage done wasn't too bad, considering I had it for 10 years. I decided to do the revision in two steps - the theory being that the adhesions etc are removed in the band removal surgery and things have a little time to heal. Revision from band to sleeve increases risk of a leak.... I was very happy with Prof Weiner, but what I know now is that the lapband has a low success rate and i believe you need a great deal of long term follow up - fine tuning the fills and just support in living with the dang thing. I could have probably used follow on nutrition counseling as well - I did great the first year but when I started having symptoms I didn't really have the support I needed. I don't really regret it though, I figure i would possibly weigh a lot more now if I hadn't done it then ... i wasn't interested in getting the gastric bypass, and that was the only real alternative at the time

My preop diet started monday... so this is day 3. I am doing low carb 20-40 carbs a day (that is counting everything including the carbs in supplements!). So far, I have stayed 100% on it,, but I don't like it much. It is so worth it though if I can reduce risks of liver bleeding or jostling. My surgery date is Dec12th - I go back and forth between being so excited and downright terrified! I had a good meeting with my PCP and she told me that the biggest thing in the first 3 weeks after surgery is that I will be really really tired and that is mostly caused by dehydration. She counseled me to not be shy about getting IV fluids if needed as it can be so miserable to be dehydrated. Great, gave me something new to obsess about.

So, I remember that if you overate, food could actually backup a little into the esophagus, which could lead to dialation. I know that with the gastric sleeve, you have a stomach, not a pouch. I was reading on the post surgery forum people talking about vomiting that sounded a lot like a "packed pouch" or food still in the esophagus. I plan to ask the surgeon about this, curious though if dialation is one of the risks of the sleeve. I fully intend to stop eating before overfilling, but I would like to know about this risk. I had a band for 10 years but had Fluid removed many years ago due to reflux and mild esophagal dialation. I had my band removed in September this year.

Thank you for sharing this info....my surgery is in 2 weeks and i am bracing myself...lol. My PCP told me that I will feel really really tired the first 2-3 weeks and then slowly start to feel better. She said that might be due to dehydration and that many people need to go for IV fluids as you just can't get enough Water in. Her little talk was good - take the "sip sip sip" seriously and don't hesitate to go get IV fluids if i feel awful. Your comments are helping me prepare for how food will feel. I will remind myself that after a few months, eating will feel more normal again, and those early months might be really hard.

mine has taken a long time. Mostly, that was me needing to wrap my head around such a huge decision.

Okay, i will say it - I am not sure why some docs make people go on these torture diets! Liver shrinking is done by going really low carb for 2-3 weeks before. I think some surgeons want you to lose a bunch of weight too so that is why they put you on these super restrictive diets. What is crazy is that i am eating real food and eating lower carb then some of thise "all liquid" diets are! Now, it isn't easy either because having 20-40G of carbs a day, including carbs in vitamins and all sorts of things you would never think about having carbs is also rugged. I take this preop diet very seriously and you should of course follow your surgeons instructions, just bear in mind low carb is what shrinks the liver.

I am starting my low carb two week pre surgery diet tomorrow. I have uncooked beautiful sweet potatoes and was thinking about roasting them and mashing and freezing small portions so I can use in my puree and return to solid food phases. I am curious how, in general, people deal with cooking such small portions? Any tips on freezing or other ways to handle this?

I will check out the Citracal Calcium chews as those do look like the good stuff.

Well, I was shocked to find that they want me taking serious calcium - calcium citrate, not carbonate three times a day! Tums and the other ones won't cut it.

I ordered a sampler of Nectar protein drinks. 13 flavors for 13.99 - a one time per person offer. if you are interested, call them at 1-866-333-7403. and talk to cusomter service. Right now, the only protein drink i like is Premier Chocolate which is a a premixed one I buy at costco. It is 180 calories, but only 5 grams of carb and 30 grams of protein. I think once sleeved, having one that has more protein will be good. Now, presleeve, I feel like I could drink 3 of them and not be full - but I don't.

I like Premier Protein - the premixed chocolate is all I have tried. They are low carb and to me are edible. I also like muscle milk light premixed. I tried designer whey (mix from powder) and thought it was bad. The theme for me is that i seem to like (the more expensive) premixed ones best.

I started my preop diet today - surgery is Dec 12th. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I have this pesky cough that just won't go away - i am so worried something will come up to delay my surgery and my insurance changes Jan 1 and i lose coverage so i really don't want that to happen!

I was approved for surgery under a different BC/BS plan, but for 2012 my company is making us switch to BC/BS of MA. Due to my work schedule, I am not sure I can have the surgery done this year. BC/BS of MA covers bariatric surgery, but it looks like the sleeve is considered investigational and is excluded. Just curious if anybody has practical experience with this provider. thanks!

tiffikins mentioned that a key to success is to not think about feeling full, but learn to stop eating before that sensation. That makes a ton of sense to me, but it worries me. I have lived with no Fluid in my band for years, really could eat pretty much anything, but since having it removed - my hunger, ravenous hunger, has returned with a vengence. I am so hungry it is driving me absolutely crazy. In my current state of mind (and physical hunger) I am worried about myself being able to learn to stop before feeling a sense of being full. One thing this experience has confirmed for me is that "overeating" isn't just because I am a stress eater etc - about 7-10 days after the band was out I felt like someone had turned on the "I am starving" switch. Seriously, I feel like I could eat a second dinner about 1 hour after dinner. I am trying really hard to keep it in check, but I am hungry 24/7. There REALLY is a physical component to this, in spite of what many people believe. It has made it very clear to me why I need a weight loss surgery, I just hope that i can learn to be comfortable with life with less food. I guess I should be - others have done it - but right now, it is kind of hard to imagine

I found premier protein - 30 G of protein and low carb - at costco. I am still preop, but find it edible.