suzbuni

Hello fellow December Banders. I was banded onthe 19th. I feel good. been pretty hungry these last two days. Not sure if it hunger of liquid boredom. I don't feel and restriction, and have my follow up with doctor on 5th. So we will see how we do. I lost 30 pounds from starting weight. 9 pounds of it since surgery. good luck everyone suzi

I have BCBS fed and I had to pay $196 in copay for hospital. That is the only bill I got so far. I had surgery on 12/19. I stayed over night cause was later in day so kept me 23 hours, so was still outpatient.Good luck.

good luck. Happy New Year!

Ok, my husband will probably kill me if he read this. Today for the First time I can rememberin my married life: I weighed less then my husband. Three pounds lighter. I was so excited. I felt so good. He laughed at how happy I was. Most skinny woman are smaller then their husbands,this is a new thing for me. I know I should be so happy but it was like christmas all over again.

Thanks it a good feeling.

what a great feeling! Good for you. way to go!

I'm on all liquids still, my kids are home eating popcorn by the truck full. It is driving me crazy. I grabed a hand and was eating it til my husband notice hit it out of my hand. He yelled "liquid- not popcorn!" I had to go hide in my room so I won't steal any more popcorn. I want my post op visit to be soon then it is 1/5 so maybe get a fill. , scared that I won't. Can't wait to kids go back to school and stop munching on everything. I wanted to eat thing today I don't even like, just to I could chew I think. I ran to store and got more greek yogurt and ate it very slowly. Hang in there we got this!

just to add, you need to take your vitimans with the band too especially if you are not eating a balance diet, with bypass there are some that are not absorbed by your body. also I have read on here, that banded patient can loss hair too if that don't get enough protein in too. good luck.

For me it was recovery time. I have 3 small children and could not be laid up in bed for a month. Plus I like that there was no big change to my anatomy and physiology. permentally changing how my body works,that scared me. The by pass had a much greater heal time and lifelong changes. My sister DID a bypass in Sept. She was in hospital for 3 days and out of work for 5 weeks. Said she felt like she was hit by a truck, and then it back up and did it again. Today, she looks amazing. She lost about 60 pounds in less then 4 months. She dropped from diabete levels to normal at her first follow up blood work. She went from a 24 to 16 pants. She also had her hair falling out in clumps at 2-3 months out, felt lighthead, and couldn't consentrate at work, couldn't get enough food down or getting it in at all, and has to take b12 shots and vitimans for the rest of her life. Once she her protein up and vitimans level normalized she stopped losing hair. She said her taste changed after surgery, she can not tolerate anything really sweet. can get junkfood - but only a tiny bit at a time. She would do it again in a heartbeat. Very happy with her choice. I had lapband on Dec 19th. Between the preop and post op liquid diet I have lost 30 pounds. I have about 90 to go to goal. I do not feel bad at all. I was up and about a few hours after surgery. I did stay over night in hospital because my surgery was later in day and given the choice I would rather recoop at hospital over night instead of with my 3 little children jumping all over me. I feel fine except for a bit of soreness at port site. With the band you need to get fills and have band adjusted til you get to you ideal fill level. (my sister likes that she doesn't have to be monitored and adjusted on regular basis- one shot deal) Take a bit of time from what I have gathered to get it just right and start having some restriction in the amount you can eat. Biggest risk for me with band is that you can cheat or eat things you shouldn't and it will let you. It doesn't make you make right food choices, that is still up to you. You need to be more honest with the band. I haven't had a fill yet, I am a little worried with the idea of things may getting stuck in my band. I like that we can have control on how much food can pass thru and therefore better control the rate of our loss. I like that is something happens, illness, or pregnacy the band can be loosened or even that it can removed if really needed. I am very glad with my choice. so it is an indivdual choice and as you can see I had a lot of infomaiton to think about when I decided on my lapband surgery. It is important to really look at what is best for you and, your lifestyle. Both will change you life forever. I am extermely happen with the choices that both my sister and I made. Good luck in your journey. hope this helped. Suzi

Good luck on you quest. Each insurance is different in what they cover and how much information you need to give them to qualify. My insurance need 3 months of diet history, some need 6 months, some none. Some things you may need to pay out of pocket before even get to insurance decsion, for me that was the nutritionist and the psych eval. Anyway good luck and Happy New Year

way to go!

ok he is really proud of me. I love my husband and told him since he has 7 inches on me that I never wanted him to be lighter than me again.

I picked up 35 lbs son, he was sound asleep in car and was very cold and windy out, I carried to sofa . I totally forgot I wasn't suppose to til just now. I haven't felt any problem yet.

Wow that was really nice of them to add you to their insurance. What a great gift. The surgery will change your life. I am so glad that it is now covered for you. I just had my band placed on the 19th. I was up and moving later that day. It took a couple day to get rid of the drugs in your system from surgery. As long as I didn't do any bend down at waist or sudden movements- I had no pain. My coordinator said that she has patients that go in Thrusday and are back to work on Monday. I'm in nursing school, so this won't work for me, since I need to do patient care and may have to do lifting and things that required full movement. It's a week and half now and today went to gym and worked out, no problem. I would see if can can get on schedule for first time in morning that will give you the fulls amount of recovery time. You may need to let some at work know you are having some type of surgery, or sudden injury, sometime, so they can help you out with things if you need once back at work that week. Good luck, Suzi

Good Luck. You will be fine. Happy new year!

My mom was against me having surgery too. ANY surgery. it was just because she loves me, and was afraid of the risks of surgery. My sister had by pass surgery in Sept. my mom saw how well she was doing and came around. she was there with me in the hospital supporting all the way. just took her a while to change her mind. one of my friends was also against my getting surgery and wouldn't talk to me about or help withkids for preop appointments. Hoping I wasn't go through with it. was very strange, She finial confessed she was worried i would get skinner and she would still be overweight. what was she suppose to do then? She was scared, Anyway, ignore the negitive comments and do what is right for you. I had surgery a week ago and feel great.

welcome,good luck with your jounery. it all starts with one step foward.

welcome, I had my surgery on 19th. Gas pains go away soon, I didn't notice but mine seem to leave yesturday. Everyone is different with hunger. I have moments when I feel really hunger, but then have a little bit of a protein shake and I'm good. I have other times when I not feeling hunger but mu stomach is growling like crazy. Try sugar free popcicles. I'm only a week out myself and I lost 28 pounds since my pre surgery liquids started. Good Luck! Suzi

I did Weight watchers for 3 months, last 3 pounds-total in end.up and down. I did not really follow try to do the points diet tp be honest, it was a crazy few months for me. just need the documentation that you were going , weighed in every week for three months time. I went one a week and go on the scale and got my weight record and my sticker in my booklet, lose or gain. They photocopied by checkin booklet for insurance acceptance. Was accepted within 24 hours of submitting it to insurance. I did loose 20 pounds on the liquid diet prior to my surgery. Had surgery a week ago and I now down 27 pounds. Good luck

Good luck to you. I was banded on 19th. Still not quite myself yet. My bowels are off and not peeing as much. Need to keep drinking. Body will keep what you need so if your not peeing you need to drink more. Your GI track can go haywire after any surgery. Hoping your are back to normal soon.

Week One: Hello all. I am one week post op from my Gastric Banding surgery. I had my band placed laproscopically last Monday. They kept me over night which was a surprise to me. I was planning on going home, but since my surgery got pushed to later in the day, I got to stay. It was the best thing to stay overnight. One more night without my three small children,snuggling me was actually a very good idea. Mommy was home from hospital by time thy got home from school and daycare. They were very excited. On the morning of my surgery I dropped into my daughter's class room to give her a kiss. As I was leaving I overheard her tell her second grade class," my mommy's having tummy surgery so she can can get healthy and play with me for the rest of my life." Sweet. Now a week later, I am doing really well. I feel really good. I’m not at all hungry. Recovering nicely, incisions almost healed. Still need to watch what I do. Careful not to bend at waist, no lifting for a couple weeks. Somehow these are hard things for me to remember. The sudden pain or soreness usually reminds me, along with Steve, my husband, who is always there to scold me and lift heavy things. hristmas day was the toughest day. I was really tired by the end of the day. I did too much. So took some pain meds and and went to sleep. Hardest thing for me is to actually get enough liquid down. Today I actually had to go to dentist and get a crown replaced so I really don't want to eat anything. Right now I’m on a total liquid diet for another week, then soft mushy food for a couple weeks until I can eat real food again by end of month. I have lost a total of 27 pounds starting from my liquid diet two weeks prior to surgery and continuing now. More importantly my blood pressure has been normal for the last week without my hypertension medication, I have more energy and my BMI has drop down 3% already. I am so excited to be starting this chapter of my life. I planned to have my surgery this week, since I am in nursing school and on break til beginning of Feb. That way i would have enough time to heal and figure things out before I had to start back at classes and clinicals. I am a little worried over the fills and the restriction or lack of it. Right now I don't feel any restriction.I try to make sure I sip. But I have glupped a time or two. It didn't hurt ot bother me. So I am a little worried that I my eat(or drink) more than i should before my first fill. I am a little obsessed with my scale. I seem to hop on it every time I pass by it. Not the best idea. your weight changes through out the day and can be mental annoying when it jumps up a pound when you haven't eaten anything. So for all you newly banded, I knew it really cool to see your weight come off in the first week, it can also consume you. So try to weigh yourself once a day at most and at the same time. otherwise you will drive yourself crazy. Facebook Updated: So today I took a big mental step: I changed my facebook status and let everyone knew I had surgery. Many people have different thoughts on bariatric surgery, which is why I didn’t write about it at first. I was afraid what they may think of me. Maybe I was trying the "easy way" out- which we all knew this is not! My classmates at nursing school knew, family friends, strangers. So why is it scary to put on facebook? Maybe it the high school reunion effect. You have all those "friends" from high school or college, a lifetime ago, you haven't seen in years,who you really didn't talk to much than maybe, but they knew you before you were heavy. Somehow, as they have been looking at your facebook pages over the last year or so they were see you as you were 25 years before and haven't noticed that you are 100 pounds heavier. So if you actually put it in writing -that you are obese they may have the rose cover glasses removed and see you for who you are today. Or was it more that I would be accoutable now to my facebook friends? I let the cat out of the bag. They would be watching for the results. I realized I was afraid of failing publicily. So the more I thought about the more a realized what an amazing person I am. I am proud of my life so far and my choice to have Gastric banding done. They want to watch me on my journery than I would be more likely to follow a truer road. I decided that letting my facebook friends know would help push me along and keep me honest. I had a similar plan for my nursing school success. I started posting my exam grades early on so that I have to do well, since everyone was expecting me to post my grade. It hurt having to post a B instead of an A sometimes. I soon realized that I going public made me try even harder. I did get all A's after I posted that one B. So now that this banded bunny is out there, lets see how well we can do together!

Jenlyn, Thanks for your post. I didn't post until after I had the surgery cause I didn't want to deal with negitive "advise", so wait til after. Happy New Year. Sisedc, I so glad you wrote. It nice to knew someone going through the same timeline as you. I have a cup in the kitchen and everytime I go in I make myself take a few sips. Good luck.

hey have you tried Click protein powders? comes in vanilla latta or mocha flavors. Add a bit of ice and skim milk it like a frappacino. actually pretty good. i have one a day and it like a treat. http://drinkclick.com/ i was banded on 12/19. feeling good. Have a great NewYear! suzi