Thats All Folks

I would be willing to bet your stomach is swollen from the fill. I've had that happen after fills but it always goes away after a day or two when the swelling goes down.

It works when you do the work. Patient compliance is so crucial to success with the band. Making healthy food choices, staying to band sized portions, and doctor follow up are all so important. Having realistic expectations and educating yourself on the band is very important too. I can only speak for myself, but I've lost over 200 pounds and I know I never could've accomplished this without my tool- my band. But, I also went into this understanding what was expected of me and I committed to change for a lifetime.

It's been 16 months since my surgery and my libido is through the roof, too. I haven't been able to since my recent surgery and it's freak'n killing me. I think if I could've even with staples in I would have lol.

LOL stupid bird!! It picked the worst place ever to build a nest!!!

I personally chose the Lap Band because it seemed like the logical starting pointing. If something goes wrong with my band I can have it removed, but if something goes wrong with the Sleeve, you can't get back the 75%-80% of your stomach they cut out. I simply couldn't justify hacking out the majority of my healthy stomach.

See the problem is, you don't know for sure you're eating 800-900 calories a day because you aren't tracking your calories. If you start tracking and find you are eating that little, I'd actually increase your calories to about 1000 and see if that doesn't kick start your metabolism. But...you have to track your calories to know for sure. You're definitely in the Green Zone if you can go 4-5 hours without hunger, so that's very good. Best wishes

You've had surgery and your insides have been considerably messed with- it's very normal to be tired and weak. It'll likely take you 4-6 weeks to recover totally. Have you tried cream Soups with no chunks? V8 makes some great ones and they have a full serving of veggies. And, if you use a blender to liquefy it, you can blend cottage cheese, sour cream, or yogurt into it for some extra Protein. Hang in there, you're doing great and it only gets better!

Here's a recent, accurate study on this topic. Only 5% of Lap Band patients have serious complications of no fault of their own. http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/weight-stays-off-long-after-lap-band-surgery/

The only way you can be sure you're not eating too much is to track your calories and measure your portions. I'd start doing both if I were you.

Well my system is all messed up from having 2 surgeries a month apart and most recently an MS relapse. I'm retaining a ridiculous amount of water weight all in my legs, too. So, I've decided I'm going to start carb cycling again for a couple weeks. It's worked twice for me before so I'm praying it does this time, too. I'll let y'all know!

I just had this done 3 weeks ago and I'm so glad! You need to do this for you, regardless of what anyone else thinks

I'm so incredibly sorry, Marci ((hugs)) Maybe apply to Care Credit to see if they'll cover the $2500 down? It's worth a try: http://www.carecredit.com/ Or maybe personal loan from your bank or credit union?

Yes, but they're not typical hiccups. My kids and I call them "hiccurps" because I get this weird burp-hiccup combination things after I eat. I usually get about a dozen then they stop.

I too get very frustrated when I see post after post of people sabotaging themselves, or people saying "the band didn't work for me" when it was them that clearly failed not the band. If someone tells me I'm "lucky" for losing so much weight I tell them luck has absolutely nothing to do with it- I worked my @ss off for every pound I lost. But one thing I have learned in the 16 months since being banded and on these forums- you can't take what others do (or don't do) to heart and you can't let it bother you. The only person you can control is you. If others choose to drown in their own ignorance that's their problem, not yours.

Sometimes I just rejoice but sometimes I buy clothes. I figure I should enjoy the smaller me and getting new clothes is a great way to do it.

You look amazing!! Congratulations!!

My thoughts and prayers are definitely with you! ((hugs))

Congratulations on your loss so far! Keep in mind the band isn't meant to physically stop you from eating anything. "Restriction" with the band doesn't mean it's going to restrict the food you can eat. It means literally restriction around your stomach from the band tightening. What the band will do for you once you have adequate Fluid in it is it will control your hunger. You will be able to eat very little food and be satisfied for a much longer period of time. This may not sound like much but trust me, it is. When you're not hungry you're no longer pre-occupied with food and when you're satisfied on little food it makes it very easy to stick to band sized portions and as a result loose weight. Have a look at this link, I think it'll help: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html Best wishes!

Ok, another tough love moment: Knock it off! This isn't about quitting at this point, this is about seriously hurting yourself by not following your post op diet. Your stomach has been stitched and by eating food before you're allowed you are risking ripping them. Call your doctor and be honest what you've done so he can make sure you haven't done any damage and in the meantime get back on your post op diet and stay on it. Why are you upset over 1.4 pounds lost? The first 4-6 weeks post op are for healing not losing so for you to lose anything at all is great. Plus, the average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds a week. You need to have realistic expectations or you're setting yourself up for failure. You have a choice to make. Either buckle down and do the right thing or throw up your hands and give up before you even give it a chance. You can do this but you have to want it and commit to it.

I honestly believe the doctors don't want to deal with all the necessary follow-up the band requires. They make very little money on fills and the Sleeve and Bypass make them far more money overall. Plus, judging by the level of ignorance I see on these forums? I'd believe they are seeing a lot of complications because people seem to be going into banded life totally blind with little or no information. I don't know if doctors aren't educating properly or people just don't listen, but it's no wonder there's so many complications when so many seem totally clueless.

I had a tummy tuck and skin removal almost 3 weeks ago. He removed over 12 pounds of skin. He said the average is about 6 pounds but I had a scary huge amount of skin.

No you're not doing it wrong. Granted I'm no doctor nor a nutritionist, but your nutritionist doesn't seem to be thorough enough. You need precise amounts not broad generalities. Mine told me specifically I need a minimum of 60g of Protein daily. When I had this recent surgery, I was told I need at least 80g daily while I'm healing. And 1oz per meal isn't enough. Most of us eat 3-4oz just for dinner alone.

I totally agree with you! I even wrote a blog entry about this exact topic last summer http://www.lapbandtalk.com/blog/6349/entry-24194-eating-like-a-healthy-person/ Best wishes!

I'm going to have to disagree here. Everyone should definitely not be avoiding that whole list of foods. Lean red meat and peanut butter are great sources of Protein. Dairy is important source of Calcium. Raw veggies are actually encouraged because they're very low calorie and loaded in valuable nutrients.

You should start tracking your measurements because I'd be willing to bet you'll find you're losing inches even though the scale isn't moving. A pound of muscle takes up a lot less volume than a pound of fat, so it's very possible to be losing inches by building muscle but not actual pounds. Hang in there and keep doing what you're doing. The scale will eventually catch up.