jen_1381

Also - Kiwi - my surgeon highly favored the sleeve. I asked him why, and he explained that besides it being easier to do than bypass, it kind of took the control from the patient. It's becoming the most successful WLS as far as quickness of weight loss and longer term results. He felt that the band patient had to be in the right frame of mind. Out of his 10 post-ops, 2 were well ahead of expectations, 5 were right on track, and 3 were not doing well at all with weight loss. I assured him that my mind was set on the band and that mentally, I was ready. He thought for my starting body type (I started at 243 lbs) that the band would be alright. I get no greater pleasure than going in for every follow-up/fill and proving to him that I'm totally ROCKING this Lap Band!! He's always full of positive compliments for me and my progress.

Very discouraging! I didn't really even tell my PCP until she received some labwork that was abnormal from my pre-op testing. When she asked me about it, and commented on such a thorough work-up, I explained that I had it done as part of the WLS program and that I was getting the lap band. She was both excited and curious. She's relatively new and wasn't completely "up" on bariatric surgery. I've seen her once since surgery, and I had lost 35 lbs, and she was SO happy. If this doctor is an important part of your care, I would either 1) sit and talk with her, let her know that this was an important choice you made for yourself and would appreciate her support, or 2) give her one last try before switching. I've worked along side doctors for the past 8 years and the one thing that I've learned are doctors are people too. They come in a wide variety, but you should never be afraid to speak up to your physician. You've essentially put them in charge of your care, and your opinion deserves the right to be heard.

I've used Mederma in the past and had good results. Eventually though, after 2 laparotomies, a robot hysterectomy, gallbladder, and now lap band, I've given up on making them fade. My stomach looks like a road map of scars, but I've known for a while now my stomach will never be bikini-ready So I just let it go....

My husband just pointed out last night that I "eat like a bird". I took it as a compliment actually! The thought of eating 3-4 pieces of pizza or a hamburger and fries in one sitting seems SO unreal to me now. I know there's no way I could do it. And that...feels great

You may have to play around with it until you find what works for you. I eat around 900 a day, but only because it works for me. When I plateau, I'll bump up to 1100-1200 and it seems to kick-start things again. I know 900 sounds like very little, but I'm only eating lean Protein, veggies, and fruit, which are naturally low calorie. I'm taking in around 60-80 grams of protein and I also take Vitamins.

Although it feels like you can eat anything you want, I would strongly advise against it. Even though doctors progress diets at different rates, bottom line is you're still in the "healing" mode. You probably feel like you're able to eat anything at this point bc your band is empty. You'll have to "white-knuckle" it through Bandster Hell. I had my first fill at 4 weeks post-op and could still potentially eat anything I wanted, but I stuck to the plan. I felt no restriction. I got my second fill on Monday, and WOW, what a difference. I ate a little too quick yesterday (some hummus, then pureed chicken with lite sour cream and salsa - second day after fill "mushies"). I got in about 3 bites of each and was in PAIN! Horrid indigestion, mouth watering, felt like vomiting. After about 10 minutes it passed. I'm finally feeling the presence of my band and am now VERY careful!!

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone!! My biggest fear in life has always been failure, but I just never saw until recently that I was the one who kept failing myself. It feels good to finally be proud of myself!

Does it feel muscular or skeletal? I had air pain post-op for about 2 weeks, plus I get pain under my shoulder blade with each fill. My vagal nerve gets irriated by the band, and I get this intensely sharp pain under my left shoulder blade that radiates. The air pain was a constant nagging pain, better when I would lay flat. I would take ibuprofen, and alternate heat and ice. I know the heat will help the air dissipate, but ice felt better. Walking helped a lot too. Gas-x didn't touch it for me. I was rather miserable at work for the first two weeks back (I only took off two days after surgery) because sitting would make the pain worse. Good luck to you, being in pain kind of hinders the excitement of being banded!

Well it hit me like a ton of bricks this morning when I stepped on the scale and the first number was a "1" instead of a "2" that this is really working! I don't want to say the band is working for me, because I feel like I'm working with it. I'm doing more than my fair share - jogging or hiking 3-4 miles a day, counting calories like a mad woman, taking my Vitamins religiously. The band gives me that gentle reminder to slow down and eat responsibly because I may not get to eat a whole meal - only eat what my body needs, I can't afford to waste hunger on crap food. I can't say my journey thus far has been hard or easy, but it's been different. Making myself a priority in life was a huge change, and this whole process from the seminar to today has been life-altering. I feel very lucky to have such an amazing weight loss team. Beyond my surgeon, dietician, and coordinator, my team includes my husband, parents, sister, even my coworkers...they all offer their support in different ways and I means the world to me to have it, since before I was the girl that didn't want support. I wish everyone out there in Band Land a successful journey.

My stats are all in my signature. I've found it to be the best way to track and update everything. See below My surgeon also said yesterday that I was way ahead of the ideal progression of losing a pound every 7-10 days. Between my first and second fill, he said ideally to keep on pace I should have lost 3-4 lbs. I had lost 10. I know it may slow down, but am hoping with the persistant hard work I'm putting in that I can keep up this pace until I hit my goal.

What works for me personally is 3 meals a day and 1 afternoon snack. I usually take in between 700-1000 calories a day (yes, I know it's low ) and burn about 400-500 in cardio. My meals are very basic - about 2-3 ounces of Protein, 1/2 cup of fruit and 1/2 cup of veggies. My afternoon snack consists of usually a few slices of lunch meat, or a pickle and string cheese, or something else light. My schedule changes daily, so sometimes Breakfast is at 7 and other times it's at 10. My lunch can be any time between 11 and 3 so the afternoon snack became critical - if I ate at 11, then went jogging after work, by the time I got home and dinner made it was 8 and I was STARVING. Ravenous. The snack has been a staple for my plan.

Rachel - this process of self-discovery we go through with being banded really puts into focus who are friends are. The way I saw it, if you weren't going to be supportive, or at least quiet, then I didn't have room for you in my daily life anymore.

My best advice is don't even have your Water available. When I'm at work, I make sure to leave it on my desk before I go into the breakroom. At restaurants, I don't order anything and move the water to the other side of the table if they bring it. I only have 4.5 cc in my band, and am able to gulp water still without any backflow, but I'm trying to drink slower. That being said, sipping 60-80 ounces a day would not be fun for me at all!

We were told in our WLS Seminar (as well as I've heard it on the news) that bypass and the sleeve can be almost an instant fix for diabetes - by the time you leave the hospital most people are no longer diabetic because they remove or bypass the portion of your stomach that secrets the chemical that is responsible for diabetes. From the news article I read: "There were signs that the surgery itself - not just weight loss - reverses diabetes. food makes the gut produce hormones to spur insulin, so doctors think trimming away part of it surgically may affect those hormones. Weight-loss surgery "has proven to be a very appropriate and excellent treatment for diabetes," said one study co-leader, Dr. Francesco Rubino, chief of diabetes surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "The most proper name for the surgery would be diabetes surgery." Lap Band is also effective with this, just not as quickly as the other two. Again, take this with a grain of salt...I got it off the internet afterall

Just remember, people are so ready to talk about the bad, but when things are going good they keep quiet. Take everything with a grain of salt. The Lap Band is not my surgeons first choice for bariatric surgery because it does leave patients in control. Granted, with the sleeve and bypass, you can still eat badly and not be successful, but the band grants you the most leeway. I took that as a challenge. I want to prove to him at every appointment that I am being successful. Besides proving it to him, I'm proving it to myself. I gave him my word that I would follow the rules and do my part. He was probably thinking - okay lady, I just met you, your word means nothing to me - but it meant something to me. Whenever I feel like I want to skip a workout, I think of my next appointment with him and remember I promised to do my part. Find something that works for you as motivation to keep on track. I know, it probably sounds silly that I use my surgeon as motivation, but his lack of enthuasim towards the band was very inspirational to me!

I have no guilt whatsoever about chosing Lap Band. I had always been chubby growing up, and it carried over into my teen years and before I knew it, I am almost 29 years old and weighing in at 243. For my height (I'm 5'8) I carried the weight well, but I still felt awful in my own skin. I HATED my body. On a daily basis. I had tried many diets over the past few years. Most of them would take off a few pounds but when I'd stop, the weight would pile back on. I've had high blood pressure since I was 15 and higher cholesterol than I should at my age, so I was "accepted" into the WLS program. When I brought up the idea to my husband, I went through my reasons for needing this surgery. I'm a perfectionist at heart and failure is something I just do not do well with, and I was failing myself over and over. I researched the heck out of it, went to the seminar with an open mind, then spent the next 10 weeks going through the process. The process alone was life changing. I learned SO MUCH about myself and so much about the person I want to become. It's been such an amazing journey so far. I know my decision seemed durastic to most people - you couldn't count how many times my family said that I wasn't overweight enough to do it. I just kindly said - I may not seem like I am now, but the way I'm headed I will be soon. I needed a way that would help me not fail myself anymore. This morning, 9 weeks post-op going in for my second fill, my blood pressure was 120/63, heart rate was 60, and I am down 42 lbs since May. Pants that hung in my closet for the past year, too small to even work over my hips, are now so baggy I need a belt. My wedding ring is a full size too big. Shirts that couldn't button if I tried now are too big. My favorite part? I can see my collar bone outline! I still have about 40-50 lbs left to drop, but if I stopped losing right now I would be happy with what I've done. Not thrilled, like I will be when I'm 160 lbs, but happy

I have fallen love with frozen greek yogurt. It has a fair amount of protein and comes in quite a few flavors. Growing up, we would ALWAYS have a gallon of ice cream in the freezer and had it after every meal. Hard habit to break. When I'm really craving something sweet, I'll have a couple spoonfulls of the frozen greek yogurt. Seems to do the trick.

Stop the negative thinking! And as far as "working for me"...the band needs to work with you. Or rather, you need to work with your band! Make it your best friend, someone you want more than anything to make happy. Plateau's can be discouraging...VERY discouraging...I've hit two small ones since surgery May 18th. You just have to ride it out, make sure you're sticking to the right foods, right portions, and enough exercise. Your body will eventually adjust and hopefully start dropping the pounds again. You didn't give much detail as to what you're eating or doing for activity, so I don't know what specifically I could adjust, but please just know you're not the only one whose gotten discouraged along the journey. We've all been there. Heck, I still wake up every morning and think the scale is going to pop up with 243 lbs again and I would have failed at this.

Jolly - I don't have a routine per se. Mixing it up keeps me going. If I really don't feel like jogging outside, I'll do a training session with the Xbox Kinect. If that doesn't sound appealing, I'll put my iPod on and hit the elliptical. I seriously dislike gyms and organized exercise, so I find things to do on my own.

Absolutely give yourself time to heal, but one thing I've learned is that exercise gives me energy. If I feel totally "blah" and don't want to move, I force myself to put on my running shoes and hit the pavement. Even if I only walk 2 miles, I feel SO much better afterwards. I usually have a burst of energy for a few hours then sleep so well at night. I moved fast through my recovery though, went back to work on Post-Op Day 3 and started exercising after my 2 Week Post-Op visit with the surgeon. I can so easily talk myself out of exercise and into my pajamas, I knew I had to start soon and hit it hard or I wouldn't do it at all.

I can only share my experiences with fills. I've had two so far, my second one just this morning. The surgeon and I talk for a few minutes; what have you been eating, have you been exercising, and he reviews my weight. He gives me time to ask questions, then we discuss the amount to put in my band. The first fill he did 3 cc's. Today, since I had lost 14 lbs last month (he expects 3-4 a month), he said he hesitates to put in another 3 cc's because it may be too aggressive. He opted to put in 1.5 cc, bringing me up to 4.5 cc's total. As for the actual fill, it's a breeze. I lay on the exam table and lift up my shirt to my port area. He feels for the port with his (gloved) hands - usually has me do an abdominal crunch so it's easier to feel, then wipes down the area with rubbing alcohol. He then takes the syringe that has the Fluid in it, pokes it into the port, injects a small amount, draws back to make sure he's totally in the port, then pushes the rest of the fluid in. It doesn't hurt at all, and takes about 1 minute from start to finish. A little circle bandaid over the injection site and I'm good to go. He has me drink a small cup of Water before I leave to make sure it passes then I schedule to see him again in a month. Quick and painless! From what I've read and heard about a slippage - - with a true slippage you should have symptoms. Most people cannot even get fluids down. As for eating too fast, that's a HARD habit to break. One that I still struggle with. Try not to let yourself get too hungry. When I get too hungry, I get ravenous, and eat way too fast.

Great tip. I had surgery when I was 240 lbs two years ago, then lost 55 lbs and had a gallbladder attack - so surgery again - and the anesthesiologist (whom I knew from working together) said "last time you did so well, we'll just do that again". I didn't even THINK to point out that I had lost 55 lbs since my last surgery. I was SNOCKERED from the anesthesia, worse than I ever had been with other surgeries. The whole day is gone to me, and it was just an outpatient quick thing. Your weight, especially fat cells, have a lot to do with how your body processes medications. I had to go on a much lower HRT medication, all of the sudden I was getting dizzy spells and vision changes. Great point! Glad you brought it up.

Isn't that a great feeling! I was JUST thinking this morning about how I couldn't wait to get off work at hit this new trail that I found yesterday and go jogging. Then I thought - WHAT?! The Jen of 3 months ago would NOT be excited for that! I do something active every day, and it's become such habit that when I had to miss a few days last week (tonsillitis), I felt 10x more terrible. The first thing I did as soon as my fever was gone was slip on my running shoes and hit the pavement.

My surgeon scheduled surgery for 11 days after my consult with him. All of the sudden, it felt very fast and very real. He also didn't require a liquid diet for me, but when I left his office for the consult I decided to cut down to 2 protein drinks a day and a healthy salad at night, then 5 days pre-op I went to just protein drinks and water. I was feeling so good the day before surgery I almost cancelled! I thought - I'm losing so good on my own right now, I can do this without surgery!! Then, logic set it, and I knew I couldn't maintain just protein drinks for the rest of my life. Besides being not the most healthy choice, I knew I would give into cravings, gain all of the weight back plus probably 10 lbs, and be back to my old, frustrated, overweight self. So I dove in head first, and have not regretted one day since surgery.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions - unfortuantely, almost everyone likes to share theirs Most of the time, their "horror stories" come from hear-say or assumptions, not real life personal experience. You said it right though - this is your life. Nobody else has to live in your skin. Do what you feel is right and let everyone else worry about themselves.