wineguyd

Hey Joleen...congrats!!!! Had mine done three years ago and it's life altering, it's a rebirth!. Stick to the instructions your doctors and nutritionist gave you and you'll do fine. Just remember that the band is just like a speed bump in the road...it encourages you to slow down so as not to damage the suspension but if you choose to ignore it you will do damage. You will find that you will, over time, be able to eat and drink all the things you like...just more slowly and in smaller quantities. The band will help you lose the first 50% of your excess weight easily, you will find that the weight loss will slow down on the next 25% and then you will have to work on the last 25%. The best thing you can do is get into the habit of walking every day.

I also never heard of any deaths directly related to the band, I'm sure there were plenty of people that died from other health issues that happened to have the band, but that's not the same as saying the band caused the death. I know one man that had a complication and had to have the band removed, but that was the worst of it, and it also underscored the advantage of the band...it can be undone if there's a problem. Gastric bypass permanently alters your digestive system...get a problem and your screwed.

Over time you will find that cutting your food into small pieces and chewing well will allow you to sip drinks with your meal. You will never be able to gulp down fluids after swallowing a chunk of food with out feeling like a backed up drain pipe. I got the band three years ago and I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner every night...but I sip not gulp. It's actually much healthier for you to limit fluids with your meal, your body digests and absorbs nutrients better without liquids involved.