destynee1

Hi guys...just an update... I was banded on October 3rd...I've had two fills since then...I've lost 53 pounds as of January 27th( I only weigh myself at the doctors, if not I drive myself crazy)...everything has been going pretty good I work out three times a week...happy to read alot of us are doing well...lets keep it up!!! It is very hard to stay focused!!!!

I haven't started to lose any hair yet. I have started to take optisource chewable vitamins for post bariatric surgery the past 3 days and have lost 3.4 pounds. I'm taking that along with calcium citrate and Biotin daily. I have increased my Water intake.

2 1/2 months out. And I love it!

I agree eat a little of what you want, beats a bowl of croutons. Remember, it is also about being satisfied. At dance class last night my friends ordered nachos and brocolli cheddar bites. I opted for two brocolli cheddar bites and a 1/4 of a club sandwich for my dinner. I just make sure I count everything!

I just allow myself small portions of whatever it is I'm wanting. For instance, my boyfriend and daughter both really like fried cheese and often get it as an appetizer. I just have one piece and leave the rest for them. If we're somewhere like Red Lobster, and they have the delicious cheddar biscuits, I allow myself just one.
For me, the key is moderation not deprivation.

everyone is different! I was soo afraid of the pain because of some of the horror stories I read on here. lol.. I went for surgery at 8:00am I was home by 11am. Gas pains hurt but they are not unbearable and I am sorta wimpy with pain. hehe. Walk walk walk helps a lot to move that gas around and get it out.. get some gas x to help get it out as well. Hdoll is right.. book a recliner for a week!! I slept in it and didnt have problems. Day 2 was the worse of the pain for me, by day 3 it was starting to get better and by day 4 I was like.. wow that was it? lol.. It was WELL WORTH it! good luck!

Awesome info.. as always Missy!! thanks!! <333

It's painful! I was so focused on the outcome I never thought of the actual pain. Everyone's tolerance is different, and I don't consider myself to be a wimp. The gas pains and port incisions are he worst. Day 2 was horrible! I was taking my pain meds 2 every 4 hours on the dot! I'm down to 1 every 4. Tomorrow will be dy 5, I hope to walk with no pain. If u have comfy recliner, book it for the week, sleeping upright in a pillow upright on your back. Heating pad is helpful, for the shoulder pains. Walk lots o help get I'd of excess gas, use a pillow on you belly for support! U wanted honest...good luck. It'll be worth all of ths, it's just frustrating now.

Polish/German background here. Food is love is how I grew up. The band has really helped me to identify where my hunger is coming from. Before all of the head hungers would gang up with my stomach hunger and overwhelm me. Now that the stomach hunger is diminished, the head hungers are much more visible for what they are.

Molly40 I can appreciate your background. I'm Italian as well, and food, cooking big part of our history. Now, it's up to us to create a new part o history. Good luck!

I was always told everything in moderation, not me. I do good for a month trying to eat healthy, then I start my period, and have my chocolate cravings, convince my self I deserve a break, and there goes my diet. I've been on that rolacoaster as long as I can remember. I'm an emotional eater, I come from an Italian family we Celebrate everything with food, big portions, and I grew up thinking food is comfort, I know it's wrong I just don't know how to fix it. This is it for me this band HAS to work.

Hiya all What a great thread! I have learned so much from all of you, thank you. Well... I am fat for many of the same reason's as many of you. Gene's , my mother's side throughout the extended family are overweight. Eating the wrong foods,... I fry when I cook. Also being mexican, and brought up in a mexican/american home... our families cook for an army.. so there were always left overs and 2nd helpings. I have been overweight on and off all of my life. From a young child in grade school, thinned out in jr high and high school, and then after high school that is when the weight really crept up. Lack of exercise and activities, on the computer for many hours playing games.
I am a night eater, I can go all day without thinking of eating.. when dinnertime comes, It seems my appetite awakens and I am eating here and there till I go to sleep, which is very late. I eat when I am happy.. sad.. depressed.. it feels a void I sometimes feel. food has just always been a reward... celebration... family/friends.. if something great happens.. we go out to eat.. if something bad happens.. we go out to eat. I have lived my life for to many years since I have gained all this weight in the shadow's. I do not like to go anywhere or see anyone I haven't seen in a long time for fear of what they might think I have become. I haven't met my boyfriends parents because I don't want them to think their son is in love with some beast. That is how I think of myself. I have always been my worse enemy. So... I am ready to get my life back.. I did this to myself and like someone said above me.. I will get myself out of it. I blame myself only for the choices I made. It's been a long time since I've felt good about myself.. I am ready for that feeling again.! I truly believe the band will be the best thing to happen in my life and I plan on to use this tool as best I could. I have my surgery date for Oct 23rd 2012. Wish me Luck!! <3

I was told to wait a month to have alcohol.. I still drink the same minus I don't mix it with soda anymore, I use juice or take shots. I do get tipsy faster. I don't drink often. Maybe once a month if that.. more or less.

Awesome info.. as always Missy!! thanks!! <333

More good news about the effectiveness of the band. Take note that this study specifically targeted people who followed the band rules, followed up with their doctors, and changed their lifestyles to healthy ones.
Also note only 5% had to have their bands removed and weight loss was comparable to Gastric Bypass.
Further proof we are responsible for our own success or failure with the band.
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MONASH U. (AUS) — Gastric banding is safe and effective for managing obesity long-term, according to a study of patients 10 to 15 years after their surgeries.
The study, the longest and most comprehensive yet reported, appears in the Annals of Surgery, and finds a significant number of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (lap banding) patients maintained an average weight loss of 26 kilograms for more than a decade after their procedure.
Researchers analyzed the results in 3,227 patients who had gastric banding surgery in Australia between 1994, when the procedure was first introduced, and 2011. The patients in the study were averaged at 47 years-of-age and 78 percent were women.
Of those patients, 714 had surgery at least 10 years ago and, on average, had maintained a weight loss of 26 kilograms, or almost half of their excess weight.
The weight loss results were similar for the 54 patients in the study who had undergone treatment at least 15 years ago.
“These results show that when you have a significant problem with obesity, a long-term solution is available,” says Professor Paul O’Brien of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Monash University in Melbourne.
“This surgery is safe and effective, and it has lasting benefits. Substantial weight loss can change the lives of people who are obese—they can be healthier and live longer.”
O’Brien says there are also important ramifications for the control of type 2 diabetes, which was strongly associated with being overweight.
“In obese patients with type 2 diabetes, weight loss after gastric banding can lead to effective control of blood sugar levels without the need for medication in about three-quarters of cases,” O’Brien says.
The patients included in the study had followed the rules of their treating team regarding eating, exercise, and activity and committed to returning permanently to the aftercare program.
All the surgery was performed by O’Brien, an international pioneer of the technique, and Associate Professor Wendy Brown, President of the Obesity Surgery Society of Australia and New Zealand.
There were no deaths associated with the surgery or with any later operations that were needed in about half of the patients. About one in 20 patients had the band removed during the study period.
“In treating a chronic disease such as obesity over a lifetime, it is likely that something will need to be corrected at some time in some patients,” says O’Brien.
“The study shows a marked reduction of revisional procedures with the introduction of the new version of the Lap-Band 6 years ago. Importantly, those who had revisional surgery lost as much weight in the long term as those who did not need it.”
The report also included a comparison of gastric banding—which can be done as a day-surgery procedure—and more invasive types of weight-loss surgery such as gastric bypass that are high risk and require longer hospital stay. The weight loss with gastric banding, and the need for future revisional surgery, was similar to that with gastric bypass.
“Access to weight-loss surgery in Australia remains severely limited for many obese patients as relatively few cases are treated within the public health system. We are working hard to improve access,” says O’Brien.
“We have ample evidence that weight-loss surgery is effective, and it is unfair that half of eligible patients cannot be treated, particularly as it has been shown that gastric banding is a highly cost-effective health care measure. The stigma of obesity, and the assumption that it is the person’s fault, entrenches discrimination against people who could benefit.”
find the original article here: http://www.futurity....p-band-surgery/

I also had one, and didn't know what it was. I am sooo happy it was repaired though. I had bad reflux and never knew that was the cause. No more reflux yay!!!

I also had one, and didn't know what it was. I am sooo happy it was repaired though. I had bad reflux and never knew that was the cause. No more reflux yay!!!

my dr told me when I woke up that I had one. I did not even know I had one. wasn't even sure what it was. but he fixed it and I am happy about that.

Time to do one gf!!
and all your tats sound awesome!! I have 1 on my left ankle of a wild flower with a sun in the middle. I plan to get another sometime in the future!

I can eat steak. There isn't really any foods that I'm unable to eat!

I can eat steak but I rarely do. I do eat hamburger but mostly mixed with salsa or brown rice. I made up some stuffed peppers that each have about 2 ozs of very lean humburger in them so I get that red meat flavor but it's close to a slider food since it's got a little parmesan and marinara sauce mixed with it.

I don't have one......yet! That is the reward I am giving to myself when I reach my goal weight. I have already designed it. It will represent my being set free from my weight loss struggle!

I have 4 tattoos. A very tiny heart with a vine going through it on my right breast, a lavender rose going through a heart and a butterfly landing on the rose on the left side of my back, and a moon and shooting star on my left ankle. I got all them when I was very young.
My only recent one I got 2 years ago. It's a butterfly on the inside of my left forearm but the body is an orange awareness ribbon. Under the butterfly is the word "Believe".
Funny enough, the butterfly on my left forearm is half the size it was when I got it. It's shrank right along with the rest of me LOL!