parisshel

Almost four months post-op, never been stuck nor had any discomfort. I'm 100% compliant with post-band directives which accounts for most of this. That said, as of about 2 weeks I've been out of the green zone now (maybe my weight loss has made my band looser? Who knows?) and getting my 2nd fill; hopefully I'll still be able to say "never been stuck" after the next cc!

This is terrific. You know what I learned? It's not the restriction of the band that's important, but how the band controls the descent of the food. That's why looking at pouch size is critical when assessing a fill. I went for my [almost] 4 month post-op appointment with my surgeon yesterday, and when he looked at my fluoro picture, he confirmed what I already know: I need a bit more saline. This was all based on the pouch size he saw, which was clearly not "pouchy" enough yet with my current 4 ccs in a 10 cc band. Thanks for posting this because it really shows what we are aiming for when we talk about a green zone.

Well done! You look fantastic. I hope that with 38 pounds less on me (I'm about at your starting weight right now) I'll look just as healthy and fit.

I can't advise on the latter, but I'm jealous of the former!

Like you, my life prior to the band was all about eating low fat this and reduced fat that. And trying to fill up with "bulky" low cal things like microwave popcorn, just to attempt to keep from feeling hunger. It didn't work, obviously, because the day I got banded I weighed 263 pounds. Post-band, and once I'd gone thru reintroducing foods, what I eat is very different. I eat fat because it keeps me satisfied: I cube avocado for my salad, which I dress with olive oil, vinegar and mustard (no "lite" dressing with mystery ingredients). I drink 2% milk rather than nonfat. I eat full-fat cheese instead of plastic colored cheese. I use almost exclusively whole, unprocessed foods which means an entire category of my previous (fake diet) foods is now eliminated from my diet. This does not make me morally superior to anyone else, but it has made me thinner, with the help of the lapband. I use my band to keep full between meals, but I also use my foods to keep full, as well. For me, that means not including any food that will "bring on hunger": sugary things, white carbs (bread, Pasta, rice), and most importantly processed foods.

Yes. I noticed the UPS guy lingers a lot longer in my office now.

i would personally disregard any doctor's advice to not eat or drink during a long flight. I fly internationally (12 hours each flight) and would not want to risk dehydration or the immense thirst not drinking for 12 hours (or more, if delayed!!!) would provoke. As for eating: If you can drink (and really there is no reason you wouldn't be able to drink---just don't go get a big fill right before getting in an airplane !), drink. If you can eat, eat the band-friendly stuff they serve. Much of what is on offer on airplanes is not band-friendly for me (bread, Pasta, rice-based dishes) so I pack my own food in my carryon. I pack Protein bars and Protein powder, fruit and nuts. Or sometimes I'll preorder a vegetarian option but that often come with pasta or rice, neither of which I eat. So my advice when flying is to not worry about a too-tight band, but do bring on your own food especially for a longhaul flight. And sip sip sip Water all through the flight.

I'm in France. 3.5 months postop but would love to buddy up with you!

You know what's great about the band? No more watching the clock waiting for lunch/dinner/snacktime. With my appetite at half-mast, I don't count down the minutes until my next meal. What a wonderful way to live. Thank you, lapband.

Just read your story! Congratulations. You have done fantastic work and your weight loss shows how disciplined day in and day out you were! Well done. Good luck with the upcoming surgeries; may you enjoy this new body for years to come.

Expect your energy to cycle in the two or so weeks post-op. Immediately following, your emotions may swing ("What have I done?") and you may feel sad. As the days progess, this evens out. And some days you'll feel fine, others you'll be very tired. All normal. Walk, walk, walk to avoid blood clots, which are a risk with any abdominal surgery. Even if you are tired, walk a bit each hour; it's very important.

I'm going to be traveling to California shortly and want to pick up some chewable vitamins and/or supplements on my trip, as I can't find them where I live in Europe. These have to be something I can purchase in a "real" shop (Target, Wal-Mart, GNC, etc) since I won't have time (or a mailing address) to order from an online source. Any recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks, everybody!

I just got back from taking my 16-year old to a center specialized in pediatric/adolescent obesity. She's not obese but she is 20 pounds overweight and I would like the "experts" to help guide her in making good choices, as presumably what they say carries more weight that what parents say. That part of the session went well, and I liked her approach to managing my daughter's weight thru more activity rather than a strict diet. Our last consultation was in January, and she noted in my daughter's file that I was getting a lapband the following March. My daughter also brought this up at today's consultation, citing that our family meals had changed a lot (for the better) due to my way of eating now. And this doctor, who is supposed to be on my side (right?), looks at me and says "You haven't lost any weight since I last saw you, correct?" HELLO! I've lost 30 pounds! OK, I didn't let it get to me. She sees millions of parents go thru her office and I doubt she recalled what I looked like six months ago. But still, it was such an odd way to phrase the question. A more appropriate way would have been to say "How much have you lost since your surgery?" But then, she went for a second shot. I was describing what I eat and what I don't eat, and when I mentioned I don't eat bread, Pasta, rice, etc, she said "Oh, that's just for now. You'll eat it in the future." I shook my head and said no, I won't be adding those back into my diet, I don't miss them and cutting them out has been responsible for much of my loss. She insisted that I'd eat them in the future, that people with the band eventually "open up the band," blah blah blah negativesauce which even typing this out now is irritating me. I get why some people diss the band (or other WLS tools). But when a professional...an obesity researcher at that...sends the message that a motivated bandster is destined for failure...it's just a matter of time? I just wanted to ask her why she would say something like that. But I'm polite so I shut up. But my child noticed it and called her "mean." Yes, she was. Impolite and mean.

If you are taking vitamins currently, stop them. Many recently-banded post-ops (that's redundant, I know) experience stomach irritation from their vitamins--they just aren't taking in enough food to counteract the vitamin's irritative effects. (Once you progress to a "normal" post op style of eating, this won't be an issue and you can take your vitamins as you did before the band.) If you aren't taking vitamins, then I have no other suggestions...but I hope you feel better soon.

Even with the band, your mental mindset is the most important tool in your weightloss toolkit. You've done 20% of it--the band. Now pay attention to the 80%--your mind. Everyone on this board will tell you that the band alone will not get you to goal (sadly!!!). Check out what your support resources are and use them to get your mind in gear. I use this board as I don't have any "live" weight loss support" group. I come here everyday and it keeps my mind in the weightloss groove. Surround yourself with like-minded people and don't hang out with people whose eating habits are not conducive to getting you to your goal. Sounds drastic? Perhaps. But I assume you want this badly (you had surgery, after all) so do what is necessary to give yourself the life you deserve.

Thanks, everybody! I've noted your recommendations and will check all of these out. Very helpful and I appreciate the guidance.

Thanks for sharing your story. There are indeed loads of naysayers, especially among "regular people" who will make a snarky comment about WLS. But it always takes me aback when it comes from a health care professional. Thanks, everybody, for your great input on this thread. The next time ANYONE says anything negative about my choice, I will speak up for myself, my choice, and my lapband. It may fall on deaf ears, but I will feel loads better for not having held it in. Watch out, world!

My surgeon says as long as there are no complications, the lapband is for life.

I'll have to try quinoa. I have issues with couscous if I don't eat it in teensy tiny amounts, very slowly. Otherwise can make like a plug and give me some discomfort...it's one of those grains that can compact itself if swallowed too quickly for me. So I'll give quinoa a go, and appreciate the above hint and link to the Moroccan recipe!

I saw this on the world according to eggface. Breakfast bites, I believe it was called.

Not drinking with my meals is, for me, the toughest of all my band rules. I can live without bread, pasta, rice, cakes, fizzy drinks, and everything else I no longer indulge in. But man, how I miss sipping water with my food!

Love this quote that I read today: "The dieting industry the only profitable business in the world with a 98 percent failure rate." Each day I wake up so happy that I followed through with my decision to stop traditional dieting and seek a tool with a better track record and longterm success rate: the lapband. I remember in the days leading up to my surgery last March, I was feeling fearful and a voice in my head said "Hey, give Weight Watchers one last chance." Thankfully I stood strong. Had I not, I would be weighing more today than I did three months ago, I am certain of it. Instead, I weigh almost 30 pounds less. I don't see my banded life as a dieting life. I eat smaller now, and this is "just the way I eat." It's not "until I get the weight off." I don't "fall off the wagon" on vacation, during a holiday, or for someone's wedding, birthday, etc. I love my mindset with its dimmed appetite, and am grateful to my band for taking me from the status of "dieter" to "this is they way I eat now."

If I ever repatriated back to the USA, it would be to Boca Raton, FL (so beautiful and lush) or my homestate of California. Love those two places for the natural beauty and the friendly people.

For me, the band works like a nicotine patch works for smokers. My cravings are turned way way down, enough so they don't push me to eat compulsively. In fact, I rarely if ever crave anything; the only time a craving wakes its head is if I trigger it by eating sugar. For me, once I cut out the white carbs (pasta, bread, rice, etc...all things I won't try because I don't want to risk a stuck episode), my cravings went away. Also, I thought I'd really miss being to eat large (or even normal) amounts of food...after all, long Sunday lunches are part of my lifestyle! But for me, once banded, my small portions filled me up and the thought of eating more didn't enter my head. Why risk throwing up or feeling uncomfortable? I found I could still eat the foods I love but I just eat much less of them. But I had the same fear as you are expressing and stupidly spent my pre-op days overeating all the things I thought I'd never taste again. So then I had to go lose the weight I put on prior to surgery, before I could attack the more long-standing fat!

I'm an expatriate American living in Europe. I'm extremely grateful to the socialized medical system I live under and pay a lot of taxes for. I have worked here for years and certainly paid my share into the system and now, as I get older, have accessed care for far more than I paid due to an unfortunate accident in 2010 that, had I had it in the USA, would have bankrupted me between the ambulance ride, the emergency surgery, the recovery period and over one year of physical therapy necessary to get me to walk again. It is true that I found the doctors here had zero bedside manner (in fact, there is no equivalent word for that in French) but hey...I don't need to love them, I just need them to get me well, right? France still does lapbands. But the above commentor is correct; all surgeons moving away from banding as doing so not because it's an archaic type of WLS, or because of complications, but because it requires loads of aftercare that other surgeries do not. A sleeve is basically plug and play, while a band necessitates many postop visits as well as the adjustments. Not as profitable for any practice, even with its fee-bearing potential. Other WLS commands higher fees with little followup so that's what attracts the surgeons and makes them abandon the lapband.