parisshel

I'd definitely be up for it if I lived there. I WISH I lived there.

(Good luck nonetheless.)

Travel, travel, travel and sex, sex, sex. Both, more comfortably than what's happening now!

And I'm definitely looking forward to more stamina, agility, confidence, a higher happiness quotient and stabler moods (i.e., no more sugar highs and lows).

I understand these feelings; I have them and I'm sure most pre-bandsters had them too. But what helps me when I start getting anxious is looking at the tremendous number of people who started like me, and who have had not only success, but LONGTERM success. This is where WLS differs from "just diet and exercise." The longterms success rate of keeping lost weight off is dramatically higher with WLS when compared with the 2% success rate of non-surgical methods of keeping lost weight off.

For me, it is essential that I accompany my post-band time with mental health support. While I am 100% convinced I will love my image as it transforms, I also predict it will be something that provokes some anxiety...who IS this person that was fat for so long? So I've already put into place my "mental health team" (a therapist who works with my surgeon's patients) who knows how to help me adjust to loving what my new outsides will look like.

This may be something you might want to consider, too, just to help take the edge of what you anticipate might be a rocky, but welcome, journey.

I've told my friends, but I agree with the statement that there could be some resentment at work for time taken off for what they might perceive as "elective surgery." So I'll be telling them that I'm getting my gall bladder out, too...since the work stop papers I have to submit will be saying "Digestive Surgery" on them.

I do hope karma doesn't come back and hit me in the butt with one day REALLY having to have gall bladder surgery! I'll have to come up with another story if that happens

How exciting! I hope you will feel better with each passing hour/day. Now your new life begins...

No pre-op diet for us here in France. It's funny how this varies from country to country. I think the pre-op consultations were similar to what is done in the USA: psych consults, bloodwork, cardio consult, upper GI endoscopy, liver and stomach xrays...but no particular diet per se. I'm trying just eat normally and not see this time as a food funeral...'cause it's not!

I'm so ready for this. Got my surgery date today: March 20th. Bring it on!

But it's March 20th...so I'm going to move over to the March 2013 Bandsters group, as my surgeon is just so popular and he couldn't fit me in for February.

Anyway...good luck and smooth sailing to all of you February Bandsters...see you on other threads!

Sending hopes for a smooth surgery and wakeup! Good luck!

Good luck. I was also fearful of surgery/anesthesia until I had to go under (for something else). Now that I've had two experiences with anesthesia, I'm not apprehensive about my upcoming lapband surgery...well, the "going under" part, anyway. You'll see....the patient's part of the process is nothing...all you have to do is go to sleep . We will keep you in our thoughts.

I haven't yet been banded, but when I had ankle surgery in 2010, I had a reaction to my opiate-based pain meds--like hot flashes, with sweating, but no fever so it wasn't an infection. Once I got them to change my pain meds to non-opiate based, it went away instantly. Note to self: tell my surgeon that I can't take opiates.

Hi! Thanks for responding! Oh, I envy your surgery date. I see my surgeon on Feb 5th (next week) to set a date and I'm hoping it will be Valentine's Day but I suspect, with French National Health, it won't be that quick. But it should be February in any case.

I'm also ready and excited!

Good luck with the preop, and I'm hoping it all goes smoothly for you.

Hi everybody,

I've poked around this site and can't seem to find a "Find" search mechanism so I thought I'd post here.

This place has been the greatest resource for me as I prepare to be banded. I'd love to find other bandsters who are closer geographically to me. I'm in Paris, France and the WLS boards here just aren't as developed/well-maintained/polite/etc as those I've found based in the USA. So I rely on LBT for my support and information but also wondered if there are any other Europe and/or France-based people on here.

Let me know!

Totally get this. Hopefully by the time you read this, you'll have come out of the surgery just fine. Courage!

Everybody is different and has different levels of privacy-needs. I live my life fairly publicly (I've had a blog for 10+ years and also do a good amount of writing which appears all over the web) so obviously I'm not the most private person. I've even agreed to meet with a documentary production company who may follow my journey, and I'm fine with that level of public disclosure.

For my upcoming band, everybody knows except for my office colleague. The only reason I won't tell her is that she talks incessantly and I don't want my band to become another reason for her to prevent me from doing my work.

I don't fear that she will notice my weight loss and wonder about it because she is very self-centered and never notices anything but her own world!

_{That's funny, because the first surgeon I consulted with said EXACTLY THE SAME THING. "I don't do bands anymore, and overall surgeons take out more than they put in." He only did sleeves and bypasses, having stopped doing bands several years ago.}

_{So I went to see another surgeon. This one only does bands and bypasses and will not do sleeves. He is seeing sleeved patients end up in his hospital due to popped stiches, ulcers and peritonitus. "23 cms of stitches is a lot", was his comment.}

_{I've spent hours doing research on all the WLS options out there....truly days of reading data. And I found that you can find equal measures of arguments supporting and not supporting all the surgery options.}

_{It's true that I'm uncomfortable with the complications that may arise with the band, but on the other hand I'm more uncomfortable with the irreversibility of the other options.}

_{So I'm going with the band and the surgeon who believes this is my best option.}

My sense is that my relationship will fall into the "at risk" category, based on the reasons kateeryn cites. My BF has zero interest in leading a healthy, active life, and this is even more irritating because he had a heart attack at age 38. You'd think he'd want to get himself into the best shape ever...but the further out he gets from that heart attack, the less its impact on him and the more he just lazes about, continues to eat poorly and rely on his medications to "combat" the damage his eating and inactivity have done.

My own burden of fat made me reluctant to encourage him to live a better life--I looked at this as the pot calling the kettle black-- but I predict that my return to an active, healthy lifestyle will see us having some major issues.

Still, it isn't worth staying fat to keep the relationship at status quo, right?

My boyfriend also said the same thing...he had heard from a colleague (who got sleeved) that 85% of successful WLS patients leave their partner. That colleague even said something like "You know she'll leave you after this!" or something equally inane.

I told my boyfriend that if I did ever leave, it would have nothing to do with weight, but rather the fact he never clears his plate from the table.

This is a terrific question and reminds me to make a list of everything I can't do now that I WILL do as my weight goes down. I think first on my list would be more travel...I've ceased to travel as much because my energy level is so low and I can't just sightsee and walk all day long as I used to be able to do. So more trips, and more participating in life in general. My weight has gradually caused me to isolate myself and I'm finding my life just revolved around three poles right now: home, work and food. I'm am SO looking forward to that changing, and being much more social.

As for telling people I am the same way. I have made my desicion and do not want to hear peoples opinions. I have told my closest circle and agree people who have not struggled with their weight won't understand.

I totally agree with you. While one part of me is all for total honesty about everything, another part of me doesn't want to hear things such as "Oh, I know someone who got a lapband. It didn't work for her" or "I know someone who died from weight loss surgery. Have you really researched this?"

We aren't idiots, and of course we have done hours of reading and researching. No one just wakes up one day and decides to have WLS. I think for all of us, this decision is extremely well-thought out.

I've told my most everybody but one person: my work colleague. I don't want her up in my business, she's a gossip and I sense she will be resentful of the time I take off to do my surgery.

I should be banded in February but won't know the exact date until February 5th when I meet with my surgeon. I'd love it to be February 14th, because this will be the greatest Valentine's gift I could ever receive.