Kitt3000

((sending you big hugs from NC))
i felt much like you when i started. i also only told my hub at the beginning..and it was an uphill battle...but you know what, i have read your comments and i know you are a strong person..inside and out and there is nothing you cant do. my mom sounds like yours very much but its not about her or even elvis. it is about you.. you are making yourself well. do not let anyone stand in your way...via words or locking you in the closet..you get yourself well...get that want power and put on those high heels and work it.....because you are a success now....nothing wrong with getting overwhelmed and having a moment.....i put myself on a time out often and many times from my friends on here....telling me to take a chill pill and threaten to come out here to NC and whip my hiney...lucky you, i cant find my way out of a broom closet so i cant threaten to come get you........you are this close......keep going sugar.

With an attitude like this, how can you go wrong! Way to be positive! I wish you nothing but the best. :D

The first six days have been a struggle but woke up this morn and feel so good. I am so surprised at how much better I feel. Ready to lose all the excess I've been carrying around for years!

Well technically 1 day 23 hours and 10 min until I am banded I am just a little bit excited can u tell

I won't lie, I worked my ass off to lose. But once I got to my goal weight, I actually stopped formally exercising and the weight kept dropping off. I eventually got to the stage where my BMI was under 21 and my dr was talking about unfilling me, so I actively ate to GAIN some weight. When I say it was effective, it was VERY effective for me. It took away my hunger almost completely.
Even now, when I get fills while waiting for my surgery, I can go from hungry to not hungry at all with the right fill level. It takes away cravings, keeps me full for hours and I can then go about living my life.
The band may not be successful for everyone as it was for me, but hell, what surgery gives you 100% gaurantees anyway? So you do your research, take a punt that it will work for you, and get on with it.
And you know what's NOT in the studies? I learnt more about food and hunger with my band than any othe time in my life. I gained initally when my band started leaking, and now I'm maintaining without the help of the band, and am in fact slowly losing. So it's given me more than it has ever taken. And that's MY opinion piece on it!

To be honest, any WLS is only as good as it will be to the individual. Broad studies may be conducted on the effectiveness of each, and opinions provided on which may be more effective, but a patient SHOULD look at all the pros and cons of each type of surgery and make an informed decision as to what's right for THEM at that point in time.
After I got my band in 2008, I went through huge sleeve envy when a colleague got her sleeve at the same time as me. But the band was incredibly effective for me and has been for years until I sprung a leak. Now I'm looking at band replacement because in the end, I would be silly NOT to go with a WLS surgery that helped me lose 130% of my excess weight and helped me keep it off easily for 3 years.
It may turn out to be the wrong decision in the future but right now, I believe it's the right decision for me. And I think that that's what everyone needs to weight up - what's right for you?
On a personal note, I'm excited to have the option to 'start from scratch' with a new band. I'm not sure what happens next with a sleeve where, like my colleague, she started gaining again after a few years...

I don't know why people post this sh-t. Clearly, people come to this site for support and encouragement, not fear and negativity. I'm annoyed, but clearly we cannot control who posts what, where. I will take what I need, and leave the rest.

here is another (observation)
http://www.wlshelp.c..._medium=twitter
let me add,
i stand by my belief that the small risk of band surgery was WORTH saving my life...i also stand by the fact that ANY surgery can have complications...
msmaui, i find that until you had complications, the band actually helped you lose weight and you seem to forget that...sorry if that is rude but i find your constant harping of the band failures also rude......
yes you are able to post what you want, good and bad....and i respect that and i support you and your recent surgery....

You give hope to each and everyone on here! So happy for you!

When i first decided to do the lapband about 8 months ago i didnt want to tell anyone either. I made the mistake of telling a few people at work and everyone of them had a horror story of a "friend of a friend" who had a bad experience ultimately talking me out of it long story short i canceled my first surgery date Based on other peoples opinions....... A few months later i still found myself unhappy with my weight i got a letter in the mail from my insurance saying my autho for lapbad surgery was going to expire. I thought about it for a few days not telling anyone this time and finally i realized thay I WANTED THIS FOR ME!! I call tge next day to reschedule my surgery and im so glad i did. I got banded on 9/21/12 and have lost 24 lbs and i have not even had my first adjustment/fill yet!!! Don't let people talk you out of it there is a reason you are considering most likely because YOU want it!!
Good luck:)

Do u know how it feels to get hungry but not be afraid to eat ? I am feeling so free. I used to dread eating because I saw food as my enemy. Even when I restricted myself to 1100 calories a day and only eating vegetables . Now it's so amazing to never finish my meal lol!! I like eating , being satisfied and that being that . We even went camping this weekend and I didn't snack all day long .. Which normally I would have .. I really hope this is the norm because I'm extremely happy after years of being un happy

I don't recommend my way, but here's what I did. The band seemed to make me eat less from the start, but I could still eat far too much. I just noticed that I was feeling full** quicker with less food. But not enough to lose fat.
So, I started eating healthy foods. Fish, chicken, salads, veggies. Diets suck and the reason I failed on diets was because they made me feel deprived and uncomfortable. So, I ate more food during BH but I ate more healthy foods. I lost 12 lbs the first 2 weeks post surgery and did not lose or gain any weight for the next 3.5 months. Then, my 4th fill took me right up to the green zone and then I started losing. I know that's a long time to wait to see results and I wasn't very happy about it, but it's now in the past and I learned from my BH experience.
tmf
**Full is the operative word here. Early in my journey, I didn't know the difference between full and satisfied. I now know the difference and I can stop eating when I'm no longer hungry. I don't have to eat and push myself till my stomach feels like it's bloated. It took me about 10 months to figure this one out.

I had my first fill last week (4/2) and I'm so excited with the results thus far.
I thought I'd share the experience so that others who have no idea what happens in a fill will not be so worried.
My doctor had me lay on the table. He looked at my incisions, talked to me for a minute about what he was going to do, then got right to work. He first felt where the port is supposed to be. Mine tended to move around a bit the first few weeks, and that created a bit of a problem for him hitting it (took him 4 sticks). He prepped my skin with a cleanser and offered to use Lidocaine, but I declined. The needle is attached to a syringe holding the saline. I wasn't really worried about the needle, so I didn't notice how long it was.
He had me raise my legs while laying on my back. Apparently that does something with the abdomen that allows him to feel the port better.
Once he got in with the needle, he had me sit up. He put in like 9 ccs at first so that I would know what it feels like to be "stuck." Not a pleasant feeling, but he then took some of that saline out to relieve the pressure. It didn't really hurt, just pressure that made me feel like burping and I felt it in my chest and back a bit. So once I understood what it feels like to be stuck, he then took some of the saline out, and experimented with the correct amount to put in at this point. I ended up with 6.5cc for my FIRST fill. I am excited that I have more than 1-2 as I have read from some of you.. He had me drink a bottle of Water and tell him how I felt with each adjustment of the saline. When I felt like I could feel the pressure but it wasn't painful to drink, he stopped and said we'll make another adjustment in 5 weeks.
At this point it is definitely working to keep me from eating a bunch of food. I had to go on a 4 day post-fill diet, which wasn't real hard because it is basically what we did post-op, just one day at each phase. Now I am able to eat all textures and types of food (as long as they are healthy). I can only eat a few bites at this point, but the swelling will go down and that will change. I do get hungry within 2 hours of eating, but I've been drinking lots of water and that helps.
So, that basically tells the story of my first fill. I am so excited that I have this tool. It was a bit frustrating to have had the surgery and wait for 7 weeks before getting any help from the tool. Right now though, I'm a happy woman! 6.5ccs in the first fill and it is working to keep me from eating much at a time.

Everyone is different...My first fill was 4 cc's and not near enough to make any difference.....that was 4 weeks after my surgery date....
After my first fill at 4 weeks and before my 2nd fill 4 weeks after that, I GAINED WEIGHT!!!!! I too felt like a failure, the band was a waste of time....etc, etc, etc...
NUT told me I needed to count calories, weigh/measure portions....etc...
I was PISSED!!!! I could have done all that without going through surgery.....I did all that before and it never worked....surely WLS is supposed to be different.....right? It's for people who failed at dieting, right?
At my 2nd fill....my Dr. saw my frustration and all he did was LAUGH AT ME!!!! He said it happens all the time....people, like myself expect instant gratification and yet, the band is not doing what it was designed to do.....He explained, by showing me the Yellow-Green-Red Chart on the wall, that through a series of fills the Green is where our goal is to be, and that after one fill I was no where near that place...yet....
He gave me a 2nd fill, of 2cc's....after that it made a difference....at least I no longer gained weight, and started to loose...but it was a struggle....still always hungry, cannot control my portion sizes, etc.......
One month after that...3 months after surgery...he gave me my 3rd fill.....that did the trick...put me right where I needed to be...although all was not perfect...I still needed to learn what what happening to me, and modify my behaviors to adapt to the band and this new life style.....after that...it's been all easy.....
So, after one fill and recently banded...you are no where close to being a failure......believe me.....I know people (some ere) who have failed to let the band work, and you are not even close!.........

I wanted to share an NSV with all of my fellow bandsters. A year ago today I weighed 289. This morning I weighed 233. I had my surgery on Feb 15th, 2013 and weighed 264 on that day. I have lost 56 lbs in one year and 31 lbs since the surgery. I know that I personally have mentally overcome many of my bad habits and continually find more and more of them that I need to work on. I have learned whom I have as a support system and which ones are not there for me in reality. I take each day as it comes, just as an addict would. Above all I am happy that I made this decision to be banded and take the challenge of becoming healthier and having a better life. I no longer have swollen hands, legs and feet at the end of the day. I no longer have to purchase wide shoes. I can run up and down 10 flights of stairs, twice a day without having an asthma attack or feeling like I am going to pass out. Each day is no longer a struggle to get up.
I just wanted to share.

boy could i put a hurt on some cocoa krispies and raisin bran...i look at them every so often at the store...but for me, i choose not to stick with oatmeal and add raisins/cranberries etc...but heck, if you want to eat cereal, eat it and enjoy it

WOW. A huge congrats to you. That is a huge accomplishment! I bet you feel AMAZING right now. Cheers to all your success.

To be honest, the first two days of the liquid diet were rough for me, I just had to keep re enforcing what my goal is and just ignor the hungries.
I mixed my Protein Shake with fat free milk and a couple of ice cubes, yummy. I am using Bari Care Protein Shakes, I bought them on the web. I have tried many shakes before, this by far does not feel like diet food. I am on day four now. Two more days, then one day clear liquid, next day surgery.
Something else I have used are cream of potato, Tomato, squash, celery, etc.. Soup. Find the 90 something fat free, then blend it to liquify any small pieces, microwave and enjoy. Lentil soup, black bean soup, they can all be puréed and really satisfy.
Don't forget, cream of wheat hot Cereal, even grits thinned in a pinch.
My favorite shake is Greek yogurt, three frozen strawberries, maybe eight blueberries, couple cubes of ice, about an ounce of fruit juice and trivia to taste.
Good luck! Hope this helps you.

I had similar symptoms this past two weeks. The doc said sinusitis. Rx for amoxclav cough Syrup, and the true god send for me, the 12 hour time released musinex! After a few days on the musinex, I felt almost back to normal. The congestion in my chest and post nasal was pretty much gone. Could not take the antibiotic, and did not need the cough syrup after the mucus loosened. Good luck! I felt miserable too. Hope this helps and you are on your way to a speedy recovery!

Hi all!
Late to the game posting on here...I'm on Day 8 of my pre-op liquid diet and have surgery set for 4/10 with Dr. Fielding at NYU in NYC! I had all my pre-admission testing done yesterday and once my primary doc faxes my medical clearance to the surgeon I think it's official official.
Constantly going between nervousness and excitement all day everyday but I'm guessing that's normal!
Congrats and good luck to all of the other April banders!
J. Renee

Been on LBT a long time. I considered myself a listener on here, and not a talker for the first three years. I've started posting recently, but never started a topic.
But today I just had to do this.
I started at my Band journey in 2009. I have never had any band issues, as some may know, I did have an installation issue that was corrected. ( And yes, like others I think I have the best doctor/staff in the world. )
So I was 324 miserable, unhealthy, tired all the time pounds when I started. I am so happy to say that today.... on 3/22.. I WEIGH 222 lbs on my scale. I haven't seen those numbers in over 20 years!! Over ONE HUNDRED POUNDS LOST!
I will reach my goal of around 185 sometime late this year or early next, I don't care! NOW, after 3 1/2 years, this has become my life. I eat almost anything I want, I do exercise ( consisting 90% of the time of bike riding ) more than ever, and I feel better than I EVER remember feeling in my entire life.
So, if I could say a word of advice to the newer folks who will struggle from time to time, its this: NEVER, EVER GIVE UP! If something isn't working, change it. Be honest and firm with your doctor. For me, a properly adjusted band, is the most important thing. I couldn't diet on my own....been there, done that. THIS THING WORKS!
Thanks to all who have posted advice/encouragement/suggestions/etc. Just because we don't all agree on everything surrounding the band, we really are all after the same goal....to be healthy!

Well my experience was a breeze down 150ish and kept it off for 3 years so far , my doc was great and I have never been filled. Lifestyle changes ahead for the best I love my healthy eating ways!

Hi Hannaband! I am going in on the 10th @ 9:30. We will have to give gg the scoop!