flrosie

I heard peanut butter was a big no-no....I'm not likely to try it to find out myself.

I am certainly no expert but I'll share with you my experience. I have been working with my surgeon's office since October last year, trying to get all the particulars for my insurance company in order. Turns out, my insurance doesn't require all the hoops the surgeon's insurance coordinator thought (she never dealt with my insurance before) and I could have had this done in January like I wanted. I'm 9 days till bandyland now. In all the emotional upheaval that came with the frustration of dealing with the ineptitude of the insurance coordinator, I began to question my decision about my surgeon and the lap band. A friend of mine had gastric sleeve done in December and was down 60 lbs. I decided to go see another surgeon. Unbeknownst to me, the new guy I went to see only wants to do sleeves. And after listening to him I began to think that was the way to go, too. I agonized over all the confusion between the two. Here's what I decided: I chose the lapband first because it was less invasive in my body. As someone else pointed out here, the lapband leaves my options open in the future, should there be some miraculous discovery about obesity and 'the cure.' I'm saving my internal organs for that. Sure, my friend lost a boatload of weight in the first 6 weeks but the research I conducted myself says he will have more trouble maintaining that weight loss over the course of his lifetime. I, on the other hand, will have a lapband, a tool I can adjust to maintain control the rest of my life. That's what I want, a lifetime of control so I can get off this weight off/weight on carousel. Yes, my friend with the sleeve will see his doctor on average once a year, if he chooses to go. I will be seeing my doctor every month for the first year to evaluate the restriction and get fills (I really need someone to tell me more about the 'green zone' btw!) This means I will be accountable every single month and that really helps me mentally stay in the game. I spoke to a dear friend who had a stomach staple 4 years ago. At year three, she began gaining the weight back, as did two of her friends that had stapling done at the same time. Their other friend had lapband instead of staple and she is still at goal weight four years later. My friend told me that if she had it to do over, she would do the lapband. In fact, she said she wanted to do the lapband initially but was swayed by her doctor and the enticement that came from watching her friends lose boatloads of weight in the first 6 weeks. She feels she is stuck now and is back to her main problem: she (like most of us) know how to diet but not how to maintain. After considering all that I realized I was just panicking and frustrated. I made my appointment for surgery with my original surgeon for a lapband. The only wait time for the surgery is his required 2 weeks on optifast. He has no waiting list for surgery and I'm now 9 days out. Can't wait. Still have lots of questions and this forum has all kinds of answers. Think about why you want to have lapband. Do some research on the Internet to answer some of your personal questions. Then, and this is the important part, do what you feel most comfortable doing. Don't let someone else convince you of something else. (My very dear friend that had sleeve in December told me-while I was in all this indecision- "I just knew you were making a mistake thinking about lapband instead of the sleeve. I hoped you would come around before you actually went under the knife." That didn't help at all.) Good luck. I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.

BRAVO!!!!

This is something I've been thinking about for a while. I'm wondering if I'll need psychological help when this is all over (only half joking here). I've been heavy my whole life. Who am I going to be when I'm not this size any more? Am I going to be different? I hope not because I like who I am even if I don't like how I look. How are people going to be towards me? Different? Probably, but am I going to like the difference? When I did my psych eval I told the doc that I am excited to meet the new person I will be. Since I've never been thin (normal weight, I mean), I don't know what my face will look like, how my legs will look, how clothes will feel....it can be overwhelming and, let's be honest here, all of this is part of the reason I couldn't maintain any weight loss in the past. It was self-sabotage, easier to continue to be the fat person I knew than take the scary path to the normal weight person I didn't. Maybe I'm rambling but your post made perfect sense to me. 9 days to bandyland

Congratulations! I feel for you, sista! I quit smoking just to have the surgery. This is the only thing I was willing to give it up for. It's only been a couple of weeks, I still crave one sometimes, but I still crave solid food, too, and I'm doing okay without it. I figured if I quit while I was restricted in my eating I wouldn't gain another 20 pounds from quitting. (I wonder if I'll be addicted to the Valium when this is all over?) I'm still 9 days from bandyland and I can hardly stand it. Worse than waiting for my next cruise.

OMG, Missy. That is EXACTLY the point. How many times in my life have I dieted, lost a significant amount of weight, just to gain it back again. I just don't want to put myself out there for another failure. I must say, though, I'm feeling more confident since finding this forum and all the wonderful people on it.

Glad it went well...your attitude is half the battle.

I have the Optifast thing too but it's not 800 calories. 160 each and I'm "allowed" three a day. That's 480. I am allowed sugarfree popsicles and clear broth. Not much. I agree about the binge thing but, if anything, this is good practice, right? I did two weeks on Protein Drinks only back in October when I first started thinking about the band. I figured if I couldn't make it two weeks then I shouldn't consider the band as an option. I didn't have any trouble. More hungry now than then, But we will keep going because we're going to succeed and a little discomfort now will pave the way for great results later. Good luck!

CONGRATULATIONS! Your ticker says you reached your goal weight today!! Yay for you!!! Oh happy day!

I agree with you that it is a need-to-know or who I want to tell deal. Geesh, we don't tell everyone every medical procedure we have, do we? This is no different. I shared this with two of my best friends who I knew would support me and two of my six children (so far). I haven't decided if I'll tell the others before or after surgery but, again, it's not important really. My husband is 100% behind me, "Whatever makes you happy." (I've trained him well!)

Just noticed your ticker says your surgery is today. Hope it goes/went well and you're feeling great!

Isn't that the truth? Others who could lose a few pounds (or more) are so threatened when we take action, whether it's a diet we can stick with or surgery.

You get fruit??? Dang, I can only have 3 protein shakes, broth if I can't stand it any longer, and popsicles. I'd love an apple I can chew on!

Hi Everyone! New to this site and the community here. What I've read so far leads me to believe I'm in the right place. I'm encouraged just reading the other posts. My surgery is scheduled for March 19th. I've been trying to get this scheduled since October. A 'miscommunication' between my surgeon's coordinator and my insurance company created the long delay. Long story, it's over, and I'm on the schedule now so I'm happy. I've been overweight my whole life. Genetically predisposed, I guess, growing up in an Italian family where every occasion was marked with celebratory consumption of massive amounts of food with every member of the family present and bringing more food than a small village in Italy would need to survive the week. The definition of "occasion" could be a wedding, a funeral, or a Wednesday because someone said, "I think I'll go to Grandma's house today" and it traveled through the family like a prayer chain. Like most of us, I know how to diet, I don't know how to maintain. I decided on lapband because it would give me the control I lack and would allow me to keep that control the rest of my life. I seriously contemplated bypass or sleeve surgeries. Then I remembered I don't know how to maintain and I figured I'd end up being one of the statistics of those having gained all the weight back. I am not going to be that statistic! I'll roam around here and get to know everyone. I think I found the right place. Rosie

My date is March 19th - two weeks from today. I started the pre-op diet on Sunday. I tried a two-week liquid diet in November 2012, when I was first contemplating the surgery. I figured if I couldn't do it, then I could do the lapband surgery. It was a breeze. Good Luck everyone.

Good Luck!