srussell8

Good for you! I'm glad you have not succumbed to the fear. I have followed the thread you are talking about and I find it absolutely absurd! If I watched enough grisly footage of car or plane crashes, I'd never get on another plane or drive anywhere again. Yes - there are risks. And if you are one of the ones who happen to be on that particular airplane, then it's no longer a remote risk - it's very real and very life changing. I suppose if I were in a plane crash and had my legs amputated, I might very well try to discouraged anyone I meet from ever getting on an airplane. I might even consider it my mission in life to save unsuspecting people from airplanes.

But the number of people who die in plane crashes are massively outnumbered by the many people who get safely to their destination. Some get there safely but with a lot of hassles, others travel hassle free.

I've had a very safe and hassle free trip with my band. Others have hassles and still others have not been safe. But I still get on planes when I want to and I would still choose to live with my lapband.

Choose a reputable airline (clinic) and know your pilot (surgeon). No matter what your journey is like, you are already successful if you have learned to believe in yourself again. You recognize that this is not a magic cure - you will still ultimately be responsible for the outcome. By choosing to go forward with the surgery, you are accepting that responsibility and can trust yourself to do what is necessary to be successful. You've already demonstrated that by your willingness to ask questions and keep asking until you get those questions answered.

Not only can you do this, you already are doing this!!! :-)

Shelly

One of the reasons it's so confusing is that every doctor has a little different take on things. The one hard and fast rule I was told when I started was 60 grams of protein a day. Fall below that and you risk health problems and (for me) hair loss.

The calorie thing is what varies the most, I think. One reason is because it's different based on whether you are pre-op, post-op or well into your journey and past the post-op healing stage. My surgery was 7 years ago, so it's not real fresh for me. But I remember my doctor telling me to shoot for 600-800 calories a day. Now, I am trying to keep it at 700 net calories per day (intake minus exercise), which usually amounts to taking in 1000-1200 calories per day, depending on how much exercise I do.

The best thing that ever happened to me was My Fitness Pal. It's an app that helps track calories and exericse. Because it's on my phone, I can quickly and easily keep up with what goes in my mouth right then, rather than trying to remember later. Plus, it has a very large database of foods already in it so I don't have to try to figure it out. It does all the math and tracks protein, sodium, fat, cholesterol, etc all at the same time.

Like I said, I've had my band for 7 years and I have never in my life - before the band or after - met with a nutritionist. I didn't realize that was kind of weird until I joined this site and everyone was talking about meeting regularly with their nutritionist. Hopefully your doctor will have you see someone for that, so they can give you concrete guidelines to make life easier, rather than trying to figure it out on your own. If it's not offered or required, ask for it! I wish I had!

Shelly

Yes - the saggy skin and boobs are not much fun. But it's one of those trade-offs I'm willing to make. I have told myself now for the past 7 years that when I get to goal and stay there for a year, I will have the surgery to remove the skin and give the girls a lift. I'm 45 and my boobs sag to my knees now. But they are still pretty big (which I like) and my husband has a sense of humor. And guess what - I have a husband, which I didn't have before I lost the weight :-) So I'll take the girls being saggy in exchange for what I've gotten in return. I'll admit that swimsuit shopping is brutal because of the saggy thighs.

When you've lost more weight and if you can - I highly recommend you go to a specialty lingerie store if at all possible for a personal bra fitting. I wear a 36G now - I had no idea!! The bras I buy now cost a small fortune (to me, anyway - about $75-$90 each) but they are totally worth it! My husband and I may know that my boobs sag to my knees, but no one else does! They stand tall and proud in their expensive slings. And there are 2 now instead of a uni-boob!

Keep your sense of humor! Hang in there! (The girls sure will - Bahahahahahah!!!)

Shelly

How exciting! I'm so happy for you! It is so much fun to see that kind of progress - be proud and enjoy it!

Shelly

Good for you! You're not just going to do this - you ARE doing this!!! Keep working on increasing that water intake and moving your body. Hang in there! To this day the best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life was my first scrambled egg after surgery! I had been on a 6 week pre-op liquid diet, then the clear liquids and full liquids post-op. I will never forget that first egg!

Go Adrienne!

Shelly

Very poignant! I, too, have always - at least since 2nd grade, been fat. I never dated until I lost the weight. Part of that was my whole thing about hiding and protecting myself (completely unaware of it of course!). But my dysfunctional strategy worked so well because staying fat made me invisible. Honestly - when in situations where meeting people or the possibility of romantic relationships was there, it never occurred to me that anyone might consider me. I intuitively knew that I was not on the menu. In junior high, when my boy-crazy best friend and I went to 6 Flags (or anywhere, really), I was just an audience as she flirted with every male she saw. She saw them and they saw her. But I was invisible to everyone until their encounter was over. When we went to church camp, the goal of the week was to have a boyfriend/girlfriend by the time we left. Eight summers of church camp - not one boyfriend. Not even a nibble.

Now, like I said, I have to take full responsibility and don't get to whine about how shallow people are and "poor, lonely, fat, me," because I made my choices. I spent waaaayyyy too many years on that pity pot. That does not, however, change the fact that because I did not fit the mold -(literally could not have fit into that mold...) I was a non-entity.

I have a dear friend who is partially paralyzed due to a stroke many, many years ago. Now that I am "visible" to the world, I am shocked when we go somewhere and she is the invisible one. People will acknowledge me and completely pretend they never saw her. I pray that I never become so accustomed to being "normal" that I treat others with such disregard.

Shelly

I think it's part of the addiction... I also did that in prior attempts to lose.. If the scale didn't read the right # I would go on a binge.. If people said oh you're doing good with your weight loss, I somehow took that to mean go ahead and eat...I think it's a fear of failure or success not sure which... maybe a psychologists can figure it out.. however, since being banded I am in more control than ever before.. You can do it.. just concentrate on your victories and imagine yourself in a new smaller outfit... work food is the worse.. I am lucky I don't have to face that anymore.. I work at home but I have managed to keep the bad stuff to a minimum...

Well, crap! I AM a psychologist... I don't think this is a good sign... :-/

Shelly

Please don't let anyone scare you about this journey! Each person's experience is unique. I have had my band for 7 years and had many fills. Never has it hurt or caused me any problems after a fill. And this with a needle phobia! tiny little sting when they start the lidocain injection, but I have never felt anything associated with a fill after that.

After only 8 days, you are feeling good and noticing a change in how you function, and apparently other people are noticing positive changes as well. WooHoo! Celebrate baby!!!

When I first got my band, I didn't really know anyone else who had one and didn't do any kind of support group. I think now that may have been good for me because I didn't hear any horror stories or other things that messed with my head.

Just follow the rules and do whatever your doc tells you. You are already rockin' this!!!

Shelly

I know that it may be different for different people, but I've had my band for 7 years, and I've never had an experience that was that awful. I remember right after I got the band and was first back on real food. I stopped and got a breakfast burrito. The first bite of the tortilla got stuck. It did hurt but it wasn't excruciating.

The hardest lesson for me then - and still is - that you can no longer just have a quick bite when you are in a hurry. No matter how late you are or how little time you have, you must eat slowly and chew well. As long as I do that, I don't have problems. There may be foods I have to be more careful with (such as steak, heavy bread, tortillas) but I have never found anything that I absolutely cannot eat. As long as I'm willing to chew enough, it's fine (maybe you could say tough steak or pork is out of the question for me if I just can't chew it up enough). Most of the time, though, I just try to avoid bread and stuff just because I don't want to work that hard.

As for "frothing" or "Sliming" - no one told me about that and I sort of discovered it on my own. It happens to me mostly when I've tried to go too fast. It's really not painful to me - as Kime-lou said it's more of a pressure. There is no nausea and I don't really throw up (as in when you have a bug and throw up). It's actually more like a cough and there it is. I think regular vomiting is much worse than the experience of "sliming." I think it must be alot like spitting up for a baby. There just isn't any more room and it can't go down so it must come up.

As I said, I've had my band for 7 years and never had a single complication or real problem with it. I never did any type of support group or online support until a few months ago when I started visiting this site to get myself back on track and focused. Yet even after 7 years of no problems, I started to kind of get freaked out and a little bit panicky as I read some of the horror stories posted here. I'm not doubting that the folks who posted them were telling the truth. It's just never been true for me and I have no real reason to expect that it will.

Try not to freak out because of some of the bad experiences others have had. For all the people that have had difficulties there are also those of us who have never had problems. I think the people who don't have problems just don't post as much because they don't think about it. Really - there does come a day when it's just a normal part of your life and you don't even think about the band at all.

I love it!!! I soooo know what you are experiencing - right down to the wedding dress. And yes, I rocked that strapless gown and you will too!

So I initially lost 140 pounds and then gained back 50. Now I'm back on the band wagon and working hard. I went shopping this weekend and was so pumped because instead of the 18s being tight, I was getting into 16s! Then, as I was bragging to my husband, I showed him the tag on the shorts and found that I had accidentally picked up -drum roll please - a 14! Not only did I not notice, I could wear them! (Pre-surgery I was a 28, sometimes 30).

OK - so the scale says I gained 5 pounds while on vacation. DON'T CARE! It's working and I'm loving it!

Ride this high! It's motivation and you deserve to wallow in success!!!

Shelly

I'm very happy for you and I completely get it! I had a fill for the first time in years a few weeks ago. I was terrified that because I had defeated the band for so long that it would no longer work.

I play those mind games and they are torture. However - I am getting back to the place where I am beginning to quit eating when I notice the signals. AND - feeling grateful that the band is working, rather than feeling sad or angry because I have to stop but still want more. Gratitude works wonders for me!

Shelly

That's why I'm here on this site. In the 7 years of having the band, I've never participated in any sort of support group or even electronic forum. This is such an intensely personal issue for me, that I have a hard time letting my poker face slip. But that's all part of the problem for me, so I decided to get and give support so that it's not all about me for once.