Lori Ann

Juli, I am definitely down for going along with my husband...I am so excited......can hardly wait to meet other LBT and put some faces with some names. I look forward to seeing everyone in Vegas.

I know you don't want to hear preaching, so I am going to only tell you my experience. I am an alcoholic....I went to AA just because I wanted to slow down and learn how to control my intake of alcohol....I found out that the only requirement for membership was a desire to stop drinking.....which I had, but I had no intentions on quitting.....that was in 1996 and I haven't had a drink since then. The amount of alcohol I was consuming was about 9-10 drinks a day....everyday......at night. I had to get down to the root and cause of why I drank so much....well, it was because I was an alcoholic....and when I put alcohol in my system in any form, all bets are off and I have to have more......it sets off a phenomenon of craving that only another, another and another drink will satisfy it......some times I could control the amount and sometimes not. Usually a non-alcoholic, when they have a few too many drinks, they stop....they don't like the out of control feeling.....well, I loved it! I had finally reached a point where I wanted to be sober more than I wanted to be drunk. I have had the lapband and it is the best thing I have ever done besides quitting drinking. I wish I could have a couple of drinks sometimes, but I can't. Good Luck to you and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Dr. Steinberg is my doctor and I had surgery on May 24th. He was absolutely wonderful. I go for my 4th fill tomorrow morning. You picked the best doctor in the world. A very, very kind man. Their staff has been just a joy to work with. I went to my seminar at Dekalb and I live in Tucker Georgia. Maybe we can talk some time.

Hello, My name is Lori and my doctor is Dr. Scott Steinberg and I had my surgery done at Dekalb Medical Center....I just live 5 minutes from there in Tucker, GA....Let me tell you, he is the best doctor in the world....I had my surgery done on May 24th and I had a hard time choosing between Dr. Menachery and Dr. Steinberg, but I am sooo glad I chose Dr. Steinberg. I go for my 4th fill tomorrow morning and I have lost a little of 70 lbs.....The facilities at Dekalb are wonderful in the new wing of the hospital. I went to my meeting there also. It is so cool to find someone on line that has chosen the same doctor that I found. Good luck Shirley, I hope your experience has been as wonderful as mine.....maybe we can get together some time.

You may want to call your doctor....but I have experienced the exact same thing. Some people are different, but my doctor had me on full liquids for 2 weeks following surgery, because the stomach needs a chance to heal....I am real surprised you had tomator soup so soon after surgery, but I know doctors are different in what they recommend. Because you are having problems, I would lay off the soup and try just liquid, but I am certainly no doctor......this is just what my doctor ordered. He also told me never lay down after you have eaten....wait at least 1 hour. With your stomach still swollen from surgery, I am sure that is why your tomato soup is coming back up. But I did experience the saliva (long and stringy) coming up........just be gentle to your stomach right now and this stage will pass, but if you are scared, call your doctor. Also, I was told in the beginnig with the protein shakes, never drink anymore than 2-4 ounces at a time. Are you drinking an entire protein shake at one time? It seems to me like your stomach is telling you (too much at one time) Slow down and take it easy....give your tummy time to heal. Hope this helps, but like I said, I am NO DOCTOR....this is just what worked for me. Hope this helps.

Hi, You know, if our way worked to start with, we wouldn't have even thought about having a band. I have had to accept that my way has never worked, and if it did, it was only short term to once again be followed with more weight gain. I am 46 years old and at times I have had great will power to lose weight, but at the times when I was "emotional" eating, there was nothing there to stop me or even make me think twice about it.....then as you know it's too late. With the band as a absolutely wonderful tool, when I do have those times when I want to "emotionally" eat, the band makes me think twice, I get uncomfortable over eating and it stops me.....gives me time to think, hurts if I overeat, etc., etc., etc. There has always been a glimour of hope that I will eat normal again on my own......well I am here to tell you that is HOGWASH! My 25 years of experience show me that.....I was banded on May 24th and am down 60 lbs......I feel the best I have ever felt in my life. I no longer take meds for High Blood Pressure and I am off ALL diabetic medicine....I take no meds anymore. This is not to say my life is perfect, but the band has become my tool and my assistant when it comes to eating. I have had to admit I am powerless of food and my life was totally unmanageable until I got my band. I LOVE IT!! Also, please benefit from the experience of all the old time banders on this site.....their experience is phenominal and sooo valuable......they are our ANGELS!

I will be there along with my husband.....please count us both in. Looking forward to it!

I am all for everything you have suggested.....I love the suggestions coming from someone who has been there and done that.....thanks for all of the help TerryDoodle! OH Juli, I love your suggestion about moving it to January 18th, although I am fine with February also.......Keep in touch!

Thanks OH Juli.....I am really excited. As soon as you hear something, I can give you a call from my home phone and we can move right along. Hope all is going well for you.

Ohio Juli: Have you heard anything for our TA that was checking things out? If not, let's see what "Band Chick" has to offer.......How have you been doing? Look forward to hearing from you..

Good evening to All: OH Juli is heading up the Vegas Planners and we had a chat this evening and things are well on there way. There is a LBT travel agent that is going to gather some information for all of us and OH Juli will relay all of this information to the committee members in the next couple of days via email....but we wanted to put this message out to all of the interested people.....looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.....so if you are interested the trip will be February 1st - 3rd, 2008. Everyone is welcome. As soon as details are available, OH Juli will post the info. If anyone has any suggestions for the trip, please feel free to post. Will be talking to everyone real soon!!

Hello Las Vegas Bound Bandsters: I am really excited about this trip. Juli, I sent you an email and would love to participate or lead wherever the need be. I live in Atlanta, Georgia and was banded on May 24, 2007. I think this trip would be an excellent reward for all of our hard work....it hasn't been exactly the easy but been worth it every step of the way. Juli, let me know what the next step is and I look forward to seeing everyone in February 2008. Love to All....

I am very interested in helping out or leading....whatever the need be. I read the entire post and was disappointed to see it stopped on June 6th. Please let me know if it is still on and what we need to do to get is started and maybe plan for a trip in January or February to Las Vegas....sounds like it would be a fun fun fun time!!

I haven't been posting much, but I need to start being accountable to someone for exercise. I have been getting over 64 oz of water in every day since my surgery on May 24th. I look forward to supporting all of the May bandsters.

I was the same way you were when I came home from the hospital....I felt discouraged and wondered if I had done the right thing. I couldn't believe I went from on top of the world about the surgery to depressed. I talked to a lot of people....and they said you have to realize you have been anesthesized, pain medication and all that stuff messes with your emotions.....after a couple of days, it will pass......at least it did for me and without a doubt, I feel and know I did the best thing for myself and am very very excited again. I was banded on May 24, 2007. Good luck to you and I know you will be back to feeling good again soon!! It just takes a little time.

Hello there Georgians: My name is Lori Ann and I am from Tucker, Georgia. I was banded on the 24th of May at Dekalb Medical Center by Dr. Scott Steinberg.....he was great. I see there are some people from Stone Mountain, Decatur....we are all a skip, jump away from each other......we ought to get together sometime. Good Luck to everyone.

Good Luck and I know you will do well especially because you will be banded on my birthday. I was a secret reader for a long, long time before I ever posted anything.....it is still hard sometimes for me to post, I don't know why, but I love this site and have gotten so much support even though I have been silent alot.....but I have to remember, I need to post so other people can maybe benefit from what I have to say like I did with them. GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Who is your doctor and what is your goal?

Jackie, They don't look to see if you have consistently lost....the purpose was to exhaust all avenues of trying to lose weight.....if anything, this is a good thing, because even the supervised diet didn't work for you. You are just super nervous and I can understand. I gained on my supervised diet because of portion control......but they approved me.....they just want to see that you even tried under medical supervision. You are doing great tracking your food intake. I do that now, and it's the only way I can truly look at what I have eaten for the day. Keep up the good work and I wish you the best of luck in getting approved.....I can betcha you will be approved.

So glad to see your name again......you disappeared I thought. Enjoy your experience and frankness.....I know you deeply care about WLS!!

Wow.....you have already lost 47 lbs. That is amazing. My goodness, you just got banded not even a month ago. You are losing more weight than most people do to start. Sure, we would love for it all to fall off in 60 days, but that's not the case. There are people that go weeks and sometimes a month and don't lose. You need to really be proud of 47 lbs. in such a short time. It doesn't look like you need to do anything different. Sometimes getting on the scale repeatedly can cause you to feel down and it definitely is not a true testimony as to what is really going on in your body........not that your losing is slowing down...try weighing only once every two weeks or, once a month. Congratulations

Jodalelyn, I would be curious as to what your answers to Betsyjane questions would be....I think since she is experienced she could really help you figure out maybe where you might need some fine tuning. I always get so much from the experienced bandsters out there.......just a suggestions. Good luck and I know you will succeed. Lori Ann

I too love the Atkins Advantage shakes as well as the Slim Fast carb control. The Atkins have 15 grams of Protein and only 160 calories and are low in carbs......maybe not the highest in protein but I love the taste. I am not a strawberry person, but I love their Strawberry Shakes. Now, Slim Fast puts out a lot of different shakes but they have a relatively new one call Slim Fast Carb Control. Each drink has 20 grams of protein and 180 calories. I have tried the Creamy vanilla and they are great. I work and it is very hard to prepare in the morning so I grab a can of Atkins or Slim Fast. Also, GNC makes a chocolate Caramel Protein powder with 21 carbs per scoop that is out of this world mixed with ice and soy milk.....there are 120 calories per scoop. Thanks, Lori Ann:p

For me, I had surgery on May 24th at which time my surgeon placed the band on my stomach. He told me there would be some restriction until the swelling went down....which is exactly what has happened to me. I felt restriction and "full" the first week after surgery and now I am hungry as hell. He told me 6 weeks after surgery he would do the first fill. He did tell me people are different and what is good for one person is different for another. Some people have restriction for quite some time after surgery. I went for my check-up last Friday and he told me this was the healing phase for the band on my stomach......not the losing phase. I did lose 15 lbs but because I was on liquids....not because of restriction. Lord knows I am ready for a fill now because I am hungry even after I drink my Protein shakes. My doctor said it was normal to have 4-6 fills a year....sometimes more sometimes less......you have to find was is your "sweet spot" I have been reading this site for a year now and it seems "fills" are definitely a necessity to make the band work properly. Lori Ann

I think you know you are doing the right thing for your life right now. I have a 27 and 24 year old daughter and at first they were pissed off too. I couldn't figure it out because I know they love me dearly......but they think "mama you are fine just the way you are" and that is so far from the truth. They don't think I need to do anything except diet and exercise. When people first hear about "surgical weight loss" the red flags go up for people that don't understand this. Of course my daughters were right by my side when I had the surgery.......they now understand. I was just banded on May 24th and I was on 2 high blood pressure medications, diabetic medicine (Metformin). I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon yesterday and I have yet to take any diabetic medicine. My blood pressure is 120/78 and my blood sugar has not gone above 130.....before, even with the medicine it stayed between 200-300. My kids have witnessed this and are starting to see why I did this.....along with a better quality of life for me. Sometimes family love us to "death".......they love us unconditionally (healh wise)......but we see it differently when it comes to our health and the way we feel inside. I have never felt better emotionally and physically then I do right now. I agree with another post that sometimes they will just have to watch the transformation. Our families love us and it just comes across that they don't want us to have the surgery.....this has been my experience. Lori Ann:clap2:

My doctor or my nutritionist suggests that I don't eat anymore than 1/4-1/2 cup at a meal (mushie stage) That would be 2oz - 4oz of food. Of course, there should be no liquids introduced until 30-60 minutes after my meal. In my head it tells me that is not enough, but when I eat slowly ( which is difficult ) at the end of the meal I am really not physically hungry. My doctor said by the time I reach the solids. the entire meal should not exceed 1 cup. Lori Ann