hypband

don't ignore what your gut is telling you. I did and it caused some complications. if a band is to tight the food starts to go back up the esophagus causing spasms and pain. if you are pb'ing frequently you may cause your band to slip. so please call your doctor.

Looks like you were recently banded?
If so, the best thing to do is regular visits to your Dr. with honest reports about how you're doing.....it is his/her goal to be sure the band is doing what he/she intended it do.
I would not second guess anything at this point....after a year or 2 you will get to know all the little idiosyncrasies about YOUR band, in regards to you and not anyone else's experiences....all are different., and it's important to learn to know and listen to your band....
What I may tell you what I do in particular situations, may not be true for you...and can even cause harm....
I have learned it's one thing for veterans to share war stories, and it's another thing for those just starting out....that's why this forum can get very confusing with so many conflicting views...
BTW, after surgery, even after my first fill, I started to gain weight...Dr, said to me "No big deal" until we get the band and me, adjusted just right...took around 4-6 months, and everything has been smooth sailing ever since....that was over 3 years ago....
So stick with your Dr.....ask him/her these type of questions.

Thank you for your down to earth advice. I survived this phase without gaining weight and just had my first fill.

You can also weigh out your food till you know the signs of satiety. I saw Despina during one of my first post op visits and she suggested I try it. So for lunch and dinner, I usually do 3 oz Protein, 1/2 cup veggies, 1/4 cup of carbs.
I still weigh out food when I'm home. I stay at or around 1,150 calories daily and I've lost all my excess weight doing it this way. Eventually you will know the signs of satiety but for now, you might want to try this.

you likely won't feel the fullness yet. at this stage in your progress you need to measure your food. and be hungry most of the time. head games are at their strongest at this stage. eat healthy and get into the habit to eat Protein first. vegetables second. watch your calorie intake.

Many of us were able to eat as before surgery. Till your band is adjusted it's just another diet.
Going back to liquids serves no purpose. Use this time to fill up on healthy food. Protein first then veggies.

Name, real or screen~ Ashley Smith
Goal weight for June 30th~199
Weight on June 1st~223
Age~27
City/State~Huntington WV
Dietary goal for June~ Eat right - salads and low carb foods.
Exercise goal for June~ walk/bike and zumba more than once a week
Personal goal for June~ not to get discouraged because I have been at a stall for months. Getting discouraged that my weightloss had slowed/stopped.
Surgery date - 2/20/13
Total weight loss since surgery- 133 pounds
Favorite Summer Activity? Riding bikes. Walking at the Park. Being in the pool.

I don't think about any of that; it's irrelevant to me /background chatter. I just know that this is what I need to do to be healthy.

Yesterday we celebrated my son's bday at a nearby waterpark. As I'm setting there on my chair soaking up some rays, I happen to look over and realize the diving boards staring right at me. I remember thinking to myself yeah right you can't jump off that, everyone will stare at you and laugh. Then I realized, hey I'm NOT 289lbs any more, it was almost as if I had forgotten my size now, so with a happy smile on my face I jumped right out of my chair made my way up the tall ladder and took a splash off the high dive....man was it fun especially when I realized that people weren't looking at me thinking this lady is going to drain the pool .....haha. As silly as this may sound I can't tell you how great this made me feel, especially when I looked over to see my kids, hubby and family all looking at me cheering me on:-) Good times!!!

I haven't been on since my appointment last Thursday, but after sedating me and doing a Fluro they found out my port got pushed up and flipped. So he during that he put me to sleep, fixed and filled it! I am so happy we got it all fixed, I've lost 12 pounds since last surgery and I feel great! My port is much more noticable because he moved it up and put some mesh around it so it will stay in place. We are pretty sure it happend from me working because I doo a lot of bending over counters and reaching and bending, so I am on light duty for a month, but that's ok because I don't want to go through that again. I am so excited for my follow up with him this coming Friday. I think I might need it filled just a lil more, but I will discuss that with him then. Thanks to everyone who commented and gave me suggestions on my post about not being able to find my port, it helps knowing tat some people have the same issues. I hope know everything goes good from here on out and I can be on here more. I really love this website, it helps so much. Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

I don't experience spasms on a regular basis. in fact I can only remember one. it was a doozy about 4 mos after surgery. after all day of pain I finally drank hot tea with honey. I didn't drink per say just took little sips and I mean little. the spasm resolved when I took this approach. this is one problem I would bring up with your doctor. it maybe something entirely different than a spasm. and there might be something like medication to help. call your doctor.

A little background. I live in NYC and take mass transit everywhere as I don't own a car. So..some of my NSVs surround train and bus seats. Today, it was the metal benches at some of the stops on the PATH trains that run between NY and NJ.
I used to sit on the bench and put my workbag down on the seat next to me rather than on the floor. I'd move it of course if someone wanted to sit. Well now I realize I can fit both myself and my bag in the same space. I don't have to worry about moving it if someone wants the seat. I know it's a silly kind of NSV but it's one none the less and it's nice to be reminded even if the scale is pretty stable, that you can still have these nice moments.
Have a great Friday everyone. We're expecting a terrific weekend here in the Big Apple....sunny blue skies and warm temps. What more can you ask for? I think it's finally time to pull out the capri slacks I bought in Florida...lol.

Today is here and I'm leaving in 20 minutes to go have my Lapband. I'm excited but so nervous,
I'm never gonna be able to gulp a drink again..lol
Sounds silly! I'm already forgetting how much and what liquids for the first week. Gotta be my nerves, please say a prayer . I GOT THIS!
H&H Which means the new healthy and hot me. Lol
Ok here I go.... To be continued later ????????????

Good Morning,
My name is Kellie and I will be putting together a local chapter for Macomb County and surrounding areas. I am in the initial phase of looking for a meeting site and gathering information. I will update meeting information as quickly as I can.
A little background on me, I had my Gastric Bypass surgery 01/03/2012 and am almost to goal. I want to give back to the community and I feel I have my life back after this surgery.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions!! Have a great day everyone!!

My name is Knapptown and I have just completed my Lapband surgery on 5/29/14. A little background - I am a 45 yr old male 6'3 - former football player. My weight had been gradually increasing since I laid my helmet down in 1994. When My career was over - I weighed 295lbs. The month prior to my operation - I weighed in at 355lbs. Although the weight I picked up in 25 years was just 60 lbs.... Carrying 295 lbs as a football player @ 25 is VASTLY different from carrying 355 lbs as a 45 year old man. I had no interest in carrying this type of weight into my late 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. So I maned up and banded up. I have several complications that go along with obesity - low back pain, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and a host of others. Furthermore, I am in love with food! Not just the eating part, but the pageantry that goes along with dining. Fun to me is a 4 hour dinner at a great restaurant with 20 friends. But a week after my surgery I can already tell you it was the best decision I ever made. I am down 20lbs in one week and I realize that I have completely embraced this new lifestyle.

I was banded on March 18, 2013 - over a year ago. I remember when I was thinking about having the surgery, I was obsessed with the speed... I had upcoming events (weddings, vacations, etc.) and I continued imagining what I would look like in 3 months, 6 months, etc. I was so frustrated and disappointed as I read on this site about everyone just dropping weight left and right. I lost about 20 pounds pre op (and so my real starting weight was about 240) and then another 10 or so in the first 6 months. I had fill after fill after fill... I took small bites and ate high Protein, but I was still pretty hungry and could eat 1.5 cup portions without a problem. So, I read - these pages and posts and guess what? My story was a dime a dozen, so I just didn't post or complain, because what everyone says - and what I needed to hear, was that THIS IS MY JOURNEY. It might not be the same as everyone else's. Not everyone starts losing immediately... I needed 7 fills before I reached the green zone and I really didn't start losing until 8 months after my surgery. BUT, I learned a ton about patience and I believe I needed those months to adjust to my lifestyle and to learn to love myself a little more. So, today I'm just under 180 and I feel great. My goal is to be 150 - 160, but I'm happy at the pace I'm losing (about a pound a week). Slow losers, don't get discouraged. Stay in contact with your doctor and just keep going For those of you that do post often, thank you - although I wasn't posting, I was certainly reading and feeling supported.
Peace, Rina

I hit the weight goal my doctor suggested back in March. So at this point, I just weigh myself on the first day of each month. It's part of my transition to maintenance. No more myfitnesspal and no more weighing daily or weekly. I'm really trying to do this without the crutches of tracking everything I eat or every ounce I gain/lose.
I looked down at the scale and saw it said 139.6 and was dumbfounded. I haven't been in the 130's since I was a very young woman. Even when I dropped alot of weight in the early 90's, I never got below 150 lbs.
I felt like I was walking on air today just running around doing my errands, going to the Y, just regular stuff. I swear, even with the back pain, and the other crap going on, I am happier than I've been in years. Thank you lap band.

You’re tired of your old body – the fat one that’s caused you so many problems – but are you ready to move into a new one?


The idea for this article came to me in a dream.
It was what I call an anxiety dream, in which I’m trying to accomplish something important but encounter obstacles everywhere I turn. That’s kind of a parable of life itself, isn’t it? When I wake from a dream like that, I feel frustrated because I didn’t get to finish my dream task, but at the same time I’m relieved to be released from the endless struggle.
So in this particular dream, I was moving into a new, multi-story house, kind of like the old tenement buildings you see in dying New England mill towns. It was essential that I quickly locate and organize all my belongings so that I could use them to start an urgent and important project. Every time I carried something into another room to put it away, I would find other people there, already moving my stuff, wreaking havoc on my carefully ordered household. When I went back outside for another load of stuff, more people would be poking through it as if it was so much garbage left out to be collected and buried at the dump. These interfering people ignored my pleas to leave my things alone. For every armful I took into the house, they carried out ten.
Then my husband started a load of wash in the laundry room a few feet away from the bedroom, and the sound of the washer’s spin cycle woke me up. Thank God.
I trudged off to the bathroom, pondering the meaning of the dream. I haven’t moved into a house for 14 years, so why was I having a dream about moving house? As I made the bed and thought more about the dream (which didn’t want to leave my head just then), I suddenly knew what it was about.
My big moving project for the past 6 years hasn’t involved moving into a new house. It’s involved moving into a new body. Like any move into the unknown, it’s been both exciting and scary. I no longer have a jumbo, custom-built pantry to hold 50+ years’ worth of bad habits and warped beliefs about myself. I keep forgetting where I’ve put things, and have sabotaged my own efforts numerous times. At times, circumstances beyond my control have put my new “home” into disarray, but I’ve kept working at it, carrying things in, bringing things out, rearranging things…a seemingly endless task.
I think I’m pretty much settled now. I watch elderly people who have to work so hard to accomplish the simplest tasks – sit down, get up, button a shirt, open a jar – and remember my mom talking about the way her body had betrayed her as she aged. I suppose that could happen to me sooner or later. But for right now, I’m in a good place: my new body - the home I carry with me everywhere.
As you continue on your weight loss journey, please take good care of your body. You may not like it much now, but it’s your home. Your very own home. As it changes, you will have to learn its new floor plan. When you go to a closet to fetch a size 16 dress and find only size 18’s, you may feel so disoriented that you forget the size 20, 22 & 24’s you took to the Goodwill Store last week. As you pass through the front hallway of this new home and see yourself in the mirror, the person you see might look like a complete stranger. What’s she doing there? She’s fat, I’m not, so why is her reflection all I can see? Where did this mirror come from, anyway, the funhouse at a circus?
Don’t give up. One day you’ll have all the curtains hung, the walls painted, the furniture arranged, a fire burning in the fireplace, and you’ll think, “I’m so glad to be home.”

Was telling my husband last night how much I really hated the liquid portion of this diet. I just want some texture! But I was a good girl and I still put my cream Soup in the blender to knock out any unwanted chunks. Welp, this morning as I'm getting ready for work I pull my scrubs put of the dryer and throw them on. OMG! They are fitting comfortably!! I don't have to tug at the fabric to loosen my tight spots I don't have to bend to stretch out my top to make sure it's fitting right! It's hanging comfortably on me! And I feel great in them! I am 6 days post op and I'm already down 22 lbs! Who knew this feeling would be so awesome?!

I was banded this morning! I was so nervous and excited! Everything went well, they found a large upset and stitched it up. Other than that, no complications. I have been getting up after every nap to walk around the house for 10-15 min. I feel a lot of pressure in my left shoulder, which they said the walking will help. Hopefully that means it will help quickly!