Desi80

Like most others. I was on a downward spiral, and i wanted it to stop. The weight was just getting to be to much for my body to handle. I wanted to be around for my daughter, and i wanted to have more children , but do to my weight, my reproductive system was starting to go into failure. I didn't want to have gastric bypass because it seemed so extreme. I love my lapband , even though i'm only 3 months out. My depression has lifted, and i'm sooo much happier! I don't think i could ever regret doing this.

It is possible...and for $1 its worth buying it just in case!

Down 25...211lbs

I will try to post the pictures here Before 238

yeah, geocities only allows so many views an hour. I had no clue ya'll would use that limit so fast! lol. Give it about an hour and try again!

i was back at work in a week, but i had someone else helping me with the heavy lifting.

I removed the link and added pictures . So scroll down to my lasts post on this thread to see the pics. I don't see a whole lot of difference, but i'm glad to see the scale going in the right direction!

You can still be successfull! I've lost 27lbs since i got banded in August, and i will have an occasional treat. I piece of halloween candy here, a cookie there. Like others said when your properly restricted you can't eat more then 1 or 2 cookies anyways. I think if you ate sweets day in and out, then no you won't be successful, but an occasional treat certainly won't make you fail.

1)How much of a fill you all got the first visit? i got over 3cc's. I was a special case though because they had a REALLY hard time finding the port even with floro. I had bruises all over my stomach, so to avoid me having to come back in they gave me a bigger fill and did a barium swallow to see how restricted i was. 2)What size and brand of band? Inamed 10cc VG 3)Did your Dr. use floro or not for this first visit? yes 4)How much did you get on your second fill? None, i don't need one i am TIGHT 5)How long before you NEEDED (not got it, but needed it) your second fill? haven't need one yet and its been 3 weeks since my fill.

I went shoppin today and i tried on a pair of pants..TWO sizes smaller then my old size (22 down to an 18) needless to say i bought those pants LOL My BMI had gone down from 44.5 to 41 hard to believe that with a few more pounds gone i wouldn't even qualify for surgery!

i am not on very much anymore simply because i'm living life. Having the lapband has given me a new since of hope and a desire to enjoy life. I got a job, i'm shoppin for clothes and taking an interest in how i look. Having this surgery really made it hit home that life is as good as you make it, and i can't wait for happiness to come to me, i have to make my own happiness.

PB is when you burp and burp and burp and eventually vomit. I've done it twice since my fill on wed. It sucks, but let me tell you it teaches you REAL fast to slow down and take smaller bites and CHEW CHEW CHEW. I got out of the habit because i wasn't tight, but i learned my lesson.

I was banded august 18th and i'm doing great. I'm down 15lbs. I had my first fill on wed (12th) we did it under floro and my doctor still had a hard time getting the needle in right and ended up having to have a radiologist help her. She told me she didn't want me to have to go through this again (and i don't think she did either LOL) so she gave me 3+cc fill. Basically she put a little in and made me drink some barium and watched it go through, added a little more, swallow barium repeat until she thought she had it just about right. I'm soooo tight. I really have to eat slow, take tiny bites and chew chew chew.

I'm doing ok. Still learning how to eat again. As of right now i'm hungry alot, i'm just mananging the pain (which isn't to bad, i was off the morphine drip the very next morning) and sleeping, nothing to exciting but i'm glad to be home.

I go in at 7:30 tommorrow, good thing i have to be there bright and early cause i'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. Keep me in your thoughts and i'll see ya'll on the loosing side!

I just want you to know, that i'm right there with you. My surgery is in a week, and my emotions change every 5 minutes. Sometimes i'm happy, sometimes i'm nervous, sometimes i'm calm and sure, other times i'm completley ready to chicken out. Usually when i'm feeling down and scared, I will look at the before and after pictures on this board, and read everyones NSV, and i know i'm doing the right thing REALLY deep down.

well, i'm going to be honest. TO ME, being fat is BAD, no like a murder or child molester bad, but like smoking bad. Being fat changes your quality of life. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, bladder problems, diabeties,(the list goes on and on) are all BAD for you. Not that you are a bad person, but the fat itself is bad. That doesn't mean i want my kids to aim to be stick then, but being HEALTHY is important, and to be healthy you have to exercise and eat right, and its better to get into those habits while the kids are healthy and able to, and not 20 years down the road when you get winded walking to the mail box.

Thats why your Protein shakes (especially whey protein which has all the essensial amino acids) are so important as well as exercise to build up your muscles. I have one friend who has 120g of protein a day because she is RNY. All i know is i'm going to make sure i get atleast 60g of protein a day even if that means i have to have 1 or 2 protein shakes a day for the rest of my life.

my daughter is a little chunky, i've decided that once i'm banding she is going to go on a similar diet. No more sodas, high sugar juice, it will be Water, crystal light, etc. No more Cookies, fruit Snacks ets, except on a rare occasion (rare meaning once a month) My local junior high school has a paved race track, so when i go for my walks , i'll put her on her bike or scooter so she can exercise as well. Hopefully this well help her maintain her wait as she grows and she'll thin out a bit. I know she will learn healthy habits from me, so i'm going to show her now.

i won't be banded till next week, but my surgeon does not require a pre-op diet.

This is my understanding on how it works. Your metabolism is based on how much energy you burn, how much energy you burn is based on how much muscle you have. Your muscle is Protein, so to prevent your body from going after your muscle for energy/vitamins, thats why the protein shakes/60+g of protein a day is soooo important. My surgeon has told me it more important to make sure i get that 60g of protein and take my multi Vitamin, then it is to get 1200 calories. So basically she rather see me get 60g of protien and only get in maybe 900 calories vs eating high calorie food with little protein.

i plan on having a couple more babies a couple years down the road after i've been banded. My doctor is very supportive off it, and says thats one of the great things about the band.

a rider, is when your employer specifically allows for wls as part of your health care coverage.

like the others said. It all realy depends on your insurance coverage. I had $25 co pays, for my physicals, and psyc eval. I have to pay a $400 deposit prior to surgery, and of course i'm responsible for anything above and beyond wha the insurance will pay. Considering that this is a $18,000 surgery, i feel like i'm getting a pretty good deal out of it.

Just a word of warning. The equate plus nuritional suppliment is high in carbs , but they do have a diet shake thats low in carbs, but its a little lower in protein (10 vs 13) so trying the diet shake vs the nutritional suppliment with some protein powder might be a better oprion for those who are watching their carbs.