Jachut

True - and i nevr ever eat Soup with anything such as crackers, lol

I just had two inguinal ones repaired, those are where lumps appear in your groin caused by small intestine coming though the muscle layer (mine was weakened by a surgical incision) or down the inguinal canal

Well dont ask me, ive been below goal for years and my body demons have not gone away. I havent suddenly accepted myself at mormal weight, I lways think about losing more and staying at a BMI of 20 takes quite a lot of focus and energy. So.... Life hasnt really changed that much in that sense. Dont get me wrong, I Love my new body, i enjoy being thin, i wake up thankful very day. But I ill never be a persn who just doesn think about what they eat or weigh. Im happy though. It doesnt overwhelm my life, and I dont live on a diet. I guess if anyhing Ive shifted focus to fitness achievements, Im a running fanatic.

So glad youre getting better Shirley, weve missed your optimism around here.

I did have sleeve envy for the longest while though. When i had to unfill for cancer treatment, i was under a lot of pressure to GAIN weight from my doctors - everyone has that plump = healthy ideal and a chemo patient at low normal weight freaks everyone out. Then wgen it was all over, I had to pitch a fit to get the idiot doctor I was seeing to fill me again as she said I wasnt overweight - i had yo go over her head and see my surgeon and he was reluctant too, suggested I gain back up to a BMI of 25. I stress i was nit ubderweight, just slim. I hought if I had the sleeve nobody could ake that restriction away from me, come cancer, surgery or even complications. And you could get thin with nobody threatening to take your tool away until you plump up enough to satisy THEIR demons.

Firstly, relax, ripping a stitch would not take away restriction, you can eat more because youre healing. You would not necessarily know youve done it, but your body ill continue to heal and form scar tissue to hold your band firmly regardless of one or two less stitches. I know how you feel lol, I had a tummy tuk a bit over two weeks ago and if Ive sneezed once, Ive sneezed a thousand freakin times and each time it feels loke Ive popped every single stitch! I dream about my tummy unravelling! Ah, tantrums. What a joy. Even more so when said child is 14 and overtired from staying up all night!

Yeah, i wouldnt want to be a bad influence, but Id be making a few of my own rules. I wouldnt say that to a newbie, but youve been round the block, you kniw what youre doing. And I would NOT be giving up vegies, which are actually allowed on diets like Optifast. Look at the bright side though, new tummy, but of extra weight loss, you are going to b looking spectacular!

I can eat it, but dont often want it, since it inexplicably tastes unsatifsying and not as nice as it smells when I have restriction. When I unfilled last year for a surgery - bread tasted great again - got some fill in, didnt taste so good. sometimes I really want a piece of toast and have it and really enjoy it. More often I make it, take a bite and feel nauseous, it just doesnt taste right. Its so weird. I also really want to enjoy an apple, but that's another thing that although i can eat, it tastes wrong to me.

Red how? If its getting a bit hot, swollen and red around the scar, keep an eye on it and watch out for infection. The scars themselves - all scars tend to go through a process where they get worse before they get better. Right after surgery they dont look like much, then as the skin begins to heal, they get bigger and colour up with that ever so attractive red or purple hue for a few months, then after that they fade and flatten over a year or two.

That is truly phenomenal weight loss!!! It took me years to lose less than that. You should be so very proud of yourself, but moreover, you must just be over the moon! I've found that when I've explained to doctors how much weight I've lost (for me its abotu 45kgs) they are literally gobsmacked, even my lapband doctor. It just truly doesnt happen that often, its very rare for people to be able to lose that much weight and keep it off. I find it takes over whatever the reason for my appointment is, as whichever doctor I'm seeing wants to know all about it. So you're one in a million!

Sad but true. A dedication to diet and a big overhaul of your exercise could get you to where you want to go. Unfortunately once you reach that magic BMI weight loss gets very hard. It took me a couple of YEARS to lose that last big of weight that took me from an OK BMI of 25 down to the 20 I was really happy with. And it takes me an hour of running a day and fairly constant control of my diet to stay there. Its just not easy whatever way you cut it. Sleeves bring their own problems - such as reflux and too much acid production and if you head over to verticalsleevetalk you will see that people complain about things like constantly making poor food choices or not having a "tight" enough sleeve and that they can eat too much. Doesnt mean you cant/shouldnt do it, but its not likely to be a magic bullet. Just like thinking that going really really tight with your band rarely works to lose lots of weight fast.

Really? I have found the complete opposite, people can be vety hostile, assuming I am vain, trying to steal their husbands or that i will hog all he male attention. Even my friends make jokes about how they dont want to sit next to me at dinner becase i mak them feel like they eat like pigs. Overall, i felt a lot less "different" when i was a dumpy bmi 36 30 something mum of young kids. People obviously feel threatened by living proof that obesity is often simply a lazy choice and that a determined person CAN simpky decide noto be like that any more.

Ive only had issues since having a bowel resection, after about five years banded. Having no rectum, im never going to have totally normal bowel function, but I am driven crazy by that need to go when nothing us there feeling, and I caused myself inguinal hernias by pushing and straining. This is what my colorectal surgeon, who began his career doing lapbands thinks. The simple fact is, as bandsters we dont put enough into our system to aways have a sizeable bowrl motion every day - every two or three days is not a problem if uts not difficul to pass when you do go. But to bulk things up and hlp form a larger stool you need a high fibre diet - and lots of soluble fibre, s o bread, Pasta and cereals are vital and I take - wait for it - four tablespoons of metamucil throughout the day with lots if Fluid. It creates bulk by gelling - gives me almost diarrhoea but helps to minimise that maddening phantom poo feeling.

Cardio coach is AWESOME. So is My Treadmill Trainer, same thing, different trainer. Google them. If you think you cant motivate yourself to get through a 40 minute workout, the time will fly by. And it makes you work hard, not waste your time at really low intensity. My Treadmill Trainer has hill walking workouts for the treadmill also. All the way up to 16% incline, its a killer, and my treadie only goes up to 12%. I'm going to use that whilst I recover from my tummy tuck - not doing anything just yet - to get in a good cardio workout without the pounding of running, which I'm not allowed to do for six weeks.

Is it continuing to change Tammy? I cant believe how much swelling there really is, it LOOKS flat but a day or two later it'll lose a bit of the swelling and I'll think whoa, that was HUGE two days ago. It takes soooooooooo long to see the real effect of this surgery.

I was running within a few weeks of my surgery, but step is a lot more complex than running - something I realised when I did a few classes after a 20 year hiatus. My 44 year old knees and hips can cope with a fairly heavy running and spinning schedule but not with a step class or two. So take your time and take it easy, give it perhaps six weeks.

Oh, multiple times. This simply isnt about getting a band and being perfect for the rest of your life. Its about being healthy and sensible most of the time, and getting back on the wagon each and every time you fall off it.. There's always going to be events, holidays, stressful periods, whatever. I have some habits I can keep up no matter what - those are small portions and exercise. Others - such as food choices - wax and wane. Sometimes I eat **** for weeks on end. I have a real problem with sugar and can survive for weeks on Cookies, muffins, Cereal and Pasta. I dont often gain more than a pound or two because I do exercise it off. But its not healthy for m,e. I do believe ,many people can be pretty faultless for a year or even two, but in reality the effect of the band on your body DOES lessen over time - no matter the restriction you will find that years down the track you can eat more and can even eat things like bread that you couldnt eat before. So it is, to my way of thinking, more important to work on those life skills - how to get back on the wagon, how to fit exercise into your daily routine forever, how to manage eating out, holidays and the like - much more so than patting yourself on the back because you're living on Protein shakes and egg whites three months into the journey. In the end, you have to live a real life in the real world and most people cannot maintain their enthusiasm for a life of Protein Shakes and egg whites. It is NEVER too late to simply start over and get back in the groove.

What - taking the tape off ? No, not really, it did cause a few sort of twinges, that strangely I felt not where they occurred. My belly is all horribly numb, its really a creepy feeling. Or if you mean the tummy tuck - really no. The first few days I had a PCA which I didnt need to overly use but morphine is a pretty darn great pain medicine, so I wasnt in pain. What it is is uncomfortable and frustrating. I had four days in hospital - here, its not a kick you out the next day procedure and as a private patient, I can pretty much stay as long as I want within reason. So I was jackknifed inm bed - elevated back and knees up over pillows. I got a sore neck from sleeping like that and my bum was killing me. But by the next morning I was able to get up, shower anmd sit in a chair. Not sure HOW I would have managed at home wihtout the adjustable bed, shower chair, all that sort of stuff. The drains are a nuisance, very disgusting to look at and just hurt a tad where they go in as they pull. I hate being catheterised and hooked up to an IV so had to tolerate that for two days. Got a sore back from walking all hunched over and was dying for a full, all in shower, but its one limb at a time, keep the tummy dry for a week or two. Its taken me two weeks to walk upright, during that time, I've gotten stiff and sore. The swelling of the tummy makes it incredibly tight, which again is not painful, just uncomfortable. You just want to shake off the tightness and move normally but its a long process. I get very tired just doing stuff, I've had three weeks off work and I'm goimg to take a fourth because as a teacher, I work on my feet. I'm no wimp when it comes to pain, I ran 7kms ten days after a huge bowel resection but this time, I truly cant do that and I truly cant get through my normal day without swelling up and tightening up and getting extremely tired. But nothing really "hurts". Apart from sneezing, coughing and laughing. And DH and I havent gotten jiggy yet because if those things hurt, you can bet any sort of satisfying sex will, lol.

I didnt have one foot in the grave, and the cosmetic effect of this surgery was probably the largest factor in my decision - and I'm not ashamed of that. I hated how I looked, hated myself, was miserable. Now I'm proud of what I've achieved. I was a low BMI too, 36 at surgery but to me that was the fattest I had ever been and the fattest I ever wanted to become. BUT - huge but - how many health problems have I forestalled by doing this? I still got cancer, but my colorectal surgeon said to me outright that the likelihood of a permanent colostomy if I hadnt lost all this weight was very very high - reason being that my cancer was low in the rectum, very difficult to access so far down in the pelvis. Yes, I have a nice wide, shallow pelvis that is a big factor, but being able to a) get into the area though a huge mound of abdominal fat and b ) stretch the remaining colon past all that flubber is very difficult in obese people. High blood pressure, cholesterol and heart attacks run in my family, strongly. But my stats are perfect. They sure werent six years ago, not terrible, but not great either. My excellent fitness is the strongest factor I have going for me to prevent cancer recurrence - exercise is a huge preventative - I never could have achieved that without the band, it was a complete package for me. My energy, my health, my ability to beat a deadly disease, I'm just not sure I would have even had the courage to go to my doctor to report that my bowel habits had changed because I was so ashamed and embarrassed of my body. I've had every man and his dog up my backside in the past two years, I've had to be naked on an operating table four or five times, I've had to have treatment every day for six weeks naked on the lower half in front of two very nice youg guys - all horrible invasive, traumatic but so so much more bearable because I wasnt totally consumed with thinking that THEY were thinking what a horrible fat old slug. It sounds so trivial in the face of how sick i was but it really realy mattered to me and made the whole thing easier. It could have all been so different, I could be sitting here today with a permanent colostomy hanging off my huge bulging gut, weighing god knows what now, I'm pretty sure in my old life the stress would have caused me a large weight gain. Instead I had the focus of keeping a strong hold of what I'd achieved and that got me through it, even though people thought I was insane to still be running and going to the gym whilst having chemo. Nuff said, its life changing no matter WHAT your reasons for doing it.

I was going once a year or so, for a tiny top up fill. I found I needed that at about that interval. Then I had to unfill for another big surgery and have been seven or eight times in the last twelve months to get back to normal.

Mine was extremely visible, looked like someone had put a walnut under my skin - I was always more pear shaped and never carried a lot of tummy fat, so I've gotten very slim in the mid section. It really really stuck out, I could even see some of the tubing. I had a tummy tuck two weeks ago and my PS moved the port to right next to my new belly button and took the back off it to reduce the profile (there was no profile port for my seven year old band). It is virtually invisible now, as the belly button area has a bit more fat than those hollow bits under the ribs, lol. I'm very pleased, I didnt realise it bothered me as much as it did, but I'd trade the tummy tuck scar (which is a little on the high side, as I didnt have a lot of skin to work with, my tuck was for reconstructive purposes due to other surgeries) in an instant for that big bobbly lump. However, my PS did say it was half unstitched.

For me, simpl begin to feel full, just like I did in preband days only sooer. If I ignor it my nose might start to run a bit, or i get a phlegmy cough.

Thats what i dont get either, and the reason for my sarcasm. Does one person really think shes stumbled on information none of the rest of us could find? Its being taken as an attack because it takes a bit of an ego to simply come out and state your opinion to what is likely to be a hostile audience assuming others wont already have considered your genius arguments and could therefore benefit from your benevolent wisdom. Youve researched, youve considered, youve made a different choice, one thats right for you. Great! So go do it and discuss itnwith others who have made similar choices. Ive been banded almost seven years. No problems. I am perfectly aware of the fact that my band will not last forever. No doubt it will fail at some point. As of right now I would replace it without hesitations. But I do live in a country where revision surgery will incur me no out of pocket expense. Thats a big factor. My view is Ive had several very major surgeries and several small electives. I walked three miles the nxt morning after my lapband surgery, it was a breeze to get over. Im not afraid of a revision. But Ive had a dream run, i got restriction easily, i dont vomit, i overcame my eating demons easily, i lik bein in control if how "normally" i can live by choosing my own restriction. And i really like the do-over factor. Threfore, i hang around a lapand forum. If i felt the sleeve was better, i might hang around the sleeve forum. And it has never once occurred to me to go over there and start a thread about why i didnt choose the sleeve!

What I think people fail to realise with any weight loss surgery is that the effect lessens with time. Your body adapts. You can eat more. Your evangelistic enthusiasm wanes, you gain a little weight. It happens with every surgery. The major advantage of the band is that you can adjust it. And the physical tightening up really us a mental tightening up too. Suddenly you focus again and get on with things. Ask any bandster seven years out. Ive really had cause to appreciate that. And mo doubt about it, if I had not been able to unfill my band during cancer treatment, i would have had to have had a PEG tube inserted, I got so skinny. Being able to unfill is a major advanage if you are unlucky enough to be struck by injury or disease. Nonetheless, the constant upkeep is problematic for some, especially with the US health system. Insurance hassles, doctors being unwilling to treat other doctors' patuents, people getting andedin Mexico etc. The OPs points are considerations. But few of us are so stupid as to not have considered these things. I would respectfullu suggest if the OP feels that way, go hang around the sleeve forum and keave us poor ignorant souls to wallow away in misery with our ineffective bands. Spoken by omeone who lost 120lb, had kept it off for over five years and a has a bmi of 20, so what would I know really?

I really really am. Dh dragged me out shopping and I bought pair of skinny jeans, as well as bikinis I have a serious True Religion habit, I mean who can resist a pair on sale for only $160???? No overhang at all, none!!! I think its important that people truly realise this is a major trade off scar wise though. My scar will definitely not be below the panttyline for any underwear/lingerie that I own or would choose to wear, its higher than some of my jeans and it will require careful choice of bathing suits, although a bikini is still fairly easy, the low rise and string styles wont be possible, although all the scars i had were flat and colourless and one or two were pretty big so in a year when its all healed it really may not worry me. Might be a huge issue if you were only 25 though. I was absolutely prepared for this by my PS who made it clear that becuse I didnt have. A lot of loose skin I couldnt have an ultra low scar. It mkes you think a lot of tjose caesarean birth/tummy tuck stories about stars such as Angelina are probably bogus. Its really been remarkably pain free, but so frustrating! Other surgeries Ive had very morning I wake up ith huge improvement. This surgery is s-l-o-w, every days progress immeasureable until you think about where you were three or four days ago. Im scared i will turn into a blob from lack of exercise, lol.