mustlose

Yes, I understand your feeling of desperation... good for you not giving up and and starting to research other options! I had my lap band surgery over a year ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I will tell you that it won't stop you from eating chips, they still go down very easily, so there's still effort involved even after surgery. But what it does help me with is slow down my eating and reduces my portion size so I feel full eating less, as a result, I'm slowly losing. Good luck in your journey!

What I've learned about the band is that it's not magic. Just having a band is not a guarantee of weight loss. The truth is , you can continue eating the wrong foods with the band, candy, cookies, icecream, etc. and not lose any weight. It's taken me a year to figure this out. Now that I've joined ww, it's like finding the missing piece to a puzzle. ww will help me pick the right foods to eat (I also like the variety, like the previous poster mentioned), and the band will make it easier to follow by controlling my appetite. I am finally feeling hopeful again.

Yes, I think your being on weight watchers will definately help you. Because ww teaches you what to eat, and the lap band helps you eat less and stay satisfied with less food. The two together are a perfect combination. Last week I lost 4 pounds! good luck.

Hi ! I was really happy to find this post. I was banded a little over a year ago, and my weight has basically stayed the same. I kept thinking (hoping!) the band would be enough... but it isn't. For some reason, I felt that if I had to go back on ww or nutrisystem or jenny craig, it would be like admitting that I failed the band. Finally I decided what I really need is more direction on what to eat every day.... so I decided to join ww last Monday. Today is day #2. So far so good. Hopefully now I can start seeing the scale go down! I agree with the previous posters who said lap band + ww = weight loss success. It's not like failing the band, it's like adding another tool to the chest, they can work together to help me succeed. I also agree it's going to be easier because I am less hungry, so that's good. Well, just wanted to say hi and good luck to everybody !

Thank you for posting this. It really hit home for me. I also had my surgery 3/31/10. SInce then, I've only lost about 10 pounds, despite exercising, and trying to eat more Protein ,etc. etc. I will say one thing though, It's kind of weird, a lot of my clothes are baggy now, even though I haven't lost much weight. That's one good thing. I'm also beginning to feel like I've beaten the lap band! Fortunately, the only person I told was my husband, that's embarrassing enough. He doesn't say it, but I'm sure he wonders why I haven't lost more. I had to laugh when you said don't hide from the doctor. I postponed my fill appt last month, and was considering doing it again this month...just embarrassed to face him when I haven't lost weight. But after reading your post, I decided I will go after all, and hopefully with the right fill, I can turn it around like you. Thanks for inspiring me to keep going!

Hi, just wanted to add my thoughts. I've been banded for a while, and would also consider myself addicted to carbs and sweets. Banding has helped with carbs, because with proper restriction, breads are difficult to eat now , especially soft breads can cause problems, and so I avoid bread now, for the most part. However, sweets, like candy, Cookies, icecream, still go down very easily after being banded. Banding doesn't help at all with your addiction to sweets. You just have to try and not eat those things in order to succeed. I hear if you get gastric bypass though, you can't eat sweets, it causes dumping syndrome. The other good thing about the band is it does force you to eat slowly, and you do get fuller with less food, and feel less hunger. Good luck to you!

Hi David. This reminds me of a friend who, within a week of getting gastric bypass surgery, was diagnosed with ALL (bone marrow cancer). We know that the surgery did not cause him to have cancer, but we do feel the surgery caused his body to be weak and stressed, and the symptoms of his disease ALL to come out.... so perhaps that is the case with you. Maybe you already had an autoimmune disease, and the lapband surgery just caused the symptoms to come out sooner? Just a thought. I hope you figure out what's going on soon, so you can feel better.

About the cotton mouth... I felt the same. They wouldn't let me drink anything until after the xray! Eventually they figured out I was getting dehydrated, and had to give me an extra big bag of fluid (through the iv), so watch that. Don't worry, you'll be feeling better soon.

Hi. I had a sore throat, and a hoarse voice, for a few days following surgery. I think it was irritation caused by the tube they put down your throat during the surgery. I hope you feel better soon ! :biggrin:

Hi , I had the same thing. At first I didn't even feel the port and wasn't even sure where it was! After a couple of weeks the port started hurting and I was concerned, but it went away in about a week (or less). So You may be okay, too!

Hi ! I did the same thing, started the process in 12/07...then chickened out. It really is a big decision, and you have to make sure it's the right one for you. Finally, I decided to do it, and just had the surgery on 3/31/10. At this point, I'm really glad I finally did it (even though it did take me 2+ years to get to this point!) good luck in your journey :smile2:

Thank you everybody for information about the location of the port. I am back to work after a week off, but when I go home I'll look for it...:thumbup: As far as the protein shake, I got mine from Costco. It's called protein by muscle milk. I blend it with water and ice, and sometimes add a piece of fruit, it takes pretty good. What's really surprising right now is my lack of hunger... I really like that. The smallest amount of food (mushie stage) fills me up. Hope everybody else is doing well!