Kalipso2

i'm 2.5 years post-op and at my 2 year follow-up my surgeon told me i'm considered a "success case" because i've lost 60% of my weight. he told me i'd probably not lose any more weight because i'm "big boned". april 2008 i weighed 213 pounds the day of my surgery april 2010 i weighed 173 pounds on my 2 year anniversary december 2010 i weigh 155 pounds which is a few short pounds away from my goal! i'm PROUD to say that i lost ONE POUND this month which brings me even closer to my goal!

i'm 2.5 years post-op and each month when i have my period, my band is super tight. during those few days i basically stick to a liquid diet. i'd rather be too tight for 5 days than too loose for 25 days!

did you get a fill today? my surgeon does most of his fills under floro and at one point he said i was having reflux issues which i never felt. i insisted on getting a fill that day. i started having horrible reflux where i was wake up at night choking on the stomach acid. i had to get unfilled under floro to the point where the barium wasn't refluxing. he told me it was because my band was too tight...

if you're 7 pounds lighter... the band IS working. you didn't gain the weight overnight, so you're not going to lose it overnight either! you're actually lucky because some people GAIN weight the first month or so after surgery. be patient. the weight WILL come off. sometimes it takes more than 1 fill before you have enough restriction to really kick start the weightloss. i know you're anxious, but relax : )

like you, once i reached a size 16 i refused to buy anything larger so i suffered thru the cinched in pants and baggy shirts to cover the roll hanging over. just recently i tried on a size 8 skinny jeans and they FIT! i took them in as a joke to myself because i never thought i'd ever be the type of person to wear skinny anything but was so happy that i cried in the dressing room when they fit!

i still see the "fat" me everytime i look in the mirror. i always wonder if that will go away. the only way i get true confirmation is when i go shopping. fitting into a pair of size 8 SKINNY jeans most definately put a : ) on my face!

my surgeon gave me the choice. i chose to stay the night. my surgeon is 4 hours away and i wanted to be close "just in case" since this was my first surgery ever. i'm SO glad i stayed too. i didn't get a lot of sleep because of the nurses coming in all the time but they gave stronger pain meds in the hospital! lemme tell you... that was the most painful 4 hour ride home!

i love this tread because i thought i was the only one that has a hard time tolerating fills! the most i had was 5.6cc's but had to be unfilled to my current 4.4cc's.

yes, that painful feeling in your chest is food being stuck... so no more white bread or rice! lol it's hard to describe the feeling of restriction. i've learned to really "listen" to my body so i can just feel when i've eaten too much... that if i eat one more bite i'll throw up. (which i learned by trial and error!) don't go by how many cc's are in your band... everyone is different. i have a 10cc band and only have 4.4cc's in and just can't handle anything more. does your doctor do fills under floroscopy? if you have the chance... do that. yeah, you have to swallow some yucky barium but the doctor can control your restriction by what he sees on the screen!

i wasn't given any special meal plan other than to eat 60+ grams of Protein a day and less than 60 grams of carbs. i was told everyone is different when it comes to what your band will tolerate food-wise but nothing was really off limits if eaten in moderation.

i've been LOVING the shopping! with my continued weight loss, i need new clothes each season!! it's expensive but SO worth it : ) congrats on your continued success!

i feel for you, i really do. i can't say that i've had the same experience as you but my own journey has been a constant struggle. you are NOT alone! i was banded in April 2008. my doctor was very aggressive with fills and by July i had already lost a significant amount of weight.... but i was having horrible bouts of acid reflux where i would wake up literally choking on my own vomit. i threw up after any meal i would eat so i lived on slimfast for the longest time. i never told my doctor any of this because i was losing weight. it wasn't until October/November 2008 that i finally told him what was happening and he immediately took an xray and my band had started to slip. he unfilled me for a month and would only fill me with .5cc each time i went but his office is 4 hours away. unfortunately for me, i've only been able to tolerate 4.4cc's in my 10cc band and there are still days that even that feels too tight. MY problem is that i continue to eat foods that my band won't tolerate because i CRAVE them so much. i can't eat pizza anymore but once a month i still order one and pay the price afterwards. we ALL know what we need to do but sometimes its easier said than done. what i do isn't right. i know that. just like you know what you need to do. if you're not feeling any restriction, maybe your doctor should check to make sure your band isn't leaking! or maybe you need a more aggressive fill? if you need to talk more in a more private setting... let me know!

my nutritionist frowns upon any "diet". you should no longer be "dieting" but making a lifestyle change. while it's great you're increasing Protein and cutting carbs (that's what you should be doing with the lapband) but don't consider it being on "the south beach diet". have you had a fill or two yet? if not, you're in whats considered "Bandster Hell" where your band isn't really working to its full potential just yet. after a few fills you'll see the weight start to come off. don't get discouraged!! i was one of the people where i was slow to lose weight and i haven't gained 1 pound back in 2 years (and i'm still losing).

i was told 3 months for alcohol and carbonation.

i had my surgery on a monday and went back to work the following tuesday. i probably should have stayed home the entired 2nd week because it hurt to stand up and it hurt to sit down. luckily i have a desk job so i didn't have to move around much. that first week that's all i did was sleep! take the pain meds and let your body heal.

i'm 2.5 years post-op and came into this journey will a relative low BMI but i still needed the help losing weight. i did lose the majority of my weight during the first year but continued to lose about 2 pounds a month during the second year. at my 2nd year anniversary, my doctor declared me a "success" because i had lost the 60% of the weight. while i'm EXTREMELY happy about that, i asked him what my chances were of losing 80 or even 100% of the excess weight. he told me my chances were slim. well, that really made me mad! in the last 7 months since my visit to him, i've lost an additional 14 pounds! it's been a s-l-o-w process but it CAN be done!

i'm 2.5 years post-op and i have to be honest with you... in the beginning it's hard. right after your surgery (the first 2 weeks or so) you won't be hungry at all and it will seem impossible to get in all the required Protein but as your stomach heals after the surgery, your hunger will return and since your band will not be filled you will enter what is known as "Bandster Hell" because you're banded but have no restriction and all the familiar hunger pains will be there. you might not lose any weight the first month after surgery so that can bring on depression. after a fill or 2 you'll feel the restriction and that's when the work really begins... for me, one of the the hardest parts has been knowing when to stop eating. your band will tell you when its had enough but your brain tells you to keep eating because it tastes SO good. if you listen to the band, you'll be fine. if you listen to your brain, you'll throw up. the second hardest parts is dealing with the foods your band will no longer tolerate. for me, i can no longer eat bread... which includes pizza (my most favorite food EVER). i also can't eat hamburger or popcorn... other favorite foods. after time, you learn to adapt your eating habits. while i can't eat the bread from the pizza but i can eat the cheese and toppings which is the best part anyway. i still crave burgers and get extremely jealous when a friend or family member orders one but i don't like the consequence i have to face if i DO try to eat one. you become so much more in tune with your body that its amazing. i went from wearing baggy mostly black clothes to proudly showing off my curves with bold colors. i love the compliments i get. i love shopping now! i love feeling healthy which makes me HAPPY! it's a difficult journey but my happiness is worth it!

i've done it all... i usually order off the kids menu too. i've only had one local restaurant tell me i couldn't. i've ordered an adult meal and taken the rest home. i've ordered just an appetizer. and i've shared meals with family members too!

i've always had a major self esteem issue. i was a skinny, gawky kid growing up but when i hit my early-20's the weight piled on. i lived with a mother that never had anything good to say and at one point in my life even called me to gell me i was fat and she was telling me in case my friends were too scared to tell me. HELLO... i own a mirror! and what mother says that to her child?? anyway... i'm 2.5 years post-op and have lost over 60% of my weight. i wear a size 8 now but i STILL look in the mirror and see the fat-me instead of the new-me!

my suggestion is.... if your doc gave you pain meds TAKE THEM as prescribed whether you need it or not.

I'm Kris... 39 year old female... no kids... never married... live in Cleveland, OH... looking to date but if there are any females in the area, I could always use another friend! I was banded in April 2008!

if you have the choice... choose IN! i traveled 4 hours to my surgeon so i basically had to stay overnight but i'm glad i did. i needed help getting in and out of bed to use the restroom and all i had to do was press a button and a nurse came in to give me a pain shot!

i was always skinny as a kid and teen. it wasn't until i was in my early 20's that my eating got out of control. i was a binge eater... well, i guess i still am one. i tried every diet known to man and they worked... while i was on them. i was tired of being fat and miserable so i decided to make a big change. i researched the lapband because its non-evasive and reversible. the downtime and cost were a lot lower too (since i was self pay). i'm going to be honest... it's been 2.5 years and every day is still a struggle for me. yes, i've lost a lot of weight but that's the EASY part. being a binge eater, it's risky having the lapband. i had my band so tight for a few months because i wanted to lose weight fast. and i did lose weight fast but i also vomitted a lot and had a wicked case of acid reflex where i would wake up in the middle of the night choking on the stomach acid. i finally gave in and got my band lossened when i learned i was close to having my band slip... the top of my stomach was folding over the band because i was over eating. don't get me wrong... the band does work when used properly. i just have a hard time stopping once i start eating. it gets to the point where my stomach says STOP but my brain says KEEP EATING. you have to learn to listen to the band. do i exercise? no. should i? absolutely! have i lost 60% of my weight? yes! have i gone from a size 16 to a size 8? yes! do i have an occasional potato chip? yes. do i eat healthy more than i eat junk? yes. it's hard... this has been the hardest journey EVER but also the most rewarding because i'm finally happy with myself!

i was nervous too going to my first seminar. do you have a friend or family member going with you? i went alone because i was hiding the fact i was looking into surgery. it made the whole experience nerve-racking. turned out the first place i went to a seminar at didn't take selfpay patients AND the surgeon had never done a lapband surgery before... only bypass's. i'm glad i waited and found a surgeon who didn't want to practice on me!

i didn't start losing my hair until i was about 3 months post-op. i thought i had gotten past that possible side effect but i was wrong. it IS scary seeing how much hair comes out after a washing. my hair stylist commented on it too so THAT really worried me. my hair loss lasted about 3 months but did end up stopping. stay strong... this is one of the easier hurdles to overcome!