Kalipso2

i've been struggling with my last 20 pounds too!!! i'm down to the last 9 but it's been f-o-r-e-v-e-r! i've always been a slow loser though but i'm SO anxious to get to my goal weight i can hardly stand it! what i do when i've hit a plateau is try to change things up. do a different kind of exercise. eat different meals... maybe eat Breakfast at dinner or excercise in the morning instead of at night. something to "shock" your body into change! good luck and congrats on your weight loss!! it looks like we got banded around the same time, were the same weight and have the same goals!!

i'm almost 3 years post of and haven't hit MY goal weight yet (i met my surgeons goal awhile ago). i went into this with a relatively low BMI so my weight loss has been s-l-o-w but i'm okay with that. i lost the majority of my weight the first 6 months after my surgery but then had a slight set-back because of severe acid reflux. i had some unfills and then gradual refills. it's been 8 months since my 2 year bandiversary. my surgeon told me i was done losing weight... with a successful 60% weight loss but i wasn't happy with that. in the last 8 months i've lost an additional 20 pounds. the scale is slowly moving and just recently my body shape must have changed because a lot of people have asked if i've been losing weight. they say my face looks thinner. there will come a time where i have to maintain and i admit, i'm worried about that...

don't be so hard on yourself... since you haven't had a fill yet, your band isn't really "working" yet because you have no restriction. you might not have restriction even after 1 or 2 fills. you're entering into what many people call "Bandster Hell" because you have the tool (the band) but it's not working yet. some people have even gained weight during this time. just be more careful in the future. and enjoy pizza while you can because that is one food i can no longer eat! bread is not my friend anymore. so i'll just eat the crust off one slice and the toppings off 2 slices. what matters is you realized what you are doing... even if its after the fact. next time you'll do better!

good luck on your journey, raul! i was extremely nervous too before my surgery. i had NEVER had surgery before and was more worried about the IV in the hand than the actual surgery : ) congrats on a new healthy you!

i guess it all depends on your pain tolerance. i spent one night in the hospital and they were giving me meds thru an IV. i was giving a prescription of liquid vicodin for home and i used all of it.

it's good to cry. you'll probably be doing a lot of crying during your journey. some will be tears of frustration and some will be tears of happiness. this journey you're choosing is NOT easy. i'm 2.5 years post-op and i still struggle but lately i've had many more happy tears than sad ones!!

i'm a belly sleeper too. for the first few days after surgery i slept on my side with a small pillow under my belly. after 3 days i just slept on my stomach and felt fine. if it doesn't hurt... you should be fine!

congratulations!! i love moments like yours... and there will be so many more to come!

i'm a diet pepsi addict. my surgeon told me no carbonation for 90 days after surgery... along with no alcohol. i did stick with it for the 3 months but i'm back to drinking it now. i'm 2.5 years post op and haven't had any problems other than when my band is empty and i take a sip of soda you can hear a gurgling sound as the liquid passes thru the band. it almost sounds like my stomach is growling but its just the Fluid passing thru the band. it only does it with carbonation though.

they way i see it, we (meaning us bandsters) need to learn to interact at "normal" food functions. i told all my family and friends not to change meals because of me. i can no longer eat pizza. it's just way too much bread for me.... even one piece. my mom wanted to change pizza night to something else but i refused. i'd learn to make due. i've learned i can eat the crust off one piece of pizza and the toppings off 2 pieces. everyone is left happy. i just learned to adapt my eating habits during holidays and dinners. you'll do fine!

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.