Kalipso2

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.

when i was doing research about my weightloss surgery i read about non-weightloss victories. i just had one today. when i met with my surgeon for the last time in april he told me i lost 60% of my weight and i'm considered a "success". i questioned him about losing 100% of the weight and he said most likely i never would... that i have a bigger bone structure. he pissed me off. since april i've lost an additional 15 pounds and i plan on continuing to lose. i even lost 2 pounds over thanksgiving weekend! anyway... that's not my victory. my mom gave me a $50 giftcard to kohl's... my favorite store. they're having another "BIG SALE" which they have every week but i decided to go spend my money... can't have it burn a hole in my pocket, right? i grabbed a skirt, a couple of shirts, corduroy pants and a couple pair of jeans. what sucks is that i'm in one of those in between sizes so i have to take 3 different sizes in the dressing room. i always start with the biggest size and work my way down. the skirt, which i have a few different patterns already... the size 8 TOO BIG! i'm now a size 6! the corduroy's... the size 10 TOO BIG! i'm now an 8! the shirts... the large TOO BIG! my boobs now fit into a medium! now the jeans... i hate jeans. i hate the way they fit. i hate the way they feel. i always get disgusted trying them on. today was no different. the Levis size 10 were too big but the size 8 felt too tight. there happened to be a pair of skinny jeans size 8 already in the dressing room when i got in there. for shits and giggles i tried them on... and they fit AND i looked good in them! ME in SKINNY jeans?!?!? i'm beginning to LOVE shopping...

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!

i'm a low bmi bandster and was told i needed to be on the pre-surgery diet but i just couldn't stomach the food they gave. i didn't lose any weight but being self-pay my doctor probably didn't care.

for me, it isn't so much that the food is stuck (meaning there is no pain)... i just know i've eaten too much and feel the need to get it out BUT its food that is still in the upper portion of the stomach. and yes... what you're explaining CAN cause slippage! of course, the goal is to never eat too much or eat foods that get stuck so the risk of slippage would be small. i think you're okay though...

ahhh shaunda, there are people out there exactly like us. yes, i said us because i used to feel the same way as you are right now. i was banded in april 2008 and lost a majority of my weight within the first 6 months and like you, i would eat until i threw up. i was okay with that because i was still able to eat the foods i wanted even though they didn't agree with my stomach. what "woke" me up was the fact that i started having extremely bad acid reflux. i would literally wake up choking on my vomit. i finally went back to my doctor and he noticed that my band was too tight and was close to slipping so he removed a good 2cc's out of my band. i did gain some weight during the next year while slowing getting fills to tighten my band. i'm at the point now where i don't throw up as much as i used to because i know its wrong. (and i think deep down, you know its wrong too) your vomitting is most likely what caused your 1st band to slip. this 2nd band will do the job its intended if you let it. maybe you need more of a fill until you get that full feeling again? listen, i grew up binging and purging but i chose to use laxatives to purge. i was taking up to 15 pills a day to get rid of the food i ate (this was pre-lapband). i knew i was hurting my body but i didn't care. i wanted to lose weight... and i did... but when i would give my body a break and stop taking the pills i'd gain weight back. instead of getting professional help, i chose the lapband. i stopped taking the pills and found it easier to vomit after meals but i got scared of my band slipping and since i'm self pay too, i knew i'd never be able to afford getting it repositioned. right now, i have my good days and my bad days. sometimes i go weeks without feeling the need to throw up but then a craving hits me and i slip. my band doesn't allow me to eat hamburger meat or pizza anymore (it causes me to throw up) but sometimes the craving is just too great. just this week i gave in and had a hamburger and i paid the consequences of a sore stomach for 2 days afterwards. just know, you are NOT alone. PM me if you'd like to talk more!!

congratulations! i'm SO hoping i can get to 139 too! unfortunately, at my 2 year check up in april, my surgeon told me i was most likely at my lowest weight which was 173 at the time. he said i had lost 60% of the weight and i was considered a success and sent on my way. i wasn't happy with only losing 60% of the weight and was pissed that my doctor thought 173 was okay. 7 months later, i'm down an additional 13 pounds and i'm content where i am now but i'll still strive for the additional 20 pounds so i can be happy instead of content!

i've been banded for 2.5 years and my band still gets very tight when i have my period!

i NEVER thought i'd become a shopping addict. i've always worn baggy clothes and clothes that are black or brown. now i'm wearing form fitting outfits that are bright and vibrant... just how i feel!

i'm not sure if family and friends try to sabatoge on purpose... i just think a lot of interaction is spent around food in general. there are a lot of people (unlike us) who are able to have a bite of this and a piece of that. we can't and they just don't understand. so try not to take it personally... just smile and say "no thank you!"

i asked my dietician about this since i'm a former WW gal myself and i was told no, No, NO! not to focus on points but to focus on amount of protein and carbs instead.

i think there are a lot of people that have had to adjust to not being able to eat certain foods and it IS rough! i can no longer eat bread so i miss pizza and grilled cheese and breadsticks and.... i can go on and on. even 2+ years post-op i still miss those foods... but i've learned to adapt. now i just eat the toppings off the pizza which is the best part anyway!

i chose 5. i used the pain meds that were offered to me so the only pain i had was sitting up and then laying back down. the only major pain i had was waiting too long between the pain meds. i was being released from the hospital and had a 4 hour drive home. i was waiting to ask for my last dose of meds for right before i was leaving.... stupid move on my part. as long as i stuck to taking the pain meds every 4 hours i was fine...

my story isn't really about being embarrassed... it's about me realizing i wasn't as strong as i thought i would be. i planned in advance to spend the night in the hospital even though i had the choice to go home the same day. i thought i was going to go thru the surgery with flying colors so i packed nice pajamas, a book, my cell phone, nice shower gel, blow dryer, curling Iron, make-up, etc. almost like i was staying over at a hotel! needless to say, i never got out of my hospital gown. was too drugged up to read. used a wash cloth instead of showering. put my hair in a ponytail and wore the same clothes home as i did when i went in. plus, every time i had to go to the bathroom, i had to ring a nurse because i wasn't able to get out of bed on my own.

when my family orders pizza, i eat the crust off 1 slice and the cheese off 2 slices and that satisfies my craving!

i'm 2 years post-op and yes, you CAN stretch your pouch because i have... i even have the xray to prove it! my band was too tight and the food was sitting there too long. thankfully, i was fully healed and my band did not slip but it can and does happen if you're not careful. since having a slight unfill, i feel like i'm at my "sweet spot". i eat enough to where i feel satisfied. i don't throw up from eating too much and my pouch is back to its normal size. a typical eating day for me is: breakfast: Protein shake made with 12oz of skim milk (i'm not a big Breakfast eater). lunch: small salad (about 1/2 cup) with chicken or turkey (1/4 of the breast) dinner: 1/2 chicken breast with 1/3 cup of a veggie. snack: pudding cup, or 100 calorie ice cream bar, or a couple of crackers

Before I actually had my surgery it was: 2- Had some concerns, but was satisfied with my research. Being 2 years post-op I would have to say I wish I would have: 3- I hesitated but felt it was an efficient way to get healthy again.

i weigh myself every other day. if i gain one day i make sure i adjust my meals the next.