Kalipso2

congratulations on your journey! everyone is nervous before surgery. i had second thoughts up until they put me under. i had never had surgery either... or an IV... or general anesthesia... or a breathing tube. i even asked for something to help me relax before my surgery because i thought i was going to hyperventilate. turned out i went from the last surgery of the day to the middle so there was no time for anything to relax me. i don't know if you're spending the night in the hospital or going right home but that first night will be the most difficult. trying to find a way to stand up and how to lay back down hurts like a motherf#@!&%, i'm not gonna lie. take your pain meds as often as it is prescribed and remember to stay hydrated... just because you may not be hungry, you still have to drink! good luck tomorrow!!

i'm doing okay but this is certainly much more difficult than i ever expected! i was banded on 04/21/08 and have lost 43 pounds so far... half of my goal. i've had 2 fills and i'm either too tight or i just haven't gotten the hang of the band yet because i PB way too often. my surgeon is 4 hours away so i didn't go see him in july or august but intend to keep my september appointment. hopefully they will be able to tell if i'm too tight or if i need to do something different. how are you doing?!?!

in my case, no time was a good time. after i made my decision i wanted the surgery as soon as possible (which would have been april 2008). my entire family tried to get me to wait. wait for what??? every month is either a holiday or a birthday or an anniversary so no month was good. i choose april because it was the month with the least amount going on. if you're ready now... go for it! don't let the thought of the holidays change your mind!

That's awesome! I recently decided to join a "Beginner's Running" class that starts the end of September. I'm hoping to be able to run a 5k by the end of November. I wish you the best of luck!!

i am a binge eater. i was banded in april. i thought it was the answer to all my problems but honestly, it's not. these past few months have been more difficult than i ever thought possible. i had my 2nd fill in june and i'm pretty tight. i'm still in the learning stage... learning what the band doesn't like (such as bagels and ground meat) as well as how much to eat. right now i eat a little more than 1/4 cup for one meal. 1 chicken breast will last me 3 days. i RARELY get hungry. my stomach doesn't really growl anymore and i have to remind myself to eat. what's so hard is WANTING to eat more than my stomach will allow. you're going to face the same demons i'm facing right now.... if you listen to your taste buds you'll PB a lot and risk damaging your band BUT if you listen to your stomach you'll be left depressed because you're not "feeding your brain" as much as it would like. i am VERY happy i'm banded. i hope i never have to have it removed. i would do it again even knowing what i know right now. i love the compliments. i love feeling healthier. i love buying new clothes lol. i've also thought about joining Overeaters Anonymous....

Congratulations on being banded by Dr. Curry!! He banded me back in April. I always thought I had a high tolerance for pain since I have a few tattoos and piercings but this was my first surgery. I spent the night in the hospital and asked for meds around every 3-4 hours because every time I moved I hurt. I asked for another dose for the drive home because I live 4 hours away. I had waited to long to ask the nurse because I wanted to wait to take them right before we left but the pain was so severe I started crying and freaked my mom out. The 4 hour drive home sucked big time. My body felt every bump in the road. I know it's going to sound horrible but I used most of the liquid vidodin to help me sleep. I have never been able to sleep on my back so I used the meds to relax me into slumber. I had even called in for a refill. I spent most of the week off sleeping the pain away. My advice would be to try Tylenol but if that doesn't take the pain away, take the meds that Dr. C. prescribed. Being tense because you're in pain isn't going to help the healing process!

believe it or not... you have to eat to lose weight. you're doing awesome for not having a fill yet. a lot of people GAIN weight right after surgery once their hunger comes back and there is no restriction. enjoy eating more than a cup while you can!!

congratulations! that's what's called a "non-scale victory" or "NSV"!! that must have been an awesome feeling and it's great that you recognize that you DID look great!

i'm not sure how many people have fought insurance companies and won... me... i didn't want to take the time and money to fight. once i decided to have the surgery i wanted it as soon as possible. sometimes being self pay moves the process along VERY quickly. good luck if you decide to fight!

i was worried about actually being able to feel the band around my stomach... but i don't. my band is tight... maybe a little too tight... so yes, i can feel the food sitting in my stoma but usually when that happens it usually means i didn't chew good enough and i'm going to PB. what bothers me the most is that i can feel my port. i swear there are some days that it sticks out and i feel like an over-cooked turkey. the port doesn't hurt but if you were to run your hand over the right side of my stomach area you would most definately feel my port.

my first fill was done under flouro and not enough saline was used which left me even more hungry than i was before the first fill. my second fill was NOT done under flouro and i'm pretty sure i've found that "sweet spot".

i agree with Hollie... everyone evenutally hits a plateau and you either have to wait it out or change your routine a bit. for me, just changing what i eat makes a difference. for me, i get a lot of my Protein by drinking slimfast for Breakfast and lunch and having some sort of chicken or other protein for dinner. when i find myself plateau'ing i will exchange my lunch slimfast for some cheese or a Protein Bar for a week and then the scale starts moving again. i'm 4 months post-surgery and my rapid weight loss is over. i've now been averaging 1 pound a week and it's hard not seeing the scale move like it used to but i have yet to gain one pound of it back! i'm thinking of jumpstarting my metabolism by taking a "beginner's running" class. supposedly after 8 weeks i'll be able to run in a 5k race. 4 months ago i would have NEVER have thought i could do it. now i'm feeling more confident in myself to take on new challenges.

my surgeon's office does do fills but my surgeon himself does not give the fills... he has a nurse or physician's assistant administer the fills. i don't think 45-minutes is a far drive but then again, the surgeon i chose is 4 HOURS away!

i have heard about the card but don't currently have one. sometimes i just order an appetizer and take half of it home and i HAVE ordered off the kid's menu with no problem at all at a few restaurants but even a kid's meal is too much food for me. i usually end up not ordering anything for myself and just eating off someone's plate. i'm not quite sure how i'm going to handle it when i start dating again since most dates include dinner!

being only 4 months post-surgery, i'm not sure how to get past the habit or urge to eat. that's what i'm still working on. the first month post-surgery was mostly liquids and mushies for me. i wasn't even on solid food when i got my first fill. the second month post-surgery i felt even more hungry that i did before my first fill so i went in for my second fill and lost a lot of weight. the third and fourth month has been spent learning HOW to eat with the band. i've learned i can no longer eat bread or ground meat, which i found out after PB'ing a few times after i ate those items. luckily i can still eat chicken and that is where i get the majority of my Protein along with cheese and nuts. when my nutritionist told me that a single dinner at the Olive Garden would last a week with leftovers i thought she was joking but it's true. just think about how much you can eat now and then actually measure out 1/2 a cup... it's not much food BUT it does fill you up. it's just that sometimes i'm left longing for a binge... and that totally psychological and maybe a lot of lapbanders don't feel the way i do. i don't want anyone to get me wrong... it's not that i necissarily REGRET being banded. i love my band. i love being smaller. i love the compliments. i love being and feeling healthier. i wouldn't go to the extreme of getting my band removed or getting unfilled. i just didn't really fully understand that it's mostly a mental game... brain vs. stomach.

i'm not sure if "regret" is the right word for what i feel. i just wonder if i knew then what i know now, if i would have still gone thru with it.... the most difficult part of this whole process has been listening to my stomach instead of my taste buds. while my stomach feels satisfied after eating 1 small slice of pizza, my taste buds want more. if i give in to the taste buds, i end up PB'ing which isn't healthy. if i listen to my stomach, i'm left feeling depressed. the psychological part of this journey has been the most difficult BUT now that i've been banded for almost 4 months and i'm almost at the halfway point of my weightloss, i wouldn't remove my band unless it was medically necessary! hope this helped...

the day of my surgery my parents and siblings knew, 1 co-worker and 1-friend. as i started losing weight i started telling more people. now that i've lost almost half the weight i tell the whole world! i told them because i wanted them to know that this isn't an easy process. it's not something i did on a whim and i am struggling.... every day. people seem to think that if someone has surgery they're taking the easy way out. it's been far from easy!

i've been banded for almost 4 months and i'm STILL dealing with the depression. i read how the band is just a tool and that it was going to be a difficult struggle to lose the weight but i honestly thought it would be different for me. i'm not sure if i would say i'm an emotional eater but i just don't know when or how to stop eating. if i listen head and taste buds i get the satisfaction of eating yummy food but then i end up PB'ing. if i listen to my stomach i'm left depressed because i WANT to keep eating. just stay strong and always keep in mind the reason you decided to get banded. you have to look towards the long-term results!! good luck!

i was banded by Dr. Curry in Cincinnati, Ohio. his registered dietician was overweight and got banded by him. she lost 100% of the weight she wanted and looks great! when i met with her, i didn't believe that she was ever overweight but she keeps a before picture of herself on her board. i know she would love to help you if she could. let me know if you'd like her email address!

i would listen to your doctor. as long as you're not hungry and are losing weight i wouldn't get a fill just yet. i had my 2nd fill in june and haven't felt the need for another one (if anything i'm a little too tight). my weight loss had plateau'd for about 2 weeks but now i'm losing again. patience is the key here. you want the weight to come off slowly.

i HAVE swallowed that last bite and yes, you will throw up. you have to learn to listen to your stomach, not your head and that is hard to do. i find it hard to stop eating something i enjoy eating.... like pizza. if i try to eat more than my stomach allows... even though it tastes SO good... i will be spending time over the toilet.

a lot of people who choose mexico are self pay and it's more affordable BUT there are excellent surgeons in mexico too!

i think everyone tolerates pain differently.... while i never had any surgery or endured childbirth, i thought i had a pretty high tolerance for pain. i decided beforehand to spend the night in the hospital and i'm glad i did. i thought i'd be fine after surgery though. i brought books and my ipod to keep me from being bored. i brought my pajamas so i'd be comfortable. i brought my hair dryer and curling Iron for after i took a shower the next morning. i was in SO much pain that i made sure i stayed drugged the entire time i was in the hospital as well as the way home. i never opened my book or listened to my ipod. i was in so much pain that trying to get out of my hospital gown and into my pj's just wasn't worth the comfort. the next morning i just pulled my hair in a ponytail and said "screw the shower and washing my hair". the worst part of the whole ordeal was getting in and out of bed... learning how to roll over to get up instead of sitting up at the waist. the first 2 days were painful and i took all the drugs they gave me and i'm not ashamed to admit that. after 2 days i felt MUCH better!

i had my surgery done by Dr. Curry in Cincinnati, OH... not sure how far away you are from Cinci. My surgery cost $13,000 with 2 years of fills.

I do try to eat 6 small "meals" a day. Sometimes I forget to eat my Snacks though. I have a slimfast for Breakfast because i've never been much of a breakfast person. I have fruit as a morning snack. lunch is usually a half sandwich using a low-carb wrap (turkey and cheese, chicken and cheese, etc). As an afternoon snack I'll either have another slimfast or string cheese. dinner is usually 2 chicken tenders. Occasionally in the evening I'll have popcorn or a scoop of sugar-free icecream. I'm rarely hungry... ever... even if I don't eat my snacks but it's very important to get in enough Protein. The only time I feel hunger is for my morning snack.