What were you all expecting from your surgery team?
I understood going into this surgery that they would do their part (surgery, information, webinars, nutrition consult via phone), but it was up to ME to do my part.
They gave us the rules in writing and verbally. The day of my surgery they kept drumming these rules into my brain. they know people only hear three words: surgery lose weight. Before surgery, and after surgery-same information repeated over and over.
Did all of this seem to happen really fast? You bet it did. into surgery, wake up, drink water-still groggy. Go back to hotel and rest up. Flight home was the worst part of this whole experience (4 hours stuck in a chair).
I am surviving and the surgery has been successful.
I still have to give myself a refresher on the golden lap band rules every few weeks. It's easy to slip back into old comfortable habits.
As for the medical team at Smart Shape....they cannot give medical advise over the phone, they cannot tell you to stray from the Canada food Guide, they cannot tell you to get additional fills.
for all of you that a living a distance away from a clinic....you should have realized you would have to travel for fills. If you need additional consult time, tell them that when you book it.
I get an email once a month from the nurses at smart shape. Please contact us and tell us how you are doing. They have a lot of patients to keep track of. It is up to all of us to tell them what WE need from them.
I'm really confused. When I got married I was told I could have 16 more wives??? 4 better 4 worse 4 sicker and 4 poorer. Hmmmmmmmmmm did they change the rules???
@@Sun Godess let me first say welcome, and thank you for posting and sharing your questions. There are many out there who are right where you are and I am sure have many of the same questions.
You will find lots of support here and even more stories and advice. If you keep in mind that for every person there is an opinion and not all of them are going to align with each other then you are that far ahead. Every journey is subjective to the person experiencing it. For example my husband and I are both banded and were banded 3 days apart, so we have our bands from the same time, and went through the pre- and post op together. That said we are very different in our approach to food, our issues with food, and our weight loss. None of it bad...just different.
So here are my answers to your questions
1. Are you satisfied with your lap band? Are you happy you chose the band over vsg?
I am very happy I chose the band over VSG. I may have had more success with VSG in the early stages and with the lapband my weight loss is much slower and steadier, however I chose the lapband to accommodate my life style. I am not able to "adjust" any other WLS tool as I am with the lapband. I do not do so on a whim but for things like surgery, and sickness etc. with the lapband I am afforded that option and I like that.
The lapband requires much more follow up and maintenance than the other WLS tools and I also like the fact that it keeps me accountable as well as my Dr. accountable to my health and well being.
2. I'm afraid of the unkown. Do you feel normal...like just living and being your normal self and don't know it's there?
I am not afraid of the unknown. I am very in tune with my body and with my lapband Dr. to understand how it works and how it will work best for me. I live my life normally and I rarely think about my "band" I do not feel it inside though the port is accessible and can be felt under the skin it doesn't bother me at all. I eat and live my life fully as a banded patient.
3. Do you get used to eating little portions? Do you feel deprived?
I never feel deprived. I eat the portions I am hungry for. I allow my hunger to dictate how much I am going to eat. There are days I am very hungry and require a little more than on other days when I am hardly hungry at all. So portions can fluctuate for me though they are much smaller than any thing I ate before surgery. If I am still hungry for something after I have had a good portion I will wait it out and ask myself if it's truly hunger or something else. It's usually something else.
4. I work on a team, and we eat lunch together and chat daily at work. I don't want to tell anyone at work. I'm afraid I won't be able to do this without them and or me having eating issues in front of them? Do you think I will be able to? What are your experiences?
This is a tricky one. Your eating habits pre op and post op are going to change. You are going to be on liquid diets for a bit and you are also going to be eating foods that maybe different from what they are sitting down to eat. Sandwiches are probably going to be off your menu for a while (I don't eat bread at all in any form) Salads are something you will return to but not right away or all the time (not a bad thing since there isn't much Protein there and you can find lots of extra calories there also)
I still eat with my co-workers and I go out to dinner with friends and events and parties. I chose to let everyone know about my surgery and they never question me about my choice of food. My eating habits are the same as they were before, though I will eat much slower now, I will chew much better, I take much smaller bites, and I rarely finish an entire meal on my own.
If I am out with friends or my husband we will often share a meal or I have a nice lunch of left overs the next day to bring to work:)
5. I've heard many people say "oh, the band is only 25% of the help...It's really me." I'm hoping the band is A LOT of help, not a magic wand.
No WLS is a magic wand. With the band your weight loss is going to be slow and steady. You are not going to lose 100 pounds over night. The more you work at it the more you will lose and the more success you will have with it.
Other WLS will have a large amount of weight loss up front and then begin to taper off either way you have to work the tool to be successful.
a GREAT help...more than 25% else wise, what's the point! What is your opinion/experience? How much help is the band for you?
The band is a great help and an excellent tool when it is being used just like any other tool. If you don't take it out of the tool box then you are not working it just having it doesn't allow it to do it's job, you have to work it. You can make the band work for you 100% it shows up ever single day, it just needs you to show up for it as well. All WLS is the same. None of them affect our minds..WE have to put them to use.
I love my band, when I want to have an emotional day of pigging out and just eating my face off because I am having a rough time (this is my personal issue...stress eating and emotional eating.) the band is there to remind me that I shouldn't be doing this to myself and when I push anyway it's there to smack me in the head and often stops me right in my tracks.
6. I need appetite suppression... Does the band actually do that? What exactly does the band do you for you? n How would you describe it?
The band is all about appetite suppression. Many think that the band provides "restriction" this is not what the band is designed for. A properly adjusted band should allow you to eat and drink in proper proportion so you are satisfied at least 4 hours between meals. This is again provided you are following the proper direction and eating the proper foods. Foods that are soft and high calorie are going to slip right past the band without triggering the nerves that send satisfied signals to the brain. This in turn will cause you to eat more and usually those soft foods are high in calories and sugar. Things like ice cream and fried foods are things to watch out for.
When I have a "meal" it consists of a solid dense Protein. Chewing and eating allow me to feel full and the need to have additional food is not there. I am not hungry. Even when faced with the option of having more food, or sweets etc. I simply do not want it. As you go through the journey of learning to work with and live with your band you learn to eat mindfully and choose the right foods to hold you over. Though I will admit if you are like me, this is a big challenge. I often find myself wanting something...just because. However if I do try to have something just because...I am only able to eat a bite or two and I no longer want it and am turned off by it. This is what the band does for me.
7. Looking back, do you think you could have lost your weight without the band?
I have lost weight many many times without surgery. I have lost it and found it again and again and usually when I would find it, it would bring along a few friends with it.
I would lose 40 pounds only to gain 50. I would start exercise programs only to find myself ravenous and eating more and more and not losing an ounce.
I have not for one second since I have been banded regretted my decision. Even when I had a few complications, such as a dilation, and had to have the Fluid removed from the band, or after surgery having one of the incisions become infected. The band has helped me to lose the weight in a healthy way, I have been able to keep off the all the weight I have lost and continue to keep losing.
8. I hear a lot about eating slow and small bites...I am very afraid of this! I don't want to be a spectacle in front of others or feel weirded out and miserable having to eat with baby spoons and pea size bites. I want to eat normal. How is this for you?
I eat totally normally. Actually eating slowly and taking normal bites is how we should be eating all the time. Shoveling food into our mouths swallowing before we even had a chance to taste the food is not the normal way to eat.
I don't obsess about cutting my pieces and no one at a party or out at dinner or events even notices. In fact they notice more the faster and more you eat I think.
Even when my husband and I share a meal, no one even raises an eye brow. We were at an event just yesterday where we shared Eggplant rollatini. There were 4 huge rolls on the plate along with the Pasta side dish (neither of us ate that.) We shared some Calamari prior and shared the dinner. Even the waiter brought out extra plates for us and no one raised an eyebrow.
9. Any personal testimonies, advice or warnings? Please share and
I am not specifically a lapband advocate but I am a WLS advocate who is banded!! I will tell anyone who asks me that if you are not healthy and you are experiencing co-morbidity due to your weight that looking into WLS is a positive thing to do for yourself. Having surgery has changed my life in many positive ways, and I feel healthy and more alive now than I had in years simply because I am not dragging all the extra weight around with me. I am not at goal, I am working my way there gradually. Eating what I like, making healthy choices, taking the time incorporate the changes and make them a part of my every day life. This is what I wanted and the way I wanted for it to be.
Yes of course we all want a magic wand, and turn back the clock to when I was 16 and do it all over again...but that is not reality so the best thing I could aim for is working to be healthier and happier me. I didn't get to be morbidly obese overnight and I didn't want to find myself on the other side of that over night either. I wanted a healthy gradual weight loss emphasis on the healthy part of it since my health was not so great and I couldn't walk without feeling that heart attack was imminent.
My best advice to you is to continue to research. Go out and meet Dr.'s not just one but a few. Ask them their opinions. If they tell you the sleeve or the bypass are better...ask them why they feel that way pick their brains and then of course share the results with all of us!!
Research the other surgeries, there may be a reason why your Dr. recommends one over the others, and don't take anything off the table and don't do anything unless you are 100% sure and you have a Dr. who fully supports you.
After care and follow up are very important no matter your WLS in my opinion this KEY. Having a good working relationship with your Dr. before, during and most importantly after surgery.
I wish you all the best, and keep us updated on your progress and decision!!
I was banded in Mississauga (Toronto) on December 18th, 2014. I am 11 weeks post-op and down 37 pounds.
It may not be a ton of weight lost, but its all gone, gone gone forever, and I am losing slow and steady. As I lay in bed last night, I touched my ribs (I have ribs?!) and reflected on how things have changed for me since being banded two and a half months ago.
I realized last night that I am totally, completely, madly in love with my band. Here's why:
My size 22 pants fall down to my ankles if I don't wear a belt.
Even when I do wear a belt, my size 22 pants look like I'm wearing a parachute.
I can put on my "old" jeans without unzipping/unbuttoning the fly.
My tummy scars are a proud (and only slightly scary) red/purple, and serve to remind me every day of the commitment I've made to myself.
My College students talk about me when they think I have my back turned/can't hear them and say things like "Damn, she's looking GOOD".
I no longer have to use a "bath sheet" sized towel. A regular sized one wraps around my bod, thanks very much.
I am no longer winded when I climb a set of stairs.
People at work tell me hair looks AMAZING. What they are actually saying doing is choosing my hair as the way to give me a "YOU LOOK AMAZING!" compliment without verbalizing my obvious weight loss. This gives me JOY.
I can no longer feel my thighs pressing against the sides of my office chair.
Truth: In the shower, I no longer have to lift stuff up to wash other stuff. Seriously.
When I get up to pee in the middle of the night there is no pain in my body. Anywhere. The aches are gone.
My favourite LL Bean down jacket from before I chubbed out FITS ME and I can zip it up easily.
I proctored an exam the other day sitting cross-legged on a desk.
My herniated disc (due to obesity) has resolved. I can now roll over in bed pain-free.
I can sleep on my stomach again. This is also something that gives me JOY.
I sat on the floor with a group of students the other day, and realized I had gotten up again with absolutely NO EFFORT.
I can chug water! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do this after being banded. (It's the little things...)
I have been watching my cheekbones emerge. Wow.
Our grocery bill has gone down dramatically. I eat 1/3 (if that) of what I used to eat. My husband says with the grocery money saved since being banded we could buy a cottage in Muskoka. (lol!)
Speaking of my husband, I weigh less than him for the first time in a decade.
And more about my husband: I've noticed him touching my bum. A lot. And smooching me up. And hugging me close. He's proud, I can tell.
My band gently (and sometimes not-so-gently) reminds me to slow down when I eat. Thank you, dear band.
I have learned what freedom from the hunger monster feels like, and MAN OH MAN is that ever sa-weet.
I have a constant backdrop of satiety. I no longer think about, or worry about, my next meal. Love those band adjustments!
I am looking forward to getting into my MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op - the Canadian version of "REI") 'Rad Pants' I've kept from 1994. They are red, they are a size 10. The summer is almost here and with it comes a canoe-trip. I will be wearing those pants.
I feel like a I have a new lease on life. Woo hoo!
It's okay to stall. It's ok to have the occasional chocolate banana fritter. (Whoops - damn it was good). I am in a love affair with my band, but more importantly, with myself.
THIS is why I am in love with my band.
Happy happy!
Banded July 2003
SW: 330pds and lost 105pds. Was originally a size 24/3X and now size 14/16. Lowest was a 10/12. Kept it off for over a decade and gained 20pds recently which isn't a big feat to lose. Only had 3 fills over the course of being banded and I honestly love the fact that I have complete control and I can tolerate all foods and I know when to walk away from a plate on my own.
