W8TYGIRL

Hi there Dixiesmom,

I'm also 3 years post op and I know everybody's situation is not the same, but if I were in your situation I would probably ask to get my band loosened a bit. It doesn't sound normal and you have additional symptoms to go along with the issues you're having with eating. I'm not a doctor but if I were constipated, I would think either I'm not getting enough water or enough fiber, i.e. veges. You may be lacking the nutrients in the fruits and veges which could be leading to the fatigue. Also, if I had acid reflux on a regular basis, I would be concerned it would lead to problems with my esophogus, such as ulcers, so I wouldn't let the situation go on for long. I would definitely consult with my doctor.

I'm still considered overweight and maybe even obese at 194 lbs and 5'6''. But although I feel better about my body, I still struggle with my self image being a smaller person and still not being totally secure with it because of so many years of being overweight and everything didn't snap back into place like I wanted. Anyway good luck and I hope you resolve your problem quickly.

great job... i cant wait to get to 198lbs!! my ultimate goal is to get to 180..

You said you exercise by dancing? how many time a week?

I have only lost 50lbs and i am already seeing the saggy skin on my belly and upper legs...and ofcourse my flat breasts. I started saving my pennies for surgery some day...hopefully before i turn 40. I think i wil start telling friends and family to donate $ instead of Bday/Xmas gifts.

I hope you get to your goal..keep it up!!

Gorda, I exercise by dancing only once a week. Maybe twice. I dance for at least two hours...really hard. Thanks for the encouragement. It is much needed!!

Thanks so much for your comments. I will definitely take heed to your suggestions.

Kia AKA W8TYGIRL

I wish you luck and just want to say you are going in the best direction. I loved reading your blog and I may suggest you get off the lean cuisine and the wt watcher foods (these are easy simple carbs), sounds like they do not keep you full anyway.

They are not real foods. They are overly processed and simple. If you made your own foods with real (complex carbs) veggies and whole wheat pasta these foods will stay with you longer. Mind you, that you may not be able to eat that much but they are REAL foods. Our body needs real food to digest. I find I need to eat less but I stay fuller longer. Never drink with meals.

Blogging is a great way to keep busy and out of the food. Choose to snack on carrots or celery sticks with a pinch of salt yup you are right get off the potato chips again a simple carb and will not stay with you. Eat colors and real, not too much mostly plants with proteins first. You will feel so much better. Best wishes on your journey. imaluckydog

Well I guess it's time I check in again and post on my progress. I got my last fill back in January and I have somehow managed to lose another 20lbs or so. I am filled at 5.5cc in a 10cc band. My current weight is 253 which is down from my pre-surgery weight of 309. My highest weight was 324. So that is 54 lbs with the band and a total weight loss of 70lbs. I really can't complain about the band so far, being as though I have been able to lose a significant amount of weight and I didn't have to kill myself doing it. I am still doing some exercise, such as dancing, playing basketball, or just plain walking. I will admit I don't have the routine part down yet but I've never been a very routine person anyway (my real problem).

I have another appointment to see the GI doctor for a possible fill in 2 weeks. I am really debating whether I want this fill. I have good restriction (I get full on a cup of food), but the food moves through pretty quickly and I am hungry often. I guess this is a sign that I need a fill. Also, I have been losing really slowly within the last few weeks. I keep fluctuating with the same few pounds and haven't gotten below the 250 mark yet. I think it's time to beef up my exercise plan and be more strict with my diet (HARD). I'm a little worried that more restriction might be a bad thing. I don't want to be so restricted that all I want to eat are soft foods. I want to be able to eat but I don't want to be hungry alot like I am now. I think I am going to discuss it with my doctor - ask for a small fill - and see if he agrees. Well until next time! Good luck to all in your weightloss goals!:tongue:

Hey Everybody,

I thought I would go ahead and post about my progress now. I had hit a plateau at 275 lbs for the last 2-3 months. I was able to eat anything I wanted and I was hungry alot too. With the increased hunger I did pretty much go off of a sensible diet in terms of eating out at fast food restaurants and so on and so forth. I didn't completely lose sight of my goals, but, I wasn't truly as strict as I know I should have been. I was able to maintain not drinking high caloric/sugary drinks so I didn't gain. I went to get a fill last friday and the doctor told me I lost 10 pounds since my last fill in August.

I received my second fill on Friday, January 29th. I am now filled to 5.5 cc's in a 10 cc band. I have "REAL" restriction. I have a really tight fill, but I am gonna hang in there because the very strong hunger pains have gone down significantly and I cannot eat alot. I had no difficulty getting down water in the doctor's office, however, when I got home I think I got swollen because I had a little difficulty getting fluid down. I have noticed that I am tighter in the middle of the night and in the morning. I have since started drinking a lot of fluids, and I'm now making sure I don't get dehydrated because I think that leads to me being tighter. I do still feel hunger, but it's nothing water or a protein shake won't fix. I have actually lost 7-10 lbs since my fill which was less than a week ago, so I'm really happy that I am progressing again. I tend to lose weight very easily if I restrict myself, however, the same is also true about gaining. I can gain a pound a day if I'm not careful. I'm basically still on soft foods, fish, beans, yogurt, applesauce and some chicken. I have to take super small bites now or swallow very small bits at a time, otherwise I experience pain of food being forced through my band. I did have an episode where I had eaten too close to bed and laid down only to wake up in the middle of the night coughing up food. Now I know not too eat right before bed although that has been a long standing habit. Perhaps I'll just drink some warm milk maybe 30 minutes before bed. My doctor told me to follow up in 3 months so I am going to try to hang in there with the amount of restriction that I have. I may ask to have some of the fluid removed from my band on my next visit depending on how I adjust to this one. I have forgone traditional exercise for going out dancing, dance classes, and I bought a basketball so I can shoot hoops. I do need to add more activity during the week days which I plan to do. Anyway, my scale says 265 now, so I have lost about 50lbs since surgery and about 60lbs total from my highest weight 1 1/2 years ago. At this point I am happy with my lap band experience.:smile2:

Thanks guys for the comments. Electrawoman to answer your question. I'm not sure if I would do it again. I don't exactly regret it but it was a very drastic decision and it's permanent. I may not regret it now but what about 20 years from now? I feel good now, that's all I know. If I don't lose at least half of my excess weight and keep it off then I think it wasn't worth the risk but if I keep it off with no health problems then it's worth it. CassieH, I'm guessing everybody's body is a little different but I can eat ANYTHING. Just in moderate amounts. I find myself avoiding dry poultry, some breads, but I can eat those too if I chew well. I have eaten a half sub a couple of times but it's not guilt free food. You can't lost weight and eat high fat foods but you know that. I think it's important to actually diet with the band at least until you get to goal. I'm not an expert but I lost weight with the band when I was very careful about what I ate and exercised. I have plateud the last couple of months. I need to get back on a healthy regimen and eliminate those foods that will not get me to where I desire to be. I realize that this process still requires willpower and focus. The band doesn't do it all.

Hey everybody,

I just wanted to check in because it's been over 2 months since I've been on the site. I want to be very honest and forthcoming about my experience thus far. Perhaps I could help someone either to have the surgery or not. My highest weight was 325 and I was 309 right before surgery so that's a total of 34lbs lost since surgery. Well I am now at 275lbs and I know I could have done more but I would say this is pretty decent progress. I feel sooooo much better physically. This small weight loss has made a big difference in my life. I am more interested in doing things and going places and being around people (energetic). I have healed pretty well so far. I did receive one fill back in late August and I definitely have more restriction. I decided not to have another one too soon because I wanted to give my body a chance to heal because I was still feeling soreness here and there in my stomach area. I only rarely feel any pain now. On occasion I feel a dull pain around the port area or I may have a little indigestion but nothing serious that keeps me up at night. I haven't really been trying as hard as I know I can. See old habits are hard to break. I was never one to exercise consistently. I would go to the gym for a few months then stop or have an excersice regimen for a few weeks then stop. I wasn't really going to the gym so I cancelled my membership in favor of going out dancing which I have done a few times. As far as my diet is concerned, I have really fallen back into a lot of my old habits. Eating out, not preparing meals ahead of time or planning what I will eat. The only thing I have held onto is not drinking sugary juices and sodas because I know that's where a lot of my excess calories come from. I try my best to stay away from sugar (I dont always win) but salt is my true weakness. Now, to talk about hunger and the feeling of fullness. I'm sure I need another fill at this point, but part of the reason I haven't had it is the healing process and the other part is because I don't like the feeling of food being caught up in my esophogus and I don't want to feel hungry and full at the same time. This is how I believe this surgery works: You get the band tightened, you cannot eat very much because the food gets stuck, but you may not feel satisfied with the amount of food you have eaten. But I think that eventually your body gets used to eating the smaller amount of food. I can definitely say I eat less now and I try not to graze. When I had my first fill, I didn't eat or drink for hours before getting the fill. I was sooooo hungry beforehand, in fact I had a plan for what I was going to eat afterwards. As soon as I got the fill my hunger went away and I didn't need to eat right away. So it does affect how hungry you get but I think after a few weeks the restriction may be lost to certain extent. One thing I can say is that although my diet and excercise has been off course, I have not gained the weight back and that was one of the big reasons I wanted surgery, because I didn't want to gain it back again. Only time will tell if I actually do gain it back. So far I don't regret my decision, I haven't had any serious complications. I do vomit if I eat too fast or eat something dry but that's about it. The only other odd things are that I crave fish like crazy and I have started to have acne on my nose (embarrasing). I've read here on the site that it's the toxins trying to leave my body. I hope that's all it is but it's a little odd for me because I've lost weight before without those side effects. Anyway, it's good for me to talk about this because it helps me to face what I have been doing wrong and perhaps that will be enough motivation for me to make a few changes. I keep rememembering that this is a process and I've been told it could take up to 3 years to reach your goal but ofcourse it doesn't happen without personal effort. I would like to get to 170, so I have about 100lbs to go. Much success too all on their journey!:cursing:

Thanks for your responses to my first blog. I only noticed today that anyone saw my comments. I'm a little new at this! Well, it's been an eventful month since surgery on 06/18/09. I am trying to get used to the band. The healing process can be very daunting especially in the first couple of weeks. I could feel the heaviness in my stomach and yes I could feel the band around my stomach. I am still very aware of it, however, my surgeon says that eventually I will not notice it. I can feel where my stomach has been stiched over the band when I strech after sitting for a while. Sitting still for long periods of time can be uncomfortable and I have a job where I sit alot (so I get up and walk more than I used to). I have been losing some weight. I weigh in at 286 right now. So that is about 20lbs down since surgery. I know I could have done more except that I do very little excercise. It doesn't seem to take much for me to make an excuse not to go to the gym and I live really close to it. I am really going to make more of an effort to excercise because losing 1 pound a week (maybe) is not why I had the surgery. I have been trying to increase the amount of protein in my diet, drinking shakes and eating protein bars. Ofcourse, I cannot eat as much as I could before. Maybe half of my previous portions. I try to make good food choices. I take a lot of weight watchers and lean cuisines for lunch. I did eat some foods that didn't go down right and that caused some discomfort but it got better after about a day. I hope this doesn't discourage anyone, just being honest. You really have to train yourself to chew your food well. One thing I can say is that I feel a lot better physically just losing this small amount of weight - so that in and of itself makes it all worth it. I'm not scheduled for a fill yet, perhaps my surgeon will okay it on my next visit at the end of August. I just wanted to check in and say I'm doing pretty well after surgery and I hope I continue to progress and heal completely. Good luck to anyone about to have surgery or who has already had it!