lindatatu

kcmagu, what is a magic bullet?

Misty D65 Wow I am impressed with how much research you did! I plan to do the same. I suspect surgery will be the end of September and I will start making soups the beginning of September. I got a lot out of the book Before and After. Thanks for the protein drink tips.

mini me. thanks for the advice. I have the lowest BMI (35 with co morbiditys) you can have and be approved by my insurance. Thanks for the heads up. I will try and not get discouraged. I am not being banded until September or October. What is frustrating the heck out of me now is how to get the darn ticker on my site! I set it up but somehow can't cut and paste the correct URL or get it to work. How did you get yours on?

Redsmom, I to may be banded around that date. My problem is our hospital requires us to lose 5% of our body weight by going on South Beach. I was extremely successful and lost so much weight my BMI was to low for insurance approval. So I am gaining weight (just 4 pounds) before my doctors appoiintment on the 19th. Now seeing how successful I was dieting friends and one bandster are telling me I should just diet. Dont they realize that I like everyone of them have dieted successfully and gained it back again. I don't know why this time would be different! But their telling me not to have the band yet is putting doubts in my mind. It is such a life changing decision. I certainly understand your doubts. Do you have a good support person. Up until I had to gain this weight I was perfect. Eating on good food, eating slowly, no liquids with meals etc. Now I am back to old habits and very unhappy. It is a long, tough process. Good luck.

I'll be there!

I will be at the park on Saturday.

NoPBJ How is it going since it has been a few weeks? Did you feel like the support group at Buffalo General helped? Do you feel like you are banded yet? I hope you are feeling better about everything.

Travelinsnorkel, why not make an appointment at the local Weight loss center. Attend a seminar. Fill our an application. The process is lenghty and not easy requiring committment. It should let you know if you are ready to committ to the program or not.

slinderella2B, how do I get the ticker on my signature? I tried cutting and pasting the URL's but none worked. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Well I see you got a lot of encouragement and answers already but I will put in my 2 cents worth. Reason's to feel better: You already had the surgery. I am still waiting - at least two more months. Your post gave me a guideline for how I may feel and I learned from that. I am sure I will be depressed and weepy because that is how I tend to get. I will remember it is normal. Other answers to your post have helped me to. So by sharing you are helping others. Good luck. Listen to your body instead of looking at a scale.

RE: the book. Would you like to know what to expect? Plus it is more about before and after care.

Hi NoPBJ No I do not have a date yet. I haven't officially met with Dr. Hoffman yet. Because of committments I can't have it before September 29th anyway. My appointment with Dr. Hoffman is August 19th.

Hi everyone, I met Dr. Hoffman yesterday. He did my colonoscopy. We only had a total of about 3 minutes interaction but I felt he was a warm caring man. He even asked me if I liked the music in the procedure room. I wish our first meeting would have been in his office instead of his having an intimate relationship with my backside and then telling me to fart to get the gas pains out! Ha Ha. But he did make me feel comfortable. I remember someone being surprised he did Colonoscopys. I guess the GI lab was too because I heard someone ask him and he rattled off a whole list of proceudures he does. He even remembered my appointment to see him was in August. I am so impressed. I did have some horrible gas pains that lasted until late last night. I even had to take a wheel chair to the car cause I couldn't walk but I felt more comfortable being at home "relieving" my discomofort. On that note I got the book someone on this site recommended titled Weight Loss with the Adjustable Gastric Band by Robert Sewell (I love it) and I read about the shoulder pains people talk about and the book explains: A cannula is placed into the abdominal cavity through the skin and muscular wall. The cavity is then inflated with carbon dioxide gas, similar to blowing up a balloon. The pressure of gas creates space for the surgeon to work between the internal organs and the wall of the abdomen. It also explains the reason for the preop diet which many people complain about: To expose the area of the upper stomach requires the lives to be physically lifted off the stomach. The liver is often quite large and somewhat immobile in very obese patients. This can prove to be a major obstacle in working around the upper part of the stomach. To make the procedure safer and easier patients are put on a pre-operative low fat low carb diet to shrink the liver. Makes me want to make that pre-op diet successful! Sorry for the long post. I just thought someone might be interested.

No PBJ you sound in better spirits. At least you got the ticker on your site. I can't even do that! Help.

I am so sorry you had a bad experience. Hopefully things will continue to get better and you will feel more positive about having the band. Anesthesia can be really hard on some people, even worse than the surgery. Good luck and take one day at a time.

Hi Lovingheart, I sent my application in March 12th. I was at the hospital on April 1st so I went up to the 15th floor to check on the application. I was told I would need a psych eval and a TSH so I immediately took care of both. I was invited to the May 1st seminar where we were told we could come in and get weighed and once it was officially recorded we could start on SB Diet. I got weighed on May 6th. Because I was going on a cruise I did not start the diet until May 27th. I had my "3 hour blitz" which was only 2 hours on June 24th. I was assigned Dr. Hoffman which after reading how much every one likes him I was pleased. I have to have a colonoscopy and Dr. Hoffman is doing that on July 10th (because others have tried and not been successful). I go back to the dietician on July 22nd and my first appointment with Hoffman is August 26th. They say you are scheduled for surgery 2-6 weeks later but I am having a big event on September 23 so I do not want it until after that. I have to be in high gear for a few weeks to get ready for it. When you say your first appointment isn't until late August do you mean with the surgeon or the 3 hr appointment with the NP, PT, and nutritionist? I was extremely successful on SB and almost lost too much weight to qualify. I am not allowed to lose another pound. Which is very hard for me. I guess just so I weigh the same at the appointments I will be okay. I plan to go to the July 16th support meeting at Buffalo General. I am trying to learn as much as I can before hand. I love this site.

Lovingheart, are you still out there? I too live in South Buffalo and am in the process of the LapBand system. My doctor will be Dr. Hoffman at Buffalo General. I would love to talk.

Bloom, if you were at the May Seminar when was your 3 hour appointment and did you say you think you will be banded in August or just meet the surgeon? I am so anxious for a timeline. I guess I will find out Tuesday.

I went to my endo today and he didn't answer all my questions - he seemed like he either didn't care or didn't hear me and did not say a word when he weighed me even though I lost at least 20 lbs since he saw me last, 3 months ago. Even when I ask him about the insulin dosage he refuses to commit. His answer is always it is differnet for everyone. I asked him if my labs were better because I had been on SB and they say it does great things to your lab work and he didn't even answer me. Next stop was the podiatrist and he seemed distracted to. Geez I sure hope tomorow at my 3 hour blitz goes better.

Val, I am thinking of changing endocrinologist to someone who is familar with Lapband patients. Do you recommend Dr. Lippes? Where is he located? I am going to ask tommorrow at my 3 hour blitz. YEAH FINALLY!

Thanks Judy, I look forward to attending my first support meeting at Buffalo General next month. Thanks for the info on the fairs. Banders can't eat bread huh. Is that a forever thing?

Hi Buffalo bansters...I have a questions for someone who has already been banded. As I was driving around today (still on my SB Diet) I must have passed a sign for a church or community festival at every corner. What can we eat at those fairs? Also, do support people come to the support group meetings or are those just for the banders? Thanks.

Judy, at the seminar they told us we could come in and get weighed (without an appointment) so I did and got the weight, BMI etc. Our seminar was May 1st and the first appointment isn't until June 24th so this way we got a head start on the weight loss. I haven't had my first appointment yet but I was thinking of asking for Dr. Forbes since she is a woman but you guys sure talk up Dr. Hoffman as being wonderful. I was on the GBS forum for local people and my friend told me Hoffman doesn't have the track record that Posner and Forbes do but maybe that is just for GBS. I trust all your opinions.

HI, Sorry I can't help you but I was so excited to see your post as I to am in the same program and have been looking for someone from Buffalo. It was a little frustrating to see how long you have been in the process! I started in March and my first appointment is June 24th but I have every issue that I know of already taken care of including the required 5% weight loss. Have you been to the LapBand support group at the hospital yet? That is where you may be able to ask questions and see results. I hope someone answers this post who can help you feel better. I have an online friend who started the process at the same time and she is very frustrated with the office and their losing things and not answering the phone etc. I asked several health care professionals for a referral including my gyn who had GBS and Dr. Forbes comes highly recommended. I don't know if we pick a surgeon or are assigned one but I was thinking of asking for Forbes. Its a woman thing. I thought they were all nice and helpful at the seminar. Good Luck and I hope to hear from you again. If you need someone locally to talk to we can exchange email addresses.

Hi, I haven't been to my first visit yet (June 24th) but at the orientation we were advised of all to have done and our insurance requires you to loose 5% of your weight before surgery. I am glad it is not 6 months BUT might as well get used to the new eating pattern as soon as possible. Our surgeon asks us to go on the South Beach Diet and I am in the strict 2 week phase but have already lost 10 pounds. Good luck.