Freckles

Cant weight are you a guy???? Well I hope you are...gonna walk on the beach without a top indeed ...........

Sounds great Mandy, I havent, but I will as soon as you can see a difference.

Mandy, you are part of the gang now hun and we are here for you xxx Us on this never ending thread are always here to give advice and listen to other peoples problems....we're that good in fact, that we may start charging.. only joking

You will chick, you will, but you have done tremendously well without finding it!!!! Yes Garry I will be up for it, but not for a while eh, we have to wait for these new girlies to have their ops first, and feel well enough, dont you think?

Garry you are so clever, thats exactly right, different strokes. You put it across so much better than I could, thank you. Cant weight, I'm sure your family are only concerned for your welfare, a lot of people get really confused about Lapbands and think they are gastric Bypasses. I think a lot of bad press has made people scared of this surgery, so dont be too hard on your family, I'm sure they love you and are just scared for you, as too must be your Gran xx

sweetie the sweetspot is when you no longer feel hungry and can only eat say a few mouthfuls at any meal, thats when the weight falls off. Does anyone of you older bandsters have anything to say about this, or are we all neweys? I know Flirty has had her band for a while, what do you think hunnybunch?

Ignore this, its rubbish I see the group piccy is on twice now and the edit wont let me delete one...sorry guys.

Wishful, I asked rachel the size of her band and she says it holds 10mls. When she went for a fill with me at Manchester x-ray, he took 1 ml out because he said it was too full. She hasnt had one since and thats almost 12months ago, so she found her sweet spot.

brilliant!!! I say if you can afford it, then go for it, cos if you dont take care of yourself, nobody else will. I want a facelift and himself wont let me:crying: Sarah and Ray are in Thailand until Saturday and she went to a posh place and had eyeliner tattooed on her eyelids, she said it was very painful though and she had botox in her forehead, all for £140. How cheap is that!!!! I hope to be going to visit them in Oz and will stop over a few days in Bankok and get as much as I can done I've been to Hong Kong and Sydney 4 years ago, but this will be different...so not buying any new clothes as I have loads that are still too tight. Then I can save like mad.

Bless her mmm, little girls are so cute arent they. This one will be my 7th grandchild, I also have 3 great grandaughters....I was a child bride you see lol, my son and his partner had 3 girls and 2 of them have daughters of their own.

Thanx Flirty, but i have about 4/ 5 stone to lose, I think. yes Rachel was going to have a tummy tuck and a boob uplift before she found out she was pregnant. She'll be doing it after the birth. I did get a mail saying you added me, just check and see if it worked chick xx

Mmm, how exciting for you and Sian, is this your first Grandchild??

My 2 daughters are in the 6th piccy the middle one Sarah, who's now gone on her travels and my eldest daughter Rachel the one on the left, (both with long blonde hair) who has a band and is pregnant. Sarah's boyfriend is on the left of the pic with Rachel and her fella on the right. I am in the last one, can you spot me?

I know its off-topic but I thought you might like to see these pics of the surprise leaving party for my daughter and her boyfriend last saturday. These are mine didnt have time to take many, I am waiting for Rachel's. The first few were taken in the afternoon, before the party, if you're wondering why there's not much food

Mmm, thank God for that, that anaesthetist in the Spire more or less told me I was an idiot, because I told him that was the best restriction I had ever experienced with the faulty band. So he was wrong!!! So my band must have been leaking for a long time before I really knew for sure dont you think? Rachel's baby is due on 4th September but she is booked in for a C-section 2 weeks before as this is her 3rd child. Her pelvic bones overlap so she could never have a normal birth. Has Sian any other kiddies?

Wishful, I dont really know as all the bands are different sizes, in that they all hold different amounts. It depends what manufacturer the surgeon uses. But I will ask her as soon as she gets home in a couple of hours. She hasnt had a fill since April last year I know that for sure, cos we went together to the Manchester X-ray, when I found out the very next day that mine had leaked back out.

Lol, you go girl

Ok girls, this was my experience. Remember the doctor, not the surgeon at the Spire told me that long haul flights would not affect my band, well he doesnt know what he's talking about, because I went to New York, Jamaica and Florida over 2 years. Each time when I got there (and it lasted the full 2 weeks) I wasnt hungry, and hardly ate anything, I just drank coffee and alcohol:tt2: Now I think that the pressure on the flight affected the tightness of the band and helped me reach my sweet spot Each time I came home I had lost weight. But it didnt last, the band loosened up again. Now it was faulty so maybe that was why those holidays were the only time I found the sweet spot. That my dears is how its supposed to work, so keep up the fills. Also remember when you are losing weight you also lose weight from your internal organs, therefore the band will need more filling once you've lost more weight. I will know when I reach the sweet spot, it may take over 12months but it wont matter, I'll get there. Dont let yourslef get over-filled because its dangerous and you will have to go back for a de-fill. It happened to my daughter and she couldnt even swallow her own saliva, very scarey. I hope this helps you little piggies I'm one myself :cursing: .

@ Sammy good call!! I have tried lots of stuff, some goes down, some doesnt, but really you see I'm more or less in the same position as when I went for the band this time as my band wasnt giving me any restriction, however saying that, I have pb'd a few times and things get stuck, which didnt hardly happen before the op.

Everything the girls have said is true Lisa, except one thing about the diet thing. My naughty daughter survived on booze and chocolate, last year, not the healthiest of options, she kept having acid reflux and that was all she could manage. She was banded by THG Previous to this she had lost 6 stone, simply because the band restricts you from eating much, once you find your sweet spot as the girlies have said. Her band was fitted in april 2005, she lost about 2 stone at first and then it just gradually fell away. She has only had 6 fills. And now she is 4 months pregnant, and hasnt put any weight on yet!!!! I was banded by Michael Van den Bossche in the Spire ( was Bupa) Southampton both times. he was so good about my faulty band and persuaded the manufacturer to replace it.

ahh poor Lisa, no hunny dont let our stupid banter put you off, the band does work, my daughter has gone from 20 stone to just over 12 stone and she looks fantastic. I havent had a fill yet which is why I can eat at the moment, but things will change as soon as i have that fill. I am on my second band because i had a leak, but its not very common, so dont worry. I loved my band which is why I paid out nearly 4 grand for my second one, it has cost me almost £10,000 and worth every penny. I know that i will lose loads and never have to worry about putting it back on. Sorry if we have mislead you hunny xx

Thanx Big Sis, Wishful and Mandy. Big Sis, I've missed your lovely posts, in fact all you chicks on here are class!!! hey Big sis, I have more than a small drink :thumbup:...but I have to have something to look forward to every night when I come back from visiting, cant eat much cant smoke, so my only vice is booze.:thumbup: I did the abstaining for 10 days pre-op if you remember, and was so good....Michael VDB said my liver was very thin and in perfect condition, no fatty parts at all, so that helped me no end. In fact it made me turn to the bottle but i will ease off soon, I think.

Bless Gillian, you are a gem!!! I'm sure there are others that have tried too. I keep thinking its gotta get easier, with the hunger thing, I am using the patches, it helps with the cravings, we had a leaving party for my daughter on saturday night and a lot of people were smoking, albeit outside, but I also went outside to have a gab with some of them and it didnt bother me. Hubby is really good and tries not to smoke in front of me. Every night I have a couple of tots of booze though, cos I feel I need some release so I'm not that good. he says I shouldnt be drinking if I want to lose weight. I meant to mention too that I have been taking Arnica Tablets to help heal my insides, and the pains I had have now subsided.

Now can all of you bandsters say 'hand on heart' that you have stuck with mushy food and not tried anything else during your mushy period? Or am I the only naughty one? I know I must fess up.... maybe thats why I havent lost much:sad: I have tried lots of different things and can eat most of it, but only small amounts. I'm ravenous all the time, and I know if I was smoking I wouldnt be as bad, but I feel the time is right for me to give up, and its been 4 weeks now, and I dont want to start again.:thumbup: Any advice out there?

I'm so sorry for your loss Jacksmum, only time will help you chick.