hopelives124

Hi Chele, I really indentified with so much of what you said. I too feel like the band failed me having lost only about 25 pounds since being bamded a year ago. BUT as my surgeon recently said to me....you did not gain! And if I am honest, I could be doing more to help myself. I do walk but need to go to the gym and the band is ONLY a tool. We control what we out into our mouths. For me, I do okay with regular food but have a big addiction to sweets. Very hard. So, we go on. I love the post wqho said every day we start over it is like we were banded yeterday.

Itotally understand and relate. I was banded on 9/16/08. And lost about 25 pounds. Still morbidly obese. Still feeling like I have failed as we do as fat people all the time. I have kept upb with my fills and have good restriction. The band has not helped my hunger one bit. I have thrown up when eating too fast etc. However I do eat sweets but not all the time. The band has helped with portion control but has not been that effecitve with weightloss. I would ask the surgeon about gastric bypass if u are comfortable with it. The band works if u eat a lot less;eat no sweets and exercise. The best of luck to u.

I totally understand that sense of frustration and failure. It is so familiar to all of us in our lives of the obesity battle. I have only lost 25 pounds myself and my surgery was in sept 08. I too have good restriction have found ways to eat around the band. I have finally in my gut realized this is a tool only and I must take full responsibility for everything I put in my mouth!!! Believe me it is hard. I happen to be vactioning in Italy and the ice cream is the greatest. Do not let yourself succumb to the failure feeling. It has so much to do with the way we have been mistreated for our weight and we in turn mistreated ourselves even more. Good luck on your journey you are not alone!!!!!

I too am struggling with barely a 20 pound loss in seven months. Severe osteoarthritis in both knees makes exercise that I used to love like walking is hard. I believe u must find soemthing that is fun for u and stick to it. Best of luck. Never give up!!!!!!

I am 5 months out from lap band surgery have lost about 25 pounds, and have noticed that my hair loss is all over my body....for example the hair on my head is thinner yes, but I have alot less hair on my arms and legs too. Maybe it is stress??(I lost my mom in November) or getting older....I am 48. HELP I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this!!!!!!!!!????????????

I just had my third fill last wednesday and have a 7.3 cc restriction level. I am still able to eat alot of what I want. I am afraid of the foods that typically get stuck so I stay away from them. But, then I start to struggle with the foods that got me like this....the sugary sweet ones that go down great. I am not beating up on myself, my mom just died last month and I see the strong need for fooooooood, but I am getting a little impatient, I was banded on 9/16/08 and have only lost about 25 pounds. It is just a tool, but this sugar addiction is the worse. Sorry to get off the topic, but it does seem that different levels of restriction work differently for different people. Of course with 7.3 cc's I do feel fuller faster and really tight and sick if I overeat.

:tongue2::thumbup: I will definately attend the conference. I love the doctor's at NYU and hope that they are all asked to speak. Dr. Kurian did my surgery and is AWWWWWEsome so that she is my first choice to speak. I would love to see as much of the psychological part of this process included in the conference since that is what i do for a living so that I would even be willing to speak/present. I have had the band since 9/16/08 have lost 25 pounds so far and love my band. New York would be my first preference but I would attend in New Jersey as well. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

I was banded on 9/16/08 at NYU by Dr. Kurian and am scheduled for my first fill on Friday 10/10. Any advice? I have had a great recovery so far, eating regular food, but no steak, white meat chicken or pasta etc....I am scared of throwing up. What should I expect? The weight loss has been slow a total of 17 pounds from the time of my first surgical consult. I ate so little during the pre-op then liquid stage, ate a little bit more during mushy stage. It seems like my body went into shock once I ate so little. Anyway, any and all advice is very appreciated!!!!!

Sorry it took a while to get back to you. I went to my informational session at NYU the end of May and orginally had a banding date for the end of August. I postponed it due to vacation to 9/16. So it was fairly quick and painless. I understand about the primary MD issue since i often did not let my MD weigh me because I was usually sooo mortified. It is a good thing that at least within the past five years I let him weigh me. The letter documenting my BMI for the past five years was great to have and I too have Unitedhealthcare. Whatever you have to do to get the documentation I am sure that you will do it...don't beat up on yourself for the vagueness with your doctor. I did that so much because of the shame and embarassment over the obesity. Hopefully between your gyn and orthopeaedic doctor you can document. The very best to you please let me know if I can be of any further help!!!!

I was banded at NYU by Dr. Kurian on 9/16/08 and I will say that I had a great experience. I did not even really consider another place since I knew a co-worker that had been banded their the year before and lost over 150 pounds. However, it is still surgery and still hard work no matter where you go. I think Columbia is a bariatric center of excellence as well as NYU. So it is a toss-up I guess. Aren't we lucky to have these resources?! Best of luck to you on your journey

I just got banded on 9/16 at NYU and have united healthcare. The surgeon that you pick to do your consultation with will then have you see their coordinator. She will then tell you what you need for insurance approval. For example my surgeon is Dr. Kurian. I had my consultation and nutitional assessment on the same day in July. Then, I met with Nilsa her surgical co-ordinator who advised me on what I needed to do to get insurance approval. United Healthcare sent me an approval letter in late august. I completed the psych evaluation in June and of course the nutritional assessement you must pay for it is $350.00. This is probably the best thing I ever did for my health. So, good luck to you. It will all fall into place. Let me know if you need further help.

Hi everyone! Congrats to all of us on september 16! Hopefully our new birthdays! I had to wait for my surgeon at the hospital for over 5 hours but it was worth it. She was great and so was the staff at NYU in New York. I had a lot of gas pain for first few days but am a lot better. Full liquids are getting hard I can't wait for mushies but not for another week! I am hungry and missing food. I will probably go back to work on Wednesday have my post op visit scheduled for monday.

I too was banded on 9/16 at NYU. I drink atkins and muscle milk. The latter has 21 grams of protien. The gas in the middle of my chest has been hard? Any suggestions on that. If the protien is too much just dilute it. I have definately felt the beginning of hunger growls over the past few days. I am sooo looking forward to the mushy food stage in a week! Congrats to all of us tho! Keep moving!

AWESOME!!!!! and I am soo inspired....scheduled go be banded at NYU on 9/16/08 Hi Everyone!!! After a three month journey, I am scheduled to be banded atj NYU on 9/16/08. It is trully a wonderful and scary prospect. I believe that my life is starting over and that I will finally be able to shed the obesity nightmare that I and so many of us have been living with. I am so INSPIRED by the stories of weight loss. I too want to lose about 130 pounds and reach my high school weight of 130 or LOWER. When I tell others that they look at me in disbelief, but why not??? After so many years of dealing with the depression, humiliation, and sheer exhaustion that being obese involves why not aim for the highest and best goal? I am scared of letting go of some foods that I love, but I know that at the end of the day, getting slim and healthy will be soooooo well worth it. I appreciate any and all support as I embark on this journey. I am so grateful that you are all out there. pre-op diet weight/current weight/goal weight 261/257/130

Are we talking chocolate and ice cream as the foods that are difficult to avoid? I am to be banded on 9/16/08 and this is one of my biggest fears, that I will eat past the band. I am looking forward to the portion control that comes with the band, but I know that my "drugs of choice" if you will are the above and they can get past the band. In any event, I agree with the others, it is great that you are choosing to put it out their and get help. As far as your doctor goes, it sounds like you are carrying around a whole lot of shame in terms of having problems and slipping up. We feel like such failures when we have a problem and then we keep our heads and hearts stuck in the mud or the ice cream if you will. I did that for a very very long time. No more, obesity is a medical problem and we deserve a medical solution like others with medical problems. This is the only medical problem that carries such an incredible STIGMA and I see it in what you said. the best of luck...I am sure you can find a nearby doctor otherwise come to NYC you are worth the commute! Rosie in NYC