lellow

The band made me eat less than my 4yo when I was well restricted. That's how I lost the weight. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have sustained eating that little for long without the band. Even tho my band is fairly loose now, I still don't eat much. It broke my addiction to food. Without the band, I wouldn't have lost the weight, I wouldn't have kept it off. It was absolutely what I needed to help me.

Haha Fanny! I'm glad to have brought you back, I have missed you too! Got notification today that the surgery has been paid for in full and it's all set for the 28th Oct. I'm currently in Singapore on holidays and while I feel great in a bikini, I reckon I'd feel heaps better with the boobs to go with the rest of the body! Bring on the 28th!! Lots of augmented chicks around the beaches here too! I would have fit right in lol!

Good luck Jachut, I reckon you'll be fine. When I got unfilled for my body lift I actually lost a little weight by being mindful of what I ate. I was only unfilled 2 weeks tho, but I'm sure the hunger won't come raging back, and if it does, I'm sure you'll handle it, just as you're doing now with your band loose.

My band is quite loose and I don't feel like I use the band as much anymore to maintain my weight. I haven't had a fill in a long time but I don't feel I need it. I don't have that love affair with food that I used to, and I don't eat unless I'm hungry these days, and I could eat more but have trained myself to only eat a small amount, so I feel like I'm doing okay at the moment. In fact, when I'm stressed at work nowadays, my weight drops, and I consciously have to work at maintaining my BMI at 21, so I don't lose too many of my curves. So yeah I do think you can get to the point where you're not really 'using' your band as your main tool for weight loss/maintenance anymore. I still wouldn't ever have it removed or anything, though, because it's like a security blanket in case something changes. But for now, it's nice being able to eat just about anything I want, and not having any stuck or pb episodes anymore.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, SunD1! I hope that should you lose the weight, that it won't affect your breasts. I was lucky in that I don't have much sag, they're just empty of any sort of volume, so I don't need a lift, just the implants. I guess if I end up a D, I end up a D - I'll live! I am pretty sure no guy I know is going to complain any! lol! Thinking about it today, I realise I'd be more disappointed if I ended up smaller than I expected, so I'll just have to take a punt and see how I go!

Thanks for your advice Shelly! After I posted this afternoon, I called my surgeon's office and spoke to my surgeon again, and he said that while no one can really tell exactly what cup size i'll end up with, he thinks I will be a full C or a smaller D, but not a full D cup. If I go the size down, I'll likely be a small C. That's reassured me a bit. I remember trying different implant sizes on in his offices and deciding initially on a 390cc. But I guess when I tried them on, I was so used to having my empty-sock boobs that they seemed really big on me. Pre-weight loss I was a DD, almost an E, so a full C cup sounds good to me now. I have this impression that I'll look like boobs on legs, but I probably won't lol!

Hey guys, I'm looking for a little reassurance. I'm having a BA on the 28th Oct and have chosen my implant and have organsied everything but am starting to doubt my decision re the cup size I wish to achieve. I am starting to wonder if a 390cc teardrop implant was going to be too big for me. I'm only 5'4" and weigh about 56-56kgs, and in US sizing, I'm about a size 2. Is a D cup too big? Will I look huge? I was tossing up between the 345cc and the 390cc and my surgeon recommended going bigger. He said that in 20 years, he's never heard anyone regret going bigger, but has always had people regret going smaller. But I'm me. I know that a anatomical (teardrop) shaped implant will look natural but I don't want to look too top heavy on a small frame. I don't want everyone looking at me like I'm boobs on legs! Advice, reassurance, experiences welcome!!

I'm sure this will be the same for so many people - being overweight meant I refused to let anyone take pictures of me. Now looking back through old photos of my family, it almost looks like I wasn't a part of it. I was always behind the camera and have meticulously captured the lives of my husband and kids, but I look absent, even though I wasn't. Now I don't mind having my picture taken at all, and my 20yo daughter recently commented that just in the last year alone, the Facebook photos of me jumped from just under 20 to over 400, and I went from being a ghost to being someone everyone could now see.

Depends on how stuck you're feeling. If it's only mild discomfort, try sipping something hot like tea and see if it will help dissolve it. If it's stuck to the point of making you feeling like pbing, I'd just walk around and wait til it passes through.

Not a lot now. Wait til it passes. Next time crush it.

I agree that the baby comment could have been taken the wrong way, but there will always be times when something comes across the wrong way, and you can chose to roll with it and read the subtex behind it, or you can get upset. The fact of the matter is, I read Manda's comment as simply an analogy to show you that sometimes something worth it is worth the pain. And I really do believe keeping a positive attitude up helps significantly at times like this. I'm all for venting, don't get me wrong, but venting is about getting it off your chest so you can cope and deal with the issue. There are very few veteran bandsters around this forum these days, and make no mistake, we've all had our issues, and have found various ways to work through them. Keep your ears open, coz some of the very best advice, and positivity to get me through the tougher times, I got from this very place. I wish you all the best. In time, this period of your life will be a distant memory. I remember the first time I wore a bikini. NONE of the pain I went through mattered one iota then.

You know what, Blessedmama? Opinions and support goes both ways. Manda was saying she did feel significant pain and discomfort but it was temporary, so please take a chill pill and don't be quite so quick to jump on someone else. If you honestly don't wish to hear from anyone who's been there, done that, or hear them give you advice about how it will get better, but instead wish to attack them for giving half a crap enough to post and reassure you, then perhaps you're the one who should rethinking how you interact with people on this forum.

I had a full lower body lift and the pain was definitely manageable. I reacted to the morphine (made me feel queasy) so stopped that on day two and just took panadeine thereafter. They reckon I have a high pain threshold (I guess I must have to have as many kids and tattoos as I do lol) but seriously, everyone said the pain was be soooo bad and it just wasn't. I had a shower on day 3. They just taped and bagged my drains. :thumbup: But at worse, you can always sponge wash until your drains are out!

This is a great post. I too see posts that say 'I hate my band, I wish I'd never done it' and I wonder how it will impact on those researching the band now. I wish I had had mine done years before I actually did, but had there been as many of those types of posts when I finally did decide to get my band, I wonder if it would have scared me into chickening out, which would have been disastrous for me. The surgery hurt, the discomfort made me feel awful, but now, two years on, all I can think of was 'f&%K, that bit of discomfort was NOTHING in the scheme of my entire life!'. And for that horrible discomfort of a few weeks, I then went on to go from a BMI of 37 to a BMI of 21. It was entirely and completely worth it! I try to go into threads like that and sugguest things that worked for me to get over the discomfort, but there is so much complaining going on, no one's actually paying attention to the vets who are trying to help. Oh well, I guess there are all sorts in the world. But if you're researching the band right now, this thread is the counter-balance to all the negative threads. There are plenty of happy, satisfied bandsters for whom the lapband has worked, and worked well, but who are now off living their lives and not posting as often as they used to. I am one of those bandsters!

I found that cold or room temp water/drinks made me feel nauseaous. It sometimes still does. I drank hot peppermint tea. I didn't like the taste but it made all the difference, seriously! Try it, it was a saviour for me that first month!!

All the time. I started getting it when I was a BMI of about 29, and I'm now a BMI of 21, and all I get all the time is how skinny I am. And yet no one would have the nerve to say that to someone who started out at a BMI of 21 - they'd just say she looked great! I just smile and nod. People who meet me now who never knew me as a bigger person don't ever say I look too skinny, so I generally use that as a line-marker for me. I'm happy with my weight and only I need to be, no one else, so they can all go jump! :thumbdown:

Thanks Mimi! For being happy for me and for your picture comments re my tattoo photos! I'm super excited about the BA! Had my pre-op consult yesterday and now I just can't wait! the 28th seems so far away! I tried on the different sizes again and I still think a 390cc anatomical implant will make me look rather busty, but my Dr reckons better go a little big than a little small. :thumbdown: The one down is 345cc and that would make a a C cup and I don't think that's quite enough lol! My only regret is that I won't have a rockin' rack for my vacation but that's okay, I'll have a rockin' rack for our Australian summer! I wish I hadn't waited so long to make up my mind to do this, I might have already done it by now if I had moved a little faster!

it's crazy huh that people just assume that people who get the band must be lazy or looking for an easy way out. I was overweight all my life, and now I'm not coz of the band. I have tried to lose weight before, I did and then regained. The band has been the one thing that has helped me lose and keep it off. Honestly, if I'd listened to everyone else about how I could do it without the band, I'd still be overweight today. The band works for so many people. It helps them lose when nothing else so far has. Why would she deny you the tool you need to help you? That's nothing but downright mean and selfish, and I would ignore everything she's got to say on the subject. Or anyone else who have nothing but negative things to say about your decision.

Thought I'd resurrect this thread as two things have/are happening this month which will 'complete' my body metamorphesis. Firstly, I got a tattoo around my my body lift scars. It covers most of my stomache and goes around the back. It took 10 hours and I still have a couple of hours of touch up to do in a few weeks to completely finish it. The tattoo has meant that I will now wear bikini with pride, coz let's face it, with a tattoo like that, who's going to be looking at the scars? lol. Pics are in my private album (for friends) And then on the 28th of Oct, I'm getting breast augmentation. I didn't do it at the time I had my body lift despite my surgeon strongly suggesting it. My husband at the time wasn't keen for me to do it so I respected his wishes. But I've been single now for 6 months and I realised that I really do want to 'fix' my breasts up, so organised a consult and booked my surgery! I'm having anatomical (tear-dropped) shaped implants placed, and at 390cc, it'll take me to a full C, small D cup, which for my frame (I'm a size 6 Australian, which is a size 2 I think US sizing) means I will look proportionate. Or a little bit bust anyway lol! I'm going away on holidays on Friday for two weeks, and get back 5 days before my surgery, so the time should go very fast! I really do feel like this will be the final stage of my 'journey' from lapband to the person I always knew I could look like in my mind's eye. I've had great support previously in this forum, so wanted to let you know about this final phase!

I'm sorry I can't disagree with ebud. No amount of game will mean I'll sleep with someone really overweight. Attraction is important, even to women. I'm no 9 or 10 but I'm not half bad and I will chose the thin jerk over and over again. I'm not going to pretend to be less superficial just coz I'm a woman. Just as he desires a hot body, so do I.

Tully, thanks! I've added you as a friend now so feel free to have a look at the pics in my album. Will post more after my BA too - I can't wait! I will be wearing a string bikini this summer lol! I will definitely have a read of your blog, too! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Hi Cam, I don't know if I'm an exception but I have no problems maintaining a BMI of under 25 with the band. In fact, if I'm not careful, I lose rather than gain these days and I have to make a conscious decision to stay above a BMI of 21, or I get a little bony and loose my curves, which I don't want. I don't exercise much - very much an incidental exerciser these days - but my relationship with food as been broken thanks to the band and I don't crave much and am very rarely hungry. My band is also quite loose (no fills since Jan) but I just don't have an appettite like I used to when I was big. So don't know if there is a hard and fast rule - I certainly don't think maintaining a higher weight is easier, it hasn't been in my experience with the band.

oh no, that's not good. If you're seeing them in a week, hopefully you'll start getting filled again soon and won't be struggling for long. You can ask to have smaller fills than 0.5mls. You know your body best. I have asked for smaller fills before - just let them know you've had to be unfilled twice and you'd rather go slow this time. You don't want to have to keep going back to the beginning. Good luck!

I hope they don't do a complete unfill - that would be disheartening for sure. If you're experiencing problems with aggressive fills, ask them to go smaller fills (I've only ever had a 0.5ml fill once, the rest have been 0.25ml). And see if you can get them more often instead - once a month or something. Good luck. I think going slower with the size of the fills might ease of your problems.

Hi Tully, I ended up not getting a tummy tuck but a full lower body lift. I have pics in my profile page if you want to have a look. I got it done in April 2009 and since then have had a tattoo done over the scars (just in the last two weeks!). I'm also have breast augmentation done on the 28th Oct. I chose not to do it at the time of the body lift, but now regret it and have booked myself in to get done. I'm only going back up to a C/D cup where I used to be a DD, but I'm almost almost half the weight I used to be, so a C/D cup will be proportionate and not porn-star like, lol! My BA will not be covered at all by Medicare or my PHI, but my body lift was covered in part by both as I was given item numbers for the surgery. I ended up paying about half of the total cost of the body lift out-of-pocket (about $16k) and the rest was paid by Medicare and PHI. I had no history of rashes or anything, but had a massive 'overhang' of skin, and received item numbers simply because they were so 'abnormal' looking. Pics are, again, in my profile, but you may have to add me as a friend for you to see the album (if you haven't already lol!).