lellow

It's been a year, and looking at this forum, it looks less and less inhabited all the time. I thought it would be nice to see who was still lurking, how we're all doing, and to see if we can re-connect. We were all such amazing support to each other for those first 6 months that it would be a shame to see those friendships disappear. So here goes, All-Stars! Let's check in a let each other know how we're doing! As for me, I got to goal in 7 months, then had plastic surgery, and went on to lose another 19lbs. I have been the same weight now (plus/minus a lb or two) for close to 3 months. I often forget I have a band, except when I eat. My band is more loose than a few months ago, but it's still good - I can tolerate most things now, and yet I'm not putting on weight and I seldom get stuck these days. I do feel like I've adapted to living with a band, and life is good in general. How is everyone else? (assuming that all you all-stars are still out there? Lol!)

Fanny, I'm flat out at work and uni but I'm sure I can find time to meet with you, hun! As long as I get some advance notice, I can move things around a bit. I could maybe do lunch too if it's close to my workplace (East Perth)...

Congratulations all the August Banders for making it to their first year bandiversary!

Actually I'm not sure I might have had a sleeve if more had been known about it. I might have still had the band. But at the time, I didn't even consider a sleeve because of the band, esp here in Australia, was proven to work. And by all accounts, it has worked for me, so while I did suffer from 'sleeve-envy' for a while when I used to read all the posts about how the sleeve was purportedly superior to the band, I can't really knock my band because, well, it did what I hoped it would do. :biggrin: I do wish to clarify, though, that I don't expect or want threads to become all about the band or all about the sleeve. What I do hope for is for them not to keep becoming about one vs the other in such an argumentative way, because I do think it's quite off-putting, to me and I'm sure to many others. Because as you say, some people do better with the band, and others with the sleeve. I think both views can be represented without it turning into a spat, surely?

Okay, I usually stay out of these threads once it looks like it's becoming band vs sleeve (and there are getting to be more and more of them recently) but I have to admit that I too am dismayed at how often a simple question by a newbie turns into a to-and-fro about how the sleeve is superior to the band and vice versa ("and here are the stats to prove it etc etc"). I know there are potential complications with the band, as there are with most WLS (and 1% vs 10% just doesn't matter when you're the one affected, IMO). I also know there appears that generally people have more success with the sleeve (on average however, so individually, it's still an unknown until after you've had the surgery). The sleeve, by all accounts, does in fact seem to be the newest and brightest thing in WLS, just as the band was not too long ago. But I am very happy to be banded. I did not have complications, it wasn't hard for me to lose the weight and I had great success with the band. It continues to be 'easy' for me, and if asked, I would recommend it, with the caveat that the person do their own research and be aware of the risks (as you would with ANY surgery). I would like to be able to tell someone who's wondering if the band works that, yes, it does, without having to defend that assertion with statistics, science and comparative studies. Why would I have to? I know it works because it worked for me. I would like to explain that I decided on the band because the sleeve was still unproven at the time, or that I didn't (at the time) want to have such invasive surgery, without having to defend my own, very personal, reasoning. Those WERE the reasons I chose the band. Why can't I say so? I also would have hated it, when I was thinking about getting the band, to have had my thread degenerate into a spat between people who forget I'm even here. If that had happened, and I got scared off the band, I wouldn't have lost the weight I have. So if someone asks about the band, I will respond positively because it's what I have and it's what has worked for me. I then hope that it doesn't end up like this thread has, where everyone feels like they have to be right, when we all know that it's very possible that depending on the individual, either, both or neither could be right. So enough already with this 'us' and 'them' b*llshit that seems to be happening more and more around here. I know I'm not the only one sick to death of it.

I've never done this before: have all my progress pics here. So here they are, from August 2008 to now (August 2009). 215lbs to 135lbs. :drool:

Hi eveyone, I've had a couple of people ask me to post new pics of my body lift, and I finally took some. I am 4 and a 1/2 months post op now and most days forget that I've had the surgery. My weight has stabilised quite nicely (I am finding it relatively easy not to lose or gain) and I do believe that I have nearly no swelling left as a result of my PS. So if you'd like, please feel free to check out the new pics in my albums! I am pretty sure that my 'bare torso' body lift ones are restricted to friends only, but my other progress pics are open to all.

I got to goal about 4 months ago but have lost more since (another 19lbs) in part due to a body lift, and in part because I guess my body just wasn't done losing. I am focussing on maintaining now and am trying NOT to lose anymore, so I exercising purely for fun now (walking and cycling once or twice a week) and eating pretty much whatever I want with my band managing portion control for me. And I tell you, that's a nice change from struggling (and generally failing) to lose weight all my life. :thumbup:

Ro, I'm so sorry matey I've not been visiting LBT often of late and completely missed that you were being rebanded. I'm glad to hear it all went well. I was just reading the Elpheba quote in your signature too. I never paid much attention to it but last night I went to see Wicked (I've been in Melbourne on business). I cried! It was amazing. And now your signature makes complete sense to me. :thumbup:

Hi everyone, it's great to see all those tickers showing great weight losses. And it's wonderful to see the support still here among the August All-stars. I am not getting any more fills and am in maintenance mode. I now lose and gain the same 2 lbs, depending on whether I have 'tight' days or 'loose' days. It's apparently normal, having a few days of nothing going down, and then days when loads manage to get through the band. But you shouldn't be in pain, and I think that needs to be checked out tutormom.

I love how every thread these days seems to turn into a band vs sleeve thread. To the OP, the band, like any surgery, will have those who love it and those who've ended up having bad experiences and therefore won't recommend it. Whether it will work for you or not, whether you will suffer complications or not, is really not anything anyone can promise you one way or the other. Go into it with your eyes open, expect complications, and if, like me and many others, your weight loss is smooth and uneventful, well, it'll be great, and you will likely (like me) get to a point when you have lost all the weight you wanted to, the band is doing what's it's supposed to, and you can go on living your life without much thinking about it anymore. Or you may have complications. Complications aren't as common as it seems by looking at this forum. You're less likely to actually have complications than to NOT have complications. But be prepared in case you do because, let's face it, anytime you fiddle with your insides, you're accepting that there may be a risk of something going wrong. But we all go into this with the hope that the benefit outweighs the cost. And for many people, it does. So it's as simple as that, really - you do it because the potential benefit usually outweighs the cost. Just make sure you're aware of the potential benefits, and the potential costs, and weigh it all up for yourself.

Lol Mimi! I've missed posting too and I've missed chatting with you and the other ladies but work is mad at the moment and I've just resumed my university study too so I don't always get a chance to get on here to post these days. My scars are still pink but are nice and flat and it all looks as good as anything I could have expected. I did post new pics in my album about a month or so ago, but will try to get new ones soon. How have you been, matey? Look at the ticker go down!

I had a body lift 9 months after my lapband surgery, and less than 2 weeks after I got to goal. I didn't wait a year to have the body lift because I had loads of excess skin in my abdominal area, which was partly due to being overweight, but mostly to do with having 4 kids. That skin wasn't going anywhere, and waiting wouldn't have made any difference. I am so glad I did it! It was not as painful as I thought it would be, and now I have the body I exercised like a dog for, but couldn't see under all that spare skin. I have in fact lost more weight since then (another 20lbs) but the skin is still nice and tight. I did have areas that I held out hope would 'bounce back' on their own though. I had some bad batwings and excess skin on my inner thighs but didn't have those 'fixed' because they weren't stretched to all hell like my belly and lower back was. Those areas are actually inproving, with the batwings almost gone now. So I think if you're lucky, you may not need it. But then again, you might. Or you may need it in some places but not others. Who knows? My best advice would be to keep an open mind about it.

I had lapband surgery and it's definitely worked for me. I'm not saying that bypass or sleeving doesn't work, but I didn't have those surgeries so can only comment on the surgery I have had. I went from 215lbs to 154lbs in just over 7 months with regular exercise (40mins stationary cycling on a spin bike 3 times a week) and eating well (in that I cut out stuff like sugar, chocolates, cola etc, but still ate a balance of Protein, carbs and veg). When I got to goal, I had a lower body lift to remove my loose skin, and lost about 7lbs as a result. Since then, I have continued to slowly lose weight despite not exercising much anymore and eating 'normally' (meaning if I feel like chocolate, I eat it). My band still restricts how much food I eat, I'm very rarely hungry, and I get full fast. And at the moment, it's the band alone that is still seeing me lose weight, albeit very very slowly now. I'm now down to 135lbs. I don't need or want to lose anymore, so have been trying to eat more and that's a nice change from the last 20 years of my life! So yes the band works. I lost over 100% of my excess weight with exercise and good food habits (and that was the hardest part), but keeping it off is proving easy so far.

I hit my goal a few months ago but I'm still losing, so thought I would share newer pics. :thumbup: First photo was at 215lbs, second is now at just over 136lbs.

See, in comparison to Jachut, my loose skin situation was a nightmare. I have had 4 kids and with each kid, my skin would get terrible stretch marks, my skin would blow out, and after having the baby, it would never bounce back. By the time I'd had number 4, it had been so stretched all out of shape that I know I had no hope of returning to what it looked like before. And it wasn't about time either. My 3rd and 4th kids have 12 years between them, so my skin had loads of time to bounce back but never did. It was pretty much stuffed long before I ever lost an ounce. By the time I had PS, I had hit goal and had a 'skirt' of skin that hung around my entire body, overhanging my pubis, my hips, my backside. It was not simply 'unattractive', it looked abnormal. I looked like I had been melted from the waist down. I started with a low BMI too (37) but I could have been thin all my life and my skin still would have looked terrible as a result of having babies. Maybe not AS terrible as having babies AND losing weight, but even after my first kid, when I was still a size 12, I didn't have a stomache like Jachut's.

I got a band because the sleeve wasn't widely offered at the time I had my surgery. For a long time afterwards though, I'd wish I'd had the sleeve. A colleague got the sleeve though and in hindsight, I'm now glad I got the band. Initially I was madly jealous that she's managed to the sleeve, as she is doing fantastically and had hit her goal before me and was still losing. But she herself isn't entirely sure about her choice now though (I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side! Lol!). She's seen the success I've had with the band, and when I was recently telling her that I am thinking of getting a slight unfill so that I stop losing and maintain my weight, she lamented that she and her Dr have no such 'control' over how much she loses, or any regain she has as as a result of increased stomache capacity, aside from dietary control. And she chose the sleeve because she knew of someone with the band who gained all her weight back. That person, though, now has 'gotten back on the wagon', got some fills, and is losing again. She envies that 'adjustability', and feels like she 'shortchanged' the band by thinking it simply wouldn't afford her success. She now knows it's not true. So while I am still a little jealous of how quickly she lost the weight with the sleeve, and without the PB episodes or the 'stuck pain', I can't be unhappy with my band anymore. I realise now that all surgeries have their pros and cons, and all you really want is one that actually WORKS for you. That the sleeve works wonderfully for others doesn't reduce the success the band has had for me. And if ever the band stopped working for me, I'd get a sleeve without thinking twice. But so far it's helped me lose all the weight I needed to, plus some. I've had no complications with it whatsoever. I am maintaining easily, and in fact, as I said, still losing. It's done everything I need it to do. So it was a complete success for me and therefore absolutely the right surgery for me.

slpcat, I'm in Australia and Medicare and my health insurance covered a portion of my belt lipectomy, about 30% of it in total. If I had only had a panniculectomy, I would have been almost completely covered by Medicare and insurance. But because I went the whole kit-and-kaboodle and got a full torso lift, I paid $16000 out-of-pocket as well. Though I have to admit, I don't regret spending the money. The results were better than I had hoped for.

WTG cutiew/booty! If you can lose 100lbs, you can lose 40lbs! You're doing great!

Hi slpcat, I exercised, yep, but not 7 days a week or anything like that. I work full-time and study part-time and I have kids, so exercise needed to fit around all that. I also wanted something sustainable. I don't think I would have had the ability to exercise 6-7 times a week for months at a time - I reckon my husband would have divorced me if I did. I basically set aside 120 minutes a week to exercise - that's 40 mins 3 times a week. I mainly cycled (I bought a stationary spin bike and a mountain bike) but sometimes would go for a run. I made sure that whatever exercise I did, I worked up a good sweat - I think it was important that my 120 minutes were devoted to intense exercise. I got fills every month but didn't get restiction until my 4th fill. But knowing I would eventually get restriction, I tried to eat well while I was still 'loose'. I gave up sugar, chocolates and ice cream, but ate a balance of Protein, carbs and veg (I didn't do low carb or count calories at all). I only ate when I was hungry (like when my stomache was almost growling) and would stop before I felt full. I was losing about 3kgs (7lbs) a month doing that and with the building up of my endurance and strength from exercising. Once I got restriction, I was easily losing 5kgs (12lbs) a month because that's when the band started doing it's work, and by then the exercise had become part of my routine, so it was just falling off in the last few months. Today I only exercise for fun, like maybe a cycle on the weekend, and a walk once or twice a week while my 3yo son rides his bike. I have good restriction, so eat very little, but now eat some chocolates and ice cream if I feel like it. Despite 'relaxing' a bit, I'm still losing weight, albeit very slowly now. I should level out soon, which would be good as I'm now a size 1-2 (US sizing) and am happy with where I am. :thumbup: The band generally does work well for those with 'lower' BMIs, so you'll probably find that it will help you lots. And in my opinion, you're doing it at the right time too. I know that I was heading for a higher and higher BMI every year had I not done something. I'm glad I did it sooner rather than later!

I was at a BMI of 35 too when I got banded, and got loads of people telling me I wasn't big enough to have lapband surgery. I usually just said I needed to lose weight for my health, and to be around to see my 3yo son into adulthood. Those same people have all told me how great I look now my BMI is under 24. I enjoy reminding them that while they thought I didn't look like I needed to lose a lot back then, what a difference almost 80lbs has made now, huh?

I only had about 70+ lbs to lose when I got the lapband, and despite being on a relatively low BMI, lost all of that in 7 months, and am still losing despite not really trying to lose. The band was definitely right for me.

Fabulous news about the date, Fanny! You'll be surprised how much having a date motivated me no end! I'm sure that 10 kgs will be well gone by then.

My Dr set my goal weight at 70kgs (154lbs). He said that at my height of 1.62cm (5'3"), a BMI of 27 was healthy. But as you can see from my ticker, I'm under that by 7kgs (16lbs). And I prefer it. In fact, I reckon I look better at this weight. Probably not much less though. So a BMI of around 24, I think, for me, is ideal.

Yay Fanny I'm so glad to get online and see you've been to see our genius Dr and have a plan of attack, so to speak! I was just under 3kg from goal when I had my first consult, and at goal when I had the torso lift and I'm glad of it because now I'm 7kgs under goal and my skin is still really tight as a result of the op. Those last 15kgs will be gone by Dec for sure, and you'll be good to go. Also I saw Dr A 7 weeks after my op to ask about getting lipo for my mons area, which still seemed puffy to me. Dr A convinced me to wait 6 months before deciding to do it, and I'm glad he did because the 'puffiness' is just about completely gone and it looks completely normal now. On that note, perhaps in his wisdom, he figures that in a couple of years, you too will be accustomed to your perky new D cups and will be happy as larry! Lol! I'm sure you're going to be so happy with it all, matey. I am now almost 10 weeks post surgery and am incredibly happy I did it! Jacqui, I too heard that botox can help with a 'popply' chin. I have completely lost my double chin with the wieght loss but the skin under there is a little more loose than I would prefer, and would be interested in seeing if botox would help. I might have to make some calls to make some enquiries into that.