RestlessMonkey

As long as what you have works...I don't think it really matters in the vast scheme of things! :laugh:

The only 14 cc band (so far) is the lap band. Realize just comes in one size, like lap band used to! :laugh:

it was very hard. I "cheated" (did my own modified version) and lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks...but didn't shrink my liver. So right after the unsuccessful surgery I went back on it for another 2 1/2 weeks and it was still hard but you can bet I never cheated...not a drop, not a bite, nothing. And I did lose an amazing amount! :laugh: Plus that taught me not to "cheat" on any diet the doc gives me.

I think your surgeon, if he uses the Lap Band AP, will pick which size works best for you. That's the point of it; to pick the one that works best around each person's stomach opening. They may let you pick Lap Band or Realize band, but they shouldn't let you pick the size band if you go with the AP.

Here's a link to a "ticker tutor" that may help you: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/ And yes the first 6 weeks or so are for healing but let me ad a caveat: Many many MANY bandsters don't feel restriction with their first few fills. Without restriction it is as if you DO NOT have the band. I can't emphasize that enough. The band works by restricting your portions of certain foods. (some foods "slide" on through regardless and those are unfortunately often the calorie and fat-rich things that get us in trouble...things like cake and chips and Cookies and milkshakes and ice cream and dip...) Anyway...until you have restriction you can eat ALMOST as much as you used to. Some bandsters grimly diet during this time and using sheer willpower hang in there until the fill level is finally sufficient to provide some help, and some don't and just wait for the fill to do it's thing. It's your band and you'll do whatever you feel works for you. Just remember you aren't failing and it is a process. It is often a SLOW process.

Yes you can get the lap band after bypass. Here's a link to get you started on research etc: Bariatric Surgery Revision - LapBand After Gastric Bypass

Hang in there! You aren't cheating and that's good. It will be worth it; eventually you'll forget you felt this hungry!

Being alone will make it MUCH easier! You don't have to deal with the aromas and sights of foods that aren't necessarily healthy. You can have your first PB in private and learn "gadzooks don't wanna do that again" without someone hovering around. You can eat baked fish 4 days in a row if you want (food will eventually not be so important) without someone there to say "Baked fish AGAIN!!!" I don't know why you're questioning yourself but I'm sorry that you are down!

I lost 39 pounds in 5 1/2 weeks following my doc's liver shrink preop diet. Ask your doc for some tips.

I tell people...it's just my nature. I don't really care what people think usually anyway and no one has ever been negative or hateful to me about it. So...telling works for me.

That's assuming exercise is the reason she's not losing. I can't address the "negativity" you say she's encountered...most people here are fairly nice but some are harsh (tough love as it were) I really think this is something SHE needs to do...if not finding help here, then maybe the support group at her surgeon's office. She's the one who ultimately controls what she eats and what she does and in my experience it's what's going on between her two ears that is the vital part of weight loss. You honestly can't really impact it much. Maybe she should try again, posting and getting some help And actually she can send me a "pm" (Private message) and I'll help her if I can.

My husband is very supportive but doesn't post. I sincerely enjoy his help (as in eating what I eat) but I wouldn't want the food police. I think it's sweet you want to help your wife but can't she post? That would probably be of more help to her...she can get to the problems from her perspective and maybe get customized help!

As my dad would say, your only mistake was when you thought you made a mistake and didn't. YOU DID NOT MAKE ANY MISTAKES. Many people just cut back and lose. Seriously. you just have to not snack. AND...UNTIL you get enough "fills" that won't work because you can eat too much AND you don't have to write about every bite you put in your mouth unless you want to. IF you bought a new car and had no gas for it and it didn't run, what would be the problem? That you picked the wrong car? OR ... that you need gas! TAH DAH! You need fills. IF the doc's office blows you off be adamant that you need an appt asap. It took me FIVE fills to get restriction. It takes many people 3-4! So you are essentially stuck with a shiny new vehicle that can't get you where you want to go because it has no fuel. That's not your fault. Make the doc step up. You may certainly journal and calorie count if you want to. I personally find when I do that I obsess about food so much. I wanted freedom from it, not more obsession...but we can all use the marvelous band the way we see fit. Get some gas and get out on the road, woman. You'll love it!

Lots of thin people don't eat a lot! My BFF weighs what she did in high school (120 at 5'5") and always eats just "part" of her food. So not eating everything won't seem odd, I don't think. As to the other...that will depend on you. In my experience things have to progress a good bit along the intimacy road before you start explaining each and every scar and by then, it shouldn't matter that you had surgery. If you feel comfy enought with a person to get naked and do the deed, you'll probably feel comfy enough to talk about the band.

Congrats! The only thing I needed in the hospital (I didn't stay overnight!) that wasn't obvious was lip balm. They give you an anti-cholenergic in the OR to dry you up and it works. My lips were SO DRY! I always care "soft lips" around with me and I was so glad I had it! :rolleyes2: Good luck!

I didn't overeat for the reasons you list but I overate for rewards, and had to find myself a new way to reward me for doing onerous tasks etc. (My "carrot" was carrot cake! LOL) I'm a "throw myself across the bed and cry" type when something makes me sad, but you'll find what works for you. Honestly a therapist might help you a little! Some people "journal" their feelings; writing it all down helps. Some channel it into exercise. Or that cry on the bed thing... but food never changed a thing when you were sad. It made you bigger, over the long run, but it didn't do a thing for you. You might have THOUGHT it was helping but it wasn't. Once you figure that out, it'll be easier.

If you do exactly what your doc says pre and post op (Ie following his diet to the letter, don't advance to solids/mushies etc before you are allowed to) the odds of complications are small. They are still there! (this IS life, you know!) but they are small. Modern anesthesia is a miraculous thing and again the odds of you not waking up are VERY slim. You have the same chance of dying on the table as you do dying from a fall in your shower or bath and yet you do that every day without a worry! :rolleyes2: That's just how slim the odds are (at least if the google site I found is correct! LOL) The band is different from bypass so you must not MUST not compare yourself to your family. You will have it way easier in some ways (no dumping syndrome etc) but the loss will be slower. Brace for that and don't feel like a failure when it comes true. On the plus side 5 years out bypassers and bandsters lose similar amounts of excess weight. The band is a tool and if you are committed to losing, you'll figure out how to work it for you! Good luck! OH and the pain? It's really individual but I had very little. I took 2 doses of the presciption pain med on day 2 but otherwise tylenol or nothing at all did the trick for me. The pain will pass, regardless. And if you have a good surgeon who removes most of the gas they pump in to spread your organs out and facilitate banding, you probably won't have much either!

It's one thing to walk for exercise and another to prevent clots. I won't address the exercise...but for clots, while you are awake you need to get up and move a bit every 30-40 minutes. Walk around for at least 2-3 min. When in bed you probably should wear the elastic "ted" hose if they sent them home with you.

Actually while diabetes (or blood sugar issues) is a big offender, as is lack of sleep...just being too full shouldn't really cause it unless you had a lot of carbs. However...it is not "normal". Most of us do NOT get sleepy every time we eat. Therefore it's something the OP should get checked out. It may be minor, and in fact probably is, but it shouldn't be ignored.

It varies widely. I've read everything from around 10K by a surgeon in Denver to 25K+ in some areas. You can go outside the country and pay less (I never would)

Just follow YOUR doc's orders (whatever they may be!) for pre and post op and you'll do great! Welcome and good luck!

Good luck! You are VERY smart to wonder about it and take care of it. If you decide, once the dust clears, to get the band, I bet you'll do wonderfully with it!

1. I'm worried about malabsorption issues as I age. Older people are at greater risk for malnutrition anyway; rerouting my guts so I can live longer just to be malnourished seem at best ill advised. 2. My husband's been an RN for 25+ years and worked in a GI lab for a chunk of that time. By Pass patients have MANY GI issues. It stands to reason...because of the nature of the surgery....and I didn't want to trade one problem or disease for another. 3. I couldn't stand the thought of my stomach sewn shut but just sitting inside me...still producing acid, but closed off from everything. Seems unhealthy and just WRONG and in a way it is; you're just blocking it off but it's still there. 4. The band is reversible so that if I need to be able to eat more, for whatever reason, or if I had just "flipped out" and been unable to adapt, it could be removed. As an Adjunct to that, because they ARE researching obesity and may come up with a better intervention some day...the band can be removed so I can opt for the "better" new thing. If it ever happens. 5. At 5 years out, lap band patients and bypass patients have similar weight loss (55% - 60% of their excess weight) but bypass patients have more medical issues. 6. With the band I can still eat foods I love, just in moderation. I am more "normal". Bypass patients often have things like dumping syndrome, for example, where if they eat sweets they have symptoms much like a panic attack or heart attack. I, on the other hand, can have a piece (albeit a small one!) of birthday cake on my birthday and not need a trip to the ER. 7. Down the road if I lose a lot and start gaining, I can always get my band filled a little more. Bypass patients...if you stretch out your tiny tummy, you're screwed. Even the one big NO NO for bandsters...carbonation...many successful bandsters more than a year or so out can indulge if they want. So I may life a glass of champagne at my 70th birthday, and have a bite of cake, and not have any GI upsets or be malnourished. Those are just some of the biggies for me.

I agree w/Shauna80. chocolate (candy, cocoa, cake, cookies) goes down VERY easy with the band. shakes, sweets, chips...all are "slider" foods. I truly think you first need some heavy duty BEHAVIORAL therapy to deal with anxiety. Find a "Behaviorist". You can pick a different type of analysis and talk about it forever if you want, but behaviorists just deal with it. It isn't that cut and dried, but almost. Get that under control and then see how you feel. Otherwise you'll go through the time and expense of banding, overeat and not lose, and just feel worse, I hope I don't sound harsh because I don't mean to! I graze graze graze (also a no no with the band!) so I had those issues to deal with. Not the same as yours, but still something "in the way". And unfortunately I didn't even have the option of a pill to stop me, so therapy was my first and last resort. You can help yourself, but a good therapist must be your first step, IMHO.

I'm told to eat until "satisfied", not "full". If you doubt you can do that, or not graze, or stick to all the rules you're right to question getting the band. Did you not address these issues in a seminar? If not you might want to attend another by your surgeon. It isn't for everyone.