Toosywoots

I feeling much better about the lapband this week. I saw a different doctor this month and he congratulated me about reaching the 100 pounds off mark. :smile: I have lost 1/3 my weight in a year and no matter how I did it, I should be proud of myself. I am down 2 or 3 sizes. 2 shoe sizes at least. I seem to be loosing inches at this time and not too much weight. I have 100 pounds to go to reach the goal I set for myself though but the doctor assured me that I would be in a size 12 in 2 years. I guess I better adjust my leaping frog at the bottom of this comment for the 100 pounds. Physically I feel 100% better than last year when they gave me a year to live with all my problems that weight brought on.

Dr. G is a very positive person and gives very good advice for the lapband patient. He encourages me every time I come in for a lapband adjustment. Yesterday, he congratulated me for reaching the 100 pounds lost which is 1/3 of my weight in less than a year. He promises my husband and I that I will be a size 12 in two years.

I was banded in October 08 but had been loosing before that. This marks my 9th month and I have lost over 100 pounds total. However, the past six months I have been struggling with the last 20 pounds. I avoid the scale because it does lie like Jack said. I started out a 5x and am borderline 2x now. My doctor gave me a no-no list that consists of softer foods, candy and high calorie foods to avoid. I must confess that I do eat them more than I should. I am only supposed to eat 3 meals a day with no snacking. I snack. So if I am struggling with the band, it's because I am making the wrong food choices. I could count calories and exercise more if I really want to get serious about this. My doctor guarantees that it will work if I follow the instructions and I will be a size 12 in two more years.

Ocotillo, you are right about the head hunger being a big part of it. Today I had my frozen shoulder manipulated under anethesia. It has caused me to wake up in tears several times a night, 12 weeks of physcial therapy that didn't work, and painful days for the past 9 months. I console myself with favorite food and candy when sick or hurt. I am sure this has played a big part of my staying the same weight all these months. Let's hope the physcial therapy that I start tomorrow will bring full arm control back, no more pain, and no need to console myself.

When my insurance finally gave the go ahead, things were rushed along so quickly that I didn't talk to the surgeon/doctor about the lap band being a tool. I had to talk to a psychiatrist who worked with the insurance patient approval for my lapband surgeon. He said that I had a lot of weight to loose and may need the gastric by-pass a little later to acheive my goals. He said I had a lot of physical problems that have caused this weight gain over my lifetime. He did make me promise to stick with the diet though. I see 2 surgeons for my fills in the same office for the lapband and they both say different things on what I am supposed to do. The surgeon that had a lapband done also, is more lenient and the younger surgeon sounds like a broken record of all my docotors I have had in my fat life who say diet, exercise, count calories. He really wants me to succeed because I was among his first patients.

:mad:Okay today I am 9 months out from Gastric lapband surgery. I haven't posted in here for 6 months. It seems to be going rather slowly for weight loss and at times I think I have been scammed. I do NOT do what the doctors tell me to do however so it's not their fault. It's my fault to believe that lapband would be a cure, that I would never have to diet again, and that the pounds would just peal off from lack of being able to eat. I keep hearing after the surgery that lapband is just a tool and that I still have to diet and exercise. The band is as tight as it's going to get and I have problems getting that first meal down and staying there. Once I do, I am all set for eating the rest of the day. I snack heavily on the no-no list of soft foods the doctors advised me to quit eating from. I'm not supposed to snack and only have 3 small South Beach Diet type meals a day. I exercise maybe 3 times of week which is just walking slowly in stores instead of vigorous excercise daily. I didn't want to have to diet or exercise again!

:mad:Okay today I am 9 months out from Gastric lapband surgery. I haven't posted in here for 6 months. It seems to be going rather slowly for weight loss and at times I think I have been scammed. I do NOT do what the doctors tell me to do however so it's not their fault. It's my fault to believe that lapband would be a cure, that I would never have to diet again, and that the pounds would just peal off from lack of being able to eat. I keep hearing after the surgery that lapband is just a tool and that I still have to diet and exercise. The band is as tight as it's going to get and I have problems getting that first meal down and staying there. Once I do, I am all set for eating the rest of the day. I snack heavily on the no-no list of soft foods the doctors advised me to quit eating from. I'm not supposed to snack and only have 3 small South Beach Diet type meals a day. I exercise maybe 3 times of week which is just walking slowly in stores instead of vigorous excercise daily. I didn't want to have to diet or exercise again!

I am beginning to think I should have gone with the gastric by-pass and that this lap band system has failed me. I have been playing with 10 pounds up and down for many months. The doc says no more snacking, no sweets, count calories, South Beach type dieting, and lots of exercise. I never knew that I would have to do those things after lab band surgery and it was only a tool. On the positive side though. I have lost at least 80 pounds total and was a BMI of over 53 when I started, I am now at 43.8. Most of the weight came off with the 4 week liquid pre-surgery diet and the soft 6 week post surgery diet. I am feeling healthier, medical tests show better results on liver, sugar, and other health levels. I'm taking less medicines. I'm down 2 sizes and able to walk distances without pain. I can now wear regular shoes again with regular ladies socks. My left ankle is still swelling but my feet are not turning purple anymore. I am happy that I feel better but I still need to loose 100 pounds. I want to see that come off after going through all of this. I am back here after not visiting this site for 6 months for support and a reminder to stick with it.

I had a c-section, laproscopy incisions around my navel for ovary camera scans and gall bladder laproscopy done. The 3 small incisions and the 3 inch center cut to put the lap band in didn`t interfere with any of those.

I'm 56. October 08 I had lab band surgery. I lost nearly 100 pounds that year by pre-surgery dieting and the 6 weeks soft diet that followed. I was told I could eat anything I wanted by my lap band doc after that 6 weeks right in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas eating. I wondered why I wasn't feeling the lap band working. It took until February with 100 mile trips to the lap band doctors to get fills every 2 weeks before I could feel the band was beginning to tighten. I wasn't loosing very much if anything. I have been going up and down 10 pounds but have remained the same in weight even though my band is tight enough now. The lap band doc told me to stop snacking, stay away from soft foods and only eat 3 meals a day and follow the South Beach Diet. That the lap band is a tool. Well it definately is not the solution. If I could diet, I wouldn't have needed the lap band! I should have gone gastric by-pass and I am very unhappy with my recent results. I need to loose 100 pounds more. I am able to do more this year and feel healthier but it was do to the pre-surgery weight loss.

My story is much the same way. Lost lots of weight before surgery (59 pounds last year) and by the 6th week out, I was back to old habbits and life style. I have lost 6 pounds total since November and I am very disapointed. I have had 4 fills since October in my 14 cc band but can still eat 1 cup of cottage cheese and a bag of microwave popcorn without feelling full. My doctor said that those were wrong foods and they pass through the band too easily. I am loosing my hair too but was told that I didn`t need protein suppliments any more. My doctor says that 6 pounds over Thanksgiving and part of December is average loss and he is proud of me. As of the first of the year, I am back to counting calories, using my exercise bike, and looking into swimming pool exercise class. Might even try the 2 protein suppliments a day with a small dinner at night to get back into the diet again. Going to test my sugar and start taking the diabetic pills if needed again.

Thank you for your input Indigo and you must know what you are talking about because of your huge weight loss. I was just complaining about not loosing anything for two weeks to my husband and how frustrated I was before I read your response to my post. I guess I was like most of the public sector and that waitress that thought lap band is the easier way out. I really hope the lap band fill will help. The nurse told my husband that I should only be able to eat 1/4 cup of food after having the lap band. Maybe right after surgery that was all I could eat but not now. You tellling me that a cup is your normal, helped me to relax a bit. I had to re-adjust my thinking and Indigo, you have helped me today to get back to the right reasoning. So thank you! :thumbdown: I was in a life and death situation and still am. I had lap band to prolong my life by eating right, getting my non alcoholic fatty liver healed, get my heart healthier, and loose the weight that is causing type 2 diabetes and edema from poor circulation from being a fat chick. The side line benefit is how much I loose, or how good I will look, or what size I will be. I took stock of what I am eating and I am eating much healthier. Junk food carbs were my major diet before this lap band experience and I don't eat that anymore. Thank you for the wake up and re-programing my brain glich.

Well I finally feel a bit better. My weekly weigh was today and I was back to what I lost before the flu. Two weeks of coughing and sneezing had me eating just about anything allowed on week 4 and I had gained 6 pounds during that episode. I told myself that it was Water weight from the edema that returned because my type 2 diabetes reacted to the carbohydrates I was able to add to my diet. So last week I started keeping track of calories, carbs, fats, salts, etc. and making sure I kept within the 800-1200 calorie range like the dietician had told me. I am back to what I weighed prior to the flu. The problem with all of this is that I feel hungry. I hope the band didn't slip with the coughing because now I can eat a full cup of something and not feel full but some foods do make me feel full but it takes like 3 fish fillets or a cup of squash. Keeping track is good but I feel like I am on a regular dieting situation and doing all the work that I thought the band should do automatically. I still have the edema and my fasting sugar was 109 this morning. I may have to go back on the diabetic pill I was taking. I go to the surgeon on Nov 20th for my first fill and I have bunches of questions for him.

I was banded on Oct 8 and am just checking in. A bad cold or flu hit me a couple of weeks after surgery--no vomiting just a horrible head cold that caused a lot of coughing and sneezing. I was worried that my band would slip. I was able to eat more (a cup or more of soup) and when I am sick, I feel sorry for myself and used to eat more anyway. I weighed myself two weeks ago and stayed the same after having huge weight losses of 10 pounds each week. I also had the edema return to my feet and I am not sure what causes it-the type 2 borderline diabetes or what? I have not taken my diabetic pill since surgery but may have to do that again. My fasting sugar count was 109 this morning. I am scheduled with my first fill on November 20th and I plan to discuss a lot with that doctor since my primary care doctor is of very little help by saying just check with your surgeon when I have questions. So I panicked and began keeping track of calories, Protein, fats and carbs trying to keep it between the 800-1200 calories diet that the dietician said I would need to do. I weigh myself weekly on Thursday and this week I lost the 3 pounds. I am walking more too. So far this is like being on a regular diet and I do feel hungry at night mostly even with Snacks. I hope the fill changes all that.

I am getting my first fill on the 20th at the 6 week mark. I am very nervous about where they might find my band because I had a nasty coughing sneezing cold 2 1/2 weeks out from surgery. I wasn't eating much up until then and now I can eat a full cup of food without even feeling full. I am still very tender around my largest cut so I hope this doesn't hurt much. I hope the insurance pays for the doctor calls but my copays haven't paid for office visits for over a year now. Last week I didn't loose but the edema came back too so I figured it was Water weight. I started a daily calorie diet and try to keep it in the 800-1200 calorie range and do a lot of walking 3 or 4 days a week. I hope the band is in the right place yet. I will be glad when this first time is over.