JulsJourney

Thanks as this information is encouraging. I check the scale daily expecting it to move. It was so exciting to lose ten pounds the first week, and then once I started mushies, one more pound. I am on regular food now, and nothing! I cannot beleive that stupid scale did not know I passed up homemade choclates yesterday at work, and Cookies this morning...it should definitely be much more cooperative with me!

I was banded through NJ Bariatrics with Dr. Chou. He is wonderful! He told me the left sided pain is from the air they use to blow up the abdomen. He said it stimulates the same nerve as would cause pain with a heart attack, but not to worry, it goes away with time. I am two weeks out and it is much better, although I still feel it if I cough.

Very interesting thread. I talked to my doctor about whether people generally tell others about the lap band. He said not to tell. It was his opinion that it puts too much pressure on you, as people will be watching everything you do. This is an intimate decision that deserves intimate treatment. I therefore told only my immediate family and a couple of supportive close friends. A very close family member was banded 18 months ago. She told everyone she was eating less and excercising more...Both totally true. She just omitted that she has a crutch to help her! She lost 100 pounds and is now maintaining it...and feeling great!

I am two weeks banded today, and I feel no help from the band yet. I am remember to chew a lot, and I am watching my calories, but I am not feeling restticted yet. I hear this is the hardest time because you have gone through the surgery, but you do not feel the benefit yet. It will be nice to get a fill and start feeling full!

I just saw an article on line about an experimental surgery done at the U of West Virginia. A woman had electrical stimulus inserted into her brain to help stimulate the part of the brain that registers fullness. She had had gastric by-pass and lost a large amount of weight (over 200 pounds) but it started creeping back up on her. She is the second person in the US to have this done. I always thought that my brain had a problem registering fullness. Either that, or I had an abnormally large stomach! Anyway, science seems to confirm that appetite comes from the brain, and willpower follows appetite! I think some gastric doctors say the valgus nerve has an affect on the brain's feeling of fullness, and that the band actually can stimulate this nerve once there is some restriction. I wonder whether this brain/nerve connection is inherited? Any thoughts?

I have the Lap Band S which is apparently the smaller of the two bands. It is a new generation band that goes all the way around. It is supposed to have less complications in the long run. My doc says people have less episodes of throwing up with it. I have not had a restriction yet, so time will tell how effective it is.

Thanks for the encouragement. You are absolutely right. I lost 11 pounds since my surgery. 2/24, but the scale has not moved since I was able to introduce foods. I guess the "old tapes" are playing in my head as I always lost weight the first week on WW, but it always slowed down to a halt in the following weeks, leaving me frustrated and hungry! My first fill is the first week of April, and my doctor is a very supportive sort, so I am going to keep watching my calories until then, stressing Protein, and waiting for some hunger relief from the fill. My daughter and my good friend have done wonderfully well with this tool, and I am sure it will be the same for me once the restriction starts!

My stomach is making loud sounds too. I mentioned it to my doc and he said it is trapped gas beneath the band. He said it is harmless, but the way to prevent it is to try and suck in less air when you drink. Some docs say stay away from straws for this very reason. I cannot wait for my first fill to get some hunger relief!

Did you get the band that comes in two sizes? I know that my doctor told me he put the smaller band on me, so I should not need as many fills. Maybe you got the larger band and the 4cc's just puts you where the smaller band starts. Just a thought. Anyhow, I thought you are supposed to wait around 6 weeks for the first fill in order to allow the band to heal completely?

I am so, so glad I read this thread! I was banded two weeks ago, and I feel no restriction. I lost 9 pounds teh first week, but nothing the second. I am happy to find out I am not alone! I will try and stay on the diet and wait for my first fill. Hopefully that will help and the weight will start coming off. I check the scale daily, and although my pants feel better on my, the scale says I am making no progress.

Hi everyone. Just had my visit last night with my doc after being banded last Tuesday. I also went to his support group meeting last night. It was good to be in a room with ten people like me, all at different stages of the process. Two people had not yet had the procedure, two were more than a year out, and the rest were at various stages. I'm starting mushy food now, and I feel great. Only 8 pounds down after a whole week of liquids, but it is a start! Good luck to everyone starting this road like me..

I was banded on the 24th of Feb and went back to work on the 26th. I definitely had bloating and some pain, but got through the days. I go for my follow up today and feel fine, except for some left sided pain in ribs when I breath deeply. The incisions never hurt. I am hungry though and I am looking forward to eating mushy food this week. I lost 10 pounds in the first few days, but nothing since. I am just hoping this thing works!

I was banded Feb 24th. I went back to work in two days, but I really haven't felt great until today. I go tomorrow for my post op appt and start mushy food. I definitely feel hungry, although the broth from a can of progresso soup filled me up at lunch today. I think at this point I just miss biting into something!

Hi everyone, I am pretty new to this site and I have been just reading everyone else's comments while I wanted for my date. Well, it's February 24th and I am very happy! I have been waiting since June of last year to get this done, but I had insurance that did not cover the procedure. I switched to my husband's insurance beginning January 1st, and I am already approved! The difference was I had only in-network benefits with United Healthcare before January 1st, and now my out-of-network benefits, which kicked in January 1st will covered almost all of the procedure! Good luck to everyone else going through the procedure of insurance approval, and let em hear from anyone else getting banded toward the end of February...I would love to find a buddy to lean on through this process!

You aer my weight loss twin. Same doctor, same goal! Dr Chau is doing mine of February 24th. He did my daughter 18 months ago when she was 17, and looking just like mom. She is not a size 4 and loving every minute of it. She loves it! Hope all goes well for you! So exciting!

You will not wake up with it. If they use a tube, they take it out before you are awake so you do not have to deal with it! Don't be nervous, be happy!

You have to ask yourself whether her weight loss without some intervention is possible. If she had so much control and so little problem with metabolism and wieght loss in general, how did she let herself get that high in the first place. Most of us here know that we gained weight for many reasons, and that telling us to eat less and exercise more is just not going to do it. We hit plateaus, we fall back into old habits, we let others become priorites, and sometimes we try really hard and we are good as gold, and the scale doesn't move. Has she had surgery? Maybe Pills? Maybe None of it matters. As you said, your weight loss is personal and any attempt by anyone to sabotage you in any way right now is poison! You stay on track, you make yourself a priority and you love yourself!

Hello!!! I just noticed you are near Princeton. SO am I!!! I am being banded on Feb 24th. Using Dr. Brolin's office in Plainsboro!

Hi Everyone. I just got my band date of February 24th today. Like everyone else I am so excited, and so nervous. It is interesting that someone mentioned not being able to take a big bite of something anymore. I thought of that too. Funny how we value things that are harmful to us. There is some basic satisfaction we get from a big bite. I am ready to say good bye to that though, and hello to a bathing suit!!!! Anyone know which airline has teh smallest seats because I plan to book a flight for February of 2010!!!!

I am also using United Healthcare and I had to wait for 1/1/09 for my benefits to change from Choice to Choice Plus. I was approved in six days. My BMI is 39, but I have a family history of heart disease, and I have osteo arthritis in my knees. Seemed to be enough for the insurance company. My banding date is now 2/24. Hooray!

I am being banded on February 24th in New Jersey. I know that is not far off, but I wish it was tomorrow. I am very excited about getting started!

I am scheduled for Feb 24th, but I do not have the requirement of a liquid diet before I get it done. Good luck to you. I am out in New Jersey. I am very very excited about this. My daughter who is 18 had this done last year. She and I were exactly the same size, about 100 pounds overweight...she did great and is now, after eighteeen months a size 4!!! I haven't set a goal for myself yet, and I realize that everyone loses differently, but finally I see a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I have been in that ole tunnel for 49 years!

I have United too. The co-morbidities are pretty easy as I have just been approved. I have osteo arthritis in the knees, and I bet anyone over 40 who has been overwieght has that one too! I do not have high blood pressure, but I have had back surgery and my ortho surgeon has been so supportive in helping me. I bet you are approved without much trouble. Good Luck. I do not have a date yet, but I am expecting to find out this coming week!

HI..I am in teh same boat as you, but the difference is that my daughter, 18 has had the surgery. We come from a long line of women, all with the same body type. She decided that after dieting since the age of 12, she would no longer accept failing. She went froma size 18 to a size 4 and is loving every minute of it. I was slower to accept my reality, but my back and knees are telling me that I cannot do another yo yo. I lost 70 pounds on a low carb diet ten yers ago, and it has slowly crept back on. I have finished all that is necessary to be approved by insurance, and my next step will be the pre-admission testing. I am hoping to get a date in January for banding, but the doctor's office is thinking more likely February. I think I am more nervous of failure than of the surgery itself. Can you even imagine a diet that does not fail? I am trying to visualize that. I turn 50 at the end of 2009..will I finally be a normal size?