Juniper

don't worry about your doctor saying that. if he does, so what? i would want my doctor to be more knowledgeable about WLS than me, anyway, so if he was right, and i was wrong, so be it! i, too, was advised to do a bypass instead. i wanted a conservative approach. it didn't work for me, and now i've gotten a revision. i hate that i failed with the band, but i'm looking forward now, not backward, so i forgive myself. do what you need to do for you.

I decided after two years of failure with the band, vomiting, sliming, and frothing, to go for the revision. I'm still not yet two weeks post op, and the recovery from this surgery certainly did make the band surgery seem like a walk in the park, but I'm very glad I went through with it. I am having a hard time getting all my liquids down each day, but I had the same problem with the band, and it's mostly because I tend to focus on whatever else I'm doing and forget I need to eat/drink. I'm working on that... My doctor removed the scar tissue that had built up around my band, and I'm so glad for that. If you're considering having your band removed, ask your doctor about that. I didn't want to have problems down the road that were leftovers from my band, so I'm happy he hopefully took care of that issue for me. Take care, Juniper

I hope it's as good as LBT!!! I came here a couple years ago before my band, and I really loved the support I got, and the ads weren't TOO obnoxious. I haven't been able to find anything like it for bypass folks, so I'm very excited by this idea! In the meantime, I'm happy to have found this thread.

daqui, it's a tough decision to make, and for me i had to deal with feelings of personal failure and worry over whether yet another surgery is really the best option for me. but the band was such an ordeal. as it turns out, that "little bit of reflux" that my doctor didn't seem at all worried about ended up making it impossible for me to ever get actual restriction without vomiting and "foaming". of course now i'm dealing with the recovery of a SERIOUSLY invasive surgery, and looking at eating meals the size of baby portions for the rest of my life, but i think i can handle that better than sliming/vomiting every time i try to eat. keep in mind that there is NO adjusting the bypass, no wiggle room. and if you eat too much often enough, you WILL stretch your stomach back out over time. there's people out there who've failed at keeping their weight off after bypass surgery just like with the band (not as many, percentage-wise, from my understanding, but they're still out there). whatever you decide to do, i wish you health and happiness. and enjoy your trip!! juniper

Hey, I just wanted to stop by and say that after almost 2 years of struggling with my lap band and not losing weight, I have decided to undergo a revision. I'm proud of all of you who have lost weight, or met your goal weight, but also want those of you have haven't to know that you're not alone. I'm not trying to tell anyone that they should do what I've done. Just that you shouldn't feel discouraged if you're not making the same progress as others. Best to all, Juniper

I gotta be honest here. I feel like I'm out of "Bandster Hell", but I just landed in "Bandster Purgatory"...

sarah, i'm glad i read this. i have tried to eat turkey deli sliced meat twice now, and the first time it came back up, and the second time it got stuck and took forever to go down. i never would have thought such thinly sliced meat would have been a problem, and i really thought i was eating it super slow, but maybe it's just deli meat doesn't agree with my band. strangely happy to know i'm not the only one who's experienced this.

This all sounds so familiar. I eat out a lot with my family, and I've been mad a couple times that I couldn't keep eating a food I really liked that I knew wouldn't be as good reheated, and that I'd spent money on food I couldn't eat. But now, I do like others here and either split a meal with someone or ask for a to go and pack up half of my food before I even start eating. Something new for me... I've started noticing how MUCH other people eat, and in a negative way, like "Oh my God, they're really gonna eat all THAT??!!" Wow. I can't help but wonder if people used to say the same thing about me... such a learning experience, this lap band journey...

I'm so glad to read this thread. While I don't think I'm overfilled, I have finally reached the point of good restriction, and after those months WITH the band, being able to eat almost everything, as much as I wanted as long as I chewed well, I find that I'm having to once again relearn HOW to eat, this time MUCH more slowly, and having to actually STOP before I want to! Yes, I did say WANT. I realize that it's just my desire to eat that makes me want to keep going, not my body's need for food. Doesn't make it any easier to stop, though... Glad to hear you're doing well, SpideyMom!

If thinking a lot about exercise counts, then yeah, I've been exercising A LOT!! :thumbup: I finally got serious about working out, because the weight was just NOT coming off after my surgery, and I was getting super frustrated. (Although, at the same time, I was glad to not have been GAINING weight, since I'm still struggling to get my thyroid meds just right...) So for the last few weeks I've been doing Water aerobics two times a week. I've decided this week to add a "weight lifting" class, but it's really freakin' early in the morning, so we'll see how long that lasts. My plan for now is to try and add another class every couple of weeks until I'm up to 5 or 6 classes a week. Last time I lost a lot of weight, I was doing the whole treadmill/elliptical thing, but I found that I would get injured too easily (bad knees) which would keep knocking me out of my routine. This time I'm going for the low-impact stuff, knowing I may have slower results, but I'll have more consistent results.

Oh, Amy, you are so organized! I can barely keep track of what day it is, let alone what percentage of weight I've lost in each "phase"... Congrats, by the way! You've almost hit 50 pounds lost! I might try to get in on this next Monday, since I'm actually starting to weigh myself again. :thumbup:

All I can say is holy crap, I never knew someone could salivate SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I've finally gotten good restriction with my band, but unfortunately all those months of no restriction got me thinking I could keep eating fast, as long as I chewed well. Let me tell you, NO MORE! Now, I take it seriously when they say wait 5 minutes between bites. I used to think that was insane! I mean, who can really wait that long between bites???!! Someone who's thrown up the most disgusting looking slimiest nasty shit in the whole world... that's who. :thumbup:

Okay, so I really don't have much restriction right now, except for breads, so I can't speak to this toooo much, but I will say that salads are the EASIEST thing for me to eat, and I'm thinking maybe it's because of the Water content in the lettuce and tomatoes (I'm a serious tomato lover). Anyway, I do much better with salads that anything else. Just more incentive to eat my veggies, I guess. :biggrin: