TexasMama

Hi there....anyone on the NW side, around Sea World/Westover Hills?

I am new at "blogging" so I hope I get this right. I received my band in July 2010 and sad to say to date I have lost only 16 lbs. YUCK. As my title states I'm disappointed and feeling like a failure. I am the one putting the pressure and stress, this is not from family members or friends. I went in a week 1/2 ago to get a fill, the dr. was very disappointed in my lack of weight loss over the months following surgery and did not give me a fill but instead said I needed to see his nutrionist. Like all of you, I know the dos & don'ts of dieting (I have yo-yo'd for years). However, my weight is not coming off. I have been going to the gym at least 4x a week and have cut back on calories but apparently my fat luvs me and will not go away. Guess this is enough for now. I would appreciate any kind words - or unkind.....Thanks

Hi there--I cannot imagine how frustating this must be! Have you seen an endocrinologist?

It is a wise decision to have the lap band removed, but it is not wise to have bypass surgery. Your problem is a lack of will power and self-discipline and no amount of surgeries, or even weight loss for that matter, will fix that. No one needs surgery to lose weight. You just have to be committed to living a healthy lifestyle and eating healthy food.

Wow. Could not have said this better. Great post.

I see posts like the OP's scattered throughout this board. I think it's important to stress accountability. If you get called to the carpet, it's probably for a reason. I'm very new to my band (and vice-versa, I suppose ) but I already know how powerful my psyche is just 6 days post-op. It will always be a struggle. It's how you react to that struggle that counts.

Repeat after me: If I work with the band, the band will work for me. If I give up on the band, the band will give up on me.

YOU are responsible for you.

Good luck.

How scary!! I am so sorry you are delayed but I hope that everything gets fixed so you can be banded!!

I know it's discouraging, but it sounds perfectly normal to me, from what I read about others' experiences. Really, the weight won't be coming off regularly or satisfactorily until you hit your "sweet spot", which could well be your 3rd or 4th fill. This is such a gradual process, and in our daily lives "gradual" is hard to swallow--pardon the pun. I think your body also is completely BALKING at any attempt to lose weight right now. It did it initially because it was programmed to--you were still feeling the effects of narcotics--but now that those have worn off (or at least, to a degree), your body is thinkin', "Hey! Remember me? What is going on here??" and it will fight you. The good news is, it's just INITIALLY. Once you get past that point, your body realizes, hey, this is how it's gonna be, I need to get rid of some of these fat cells so I can keep going at the regular pace. That is when you will really see it.

Don't get too discouraged, though. You've done AMAZING so far, both pre- and post-op. You're only going to continue your success. Sometimes that just means "in chunks".

How is everyone doing? We are getting really close! I've been sticking to the pre-op, and the weight loss with it has been pleasantly surprising. For those of you who haven't had surgery yet -- are you excited? I'm scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Today is a holiday from work, so I am trying to tie up some loose ends around the house (to help DH manage the kids for the couple of days that I'll be out of commission). I'm planning on taking a little over a week off from work -- longer, if needed (my doctor said it was up to me).

Best wishes to you all! We'll be banded losers soon!

Elle, I am so excited for you! I will be thinking about you tomorrow. You will do great! The first days are actually not hard, eating wise--it's the few days leading up to your first appointment, when your head is "out of the fog" and you realize...hmmmm...I want food!! LOL I am struggling just a little with that, but I'm sticking to the clear diet as much as possible (with the exception of today, yogurt smoothie). I am counting down the hours until I get clearance for something with TEXTURE.

Can't wait to hear from you! Good luck!!!

I have been flawless since day 1 (am now Day 5 if you count the day of surgery since I had it at 8AM!), but I have to admit, I am getting itchy for SOMETHING else besides broth, Jello, and popsicles.

We went with my in-laws today to Olive Garden, and although it didn't bother me in the least that I wasn't getting salad or Tour of Italy or dessert--truly--what I REALLY wanted was to have a nibble of a bean in my minestrone. Alas no, I was a good girl and only had the broth which was quite tasty. It was the first time I'd been out to eat and it was nice to know I really didn't care about the other stuff.

I really hope that my doctor will allow me to have something different after my appointment with him. I asked hubby if I could have Tomato Soup and he patently refused (but with a kiss and smile), so I am afraid I am stuck. My doc's appt isn't until Thursday! Ugh!

What are you eating? Have you diverted at all? It is really much harder when you get off the opiates...LOL

the port incision on me is what is still sore. The other incisions are fine, actually itchy at this point.

I'm day 5 post-op. I stopped Lortab as of 5AM. I'm now on regular Tylenol.

:hurray: I love it!! Sooo excited for you! Good job!!

Did your doc give you clearance for mushies or does he want you on clear stuff another week?

Hey! Just wanted to hear from everyone to see how you're doing. I'm doing okay--I think the hernia repair is definitely a much more tender spot on me right now than anything else. I'm still taking the LorTab. My nephew's 2nd birthday is tomorrow and we're supposed to go over there. I hope I can make it! I'm mentally okay, but physically, I'm certainly not doing any cartwheels!!

Okay--checking in with you to see how you are doing, you are one week post-op!! Congrats!! Are you feeling better? I hope you are seeing a light at the end of that tunnel!! Hugs!!

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I wrote out what happened to me start-to-finish on my blog. I thought I'd post about it to help anyone that hasn't had surgery yet if they are anxious/nervous.

Glad everyone seems to be recovering well. I am still in preop and just thought I'd ask you all...my dr.'s orders for post surgery are 1 week clear liquids, 1 week creamy liquids, then 2 weeks pureed foods...then...on week 5 soft foods. I'm not exactly sure what soft foods is?? Sounds like you all are moving on much faster...anyone else have a post op diet like that? or is my dr just ultra conservative.

Soft foods is really anything that isn't fibrous that you will be able to chew well.

Your doctor is following the guidelines of the band manufacturer, most likely, along with his own observations. I am not sure why some doctors either ignore this advice, or their patients do. I believe to have success with the band you have to start out the right way. I'm not sure whose mom fixed chicken for them and they just had surgery Monday--that just does not seem like a good idea AT ALL. I would imagine any doctor would say so, but I'm not a doctor myself, so what do I know?

Stick to your doc's advice even though it is tempting to watch others move forward. Your stomach is going to be swollen for a while, and your band needs to stay in place.

Remember--the #1 cause for slippage is not following the eating guidelines. That means this early on.

LOL@ both of you!!! I seem to have a quick recovery time from the anesthesia. I was like this for my past three surgeries (two cerclages and a gallbladder removal). I am in some pain still, and swollen, but I am working on trying to get up and moving.

I don't really have any desire to eat per se, I mean, I can't see me eating a hamburger or anything. I just wish I could have something more substantial like yogurt or oatmeal. Alas, I will have to wait.

I think that the "stomach growling" I am feeling is actually intestinal sounds and I am getting them confused. It's hard to tell when your entire abdomen is sore!

The only advice I have for anyone is don't let any time lapse between doses of pain meds, if you're supposed to take your meds every 4-6 hours, don't wait 7 or 8.

I am hoping I won't need the Lortab after the weekend and will be on straight Motrin or Tylenol or combination.

Taking a nap now. Will chat later!!

I can't believe it! Of course I'm going to be the only one who is banded and hungry. Just had some broth and a popsicle, and that worked for about 20 minutes, and now my stomach is growling.

Oh my. This is going to be interesting.

Thank you, justplaintired!!

I'm a little loopy, thank you Lortab.

Everything went well and hey, guess what? I had two procedures in one, he corrected my hiatal hernia. whoohoo! Didn't even know I had one. There ya go!

Going to bed now, will check in later. Anyone else get banded today?

I don't mean to be rude, but if you're 100-110 lbs over weight, I can assure you that you do not look like you need to lose 20 lbs. There isn't a person out there that would.

OTOH, it sounds like you might not be mentally ready for this. I'd be 100% sure that this life-changing decision is the one you want to make.

Good news! The doc says I can still do the surgery unless I develop a fever. So I am all set to go tomorrow!! :bananapartyhat:

I was banded on 2/7/11. Lost 11 pounds in the first 6 days - woohoo - that was great. Started on mushies 2/12. Have been checking calories and Protein since starting mushies. Sunday ate 700 calories of food, yesterday had 765 calories. Well this morning I gained a pound. What the heck!! Talk about major depressing. Any ideas what in the world is going on? I just want to sit down and cry !!!

I can understand your frustration, however, you have to be able to see what is going on with your body right now. It is fighting you tooth and nail, and if you had any trouble losing weight before surgery, you can bet your sweet bippy that your body will make sure it puts up its best resistance now.

Your metabolism is freaking out right now, because suddenly, out of the blue, you are on a VERY small amount of calories. In the real world, that's called starvation, and to your body, it means conserve every bit. So, in order to do that, metabolism has to sloooooowwwww way down. Now, if you're walking or incorporating exercise into your day, your body is quickly going to figure out that you are not in "hibernation mode" and will look to your fat cells for fuel in order for you to have energy to exercise. Then you will begin to see a more steady pattern of weight loss.

This is a process that takes time and patience. We did not lose weight easily BEFORE the band, we should not expect to do so right away after. You will begin losing weight, it may be slow but you will. My doc said it's not so much the calories as when you eat them. Three meals and NO SNACKING or grazing. He said people who follow that have the most success.

Good luck!! You will do fine I am sure!!

The good news is...no fever this morning. The bad news is I'm still congested and have a cough. I am calling the dr's office here in about 20 minutes, so we'll see what they say.

Wow. I am SO sorry all that happened to you! What a nightmare. I just KNOW, though, because you are typing right now, you're getting better, and each day will bring a renewed spirit. And YES! In 6 months, you'll be typing about your billionth weight loss milestone.

BIG HUGS!!

Well, I started feeling symptoms of my kids' cold around Thursday night--right after my pre-op appt. Saturday was my worst day--I had a hard time getting out of bed. Upper respiratory issues, cough and stuffy nose, feeling run down. Fever not bad--around 101. So, yesterday I was feeling blah but not awful--and today I'm the same way, with a slight fever (99-100) but overall very weak and tired. My surgery is on Wednesday. My husband thinks I should wait until tomorrow to see if I feel like I am on the mend before calling the dr's office. What do y'all think? It doesn't sound like a good idea to do surgery if your immune system is weak. However, if I'm getting better....surely it won't be a problem...(can you tell I really, really do NOT want to reschedule?)?

LOL I was totally thinking, "otay..that was straight and to the point" cuz I didn't know you wrote anything else until I scrolled down and saw this post...LOL too funny!

I know! It looks so goofy lol

Hi All,

I'm here but just checking in to let you all know that I made it. Smokey, how did you type a full report with your humor, post op?

I am day two post op and I'm okay, better than yestereday at least...

Word of advice to those who are going in...BRING HEADPHONES. The constant beeping will be blocked out with headphones. My roommate had them and I wish I had done the same.

That's my word of wisdom...

Back when I'm feeling better... and someone keep up the good luck wishes that I used to send based upon the feb roll call!

hUGS!

Glad to hear you are okay and banded!! Thanks for checking in with us!!