niecyrenee

Congratulations suzy and good luck to you!! The band is a wonderful tool and I am so happy I decided to do it! Post as soon as you are able after surgery and let us know how you are doing!

Welcome to LBT! What an exciting time for you! If you have any questions, ask away. We are all here for the same thing...knowledge and support.

I went to the seminar in September 2005 and was just banded last month. I was ready to sign-up that night but my hubby wasn't so sure. We finally decided to proceed with it this past August and I was approved by insurance in October. It has been a wonderful journey so far and I look forward to all the exciting possiblities the band provides me with! Good luck and if you have more questions, LBT has wonderful members and is a wealth of information!

:welcomeB: I live in NE MO so not too far away. There are some wonderful surgeons in Missouri and great people on LBT. Best of luck to you!

:welcome: Hello karenbarb! We share a DOB! I am loving my band! It is becoming my best (yet sometimes fickle) friend. We are all in this journey together and LBT has wonderful friends onboard. I have learned so much already and gained lots of support. Anytime you have questions or just want to have a shoulder to cry on, we are all here! Good Luck!!!

Thanks for sharing those. What a nice break in my day!

FullofGrace - You are definitely in my prayers. It's never easy to lose a loved one. If you need to talk, remember we are all here for you.

:funnypost: Well said!!

:amen: We can only hope that some day people will realize this.

I received my first fill yesterday and last night I noticed that the area surrounding where the needle went in is red and slightly swollen but doesn't hurt. Is this normal? What causes it? Today the swelling is gone and the redness is almost gone. Has anyone else had this happen?

:update: I heard back from my surgeon's office and they said that it wasn't normal to have that large of a red spot. It was really big. They said it probably occured because I was filled so early. I dunno about that but I am feeling good and more restricted which I am happy about.

I asked my surgeon about this because I was having the same pain and he said that it is either that I am taking too big of bites, not chewing well enough or it could be that I am full. He said that is the feeling some bandsters have when they are full. Now that I have tried to be more careful and paying better attention to my body, I am doing better. He said it actually was a good thing because that tells us that the band is doing it's job. That shows that there is some restriction. Hope this helps!

waitingtiljan - My heart goes out to you. When I first started talking about have the surgery, my husband was totally against it. He did however go to the seminar with me because I begged him and told him how much it would mean to me. He went, listened, learned and still was against it. :faint: That was in September 2005. Well, I continued to research and bring it up every little bit and tried to be patient. As time went on, I dieted and exercised and continued to fail. Slowly, very slowly, he began to see it as a possiblity, a very remote possiblity that this would work. I finally told him I was going to at least have a consultation visit with the surgeon and if nothing else, we could learn something. He took me to the visit and it wasn't until then that it finally clicked for him. We set down with my surgeon and the head of Bariatric Services, Sylvia, at the hospital and talked. I asked them point blank about the risks, benefits and whether they felt that the benefits would outway the risks. I knew they did but I wanted my hubby to hear them say it. Sylvia told us that although right now I am in good health besides being morbidly obese, it wouldn't always be that way. The risks of being overweight were SO much greater than the risks of the surgery that she felt the beneifts FAR outweighed the risks. We were then told that my surgeon not only felt it was beneficial, that he himself believed enough in it that he had the surgery himself!! I couldn't believe it! Any doubts that I had went straight out the window! The point of telling you all this is that my hubby felt like yours. He isn't obese. He carries a little extra weight but by no means knows what it is like to struggle with your weight. I was depressed....VERY depressed about my weight! When I was reading your post, I cried because I know exactly where you are. That has been my life and I was tired of it. I decided that I wasn't going to fool myself any longer that diets and exercise would work for me because they don't. They haven't work for my family either as most of them are obese as well. I set down with my hubby after that told him that I wanted to do this for me but for my family as well. I WANT to spend a long happy life with him, I WANT to have children and be able to enjoy them, I WANT him to be proud to have me on his arm when we go in public! I wanted these things more than anything and it consumed me. One thing I had never done was shared with him how much I weighed. I always thought he would love me less if he knew (silly, I know). After he found out, he not only loved me the same but he finally understood. It took the actual one-on-one visit at the doctor's office and the tearful heart-to-heart with him before he truly understood where I was coming from. After he got on board and we went through all the preliminary appointments, he was almost if not more excited than I was!! I had my surgery on November 8th and it's the best decision I have ever made. :biggrin1: The weight is starting to come off, I feel better than I have in years and I am happier with myself and with life which in turn has made me a much better person to be around for my hubby. I tried to think the "Who cares if I'm overweight?" thing and I always came back to one answer....ME! I did this for my family, yes, but mostly, I did this for me! Continue to work on him, gently. Overtime he may come to understand why this is so important to you, I can't guarantee that he will, but I pray that he does. Hang in there and be patient. I know that is very hard to do, but it will be well worth it! You are in my prayers as well as your hubby for understanding. Keep us posted and good luck!!

Thanks for the responses! I sent an email along with a pic to my doctor but I haven't heard yet. It wasn't bothersome really, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something to be alarmed with. Thanks again!

I had my three week follow-up appt. with my surgeon and dietician yesterday and they both were very pleased with my progress. I wasn't overly thrilled with it but they said I was right on track. My surgeon emphasized that it will be slow and that's not a bad thing. He too has had lapband and I like that he knows EXACTLY what I'm going through. I have healed up very nicely from surgery so he gave me my first fill yesterday. Has anyone else had a fill yet? I have a big red, slightly swollen spot around my port and I was wondering if anyone has experienced this? It doesn't hurt but it just looks odd. I took a pic last night of it and I am going to email it and see what they have to say about it.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! Hope all who are traveling have safe trips. Denise

Congrats on the weight loss! That is wonderful!! 4 oz. is half a cup. I just use a measuring cup. I am really hoping to not disappoint my surgeon when I go for my appt. Tuesday but I can't worry about that. I will try to be good and keep walking and see what happens.

Well, I know for sure that I am not getting 800 cals a day. It is interesting to read about other doctors eating plans. I should try the extra protein and see how I do. I thought that maybe the eating plan was so strict for just me because I have so much to lose but it's not, that's their normal diet plan. He too has had the surgery so I know he knows what I am going through. I have been told by other people that my body is probably in starvation mode so I'll have to talk to him about it next week and see if this is normal. Thanks! Denise

ReneBean--Thank you for writing this! I am a newbie, banded on Nov. 8th and I have had struggles. My pre-op diet went beautifully and I lost 29 lbs! After the gas left, I began to feel hungry, like nothing would fill me, but I continued to trek on. I made it about a week and a half and I gave into head hunger. I spent this past weekend not overeating much, just eating solids which is not on my list of liquids. I felt quilty everytime I did it but couldn't seem to make myself stop. I have finally gotten myself over that inital hump and am doing much better about sticking to my eating plan. Not perfect, but I am able to keep my mouth closed better! I want to thank you for sharing your experiences with us. It is so nice to read posts from veteran bandsters because you have been exactly where we are and we have so much we can learn from you. Thanks for the encouragement. Congratulations on reaching the 300 mark!! :clap2: That is fantastic!! I hope to be there myself soon but I have a little way to go. For the first time in my life, I KNOW I am going to lose weight and that is very exciting!!! I just needed that little push that the band provides. Denise

Yep, 3 meals a day and only 4 oz. each. I also am to have 2 protein shakes a day at 4 oz. each. One between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and supper. That's it. It has been hard. At first it wasn't too bad but I think that was because I was full of gas and didn't feel like eating anyway. I go back next Tuesday to meet with my dietician and also my surgeon. They will be moving me to mushie foods then but I am sure I will be on the same schedule. I'll make it...somehow. I have done much better today. Not perfect by any means, but close. Thanks for the words of encouragement donamarie & Karen! I am so thankful for LBT. I couldn't do this without you all! Denise

I'm so glad there is a thread specifically for me, a big girl!! It is wonderful to have others in the same boat as me. I was banded just shy of 2 weeks ago and I have about 200 more pounds to lose. It seems like such an impossible task but you all are an inspiration to me! :biggrin1: I look forward to taking this journey with everyone here! Denise

I am on full liquids and am only to have 3-4 oz. meals a day. I can have things such as blended soups and even cereal as long as it is soggy. I was doing great with this until Friday and things went downhill. I listened to my head and cheated by having some real food...and more than my 4 oz. unfortunately. :faint: I did chew everything to mush but I did it like 4 or 5 different times. I feel REALLY horrible about it and am trying to "safeguard" myself from doing it anymore. The scale is basically the same, thank goodness, I just hope I haven't done any damage or anything. Everything still feels the same and everything went down fine. Surely I would know if I had slipped or anything like that. Is anyone else struggling like me or am I alone on this? I feel like such a failure but I know that tomorrow is another day and I am determined to not let this get me down. I just have to stop!! Denise

That is wonderful Chrissie! The 29th will be here before you know it! It will be well worth your wait! Congrats! :clap2: Denise

Good luck Cheryl!! This is a very scary decision to make but staying like we are makes our future very scary as well. The liquid diet isn't at bad as I thought it would be. The first 3-4 days is the worst but after that, things get easier; not easy by any means but easier. Just keep reminding yourself why you are doing it and it helps. We are all here to support you and to lend a shoulder to "cry on" when things get difficult. We are all in the same boat and everyone here is wonderful. Welcome to the family!! :welcome: Denise

Yep, BM's are normal. I didn't realize until after I posted that message this morning that the first 6 weeks are for healing and not for losing. My surgeon never mentioned that. I looked all over this morning and found this information. I was very glad to have found this out because I was starting to become depressed because I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. :phanvan