forabetterlife

WOW YAY!!!! Congrats on becoming a bandster! The day I went in for surgery they came in to prep me and once they started wheeling me into the room I started CRYING BAD and told my husband to just take me home. He said no babe you will be fine and you know deep down you really want and need this done. The next thing I know I was in the recovery room opening my eyes to my husband sitting beside me and the nurse talking to me. This is a great adventure and surgery is going to go just fine. Good luck tomorrow let us know how it goes.

Ok the first 5 weeks I gained 5 pounds from Bandster hell hahaha but after that I slowly lost weight I was banded June 16th 2009 and as of today I am down 122 pounds.

I went to the Seminar in September 2008 and turnt in paper work, my insurance approved it no problem but because of the process you have to go through with the Bariatric program here I didnt get banded until june 16th 2009 so almost a year for me.

I have heard that some people go back on the pre op diet when they get off track on dieting and losing weight. I finally realized today that I am off track and need to do something to get back on track. Has anyone tried this? Did it work? Did you lose weight doing this? I am just trying to figure out if this is what I should do to get back on track.

ok I will give today as an example Breakfast - 2 egg whites & 1cup of strawberries cut up Snack - 2 pieces of turkey and 1 cheese stick lunch - 1 can of tuna with 2tbsp light miracle whip (no bread) Snack - Protein shake and for dinner we are having BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches (no bread for me) and sweet potatoe fries (baked) I try to get at least 60 grams of protein a day I track my food every day I have a 32oz Water bottle at my desk at work and fill it 3 times a day then drink water at home as well once in a while I will have Crystal Light but thats sugar free I just dont know what I am doing wrong.

Well I have been banded since June 2009 and just seem off track or on a plateau I guess. I only consume 1000-1200 calories a day and cant seem to lose more weight.

I cant believe that your doctor would be ok with you eating a chicken salad at this point. Most doctors have you on atleast 1 week liquids then 2-3 weeks mushies then ease into solids. But to both of you, you are probably swollen still it tends to last upto 3 weeks thats why they have you on liquid diets and NO solids. As the swelling goes down you will feel less restriction and you will stop belching as much but it is a part of life now. If you are already cheating on the diet do you really think you are going to be successful??????

I never go by the scale I always go according to how my clothes fit becuase yes weight on the scale is important but to me my clothes getting too big is more important. As long as the #'s on the scale are going down and not up you are on the right track.

2. Your OBGYN CANT refuse to give you your medical records it is illegal in the US. 3. Just a copy of your records will work 4. You have to have it medically supervised by a doctor it cant be weight watchers or south beach diet 5. Any information you have about being pre diabetic and thyroid problems will only help you in the end so provide these records to your doctor. GOOD LUCK!

1. If your doctor refuses to do the predetermination letter I would find a new doctor, you are paying them to help you so they should NOT refuse it. My doctor wasnt supportive of the surgery and didnt want me to do it but now that he sees the results he is very happy with the outcome.

I have a 10cc band and I didnt feel any restriction until my 3rd fill when I got up to 4.5cc so its normal.

I am a year and a half out and back to normal 100% no problems

Congratulations! It took me almost a full year as well to get through the LONG process but I did it and I was banded June 16th 2009. Good Luck and being nervous is totally normal. I cried when they started wheeling me into the operating room and told my husband to take me home but he stood by my side and said it was going to be ok and didnt leave until I was fast asleep. So nerves are ok.

I tell everyone and anyone who wants to hear it lol I love telling people and I have even encouraged a few over weight women to have the surgery done as well. I feel like I am inspiring people by telling them.

I think we all have our doubt and concerns at first but after surgery they go away. My husband thought I could do the same lose weight without surgery but after surgery when the weight started falling off he was impressed to say the least. I was banded June 16th 2009, went into surgery at 12:30 on the afternoon and was home 4.5 hours later resting. I was out of work for 5 days and able to take care of my kids my daughter had just turnt 1. I was in the same situation where I had no one around to help out and my husband had to work. You can do it if you really want to just take it easy and have things close by for your son to do and play with so you dont have to get up and move around too much oh and you wont be able to pick him up but if he can get up to you on the couch he can sit or lay with you. Hope that helps a little. Good Luck!

Of course if you are not getting enough calories your body goes into starvation mode and stores all of you fat instead of burning it. I only lost 7 pounds on the preop diet in 2 weeks so dont feel bad.

As some others have mentioned DONT compare your weight loss to others just focus on doing everything right and as long as the numbers are going down and not up you are on the right track. It took me 8 months to lose the first 50 pounds and I noticed it when my clothes started being to big.

I had a real hard time finding a protein shake that I could drink long term but I found one. I buy the Carnation instant breakfast mix (chocolate) it is the SUGAR FREE kind and I add 8 oz of skim milk to it and it taste just like chocolate milk without the chalky taste. Good Luck!

At the beginning I was ok with it and wanted to tell everyone but once I started getting negative comments from ladies at work I felt terrible about telling them and wished I never had. they thought I was taking the easy way out and that if I tried hard enough I could have done it on my own. But then I went and had surgery and once I got through the mushy stages of food and could eat regular foods the ladies at work started noticing how hard it was because I couldnt eat all the foods they were eating on their food days. So from then on they have been supportive and I havent heard anything negative.

I would definitely tell your husband, you cant hide it from him you are going to need his help when you go for surgery and after surgery. As for the rest of your family I would mention the surgery itself to them and see what they say about it before you tell them that you are going to have it done that way you know what to expect from them. Good Luck!

Mine got ALOT heavier and lots of clots...... wonder why that happens?

Good Luck it is an amazing journey but hard at times. The best part is watching your body transform into a new person. Good luck you will do just great. We all manange to do it one way or another.

I was like that as well I would look in the mirror and be like oh wow I look damn good (and not fat lol) but then I would see pictures and OMG wow FAT!!!!! Now that I have lost alot of weight I look back at those pictures and was like OMG I cant believe I didnt see myself as being that big at the beginning. Good luck you will do great!

Oh yea this is normal from all the swellin from surgery. the band itself probably weights like 3-4 ounces if that Just focus on healing and you will notice that the weight starts dropping again.

Congratulations to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was banded June 16th 2009 and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself.....