thebandedgirl

Best advice I can give you: Take it slow and follow your surgeon's guidelines. You'll do great! :thumbup:

I didn't have to write one, but I would probably go through my journey of obesity. I would then write the ways in which I would "work the band" to help me lose weight ("My exercise plan is..." "My diet plan is..."). Depending upon the requested length, I would probably also write a section sharing what I'm looking forward to during and after my weight loss journey (off of meds, fit in an airplane seat, run a marathon, etc). I'm a fairly good editor and would be happy to edit a draft or two for you if you'd like. Just PM me and we can work it out.

Welcome! This is a great place to come for support and answers to questions :thumbup:

Hey, how are you doing? Your profile says your surgery is tomorrow--I wish you well! If you think I can help allay some of your last minute fears (if you have any), please feel free to PM me. I'll write back :thumbup:

Hey Gary, That's a legitimate fear, though! I had it too. Also paralleling your story, I had my gallbladder removed in a "do this or you will die" surgery. It's the same as your appendix--there's no risk. Your appendix isn't going to get better and will kill you for sure; the surgery has much slimmer odds of a really bad outcome. It's a no-brainer. I'll be honest and tell you that I was apprehensive until I went in for surgery, when I wasn't able to think about it any more. But I was able to examine my fears and decide every time that surgery was something I wanted to do. Then I was able to reason with those same feelings and make them go away. They came back, sure, but what was important was that I was the one in control of them and I could either fuel them or make them disappear. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to send me a private message if you need support :biggrin:

Dr. N is great! My port's really mobile and likes to run away from the fill needle, so he's had to do my last two fills.

Congratulations. June 18 was a good day this year :frown: I'm doing pretty well with my band. My surgeon has a very conservative fill policy: 1cc by 1cc by 1cc. Despite the fact that I've had three fills, I only have 3ccs in my 10cc band. I completely understand his reasoning, but when I come to places like this and see that people who were banded around the same time we were have good restriction already, I get kind of discouraged. Still. I've lost almost 25 pounds in right at three months (since I started my pre-op diet). That's definitely nothing to be ashamed of! How are things going for you?

Hey Carlene, Have you checked out LAP-BAND's website? It's over at Official Site: the LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System for weight loss surgery and will answer a lot of your questions!

Dr. Nirmul was my surgeon, too :frown:

I'm 26 and was banded on June 18 of this year :frown:

Sugar. Sugarsugarsugarsugar. I can't stand artificial sweeteners and really try to stay away from sweets in general. I drink my tea unsweetened and water mostly. Coffee gets sugar, though :frown:

*high five* So awesome, congratulations!

Awesome! Congratulations on your band :frown:

Hey Gary, What are your fears? Surgery itself? Life after the band? Something else? I think recognizing exactly what we're afraid of and giving it some sort of name or label is an important part of moving past the fear.

Hey Carlene, Welcome to LBT and congratulations on deciding to do some research! Foods like clam chowder, Peanut Butter cups, and popsicles are what many of us call "slider foods" because they slide through the band really easily. The band can help us eat less, but only if we eat the right kinds of foods--anything liquid or really mushy will slide on down to the main part of your stomach and leave you feeling less full for a shorter amount of time. You might not have to give them up, but you're definitely going to have to eat your favorites only occasionally if you get the lap-band. Please start your journey by reading a ton. Look at the information on this message board and do some Googling. Read read read read and make sure that you're okay with all of the changes you're going to have to make; then start researching surgeons. There is a section on LBT to help. Banding in Mexico is common, but it's not "better" than going with a surgeon in the US. It can be less expensive, if you have to pay with cash. Just like choosing a surgeon in your area, you will need to research surgeons in Mexico and make sure they're going to do a good job for you. I've heard some wonderful praise of some surgeons, but also horror stories of others. Exercise isn't as necessary for weight loss as eating less (and eating healthy foods), but it still helps burn calories AND is necessary for good cardiovascular health. It's hard to make time for exercise and to stop thinking up reasons why we don't want to start moving. We should all do it anyway, weight loss surgery or not Believe me, I'm preaching to myself here :frown:

Pre-op was hard. I'm so grateful that my surgeon didn't require only liquids! Hope you're doing great

YAY! You're both in my thoughts :w00t:

I think that most of us have. We all have issues with food, I think, or we wouldn't be in the situations we're in. Some people are able to overcome their food problems easily, some aren't. I'm in the latter category, unfortunately, and plan to seek counseling as soon as I get my new insurance card.

I wasn't exactly an addict, but I drank one or two sodas a day (Dr. Pepper or Jones Soda berry Lemonade). I had a couple throughout my three week pre-op diet, but found I didn't really crave them. Since I had surgery over seven weeks ago, I've had one small sip of Sprite, but it tasted awful to me. I don't really miss it, though I imagine I'll probably indulge once in a while. My surgeon allows soda 60 days after surgery and beyond. In high school, when I *was* an addict, I stopped cold turkey for quite a while. I still don't know why I started drinking Dr. Pepper again after that!

Many people report that they're not hungry for a while after they have surgery. I went in hungry, came out hungry, and remained hungry until I could eat solid foods! I did discover, however, that some of the signals I thought were from hunger were actually just general tummy rumblings because my stomach was upset with me.

Wow. That's one horrible partial paragraph I wrote! Hope it makes sense :cool:

I wouldn't stock up TOO much; my tastes have really changed since I had surgery. Having said that, I did buy chicken broth, Jello, baby food (only fruit!), apple sauce, pre-made mashed potatoes, Cream of Wheat, and cottage cheese for my liquid and mushy stages. Check on the mashed potatoes, though; I know that some docs don't want their patients to have potatoes. I limited myself to one mashed potato meal a day. If you like sweet potatoes, you can sub those for mashed :cool: I really liked the cottage cheese mixed with Pasta sauce and nuked for 10-15 seconds. Mashed potatoes mixed with pureed green chili and topped with a little low-fat cheddar are heaven. I was really anxious to eat things that weren't sweet. I was *so* sick of Protein shakes!

Congratulations on getting a date! I can't imagine going through the process for three years; you're a trooper! I told very few people about my surgery: My boyfriend, mom, boss, and three closest friends. I didn't want constant scrutiny and criticism from my coworkers!

I was in a lot of pain. I slept a lot. I walked a lot

I asked about it, but my surgeon still does four incisions. I didn't really care because I already have scaring from my gallbladder removal a few years ago and I'm not going to show my belly to anyone anyhow