thebandedgirl

My advice to you: Make sure you know what you're getting in to. Read read read and read even more. Read until you're sick of reading about surgery and bands.

I was banded a few years after I graduated from college, but I don't think the answers to your questions are much different than they are for anyone else. Life with the band is much like life without the band. You have to be more mindful of what you're putting in your mouth than most people. Eating out is a matter of knowing what works well for you. If you know that squishy breads give you problems, don't eat squishy breads. I can find things to eat on every menu, and I have yet to experience one restaurant that's more helpful than another. The band shouldn't interfere with classes. How would it?

Congratulations on your loss so far, Jeff! 150-160 pounds is an awesome loss :tongue_smilie:

Wow, three little ones! I wish you a swift recovery so that you can keep up with them :tongue_smilie: Congratulations!

Congratulations :tongue_smilie:

I was self pay and had surgery a month after my consult (a month and a few days after my seminar). It would have been three weeks, but I was out of town the week before I had surgery and wasn't about to cancel my long-planned trip :tongue_smilie:

Lots of people have depression because they have to change their eating habits. You either work through it or you don't. I honestly recommend finding a therapist to help you work through your food issues. The number of fills it takes to reach the right level of restriction is variable. Some people are great with one fill, others take several attempts to get it right. I'm on...I don't even know. Seven or eight? And I need another. But my surgeon's office is really conservative when it comes to fills--no more than 1cc at a time.

I paid $15,000 at True Results in Scottsdale. That cost includes a year of aftercare. I believe that Dr. Simpson was $16,400 with two years of aftercare included; many people love Dr. Simpson, but I liked True Results better. I've heard of people putting ankle weights on when they go in for their first appointment at a surgeon's office to push them over the threshold. I'm not advocating it, just saying that I've heard of it happening :tongue_smilie:

Welcome to LapBandTalk and banded life :tongue_smilie:

Like others have said, it really just depends. I can eat most things. Sometimes I have problems with eggs and bread, but not always. It's kind of a crap shoot with me

I asked at my last fill appointment and my fill doc told me that I shouldn't use calcium citrate. Having said that, talk to your surgeon if you're having a rough time with the pills he wanted you to take. He might have an alternative in mind for you.

I just wanted to make sure that you had a fill doc arranged. I've heard that a lot of surgeons are reluctant to do fills on people they didn't actually operate on (or really give any after care at all), which can be a problem. I'm glad you thought it through and have something arranged. I don't know about general advice (I'm kind of bad at that type of thing), but if you have any questions please let me know and I'll answer as best I can!

It's really not that difficult to get protein in. Just eat it first

I adore my boy, but I was begging him to go to work the day after I had surgery. He was driving me nuts

Keep it up! Just another week, you're halfway there!

Hope everything went well for you!

A lot of people do the 14 days of liquids. It's hard, but you're definitely not alone, and you can do it. Don't forget that the liquids don't last forever

I'm glad that you have family members who know what you're going through and can help you out! It would be awesome to have that at my disposal

Not much more time! You're traveling quite a ways to get your band. What are you going to do for aftercare?

It really depends upon your surgeon and what (s)he instructs you to do. Some say, "NEVER AGAIN." Others don't mind so much.

Also, how's your restriction? Do you need a fill? Are you too tight--have you been eating a lot of calorie-dense slider foods because eating solids is too difficult?

It's difficult, but you can make it! Be strong :biggrin:

Good luck!

Here's what I think is awesome: You've done research, you've thought it through, and you knew why you wanted to get a band instead of another type of surgery. Good on you!

Yay! Get a good night's sleep if you can. Best of luck to you on your journey :biggrin: