Mary Ash

I was banded at the age of 19 and I am so glad that I did it. I have been extremely overweight my whole life and this tool has helped me to start moving towards a healthy life.

I was just looking back at this post and thinking about the past year I don't think that it was necessary to tell as many people as a chose to tell. It made it easier in some aspects but I also know that people will and do always judge. It really did just get hard to keep it a secret from some of my friends who I spend a ton of time with.

Wow so lucky. I'm a college student and had to be moved back at school and was regularly attending classes within a week of surgery. That was a killer.

Why not just do it. It can only make the surgery easier for your surgeon to shrink your liver a bit. Plus you will already be on the right path and start losing weight. Another plus is that you will know what to expect with the post op liquids diet.

I definitely went through doubts both before and after surgery. Now that it has been a year and I have lost a substantial amount of weight I am 100 % sure this was the right decision for me. I still need to work hard and lose a good deal more weight but I know that getting banded was one of the tools that I needed.

Well I have definitely not been posting on here like I would have like to. All I can say is this 20 credit semester is really starting to catch up to me! Just to briefly update on here It has now been 3 MONTHS since my surgery!! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. I have been extremely busy and I suspect that is why time seems to be racing by. At this moment I am 38 lbs down since my surgery date. It is amazing to me that I could have been carrying around that much excess weight. I really don't notice a difference much in how my clothes fit or anything yet, but I guess I really didn't expect to until I hit at least 50 lbs. Looking at pictures though I can see a difference and people have started to ask. I have had 4 fills so far but the 3rd one I do not think actually went into my band. So last week I had a 2 cc fill under fluoroscopy to make sure everything was reaching my band ok. I can definitely tell the difference with that extra 2 cc s in there and I feel like I am doing a lot better because of it! I hope to see more progress especially now that the weather is getting so nice and I can spend more time exercising outdoors! I hope to keep update a lot more frequently but easier said than done. Until then...

Well I have definitely not been posting on here like I would have like to. All I can say is this 20 credit semester is really starting to catch up to me! Just to briefly update on here It has now been 3 MONTHS since my surgery!! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. I have been extremely busy and I suspect that is why time seems to be racing by. At this moment I am 38 lbs down since my surgery date. It is amazing to me that I could have been carrying around that much excess weight. I really don't notice a difference much in how my clothes fit or anything yet, but I guess I really didn't expect to until I hit at least 50 lbs. Looking at pictures though I can see a difference and people have started to ask. I have had 4 fills so far but the 3rd one I do not think actually went into my band. So last week I had a 2 cc fill under fluoroscopy to make sure everything was reaching my band ok. I can definitely tell the difference with that extra 2 cc s in there and I feel like I am doing a lot better because of it! I hope to see more progress especially now that the weather is getting so nice and I can spend more time exercising outdoors! I hope to keep update a lot more frequently but easier said than done. Until then...

Its hard. And that is the biggest understatement every! I've been banded about a month and have cheated a few times especially with the drinking while eating thing. Sometimes I just cannot help myself. It really seems like your doing fine. You at least know what you did wrong but everyone has rough times. Try to think about how much you have gone through to get to this point. Also think ahead to how happy you will be as you start seeing the weight come off!

I cannot believe that it has been a whole month since I had surgery. Crazy. Anyway... First Fill Februay 3, 2010 Well I had my first fill this past Wednesday and I wasn't really sure what to expect but I knew that I needed it. I could definitely feel that I was eating more than I should be able to before feeling full. I went in at 7 am (so early I know) and my surgeon took me back right away. They weighed me first and I am down down 22 lbs since December 28 so that is good. He asked me some questions made sure I was eating, swallowing, and keeping food down ok, which I was. Then comes the fun part he pulls out this extremely long needle and I then ask him if this is going to hurt of course. He replied no since it gets stuck right into the previous incision on top of my port and goes through scar tissue. Well that makes sense no nerves no pain. So then he sticks the needle in and I have to admit I did feel a little bit but it was just like a bee sting. I was told to sit up in almost a crunch like position so that he could reach the band easier. It seemed like he had to poke around for awhile until he got it in all the way, which he told me was normal for the first fill. He told me when it was in for sure and I was pretty positive it was in right at that point because I could feel slight pressure. It was a weird feeling, I could feel pressure and almost like my abdominal wall muscle was contracting. I feel like I could have possibly felt the saline flow through but I was probably just imagining that. After he filled it he pulled the saline in and out once more to show me that it had, in fact, gone into the band properly. I was told to drink down a whole glass of water and see if I could keep that down before I could leave. That took me about 5-10 minutes just because I am afraid to drink liquids too quickly now anyway in fear of throwing up. The water stayed down fine and that was it I was free to go after that! I was told to be careful eating that night and next day. I was extra careful to chew up all of my food good but I still must have taken one bit too many, and I'll tell you what I find that every single bite is mattering recently. So I was in pain for a few hours. It has been a few days and I have eaten a little to much a few times but overall I don't think I am too restricted. Now I have to concentrate on getting all of my protein in each day I am still struggling a bit with that mostly because I just don't like drinking protein shakes bleh.

I cannot believe that it has been a whole month since I had surgery. Crazy. Anyway... First Fill Februay 3, 2010 Well I had my first fill this past Wednesday and I wasn't really sure what to expect but I knew that I needed it. I could definitely feel that I was eating more than I should be able to before feeling full. I went in at 7 am (so early I know) and my surgeon took me back right away. They weighed me first and I am down down 22 lbs since December 28 so that is good. He asked me some questions made sure I was eating, swallowing, and keeping food down ok, which I was. Then comes the fun part he pulls out this extremely long needle and I then ask him if this is going to hurt of course. He replied no since it gets stuck right into the previous incision on top of my port and goes through scar tissue. Well that makes sense no nerves no pain. So then he sticks the needle in and I have to admit I did feel a little bit but it was just like a bee sting. I was told to sit up in almost a crunch like position so that he could reach the band easier. It seemed like he had to poke around for awhile until he got it in all the way, which he told me was normal for the first fill. He told me when it was in for sure and I was pretty positive it was in right at that point because I could feel slight pressure. It was a weird feeling, I could feel pressure and almost like my abdominal wall muscle was contracting. I feel like I could have possibly felt the saline flow through but I was probably just imagining that. After he filled it he pulled the saline in and out once more to show me that it had, in fact, gone into the band properly. I was told to drink down a whole glass of water and see if I could keep that down before I could leave. That took me about 5-10 minutes just because I am afraid to drink liquids too quickly now anyway in fear of throwing up. The water stayed down fine and that was it I was free to go after that! I was told to be careful eating that night and next day. I was extra careful to chew up all of my food good but I still must have taken one bit too many, and I'll tell you what I find that every single bite is mattering recently. So I was in pain for a few hours. It has been a few days and I have eaten a little to much a few times but overall I don't think I am too restricted. Now I have to concentrate on getting all of my protein in each day I am still struggling a bit with that mostly because I just don't like drinking protein shakes bleh.

I have told family and close friends. I have only been banded a month and there are already some people that I wish I had not told. I now realized that this is a huge decision to decide who you want to tell. Just remember you can never take back what you tell someone once you tell them. You can always tell them later on but you can never take it back.

I take a laundry list of medicine each day so it was hard for me to accept that I would have to now crush all of my pills and take them every day. I tried this for a week or so after surgery but I had so many pills to take and some of them were capsules that just contained too much powder. I tried mixing them with pudding/applesauce/yogurt etc but I could still taste the extremely bad taste of the pills. Luckily a few of my meds are available in liquid form and I would suggest anyone to ask their pharmacy any of their meds are available in liquid form, I was surprised with which ones were available. So the question is now I have been taking mostly the liquid meds but the few smaller pills I have simply been taking. They are pretty small and I think they are probably fine but anyone else do this? Are they not going to get fully absorbed or something?

I CANNOT believe that it has been FOUR weeks since I have had surgery. The time has gone extremely quickly. I have been pretty busy so I'm guessing thats why it feels like such a short amount of time has passed. Everything has been working out well with my band so far. The past week or so I have been noticing that I can eat things, a little bit too much of things. My first fill is scheduled for two days from now Wednesday February 3. I am a little bit nervous. Hopefully its not way too tight, but I do know its not going to be perfect for a while. I'm going on a Service trip to Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico at the end of this month. I am VERY excited about this trip but also of course have a few concerns about eating of course. I'll have to speak with my trip advisor pretty soon since we are leaving soon. Which brings up another point Air Travel. UGH I just hate that I have to worry about everything that a normal person does and on top of that I have to worry about being overweight in every single situation. I have to worry if I am going to fit into the plane seat which I know that I will not be comfortable at all. Then I have to worry about people looking at me disgusted on said plane because of my size and glad they are not sitting next to me. Every experience that I come across, every opportunity that I am offered I have ever been offered I have always had to stop and think, "How will my weight be a factor in this experience? Will I be judged or will I be physically unable to do this?" THIS is the reason that I decided that I needed to get banded. Of course there was all of the health reasons but when it came down to it I am sick of missing out on LIFE. Just sick of letting opportunities pass me by simply because of my weight. I just was not being fair to myself by continuing to live my life as a morbidly obese person. I see now that I made the right choice in deciding to get banded. I did this completely for myself hope to have great success as I continue on this journey!

I CANNOT believe that it has been FOUR weeks since I have had surgery. The time has gone extremely quickly. I have been pretty busy so I'm guessing thats why it feels like such a short amount of time has passed. Everything has been working out well with my band so far. The past week or so I have been noticing that I can eat things, a little bit too much of things. My first fill is scheduled for two days from now Wednesday February 3. I am a little bit nervous. Hopefully its not way too tight, but I do know its not going to be perfect for a while. I'm going on a Service trip to Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico at the end of this month. I am VERY excited about this trip but also of course have a few concerns about eating of course. I'll have to speak with my trip advisor pretty soon since we are leaving soon. Which brings up another point Air Travel. UGH I just hate that I have to worry about everything that a normal person does and on top of that I have to worry about being overweight in every single situation. I have to worry if I am going to fit into the plane seat which I know that I will not be comfortable at all. Then I have to worry about people looking at me disgusted on said plane because of my size and glad they are not sitting next to me. Every experience that I come across, every opportunity that I am offered I have ever been offered I have always had to stop and think, "How will my weight be a factor in this experience? Will I be judged or will I be physically unable to do this?" THIS is the reason that I decided that I needed to get banded. Of course there was all of the health reasons but when it came down to it I am sick of missing out on LIFE. Just sick of letting opportunities pass me by simply because of my weight. I just was not being fair to myself by continuing to live my life as a morbidly obese person. I see now that I made the right choice in deciding to get banded. I did this completely for myself hope to have great success as I continue on this journey!

One of my friends who I thought was going to be pretty supportive of my banding is really starting to get to me. They have mentioned before surgery that they really didn't think I needed to go to these extreme measures. Now after surgery this friend mentioned to me that I could have lost my weight naturally and that plenty of other people do it all of the time. I then asked him if he personally knew of any people that were able to lose more then 200 pounds naturally and keep the weight off. Of course he said now but that there are people that do it. I told him that was rare and that I personally needed the lap band as a tool. He said he understands this but that I still could have done it without surgery if I had just TRIED. This really set me off because I have ALWAYS been overweight, since before kindergarten at least, and God knows I have been TRYING to lose weight for as long as I can remember. I just feel like he was not listening to me and could not see that this was the BEST choice I have ever made for myself. I am a little bit upset because I counted this person as one of my best friends and I would have loved to have had their support during this time. I can't believe being banded is going to change our friendship but it looks like it just may...

Well as I have personally never known anybody my age or in college who was banded I really didn't know how that would effect my overall banding experience. I feel like there has already been some challenges in the short time I have been back to school. I wish that I had informed the nurses at campus health previous to getting surgery because I spoke with them for the first time today and they were extremely helpful and supportive. The nurses on staff are helping me set up an appointment with themselves and the dining services nutritionist to make certain that the dining hall starts serving things that I specifically need to eat. I am SOOO grateful to them for this because I have been having a very difficult time the past week trying to eat anything that is offered in the cafeteria. I have been mostly buying my own food and preparing it which was a waste of the meal plan that I am being forced to keep paying $2000 a semester for. Now that this issue is being dealt with I am relieve beyond belief. I guess we will see how the situations pans out. It was also nice having the nursing staff on campus know about my band because they were extremely supportive and I find that nice to have support form a medical perspective while I am away at school. Both women were genuinely interested in the surgery and my personal experience, neither of them knowing exactly how the band works perviously. I was glad I went to visit them today and they encouraged me to stop by often and let them know my progress or just chat. So overall today was mostly good heres hoping tomorrow is even better.

Well as I have personally never known anybody my age or in college who was banded I really didn't know how that would effect my overall banding experience. I feel like there has already been some challenges in the short time I have been back to school. I wish that I had informed the nurses at campus health previous to getting surgery because I spoke with them for the first time today and they were extremely helpful and supportive. The nurses on staff are helping me set up an appointment with themselves and the dining services nutritionist to make certain that the dining hall starts serving things that I specifically need to eat. I am SOOO grateful to them for this because I have been having a very difficult time the past week trying to eat anything that is offered in the cafeteria. I have been mostly buying my own food and preparing it which was a waste of the meal plan that I am being forced to keep paying $2000 a semester for. Now that this issue is being dealt with I am relieve beyond belief. I guess we will see how the situations pans out. It was also nice having the nursing staff on campus know about my band because they were extremely supportive and I find that nice to have support form a medical perspective while I am away at school. Both women were genuinely interested in the surgery and my personal experience, neither of them knowing exactly how the band works perviously. I was glad I went to visit them today and they encouraged me to stop by often and let them know my progress or just chat. So overall today was mostly good heres hoping tomorrow is even better.

My surgeon just used DermanBond on top of the incisions. I never had any bandages or anything. It was like that newskin stuff over top of the the incisions. It started to come off after about a week and a half

Here are pictures of my incisions. The first one is one day after surgery 1/6/2010 and the second is from 2 weeks post op 1/19/2010. Two weeks post op and they are healing nicely most of the scabs have fallen off. The redness around the incisions is from a reaction to the DermaBond but the incisions themselves look good. They incisions sights are opposite in each picture because one was taken in a mirror and the other one not. Thats why it looks like my ports site is on the opposite side in them. haha I was a little confused when I first looked at them together. 1 Day Post Op 2 Weeks Post Op

Here are pictures of my incisions. The first one is one day after surgery 1/6/2010 and the second is from 2 weeks post op 1/19/2010. Two weeks post op and they are healing nicely most of the scabs have fallen off. The redness around the incisions is from a reaction to the DermaBond but the incisions themselves look good. They incisions sights are opposite in each picture because one was taken in a mirror and the other one not. Thats why it looks like my ports site is on the opposite side in them. haha I was a little confused when I first looked at them together. 1 Day Post Op 2 Weeks Post Op

Hey I saw your post about getting the band about a week ago and regretting it. I'm pretty new, banded on Jan 5, and right after surgery for about a week I really did think a lot about it too. I wasn't sure if I regretted it or not but I kept thinking why did I do this to myself? Was it really necessary? etc. Not sure what your regretting about but I know I kind of got past that. I had to do a six month program before surgery so I did have a lot of time to think about whether or not this was the right option for me. And when it all comes down to it I do believe this was right for me. I'm sure it will be hard, a major lifestyle change at least, but this is something that I know I needed to do for various reasons and I'm sure you have plenty of your own reasons.

Hey I was recently banded on January 5th and am a sophomore in college. Luckily for me though I had about a week after surgery before I had to move back to school. I do think it would be hard to be back the first couple of days right after surgery. The main problem I am having as you said is having to make/provide my own food because the cafeteria food is not ideal for our situation. My surgeon only had me eating mushy food for the first week after that I am pretty much eating normal food now just chewed A LOT and mostly Protein anyway. It is a little bit hard. Im doing a Protein shake for most breakfasts and a have a lot of yogurt and applesauce, stuff like that stocked in my room fridge. Keep in touch maybe we can end up sharing tips with each other as time goes on. Anything helpful I come across I'll try to let you know I'm still getting used to it.

Right now I am 11 days post op and my actual incisions seem to be healing very well. Saw my surgeon on Wednesday morning and he said they look great. Right after surgery he put Dermabond on the incisions so they were not bandaged up or anything just a protective layering over them. Now that the Dermabond is almost completely gone the area surrounding each of my incisions is bright red and kind of hot. They are deffinately not infected the actual incisions look good but I'm thinking maybe I had a reaction to the Dermabond? It is ungodly itchy and pinkish red:sad: I'm hoping it will just pass but I do have an appointment now for Monday morning for my surgeon to look at them. Any body else experience this?