andrea0121

My girlfriend found this pic of me it was some years ago I took this pic I don't even kno who that person is I don't even kno how much I weigh on that one while I started at 299 now I'm 201 6months out down 98 pounds

Pic of me before surgery for and then a month ago during my wedding festivities...(@around 188)
HW: 294
CW: 185
GW:170

95 pound loss .. 6months post op

Top picture is from Christmas 2012
Bottom picture is from Memorial Day weekend 2013
Journey started in January
HW 369
Date of Op 338
CW 268

Ok I know I just posted pics yesterday. . But I took my official 3 month post op pics today so heres a monthly pic by pic
[ATTACH]13329[/ATTACH]

All of you look great! I can't wait to get mine
NEVER LET YESTERDAY USE UP TO MUCH OF TODAY! BE BLESSED

Here's an updated photo.
Sleeved 3.14.13
SW: 216
CW: 186

Sleeved on 9/11/12
Starting weight: 294
Current weight: 191

Sleeved 9/11/12
Starting weight: 294
Current weight: 191
New pic taken this past weekend!
Second pic within last month!

Nothing like being in a meeting and having it get all velociraptor on me.

Man, I need to get my libido checked out.
I wasn't even thinking of wanting to try.

Hey B-52, Why don't you actually read what I wrote instead of just adding worthless sarcasm to a constructive discussion. You were banded 15 months ago. The post was about "long term failure". I pray that you don't suffer the same problems I have but I also pray that if you do there won't be someone like yourself to add poison to your already-bitter situation.
To everyone else, especially Stephy for the constructive suggestion, I thank you for the optimism.
Evy, did you have your band removed for the same reasons as I am now experiencing?

I'm out 14 months and up until my last fill (8.2 in a 9 cc band now) I was hungry. Could eat a 6 inch sub, a burger, etc....
Give it time. 4cc's to start out with in your band is a good starting point. Sometimes it's not enough for people, and sometimes it's too much! Such an odd thing these bands.

Awesome!!! Hope to join you in the 100 lb loss club too!!

I have a bf who is an enabler too, except I'm not a sweets addict, I'm a salty and cheesy. adorkbl's post is definitely motivating!!
OP, glad to read you're taking steps in the right direction and keep us posted!

You guys, it took me 6 fills and 8.2 cc's in a 9 cc band for me to feel restriction. I'm actually going Friday to get a little bit taken out because it's too much, but still...it took 13 months to get to that place.
Don't get frustrated, you'll get there!

I want to genuinely thank everybody who has responded............I am happy to report that the mere act of my taking the time to write my story and share it with all of you has begun sparking a bit of a change in me, I am feeling a little more hopeful again, feeling like maybe I can still make it work, I have even been eating better since my first post, it seems to have been a bit cathartic.....I also recently went to a 12 step AA meeting (although I am not an alcoholic) and found it very powerful too.......I simply substituted the word food everywhere they used the word alcohol......
In fairness to all here I think I owe it to admit that I just found out my un-supportive wife was doing things far worse than simply not caring about what foods I ate..............I don't care to go into details but any adult ought to understand what I am saying.....
I must have been aware of this at some subconscious level and that caused my food addiction or compulsions to be extra hard to manage...................
I plan to go ahead and get the study done to make sure the band has not slipped, and I am going to give it my all once again....
For those considering the band I just want to say that my experience shows that the lapband is not magic, it can and does fail if you are not ready for it.....Weight loss is an an all encompassing process of changing many things in your life...............The band will reduce your hunger and you will feel full quicker...............but if you are using food as a drug to make you feel better (as I was) you CAN and WILL find ways to defeat it........
The work is not over once the band is on, frankly it has only just begun...........all it does is gives you a little boost, head-start or helping hand in the process, but it does not run the race for you.........
I think I will spend more time on this forum, I can see that the support, tips, tricks and experiences of others can be truly valuable in helping us succeed.........
Thanks again, I'll keep you all posted, I need to go weigh in quick tonight before I start losing weight without knowing it!

First off... I am sorry you are in a bad place right now. You sound depressed. You sound resigned. You sound like you have given up.
I was there too. I gave up. I had complications sure, but I let them be my excuse for failure. My failure was learning to eat around the band. Drinking with meals. Consuming ungodly amounts of ice cream. Not chewing well enough. Eating slider foods.
I kept my head in the sand and blamed the band for my problems.
I recently was diagnosed with severe esophagitis and a hiatal hernia. I was all ready to throw in the towel and have my band removed. REMOVED.
Then I sat and really thought about it. Was I doing everything I could to be successful? Hell no I wasn't. I was doing all those things listed above. Fact is, when I was committed and motivated, I lost 100. When I gave in to old addictions, I gained 50 back.
So I am recommitted. Again. That is why I am back on LBT. Support helps. Reading tips about being successful helps. Looking up recipes. Trying new exercises. All of that helps.
Find what works for you!
My husband is an enabler. Ice cream is my addiction, and he will buy it for me whenever I ask. He will always be an enabler. Just as I will always be addicted to ice cream.
I finally realized that I have to change. I can't expect him to change. I can't expect my band to change me. I have to change.
When I eat the proper foods the band works. I stay full. I can only eat small amounts. When I cheat the band, I cheat myself.
I don't know what will help you get back on track. I was banded 4 years ago and I feel like I am finally really truly back on track. Everyday I have to be mindful. I have to plan my meals and be firm. I sat down and had talks with my husband about needing support not sabotage. But honestly if I asked him to pick me up Ben & Jerry's.... he would. IT IS ON ME TO CHANGE.
I need not to ask him to get it. I need not to put the ice cream in my mouth.
You need to really evaluate why you are eating a pizza over a 4 hour period. Is it hunger? Or are you still using food as an emotional crutch? Be honest with yourself.
Could your wife be more supportive. Yes. But you have no control over that. It is sooo hard when the temptations are in your house. I am sorry you have that extra obstical. But JUMP OVER IT. You control you.
You are not alone. Hang in there. You can still do this.
Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I will probably get some flack for what i'm about to say.... but sometimes it take a little Tough Love for us to really see what we are or have done to ourselves..
So your topic's name is "Lapband Complete Failure"....... How is the band a failure? It's an object. You are the controller of the band and sounds like in your own words you learned to eat around it. Lots of people learn to eat around the band. Lots of people do, but don't blame the band because ,by your own accords you can't stop eating until all the pizza is gone. And that you can't control eating sweets all day. Well hell how do you expect to lose weight if that is what your doing?
Do you really.... have a great desire to be thin? Are is your great desire is to eat a Cake with ice cream? Which one do you want more? You can't have both.... This is how we ALL got FAT... By wanting one thing and doing the other. Are as my grandma says.... wish in one hand and crap in the other... see which one fills up faster.
Didn't your doctor tell you that the band is a tool and that it would not take the cravings away. Did you not sit down with the nutritionist and have them tell you how you will be expected to change your entire way of eating.... FOREVER... What were you thinking? And now you think Gastric Bypass is your option.... Do you think that having your stomach re-routed is going to stop you from eating a pizza and sweets the same way you do now? Stop blaming your wife for you getting up out of your chair and going make a choice to eat candy or pie ... or what ever it is she has in the house. In stead, get up out of you lazy-boy recliner, put some music own, and walk down the block and back, until that craving goes away... She is right, why should everyone else not have it because you can't keep your hands out of the cookie jar.
You said you have been to doctors, therapists and psychiatrists. What have you learned from them? The band is not working for you because YOU are choosing for it not to work. Did you really pay all that money for nothing? Are will YOU stop making excuses and get off your BUTT and make the changes. No visit to the doctor is going to do any good until YOU want it to work. Stop blaming the band, your wife, your doctor... Hershey's, Pizza Hut, McDonald's .... and everyone else. Take responsibilities for your own actions. And yes support is important, but it can be done with out support from anyone if you support yourself. Ok.... so that's my thoughts...

omg, it bought tears to my eyes. I did cop a little bit of holier than thou judgement from several people, not least my usually lovely lapband surgeon, because i didnt have a big flappy tummy. The before pics i took were on my phone and dont really show clearly what a mess my belly was, but oh, my, has it been cleaned up!!! I feel like the evidence of my brush with cancer has been erased, gone are the hernias, the ileostomy scar, the misshapen almost hernia behind the ileostomy, the ruined bellybutton, the adsortment of at least a dozen scars and punctures, the weird curtain of skin on my upper belly. The flatness of my new tummy is a bonus, at present with swelling, im about the same measurement as i was before, so my midsection is going to be very slender, unfortunately my ass is still the same size, lol. But without going into detail why did nobody tell ne how much better my, ah, bits would look? DH's eyes nearly popped out of his head! And my inner thighs are so smooth! Wowzers.
So...... Gone are all signs of one of the darkest periods of my life and in their place, one lovely smile on my tummy to remind me how lucky I am to be here and to be healthy. I didnt quite realise I would feel tjis way about it, and Ive been off the drugs for days, lol

Ugh, I don't know why I tortured myself by reading the comments on that article. Should have known better. People are seriously such pompous as@holes.

I thought you were paying $1000 out of pocket. Still that is entirely too much for him to charge insurance...... And people wonder why insurance is so expensive.....This is why, Doctors over charging.
while we are on the subject..... it infuriates me to know that Medicaid and Medicare are paying for this and paying for some people to have Plastic surgery after...... I had to pay my own crap... now i have to pay for other peoples too.... so not fair.... And i really don't care if i pi$$ any body off.