Angera

So, it's nice to throw on the "small jeans" i've kept in the closet for yearssssssss and see that they're too big now! It was also nice throwing on an XL t-shirt without having to stretch it out first! I am loving my band and excited about this journey! I could use Breakfast ideas though!!! Got any?

I'm curious now if whether or not I beep in a metal detector!

Losing weight is hard, even with a band! Your positive outlook is great. And I also agree that it is such a mental game. I got sick about a month after banding and found myself "treating" myself for being sick and needing another surgery! A week and a half later, I was still treating myself! This past weekend, I scolded myself for these little indulgences because they were getting habitual. Now, I was still eating small meals but not focusing on Protein and what not. This week, i'm focusing on getting back on track! It's a constant battle, you just got to keep on fighting and pick up the pieces if you stray a bit :thumbdown: Good luck!!!

I had no pain afterward. Had more pain from sleeping wrong those days after surgery! Only needed two nights of pain meds just to make sleeping comfortable. All I can say is everyone is different. Many of us have been there and done it and are alive and well to tell the story. Good luck!

That does sound really good! I finally went shopping yesterday for some clothing after two people yesterday commented about my clothes looking too big. Geez folks, don't say anything unless you want to be the one to buy me new clothes! This past summer, I was wearing a pair of shorts that were a size 28 and jeans that were a 26! yikes! The jeans I bought yesterday were a size 20 and so were the work pants i got

Timandmich, we have the same band date! How is everything going for you?

I hate that doctors say those things. The first bariatric surgeon I ever met told me I wouldn't lose enough weight with a lapband. You will lose as much as you are willing to work to lose.Needless to say, he was not my surgeon I ended up selecting for surgery. I have about 200 pounds to lose, I was banded on aug 13 and am down 70 (From preop to now). I follow the rules, reward myself occassional, and firmly believe I can get to my goal Will it be easy? no, weight loss surgeries are merely a tool, it's all up to you and I know i'm going to have to work hard Can it be done? absolutely Good luck!

Where are the San Antonio people?! lol, so many of you in the Houston area! i'm jealous!

Mine changed! It came two weeks earlier and then again a week after it ended! It also lasted longer. I went to see my girly doctor last week and she said my weight loss was the culprit, my hormones are out of whack! I am on birth control pills and so she switched me to another form to hopefully get it under control.

I can absolutely relate to this. However, in my case, I was on the tail end of my 6 months and the e-mail had gone out in month 5 about lapband coming with a $5000 deductible plus %20. I could've died. HR even said the WOULD NOT grandfather folks who were close to surgery, JERKS! I was able to work with the doctor and insurance to have my paperwork submitted one month early to assure my surgery date fell before aug 31, which was my change of fiscal year and benefits....... Try everything, I called the insurance over and over and over until someone finally said well just submit your paperwork and see what happens...........the nutritionist and doctor were willing to do it because of the circumstances and i was sooooooooo close to the end! So it's quite stressful, I KNOW! But put up a fight, I did, and it payed off

I'd never known about steel cut oats, I must switch over, i'd been using the regular ones! YIKES!

older post but i resurrected it because I thought of another one this morning while driving to work jamming the radio. I can't wait to be able to "drop it like it's hot" while dancing without fear or not being able to pick myself back up!!!!hahaha!!! The thought came to me as I listened to "single ladies" by beyonce. ahhhhhh yes, the ease of dancing without excess weight!

Great website, I took a brief peek! Thanks for the tips everyone

I was banded August 13 and things are going well. I've lost 50 pounds since the start of my two week pre-op diet, and had lost 20 before that, so i'm at 70! It's very exciting I, too, was confused on the amount to eat. during the one month post op my paperwork said 1/2 cup so i ate 1/2cup and did great, wasn't too hungry either. Then my nutritionist said to do 2-3oz of meat, 1/4 c veggies and about 1/8c of some kind of carb. Then my doctor went back and said well just stick with the 1/2c if it worked for you! lolz, AHHHHh so cornfused! I have not had a fill, but have an appointment 10-18 to possibly get one depending on my weight loss from now to then. I'm hoping to be down a total of 100 by the new year. We'll see how that goes!!! Good luck August Bandsters!! Keep up the good work! :smile2:

I am from San Antonio, Texas. I am a Clinical Research Associate with a cancer center.

Glad something in there spoke to you dave! It just made sense to me to go with a band. As you can see by my profile, i'm quite young and hopefully have a long life ahead of me. The thought of butchering my insides was scary! My friend that had sleeve issues is only 28 and had major issues and having to have surgery to try and reconstruct her digestive system to one that is going to physically work for her! That's a lot to go through! And it's like she put it, it was a major decision she made and she wishes she would've researched her decision more. She was shocked at my progress with the band because she too had been told, "you have too much weight to lose, the band won't work....." i hate that statement!

I had originally met with a doctor who convinced me i needed gastric bypass because for as much weight as i needed to lose it wouldn't happen. I have about 200 pounds to lose. After I went through a few months of the process, I noticed some things about the doctor that I didn't like and stopped the process. Two years later, I came full circle and was revisiting weight loss surgery again. I had recently had a friend get a vertical sleeve that she battled her insurance for a year to get approved. It was the biggest mistake ever. She is unbelievably sick and has lost 175 pounds vomitting for a year. She is now seeing a specialist and going to have to have her surgery revised and they are going to attempt to give her a gastric bypass. Without going into too many of the details of how her surgery went wrong.................it was a deciding factor in why i didn't want a sleeve! I had a cousin who had gastric bypass a few years back and almost died. He was in a coma for a little over a month. He had a long healing process but unfortunately has since then also gained most of his weight back. Both situations were probably on the extreme end, but to have two close people in my life have something horrible happen, I don't think it's a coincidence. These surgeries are very invasive and very dangerous and this magnified the risks. I began strongly researching lapband in October 2009. I met a few surgeons, went to two seminars, and talked with a relative and family friend who had the surgery. Neither of them had any complications and had not known anyone with complications. They both highly recommended the surgery and have both been as successful as someone with a sleeve and gastric bypass. My concern again was would i be able to lose all the weight i needed to. As one person final put it "you will lose as much weight as you want depending on how hard you are willing work to lose it and keep it off". Neither surgery is a gurantee. Is the band easy? absolutely not. Will I lose the weight as quickly as other surgeries? absolutely not. Two years from now when the weight is gone, will it matter how I got there? Not to me. It's a less invasive way to have the same end result. The risks involved are far less than that of sleeve or RNY. I was banded on August 13, 2010 after a 6 month nutrition program (insurance required). I am down 70 pounds. 50 of that has been since my two week pre-op diet. Granted I do have nearly 200 pounds to lose, so it might initially come off a bit faster. (results vary)I am very happy with my decision and have been working very hard to be compliant and i think based on my results, i'd have to say the lapband is working. I wouldn't change it for the world. So yes, the lapband technically was my second choice because i didn't go through with the RNY. But i'd like to consider it my more educated second choice :thumbup:

I've been fortunate not to have had anyone offended by my choices, but I did come across one lady in my office who longggggggg in the beginning of my process was very strong in her opinion of my choice. She said she had followed insurance guidelines and was scheduled for surgery and "chickened out" in the end. She said she realized it was so dangerous and better to just do it on your own! 6 months past and my surgery was scheduled, she asked me how everything was and i said "great". Then she turns around and says oh that's sooooooooo wonderful what you're doing for yourself and you're doing a great job................WOW quite the difference from a few months before when she bent over backwards to convince me NOT to do it since she was to chicken to do it herself! I just walk with a smile knowing i've made the right choice for me. I was heading down a horrible path for my health and life and I had to take control. I do not regret this one bit. I have a long road ahead of me, but there are not enough negative comments in the world that are going to bring me down at this point :rolleyes2: All i can say is, don't let the negative people get to you, in the end you did it for you, not for them!

I've had the same issue, I noticed it a lot last week. I related it to possibly eating too fast or too much. It is quite uncomfortable. The pain tends to go up my left side of my neck so i wasn't sure if perhaps that was something musculoskeletal going on. Any ideas?

I went for my first fill one month post op and my doctor and i decided to wait another month. I was losing about 3 pounds a week on average and feeling satisfied in between meals with smaller portions. I told him i'd like to keep going with the empty band and in one month revisit the need for a fill.

Mine came two weeks early as well. I actually called up my OBGYN and scheduled an appointment to have my birth control pills adjusted. The combination of weight loss and the need for a pill adjustment had me on a cycle from hell lasting wayyyyyyy longer than necessary!