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Oh honey everything your feeling is normal....I went through the same thing. In fact me being a single mom as well I'm pretty much tied to the house. Even though i hated my weight food was the only thing that made me happy...all those flavors and different textures and combinations...to never be able to indulge again??? I almost backed out. to be able to buy a $5 meal and eat it instead of 4 bites and walk away....to me that sounded horrible. Food was my enjoyment. Even now a week out of surgery I am going through those same withdraws of did I do the right thing? I took away my vice, my happiness, what do you mean I can only eat a breadstick and not the Pasta or desert?? This is something I'm sure will always stick in my head, but with most people the health aspect is more important. I knew I couldn't drop the weight to my ideal goal and stay there for long, it's just not feasible anymore. I'm getting older, health complication are becoming more and more and my metabolism is slowing down. This takes the guess work out and makes you goal achievable. I'm down 12 pounds since I started preop and I think it's due to the fact i have been on Clear liquids the whole time and have another week before I can start Protein shakes. You will always have that in your head yet when you see yourself getting smaller, your portion size isn't as important anymore. It takes a while for the grehlin to really decrease...but when it does you really won't have a desire for tons of food anyway. Good luck with everything and I hope you the best!!

i must admit i am getting scared. i have made the decision to do it. i have a date. but, now i am getting scared. wondering if something will go wrong during the surgery and i don't wake up. or that i will be that person that has every complication imaginable! i know i need to chill. pray and let God do the rest. that is why i am on here looking for positive experience. thanks for sharing!

My name is Amanda and I am 34 years old, located in Delaware! I began my journey in November 2013 when I made the decision to have surgery. I was 219 pounds at 5 feet 1 inch. I had heart trouble, high blood pressure, pain in my joints, a substantial inoperable back injury with nerve damage, border line diabetes, and a whole list of other ailments. In the beginning, I had very little support from my family. My surgeon required an info seminar followed by every physician's clearance known to man, nutrition classes, and life skills classes. I attended my 3 nutrition classes and when I entered my first life skills class, I wanted to back out!! A friend of mine, who also had surgery (bypass) was going through the classes as well. She encouraged me to continue this journey, that I needed to look at my quality of life, and that it was either now or never. I decided to push forward. I can still remember pulling into the hospital parking garage the day of surgery. I was a nervous wreck! Good thing I wasn't driving, otherwise, I may have just turned back around and returned home!! This was the first day of the rest of my life! I was pretty fortunate that I didn't have any complications, and faired well. After three months, I was completely off of all of my meds, other than my gastric meds for surgery! I had more energy, and just felt better in general. It was/is not an easy trip. However, I would not change it for the world! I am now 8 1/2 months post op, and down 83 pounds with approximately 10 more to go! I have little pain in my back, and finally feel as though I am free of the shackles that I was in due to being so overweight. I had to have another major surgery, a hysterectomy, in September, and since then I feel like I have hit my plateau. I also have started to slide into some old bad habits with refined sugars, and wraps. I need a little help from my bariatric friends to support me and to get through the last ten pounds. Thanks for welcoming me! Amanda

I'm sure that having the band has changed your life Karen. Noone loses 74 pounds and doens't feel better for it. I'm just happy that you got so far before any complications arose. I hope you stay plugged in here for support. You know your experience and knowledge is invaluable to those of us who are trying to get the most out of it before someone tells us that the journey's over. Best of everything to you. Sincerely, Susan

You do exactly that. You tell them you feel no restriction at all from the fill. I would call them first and have a little chat about it. My surgeon told me that sometimes the first one or two fills feel like nothing's changed and you continue to go back until you feel something. They don't and shouldn't fill you aggressively as that would lead to a lot of complications that you really don't need. So it's not uncommon for them to be a little conservative. I don't know what size band you have, but it seems that those with 10cc or 14cc bands require more frequent fills. I have a 4cc band and have had 3 in total since July 2007. Each fill gave me good restriction. It lasted until I lost weight and the band loosened up. Don't be discouraged that it feels like nothing's happening. It's only the first fill and you may not even feel anything after the second. But it'll come. Slow and steady.

Making oneself throw up is a poor practice and can (likely does, according to the research) contribute greatly to slipped bands. Letting the stuff come up on its own, which 99% of the time it will do, is still not great - but does not carry the same complication risks. Your body will get rid of it on its own, most likely. It's just going to take a bit longer. And in the meantime, it does hurt. A lot of people won't endure the hurt so they gag themselves. If your body can't/doesn't get rif of it on its own, chances are your esophagus will irritate, you will swell, get tighter, and end up needing an unfill. Everyone I know IRL who is banded for a year or more has had to have an unfill at some point -- it's really not that uncommon.

I was (and still am) poorer than poor. So poor I can't afford health insurance. I did the research and surprisingly found a great doctor who only charged me $7000 and that included pre-op, surgi center, the appliance itself, anesthesiologist, etc. I also found Fill Centers USA before I did this and found their fee to be great. So, knowing it was going to cost me $8,000 out of pocket {surgery, fills, transportation to Mexico, etc} I decided I could do that. But what if...what if something went wrong? A leak, slippage, etc.... I decided before I got the band that if that were to happen, I'd just have the band removed. Any local ER can do that...if you are having complications. But luckily and with the skill of my surgeon, it's been a year. Fill Centers used the Inamed guidelines and didn't cheat me out of any fill. So it only took 2 fills to lose, and 2 to stop loosing. But you have to decide for yourself. Get your ducks in a row and get your plan B and C ready.

Oh my! What a bunch of complications. I hope you continue healing!

Somehow at the 2 week post op mark a lot of us push the "Hello, do you know me? I'm the stupid one who tries to live out the movie Jackass in real life button." I did it. Many have done it. You can beat a dead horse, but it won't make it run again. So move on. But as @sideeye said, the disturbing part about that slip-up was the volume and the product used for the test. It really can cause staple line ruptures but worse as my surgeon just explained, she has very few pts with complications or stretched out pouches/sleeves. So I trust her advice. She said at this point in our healing, it is absolutely possible to stretch out the pouch or sleeve. I figure I can be a dumb ass about rules that keep me safe and my tool in tact, OR I can be a smart ass about it. I would much rather be a smart ass about it. I'm far too intelligent to wind up with a fu*ked up tool 3 months out from surgery. I think you are too.

Thank you Good Sir. I have read an abundance of information about this procedure and completely understand that it is a "Tool." Read forums, websites, no books, attended seminars, yes I am very informed about the procedure, possible complications, etc... You have to eat healthy and exercise, I understand that. BCBS TX still requires the 6 month medically supervised weight loss sessions. Psych Eval, not a problem to complete.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR DAD'S weight loss. I'd be super proud too! Can I please ask What happened? Were there complications with VSG or was it unrelated?

I have had surgery before, And yes I'm scared.... I'm grateful to have been approved for surgery it's definitely something I need. Just worried about all the complications that I have read about. Thanks 2012 for your reply I feel alittle better knowing that I'm not the only one beating there self up.... Looking forward to being thinner.

You can research this topic and probably find many similar threads with thousands of answers. But to answer your question, yes, I would do it again, but I didn't always say that. In the beginning I worried a lot, and I wasn't sure I would do it again.I feared I would develop a leak, but at the point in my life I was, I felt the risk was worth the potential benefit. I had a complication of an infected incision post op that took about 7 weeks to heal. That infection really reminded me that while the risk of complications is pretty low, it DOES happen, and when it does, it's 100% you. In comparison and now that it's over, it was a pretty mild complication, but still frightening while it's going on because you don't know that you'll be OK. I also had a lot of weight to lose, so in the early days, I feared every pound lost would be my last, and I didn't want to have put myself through all of that for nothing. Now at 16 months out, I feel great and I'm happy that I did it. I know that I'd still be 300 pounds and miserable. I used to always be on a diet, miserable because I was hungry AND fat. Now I still have to stay on a diet, though I'm much less hungry, and at least I'm thin while I'm doing it, so I'm not miserable about it. I've had to permanently change my life style to accommodate the changes I made to my body and it's not easy, but it was worth it to me. So a couple of things to consider - What is your risk tolerance - is the risk worth the benefit to you? And, can you make the changes you need to make to succeed? Good luck to you!

Yes what was your complications. Please share?

The surgery was easy. I went home the same day. By the middle of the following week I started to feel that taking in fluids and protein was a chore. I didn't want to move away from my recliner. That was the first signs of a problem. My reasons for surgery were that I am a diabetic and had an aortic valve replaced in my heart eight years ago. That surgery was tough. The heart valve is a composite material that requires me to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. In preparation for the Lap Band my Dr took me off of the pill form of thinner and had me using an injectable thinner twice a day. The day of surgery all of the surgical team were happy with the INR value of my blood. After surgery the surgeon assisting my Dr came by to discharge me and said that they had a tough time with bleeding. By Thursday of the next week my INR level was coming up but I was not feeling the greatest. That evening I blacked out when trying to get up from my chair. I asked my wife for her auto blood pressure machine only to find that my b/p was 65/45. I called my Dr and he said go to the ER. The paramedic on the ambulance told me that he would try to help me feel better before we went to the hospital by giving me IV fluids. Three liters latter my bp was the same. I was brought to the local hospital given whole blood and transfered to the hospital where the surgery was done. Ten pints of blood, several bags of plasma and many liters of fluids I'm back to making a good recovery. Don't look at this as a minor surgery. This is serious business and please think to ask about what kind of problems can happen to you and be ready.

Nurse Sophie I'm only trying to make people aware of potential problems. Your right my blood thinners and medical history only complicated the surgery. I just thought that I'll be out of work for a week and everything will be fine. Most people will do fine. Just keep the fact that surgery is not always cut and dry. Thanks for your comments.

This is just my 2cents. Surgeons that try to convince their patients to have RNY typically do not have the same experience with VSG and they are NOT confident in the surgery yet because they do not have the surgical technique down, or they haven't done enough of them to be confident in their levels. OR, the RNY is almost twice as expensive to perform, it's a bigger money maker. The RNY is a much more complicated surgery, has way more risks, and while it might have been around for more years, the 5-8 year results of RNY vs. VSG are neck and neck. Get the surgery you can live with for the rest of your life. Your surgeons "GETS" to cut on you; you're the one that has to live with what he/she gives you ! ! !

Hopefully November will be a good month for you so that you can gain some strength and start to feel better. The issue of dehydration is never going away because we can drink so little at one time. You just have to keep at it. Like mbrinmn says, leave drinks about the about the house. It works for me, too, and I alsways take a bottle in the car. Just last month I had a go-round with vomiting and diarrhea one night, and passed out in the bathroom twice.....hitting my head on the tub - twice, and ended up in the ER on IV fluids. keep your fluids up anyway you can, even if you have to resort to sugar free Gelatin or popsicles. Also, it took a few days to get the post-op weight loss going because I came home from the hospital 8 pounds heavier than when I went in. So, I had to lose that IV Fluid weight first. Hmmm, you could write yourself a letter about how you feel right now about your complications and your NSVs (non-surgical victories) both the good and the doubtful, and then put it away for a couple of years. Then look back and see what advice you would give to yourself now, and how you would cheer yourself up.

So, I just had my blood tests and MRSA swabs in advance of surgery next week (1st March) and decided that I would detail my journey here. Partly because I want to remember to come back on here when things get tough and I need a reminder of why I am doing this, and partly because I want to have a record of what I’m doing anyway, and I figure that having one that others can read, contribute to and, maybe, learn from (if I ever get to the point of having any lessons to teach) is as good a way as any. So, my background… I’m 29, living in London. I’ve always been overweight, ever since I was a kid, but my weight has fluctuated a lot. Generally, when I move to a new place, it falls, until I discover all the good places to eat, when it rises again. About five years ago I managed to get down to about 200lbs, but since then have crept steadily up and now I am about 290lbs. I think as I get a bit older, I’m realising a bit more the impact my weight is having on me. Over the last couple of years – walking has become more of a chore, for the first time, tying a seatbelt on an airplane has become a problem, I feel less and less energy and more strain on my joints. And I simply don’t want that to get worse. I haven’t felt any motivation to lose weight since that last time in 2009, and I had to admit to myself that I never will be able to do this on my own. So I have a choice. Continue to put on weight. Face into my thirtieth birthday at nearly 300lbs, maybe my 35th at 400lbs – who knows. And continue to see my body become more and more unable to cope. Or I stop. I take action, accept that I’m not going to be able to do it alone and take measures that will force me into a position of being healthier. It’s also driven by the fact that I want to have kids. As I’m gay, the most likely way for that is to adopt, but I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be approved as an adopter at my current weight. And even if I was, I don’t think I could be a good dad as I just wouldn’t have the energy to be rolling around playing with a kid and giving them the attention they deserve. I decided to self-fund for the operation. I have been diagnosed with sleep Apnoea (in December) through the NHS, and since that’s technically a comorbidity, my GP did say that I could be put on the NHS waiting list. But faced with a wait of two years or more, I decided it would be better to just get it done privately. So I met with my surgeon, Ameet Patel, before Christmas. I had hoped to have it done before Christmas, but I was due to start a new job on the 12th, and he said that if I had the operation on the 3rd or 4th January, he wouldn’t recommend me going to work on the 12th. So I decided to wait until Easter when I could take some time off work. As it turned out, there were no available dates at Easter, and leaving it later brings me too close to a trip I have planned at the end of May. So I ended up plumping for 1st March. I’ve had no pre-op diet to follow, so I’ve probably been a bit naughty in what I’ve been eating since I found out my date. I know I shouldn’t but I have been seeing these last weeks as an opportunity for one last hurrah with food. Biggest Fears I was sent my consent form in the post, and seeing the risks in black and white terrified me – especially where it just bluntly lists ‘Death’ as a risk. Even though I’ve talked them through with Dr Patel, and even though I know the risks are very low, they feel very real now. I’ve started to think about things I need to do in case the worst happens, and again, I know it’s a very low risk, but my family live in a different country, so I’m making sure my partner has their number in case he needs to call them etc. The reality of that is kinda scary. I’m also scared of complications – and not knowing whether pain is normal or a sign of something more serious. But my biggest fear is that I just won’t be able to be happy when I can’t eat what I want to. I keep telling myself that being able to go shopping for clothes or go for a run or exercise without wanting to collapse will all make up for any feeling of deprivation – and that I won’t feel that deprived because I just won’t have the same appetite that I have now. But it is probably my biggest fear that I will spend the rest of my life regretting what I’ve done. To combat that I just keep reminding myself that the price of having that total freedom to eat what I want is looking and feeling like I do now – I plan to keep a photo diary of my journey to remind myself that however much I regret not being able to eat what I want when I want, it will be nothing compared to the regret I would have if I had the opportunity to get healthy but turned it down. My Hopes This is the bit that keeps me going. My main hope – what I desperately hope – is that the tales I’ve heard of your tastes changing are true. I would dearly love to wake up from the operation and be revolted by the foods I used to love and suddenly find love for the foods I used to hate. If only I could like vegetables and low fat foods more! My biggest hope is that my tastes will change, so that when I can’t pig out on chips it won’t matter to me because I don’t want to pig out on chips. The same applies – big time – to Diet Coke. I’ve never been one for full fat soft drinks, I find them syrupy. But I love diet coke, and I am really dreading not being able to have it. If I could wake up and not desire it, that would be super. I’m not claiming these hopes are realistic. More generally – like everyone – I hope this works. My thirtieth birthday is in October and I have a vision of how I will look and feel for it. I hope that vision becomes a reality. I also hope that my relationship withstands the change. My partner has been incredibly supportive. I think one of the reasons I put on weight is that he loved me and found me attractive when we first met and I was overweight (but still, I was only about 200lbs) – I think my mind went ‘yay, you found someone who’s attracted to you even when you’re fat…eat away’. But my weight gain has made me feel less attractive and so has impacted on our relationship. As I say, he’s been really supportive and I just hope that the changes don’t result in any changes to how either of us feels about the other. So, having rattled on for too long, let the journey begin…

Pebbles, I am 19 so i am the same age as you and i understand a bit what you are going through. One thing that worries me tho is that you seem to be rushing it. I researched it A LOT before deciding...it seems to me like you are looking for a quick fix, or looking for someone to say something you want to hear to pick a surgery...to pick a surgery you have to also read things that you don't want to hear. Go to the complications sections. Read A LOT of posts, don't just go check out the B4 and after pix. If you do that...you may set yourself up for failure for many reasons (assuming that the people lost weight like it melted off....they didnt it was still hard work, or assuming that you will not still have eating issues after...some people still do..check out Krystal's post) I personally don't think you are ready...maybe you worded things wrong and thats not what you meant. But this is life changing, it takes a long time.

I went through the same thing. I had a very hard time maintaining my weight. Because of other complications, my doctor told me he needed me to gain weight (even though I'm still overweight--204 before pregnancy). I couldn't do it with the band, no matter how hard I tried (and, believe me, I got SOOO tired of eating!! How weird is that!) At about 20 weeks, my band tightened and I couldn't even keep fluids down so I went in for an unfill. Well, turns out my port was flipped. They had to do surgery (no anesthesia!) to rectify the situation. I am now 26 weeks pregnant and have gained about 21 pounds. It's on the high side, but I'm not TOO worried yet. We'll see how I feel when I get closer to my due date (February 25th).

I had mine for exactly 6 years before revision. My story is of band failure also. One year after placement and many attempts at the sweet spot I never found it. I was under and overfilled for a year and then no one could penetrate the port for adjustment. I lived with an un serviced band for 5 years and had revision about a year ago with no -complications or scar tissue. It was 1 day outpatient surgery.

Absolutely without a doubt I would do it again, I would have done it earlier if I'd known how it would give me my life back. I've not had any complications, have lost almost all of the weight I wanted to (its been harder the last 20ish pounds, but its still slooooooowly coming off) and am now active, healthy and happy. Life is good.

It's not as complicated as it seems. It's DEFINITELY dishonest and a bit of a scam, but likely a decent protein supplement otherwise. If you look at the calories on the label and divide it by 4 that's roughly how many Grams of Protein is in a serving, it may be slightly less. Their claims are 100% pure horseshit and for that reason alone people shouldn't buy their product. But if someone absolutely is in love with it and doesn't want to buy alternative products I would follow my rule above dividing calories by 4 and assume that's roughly how much protein is in a serving based on normal measurements that people use and know that you're getting ripped off by a shady company but the product is otherwise probably an OK protein product.

I think a lot of the problem has to do with technology but with a different twist. We really don't have to think anymore. We have others that are assigned to do our thinking for us. Or technology thinks for us. Okay, I can't spell worth a damn, never have been able to do it. I can do complicated algebra equations in my head but I struggle to spell little words. I don't have to learn to spell, I can use spell checker. Ask a kid how to do an algebra problem and he HAS to pull out his calculator. He can't do it on paper but he can do it with technology. Our employers are telling us what to do and how to behave 40+ hours a week, our religious leaders are telling us who to vote for and half the time, people don't even realize that. Political leaders create laws for us to follow because we can't behave on our own, hair dryer manufacturers have to put warnings on their product not to use it in a shower. Heck, even Mickey D's has to tell you not to put hot coffee between your legs because people are so damn stupid they'll do it. They even do it WITH the warnings. We SHOULD be taking advantage of technology and increasing our knowledge and instead we depend on it to do our thinking. It's spooky.