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I was beginning to stress because I came out of the hospital and lost 20 lbs by my 2 week visit and then seemed to be stuck for 2 weeks. I would get on the scale and it would say 220.2 or 219.8 or something like that for two whole weeks. I wasn't too stressed because my 1X stretch pants seem to be about to fall off and I put on a pair of Medium stretch pants and they fit just right (although they are probably already stretched out from last I was able to wear them and gained weight - but of course the 1X is probably stretched out to 2X. And I've been able to move the seat of my car forward almost all the way and since I'm short it's made it a whole lot easier to reach the clutch. Well, imagine my surprise when I got up and got on the scale and it said 215.4. That's 25 lbs from the beginning of the 2 week preop diet to one month post-op on Wednesday. I guess it does pay to be patient and to keep going on the plan.

Hi I'm Leigh married with 2 teens 45 from Texas I'm 4'10" and 235# I've got my pre-op set for 5/21 and surgery set for 6/2 this is what and where and the who is at the bottom of the link Trinity Mother Frances Health System This helped me... DO NOT WATCH IT IF YOU ARE EASILY GROSSED OUT [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_nwlgQztE]YouTube - Lap Band Surgery[/ame] Suggested reading from my Nutritionist The Success Habits of Weight-Loss Surgery Patients by Cook, Colleen M. and The Emotional First Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery by Alexander Cynthia L I'm excited nervous happy scared hardheaded and ready to go I should have done this 3 years ago I'm a hardcore gamer computer mainly but PS2 and 3 also WoW BF2 9Dragons MOH lot of mmorpgs and 1st person shooters I do graphics, OE scripted stats, tags, all kinds of different stuff mostly with Paint Shop Pro 9 I have 10 but blah..lol ~sigh~ yes i'm a GEEK :tongue2: and I LOVE it can't wait to get banded~

I had a lapband placed on Oct. 10, 2005. I lost 80 pounds but found there were always foods I could not tolerate. Foods were always getting stuck, despite following all the rules. I had my surgery in Reno and moved to Los Angeles. I work in the health care field, and we have a bariatric program. I notified our bariatric supervisor that I was vomiting all the time. She sent me to my PCP. She sent me to a surgeon who was intimidated by the UM department. They did an endoscopy and the GI specialist said it slipped. Then, I had an UGI. They said it was just high. I continued to vomit all the time and the surgeon was afraid to challenge the MD in charge of UM. I chose to change medical groups and had another UGI because I knew surgery would never happen at my place of employment. Hindsight is 20/20. I should have insisted they submit it and then appeal. I had a physiological reason for the medical complications and could have qualified for revision. I saw a surgeon who knew to remove the fluid from the band. That stopped the fear that I would choke to death. I was getting ready to have the band removed and have a VSG when Kaiser notified me the doctor could only remove the band. I was told to see another surgeon at Kaiser and on June 24, 2011, I did that. I was 155 pounds instead of the 134 I had gotten down to. He said I had to have surgery that next Monday, but due to my esophagus being so thin with the possibility of erosion, he said the VSG couldn't be done for a year. I had the band removed and was I depressed. I was told I would gain 50 pounds and to be careful with what I ate. I have a surgery date finally, but I got a call on Friday asking me to phone the surgeon's office. Of course, my imagination is running wild. Are they changing the date or are they simply scheduling the pre op visit? I decided to repeat the bariatric classes. I am not learning much, but I figure anything new that I learn is a plus. I keep having to purchase larger clothes, and what I have for casual wear and professional wear for work is no longer fitting. I have feelings of self hate, and I know that is not healthy. Ultimately, I want to be healthy and lean. I know it will happen soon, but the waiting game is a nightmare. There is one other girl in my class that also had to have a band removed. Misery sure does like company. Anyway, that is my surgery of success, failure, and then the hope of future success again. I am glad I found this forum and will visit it frequently. Joyce

@Sprinkles1 hi cutie happiness is all that its cracked up to be!!☺️ wonderful bypass - wonderful success! 119 lbs gone out the window!! You are approaching weight loss finish line then you start all over w/maintenance for the rest of your healthier, happier, longer life. reaching GOAL is wonderful - then hard work continues - following the rules forever and ever and ever keeping the lbs off - i know you can/will do this keep up the great job!! kathy congrats

I had bypass on 4/23/18. My starting weight was 340lbs. I'm currently 221lbs. That's a total weight loss of 119lbs! I honestly can't tell you a time I remember being this small my entire life. I'm so happy! First goal: 250lbs [emoji818] Second goal: 225lbs [emoji818] Third goal: 199lbs ...*pending* Final goal: 160-170lbs I never worked out until this month. These last 22lbs until onederland are stubborn. I'm also doing keto and intermittent fasting. This surgery changed my life. I'm almost positive I would be closer to 400lbs by now if I didn't have this surgery. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I"m 5 days post-op and I feel you. There are milestones and some of them are tough to get through. The decision to do this was tough. Surgery day was really tough. I was alone, haven't told many people and my husband needed to be home with the kids, and I had a rough time in the recovery room. Rotten 24 hours in the rearview mirror and, like you, I'm on to the next milestone. 2 days ago I thought it would be impossible to meet my Fluid and Protein requirements. The past 2 days have been a relative breeze. AND I feel pretty normal. I'm getting around fine, done with pain meds, finding myself taking probably gulps of Water that are too big and not suffering. I'm sure these are just a couple lucky days but I'll take them. If I have another week of managing my intake without all kinds of issues I'm grateful. Moving on to the next stage of the diet has me anxious. The upcoming holiday season with loads of social events has me anxious. Inevitable plateaus will bum me out. But we will be fine! I get where you're at. I also feel like the worst is behind me. The worse being a life of chronic pain, weight related health issues, etc. We've got lots to manage ahead but today let's say "Hooray!" We did it! We really did it! It seems sort of surreal but we did it and I'd rather deal with every challenge ahead than the version of me I'm leaving behind.

That is what is scaring me. I know have that relationship with food. I don't eat just to get full. I eat because food is delicious and I can't get enough of it. Not only do I love to eat, but I love to cook. Thank god my roommate is a human dumpster and will eat anything I don't finish. Needless to say, he doesn't gain a pound doing it. I'm a meat and potatoes guy and have cut down my portions in preparation for banding. So far, so good.

My name is Jennifer. I live in the Dallas Fort worth area... 8 years ago I was trying to get WLS in the middle of all the testing for the insurance I lost my insurance and had to give up.... Im back at it again! Pay cash out of pocket! I very excited, but I have been let down before. On September 30th I hope to be banded. I am getting a tax return back that I didn't file for (2009) and I am using it as a down payment. I have everything done such as blood tests breathing tests EKG everything done. Just waiting for the money part. I learn from the last let down 8 years ago to not be TOO excited.... so cross your fingers for me please! I am 27 years old. I weight 301 with a bmi of 51.4... i wear a size 26/28 jean and 3x-4x top

I have lost weight also just by working out and eating better also....just to have it come back, MANY times. I needed bariatric surgery, perhaps as a last resort. I have met my goal, and still loosing. I have no desire at all to over eat, nor do I have any bad cravings. I say bad, because everyone has "Head" cravings, say for Cookies. But when I pick one up and take a bite, I quickly realize I really don't want it and throw it away. being banded is the best thing I have ever done, don't regret it for any reason. cannot predict the future but the way I feel right now I cannot see this as ever failing.

Seven pounds in a week at 3-1/2 months out and at your weight would concern me. I hope it is all OK, but about 2 pounds a week or less would be my expectation for you now.

Hi! Been dreaming for years about how am I to afford WLS. Almost over forty, diabetic, hypertensive, sleep apnea, arthritis, and asthma, incontinent is not my idea of healthy. So now I am insured, I aim to take action!!! I decided on the sleeve after years of research. I can do this! I can loose weight! However loosing 10 lbs a year is not going to reverse my other diseases fast enough to possibly save my life. Maybe post surgery I will feel more confident in keeping it off with the sleeve! Have numbers for the Nutritionist, Cardiologist and Surgeon. Have appointments with the PCP, Pulminary, and Phsych. for this month. Just got insurance effective last week! I am soooooo excited!!! Any tips on how to go forward, PLEASE SHARE!!!

Hello I am fairly new to this forum. I joined about about three weeks ago in search of more information about the VSG and about Dr. Aceves and I have found that and much more. The people on here are very supportive of one another and provide great incite on the vsg experience. Let me tell you a little bit about me. Im a 23 yo nurse that resides in florida. I have been overweight since elementary school. Throughout my whole life I allowed my weight to hinder me in so many aspects of my life. When I eventually went off to college, the situation only got worse. I ate junk food on a regular basis and was very sedentary, with the exception of work and school. I stayed home all day. I went from 280lbs to 365lbs within the span of two years. I was finally fed up with my self and my self esteem took a dive too. My epiphany moment happened when I was looking through my camera and I realized that there were barely any pictures of me on there and the ones that were there I was disgusted with. So finallly I decided to do something about it. In January of 2008, I started my weight loss journey. I changed my eating habits and started to excercise. Surprisingly I lost 120lb through diet and exercise alone that year. But this last year has been much different. I can lose weight but I have a hard time keeping it off and staying motivated. My main problem is once I start eating, I can't stop until Im full. Over the past year I have losed and gained the same 10 pounds. And I am tired of it. 233 pounds has been my lowest weight and I am currently 265lbs. I have come to far to come back to 365 lbs. Im ready for a change so I have scheduled my surgery with Dr. Aceves for August 1st.

I havent had my surgery yet. I just finished my 1st month of the doctor led weight loss program- which I didnt do well at at all. I will hopefully meet with the surgeon after the first of the year since that is when my insurance kicks in for WLS. Im probably going to go with Dr. Bridget Brady.

Congrats on your weight loss.

I will pass on this web site next week to increase joint support....great job on the weight loss. Keep it up

Well, I got a call on Friday from my PCP that they received the results from my sleep study that I had 6/13/07. It's about time! Bad news: I have moderate OSA. Partial good news: he doesn't want to bother putting me on a CPAP if I'm going through this surgery and just going to lose the weight anyway. Now I just have to hope my surgeon will feel the same way. If he decides that he wants me on the CPAP first then I have to go through the process of getting the machine, having another sleep study to set the pressure on it, and then be on it for two weeks before he'll even schedule my surgery. ARGHHHHH! :heh: But on another note, I spoke with Tangela from his office today. I had called to make sure they received everything on the checklist they gave me. She couldn't look it up in my chart because my surgeon still had it. But, she told me that if I DON'T hear from her tomorrow that means they have the 3 main things (nutritionist,MHC, and letter of medical necessity) to send it off to the insurance and she'll send it out tomorrow. So most like by this time next week I'll be approved! YIPPEE!!!!! :clap2: Next I have my appt with Dr. Ehrlich (my surgeon) on 7/16/07 (next Monday). We be discussing my gallbladder and probably now my sleep study too.:phanvan I just hope it goes well. I'll keep you all posted. Goodnight:notagree.

Well hello there... I had to check the post to see if i had written it...lol.. I lost about 100+lbs with Adipex also and when i got prego of course I couldn't take it so i picked up most of the weight back up, but im getting back on the right track... Havent been banded yet. but I am learning a-lot from u all.... excellent on the weight loss.... That is fantastic.... how is your pain level and hunger level been:thumbup:

Jen, Congratulations on your marriage! I would recommend calling your insurance carrier and ask, "Does my company have an exclusion on any weight loss surgical procedure?" If there is an exclusion, the insurance will not pay, appeals do not apply either, they simply will not pay. Calling will take approximately 10 min and you will not need to wait for an answer. My husband and I took out a line of credit and paid for my surgery, $13,500 all inclusive including one year fills.

I am so excited about this weight loss. And that I have to change eating habits is forcing me to make adjustments I could not do on my own. This is my chance to keep off this weight. I meet with a trainer at the gym tonight. Gotta work on tightening up some abs and triceps....lol.. Thanks so much for commenting. We can do this journey together.

This is such a big dection to make, it is so hard. I keep telling myself I can do it on my own after doing every diet for the last 15 years and Im at my heaviest right now. I need to admit it to myself that I just can't do it!! I always wished they would come out with something like this and now that it is right here for me I don't know why I have to think twice about it. I tell myself I want to be proud to say I lost my weight on my own, I see that works well for me, NOT!! Did you have these feelings? How do you over come friends telling you not to do it? I need to just go and do this for me, I know this but keep making excuses. Thanks for the support!!

Hi, I'm Juliana. I live on Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington. I talked to my PCM today about the lap band. He is doing several blood tests on me in the morning. From there, he will write me a referral and then I can go see the surgeon. I am somewhat nervous and hope that I am able to go through with this. I weigh 220 pounds and am 5'6" leaving me with a BMI of 36. I got pregnant at 16 and gained 60 pounds. After I had my son, I was never able to lose the weight and then packed on more. I have a major thyroid problem and it is very hard to lose weight once it's been gained. Glad I found this website.

We have developed abnormal relationships with food. We eat to cope. We eat when we're bored, happy, sad. Food can be a lover, a friend. The biggest problem with this is that food works really well and really quickly in these situations and we gain weight. If we only ate when we were truly hungry we'd all be thin. We also train ourselves like dogs to be hungry all the time. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger. If we eat in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, what this does is that every time we are in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, we are HUNGRY. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger and we've gotten really good at it. A major help is to only eat at the table so that it is the only thing associated with food. If you go up to a dog and say, "wanna treat?" they will go absolutely bizerk because they associate this with food coming in. There are many terms for phantom hunger - emotional eating, mindless eating, non-hunger eating, etc. This is the hardest thing to solve. The keys are to recognize our triggers and to identify sources of deep-seated psychological pain and address them so the phantom hunger will go away. The best book I've seen on this is called "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. True hunger is a physiological NEED for food. It is patient. Any food will do. There is no associated guilt or shame. Phantom hunger is a DESIRE for food. It is impatient. There is a specific craving. ("If I don't get chocolate right now I will harm somebody" etc.) It is a reaction to a stimulus. It is associated with guilt or shame. The easy test to see if you suffer from phantom hunger is if you can't stop yourself. Phantom hunger is the most complicated aspect of weight gain and therefore the hardest part of successful weight loss. It comes from many different things in each one of us. We all have this. Skinny people have phantom hunger but they control it. A great example in Dr. Gould's book is an overweight woman whose life's dream was to get paid to sing. Unfortunately, in high school, a boyfriend made fun of her singing and this hurt her deeply emotionally. Every time this psychological pain came up, she ate. She struggled to lose weight. When Dr. Gould identified this and encouraged her to sing again, she finally agreed to sing at a friend's wedding and she received many positive accolades after. This led to a job as a music teacher in an elementary school - she was getting paid to sing. Guess what? She lost weight successfully. She solved the source of deep psychological pain and therefore eliminated the source of phantom hunger. Another example is women who were sexually abused as children. Food treats the pain and obesity is an outer protection against abuse. This is very difficult to deal with alone and typically requires the help of a professional to bring this to the surface, deal with it and treat the source of psychological pain and phantom hunger. You see similar situations in unhappy marriages and basically any source of real stress. The secret in all these things is to deal with the source of pain and also find non-food ways to cope with them. All this is easy to say. This is the most difficult aspect of weight loss. Finding a psychology professional that deals specifically with weight loss can be helpful to tipping the scale in your favor. An interesting test in Dr. Gould's book is to ask yourself who you are jealous of and why. He sees many patients who can't pinpoint their source of psychological pain so he asks them who they are jealous of. This is how he identified the source of pain in his singing patient when she told him she was jealous of a friend who was paid to sing. This is a tiny amount of information on a very complex topic. You can do the nutrition and fitness stuff perfectly and still not lose weight if there are issues in the brain stuff category. Ask yourself if you suffer from phantom hunger and if you have difficulty stopping yourself. Consider working with an expert or reading Dr. Gould's book. Positive self-talk is another important topic in this discipline and I go into detail on this and more on YouTube. Search Watkins Weight Loss Class. I hope this is helpful. Weight loss surgery makes all this stuff much easier but it is still important to be smart in the disciplines of Nutrition, Fitness and Brain Stuff. I wish you all the greatest success in your weight loss journey. Remember the importance of buying yourself a really nice present when you reach your goal. Brad Watkins MD

Well first thing is the seminar Missy- lol...After the seminar I had my initial meeting with him and then my appointments for the dietician and psychologist was scheduled. Besides that I had to get some bloodwork done and I had to get proof of weight history. My first meeting with him was Nov. 29th 2012 so from then until now I've been going through the process. As of now, we're just waiting to hear back from my insurance company.

I used a doctor visit and I used a gyno visit. It can even be a weight watchers weigh in or Jenny Craig or whatever. They just need proof this isn't a recent occurrence.

1st appointment, you probably won't get a surgery date. They weigh you, ask what surgery you want, give you the facts and stats., determine a goal weight, and answer any questions you may have. My surgeon examined my stomach and asked if I had any comorbidities/prescriptions. They will probably also let you know what the prerequisites are for your insurance company, if any. I didn't get a date until my insurance approved me. Some doctors do it before (which personally I feel is unwise hence all the let-down/disappointment stories of people getting a date and then their insurance not approving it). To be honest, my first appointment was the longest appointment I've ever had.