Search the Community

So happy for you all that got approved and nothing but positive thoughts your way I have UHC but my hospital portion is Empire bc bs and they are the ones I will have to wait on!

Well, it's not working! Filled at 3 cc, 11/29 banddate and I am STARVING. I have drank water & crystal light trying to curb the hunger. It's not working. I'm trying to stick with my plan, but 4 oz of meat cheese and eggs is getting old and its not keeping me full. I would probably kill for a green veggie right now. Is this that band hell I have read about bc this SUCKS! Ok, vent complete.

Hi! You have done great so far! Losing that much weight in short time, Congrats!!! I think if you re-read your post you kind of answered your own question,, you are not exercising. The surgery alone will not make the weight just continue to drop off. I have been the oposite I over exercised and saw very little actual weight loss, so I had to bounce up my calories. I had little wieght loss that month, but wow could I tell in how my clothes fit!... I also had a low weight loss in July, I was not faithful to counting my calories & carbs.... went on vacation, etc... You are doing great honestly, ... just in my opinion you should add the exercise, start slow and work up. I know some people "BS: on here, but I am telling you the honest truth.. I was so heavy when I started walking it was on our treadmill, 15 minutes a day... I kept increasing and increasing. I am now doing 3 miles at around the 52 minute mark. My goal is to start actually jogging, but we will see! I work on it 4-6 times a week and I truly do feel better once I get off the treadmill. On nice days (that arent too hot) I go to this walking path at a park not far from my home. Even if you walk in place during your favorite tv show or the nightly news,,, just suggestions... Maybe you are just in a little stall and then boom you will see that scale really move! Keep the faith,,,& good luck

Hi, Andree. I was banded on Oct. 13th by Dr. Leung in Surrey, BC. His phone number is 604 581-2515. The cost to me was exactly $13,000.00, all inclusive. Good luck. Kat.

When you think about, is there any altruistic reason to get VSG? I mean, we are doing it for ourselves, which by definition I guess is selfish. It's not like we can bring about world peace from getting sleeved. Not trying to make light of your question--I'm just not sure I understand it. But I think that it's a good goal to lose weight before you get pregnant! You may not even need infertility tx after you do. In fact, make sure you use a back-up BC until your doctor says it's safe to get pregnant so you don't get a surprise....

I am soooo nervous about this giant needle being stuck into my yummy lol. I'm ready for this bc I am deff able to eat more and my weight loss has been stuck for the most part in the same spot now for 2 weeks. I just got back from Disney and despite all the temptations I ate mostly good. A couple of bites of desserts here and there but i ate proteins first and always veggies as my sides and I still managed to lose 1/2 pound lol

Sounds like there is a lot of weight in your life you could drop before surgery. Obviously, make sure your daughter is fed, but beyond that, take care of YOURSELF. If he can't deal with that, you really should reevaluate your relationship. Having this surgery can put a strain on healthy relationships, so imagine how difficult it will be to maintain a rocky one. If he isn't supporting you now, he probably won't support you later, when you really need it. All the best to you! ~*~ Find me on YouTube: Trisha's Sleeve Story ~*~

I decided to try the couch to 5k and ditched it the first night to run 3kms. I just didnt need to stop so I didnt. I say 'run' but in truth it was what my husband fondly refers to as joggling. It was a very jiggly awkward stagger. Bu the time I had band surgery, I was 37, I was fed up with getting fatter every year and feeling like frap and I was OVER worrying what anyone else thought of me doing that in public. I just did it. Over time, I set myself goals by registering for races, so gradually increased distance.

These bodyfat measures are BS. I've got cuts everywhere save for my glutes and inner thighs and it's giving me 32%. I'd estimate my bodyfat to be around 20%, and the bulk of it being around my ass. A similar type of calculator once told me I was 32% at 170 lbs, and I've definitely got more muscle mass now than I did back then - AND I'm 30 lbs lighter.

I hear ya!! You just never know! I was once told that 8-10 pounds was one dress size. I call BS on that one! I've lost 16 pounds and still find just one size smaller is still a bit too snug. Not quite sure there's a specific formula to this. Wish there was, though!!

The Nuva ring etc can be used vaginally because hormones are easily absorbed by the vagina. I should have asked what your horse pills are? Assuming they are not BC pills or hormones, inserting them vaginally can 1) not absorb enough of the med 2) cause terrible irritation. Meds are mostly used sublingually (under the tongue) by injection or by suppository..but hey just my opinion, it's your vagina so you decide...

I'm starting on my 2nd week of puréed and I'm not doing so great not getting all my Protein in bc I CAN'T EAT hardly anything!!! Please tell me I'm not alone!!! I've got 4 weeks of this!!! I'm supplementing Isopure 15g of protein!! Please tell me it gets better!!!! I can hardly stomach puréed food, I gag just looking at it!! Kim

Hey June bandsters. I was banded June 5th but also had hernia repair that day. I am so sore and SWOLLEN. I weigh 12 pounds more than when I went in. They told me it is only Fluid due to the amount of fluid I had to have to keep my blood pressure up.Anyone else have herinia repair? I am so full all the time and havin troublegetting liquids in so doc wants to see me today. Says that he may do EGD to look and see if my hernia repair is what is restricting me so much bc my band has no fill in it right now............... Any thoughts?

I had my sleeve surgery on 4/13/16. So I'm almost 2 mo. out. Glad to finally make it to eating almost all foods. Here are some things that have caused slight problems. anyone else experience this. Hard to get these to move through stomach: --swallowing pills (even after cutting in half) --Fiber foods like cereals (raisin bran, Kashi) --whole grain oatmeal --crackers When you say "move through the stomach" what do you mean? Do you throw them up? Do they make you feel sick? How do you know they are "not moving through the stomach"? If you have a serious condition like gastroparesis, you should consult a doctor. Side note, I never touched cereals of any kind, or crackers, or any other thing with grain until I hit my goal weight. That stuff will not help you lose weight IMO. Also my weight loss has slowed. What helps most: exercise drinking lots of Water eating less, and only eating Protein and frozen veg eating NO sweets or Desserts The last two. Exercise is not terribly helpful when it comes to losing weight. As they say, the battle for weight loss is won in the kitchen, not in the gym. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories Focus on eating protein, green veggies, and healthy fats such as small amounts of nuts, olive oil, grass fed butter, etc. High carb foods like fruit and dairy should be in moderation and IMO stay away from sweets, grains, and high carb veggies such as potatoes. I try to eat yogurt with fruit when i want something sweet. Be careful about amounts and types of fruit and yogurt -- stick with Greek yogurt without much added sugar and lower carb fruits like berries and peaches (tropical fruits such as bananas and mangoes have tons of carbs and sugars). Also I have resumed drinking coffee in a.m. but not sure how to do it since you can't eat and drink at same time. So is it best to have a cup of coffee and wait 1 hr before Breakfast. Or to eat something first thing like an egg cooked, then wait an hr before having coffee? My plan doesn't call for waiting an hour before and after food for drinking, only waiting for 30 minutes after food for drinking. I love my coffee too much to wait! If I had to follow your plan, I would drink my coffee first, wait, then eat. But I think whatever works better for you is fine. Good luck!

I have BC BS of MS and I have to do 6 months of "Active Health" before I can be approved. In the meantime, I was hoping to get all the pre-op things taken care of, but insurance won't cover any of it until I'm approved and I'm not sure the cover the pre-op stuff even after you're approved. For instance, I had to get a pulmonology clearance because I have asthma. Since I do have asthma, you'd think a trip to a pulmonologist would be covered for me, but it turns out they didn't cover anything and I'm out nearly $400. I was going to get an EKG and have blood gasses taken tomorrow, but I called and they said they wouldn't cover it. What's annoying about it is that I won't get approved before August at the earliest so I'll wind up having to take days off work for all these tests and the 4 days of pre-op classes in addition to having to take the days off work if I get to have the surgery at all. I work for a school system so it would be so convenient if I could get all this stuff taken care of before school starts again.

I'm gonna have to try and watch on my computer bc it has no sound on my phone but wanted to say.... DUDE! You are FIT!!! Looking good!

Smooth Moves, Miralax, Colace and my prescription for Linzess and still no relief. I go every 2 weeks... I'm fed up.

I thought something was wrong with me. I was two days shy of 4 weeks post op before my left side quit hurting. I just woke up that morning and the pain was gone. I was starting to feel like a wimp bc everyone else seems fine after a week but I finally figured out I can't compare myself to others. I was hurting and they weren't but it didn't matter about everyone else. It mattered that I was hurting. I took pain meds at night only for over 3 weeks and I needed it. Some people don't I'm happy for them but I needed it. Good luck to you. I hope the pain subsides soon.

Hi! I'm from Kelowna BC.. But go to Calgary quite often. If you ever want to chat feel free to message me. Congratulations on the beginning of your journey! I personally wasn't able to do much for the first 5 days, but everyone is different. Best wishes!

Wannarunfree: If I were you I would get banded, but stop coming to this website if the bs that some people post is bothering you. I can tell you, from experience, that lapband works. It is working for me now, and I hope, and expect that it will be working for me for another 81 pounds and forever after. I cannot list how many good things have happened to me since I was banded. It's your choice, but I recommend that you get informed, and then get the band, and never mind the bs. It's very easy to ignore the bs. Good luck. Sue

Wannarunfree, The previous bandsters are exactly correct, your decision to get the band should be based on your own weight loss needs, your health, what your primary care physician and weight loss surgeon says, not on a bunch of banter on this forum. I am newly banded and I am truly happy with my decision and am determined to make this thing work for me. It has not been easy, and as we all know, being overweight and fighting our physical and mental hunger has never been easy, and is likely to be with us for the rest of our lives regardless of whether you are banded or not. But the band was the right decision for me because I was headed toward a serious number of co-morbidities and my family history is really bad, to include early death. I too researched the band on this site and others. My experience on this site is not the same as yours. Sure there is some bs, but all forums have that, and frankly there is far less on this site then others I have been on. And sure there are a couple posts with less than scrupulous agenda's, but only a couple, it would be hard to ban all of these posters, so you need to be your own filter. By and large, the huge majority of the folks on this forum are here for the same reasons you are, to provide and receive advice and encouragement as it is needed. This site has helped me so much. My head knows exactly what I need to do, but communicating with a unique group of people who are all going through similar physical and mental issues that you are experiencing helps. This site helped me make my decision to get the band, provided me support near my surgery date when I was thinking of backing out, and continues to support me through the post-op healing period. Good luck to you and I really pray that your decision, regardless of what that decision is, will find you healthier and happy in the coming holiday season and new year.

Hi gang :thumbup: I guess introductions are in order; I'm Fred, 36, from Staten Island and I'm 5'8 and 338 (BMI of about 50 or so). I've been considering the surgery (actually going back and forth between LAP-BAND® and by-pass) for a while now and finally decided to start moving in the right direction. I've tried Weight Watchers (still going, as a matter of fact) and after losing 30 lbs, I've been stuck, gainig and losing the same few pounds, week after week. Nothing seems to affect it, so I've decided to take a more aggressive approach - which has led me here. My insurance, at work, is about to change from Oxford to Empire BC/BS on July 1st. HR suggested I wait until the changeover before going forward with anything. So, what am I in for? I read about all these seminars and psyche evals, but can't find any real information. What about pre and post-op diets? My GF are both foodies and we love taking road trips to try different restaurants. She's thin and I'd hate to think this surgery would put an end to something we both enjoy doing. She's very supportive of the idea of the surgery, but I want to make sure we both go into this, armed with as much practical, real-life information, as possible. I look forward to getting to know the people here and learning and sharing this new journey, on which, I am about to embark. -Fred

Hi Everyone, My Name is Tracey, I am 37 (I think) and I am considering the lapband. I live in London and would be realllllly grateful for the lo down on where to get it done and for the best price. I have an opportunity to have a fantastic TV career but keep turning it down because I feel like a beach whale and as you know the camera adds 14lbs. Fed up with putting my life on hold because of my size, I have lost 80 lbs with lighter life but eventually put it alllll and more back on. This is last chance city and it's just time. I know you all understand when you get so fed up with yourself you want to break ever mirror. I am 18 stones and enough is enough. Feed up with being the preety faced bubbly funny one. The sexy diva is ready to come out!!! Please help give me the wisdom and I would be over the moon to here from any londoners who I could actually speak with as it a little confusing. This is what I am looking for: Information that can help me make the right choice Information on the hospital group A london Bandster who can offer support Details of best surgeon in london or abroad Support Package info (what are fills???) Pricing Thanks guys and keep on losing

My surgeon makes sure all patients receive an abdominal binder while in the hospital (and then you take it home with you). It helped me the most of everything as far as minimizing pain when making positional changes or when coughing, laughing, sneezing, etc. My first one was bloody from the discharge from the drain so the nurse gave me a new one before I was released. She offered to let me keep the old one and wash it, but I felt a little queasy at the time seeing the drainage and declined. Wish I would have kept it bc it would have been nice to have a back-up while I washed the other one. I also wore it under my clothes when I went out for the first few weeks bc it made me feel like my incisions were sort of protected if someone bumped into me, etc. The binder also supported my back when my abdominal muscles felt weak right after surgery. As you can tell, I really enjoyed my abdominal binder (I feel a little like I am writing out an infomercial pitch)--and would highly recommend using one!

I was notified by Alex Brecher that I have been registered with VST for two years now - doesn't seem like it has been that long and I was encouraged to share my story again so I thought that I would re-post my story. I hope you can relate and it brings some encouragement to others that in life you can make changes. I'm a Californian for life! - Wife of 7 yrs to a wonderful husband who I love very much, mother of a 11 yr son, 21 yr old daughter and 19 yr old son , god mother to my 20 yr old god daughter , older sister to 5 brothers and daughter and granddaughter to my mom and father grandmother whom I love and respect and thankful for them loving and teaching me . I enjoy making people life, people say that I'm ALWAYS smiling and I love to swim, play volleyball and aspire to be able to run a marathon. I started my research journey about weight loss surgery in May of 2009. After 10 yrs of failed attempts at losing weight on my own. My story is probably pretty common, I was never a fat or big kid, teenager or young adult always weighed within normal or above normal range and could eat anything and everything I wanted and never really exercised accept when I had too. Always busy and on the go enjoying life, friends and family I guess that kept me thin. But something happened to me when I hit my mid 20's and I started slowing my life(style) down - I started slowly picking up weight that I was unable to drop or loose easly anymore, to top it off by age 28 I became pregnant with my son( love him). I had a difficult pregnancy near the end of my first trimester I was diagnosed with Preclampsia and eventually it affected my weight, blood pressure, and if not monitored could shut down my major organs and death! During my pregnancy I gained 75 lbs which was crazy! 27 weeks into my pregnancy I had to be admitted into the hospital because my Protein levels were too high and I had to be monitored and blood drown 24/7. I gave birth to my son via C-Section at 31 wks so he was a Premie and weigh 3.06 lbs at birth! He (Kalani) was born not breathing and had to stay in the Neonatal unit for 5weeks before they let him come home with me. Initially I dropped the weight with breast feeding, however with dealing with a Premie and being a new mom I think put alot of stress on me so I sought comfort in food most of the time. I had to deal with him being so small and being susceptable to getting sick alot because he was born with under developed lungs - me putting my child in regular daycare was not an option! I eventually went back to work and my grandmother my son's great grandmother took care of him for the first 4 years of his life. She was my daycare provider and I will Always love her for that! During the first 5 yrs of his life I felt like I was always at the Dr. office or in urgent care with him being sick! So, I definitely forgot about me and it became all about him and the only thing I could think of doing in my spare time was eat or going out to eat or snacking on sweets or making sweets and eating big portions of food. I just kept getting bigger and bigger each year. Blaming my clothes not fitting on "Cheap materials!" LMBO SMH To try and get my life back I joined a gym (still a member - not using regularly yet), I tried every diet that was on TV or a friend told me about or the latest and greatest fad diet. from Atkins, Southbeach, Weight Watchers 3X, Lemonade Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Vitamin B12 shots, Appetite Suppressants, 7 Day Diet, Detox (Fasting), not to mention how much money I spent on Excercise Vids, DVD's! Sheeeeeesh! But, I did loose weight sometimes anywhere from 20-50lbs but I would always seem to gain it back plus some. So in 2009 I was fed up I had to do something different!!! - I had heard about the Gastric Bypass which was the most common so I did a little research but not much and had a talk with my PCP and he thought it would be a good idea so he started my paperwork and at the time I was with an *** so the requirements were I had to have 6months of weigh ins and some other things so I started in excited however once I started reasearching the R N Y and asking people that I had met and watching YouTube vids I started thinking, "I don't think this is for me I wasn't liking the "Malabsorbtion" and "Restriction" together I didn't think it was for me despite all the positive feedback. I made it to the Surgeon for a Pre Op and decided that I didn't want to go through with it. I knew based on research and talks on obesity.org and on Youtube and speaking with the surgeon that the LapBand was a waist of time (in my opinion) I saw and read about alot of folks getting revisions and switched to the sleeve or the R N Y. But then I started researching the sleeve and flet that this surgery was more along the lines of what I was looking for and since I didn't have CoMorb's like diabetes or cholesterol, etc. and it wasn't Restrictive so I thought Great! Eureka! I've found it. However, my *** at the time did not cover it and I tried to get an exception based on me having a bad back and having to take NSAIDS often for pain and the R N Y did not recommend taking those becasue it could cause issues with the R N Y. But, no go they declined me - so I stopped pursuing and thought well maybe this is not my journey and I should just keep trying to diet and exercise maybe one day I will eventually loose this weight and left it alone for about 5 months. In 2009 my husbands company was bought out by another company and when we had to re-enrolled for benefits the new company had different plans - PPO & *** options so I called each one and asked if they approved Bariactric Surgeries (some don't believe it or not) and if yes, did they offer approvals for VSG and one did - so I felt well Lord maybe this is still a journey I can take! So, I had to go through couple of their guidelines but most of my previous paperwork was still good so I didn't have to re-do anything (GOD is Good) and now hear I am almost two years later and a with a VSG surgery date for next month! Can't say it was easy but I'm so glad i'm here and I had a loving and supportive family! I still continue to read and ask questions to get my mind ready for the change but I'm so excited and ready to begin a new way of life!!! ***And now I'm living my new life i'm 21 months post-op and down 136 lbs never felt better and glad I began my new life and journey!***