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Welcome and congratulations on getting your band. It is very hard right after surgery. At first your not hungry then your staving then your focusing on experimenting with all the food stages and sometimes you lose weight and sometimes you don't. The first 6 weeks is for healing then comes the real weight lose time. You will be hungry but once you get on mushy's and then on to solids it does get better. hang in there you will do great!!!

So I've been thinking all week about this LAP-BAND® thing. I've really psyched myself out! I'm going to the initial information session on Wednesday, May 12. I'm required to go to this information session before the surgeon will have a consult with me. Once I have my consult, I can start workng on the stuff I need to do to get my approval. It's a three month multi-disiplinary process I have to go through before the surgery. I'm so READY to get this process started! I'm 115 pounds over weight for a normal BMI. My husband doesn't want me to loose that much. I'm just ready to get started and see this through... I guess the journey starts here. My initial thoughts...I hope this show lasts!:biggrin:

This is from Tiffykins........she has the best research. Hope this helps. The first links are other VSG patients that are further out. Long-term Sleeve Experiences - 2 Years on January 15, 2010 9:11 pm Diligence-is-always-required Stalls-Happen Update-from-a-2-Year-Post-Op-VSGer 2-year-surgiversary-and-feeling Two-and-one-half-years-post-op TWO-YEARS-YALL Just-Passed-My-2-Year-Surgiversary questions-for-post-ops-2-years-out-or-more 2-years-out-food-amount-info anyone-2-years-out Happy-2-year-anniversary-to-me 2-years-post-op-TODAY 2-5-Years-After-a-VSG Everday-life-at-2-5-years-out 2-1-2-year-update Has-it-really-been-2-years 2-1-2-year-update Two-Year-Surgiversary 2-year-update-portrait-of-a-heavyweight-a-bit-late Two-year-surgiversary 2-and-1-2-years-later 2-years-since-my-surgery-any-advice-on-face-lift 2-year-post-op-pics Two-Years-Before-amp-After-Pic 2-year-update-portrait-of-a-heavyweight-a-bit-late Thought-you-might-enjoy-an-update-with-a-few-pics Busybusymom-is-back-2-years-post-op TWO-YEARS-BABY Any-old-timers-still-lurking-the-boards Long-term Sleeve Experiences - 3 Years on June 8, 2009 10:43 pm Three years out Three and a half years after Vertical Gastrectomy My Story A quick 2 year and 3 year VSG update Third Year Surgiversay Not always easy but always worth it Very Discouraged 3 years out Links for researching the VSG on March 15, 2009 11:18 pm Here are some links I've collected when I was researching the sleevehttp://www.asmbs.org/Newsite07/resources/Updated_Position_Statement_on_Sleeve_Gastrectomy.p df. - includes reports of early studies LapSF Educational presentation to FACS - includes some 2 year results LapSF Two Year Study LapSF Five Year Study - abstract only LapSF Five Year Study - presentation (requires Windows to play) Literature review on the sleeve - requires $$ to get the full text unfortunately (Totally worth the money) Sleeve best for over 50 crowd Video of a sleeve with lots of education discussion Video of a sleeve that is more about the operation Ghrelin levels after RnY and sleeve Ghrelin levels after band and sleeve Diabetes resolution in RnY vs. Sleeve Comparison of band to sleeve - literature review I used this website a lot. I paid for some of the full articles that grabbed my attention based on the abstracts. There are several articles that you can comb through that interest you. Once you read an abstract, on the right hand side of the page, there are other related articles listed that you may find interesting. SpringerLink - All Content Items SSAT - SSAT 2008 Annual Meeting Abstracts - Laparoscopic Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy for Morbid Obesity: a Report of a Five-Year Experience with 750 Patients</b> Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) In Morbid Obesity: Review https://www.highbeam.com/reg/reg1.as....html&full=yes This was recommended to me for post-op options for meals, and just a guide. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061242853?ie=UTF8&tag=mybiglife-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061242853]Amazon.com: Before & After, Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery (9780061242854): Susan Maria Leach: Books[/ame] [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061242853/][/ame] [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061242853/]Amazon.com: Before & After, Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery (9780061242854): Susan Maria Leach: Books[/ame] This one is cool because it shows a significant decrease in ghrelin with VSG patients vs. RNY patients. Weight loss, appetite suppression, and changes in ... [Ann Surg. 2008] - PubMed result Abstract on diabetes/glucose/insulin regulation with VSG vs. RNY stating that at 3 months out with the patients studied, RNY and VSG had no marked difference in improved lab results with their glucose showing that rerouting is not always necessary for resolution of this particula co-morbidity. Improvement in glucose metabolism after bariatric ... [Ann Surg. 2009] - PubMed result Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: an innovative new tool in the battle against the obesity epidemic in Canada Edit to add: If my insurance would not have come through with my revision, I would have traveled to Mexico, and my choice in surgeon was also Dr. Aceves as a revision surgeon. There are a lot of really great surgeons in Mexico and the U.S. it really all depends on your comfort level, and what you want and need from a program.

I think all of us with our surgery dates this week (I'm on the 10th) are both getting nervous and doing a lot of thinking right now. About how we got here and about what the future is about to bring us. I have decided that I will use the things that brought me here as life lessons (hopefully) learned. To take the positive and carry it forward and leave the negative behind. Not forget it but to learn from it and forgive myself for it. As for the future, beyond the nerves, I'm getting excited! As my GYN told me earlier this year when I told her I was having WLS, I'm taking my health back. Not many people will take the steps needed to do that. But I am! So I have decided, no more shame about being fat. Just some self pride that I'm willing to fight back against the circumstances that have run my life for too long. I will no longer dwell on the past but look toward the future.

I just joint a gym yesterday too. I have never walked into one before and never walked around the block but I made the first step. I too felt very comforable and they were really nice people. I am five weeks and 1 day post op and got my clearance Friday to do upper and lower body cardio. I have to take baby steps. This was quite a shock for this body!

Hey there - My surgery is on the 21st, less than a week away. I am super nervous too. Lots of nagging thoughts but not really doubts. I know that if I can loose this stupid weight I will finally be the person on the outside that I have always been on the inside. I wish I had known this at 18 - I could have fully enjoyed the last years instead of just mostly enjoyed them. You will never regret getting healthy. Just try to educate yourself and your dad as much as possible and you'll do great!

Good luck and keeping u in my prayers for a fast and easy recovery! My surgery is May 30th, two weeks from today at this time I should be sleeved!!!

You have written everything I have been thinking!! I will be banded on Tues.I wish I could hide for 6 weeks so I am not put in a situation where I could cheat.I did not want to tell anyone and my cousins are making a long awaited visit to see my husband who is very ill.They are comming friday thats 3 days in.They want to take me to dinner.Now I have to start comming up with white lies!! I hope i am not in pain.I am Nervous!!:smile:

I just found this website today. How terrific! I started going to the support group at the hospital I had my surgery at, but all the other participants had gatric bypass, and it is SO different from the band. I am really happy to find a community of people that are going through the same thing! I had my surgery on 8/18/10, so it has been 6 months since surgery, and I have lost 40 pounds so far. My clinic is fantastic, but I have found that they are quite conservative about fills. A friend of my that goes to a different clinic (she is three years post op) has a way more restrictive fill level than mine is. I haven't had a fill for two months now (I have lost enough now that I can definitely tell I am due for a fill again), and she has told me that she can barely eat anything for weeks after she has a fill. Is anyone else having this experience?

I had my surgery February 18th so that makes me a little over over 6 weeks post op. I have been doing great but I haven't lost a pound in over a week. What am I doing wrong?

Hello everyone, I hope this is the right place to introduce myself. I had surgery on the 8th of January and am doing quite well actually. I've been battling my weight for just about all my life. A chubby baby and chunky adolescents. My first diet was at the age of 14 with Weight Watchers. My last successful diet was Low Carb. Which i would suppose wasn't all to successful since i opted for surgery. I chose the Sleeve procedure because of the lifestyle i was already use to. Low fat and low carb. The tools i learned with that went well with this tool "The Sleeve". I am almost 5 weeks out and 26 pounds down since surgery. My daily intake is protein first of course and chew chew chew. I was required by my surgeon to lose 10 lbs. through the holidays and was at surgery weight the day of surgery. I'm on track with my supplements and still working ever so diligently on my fluid intake. I usually hit the 64 oz mark but not always. My protein intake is good but still not at optimal. I find eating small meals through out the day is helping with that. I have to remind myself to eat because i generally don't have much of an appetite. I'm in it to win it! I look forward to meeting folks here and getting to know you. I'm sure i'll have plenty of questions for all the Vets here. Perhaps there's something i can share with you in return. Here's to all of us losers. Sincerely Sherri

Hello everyone, I am at the beginning of my Quest for the Band. I have AETNA and have to do the 6 month medical assisted diet. My question is, once you complete the 6 month diet, say you lose lots of weight, will you still be able to get banded once the 6 months are over? Will they band you even if your BMI goes down under 35. My BMI right now is 38.5. It was higher a few weeks ago, but I have watching what I eat, prior to going to my appt and lost more weight than I had thought. Sounds ridiculos, to be upset to lose weight. But it's all about the numbers. If you have AETNA, how hard was it to get approved? :help: Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feed back.

My doc is aggressive with fills, has an excellent success rate and an A+ reputation here in Dallas. He has said once we start the fill process, I can see him every week if need be to get to good restriction. You'll hear all kinds of stories here. Since you presumably researched your physician beforehand, trust his judgement and do what feels right to you.

1 week seems waay too soon to me, but them I'm just going by my doctor's schedule. He simply won't do a fill before 30 days (of course you can get an unfill at any time if you are uncomfortable). I'm personally very wary of any doctor who is way too aggressive with fills. Any fill runs the risk of extra swelling, and that can really become problematic if food gets stuck, and some people have had to have total unfills when that happens. Good luck!

its been a long wait. 6 months. yeesh. but i have pretty much jumped thru all of the insurance fiery hoops. Just one last trip to my primary to get my medical clearance on June 2nd(tomorrow). i had my pre-op testing last week. Surgery date is June 10th. for some reason i am so afraid of some sort of disaster happening before the date. lol i am washing my hands like a nut, so as not to catch any cold before then. haha. im both excited and nervous! cant wait to see the scale move in the other direction!!!

OK, I had surgery almost 5 years ago, never thought about checking out a web site such as this for help, but here I am, and glad I found this place. Live in a small town, Dr over an hour away, and just thought this was the way my life was going to be from now on. Participated in support group following surgery for about a year, but after that, I have been on my own and very frustrated. As are my family members...I have lost 107 pounds, but still have about 30 or 40 to go, fills were always tough for me, my stomach must fluctuate on an hourly basis, and I would go days after a fill without being able to even swallow water, eventual, things would change and I could begin eating. I never have been able to eat regularly, (ie three times a day), nothing goes in in the AM, usually I do better mid day, and very little to nothing in the evenings, I am uncomfortable drinking even water, when my band is tight so needless to say, my health has got to be in jeopardy, or will be over time. Now, I do not eat anything, that doesn't make me uncomfortable for about an hour, then eventually, things will loosen up and I can get something in. For the first couple of years, the only way I could eat anything was to do so standing up, I make several trips to the restroom to "stretch" things out during a meal, just a short walk most times will help, but sometimes it's the slime time, once that takes places 2-3 times per meal, I can eat (during mid day). Nothing works other times. I know I need to get more in on a consistant basis, but hate to go through the discomfort associated with trying to do so. Even with all this, I am not loosing any weight. When I do eat, it is protein related, so not much in veggies, do try to drink grape and cranberry juice. I know, I know, the Dr's want you to stay way because of high sugar...I need to go back to the Dr, but that is not an option right now. Anyone have any suggetions? In my mind, I have envisioned scar tissue or something blocking the opening, and after a few bouts with sliming, (which for me IS not pleasant, almost like vomitting, same feeling in the stomach just nothing but slime comes up)maybe something is shifting around to allow me to eat?? I don't know...

It's a great feeling isn't it! I went to my pcp last week which was 6 weeks post op. my A1c was down to 5.6 and cholesterol had dropped tremendously as well. Go us!

Welcome! You are already well on your way! I've been overweight my whole life too. I hope the rest of your pre-approval process goes smoothly. I was sleeved on 2/28/13 so I'm just a couple of months post-op. it boggles my mind sometimes that I actually had the surgery cuz I'm such a chicken about any kind of surgery. But I felt so strongly that this was the right thing for me to do. I want to be freed from my excess weight and it's happening! I kinda freaks me out! LOL! Best of luck to you! pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4

I put on 5 pounds in a week with my food funeral. I think most of us do it, we are human. Food is a huge part of our lives, we need to mourn. Don't beat your self up over it.

I am being sleeved on Tuesday the 21st..... only 5 days away. I am on day 3 of my liquid diet, THe first two days were HELL with terrible headaches, day three isn't bad at all...but here it is fellow VST'ers.....I have become total food stalker!!! I have been researching all kinds of receipes and foods for post op. Had to walk all over Sams Club today and see what kinds of foods I can eat and how much Protein things have. Im in total food porn mode! I havent cheated one bit...and the food I am looking at, researching, writing down, and licking my lips over is all healthy protein options.......but it still feel scandalous. LOL

Sooo from what I've heard it's about a week or two ! I am currently in high school .. (:

Ive bought two books - the Atkins New Diet Revolution and the Atkins Shopping Guide. Should be here next week. I'll read before I start. Long long ago I lost a lot of weight on Atkins and it made me feel great. No big excuse why I stopped and I wish I never had.

I feel your pain on the wine thing. I am a home brewer (beer). My friends, my social life, everything has been brewing and beer. Beer club meetings where we all share our latest creations, brew fests, micro breweries, this was what I did when I took a night off from being a mom. The day I found out I was approved was a Friday. We got a sitter, and all my friends and I went to a beer bar where I said goodbye to all my favorites ... I explained to my Maharajah IPA(my favorite beer) it was not him, it was me ... and had one last glass. And I have not had a beer since. HARD to do. Unfortunately, I have had to separate from spending time with most of my beer buddies as that is just what we did together. Now I work out at least 1/2 an hour every day ... usually more, but that is my minimum. It keeps me motivated to stay away from the no no foods when I just burned off calories. I do not enjoy working out. I do not enjoy giving up beer. I miss laughing with my friends while tasting an awesome new release beer. On the flip side ... I have lost 40 lbs in less than 3 months!!! My first fill was 10 days ago, I had no restriction before, and almost none now. I eat three times a day. 4 oz of Protein, 1/2 - 3/4 cups of veggies with every meal. I even puree spinach, bell pepper, and fresh basil into my eggs before I scramble them in the morning so it will make a bigger portion until my fill. For me, this was a life changing decision and I am in 100%. The thing that helps me stay on track with not drinking alcohol or eating the wrong foods is journaling. I journal on line, enter every bite of food i eat. I have been at 800 calories a day since two weeks prior to surgery. 800 is ot a lot of food (tons of veggies help). I'll be damned if I'm going to have a couple of drinks and blow a third of my calories for the day doing so. Butter, yea friggen right! I would NEVER waste those calories on a full fat condiment either. Start journaling, every bite. It is totally what keeps me on track. If it's truly what you want, to lose the weight, make the decision. Best of luck!

My pain level wasn't too bad when I woke up after surgery but I had to stay an extra night in the hospital because I was SO nauseated and was unable to keep anything down . The doctor said it was a reaction to the anastegia (sp?) they gave me during surgery. Since I've been home I haven't had anymore problems with vomiting so I guess my doc was right. I took the pain medication for a few days and felt great Christmas Eve and Christmas. However yesterday and today I've felt a bit week, tired, and achy. I think it's because I haven't eaten any 'real' food for 11days. Overall though it wasn't too bad!

Hi everyone, I attended the weight loss seminar in December and decided to wait till the first of the year to get the ball rolling. I had my first appointment with the NP and my PSY eval on January 10, 2011. I finally got a call yesterday that they were submitting everything to insurance and I will start my 4 WEEK Nutrition classes March 7, 2011. I am assuming my surgery will be the first or second week of April! I am scared but not about the surgery or the after part. I am afraid to be put under anesthesia. I HATE it. I know it is safe but I am still worried. My husband is Amazing and has stood by me while deciding on moving forward with Lap Band. He just wants me to be healthy. A little about me. I am originally from RI and moved to Ohio when my husband completed his NAVY commitment. I have tried WW, a program at our local YMCA (biggest loser) was a 8 week program I lost 8 pounds but now have regained that 8 plus another 9. I have been struggling with infertility for over 6 years now, and can only hope that Lap band will help with our journey to become parents. We are approved for an Open adoption also and are waiting for a birthmother to contact us. Look forward to making some new friends on here