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Well I've been in the process of going for surgery for 10 months now and I will finally be having surgery Friday August 3rd and I start my 2 week pre-op diet tomorrow. What kept me going was my beautiful 4 1/2 year old daughter, 10 1/2 year old step daughter and my husband knowing that after surgery I'll be a healthier mother, step mother and wife has kept me going. There's always a possibility of ur insurance to deny u but just knowing that I tried ur best is all u can do. Took me 3 weeks to get approved by my insurance. I'm now just nervous about surgery lol Thats the part that I'm struggling with now

I've averaged about 10 pounds a month in the 6 months since I've had my surgery (down 64 since surgery, 94 total). My loss is much slower than I expected it to be and even got discouraged early on because my surgeon asked me why I wasn't losing more weight at my first 2 post op appointments. I've noticed that I tend to lose on a pattern and I stall every month for 1-2 weeks around my period. It's frustrating but it's my bodies way to dealing with this process so I've come to accept it. I started this process a year ago July 19th and I'm down just under 100 pounds so the frustration and stress has been worth it in the long run. I would like to lose another 37 pounds to reach my ultimate goal.

Good luck today! You've encouraged me about my date - 10/11 in just 12 days! I've read too many "complication stories" and have got myself worked up inside, emotionally, with fear. I know everything will be fine. There are more stories like yours that outweight the "horror" stories! Thanks.

Surgery was 9/27 for me too. Had lapband removal & bypass done. Though I had hiatal hernia repair done in 2008 w/ band, have had a lot of issues w/ acid reflux and spasms at the junction where the stomach pouch & intestine attach. With several new meds, it's helped. Still on Clear Liquids 4 more days though due to the issues. I'm happy that my issues have been minimal. Had nausea and certainly gas pain, but no vomiting so far! 9/27 - 240 10/6 - 219 (I'm 5' 5.5") Excited with progress! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I didnt have a problem the first 4 weeks after surgery. The last two weeks thou... Had my first in 6 days today. HW 385 SW 359 CW 335 (50lbs down!) Sleeved 10/5/16

Daniel If you can - avoid watching TV. Those *&^*$ commercials are all about food. Try reading or surfing the net for a bit. It helps if you aren't reminded every 10 minutes that there is a wonderful _ just waiting for you at the nearest fast food purveyor of slow death. Just think of all the times that you suffered before - and know that this will be over soon, and you will have the band to help you eat less in the future. No more suffering after the initial pre & post-op diets. Hugs and good luck!

What pain medications have you had success with since WLS? I am 10 months post-op, I have lost 120 lbs and still have 42 to go. This week I ended up in the ER with ovarian cysts. Very painful. The ER doc is not real familiar with WLS and gave me pain meds that just aren't working. What have you had the best luck with?

Congrats on your great success TSB! I am just starting the process, but my stats are very close to yours. Same height and same goal weight but I am about 10 lbs over your starting weight. I am more "compact" on the bottom and currently wear a 16 or 18 in jeans and dress pants but am "well endowed" on top and usually a 2x or 3x in shirts and jackets. Hope you don't mind if I follow your progress! kagead

Good Morning All! I just wanted to share that today's my 1 year bandiversary! I'm down 110 pounds since surgery and 130 pounds overall. I have 9 pounds to go until my dream goal, and I'm hoping to get there by the end of October. I'm 10 pounds below the top of the average BMI limit for my height. I work out 1-2 hours every single day with rare exceptions, and I strictly watch what I eat 97% of the time. The lap band has truly changed my life!

Sleeved 3/19/13 I know everyone is different, I reason these boards about people puking almost everyday or how they can't eat this or that. I'm almost 2 months post op and I can eat everything I've attempted...salad, raw veggies like carrots, a whole slice of pizza (not the crust) at a party. I don't have to sip sip sip I can drink like I used to pre surgery. I have to be completely honest here, I feel like I'm actually on a diet not that I had surgery because I have to control myself not to go for another 1/2 slice of pizza ** btw, I'm not a pizza person but I know I'd be capable of eating more than a slice if I wanted to*** I feel like its diet control not surgery control. I hope I'm explaining myself well. Also, I often feel hungry especially in bed at night. I spoke to my nut last month and she thinks I'm doing well, but I read others on here and I'm like...how come I can eat? I know some may say..."hey don't complain", but this makes me think as months move on it'll be easier still for me to indulge. I wanted the restriction....I don't think I really have enough. Also, just so you are aware, I had the lapband for 7 yrs and lost all my weight (gained it back after it slipped and had it removed) so believe me, I know what restriction feels like and how crappy it feels to take "one bite too many" I used to puke a few times a day and to be honest I welcomed it...bulimic?? Please let me know...is anyone else like me or am I screwed? Thank you for your help!

Hello all i to was banded on 10/22 actually im not doing so bad thank GOD for that minor gas in the stomach and a little discomfort from incisions but other than that i'm fine and looking foward to losing some weight. finally banded yahoo.....

I feel the same as you. I had my sleeve on 10/23 and am having a really hard time taking in my fluids. I had to stay in hospital an extra day because of being so nauseated. That has gone, but just having a hard time. I am DEFINITELY trying though! Don't want anything to go wrong! Good luck to you!

I am so excited about Halloween this year. I have not dressed up or attended a costume party since I was 20 years old. I have not been able to buy a costume because of my size, which none of the costume stores carried. However, thanks to my sleeve, I am down from a 34 to a size 10 and was able to go to our local Halloween store and buy a costume off the rack, in a medium! I was so excited. And last night, I went to my first Halloween party in 24 years. I had a blast and it was so much fun to participate in the costume contests, etc. I love my sleeve and consider this a major NSV. I am living and enjoying life again. And for those of you just starting this wonderful journey, you will too! And we are all here to support you. Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

Hello!! New here!! I am looking for answers, so I hope someone can help me. I have had 3 fills. Fill #1 was great, I felt restriction the first time around. It lasted for a week and then the restriction went away. So I had another fill. Fill # 2 was even better, more restriction, but it only lasted 9 days. So I had another fill. Fill # 3, I was sure would be my green zone fill at 6 cc's in my 10 cc band. The restriction was even greater and I had 100% signs of being in my green zone according to the chart above. BUT.... 2 WEEKS to the day after my fill, my restriction went away!! I am not restricted at all again. Why is this happening? I am worried my band is leaking. I know restriction can vary day to day or hour to hour... but it has been 2 days now, and I dont think my restriction will be coming back. I dont see my doc for another week. This mystery is driving me crazy and I have been doing so great. I dont want to fall off track and lose control of my portions. Is this normal for my restriction to subside like this. I thought your fills last longer than a week or two. - Amber

Okay, I have a serious sinus infection (which I am prone to). My ENT gave me 2 different antibiotics to take twice daily for 10 days. My concern is now that my belly is so much smaller is 2 antibiotics going to be too much? I did not think to tell him about my VSG so I don't know if it matters or not. I have only been taking 1 twice daily because i'm scared it will totally screw up my belly. Any advice?

I have already had my consultation with Dr. Spiegel and waiting for insurance approval. I have United Healthcare and am very anxious to get this done. I have tried everything to lose weight. When I went to see Dr. Spiegel on 2/7/06 my BMI was 38 so I am hoping I won't have too much of a struggle especially since during my pregnancy I had gestational diabetes. I am married and have 1 child, Carson 19 months. I want to have another baby but want to be in better shape,Healthwise.:nervous

Over the last 17 months I've averaged about a pound a week. That doesn't mean I lost 1 lb every week. That's just what I averaged. Sometimes I'd lose 10 pounds in a month...but I'd pay for that by not losing for a month or two. I once went 4 months without losing *anything* and yes it is very frustrating. If you want to have stay positive and motivated, take your focus off the scale and put it on your health. Choose a diet...WW, low carb, low calorie, whatever...and then stick to it. Monitor everything you eat in something like fitday.com so you can look back and not just have a 'belief' that you did well, you'll have the facts. Then pay attention to your body and the way your clothes fit. That generally changes faster than the scale and is a far more reliable indicator of how we're doing. If you *consistently* do what you're supposed to, the weight will come off. Keep in mind though that if you're a slow loser like many of us, one slightly off week can undo an entire month. .

I spoke with a lady in my church this morning about the band since she is out over two years. She told me that she thought she has made it to her goal, wasn't losing anymore and then all of a sudden, she lost 6 more pounds. She said that it just keeps on working for her. I am 5' 3", start weight was 322.8. I plan to get to about 150-160 pounds. That was the weight that I felt the best and even tho it is still overweight, it works for me. I think the doctors tend to look at the insurance charts on weight and go from there. I agree with the others. Find a comfortable weight for yourself. Set yourself a "gain" weight of 5-10 pounds. When you see that you have gained that much, back off and tighten up your eating again. Don't wait until you have gained 25 pounds.....

Hi Globie, I found my friends changed over my life, slowly but surely. The friends we see most now are part givers as well as goers if you get my drift. I have had my fair share of friend who let you do all the running in the past. I *love* my friends that make the effort becasue it shows they care too. Plus they are grade A hoots and make mean cocktails. One of my daughters is in the process of sloughing off a couple of so-called friends now. She has come to the conclusion that they only drag her down and never support her when she needs a shoulder to cry on. I am really impressed that at nearly 19 she has seen this, it took me far longer to work it out! (My other daughter takes after her father and has always chosen friends wisely). She is so excited about going off to university in September, she is looking forward to meeting new people and has been deciding who she wants to make an effort to continue seeing in her school and vacation work friend groups. All the best to you. Jane x

Yes, I do seem hungrier at night like 10:00-11. Depending on when you ate dinner it could be that your pouch is indeed now empty. Though not sure if it is partially mental becuase when you have breakfast or lunch you say to yourself only a few more hours before you can eat again. At night you don't really have that crutch. Two ideas I have for you would be a solid protein like chicken breast strips with mustard; or a hot beverage like decaf coffee, sugar free hot cider, or sugar free hot cocoa.

Banded 10/10. Still on liquids but hopefully mushies next Monday. My granddaughters 1st birthday party next Wed. What can i have and still stay on plan. My dr is strict. No sugar or anything white and low fat too. To make it harder party is at my house! Dinner and cake. Help!

I highly recommend Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds DVDs. (no affiliation) I have 11 of her DVDS that are in rotation, along with others (Jillian Michaels, Jari Love) Start doing 5, 10 , 15 mins or so, whatever you can do, and before you know it you'll be doing 3 miles. It took me 6 weeks to get to 3, it's a gradual process. Before I hurt my back back in January I could do 6 miles. I'm 57. No athleticism required for WATP. Love them. Great for really hot or cold days. HTH & Good luck!

Whether or not you have excess skin relies on lots of things---but rate of loss is not one of them. (People who have gastric bypass may seem to more dramatically develop the issue, but that is simply because their loss is more rapid. The rapid loss does not CAUSE the problem; the loss causes the problem--which means that yes, it can indeed occur after banding.) The things that influence the degree to which you are affected include age, genetics, smoking history, sun exposure history, how much excess weight you carried, how long you were overweight, how many pregnancies you have had, how many times you had large fluctuations in weight, and so on. Losing fast, losing slow---it doesn't really matter. Think of a balloon. If you blow it up to capacity, then let the air out, it looks pretty much the same. If you do this many times, it starts to change. It gets less elastic, striations appear in the latex. Your skin is pretty similar. If it's stretched and stretched, then the tension is released (again, fast or slow, doesn't matter), then elasticity is lost, especially if there is yo-yoing. There isn't much one can do about this other than hope for good luck and good genetics. Meeting your nutritional needs can give skin what it needs, too---that for sure is important. (Get enough Protein and Fluid, get adequate heart-healthy fat, take a good-quality bariatric Multivitamin.) Exercise to build a good "scaffold" for your skin to drape on. Know that exercise will not tighten skin, but will improve your health and appearance anyway. I'm almost 49, am almost 90 down from banding almost 10 months ago (and over 100 down from my highest), and have been very, very pleased with how many of my body parts have rebounded. OTOH, I have had 3 pregnancies, breastfed, and am no spring chicken; I have a plastic surgery consult scheduled for May, when I'll be in the surgeon's city for my daughter's graduation. I am nearing goal. I look pretty darn good in clothes. I look a HELL of a lot better naked than I did before losing weight. If I decide to proceed with surgery, it will really just be icing on the cake, something to do for MYSELF, to complete the journey. But the laxity of the skin is not something that torments me----really, it is weirdly symbolic of the positive changes I've made. ETA: To answer your other questions: I am aiming for the lower end of the normal BMI scale because my frame is small. Since yours is large, I'd go for a bit higher on the BMI scale. "Normal" BMI is defined as 18.9-24.9. At your height, you'd hit the high end at 159 pounds. I've had great success! I'm 0.4 pounds away from 90 pounds down, and have not yet hit the 10-month mark. The band has really addressed my particular weight issues, and I've found it quite easy to work with. I was taken aback by the hair loss that occurred beginning around 4 months postop. This is a result of an interruption in the hair growth cycle caused by the trauma of surgery and anesthesia. While it's important to make sure you get the right nutrients (protein, fluid, Biotin, zinc), and it can be helpful to use growth-promoting shampoos/conditioners such as Nioxin, really---it's just a matter of time. Just when I thought it would really become noticeable to others, my normal hair growth resumed---no harm, no foul. Otherwise, it's been pretty smooth sailing for me. I accepted the lifestyle changes (permanent eating changes, a lifelong need for daily exercise) pretty happily---so I have no real complaints.

If you are over 65, I'm not but my husband is, you only have to have 7.5% not 10%. With our added long term care insurance it puts us over so we get the deductible. What do you mean plastics ? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App