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I'm so excited. I have 2 consults - one on the 16th and one on the 21st. I'm quite anxious to just keep the ball rolling on this. I want this done so I can move on with my life. I know its not good to rush things - and really, I'm not. I'm ready for this, I know what I'm in for, and I've done my own weight in research haha.

You probably didn't do a lot of damage to your weight loss, but the reason for no alcohol is to prevent tissue damage to the surgical sites. Alcohol can cause erosions and ulcerations - even years later. I know everyone makes their own decisions, but personally, I think it is best to avoid alcohol forever after WLS. I am a GI nurse and the worst ulcers I have ever seen are in WLS patients who started drinking again. It is pretty horrible. These tissues seem to remain fragile forever, and we need to do all we can to take care of them. I gave up sugar because I don't want dumping. I gave up coffee and alcohol because I don't want ulcers. Gave up soda, as I already had fatty liver disease, and soda contributes to it (diet as well as regular.) Gave up simple carbs because I don't want to be fat! BUT...... got a whole new life that is so precious and worth taking care of.

Nope, but I don’t go overboard. I did get drunk, and very hungover. I’ve drank prob 6 times, sometimes just a glass of wine, and some 3. I’m still in grad school, so it’s part of the culture. Also, this isn’t to you, but others reading lol, yes I know there are other activities I could do with friends, but right now I’m happy, and losing weight, and my doctor is fine with it!

I was told some meds do slow a weight loss. My bp meds don't exactly help the weight loss, so I am sooooo looking forward to being off them.

:thumbup:I have been checking into lapband surg I need to lose 130 pounds and am so ashamed that I have lost weight over the last 20 years only to gain it back each and everytime. I have gotten my referal letter from my Dr and went to and information meeting and am going to a class March 3rd and 16th. I already have the appt with the psycologist and diatition but I really need to get advice from some people who have already had this done. Is it worth it does it really help that much. Wont I be hungry all the time eating a 1/4 cup of food only. How do you deal when your bored I have usually eaten when bored. I hear about stuff getting stuck in bands, bands slipping and eroding and about the liquid diets and just want confirmation that it is all worth it. how fast do you lose weight. A nurse told me you lose weight quicker with gastric bypass and that It takes up to 3 years to lose all your weight with the band. How can that be that it is so slow when you are eating soooo much less then you used to? My sister died shortly after gastric bypass so I dont want that surg done. I know this is a rest of my life thing and want to be sure. People at work Ive mentioned it to dont understand why I cant just eat less and exersise more and think Im silly to get banded but I feel I have an addiction to food and I take meds that make me hungry and tired all the time so its hard to exersise as much as I should. I did join a gym and am trying to walk 30 min a day to get my body in better shape for surg. Please anyone who has the time I would appreciate any and all advice. My email address is deannkuske@comcast.net if anyone wants to email me. Im new to this site and not real good at the computer so dont know if ill find this site easily to get the responses but Im going to try. Thank you so so much Deann

I LOVE baking and I kept my subscription to Good food magazine after my surgery too. I'm also member of the chocolate Tasting Club in the UK - admittedly I don't eat any other chocolates, only sample and score the very high quality selection they send out to me quarterly. And I enjoy all the above. The difference: I don't eat the whole box in one go, I hunt for band-friendly recipes in the magazine and I restrict my baking to special occasions. Last year, a year after being banded and reaching my lowest weight of 170 lbs, we went to a short holiday in Rome which included a LOT of gelato and fritto misto... I came home a pound or two nuclear, but I accepted that and worked it off in a week. I even bought a Gaggia gelato churning machine which I use every now and then. I truly believe that you can stay or become a foodie after band surgery - as long as you can leave behind or deal effectively with your food issues (in your head) which made you lose control before. It was a learning curve for me (to begin with, I refused dealing with any non-band-friendly food) but then I learned to do these things with healthy moderation. Sent from my KFTT using LapBandTalk

Hi All, I owe this blog to this forum and all the members as I was highly motivated after most of you wrote about your experiences, so its my responsiblity to share my experience with you all. ---------------------------------- Surgery Date - 15 July 2011, 9 AM Place - India Weight at the time of surgery - 104 kgs (aprox 228 pounds) Height - 5 ft. 5 inches --------------------------------- D-Day - I reached the hospital at 7:20 AM, just kept on cracking jokes with the surgery team, the nurses, anesthesits and the surgeons. I was taken to the Operation Theatre and when I was given a General Anesthesia (GA), I wished luck to my doctors. It was 9 AM. After that it was completely the surgery team as I went out of senses. At 10:20, my family was informed about the successful surgery done upon me. At 11 AM, doctor came to me, asked me how I was doing, I was semi-conscious but remember the team came over and told me that the surgery went fine. At 1200 hrs, my family was allowed to come and meet me in the Recovery Room. Finally, I was sleeping, waking up and just lying down in the bed till the end of the day. At 1700 hrs, I complained of pain in the chest (it was due to acidity), then my bed was lifted so that I could sit down halfway. The whole night went restless, with IV attached and not much of moment and I could feel slight pain in my shoulders and upper back. I was sleeping for two hours and then awake for two hours and so on. I had the team of nurses and doctors who were supervising me throughout night and I was taken well care of. 16 July, 2011 - I woke up at around 8 AM and I knew its time for me to get my IVs and Cathe. removed, jump out of the bed and walk. I was out of bed at 9 AM with support from my mom and the nurse by my side. But I was able to walk up to the wash room and brush my teeth, go to the loo and just walk around. I got tired in 10 minutes, sat on chair, sofa etc for about 1 hour. At same time my liquid diets also started which included lime Water, coconut water and apple juice. I was supposed to drink 30 ml per hour (waking), but I could hardly drink 30 ml in 2 hours. After 1200 hrs, the situation worsened, when I complained of massive chest pain for 4 hours, I could not breathe easily, and at one point I told my mom to take care of my kids when I am no more. I felt I will die due to the chest pain and may be by mistake the surgeons have done something to my heart also. Within a nick of time, ECG was done, Echo was conducted and X-Ray was done and all reports were normal. It turned out to be Acidity pain only. I was given an injection to avoid acidity and a pain releiver, after that I spent a better night with slight cough. 17 July, 2011 - Thankfully, I got up almost with no pain in my chest, brushed my teeth, walked around in the room and requested the docs to discharge me. Yaayyy... I was declared fit for discharge at 1200 hrs. Then I was just sitting uprightly, walking around and sipping just about 10 ml per hour. I was afraid to drink anything (do not know why). Finally, I was discharged at 1500 hrs. I reached home and was feeling very cold and slept with a blanket on. After that there was no looking back and I started recovering hour by hour but with constipation. 18 - 19 July, 2011 - I started walking for about 2 hrs a day (in total), resting, sipping more than 100 ml per hour. I took my bath, went shopping and some minor day to day activities. There was no Acidity pain, but I continued one tablet for acidity every day and one multi-Vitamin tablet (both in crushed form). What I could not do in these days was: bending, lifting my kids and other heavy material, exertion and eating. 20 July, 2011 - I started driving and could resume my primary activities, although I have taken 10 days off from office just to take some time off and rest for myself. I got rid of constipation but had to get on to medication for dysentery. 21 July, 2011 - I was asked to take an injection (some antibiotic) every day for 5 days and finished those off today. But today I can sip lots of liquids, I will be going to my surgeon for stitches removal tomorrow. Overall, a start of a new journey with a mixed emotion of pain and feeling of joy. Hope this will help some of our sleeve aspirants and those in line for surgery during their first week. Good luck to you all and keep losing (something we want to loose) Silverlining for you too !!

Does anyone have contacts or people near Ft Wood/Waynesville/Rolla/Cuba area that are bandsters? That have been through the pre-post & after care process? I am resolved & excited about finding a tool to help me lose weight. I need some answers and maybe a suppport group. What about it any one out there in this region? LaLee:eek:

I actually go to two types of support groups. One is with a nurse/counselor. This was part of the process and is required. I love these meetings. Usually 10 people or less are there. She deals with the emotional side of weight loss surgery. She herself had RNY a few years ago, so she definately knows what she is talking about. Another one I go to is held at a local hospital two nights a month. This is open to anyone. When I first started going I met another lady who had lap-band surgery in July. We've become good friends and became our mini-support group. Because both RNY and lap-band patients are there, sometimes the topic doesn't apply to me. It is also sometimes difficult to hear how fast and how much RNY'ers are losing. I keep telling me I will catch up and I will get there some day. But I still like going. It keeps me accountable and keeps me going. I like meeting other people and making new friends. It doesn't matter what surgry we've had, we still deal with new emotions, new eating behaviors, new reactions from others, etc. that it is good to hear from others and learn together.

Welcome back Gibson!!!:cursing: A lot of us gain or stay stagnant after the liquid phase, but it is only temporary.Good luck on your first fill. It will give you all the fullness and motivation you need to persevere.Remember it still is a loss and not a quadruple gain. Set backs occur and than a fill occurs. It is the beauty of the band as a weight loss tool where all other diets failed all of us. Can't wait to hear how you are doing after the fill.

What your feeling is normal for some people... I can honestly say I didn't really start to feel hungry until I started "normal" solid food. I’m in my 7th year of being banded and have talked about this here several times but I think it’s worth repeating for new bandsters. Try and take it one day at a time. Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t go into this journey saying “I’ll never be able to eat this or that ever again.” I can eat ANYTHING except rice and apple skins and no carbonated beverages. Follow the guidelines given to you by your doctor. Remember… take tiny bites (the size of your pinky fingernail) and remember to finish what you have in your mouth before you take your next bite. When I was losing weight I checked in every month with my family doctor to get weighed and measured. (I don’t own scales) I also attended two coffee groups for people that were banded. These things really kept me motivated and on track. I still check in every month with my family doctor to get weighed-in and I host two coffee groups. For me support from fellow bandsters plays a big part in this journey. Back when I was banded my family doctor came up with something called the “Egg Timer Distraction”. It’s kind of difficult to explain here but I’d be happy to email you the .pdf document. It REALLY helped me with “head hunger”. I can’t tell you the number of people in my lapband coffee groups over the years that have said how helpful this “trick” has been in dealing with their head hunger. Also, I’m not really a “diet” book type person but I recommend you pick up two books. Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle – by Dr. Michelle May I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. May speak at a conference when she came to Toronto and her book and guidelines really work well with the lapband journey. The second book is: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite – by David L. Kessler Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions and also if you would like a copy of the “Egg Timer Distraction Document”. --- tomander@bell.net Tom, Toronto Banded July 6 06 Wt. Loss: 160 tomander@bell.net

Wow! That's great! From what I've been told, the weight history, nutrition, and 3 month diet is an insurance requirement. The stress test, sleep study, and endoscopy are required by this particular surgeon. Currently my BMI is 36.6 but I'm on about 8 medications a day!!

Hello everyone, I'm getting worried and I could use some advice. I attempted to begin the process to get the sleeve during the summer, but was told that my 2 year weight history did not show a BMI of 35 in 2011. About a month ago, a friend referred me to another surgeon who agreed to start the process. I've completed the Nutrition appt, sleep study, psych eval, stress test, and endoscopy all in the last 2 weeks! Whew! I have 2 more groups to go, one in November and the other in December. I'm so hoping that I can submit in January and get approved, but I'm so worried that my medical records will not reflect that I have a full 2 years of a 35BMI!!!! I have chronic high blood pressure that requires two medications to control along with a host of other medical issues related to a thyroidectomy in 2012. Has anyone else had this problem/concern and if so, what did you do?! I so want to get this done at the first of the year! My surgeon's office actually wants to submit in December, but it was my idea to wait until January, hoping it will allow me to get medical records from 2013-2014, instead of 2012-2013!! I'm kinda freaking out!

Big Daddy, I have gained about five lbs since scheduling the surgery two months ago, and really am right on the edge of having to do a two week pre-op diet. I figured it was in my best interest to slowly wean myself off the things I don't need, so I stopped caffeine about the same time I scheduled the surgery. No problem there. These past six days, I tried to let go of sugar, increase protein, and cut portions. I cut my portions, get hungry two hours later, and eat a protein bar or a shake that probably should be my entire meal. I'm sorry to be whiny. I am going to suck it up and try again tomorrow. Maybe going to work will keep my mind off being hungry most of the day. Thanks for your kindness, those who posted.

It is really an individual thing. It may help that you are starting at a lower weight. I had surgery Thursday afternoon and was really sick from the anesthesia Thurs. and Fri. I went home on Saturday and started feeling more like myself by Monday night or Tuesday. I remember that I was back sitting by the computer by Sunday. Best of luck to you. Make sure that they give you nausea medicine (an antiemetic), like Zofran, before you go under, and then routinely give it to you while you are there. The anesthesia stays in your body for a while. For me, the nausea was worse than the pain. Good luck.

Doc suggested I try it due to slow weight loss. I tried it for about a week but didn't like the messy side effects. I made sure that during that week I was consuming less than 1200 calories and less than 25 grams of fat each day, but the side effects were still too messy for me...

I just came across an article that said that restrictions after bypass was walking only for 30 days. Then maybe add swimming but no weight lifting/strength training for 4 months and no high impact for a year. That seemed conservative so I wanted to see what others were told. I have not had the final meeting with my surgeon so I don't have his specific recommendations.

Many factors come into play here. Your age - the older you are the less elastic your skin is Your skin type - some people just have more elastic skin than others The pre and post size, before and after weight loss. Some people are just luckier and while they weigh heavily they just aren't that big, therefore the skin isn't stretched to such massive proportions. It's impossible to tell whether you will have sagging skin because of the above and other factors. But remember having saggy skin won't give you diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol but being obese WILL. You can always wear compression garments with longer sleeves or pay the price and have reconstructive surgery.

Toddy, I personally consider any amount of weight loss a success. We are all so different and lose weight at different speeds 5 pounds to me just might mean success if I've struggled with weight my entire life. But for others it may be 25,35 or 45 pounds. The band is going to involve life style changes so we should not count on restriction to get us to our definition of successful weight loss. Don't get me wrong "Restriction is Great" lol but its just like us its individual and some get it at 3cc's and other like me it will take 7cc's. IMO we should work on the life style changes 1st and when restriction comes it comes as an added bonus to what you've already been doing. Good Luck to all who share on this Topic. To me you are all successfull because you have decided to make a change.

I have had my band since July and I have been able to eat all types of food, just in smaller portions. There is not a food that I can not eat. I have found myself being very destructive many days, eating things i know I shouldn't. I don't beat myself up very often about it though, I am human and I make mistakes. I also don't get on here asking for help and whining about not losing weight either, knowing I am not doing all I should be. The first 30 pounds fell off quick, within the first four months. It took another three months to lose the ten that has now put me at a 40 pound total loss. I have been between 178 and 175 for the past three months. I do think your body gets to a point where it just stops dropping the weight like you plan it to. I totally get how people say they have so much trouble losing that last 25 pounds. Sometimes it gets hard for me to mentally push myself to follow the strict rules when so many people tell me how great i look and how skinny i am getting, although I am 25 pounds from even having a normal BMI. Long story short, the lap band is never the reason for failure unless the equipment malfunctions. It is the person and his/her behaviors that set the success or failure rate. I WILL be a success, as long as my band stays intact, it just may take me longer. After all this is not a race and every day, I get a little stronger! Good Luck!

I was sleeved 10/29 @ 3:00pm. Let me say two weeks prior to surgery I was placed on protein drinks for two weeks. Let me also say I have done everything by the book. My pre op weight 351 surgery date weighed 347 (I know not much lost). Surgery went extremely well, removed a herna, stayed in hospital two days, could have gone the day after, I figured I would stay one more night no problem. My doc requires you to stay on protein drink 2 1/2 weeks after surgery. No big deal not hungry anyway, no pain, peeing not frequent but i know my kidney is working no pain meds, sip sip sip I go, walking and drinking 64oz of water ( last three days) feeling good. I began to notice swelling around ankles and thighes when i go to bed they go down. Well today 11/7 is my first post op doc appt I get on scale "GAINED 13lbs". OK I say to self how could u gain 13 lbs without eating, even before surgery I did not accomplish that and I was eating food. So my doc is saying how great I look etc etc. Then he said how much did u loose? I said NONE I GAIN. Then I said are u sure you did the procedure?? He said yes. He said that I had a lot of fluids during surgery and I keep drinking. So he gave me 10 days of water pills, he also made me get a blood test to check my kidney. I see him again on 11/30. I had tell this story I had not heard it before. I don't weight myself so I had no idea how much I gain, my ankles swelling would happen sometime prior to surgery (not enough to call it normal) . So I was not upset about the weight, because I followed the rules. I know my kidneys are fine and the water pills will remove the excess water. I said thank you God if I had to have a complication, i am glad it was this. Just wanted to share, I feel great and all will be well to b continued. Stay tune for 11/30 update. Give your thoughts.

I think the impatience has hit.. I feel like the weight hasn't dropped enough..Im so ready to get this show on the road!

Yay! I got my surgery date today! I have to go in for my pre-op appointment next Monday and my surgery is scheduled for Thursday, July 19. I am so happy that they were able to schedule a date so soon. I want to be off of my modified liquids diet before I go back to school (work). I will be 4 weeks post-op by then, and 12 weeks post-op by my brother-in-law's wedding. I can't wait for my body on the outside to match my personality on the inside. I am so excited! I am motivated to get as much weight as I can off before the wedding. Wahoo!

Yay! I got my surgery date today! I have to go in for my pre-op appointment next Monday and my surgery is scheduled for Thursday, July 19. I am so happy that they were able to schedule a date so soon. I want to be off of my modified liquids diet before I go back to school (work). I will be 4 weeks post-op by then, and 12 weeks post-op by my brother-in-law's wedding. I can't wait for my body on the outside to match my personality on the inside. I am so excited! I am motivated to get as much weight as I can off before the wedding. Wahoo!

It has been an amazing 15 months and I decided for my new year's post for my blog I would make a video with all of my progress pictures to Celebrate the journey. 15 months past and I've been at (and beyond) my goal weight - 140 pounds lost - since about 11 months post op. So I can see that I can maintain it (so far so good!!) and that is super encouraging. Anyway, just thought I'd share here for anyone interested. Here's the VIDEO!!