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I posted this in another topic, but it applies here too. It's normal to be scared and having second thoughts. If you weren't having second thoughts, you probably have not thought through this completely! I was close to backing out about two weeks ago, and my surgery is now 10 days away. This is a major life changer, and you should definitely look at all aspects of a life change before you do it. You've done that - now it's time to reaffirm to yourself why you are doing this. Think about how much better you are going to feel, not only with your body but with your head! Remind yourself that tons of people can't get this far or don't WANT to get this far about changing thier life. You are strong enough to have taken the step to get here. Believe in your own decision, don't second guess yourself. It IS the right move to make, I am now positive of that. You know how I got my confidence? Because one of my sisters kept trying to talk me out of it. She gave the false impression of "I'm just trying to help you and I will be there for you" but every time I talked to her she was subtly trying to get me to not do it. Mostly from jealousy, I firmly believe. In justifying myself to her, I realized that I did want to do this, it was for me and NO ONE ELSE. I told her last weekend that if she couldn't support me, then she shouldn't call me anymore. She was shocked, saying that she did support me and was only giving me options. I told her that her options were undermining my determination and resolve and she was making me feel bad. She got offended and hung up (shrug). I haven't talked to her in a week and I don't really care. Let her have her crazy diets and fads - I'm going for the long haul. Kymba, it will be all right. You need to go read the success stories and write down why you are doing this and what you expect to happen that is good and wonderful. You can do this, we all are here for you! Carlene

Hello everyone, I am so glad that I have joined the losers bench as of Dec 3. When i first came out of surgery I was in so much pain, I had a H hernia repaired and with that and the surgery I was in severe pain. It ses like it ook forever for them to hook up the morphine pump. I had woke up before they got me to recovery. I was screaming and saying what have I done, I should have never done this, will somebodyplease help me. I can look back on it and laugh now but in the beginning it was not funny at all. When we got in the recovery room, there was about ten more people out of whatever type of surgery they had but they laid there quietly. Finally one nurse said, Your room is ready are you ready to go to it I said yes!!!. Another nicer and understanding nurse bent over my bed as she was injecting the pain killer said, madame, I know you is in a lot of pain, you just had major surgery. Not only was you sleeved but your h hernia was repaired, the incision is very close to the heart but small. She said, she had the lapband ( she was slim) and that I chose the best option because the sleeve was better and she wish she was sleeved. That each day will get better, I calm down then and she was right. I went into surgery at 7 and remember it was about 10 when I got to my room. My husband was already in there. MY mom and others visit I slept most of the day. Around 2 the nurse walked me and again around 5. I walked alone at 8 and felt so much better. Sore but better. The more I walk and sit up in bed the better I felt so the gas could pass. I went home the next day. Take my advice presleevers, walk and sit on the side of bed much as posssible so the gas pain want hurt so bad. AS of today Dec8, I still have one incision on my right side that hurts but I HAVE NOT HAD NO PAIN MEDS TODAY SO FAR AND ONLY TWICE YESTERDAY. Everyone heals different. The key is getting fluids and proteins in.. It is a challenge but I try to sip throughout the day. Since I had no pain meds feel okay, I am driving today alone.. Need to do some shopping. Chicken broth feels good to the stomach. I was taking off all my meds but one high blood pressure meds. That will be soon. I am not buying a scale because I am not going to be on the scale daily. I will wait until my two weeks check up and then buy one lol. I am so excited!!! Best of luck to you all. Got to get moving too much energy to sit around the house To God be the Glory. I thank everyone that prayed and thought of me on my surgery date!!!

It's water. With increased heat and humidity of summer, it's easy to hold on to water. I can easily hold 4-5 pounds of water. When I was 300 pounds, it was at least 10. Try increasing your fluid intake, avoid high sodium foods (read those labels) and try to get in a little walking. Sit with your feet up when sitting.

I went to mexico on 3/3/06 I am feeling great and down 19 lbs. I went to belightweight DR Kuri. I chose that one because of the new hospital and they only wanted a $500.00 deposit. The hospital was incrediable. Brand new and so clean and well kept. The rooms had a place for my husband to stay at my side and tv and DVD for him to wach movies. The shower was also a huge tiled shower. This allowed my husband to get in with me post op and be by my side. I drove 8 hrs the day after and then felt good enough to go to work the next day. DONT!! take at least 2 days off. I hope you have as wonderful of am expirance as I did it make sit so much easier. Good luck and good prayers for you all. Brandy

Status Updates My paperwork for the surgery has been submitted, now I 'm just waiting on approval from the insurance company. My follow up appointment for CPAP went well, I don't have to go back for another year. So now it's the wait and see game for me and now it looks like surgery will be in November (depending approval) instead of October since I still have to do the pre-op liquid diet for 10 days prior to surgery. Thanks everyone for the encouragement and listening to me rant and rave.

So there's a stereotype about overweight people: We all think we have a large bone structure. I remember hearing this many years before surgery was even a blip on my radar. I thought, yes that's true. Lots of overweight people probably think they have a large bone structure and don't. But not me. I REALLY have one. Well guess what? I don't. My Fitbit broke after having it 10 months. It was a size large, but I'd gradually been tightening it to nearly the last hole. I measured to make sure a size small would fit before I got a new one. My wrist was 6.25 inches. Wow, that seemed small. So it got me thinking. I looked up a bone structure calculator online. Sure enough, at 5'6" that means I have a medium bone structure. Who would have thought? The fun things you learn after WLS!

if you're into architecture, Chicago is world famous for early 20th century architecture. The Chicago Architectural Foundation has TONS of walking, bus, and boat tours. We've been on several - they've all been excellent. Art Institute is great if you're into art; Field Museum is great if you're into natural history. We also do a lot of just walking around when we're in Chicago (I live two hours from there, so we do weekends there several times a year). the Drake is pretty far north in the Loop - north of Loyola. The area around the Loyola campus is nice. But go beyond that and walk down Michigan Ave - so much there. we've been to so many restaurants, but I can't think of any one particular one to recommend - you'll stumble upon tons just walking around. We usually try to hit ethnic places, usually. Scoot over to some of the other streets that parallel Michigan Ave - there are lots of restaurants over there as well. You could always pick some cuisine and do a search on that. We've been to Colombian places, Argentine places, Turkish places, Middle Eastern places, Cajun places, pizza places, delis, so many.....they really have everything there. P.S. there's a Nutella Cafe on Michigan Ave. Might want to avoid that one! (it's great but...Nutella - you'll gain 10 lbs just walking in the door!)

Here are a couple of days... My goal is to eat around 900 calories and at least 80 grams of Protein. Nothing is really "off limits" except for trigger foods (Wheat thins, etc.) I have a little fridge under my desk at work and keep Atkins Protein shakes and Greek yogurt available. Plus I like Luna Protein Bars and Quest brownie protein bars. (The Quest ones are AWESOME after you microwave them for 10 seconds.)

I did alot of first dates online too. Had a couple of guys I even saw for a few weeks etc. I am not entirely certain why I really didn't like it, but most of the time I would not want to see them again. Boring, weird, or just not quite right.... how about the guy that 10-15 minutes in pulls out a deck of personality cards and proceeds to give me a personality test. Of course I gave false answers since no way I want to date someone who does THAT weirdness in the first few minutes... I feel like I managed to connect (ie ones with 2-3 dates) that just had issues. Hell, I have issues but please be over your ex, and not full of dread of women while you also pursue a relationship. Anyway, I know there are great guys out there too, but the whole online thing just put the wrong filters on for me. I feel like meeting someone face to face is more natural to me. My "attraction" or interest in them is the whole package, stuff you can't see from a photo. More importantly, I am practicing social skills. I figured out what I was doing to keep from getting asked out. As soon as I recognized it, things have really changed. I went out Sat night with my meetup group - dressed the same as always (although i did figure out a new make up trick or two) and everyone wanted to dance with me, buy me drinks and ask me out. I didn't want to see any of them, but suddenly it is like i have found the "key" - haha! So, I am practicing this social skills. One of my girlfriends told me that her number one mistake is she waited to be chosen... instead, I am much more actively engaged in "choosing" who I want to see.

My insurance didn't have a weight loss requirement. I did have 6 months of monitored weigh-ins but I was just told not to gain weight in that time. I ended up losing 68 pounds though. I did an elimination diet where the first month I cut down my portion sizes and didn't go back for seconds, the second month I cut out soda, third month I cut out rice, fourth month I cut out pasta, fifth month I cut out bread, and sixth month I cut out potatoes and beans. As for exercise, I have two back injuries so what I could do was really limited. I just walked 3-4x a week 10-30 minutes. It worked for me. Plus, it made it easier for me not to cheat and I was better able to prepare myself for how I would be eating after the surgery.

Hi All, I had surgery on April 8th 2013; however, when I hit the 4 wk mark I was severely dehydrated. I was nauseated 24/7. Water and sugar-free Gatorade were my only friends. On May 22nd around 3:30 PM I felt like I was going to pass out at work so I left early. The next day (Thursday) I woke up to dry heaves so I contacted my surgeons office to get an appt, but they couldn't take me until the following day (Friday). The surgeon's assistant could tell I was in a lot of pain so she told me if it got worse to go to the ER. Somehow I made it through Thursday thinking Friday the surgeon would find the issue, and I would be cured. Well, on Friday the surgeon simply said I had an uncler because: I no longer had my gall bladder. It was removed in 2004. Water and Gatorade was going down with no issue, so it couldn't be a blockage So he gave me some presriptions and sent me on my way. I RAN to get the perscriptions field thinking I would have relief once the meds were in my system. NOT!!! I continued to be in pain the rest of Friday and Saturday. By Sunday (May 26th), I could not keep water or Gatorade down. My nausea had gone from a level 3 or 4 to a level 10. Normal household smells such as room deordorizers, hand lotion, dish detergent, etc. made me ill to smell. I had to wear a surgical mask to keep from vomitting. I had my neighbor take me to the ER. After x-rays, EKG, a CTscan and 4 days of being in the hospital, they finally discovered I had scar tissue (aka adhesions) the line from my stomach and intestines are fused together and NOTHING could get through. I had severe pain on the left side right under my left breast. On Friday (May 31st) I had to have surgery to have the scar tissue removed. This surgery was done laparoscopically as well. I got 3 new incisions, and was sent home the next day. I'm doing 100% BETTER. During my two week ordeal I really thought that was going to be my "new" life, and I was really wonder in the world had I done to myself. Although my weight loss has slowed down a smidge (now that I can actually eat), I'm so happy with my progress. I've lost a total of 60 lbs and 47 lbs since surgery. I'm sharing my story so that if you have any of the same symptoms as I had, please don't just think its normal reach out to your surgeon to get help. Listen to your body, if you think its more than what your surgeon is telling you, and you are in pain GO TO THE ER!!! I have a very high tolerance for pain which explains why I didn't end up in the ER sooner rather than later. I should've went on Thursday or Friday evening instead of waiting until Sunday. Best, BabyGirl127

To all of you saying that you "failed" with the band - try to see it in a different light. Unless you knowingly ate too much or ate incorrectly, irped the food back up, then tried again until it stayed down, you didn't fail. Unless you opted to eat ice cream all day because it's what you wanted, then you didn't fail. Having a mechanical device that is supposed to give you fast satiety, but never does, is not failure. In reality, it's having gone through surgery with high hopes, and finding you still have to "diet" to maintain weight or lose weight. Having a band that maybe worked for a while, then failed, is also not you failing - it's you not having the ability or resolve to "do it on your own" but why would having had surgery change that? If we could do it on our own, we would have long before surgery... and definitely would have long before a second (or third, or fourth...) surgery. The sleeve cannot have the same issues as the band. The sleeve cannot slip (prolapse), it cannot erode through your esophagus, etc. It can limityour intake. You will still have to work at it. Since it is not (or maybe just lightly) a malabsorptive procedure, you will still have to own what you eat. If you cannot own what you eat, then frankly the sleeve might not be the best option. I'm pretty far post-op by band standards. I know a lot of people in the 5 - 7 years post-op range. Those who still have their bands, shouldn't, but are too afraid it will be removed to seek the medical care they need. It has let down a lot of people, and mentally is about a 30x magnification of the standard diet "failure" emotions we've all experienced more times than we care to count. I suspect I will spend the first 6 months with my sleeve "just waiting" for it to somehow fail. I mean, 100% of my bariatric experience tells me that eventually, it stops working, right? But try to focus on the fact that the band is not PERMANENT. Ok, in theory it's intended to be a permanent device. I'll give it that. I don't know anyone 5, 7, 10 years out who still has theirs, so it's not THAT permanent. Every sleeved person I know 5, 7, 10 years out still has their sleeve. I understand your fears, and I share them. We have "failed" at weightloss most of our lives. We "expect" failure again, it's what we've become conditioned to. But if you didn't at least have hope, you wouldn't be here, so run with it.

That depends on your overall history. How long have you been overweight, by how much, and what have you tried so far? If you've only been this heavy a few years, I would strongly encourage you to try other things first, or if your BMI is less than 40. OTOH, if you've been on multiple diets, have been significantly overweight since childhood, then this might be an excellent opportunity for you. No healthy eating plan, with or without WLS, is going to say going out drinking frequently is a good thing. Most healthy plans allow things like that once you reach goal, occasionally, but that's not what my college days were like LOL! You do say you're tired of wasting your life being unhealthy, but I believe you have no co-morbidities yet, right? So who says you are unhealthy? You may be very different from me, but when I was that age, it was all about looking good, not health. And while I'm not judging you at all for that, it's understandable, but it can definitely affect your commitment to something this huge. I really don't think I was emotionally mature enough then to really take on something lifelong. Maybe you could commit to trying 3-6 months of low carb, high Protein meals, without the very low calorie counts and portion sizes required by WLS, to see how committed you could be with this. If you do something like Atkins, you can also eat high fat and it keeps you full, while still losing weight due to the extremely low carbs. I was successful at that several years ago, but could not sustain it longer than 8 months in the end. So even I am worried about how I will do post-op, just counting on the hope of not wanting sweets and possible dumping. I've been overweight my entire life, and was getting close to 200's about three years ago (making me still 60-70 lbs overweight for my height/bone structure) with a BMI of 32-34 at that time. Im now 267 lbs putting my BMI at 40-41. I don't take offense easily so no worries there and I appreciate your advice. I tried montignac for a year about 5 years ago, atkins for about 6-8 months about 4 years ago, nutrisystem for 2-3 months 2 years ago (only a short time because 1 i couldn't afford 300 dollars a month for it, and 2 I gained 15 lbs the first month and another 10 lbs the second month despite following the plan to a T) Plus other methods that I had heard about from one source or another. But i've never been able to keep the weight off, and I thankfully don't lack conviction. But I want to be healthy. I don't care what others think of me, I care what I think of myself. I don't want to be skinny, I want to be able to walk around with my friends and not feel dizzy and winded like im going to pass out. I want to dance without feeling disgusting like I don't have a right to do so and without any of the above mentioned things. I have contemplated surgery for the last 2 years and finally decided to go for it when it occurred to me that I couldn't breathe when i bent down to tie my shoes, and when I realized that I weigh less than 100lbs less than my 47 y/o mom who is morbidly obese with sleep apnea and a slew of other things. It was a slap in the face that said if i didnt do something soon then i would be looking at my not so distant future. Like she was my reflection only id get it 20 years earlier, because her and I have very similar stats. Needless to say I cracked amd cried like a baby. She is 5'7" and weighs 360, i'm 5'6" and weigh 267. That is entirely too close for comfort, and I want to be better. P.S TO ALL: I'm not really in to alcohol, and didn't realize that a lot of people turn to alcohol to replace food after surgery. So if that could be cleared up that would be cool haha thank you

I had absolutely fabulous support from all of my friends and family, and I was still INCREDIBLY depressed for the first 10+ days post-op. I have heard this is fairly common, and will definitely get better. I am so sorry that you have toxic people in your life. You don't need them! Getting on these forums is a great place to start, I think most of us are pretty supportive of each other. Hang in there, and know that you are NOT alone! So many of us have felt the isolation, fear, regret, and sadness. It all levels out in just a few short months. You can do this!!

I was sleeved 3.27.19 - I also had a Hiatal hernia repaired. This was the source of an enormous amount of pain. I had very little in the way of pain both internally and incision site otherwise. I found that using a compression band was very helpful in terms of my mobility. I also wore compression socks at night along with the band. Today I continue week two of my full liquids phase - and it suuuuuuuucks. I AM HUNGRY. I am also disappointed b/c I looked forward to the whole hormonal absence no appetite thingie. That is not the case for me. I follow very strictly the diet/timeline provided me by my doctor and I don't find it fulfilling or satisfying for that matter. In addition I thought I would be down another ten pounds by now, but I understand there are slow losers and my time will come. I walk a bit every day, and I am waiting for my office visit on 4/19 to discuss stepping up the exercise, hopefully that will help. By then I will be able to have eggs for breakfast and applesauce! I have perused the menus for future reference and they leave me hopeful for future culinary satisfaction. Please share your experiences with me. How did you cope with this phase (those who experience hunger)? What were some of your coping mechanisms? So far so good - but still hungry. I did find Bigelow Honey Ginger Tea is a fantastic probiotic!

HW: 280 (08/01/16) Start of my pre-op diet SW: 267 (08/23/16) Morning of my surgery CW: 194 (02/05/17) this morning after Breakfast Total weight lost: 86lbs in 5 months!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am scheduled for surgery on February 24th, and I can relate to being ready to go! On July 29th, 2019, I weighed 395.4 pounds, my heaviest weight. Since that date, through a combination of diet changes, daily exercise and Ozempic, I have lost 105 pounds. My goal for weight loss before surgery was 100 pounds, and I will continue to lose before surgery. My goal weight following surgery is 145 pounds. I have found that the small things are what I notice the most. For example, not being winded walking from my car to my office, or not needing an extender for the seatbelt on airplanes! I also love how much energy I have, even though I have nearly eliminated caffeine (sans a Diet Coke every once in a while :)).

WOW. I'm so glad I saw this thread!! I am pre-op (but I just got a tentative date of 12/20/10) and with all the questions I've been thinking about post-surgery, I didn't even think about how the heck am I gonna sleep! lol. I am NOT a back sleeper so this will be difficult for me. I had trouble acheiving REM sleep during my sleep study because of that. So I've seen a few posts that refer to sleeping in "bed" after a couple days. So where were you sleeping if you weren't sleeping in bed? I hate sleeping in my recliner. lol

Hello, I am new to this site. I am 40 years old with a BMI of 39.6. I have been overweight for most of my life, with the exception of high school and a couple of years after I was married. Right before my wedding, I had dieted down to 130 pounds with the help of Phen Fen. I had my daughter when I was 30 and gained over 60 pounds that I was never able to lose. In fact, the weight kept creeping up after that, and I now weigh about 10 pounds more than I did when I was full-term pregnant. I have been trying for the past 10 years to lose the weight, but I can only lose a little bit at a time, then I gain it all back plus more. You all know how it goes. I have lost and gained the same six pounds for the past year or so. I can never make any long term progress. I got fed up and started considering a lap band, because I thought that was the only option besides a gastric by-pass, which I am not willing to do. When I called Bluegrass Bariatrics, they suggested that I consider the gastric plication. They said they had had a lot of success with it, and it was the cheapest option, which makes a difference for me because my health insurance won't cover a dime. I've read all the posts here, and I am both excited about the prospect of having the surgery, and terrified all at the same time. I want my life back, I want to be able to do all the things that I can't or won't due because of my weight. Part of me still thinks this is ridiculous, that I should just be able to knuckle down and diet and exercise and lose the weight without any surgical intervention. But I've read the statistics, that only about 3-5% will actually succeed with this approach. I went to a seminar this past weekend and met Dr. Oldham. I really liked him, and he's gotten good reviews on this site. I have my intake appointment on 2/15, and when all those results are back, I will have my surgeon consult. I am going through the process, with the knowledge that I can still back out if the fear gets to be too much for me to go through with it. I am terrified of severe pain and complications, although I have been through a c-section with a vertical incision. My husband is also very scared for me to do this, and people keep telling me that I'm not big enough that I should be considering surgery. Is what I'm feeling pretty normal? I would love to hear from some others who have been through this, and also folks who have had their surgeries wiht Bluegrass Bariatrics. I am looking forward to talking with you all, and I thank you in advance for sharing your experiences with me.

I had a pre surgery diet similar to Atkins, with limits on everything. The day before surgery I ate exactly the same thing as the other days, which was meat, dairy, vegetable, and fruit. Just had to quit by 11:00 pm for a 7 a.m. surgery, and no bowell prep. Guess I was lucky. I had not problems at all. I've often had problems with IV insertion. Finally someone informed me that I was probably not drinking enough, so the night before surgery I drank water until 10 with the blessing of the nurse. No problem with IV. Just a hint that might help somoene else someday. I've had up to 10 tries with hot packs to get an IV in, and just drinking lots of water the day before made all the difference difference. Same with blood draws.

To answer the question above, my doctor required that I lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery - he requires that of all of his patients. For me, that was 28.5 lbs. I wanted to get the surgery as fast as possible so I did the most strict version of his pre-op diet in order to shed pounds fast and get my surgery scheduled. The options he gave me were to have three slim-fasts a day plus all the vegetables I wanted or to have an extremely strict diet of plain chicken or fish, vegetables, nonfat dairy and a fruit a day. Everybody is different but for me, it was easier to just not deal with food and to stick to the slim-fast diet (I ate a few vegetables but not many - I drank either three or four slim-fasts a day and then every three or four days I'd have a very small regular meal). My doctor told me that very quick weight loss - preferably from a mostly liquid diet - would get the liver to shed fat the fastest and make the surgery easier and safer. When I went in for a pre-surgery weight check, I had lost so much weight so quickly that he moved my surgery up two weeks. I hadn't quite lost all of the 10% of my total weight he had originally told me but he said since I'd lost it so quickly and stuck to mainly liquids that he'd go ahead and operate earlier. So that's why I had six weeks of liquids. For me - and everyone is different - it was too difficult to stick to the strict diet. It was easier for me to stick to the liquids. And I wanted to surgery to happen as quickly as possible. I'm self-pay so I didn't have to wait for insurance approval.

Think about it, China and India's economies are prospering, growing at alarming rates why, among the many things these countries buy, buying into global warming isnt one of them! U.S.A., U.K., France, (European Union) have deteriorating economies growing at a snails pace if at all, why, we believe in global warming. So lets regulate our industry to the point where they cant afford to prosper here in turn leaving for China and India where there are no regulations! Now people in this country cant afford to buy cars because theyre way overpriced because of emissions regulations, oh and because there are no good paying jobs left here because they all went to China and India. In the 70-80s good paying industrial jobs where everywhere, now our leading field is the low paying service industry! In turn we will be falling behind China in 10-20 years because they werent stupid enough to buy into it! Basically the world still produces the same amount of pollutants (just the other side of the world now)which cause acid rain as it always did, oh no, thats what they called it in the 70-80s, I meant greenhouse gases, the ones that are eating away the ozone layer(because we had high hair in the 80s and needed alot of aerosol hairspray cans(see if we just would have used "the pump"), actually thats what it was called in the 80-90s(you get the picture here)its now betrween global warming leading to climate change! WHAT A MONEY MAKING CROCK!

I have not been stressing this whole procedure. I fly out tomorrow morning from Florida to Mexico and I have not even really thought about the whole surgery is this normal? I have not been worried, or concerned, and been very passive about this. I think my friends and family are more worried then I am. Not just because I am going to Mexico but because I am having the Band done. To everyone that just had surgery in the last few days just wanted to say I hope you are all okay and feeling well. God Bless!

I made the decision not to tell anyone in my family about the surgery for several reasons. My husband of course knows because bless his soul, he handed me the cash to have it done, since I don't work any longer. Anyway, I felt like I had put a certain amount of pressure on myself to succeed with the band since my husband worked so hard to give this to me, if it isn't going to work, it can't be because I gave up or didn't try. My daughters would actually be very supportive but live 1700 miles away with my grandkids and this was something I didn't want them worrying about right now. They can't be here physcially for me and I know they would want to. I also didn't want the other people I know back there and here wondering, did I lose weight, how much, etc etc,, I don't want it to be a consuming thing. I recently told a newbie, learn to "live" with your band, not be "consumed" by it, which I think could very easily happen, especially in the beginning when we are just learning how to live with it. I also truly beleived before I got the band, it was just what they said, a "tool" and I was going to have to work my butt off even with the band. So as I lose weight if people ask me how I am doing it I am going to simply say, I am eating better, living better, taking better care of myself, because you know what I am. My husband and I discussed this, and he really thought I should tell my girls, but we didn't, later I found out he forgot we decided to tell no one at all, and I walked into his office several weeks after surgery to "how do you feel?",, "you look good",and didn't understand why, he has 10 women who work for him,,, turns out he told them about my surgery,, It upset me he told them, it has made me not want to go back into his office because I dont want them to look and wonder, etc,, you know what I mean. It is an odd feeling, and I know these girls,, they are nice,, but it seems strange now. anyway,, that was my way to handle it.. Maybe later I will change my mind, who knows only time will tell. So far I was banded on March 28, had my first fill on April 24 and am doing great, I have lost steadily since day one, and am happy. I work out 3-4x week and have had no negatives yet. I eat well, food I like and feel no restriction but am losing.

I know this has been talked about a thousand times already but my question is this: I am 10 months post-op and I have very severe left shoulder pain. It's not all the time and it's usually in the afternoon, although I've had it in the morning too. It doesn't always happen after a fill and it can be very random but when it's there it's PAINFUL! I have done about as much research as I can and I've come to the conclusion that it's the phrenic nerve (possibly referred pain). My doctor doesn't know what to do with me and thinks it's odd that I still have shoulder pain as he has concluded it's free air. I have a hard time believing that. So, does anyone out there have any suggestions as to what kind of doctor I should see or start with to try to fix this? The only relief I get is from narcotics and laying on my left side. :thumbs_up: