Hello everyone,

My name is Mark and I was banded on 4/5/2012. My starting weight was 300 lbs and I'm 5'11". I know that isn't a ton of weight and if you saw me you'd probably think I weigh 250 lbs or less but that is where the secret is. I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, insulin resistance, and high blood pressure. My cardiologist and my primary care physician wanted me to loose weight and I tried for a year and lost a total of 15 lbs and gained it all back. The problem with me is that because of my HCM I am exercise restricted and can't work out very much.

I "carry" my weight well. That is what people always tell me. The reason is that I have a barrel chest at 65" and all of my weight is in my stomach and inside my chest cavity.

So I decided to get banded. I was given the option of gastric bypass but I was a little scared of that. I got the Realize band with Imbrication.

So far I have had a pretty smooth recovery. The biggest problem is gas. I have never had so much gas in my entire life. The biggest life savers so far have been Gas X, my heating pad and really hot showers on my back.

My doctor was Dr. Tyner in Cary, NC and I had my surgery at Rex Hospital.

I was in the hospital for less than a day and went home pretty soon.

I got my band one day before my insurance expires. I was relieved I was able to do that!

So far so good!

I get told a lot that I carry my weight well too. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I'm healthy. Hope things go well for you! Good luck!

Good luck mark. If you have any questions feel free to ask

Congratulations! I was also banded on 4/5/12, here in NY. I found that walking laps outside in my backyard has helped tremendously with the gas pain...it might make the neighbors wonder what the hell I am doing though, lol.

Also, I have an electric back massager and that really helped to break up some of the gas pain in my shoulders. Good luck!!

congrats on getting banded,,,,,hello to the healthy life !

Congrats and welcome! I found that the gas lasted for about 10 days after surgery (started about day 4 post-op). I also had a lot of burping, and after reading your post, realize I have not been crazily burping for the last few days woohoo!

I was also banded on the 5th! I'm in So Cal though. The first couple of days were horrible, but now not so much. The shoulder pain is bothersome but I made a heating pad to fit perfectly around my neck and shoulder. It's been wonderful. Today I finally got dressed, took two walks and went on two car outings. Yesterday I didn't rake shy pain meds but after my adventures today I took a half dose. Hope your recovery continues to go well!