I have been planning this for over a year. My insurance wouldn't cover it at all, so I had to wait till my partents could so graciously step up and shell out the money. I am incredibly excited and a little scared. I have never had surgery or been under general anesthetic. I weighed in at my consult 2 1/2 weeks ago at 350. Had to do a pre surgery diet to lower risks during surgery. Lost 10lbs then went out for my anniversary, hope I didn't do too much damage :nervous

I feel pretty prepared mentally, well as prepared as anyone can be. I don't know how my body will react as far as weight loss. If I go by past dieting I will lose quickly in the beginning then slow way down. As much as I would love to be thin overnight that is but a dream, what I would in reality like is to be halfway there at a yr, so 100lbs in one year. It's a lot I know. Is it realistic? Can anyone tell me what I can maybe expect as to weight loss in the first few months? I have a very bad back and would love to be in a lot less pain.

Anyway, I am here for the long haul

Molly

I am not banded yet I have 6 more weeks and counting. I just wanted to say welcome:biggrin1: . You came to the right place. You should look at as many posts as you can. I know I found lots of helpful tips and found a lot of comfort in the others. Good luck:clap2: and keep us posted.

Welcome Molly! I was sooo nervous, before my surgery,,, But everything worked out fine....

There is lots of support and answers here @LapBandTalk.com

If you do the program and make good food choices you will succeed! One thing that I had to realize was that I could have a 3oz serving of a particular food. It wasn't the last serving on earth! There would be plenty left if I wanted more later....... I could eat 16 Doritos count the calories and leave the rest.... I didn't have to fininsh the bag!!!!! Pretty simple but that fact really opened up my way of thinking!!!!!

Good Luck and post back often.... :clap2:

Molly,

As you know, people are different with their weight loss. The most important thing you need to understand is knowing what got you to 350lbs. If you want to be successful in WLS, you need to prepare your mind that you never want to go back to the way you were. I don't know if you tried other weight loss programs but I was a failure to all of them because I wasn't willing to make that healthy change in my life.

I don't ever want to give up on sweets but I know right now I am not mentally prepared to take that step yet. I still don't trust myself. Down the road maybe I will but not yet. I had my surgery on Nov. 10. 2005 and I have lost 83 lbs. I will be at my 5 month anniversary tomorrow. I never expected to lose this much either but it is because I chose to make this life change and eat healthy. I have 23lbs. more to go and I expect it will take forever to drop but that is okay(maybe). I am just so excited to start maintaining to see if I can become a success. I wish you alot of success in your life change. Think positive and don't try to think of how much weight you will lose in the first few months because you have the rest of your life to think about.

Josephine

251/168/145

No Fills

Hi Molly! Welcome! It's nice to meet you! Congrats on your upcoming banding!! Keep us updated on how you're doing.

My insurance wouldn't cover me either. I was planning to use savings and income taxes. Ironically though, a car accident that could have easily taken my life, ended up helping to save it, and I am using my settlement to pay for my surgery, which is scheduled for the 24th of this month!!! Yea!!! I am on my way!!! Good luck to you, and hope to see you back here so we can compare our experiences & keep each other motivated in the right direction!

Congrats to you!!! I am a slow loser. I was banded Oct 17, 2007 and I am down 40lbs. I am happy with it. I started out at 234 so I was not expected huge numbers at first. We are all different. My friend was banded two days after me and has only lost 20lbs because she has not been following the restrictions. NO eating and drinking together!!!! I was advised to stay away from "salty-crunchies and soups" because you never really get too full and it tricks your mind to keep going. Try your best to stick to real food after your mushy stage. Bread never stays down for me so that was a big mourning process. Remember, it doesn't matter how fast you lose it, I think for your weight, 100lbs is realistic the first year. Don't be too obcessed with the scale. Let the doctor weigh you and you just take care of your responsibilities after surgery. It took me three months to lose the first 20lbs but it is coming off better now that my band has 7.0ccs in it. The new bands are larger and more comfortable on the stomach but take a little longer to get you to the spot where you really feel like you have the tool that helps you. Ideally, you want to get to the point where you can eat a bite or two of anything without getting sick and a bite is no longer a mouthful but the size of your fingertip. Chew until you feel no more texture and wait 30-60 seconds before taking another bite to let your food have time to pass the esophagus and get to your band. It really is a process that is different for us all but those are just a few tips that everyone I've spoken to can agree on. Best wishes to you. You'll do great!!!! Here is my email in case you have any questions and I'm not logged on to see. jhlopez@aol.com

Josephine, it says on your reply that you were banded Nov, 2005 but you were celebrating your 5 month anniversary. You have done great and I was just wondering if your surgeryu date was supposed to read Nov, 2007 ??