I had a Vanguard lapband on November 17, 2004. It was the greatest thing I have ever done for my health. The surgery was done in Moncton, New Brunswick and I was only the 7th surgery done at that time. Since then the wait list has grown considerately.

I lost 85 lbs in 10 months and I can't begin to tell you how good I feel. I began with very high blood pressure and now it is completely under control with no medication.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Good for you! Did you lose all the weight you wanted to?

Are you still in Moncton? I'm curious cause there's a possibility of me moving to Miramichi, and if there was someone in Moncton who could do my fills, that would be fab! Was it Dr. Beausoleil? (think that's the right name)

Congrats!

Mandi

Hi Again:

No I have not lost all the weight yet. I still have another 50 lbs to go. I am scheduled for plastic surgery next January or February, so I am working very hard to reach my goal before then.

I have begun lifting weights in order to tighten up everything I can before the surgery.

I work on the Miramichi. I have had three fills and I am at 6.5cc in my Vanguard band. I have decided that should be enough. The restriction is great, I eat well and I am full.

I have all my fills done by the surgeon Dr. Sylvain Beausoleil at the hospital in Moncton. There are no charges for the fill and he has carefully monitored my progress. I also assist the staff with their information sessions for new patients (whenever my work schedule allows).

The first Monday of each month, his post op patience have a support group that meetings at the hospital that evening for about an hour. These have been great. You meet people at all stages of the process.

They also have a very supportive team of professionals, nurses, dieticians, psychologist.

I set a goal of two years to lose all my weight and I think I should be able to meet that goal.

Any time you have questions please don't hesitate to ask. I will try and put up a picture on my site so that you can see how I have progressed.

Anytime yo

Congratulations. Great success story. Can you give me a general idea of what you eat and how much and what exercise you did for the first 85 lbs.?

Hi Maggie:

I can tell you that once I had made the decision to have this surgery, I dedided that I would put everything I could to change my life around.

I will tell you that I hated exercise and I must say that it still isn't what I call a good time, but a necessary evil. For me personally, I can't lose any significant amount of weight without exercising.

Now what do I eat. Since the surgery I eat off of the "bread/salad" plate. I have Soup or Cereal out of a small desert dish. I always use these dishes because it is important for me to remember that my stomach is full with this amount of food. I divide my plate in three -- Protein, vegetable and carbohydrate.

I am still losing my hair from not eating enough protein, so I have increased my portein intake. I try to remember that my body can only take in so much food and I have to make every morsel count.

I check my food extremely well and it takes me about 20 - 30 minutes to each my meals. I eat all my meals at the table and I try and concentrate on each bite.

Unfortunately my old "emotional eating" habits keep wanting to rear their ugly head, so I keep not "junk food" in my house. This is as much a pyschological journey as it is a physical one. In fact, the emotional part is harder to deal with than the physical.

I drink three litres of Water each day..... one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evenings. I stop drinking one hour before and after my meals, so that my food stays in my stomach longer and I don't get hunger pains

I have had to make sure that my health is always my main priority. It comes above everything else. I schedule my outings around my exercise routine and nothing changes that.

I would be lying if I said this has been easy, but the good news..... is it is worth every minute. I have met patients that no longer take drugs for high blood pressure or no longer suffer from diebeties.

As long as I remember that this was never intended to be a miracle cure but a tool to help me "overhaul" my life long addiction to food it works for me.

Good luck.

Wow, what an inspiration you are!! Its great to hear so many success storeys. My surgery is coming up, and I'm so emotional!! I go from absolutley excited to anxiety attacks and even nightmares. It's crazy. I start my pre-op diet in 2 weeks, then I hope it is just excitement. I just want the surgery to be over, so I can get on with it. How did everybody else control there nerves?

Hi Mandi!!, How are you doing? Are you on solid food now, and how is that going? I'd love to hear from you. How's it's been so far, and if your in any pain anymore, that kind of stuff! When do you see Dr. Cobourn again?

Hi Cloe:

I know exactly how you feel. Even though I had done all the research, met with the surgeon and made up my mind I was still nervous. It is major surgery, after all.

I can tell you that they wheeled me into the operating room at 11:00am and at 6:30pm that same day, I walked out of the hospital on my own steam. Even I was amazed.

I did not have any complications. I had small incisions on my abdomen that healed very quickly. They are just little pink lines now.

My family was extremely supportive and I think that makes a tremendous difference, but in the end it is all up to you.

I wish you well and hope that everything goes as planned.

Thanks so much for the detailed response, CG1955. I just had my first fill of 1 cc so I , unfortunately, am not too restricted on my intake. I loved what you had to say-it reminds me again that the surgery is a tool, but my head needs to readjust, too. I was on a fast where I lost 185 lbs in 14 months and I lost a lot of hair also. My doctor suggested that I take one tablespoon of olive oil a day, but I was taking a lot of protein too. It did grow back eventually. It can be disheartening but you have done phenomenally. Thanks again.

Hey CG1955,

Very good advice/suggestions.

Does Dr. Beausoleil normally not charge for fills on patients that are not his own, or is it because you help out?

Are the support meetings for only HIS patients, or any surgeons? (I'm guessing 'any', but since you said you help out with the meetings, maybe you're a special case)?

How many people are usually part of the meetings?

When do they typically start? (cause if I were allowed to go, I'd have to make sure I had the time to make the drive there)

Also, sorry to be nosey... but you said what you've lost was in 10 months.. what has the rest of the time been like?

Thank you :Banane56:

Cloe:

I'm doing great. I feel awesome. I wouldn't even say I was ever in pain... felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach for about a week, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I never even needed my prescription that they gave me. Same with the gas pains... they only lasted for maybe a week, and towards the end of them, they weren't even a bother enough to make me take any Gas-X.

Don't wanna compete, but I was in surgery at 11am and was gone by 1pm! I was awake half an hour after surgery, and harassing them to give me some damn Water, I was sooooo thirsty! Everyone there was awesome though, I can't say enough good things.

I think your anxiety will soon turn to hatred of Optifast! I had a really hard time with it, but I lost 15 lbs anyways, so it was kind of worth it. lol !

Controlling my nerves: I really wasn't nervous.... more excited than anything. I was really confident in Dr. Cobourn, and once he told me that so far he's had no slips or erosions, I was at ease! (stupid Complications board, for scaring me!)

Good luck with your surgery, you're gonna do great!

Mandi

Hey Cloe:

I don't have all the answers to your questions but I certainly can find out for you.

I know for his own patients Dr. Beausoleil does not charge for the fills. I figure it is charged back to Medicare. I can check to see what the process is for non patients.

The support group meetings are the first Monday of each month. One month it is in English and the next month it is French (I'm lucky I can attend both). As far as I know it is open to all post op patients, but again I will check with his staff to see if others are welcome. There are usually about 20 people at the meetings but I am guessing as it's popularity grows there will be more and more patients. I also so that maybe there will meetings at other cities as our numbers grow. The meeting is usually 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Now about me.... Yes I dropped the weight quite quickly and then I got lazy. I have been at the same weight for the last 6 months. I finally got my act together over the last couple of weeks and began exercises and paying closer attention to my diet. Feel better and I expect the weight will begin to come off again. Old habits are extremely hard to break. You can't discouraged though.

Hi, sorry, when I said Cloe is my post, I was just meaningthat that portion was meant for Cloe. :Banane56: I'm Mandi.

I really would appreciate if you could find out about fills for other patients and if other patients are welcome. That would be great, thank you.

That's great that you at least stayed at the same weight! Good to hear that you're back on track.

Mandi

Hi Mandi, I hope you dont mind, some of my post calls you argon and some mandi. I'm find it a little hard to keep everyone separate. I've met so many people here.

I think your right, I'm gonna HATE optifast. I'm on it for 3 weeks, because of my size I think. I'm sooooo dreding it, starting in 4 more days, YUCK!

I went out and bought a bunch of scrapbooking stuff, hopefully I can just stay in my room and do that when it gets bad. My family can cook for 3 weeks, it wont kill them, I think:) Take care, and keep us all posted how your doing:)

Hey Cloe, no, I don't mind... call me whatever you like :eekB: Good luck with Optifast. If for no other reason, think of it as a really good way to kickstart your weight loss, and get you used to not eating solids, for after surgery. You'll do good!

Mandi