Hi guys!

As we have been discussing, this is our thread to post our before, during and after pics of our banding journeys.

For those of us who are not yet banded or just starting out, feel free to just post your before pics, and you can add after pics later on as you wish. It would be great to put faces to names too!

I think it will be great to have our own thread to encourage and support each other, sometimes the numbers in our signatures don't reflect how much of a difference it has actually made to how we look!!

Edited April 19, 200818 yr by She Smiles

Hi Mickey, Pop on over to the Melbourne Chat thread and start posting with us. Welcome and congrats on being banded. You will find that it is the best decision you ever made.:clap2:

Susannah

There are few pictures of me big. I have no idea what I weighed in this photo.. because denial is bliss lol....

Sharyn,

You look amazing!! Well done. These pics are so inspirational for us new banders. I'm sure it takes a lot of nerve to post these before shots but rest assured they are just what everyone needs to keep going and staying positive even in the *OMG* moments.

Cheers

Lisa

Hi Sharyn,

Good on you. It's not about how much you weigh anyway but how you feel and how comfortable you are. You look great!!!

Sorry guys, I screwed up the original post (several times)

I have included one after picture (long shot, can't see very well cause the area was too bright, I am on the left)

And here is one where you can see my face

My op details are

Date of Op: Oct 2005

Weight at time: 155kg's

Current weight: 75kg's

Sorry guys, I screwed up the original post (several times)

I have included one after picture (long shot, can't see very well cause the area was too bright, I am on the left)

And here is one where you can see my face

My op details are

Date of Op: Oct 2005

Weight at time: 155kg's

Current weight: 75kg's

Well done!!!! What is your secret of success?

Susannah

Hi everyone, congratulations on all of your successes, very inspirational I must say! I am seriously considering lap banding, will have to pay for it out of super coz I don't want to wait another 10 months before I can start getting my life back. Is it really as horrible as some of the other posts say - vomiting constantly, reflux ect. I live in Queensland. Have any of you had experiences with any Queensland surgeons. I have a BMI of 37 but because of the anti depressants I take (which make me hungry all the time) I have little hope of losing the weight on my own. I am really hoping that my doctor will give me a referral as in the past she has said no because I don't have a bmi of 40. I would really appreciate any tips, ideas ect. Thanks.

Hi everyone, congratulations on all of your successes, very inspirational I must say! I am seriously considering lap banding, will have to pay for it out of super coz I don't want to wait another 10 months before I can start getting my life back. Is it really as horrible as some of the other posts say - vomiting constantly, reflux ect. I live in Queensland. Have any of you had experiences with any Queensland surgeons. I have a BMI of 37 but because of the anti depressants I take (which make me hungry all the time) I have little hope of losing the weight on my own. I am really hoping that my doctor will give me a referral as in the past she has said no because I don't have a bmi of 40. I would really appreciate any tips, ideas ect. Thanks.

No, it can be a really positive experience. It has been for me, and many others. And we do things a little differently in Oz. Perhaps due to the length of time we have been banding (the US surgeon have about 6 years under their belt, we have been banding since the 90's) And I often wonder if that makes a difference in the results of the Aussies Vs the Americans.

Anyway, surgeons are banding people at lower BMI's to prevent super morbid obesity. I know at least 1 of the Aussies here was banded at a BMI of about 37.

My GP asked me to go to a few information nights (I know they have them at the Wesley every now and then) and try a few other methods to lose the weight before we finally agreed that banding was a good option. She wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing for me. And that I was really ready to lose weight and be compliant with everything that went along with banding.

Best of luck!

Sam

Thanks Suzannah - the secret was basically I do count calories a fair bit (try and limit myself now to about 1600 a day) and in the first few months I was gyming a fair bit.. I am finding it easy to lose weight just by limiting my calorie intake and I still surprisingly eat as well as I want to

I went to a QLD doctor - Dr. Bowden at the Wesley Hospital.. I found him pretty good and I recommend him. I am currently dealing with a plastic surgeon Dr. Broadhurst but I have been waiting for months for a quote and still haven't received one. I think there may be a legitimate reason for it though

HonkeyTonks, have you considered Dr William Cockburn? He is in the Wesley, and does fantastic work. I waited about 2 weeks to see him, then had my abdominoplasty less than 6 weeks later (it could have been sooner, but my husband had to get time off work, and that was the soonest he could get it)

Kookaburra its been an entirely positive experience for me, I've had only two vomiting episodes in 18 entire months, I find my band easy to manage, easy to fit round my lifestyle, I've taken up running which is a joy to me, its the best best thing I ever did for myself.

And I had a BMI of 35 and no real comorbidities, its much easier in Australia. And personally, I expect my GP to give me any referral I ask for, its your right. Its not up to your GP to decide whether you need the surgery or not, its up to you and the surgeon. And your GP should provide you that referral if you ask for it. And if she wont, I'd go to another doctor.

Oh, and I promise to do some before and after pics, I'm truly hopeless. I didnt do any before pics, but I've got some old prints from the previous few years before the surgery that I can scan in. And I'll get Doug to take a few afters now.

Thanks everyone for sharing your positive experiences! It is great to hear about how life changing the bands have been for you all. I think as women sometimes it is hard to do things just for yourself (like spending all that super) but I'm gonna do it anyway. I've been wanting to change my life for a long time and I feel that my weight is a big part of my depression. Hearing from all of you just reminds me that I'm worth it too. Thanks!!!!!!!!

Leesa

It is hard to part with cash. But once I started losing, and felt the benefit of losing in terms of my health, I never gave the money a second thought.

HonkyTonks, that's amazing! Over what period did you lose that amount of weight? Love this thread. Hope to be posting pics on it in a year (or two).

I withdrew my super too. I couldn't wait a year for private health care to kick in, so I'll have to make this year count since it cost me so much more. I just hope nothing goes awry before my private kicks in. I'm going to follow the rules.

Note that the super you take out is added to your taxable income for the financial year giving you a higher Medicare surcharge and (if you went to Uni) HECS/HELP repayments. However, you get a medical expenses tax offset which helps. I have still ended up owing the tax department, despite 21% being taken from my withdrawn amount. Ask your employer to increase the amount of tax they take to cover yourself. Can you tell I did my tax yesterday? I owe them!

I'm still worth the $$$. 6 weeks ago, I weighed 14kg more than I do now and I haven't even had a fill yet. :whoo:

Also, I've been feeling really happy and have had no depression at all. I sometimes used to feel down and took St John's wort regularly. Haven't had any since banding. However, I don't have diagnosed depression.