I was banded in March 2013, and procrastinator that I am, have finally mustered the courage to join this site to seek the wisdom, honesty, camaraderie, and hope that I need to turn what I fear is a colossal failure into a journey of personal success, or at least get closer to that success than I am right now. I have approached my "post-op" life inadequately to say the least, and am hoping that it is not too late for me to turn things around and do it the right way. I realize, especially after reading the numerous stories noted here, I cannot be a passive bystander in this journey; I must take control and responsibility and stop thinking of my band as a quick fix that requires no effort or conscious thought on my part. I have to stop a lifetime of using food as a friend, comfort, and form of escape and understand that the band can't fix those issues for me. I naively thought all my issues with food would disappear, and I would awaken from surgery, much like a doe-eyed Disney princess (only chubbier, and not as pretty), to this new, bright, and beautiful future where the weight would fall off with little effort, and I would soon confuse my daughter's size 1 jeans with my own while folding the laundry....yeah, quite the fantasy, huh? Things haven't exactly turned out that way. Now it's time for the reality check----wish me luck.

Im only 4 months post op with my band/plication and I've definately learned one thing for sure....THIS IS A JOURNEY AND NOT A QUICK ROAD TRIP. It will have its hills and valleys...successful ones and ones where we struggle. But if we continue down the road, and persevere, we will reach our final destination of weight loss and better health.

Hi there,

I read a ton of blogs before my surgery and it seemed that a lot of people did great just by getting the band... some people never even had a fill.

I was NOT one of those people. I didn't really even lose any weight for the first few months after the surgery and my appetite didn't really go away.

I went in for my first fill, and then another and still really wasn't losing much weight.... I finally realized that i'm a grazer. I was never really eating big meals but kind of grazed all day long on things that weren't the best for me.

It was my third or fourth fill and granted it was probably a little on the snug side... when I FINALLY started to lose weight. I completely cut out ALL bread, ALL rice and ALL potato and wheat type products... finally the weight started to peal off. After about 3 months my doctor and I agreed that my band was a tiny too tight and he loosened it. I can eat more, but luckily my appetite has not returned and I've stayed away from the carbs. I am near my goal weight and am actually really comfortable where I'm at but seem to be loosing about a pound every two weeks now... Good enough for me

I guess what I'm trying to say is every person is different.... but I would suggest talking to your doctor and tightening your band. Without restriction it is just another diet, and clearly none of us are very good at staying on those

Edited January 12, 201412 yr by FloridaGal