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READ THIS B4 BEING BANDED...My Experience

It's been two years and i have lost maybe 10lbs total. Why? People ask....I WILL TELL YOU HOW IT HAPPENED FOR ME....

The moral of the story is not to tell you NOT to get the band...but to tell you that this is no FIX and don't expect overnight weight loss....YOU HAVE TO PUT EFFORT into it.

This is important....people like me assumed the BAND would fix everything and the motivation would just fall into place...this is soooo untrue.....

I had always been big...all through school..always size 16+....senior year 2001 i was a good size 22....2003 i was a size 24 and by 2005 i was a size 32......I was always made fun of.....i gained almost 100 pounds in 3 years from being on the depo shot(birth control)so i got off of that...... and then getting pregnant. By 2005 I was at my worst.

I walked into the Dr's office thinking I was only 360 back in April of 2005. When I got on the scale it read 380...I almost died. I cried in his office because I was so ashamed. Ashamed over 20lbs!!!! I had researched the band and felt because I had a daughter it would be the safest surgery for me. I am only 24 and was 22 at the time. I thought this was going to be the FIX.....the thing to change my life. I thought that there was no way anyone or anything could stop me from losing weight after I had surgery.

I went through all the tests....and got all the required medical paperwork and convinced some family members to pitch in for my surgery. I set the date and started my pre-op diet!

From that point on I should have known I was going to be a mess. I was supposed to be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks because my liver needed to shrink for surgery. So i ate everything they told me to for the first 3 days and BAM....the feeling set in.....I WANTED AN ULTIMATE CHEESEBURGER FROM JACK N THE BOX AND I WANTED IT NOW! I couldn't get it off my mind....i was thinking about it allllllll day.....i went to bed thinking about it...and the next morning i went and got one. I figured...what could ONE double cheese burger with double cheese and mayo possibly do......well...it did nothing to the surgery process but it really broke the frame of mind. Before the 2 weeks was up i had eatin 2 not one but TWO ultimate cheeseburgers and a few chicken nuggets. Why? Why couldn't I just do the PRE SURGERY diet?

June 8th 2005------So surgery day came....and went.....all went well no complications.....i was on soft food in the beginning and I started to eat eggs for Breakfast....but my eggs HAD to have cheese and butter in them....HELLO!!! What was I thinking.....I remember getting my first fill and at this point I had almost lost 40lbs. 20pre-op and 20 post-op. It was amazing.......

About 3 months out(2 months after my 1st fill) I started to become familiar with my band and how much I could and could not eat. I realized that when i would eat too much, i drank a little bit, and it would make the food pass and then i would feel sooooo much better. I never exercised...keep in mind...(maybe got into the pool like 10 times the whole summer) and i was preparing for my wedding which was September 17th 2005. I was so stressed because my weightloss had pretty much STOPPED......I was craving foods like never before and started to eat and drink at the same time...BIG MISTAKE......i was eating at least double what I should have. So I went and had ANOTHER fill. This slowed me down...but still I was not losing ANY weight. I remember eating my first fried chicken after my fill and like trying to manipulate my band into letting me eat more by taking one bite and then drinking....it was the worst thing in the world i could have EVER done.

A year after my band was put in I was only 20lbs total lost (which means i gained 20 back) and I was so angry...I promised myself I was going to try and fix things and make it better....So much had happened that year....2006....we bought a house, my husbands dad died of cancer, my husband was leaving for weeks at a time for work...and i was home ALONE with my daughter. I had no energy to keep the house clean(and i still dont) but i would sit and mope.....and EAT.....I would make excuses to people who asked me WHY i hadn't lost any weight. I told them all that it was a slow process and that i had lost 40 pounds(lied to them).

This year, Jan 2007...I was just sitting at dinner with my husband and looked down and noticed i had a 12oz strip steak, baked potato loaded....and mashed potatos loaded on my plate. I ate all of it. my band was NOT going to stop me. I also ate bread before that.......and drank sweat tea....

in Feb07 I was online playing around and saw an ad for a weightloss show. Primetime...suppose to be JUST like the Biggest Loser....I thought...hmmmm I'll just fill out the app for shits and giggles.....well they responded and wanted me to send them a tape....so i did.

Then in march they had me get my band completely UNFILLED and then flew me out to LA and put me through med tests and interviews,THEY BOUGHT ME 2 PLANE SEATS because i was too big to fit in the plane chairs on my own....pretty sad huh,(cant say much more because they made me sign all kinds of disclosures) They told me it was a show that will be on ABC and told me i would be away from my family for 10 weeks. I thought....this is the chance i have been waiting for.

They made me think i was going....for weeks after the interview I was getting called and asked follow up questions and told i was in the top 4....then on March 31 i was called and told the network did not choose me. I was DEVISTATED.............like someone should have just shot me right there. I was so upset...i cried the whole way home(we were out to eat of course) and my husband looked at me and said...why dont you just do it on your own?

Ummmmm DUH right...? So about a week went by and I had done a real examination of what i have done wrong and how i have basically cheated myself out of my life! On Easter i saw my family and noticed how no one said i looked good anymore...that's because i didnt.....i looked worse...heavy as can be....and that night i sent an email to my family and decide that enough is enough.

Im exercising daily...NO EXCUSES...i posted before/after pictures on my walls in my house of other people who have had the band. I put sayings all over the house saying "whats ur excuse now" and i told my husband that enough is enough. So we decided to start our weightloss exercise on the 9th.....on the 10th I went and had my band RE-filled and since the 10th I have lost 10lbs......unbelievable huh!!!

:clap2: So hopefully all this will inspire SOMEONE before it happens to them. Let my "GAIN" be your "LOSS".

Good luck everyone!

Krystal

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  • We are watching, reading, praying, and waiting for you to say you need us... We are here!

  • Krystal, Thanks for sharing your story. That was honest, and I am sure, spoke to many people here. If you need motivation, encouragement, and support, LBT is the place for it. And since you are R

  • Krystal, Thank you so much for sharing your story. Your so very honest and I know it will help someone. The beauty of the band is it is there for you when your ready. Your not alone in the batt

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I needed that today Krystal. I have not been posting and I have been feeling really crazy. I am getting depressed and I can't seem to shake it. i hate the way i look and I feel like I will never have the body that I want. I don't date because I am ashamed of my body. I haven't had sex in 13 years not just because I am trying to wait until I get married but because I don't want anybody to see me naked. I am trying not to cry as I write this. See i don't have anybody to give me a push to support me.

I have to be that push for myself. Well u all were my push but I got frustrated and left my support group.

BOTTOM LINE: I am back and I promise I will not leave again. I have a new attitude and I know that it has to be me and nobody else. I have to look in the mirror and love me regardless of what I see. It's going to be hard but I am going to make it there.

Let's keep encouraging each other.

I love this Place

  • Author

Im here today!!!

Gosh...do you ever have the feeling about exercise when you say to yourself...

I JUST DONT WANT TO!!!! and then you dont...

Thats what i been doing and i need to kick that habbit....this weightloss thing is soooo hard....

Oh, I have great respect for you, Krystal, and for you, Purposedriven4. Keep on posting. I believe that posting here is important for both of you and it is important for those of us who are travelling with you. You oughta know that you have a gang of fans who know what you two are going through. Keeping up with the exercise routine and with your eating plan can be tough and there are times when you find yourself derailed for one reason or another. I haven't been to the gym for over a year even though I am paying for it! This has been due to a bunch of bad luck health wise and now I am afraid to go back. Stupid on my part, eh?

You two do give me courage and I am sure that you give many other LBT readers courage, too, for the truth is that we all make mistakes, we all fall off the wagon, and we all end up feeling a lot of self-hatred as a result. But the two of you are honest and you are fighters, and that is very, very cool.

Keep on posting and keep on fighting, grrls.

I needed that today Krystal. I have not been posting and I have been feeling really crazy. I am getting depressed and I can't seem to shake it. i hate the way i look and I feel like I will never have the body that I want. I don't date because I am ashamed of my body. I haven't had sex in 13 years not just because I am trying to wait until I get married but because I don't want anybody to see me naked. I am trying not to cry as I write this. See i don't have anybody to give me a push to support me.

I have to be that push for myself. Well u all were my push but I got frustrated and left my support group.

BOTTOM LINE: I am back and I promise I will not leave again. I have a new attitude and I know that it has to be me and nobody else. I have to look in the mirror and love me regardless of what I see. It's going to be hard but I am going to make it there.

Let's keep encouraging each other.

I love this Place

Purpose Driven,

Hang in there, you can do it. You sound very determined and we'll be here for you. It's not easy for any of us, that's why we're here! Let us share this journey with you.

Cindy

  • Author

So I was thinking about my statement about how hard it is to lose weight. I was thinking more on it and it occurred to me that

BEING FAT IS HARDER than ANYTHING

Can you fit in a bathroom stall with no problems? Wipe much?(for you bigger girls...you know what i mean)

Can you fit at a booth comfortably? I cant.

Can you buy clothes at ANY store in the mall? I cant.

Can you take an entire day outing and ENJOY it? I cant. I can be out on my feet for like 3-4 hours and im DONE....ready to pass out.

Does the thought of 95 degree weather totally freak you out? It does me!

Does your kids beg you to do things that are physically impossible for a big person my size? Mine does.

Now that I look into this...being fat is JUST as hard as losing weight. We just train our minds to except it.

Well im done with that. Im not excepting it anymore!!!

krystal,

YOU CAN DO IT! I find for myself that curbing hunger means eliminating trigger foods.

Also, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the fundus of the stomach is stitched around the band to the pouch during the surgery. Pressure on the fundus (top) of stomach causes part of the feeling of fullness, the idea is that if your fundus is attached to your pouch, you will feel pressure there when your pouch is full, and feel fullness that way too.

Some people's fundus' don't work, and some people can't feel their pouch getting full... could that be a problem for you?

I know you can do it! (lose the weight)

Evilah

hi everyone

my trainer did my weight and measurements yesterday. i am down 7 inches in my waist and down 2.5lbs. just a little praise report

Good for you :clap2: Keep up the great work!

Cindy

  • Author

Ok so im here I have been just really busy this weekend and I am going to be busy all week. I have tried to fill my days up with things to do....

I am going tomorrow to get a fill AGAIN....its once a month. I am going to ask the Dr for all my fill reports so i can keep track. It seems I still have NO restriction. My husband is going with the Dr tomorrow to tell him he needs to seriously add a lil more so i can get a decent fill. I live 5 min from the Dr so if its too much he can take some out. Im frustruated really!

The way it looks to me, my Dr is doing the same thing to another patient and we have been going to the Dr at the same time......she brought up the fact that she thinks he is filling us too little because everytime we come back we have to fork out more and more money....

UGH

I dont want to do too much to cause a problem...but come on!

OK enough venting for tonight......

ill talk to you all soon.....Good Night!

I dont want to do too much to cause a problem...but come on!

Whoa... wait a minute. Why not?

If you went to Wally World and did not get what you paid for, would you worry that you were causing too much of a problem? I think we fatties forget sometimes that WE are the consumer, the doc is the provider. We pay them to provide a service and if they are taking advantage there isn't a thing in the world wrong with calling them on their greed.

I think most docs try really hard to do a good job. But every now and again we get the greedy b@stard that takes advantage of our desire for weight loss. I know of one nurse practioner that will NOT do more than a 0.25cc fill at each appt. That's $200 per appt and for someone with a 10cc band, it would easily take 14 fills for an initial restriction, NOT the sweet spot but just a bit of restriction. What crap!

WE are the consumers, it's okay to demand to get what we pay for. Let's not be walked on anymore, those days are OVER!

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