Hi, I am wondering how many of you are completely happy with the band and how it has changed your life ? I started the process in Nov and just had my final consultation on friday. I am getting my surgery date this week. I am so excited but a bit nervous after reading the negitive post about the band. I also feel a feeling of dissapointment in myself wondering why I am not strong enought to eat like I have a band and get the same results with no surgery. Did any of you feel that way ? Now that I am approved and am so close to surgery I get alittle down on myself to know that I have to do this and cannot do it on my own. Even as much as I love my children , You'd think that would be enought to give me the power to do it on my own and reduce any surgery risk . Anyway I appreicate you listening, it seem so bitter sweet. I am very excited on the other hand to have a chance to feel better and get this weight off. I am 36 and can not imagine what it would feel like to dress nicer, feel physically and mentally better and just be in control of my health. I am very interested in your sucess or the things that you think I should be aware of any thought are appreciated. Thanks so much Kim

I am very happy to have had the band placed. As to your disappointment about not losing weight with out a band .The band is a tool it is not a cure all, believe me I have lost weight and have gained some back even with the band. If you don't change your eating habits and food choices you might not lose weight with the band. Please remember that the band is a tool to HELP you . And keep up with the exercise and water intake and I think you will be happy that you made the choice to take action to a happy and healthy new you. Good Luck

If I had to go through it all again, I certainly would! I should have done this years ago.

I am totally happy with the band and have no regrets at all! It has much a huge difference in my health and in my appearance to finally be able to get the weight off and keep it off. I eat much healthier than I used to, and I think that also contributes to healthy and energetic I feel now.

when I was at about your stage I posted a poll here asking "Would you do it again?"....out of almost 200 votes 92% said they'd do it again! That's a pretty darn good percentage, don't you think?

I've only been banded since April 4th, but from this vantage I can tell you that it is an amazing difference in the way I eat and I couldn't be happier with the amount of control that the band helps me to maintain. Most days I eat about 1000 calories a day. On days when I really feel like I've "pigged out" and go count my calories, it turns out I've usually had maybe 1400! compare that to pre=band days when that figure would have been 2500-3000! Like tonight, for instance. We went to one of the finest restaurants in town to Celebrate an early mother's day. I had a glass of wine, 1/2 of a small filet mignon, about 4 bites of sauteed spinach, 2 bites of bread and 4 bites of bananas foster. That is about 1/4 to 1/3 what I normally would have eaten. I never could have managed that kind of control before. Never.

What you are going thru is perfectly normal and we have all gone thru the same thoughts and emotions. You are so not alone there!

I agree with Terri! I've only just begun, but so far I love it! I keep track of my calories, and the first couple of weeks having 300-400 calories a day, I was simply amazed. Now I have no restriction till my first fill, but I get full so much quicker.. pre-band I don't know that I ever just got full. I was either hungry, or stuffed (very rare.. Thanksgiving..) So now, until I get my fill I do get hungry more often and have had my 'binge' moments, where I want a lot of food. And then when it's all said and done, my binge is only 1/10th (maybe less) of what it would have been before the band..so it's keeping me in check! It's also teaching me to slow down and think about food choices.. if I can only have so little food, I want to make it count!

About beating yourself up over not being able to do it without the band.. don't feel bad, in America over 60% of people are overweight.. it's not like you're an outcast! We all can relate.. believe me, if I could have done this on my own, I definitely wouldn't have risked surgery. My number one concern (besides a cathetar) going into surgery, was that.. if I died doing an 'elective surgery' that my parents helped me pay for, they would never forgive themselves. But the risks of complications is sooo small (.5%), so once you get your surgery date, it will come and go before you know it!

Good luck

I wish I would be losing weight a little bit faster, but I am very happy wtih the band. Last night I went out for dinner and had about a third of a piece of

chicken breast and a few bites of broccoli and I was full. In the past I would have eaten everything in site, including asking for more bread, and had dessert. I looked at the bread and it didn't even look good to me because I was so full. I thought about a bite of my friend's ice cream, but I have gotten the sweet tooth under control now, and I know eating it would have brought it back in full force. So YES, I am very happy with the band. I

have only had two fills, and don't plan to get another one until I lose a bunch more weight. I am doing just fine with the amount of restriction I have now. You can't expect the band to do all the work though. You have to exercise! I don't mind that though. Exercise makes a huge difference in my moods.

I'm going to copy/paste a response I wrote on another board to a person with many questions just like yours. Some will apply, some won't. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

>> We have ALL experienced the concept of just being able to do it on our own. Sorry, you just aren't unique in this case, you are one of us. ;o))))))

Seriously, this is a concern all folks have. It's one of those things that you just have to experience before you can seriously grasp it.

Lack of strength, etc., that is usually immediately after surgery. I don't care what surgery you have if you have a general you are going to feel it for a few days. As for a lack of strength after weight loss kicks in, those are head games we have played on ourselves for most of our fat lives. People that swear they are exhausted if they don't eat at least 2000 calories.. bah. It's conditioning. Studies prove that fat is stored energy and as long as you are getting your nutrition in, maintaining Protein, and cutting back on sugar you will burn fat for energy and you won't be tired unless you would have been anyway because you slept for 2 hours the previous night.

Think about it, how many times have you told yourself you really NEED to eat? You had Breakfast but no lunch so you MUST eat. No you don't. If you aren't hungry, don't eat. Or, "I'm sick so I need extra nutrition today." Bah... your body stores plenty of protein, fat, B12, etc. You don't need EXTRA calories because you are sick. But we fatties have an odd need to feed our head hunger. You know, there are lots of types of hunger. Head hunger is when you want to eat but you don't really feel hungry. Maybe you just see that chocolate cake and it is calling your name. Stomach hunger... where you actually feel hunger IN YOUR STOMACH and not your head. Emotional hunger... I'm depressed, my Mom just died, my cat ran away, my kid flunked out of school kind of hunger. "I worked out for an extra 400 calories today so that makes me hungry" ... kinda hunger. Studies show that additional exercise does not lead to more hunger. It's an assumption by many that if they work out more they'll be hungry so they bank on it. They know they will be hungry long before they even start the work out. Of course they are hungry, they convinced themselves they would be.

I think this has been the hardest part of my journey to date, undoing my weird thinking from before. Reading the facts vs. coming up with excuses to feed my head hunger.

I used to post various studies here that I have read about weight issues, weight loss issues, etc. The reason I forced myself to read those studies is because I needed a reality check. I needed to realize that I justify eating extra food in a variety of ways and reading the science behind weight loss forced me to get back to basics. For me the basics are learning to eat when I am hungry, stopping when I am satisfied vs. feeling like an overstuffed T-Day turkey, understanding the difference between wanting to eat food and needing to eat food, and no longer justifying extra food by manipulating myself through my thinking. Now, I could be wrong but I really think many of us deal with the same issues. I see them on this board! I've seen people post that their stomach was growling so they must be hungry but they just had surgery and due to swelling couldn't really get MORE food down. That's not stomach hunger, that would be intestines stirring around making noise. Many of us don't even know what hunger is anymore. Due to feeding our head hunger for so many years many haven't experienced TRUE hunger in ages. How weird is that? That is OUR kind of weird. That's what we do.

So when people speak of fatigue and it is not right after surgery or other factors are not involved, remember, they may be dealing with their own weirdness. We all have our various weirdnesses (new word? <g>) and we all have to deal with them. Otherwise band or no band, we will stay fat. I think the real key is not to focus on perfection but to put forth serious effort to overcome them. The rest just falls into place.

Much of it depends on how much you want to be thinner and healthy? How bad do you want it? There are people who spend years looking for a way to pay for surgery. The people that really want it bad enough FIND a way. I've seen people who sell off their belongings, I've seen people get 2nd & 3rd jobs, I have seen one person who sold her home to use the equity to finance surgery. Who wants to be thinner and healthy more, the person who spends years looking for someone else to pay for the surgery or the person who busts their butt to GET the money?

I've seen people that spend months trying to pick out a treadmill. They are so busy LOOKING for a treadmill they never actually make time to finally BUY a treadmill. They do the same with other exercise equipment, gyms, etc. Who wants to be thinner and healthy? The person spending ALL their free time looking for the right thing or the person that just finds a damn treadmill and buys it? Know how I picked out my treadmill? It happened to have the old Diamondbacks colors. Honest to goodness, it was the third treadmill in the store I saw and I said, "I'll take THAT one." Not wise, but no waste of time either. ;o)

Then you have people that buy a treadmill and spend months looking for the best program. Sorry, there are only so many programs available and when someone is morbidly obese their possible programs will be limited anyway. So who wants to be thinner and healthy? The person picking a program or the person that jumps on and walks?

People play all kinds of games with themselves. They give themselves an "A" for effort but the truth is, they are spinning their wheels. Either they want weight loss or they don't. Some people just don't want it badly enough.

Moral to this long and involved, wordy, and boring post is that if you want it, you'll get it. Those complaining of fatigue merely because they are losing weight might just be dealing with their own unique weirdnesses. We all have them, we all have to overcome them. With the band you will finally get a really good start on dealing with yours. When we get a jump start (the band) suddenly we often times have all kinds of motivation.

You'll do fine, get the surgery. Be healthy, move on with your life.<<

I just reached goal after being banded June 8/06. Am I happy......well lets put it this way....if I had to do it all over again I would in a heartbeat.

Carol

Two pieces of advice:

1) EXERCISE! I was losing slowly, but since I've started a real exercise program, it's coming off much quicker!

2) Be aggressive with your fills. It took 5 fills for me, and I could still stand to be a little tighter.

You will not believe how your life will change! I just returned from a trip to Washington, DC with over 100 people, and I had NO PROBLEM keeping up. I could go on and on and on....... the difference is AMAZING!!

Sirby's right on with her advise. The band does not do all the work! Exercise, proper fills and making the right food choices are important. I would definitely do it again, without a second thought. I'm starting to feel like the woman I'm supposed to be.

Kimmom, I think we all go through that doubtful stage of feeling like we are failures for needing the band. But for me it took hard work--taking a good, HONEST look at myself and my life and admitting I need help. That's all, just HELP.

No shame in that, none at all.

I wish i had surgery YEARS ago..This is by far the best thing i have ever done for myself but you have to be determined..This is ONLY a tool..You can Gain weight back and you can mess up from time to time..Its only natural. I NEVER thought i would be able to say that ive lost over 100lbs but i am down 113 lbs so far and only have 40 to go (til doctors goal)..I LOVE to exercise now and i have never been able to say that before..Its well worth it but you need to but your time and effort into it..

Sirby's right on with her advise. The band does not do all the work! Exercise, proper fills and making the right food choices are important. I would definitely do it again, without a second thought. I'm starting to feel like the woman I'm supposed to be.

I SECOND THIS..I AM STARTING TO FEEL LIKE THE WOMEN I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE..

I just wanted to say thank you so much for your replys, I got up this morning and read what you all had written, and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate you talking the time to respond. I am feeling very anxious for my surgery( I will get the date this week ) I am so happy for all of you who are banded and have done so well. I can't wait to be where you are. Sincerely Kim

Am I successful? Yes, I think I am. Am I happy? Yes.

I have one minor regret. That I wasted time dithering about rather than actually doing something about my excess weight before I hit 310 pounds.

What do I love most about my Lap-Band? I love that I've been banded for 16 months. I lost 52 pounds in 7 months. Then I hit a super stressful and busy period in my life were I made a major change. My husband and I decided to leave Florida and move to Northern Alabama to be closer to my parents (who were moving there from Florida). He quit his job without another job lined up, we sold our house and bought a house in Alabama and we moved. We attended a family reunion, I traveled from FL to AL 5 times in 3.5 months to check on construction of our home. We kept an eye on my parents' house during construction and I argued with the contractor several times. I traveled to Florida to help my parents move. And we took a vacation back to Florida to see friends and family.

During all of that I gained weight. Yup. I bounced around in a 5 pound range. Some days up 2. Some days down 1. Other days up 4. But I never left that 5 pound range.

I didn't pay attention to what I was eating. In fact I ate out a lot while traveling and while my kitchen was packed. I didn't count calories. I didn't watch the nutritional content of my food. I didn't consciously limit my intake. And I didn't gain.

And that is without an optimal fill level.

It has taken me several months to find a doctor in reasonable traveling distance from my new home for fills. Now I've found one and I have an appointment next week for a consultation and fill.

In the days before my Lap-band I would have never made it though the last several months without gaining. In fact I would have gained a good 20 or 30 pounds during period like that.

If I had never had the band I would never have had the courage to make a change like moving from Florida - but if I had I'd have weighed 310 pounds when I made the move and the gained another 20, 30 or perhaps more pounds. I'd be living in this new town weighing 330 or more pounds.

So while I'm not a "success story" yet because I'm not done losing - I am a success because my band has totally changed my life.