My name is Theresa but everyone calls me Tree! I am 42 years old and my surgery is scheduled for March 11th! My husband had his surgery Sept 30th and is down right at 50 lbs. He is losing slow but we are ok with that, he is losing and he has more energy than I have ever seen him have. (currently he is in the other room lifting weights - so proud of him)!!!! Just found this website tonight and so excited to be here! Looking forward to connecting and sharing my progress along the way! So far I have met with surgen, sonogram of gall bladder done, and met with nutrionist. I have psych eval, EDG, and heart clearance to go! Oh and the ever wonderful prediet! So far so good!

Welcome!

Welcome!!

Good morning to all Lap Banders........not sure if I am on the right page to Introduce Myself, but spent 30 mins looking through and this is what I found so sorry if I am on the wrong page.

My name is Liz and I am from Cheshire in the UK 30 mins from Liverpool and 30 mins from Manchester.

My journey with my Lap Band started on the 12th November 2014 when I had my band fitted in Belgium. In the UK Lap bands are very expensive and cannot get them on Insurance like I have been reading a lot about happens in the USA. We have a Holiday Home in Spain and a neighbour of ours there had had one in Belgium and highly recommended the Service and aftercare in the UK they offered. So I had it done in November by a Bariatric Surgeon,, Dr Chris DeBruyne who has done in excess of 5000 of them, so I thought yes he seems experienced enough!!!

For 4 days after the op there was a bit of pain, but the painkillers helped and it soon subsided. The Surgeon also told me he had repaired a Hiatus Hernia that he found during the Operation. I did lose 14 lbs within a couple of weeks, but thought that was due to the liquid diet etc. Christmas came and I did cut down and used a smaller plate which in my head makes me think I am having big meal if the plate is full, rather than a big plate half empty. Had a infill of 2.5ml on the 16th December. To be honest didnt feel restriction and Christmas came and went with the downing of quite a lot of Baileys Irish Cream. I must admit I feel I could eat a lot, but when eating not sure if I am full or it is psychological, but weight is coming off although slow. Had a 2nd infill of 2ml on the 16th January and due to being in Spain until the end of March cannot have another one until the 17th April. I did find a Doctor locally, here in Spain, to do an infill, but emailed my Surgeon and he advised against it and mentioned I have a 2 year Guarantee and if an infill is done by somebody else and damages the Lap Band I would lose the guarantee. So decided against that.

I am eating very healthily now Porridge in a morning topped with berries and lunchtime I will have a salad and in the evening chicken,, fish and vegetables and the like. After reading all the comments on this wonderful forum, nothing like it in the UK, it will be lovely to share my Journey with people who have had the same operation.

Thank you for having me and good luck to everybody who is having their op soon and also those who are coming to terms with it and who are on the same journey as I am.

Liz (Cheshire UK)

Welcome