I have 5 days before I am banded. I have read so many positive posts here and I really do need banding as my weight has been up and down for years and I need banding to help me control my weight not have it control me any longer. BUT I'm starting to panic. I am concerned about all the excess skin? My doctor tells me some people are left with flabby skin and some are not. Great help he was as I will not know which group I fall intountil afterb the weight loss. I dont want toend up with skin that looks like melting wax?

I'm thinking about the same thing. I'm 20 days away from banding and I keep thinking about the lifestyle that we lead and hope that I can do this. I'm also worried about being on a 2 week liquid diet. I know all this is because I am afraid of the unknown. This site really helps when a am feeling this way. People with the band say this is normal for us to feel this way. I also worry about the skin problem. I figure I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Are you on a liquid diet and if so how are you doing.

Sorry you are so nervous MariaS. You have made a decision to do something about your weight! Now you are having the tug of war that many of us do or did have. That is normal to try and second guess or even validate your answers. Sometimes we just have to make a list of pro's and con's for doing something. That worked for me. The pro's list was alot longer than the con list. My health and the benefits of losing the weight made me realize banding was the answer for me. I had my band 4/29/07 and have lost 21 lbs. I can already see the difference in my body. Execerise can help tone the muscles and skin. You have a certain amount of elasticity in the skin and that will help. Personally, I'll take some sagging anytime to rid some of the health problems that the excess weight causes. I know you'll make the right decision for you. Good luck with your decision. Keep us posted!

Jen

"Happy to be on the BAND WAGON"!

Hi Cblancha9,

I have been a liquid diet for a week now, OMG am I hating it, what I would do for something to CHEW!!!But I have made up my mind I am Sick of being overweight and fighting the diet war. But I am sooooo nervous and worried about having made the right decision. I hope you do well with your banding, stay in touch.

Hi Allwright,

21lbs in 1 month! Thats fabulous. I agree, I will put up with a little sag if it means being healthier. My parents both have Diabetes and failing kidneys, I just dont want to go there. I will keep you posted and thanks for the reply

Cheers to you both,

Maria

Hi Cblancha9,

I agree, I will put up with a little sag if it means being healthier.

Maria

Maria, I totally agree. My surgeon tells all of his patients this at his seminars..."If you have decided to have the lap band because you want to "look" better, then you need to get up and leave. Lap band surgery is there to help people regain their health, not their figures...that's just a nice side effect."

Peace Out!

T~:hippie:

OMG, I just realized I was saying 4/29/07 and it was March. Does that mean I have started having "senior moments" early. Sorry for the confusion!!!

hi, i am so anxious. i will be banded on 6/4. saw surgeon yesterday and he was annoyed that i didnt lose weight before surgery. i just dont have another diet left in me. i started low carb today. he said my liver is enlarged and fatty. I am also 66 years old ,

hi, i am so anxious. i will be banded on 6/4. saw surgeon yesterday and he was annoyed that i didnt lose weight before surgery. i just dont have another diet left in me. i started low carb today. he said my liver is enlarged and fatty. I am also 66 years old , i need some support please

Regarding liquid diets for two weeks: It may be longer than that. I don't know what your doctors reccs are, but some folks are on liquids for two weeks pre-op and two to four weeks post-op. But I can do ANYTHING if I know when the end will be. After all, it is only four to six weeks out of my LIFE. It won't kill me. It will be beneficial for my HEALTH.

I think we all worry about the loose skin, but I ask you, would you rather have loose skin, or 100lbs or more of fat on your body? Would you rather have some loose skin (and you can always get plastic surgery), or possibly a heart attack, or diabetes or back pain or joint problems? Do you want to be able to climb a flight or two of stairs without being totally out of breath?

Sorry for being so direct, but lately I've been into tough love. Sometimes I think we need it, I know I do.

PACUPatty, YES YOU DO (have another diet in you)! You CAN do this! You have GOT to! This is the start of a new life for you. Get off your toosh and get it done! Don't think of it as a diet, think of it as changes in your life. I refuse to call it a diet, I say I've made some small changes before banding and they've made 44lbs of difference so far. I've given up (well, I've backslid a bit-so I only lost 3 lbs this month) simple carbs, simple sugars, starches like white potatoes (I eat sweet potatoes) and rice and milk. I try to eat steel cut oats, whole grain breads, use soy milk on my Kashi in the morning, I avoid battered fried foods. I log EVERY bite of food I eat on fitday.com (there's many more, thedailyplate.com, calorieking.com, sparkpeople.com and they are free). I don't "count" calories in that I don't limit myself to a certain number per day. But just seeing what I've eaten seems to help keep me from going over about 2200. I log all liquids, too. Can be loads of hidden calories there. I try to eat like a bandster already (I don't want the shock of how I'll have to change after banding). Of course my portions are not bandster-sized, but I eat with baby utensils to force myself to take tiny bites, I eat Protein first then veggies, then if I have room I eat carbs/fruits. I try not to drink with my meals (I won't be able to down the line), I chew, chew, chew. I gave up carbonated beverages in January and caffeine in December. It sounds like a lot, but it really has been pretty painless (until this past month and then the potlucks started happening at work). YOU CAN DO IT!

Just wanted to let you all know that I have been there and I was recently banded on the 18th. The pain is very minimal and the diet is not that bad bc your stomach is swollen so you don't want to eat anyway. I went back to work within days and one of the Doc's around here did a woman 77. She did real well. The hardest part in training your brain to say I'm through eating. Overeating even on liquids puts pressure on your incisions that is a little uncomfortable. It really was not near as bad as you think of a surgery being. It has been the best decision I have ever made and I would do it again in a heart beat

But I have made up my mind I am Sick of being overweight and fighting the diet war. But I am sooooo nervous and worried about having made the right decision.

You know, even though I'm 4 weeks away, this is the total mindset I am working myself into. Go team banding!

Ha! My Dr required no pre op testing OR diet. And I'm fine..... I worry about a Dr. who doesn't get it that IF we could lose weight on our own before the surgery, we might not need the surgery!

Regarding droopy skin...I'd rather have that than excess weight. What I was told is that it's best to lose slowly, averaging between 1 and 2 pounds a week, to give the skin time to catch up, and that exercise and moisturizer help. If it helps any, I'm 57, and my skin droops as I lose and then tightens up slowly. Don't know if that will continue for the second half of my weight loss, but so far so good.

I too worried about that. I asked my surgeon will I sag much. Now that I think about it, how would he know. everyone's bodies are different!!! but i do agree that strenght training and aerobics can begin the journey.

but by no means try not to let it stop you getting the surgery.

I felt the same way as all of you, I am now 10 days post op and feel fabulous. The small amount of pain I had in my port area is gone. I got up today and felt so good I mowed the yard for my husband.

Good luck to all of you! Once it is done you will wonder what you were so worried about to begin with. Oh and my scars are sooooooooooooooooo tiny!!