I know that there is another thread out here for Dr. Gonzalez, but that seems to have evolved into more of a discussion on the pros and cons of this doctor. While I absolutely agree that this is a necessary thread, I feel like those of us who have done our research and are comfortable with our personal decision don't really have a place to post anymore. I am scheduled for surgery with Dr. G on December 7th and I would love to share pre-op, recovery and living with the band stories with fellow Dr. G patients.

I thought it was interesting that Dr. V told me that I could have mushy veggies on the pre-op in addition to the liquid diet. Because I am a little freaked out about the whole liver issue, I think that I'm going to try to stick to straight liquids, but it's nice to know that it's out there. I also am going to start the pre-op diet the day after Thanksgiving (2 weeks instead of one).

Thanks for listening!

Hi all - I've been MIA for a month or so. I had my first fill and after one week I had no restriction. So I've spent the last month losing and gaining the same two pounds - very frustrating.

I hope that the second fill does the trick. It's just a little depressing right now because I know other people have had much better success in their first months. I wish that I could control it myself, but then I get annoyed because the reason I had the surgery was because I knew I couldn't control it myself.

Glad to see everyone's successes though. I'm still hopeful that will be me someday.

I am feeling a little depressed about my weight because I need to go for my second fill and I can eat anything if I chew it enough. I have been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds. I went with my parents to Arby's roast beef and have a large, yes I said large, roast beef sandwich. Everyone just watched me eat the whole thing. My husband said "did you just eat that whole sandwich?" Yes, and then ate 2 chocolate chip Cookies on top of it. Sort of out of control wouldn't you say. I love to eat and I know it. I read that during the first year it is not uncommond to have 10 fills. This was from the company of the lap band. Dr. Gonzalez gives us good fills so that we don't have to have so many. But it is not reasonable for me to expect much weight loss after only one fill. I want everything now, it is hard to wait

I found this site and it helped answer some of my questions. I have a APS band that starts with 3ml of Fluid in it and then has 10ml on top of that, I think. They say the 3ml you don't really count, so that right now I have 1/2 ml in my band. No wonder I can eat anything. :laugh::laugh:

The LAP-BAND AP™ System: The Platform Advances | Bariatric Times

Thank you for all your input.

Hi All.

I've been busy looking for a house in Montana. BF wants to buy a second home there. Looks like we will be snow-birding.

CaliforniaNurse it is getting time for me consider getting another fill. There are certain foods that I cannot eat at all but, of the ones I can eat, I eat too much and have not lost weight in a while.

YEP, love to eat...that's me.

I think I might be spending a little to much time reading through this forum, now I'm reading all this horror stories about not being able to eat anything after the surgery for ever, also PAIN Left shoulder pain,what is this?? and on other threads many people complain of lack of information

Need some advise :confused2: from some of you guys that already went through all this .

I think I might be spending a little to much time reading through this forum, now I'm reading all this horror stories about not being able to eat anything after the surgery for ever, also PAIN Left shoulder pain,what is this?? and on other threads many people complain of lack of information

Need some advise :confused2: from some of you guys that already went through all this .

Actually these things are not much to worry about. If there are certain foods that you find you cannot eat then you just eat other foods. Like I found a problem with broccoli so I just eat the heads and not the stems. I found that it is the stems that bother me. Also a lot depends on how tight your band is. I want mine tight because I love to eat toooooo much. Other things that bother me is beef and such that I don't chew well enough. The chewing is a big thing that helps you spend more time eating and thus eating less.

Thus the really cool thing is that you do not have to deal with hunger the way you have to before banding. Also you just cannot eat as much at a meal as before the banding, when you get your band tight enough.

That shoulder pain is what some people get after surgery with in the first few weeks because of the gas they put into your abdomin for the surgery. I myself never had it and the gas resolved itself very quickly. The shoulder pain goes away quidkly.

Hope this helps.

thank you NMSUNSHINE, I can only hope I can be one of the lucky ones that don't have to struggle all the time, I know once I set my mind to have this done, there's no way I can let my self down, but it is a scary thing even to think about it ,I thank all of you that have been so nice and have taken the time to write back in this forum and hope to be one of you guys soon!

thank you NMSUNSHINE, I can only hope I can be one of the lucky ones that don't have to struggle all the time, I know once I set my mind to have this done, there's no way I can let my self down, but it is a scary thing even to think about it ,I thank all of you that have been so nice and have taken the time to write back in this forum and hope to be one of you guys soon!

You'll be so happy to see that scale go down and not up without having to starve yourself..............

how is everyone doing?

how is everyone doing?

HI, wow you are doing really well on your diet/weight. I've been having a bit more than usual problems with keeping food down though I am doing all the right stuff. I do fine with liquids (unless I try to drink something right after I eat). Think I should go on a liquid diet for a while.

My boyfriend is buying a second home (for summer) in Livingston, MT. We've been working on finding one. We found the perfect one. This afternoon we will be putting an offer on it.

How R U doing?

I finally had my second fill yesterday. I was scheduled for 2/22, but we had our one and only snow storm on that day, so I got rescheduled. It was interesting because after I complained of no restriction, the doctor took out all of my fill and told me that even though he put in 2.5 at my first fill, he withdrew 2.0. Where did the other .5 go?? He said that he sees it all the time with first fills but not so much after that. He assured me that I don't have a leak or there wouldn't have been anything left in the band. So we filled me back up and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

He didn't realize that I had been rescheduled and told me that I should have come in sooner. So that reassured me a little bit. If I don't feel restriction after three weeks, I'm getting back on the phone. I need to use this tool that we've all paid so much for!

NMSunshine, a second home sound great! Hope the offer goes through without a hitch!

California nurse, I loved your last post about how much you could eat. I felt like you were writing my story! Here's to better restriction!

Newblew

I've been feeling a little discouraged because I had hit a wall on my weight loss. Actually, I gained a few pounds last month but still managed to lose inches. I'd like to say it was all the exercise I'm doing but the truth is.... I'm a slug most of the time. I work nights and sleep all day. On my days off, I'm usually too tired to do much, so I sit around some more.

I have been dealing with a gall bladder problem and there's still no resolve from the doctors. I had an ultra sound which showed a shadow of some type. I had a CT scan a few days ago but it will be next week before I hear the results. In the meantime, I am telling myself that the shadow was my band and I'll be fine a long as I quit eating peanuts.

I've been thinking a lot about this thing inside me and what it's suppose to do. I sometimes feel like I'm not making progress but when I read other people's stories, I realize they took a year to lose 60 pounds and 2 years to lose 100. Reading this, I don't feel so bad at my 40 in 4 months but I still want faster results. Doesn't everyone??? I'm trying to keep my eyes on the goal and not worry about getting there too fast. It will happen.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Judy

NewBlew,

I guess our bodies absorb some of the liquid in the band. Congrads on the second fill....each fill gets us closer to the 'sweet spot'.

They counter offered and Jerry (BF) accepted. This house is cute to the max. It's a turn of the century home (1900) and has been completely updated by the contractor/owner. The exterior os soft yellow with a new blue (now, that just hit me as funny...your handle is newblew) metal roof on house, garage and studio. A white picket fench surrounds the perimiter. The inside has hardwood floors (including kitchen). Woodwork is the original painted white with pale gold walls. It has bay windows and window seats....all that romantic 'little cottage with picket fence' stuff.

EXCITING

Judy, your 40 pds in 4 months is a wonderful rate of loss...All I've lost is 20pds in 6 months!!!!!!

Looks like we can have our own mini versions of "Slow Users - Unite" on this board!

I'm stuck at 20 pounds over 3 months so I want to join too. This is purely anecdotal based on the stories I read on this site, but is seems like there are a couple different versions of bandsters. The one that we all want to be is the person whose head is actually ahead of the game. Those people jump right into exercise and have rapid weight loss from the beginning. They start off with a diet of a tiny person and keep losing. That positive reinforcement helps the brain stay in the right place and before you know it they have changed their lives.

I applaud those people - I wish I was one of them. But even though I'm not, I still think that there is success ahead. For people like me, I think the physical limitation for eating has to come first. My brain wasn't any more ready to sustain this life change than it was the last 20 times I went on a diet. The difference though, is that without the band, I would have gained the 20 pounds back completely and would be spending the next few months beating myself up over it before I tried another diet to get ready for summer.

Now I can own this 20 lb weight loss and turn to another fill to help it get started again. The fact that I had lost a lot of my first fill gave me a taste of what life is like without the band. I think that made me get down on myself because it felt like every other diet and I felt like a loser because I couldn't do it myself. The heck with that! I don't care if I am calling the doctor every three weeks...I am going to maintain this feeling of restriction. I need this help. I knew I needed this help last fall when I decided to get the band. How foolish am I if I don't use it as much as possible to help me achieve my goals?? I think we will all still get there!!

NMSunshine - how far is your second home from the first? Will you be commuting for weekends or is it more of a "pack up once and stay there for a few months" deal? It sounds beautiful. My goal in the next 10 years is to buy a second home in a warm climate so that hubby and I can float back and forth when we retire. Retirement is a long way off but I can dream....

Judy - hang in there!! You really are doing great!

newblew

Judy, I forgot to say that we have almost the same amount to lose and if I lost another 20 pound like you, I think I would feel downright skinny.. remember that we are always hardest on ourselves and to the outside world, I bet you are a hot tamale!

Good luck with the health issues. That's always scary - I think even more so now that we have something "foreign" in our bodies all the time. It's hard to forget about that.

Sending good thoughts!!

newblew