I was banded on Monday, December 17. Except for some gas pains, things are going pretty well. I love this site and decided to look at different blogs. One that caught my eye was people who have had their bands removed. All of a sudden I guess I realized how hard this was going to be. With only four days under my belt, I have become somewhat depressed. Any help you could send my way would be great.

It's only hard if you let it be. I won't say losing weight is easy. Because it's not. BUT. I can honestly say I have done harder things in my life than this.

Congrats on the band!

yes in some cases you have to have bands removed but its not common. but things will go great for you. Remember theres a risk for any type of surgery just think positive and you will do great. i was banded 12/12/07 and i feel great. so chin up youll be fine. the results of getting the band outweigh the results of the risks that come with the band. gl i hope things go well for you!

Thank you so much for your support. I need to keep thinking positive. Would you mind sharing the best of part of the banding (so far)?

I am newly banded too so I can't share my favorite part yet (except that it doesn't hurt anymore). But I wanted to speak about the negative posts on here. These are legitimate people with serious problems that are posting about slippage, erosions, etc. But you have to understand that these complications have very low percentages of occurrences. But when people have problems, they are scared and they want to post a lot about it to get some support (and I will do the same thing if it ever happens to me I guess). There are tons of people that are having no problems and never ever visit this site. They are thin and out having a good time. They don't need our support anymore. They are out there living the good life. Hopefully we will be joining them soon.

Thank you so much for your support. I need to keep thinking positive. Would you mind sharing the best of part of the banding (so far)?

Fro me, there have been lots of best parts. Regaining my health, rediscovering my passion for running, getting to goal 18 months ago, then having my tummy tuck... Just living. It has all been worth it.

Thank you so much for your support. I need to keep thinking positive. Would you mind sharing the best of part of the banding (so far)?

Hi spunky,

First of all glad to hear you did well with the surgery i talked to u the night before your surgery in the chat room. This should be a happy time in your life because your starting a new life.

One of the best things the band has done for me is give me peace of mind that when i lose my wt I know i'm not going to gain it back this time! Another great thing with the band you'll NEVER leave the table feeling stuffed saying why did i eat that much i feel horriable it's 3 months since my surgery and not once have i had to go through that stuffed full yukky feeling asking why did I stuff myself. There are so many positive things to look forward to with the lapband, this will be the hardest time recovering and the food intake or shall i say the non food intake.

Thank you everyone for your comments. Right now I am trying to focus on the positive. I have a job that puts me in the newspaper basically every week. Of course, I am the heaviest person in the picture. Also, I have signed with a book publisher and will be touring next year. I know that the first think people see right now is my obesity. My goal is to gain more self esteem and not consistently be thinking about my weight. If I could have done it myself, then I would have already done it. Although I have some regrets, once I can eat atleast a small bit of solid food, things should look up. I miss sitting at the dinner table now. I miss going through the drive through. I am sure we have all been there. Thanks again for so much support and also the reality. It really means a lot. Take care.

I am newly banded too so I can't share my favorite part yet (except that it doesn't hurt anymore). But I wanted to speak about the negative posts on here. These are legitimate people with serious problems that are posting about slippage, erosions, etc. But you have to understand that these complications have very low percentages of occurrences. But when people have problems, they are scared and they want to post a lot about it to get some support (and I will do the same thing if it ever happens to me I guess). There are tons of people that are having no problems and never ever visit this site. They are thin and out having a good time. They don't need our support anymore. They are out there living the good life. Hopefully we will be joining them soon.

Well said! Sometimes I still have to remind myself of what you so ably described! There are times I even need to take a break from this site -- and my breaks last all of about an hour. Thanks for your timely reminder! :clap2: