Hey 50 & over gang We have a new spot

[gdf18 2]

Thanks for your insights. Yes, it's part of bigger issues, and I started therapy over a year before banding with a psych who specializes in eating disorders. So a year later and YES, my mother doesn't upset me anymore-lol. But there's more to go. I see it now when I want to push past knowing I'm not hungry to eat more. Thankfully, the band won't allow it. I feel it when I've gone past the "full" arrow. Which is good, and I'm glad I recognize it, but there's more work to do. Now, if I just don't "kill" my husband while I'm getting there!

[mistymoon 0]

I keep getting messages that I haven't posted here in a while so I decided I'd better say hello. I do read the posts every day and wish everyone good days.:smile2:

[70poundsoff 0]

I was banded last November 2007 and have only lost 25 pounds. I have had 3 fills and when I went for m last one, my MD said that he was reluctant to give me a fill because he has tightened mine the most of all of his patients. I can eat a good 2.5 cups of food, but I sometimes get food stuck in my throat if I don't chew carefully. I actually had an upper GI and an esophogram to see if the band had slipped. It:confused2: was shown to be in place and the liquid went through easily and my MD said that it appeared to be normal. I am worried and have stopped exercising because I have lost hope.

Is there anyone out there that has had similar problems?

[gerio 37]

I was banded January 2007 and I have probably had about 10 fills. I have about 3.7 cc in a 4.0 cc band. The clinic I go to always ask me how much I can eat and if I can eat over 1 cup they will give me a slight fill. They have always given quite small fills and increased slowly.

Don't get discouraged, this is only a tool (a great tool) but I still have to watch very closely what I eat. Each person is different, as I watch the posts everyone has different fills, and have different restrictions as to what they can eat.

It seems that every doctor is different also. Talk to your doctors about your concerns and frustrations. This site is great for giving encouragement.

Hang in there!

[momlambert 77]

Hey, all! My life got crazy again and so I haven't posted for awhile--I'm getting the same messages as mistymoon. Looks like they work!

70poundsoff and gerio--I can relate! I've had LOTS of fills--see my ticker and am now at 4.0 in a 4.0 band. My dr. isn't concerned about filling and says sometimes a 4.0 band holds 4.7 or more so not to worry about it. I think a dr. who worries about filling you more than other patients is not willing to see that everyone is different and that he needs to help you for gosh sakes! Crazy. I'd press him further, for sure.

I'm a really slow loser but I'm still really happy that I have my band. With all the stress in my life since I got my band--definitely the worst year of my life for other reasons: caring for and losing 2 parents (my dad and my mother-in-law); selling 2 houses, building and furnishing another house, two new grandbabies (both high risk), starting a new job after 10 years of not really working, having my mother move in last month while remodeling her house and dealing with her mid-stage Alzheimers, etc., etc.--I know I would have gained 50 lbs. without the band.

So I exercise when I possibly can, try to make good food choices, and feel grateful for restriction when I have it. I need another fill but just a little one and it's really hard to drive the hour to the dr.'s with a new job and my mom's needs so I haven't gotten one. Sounds like I'm whining--sorry! Everything is good. I'm just explaining, I guess, that we all have our challenges and that ANY loss is a GOOD loss!

Hang in there--exercise, eat well, be assertive with your dr., and you'll keep losing--even if the loss is slow. Good luck!

[kareyquilts 1]

Momlambert: Sounds like you've had quite the year. I appreciate your positive attitude. I hope you can take some time for yourself in all the business life has thrown at you! Wishing you could get the small fill you need. You deserve it! Anyway, that's how I feel about my band, I'm sure I would have gained weight with out! Stress is what got me to needing the band in the first place! Good luck!

[momlambert 77]

Momlambert: Sounds like you've had quite the year. I appreciate your positive attitude. I hope you can take some time for yourself in all the business life has thrown at you! Wishing you could get the small fill you need. You deserve it! Anyway, that's how I feel about my band, I'm sure I would have gained weight with out! Stress is what got me to needing the band in the first place! Good luck!

Thanks, Karey. Looks like you are doing GREAT--congratulations on your success and your surgery, too. You look great. You were the very first person who responded to me when I first joined LapBandTalk over a year ago! I think I asked "what does pb stand for?" I'd looked everywhere I could think of and couldn't find the answer--I appreciated your support then as well as now. You're awesome! Karen

[wanda-sc 0]

Hi:

I turned 50 on May 31, 2008 and was banded June 5, 2008. I wondered how this journey is going to go due to age. I noticed the surgery hit me a little harder than I expected.

[Great2BThin 5]

Hey Wanda, we are almost twins. I turned 50 on May 17 and had my band surgery on Jun 5th! I'm hoping for some 'nifty 50's' as I get to feeling better and better!

[gerio 37]

mom lambert I go to the same doctor (see nurses but they are great). I like the way they do their fills and the way they let you help decide if you need a fill or not. Keep up the good work. Slow loss is always the best.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Momlambert, I am so sorry to hear about all that you have been through in the last year.

I had to move my dad into assisted living and sell all of his things. Just that alone caused me to gain 5 lbs which I have since taken off. The band is a big help to not keep gaining and gaining.

70 lbs, everyone is different. I would think if you tell your doctor that you are hungry all the time, and that the band is not doing what it is supposed to do, that he should give you a fill. As long as you are not eating junk food, your tool was meant to help lose weight eating small portions.

[bochs 0]

Hi all, I went to see my surgeon yesterday and I start my fasting on Friday. I am so scared about this. I went and got a new scale today and some other things that I need to get by for a while. I hope I lose on this. My doctor told me that the band was a very good choice for me because my health is good but is not really a big fan of the band. He says the r and y is just as safe as the band. He told me that the band will do 20% of the work and I will have to do the rest. I'm like WOW you are kidding me. He said pretty much. I said then this means you aren't going to be too agressive with this at all are you. He did not answer. But then he says that the goal is to lose about 11/2 to 3 lbs a week. I said I would be thrilled with two a week on a steady basis. He said maybe, maybe not. Anyway I am having this surgery and I pray that it helps me lose weight because everyone in the city knows about me now and I don't want to be a failure. I am going to give it my very best shot and we will see. thanks for listening everyone as I am nervous about it.

Beckyo:unsure::thumbs_up::frown:

[gdf18 2]

You need to have faith in your surgeon for the medical end, and yourself for everything else. That's all there is to it. And I have to add that for many of us, the band actually does a lot more than 20% of the work. I figure it's 50/50. The band helps me not eat a lot and lets' me know that I shouldn't eat more. I have to learn to listen to it and get my a** moving. Finally, the perfect marriage!

[IndioGirl55 32]

Hi all, I went to see my surgeon yesterday and I start my fasting on Friday. I am so scared about this. I went and got a new scale today and some other things that I need to get by for a while. I hope I lose on this. My doctor told me that the band was a very good choice for me because my health is good but is not really a big fan of the band. He says the r and y is just as safe as the band. He told me that the band will do 20% of the work and I will have to do the rest. I'm like WOW you are kidding me. He said pretty much. I said then this means you aren't going to be too agressive with this at all are you. He did not answer. But then he says that the goal is to lose about 11/2 to 3 lbs a week. I said I would be thrilled with two a week on a steady basis. He said maybe, maybe not. Anyway I am having this surgery and I pray that it helps me lose weight because everyone in the city knows about me now and I don't want to be a failure. I am going to give it my very best shot and we will see. thanks for listening everyone as I am nervous about it.

Beckyo:unsure::frown::party:

Becky

Remember we take the word hope out of our vocabulary and replace it with will - Positive affirmations.:thumbs_up:

I am not a doctor but I really have to disagree with him on the issue of the band vs bypass - Yes IMHO i have been quoting since day one that the band does 25% of the work (with proper restriction) and the other 75% is up to you. We still absorb our calories where as bypass pple don't - we don't have the malabsorbtion problems or the dumping problems that bypass pple have. IMHO it really boils down to how much weight you have to lose and what your drug of choice food is ie candy, ice cream, Cookies - sweets period - plus things like chips- for me if those are your major problem foods then yes bypass might be the right answer as you are going to get physically ill from eating these foods and your body isn't going to absorb the calories - Where as if your drug of choice is food period that you just eat too much - ie eating a Breakfast burrito - hash browns - oj - and a sweet roll - then lunch a big sandwich chips and cookie - after noon Snacks candy cookies chips - then dinner 2 servings - then dessert - then another serving of dinner and maybe some more sweets before bed - then the band is a good choice cuz no way are you going to be able to eat like that with the band. My doc had me answer questions as to what kinds of foods i ate - I asked him if he thought that the band was a good choice for me or should I go with the bypass - he said that the band was a good fit for me.

Becky - Please know that the band is only a tool and yes the 75% that is up to you is to make good healthy food choices and exercise - this is a lifestyle lifetime change - you have heard that phrase all your life on any diet you have been on - now you will have the tool to help you make the lifetime lifestyle changes in order to lose the weight -

The band is not the magic cure to your issues with food - you are going to have to do a lot of mental work on that front as our problems with food really are more in our heads instead of our stomach.

When I joined LBT - The women in the 50+ thread kept drilling the tool issue into me (Denise will remember as she is the only one who is still posting from back then) They told me to let go of that little hope in the back of my brain that said - oh the band will do the work - i can just cruise along... I heeded their advise and that's where I came up the the 75% vs 25% and when I asked my doc he said yes I was correct.

If this was the easy way out - then yes the band would do 75% of the work and we would only have to do 25% - the Oprah would be right in her opinion that WLS is the easy way out and that we aren't doing on our own - Heck I am doing this not the band - I am the one who is eating healthy - I am the one going to the gym not the band - I am doing the work and the band is the tool to help me control my portions only.

OK - Off my soap box - but yes darling this is work - but with the band it makes the job doable - yep it's still hard at time - but you can work through those hard times - as we will have your back and be here to support you.

Change your vocabulary to only positive affirmations about this - you will be a success - this isn't just another fad diet - as diets don't work as the saying goes, cuz the minute you go off them and start eating normal you gain it all back plus some - you are going to learn that we were not eating normal before and that our new healthy eating is really what it's all about - plus exercise - it's very important too.

What's your surgery date ???

Know that we are here for you.

[gdf18 2]

Hi again. Becky, I want to add to a couple of things and go to what Indiogirl said.

First, when I went to my surgeon for the first consult, he told me I was a candidate for either. He didn't say he liked on better than the other, but he made it clear that I'd lose more weight faster have gb rather than lb. I was so taken aback. I was almost insulted. So I told him why I didn't want gb and he said fine, but it was his job to let me know all the options for someone starting at my weight. And as I've come to know him, I've come to think so very highly of him- he's the absolute best as far as I'm concerned. So, don't let one remark through you. Until your surgeon knows you better, he's going to give you the most general info. You know what you want, as I did, and you're gonna do great with it.

Indiogirl was 100% correct that volume eaters do the best with lb. It's harder if someone is just sweet tooth, because that can be satified around the band. And changing your life is work, but it's great sweat that makes you happy- like a great session at the gym!

Speaking of OPRAH! A few years back there was a story about a young woman she was tracking, who weighed 525 and lost about 300 pounds with GB surgery. She was a very special girl, and I've never forgotten what she said about the GB surgery- all WLS by the way. She said that at the beginning it was 90% the surgery /10% her. And she said that as time went on it changed at at 300 pounds less, it wsa 10% the surgery/ 90% her. It was the most valuable thing I ever heard about WLS.

And OPRAH herself! I get very annoyed with people who have opinions like hers who are not really facing their own demons. Here's one of the weathiest women in the world, who has private chefs and trainers and every support imaginable, and she struggles constantly with her weight and lately, she'd been gaining again. The ups and downs of her weight are not healthy and I'd say that if anyone can find an EASIER way to save their life and health and live longer and better.......they are the smartest ones in the room.

One last thing. There was a study recently completed in Australia, where they used Lapband long before the US. The study concluded that although one could lose more weight faster with GB, after 5 years the percentage of weight loss was EQUAL. No difference.

Okay, I'm off the soapbox as well.

Take care!