After months of indecision, I have decided that the Lap-band is the right decision for me. I've tried to gather as much information as I can, but I need to know what symptoms I can expect to have after Lap-band surgery. I have a tentative date for surgery at the end of March 08.

What is PB? I'm over fifty, am I still a candidate for LP? and are there any over fifty members who can share their experiences with LP. What can expect if I make bad food choices, and what are those choices.

I don't see the surgeon until the end of February after my pre-op skill group sessions and a sleep study.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

There is a support group on this site for age ranges, you can find yours there.

As for your questions, they are very open-ended. You'll have to take it a day at a time. Period. Do your research and you'll be fine. This isn't about counting calories, Fiber grams, etc... It's about portion control. I haven't counted a single calorie and I've lost 53 pounds since Aug 27th. It works. You'll be fine.

Since I was banded in October, I have had no issues with PB (Productive Burp) or Sliming (Throwing back up with Digestive Enzymes) because I follow the rules--you have to eat slow and chew, chew, chew!

I wasn't a real red meat eater before the band and fell right into the protein-rich foods I had loved from before: yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, tuna, canned chicken, Beans, chili, baked chicken. I have difficulty eating beef, lettuce, pineapple, celery, onions but that doesn't mean I CAN'T eat them--I just have to be extra careful when I do (and I must admit that I generally take the easier way out!)

The biggest change in my life is the Protein shake that I have twice a day to ensure I'm getting in the 60 - 80 grams of protein daily that we need. I'm always making sure I have enough whey protein isolate (belgian chocolate--yum!) and buy it in 5# containers. (from Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, books, DVDs & more and I make sure I get free shipping).

For me it was a godsend--this band really works!

I went to Mexico 2 years ago and had my lapband done by Dr. Joya in Puerto Vallarta. I weighed 200lbs when I had the surgery. I had it done as I have High Blood Pressure and Diabetes. 2 years later I am 135 lbs and don't want to loose any more weight. I was loosing a couple of lbs each month until August of 2007 when I got a "Whole Foods Blond Brownie" stuck:eek:...for 8 long hours. I made the mistake of trying to throw it up...and push it down with water for about 5 of those hours. After that incident it seemed as though everything I swallowed came back up. After a fast fifteen lb weightloss and feeling like I was about to die...seriously...I went and had my lapband completely unfilled...still problems with holding down food. Then I had an exray...no band slippage...then a barium swallow...liquid going through band with no restriction. They wanted to do an endoscopy in November but with the holidays coming I opted out due to finances. I was down to 128 in December and considering having the band removed completely. I have really slowed down my eating and am getting three meals a day and am back up to 135...Praise the Lord!

You asked about what can you expect...at your age...I had no problems...I was sore for 2 weeks after the surgery but continued to work. Be very careful about what you eat and how you eat it. Chew, chew, chew...no joke...I cannot stress this enough. Make sure you don't chomp, chomp swallow or you will have problems. I steer clear of any fibrous meat...aka

steak, pork, shrimp (is really bad, the only way I can eat it is if I put it in the food processor and make shrimp salad out of it. I eat no bread but crackers are fine. For breakfast I have a bowl of crunchy cereal with fruit, for lunch a bowl of creamy soup and last night for dinner I had meat loaf, mashed potatoes and lots of gravy. For my snack I had a couple of oatmeal cookies.

Portions are small........the days of filling a plate are gone...I am eating on small plates only and very slowly. I am down to my highschool weight and really happy about that. I feel great, don't get winded, have much more energy and love that I can wear the current clothing trends that I could never find in my large size 16. I am now a size 9. My insulin is down from 50 units AM and 50 units PM to 15 units once a day. My blood pressure meds have been decreased by 50%. All in all it was a great choice and I am glad that I did it!!!

Thank you for the information. I started this process back in July 07. I’ve sat with the nutritionist and the psychologist. In February I’ll be attending the pre-surgical skills group. I’m always asking questions and just when I think I’m up to date, I read through the forum and find more to think about. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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I’m not sure yet if I will be given a “diet” regiment from the Weight Center or if I can choose a program i.e. South Beach, Weight Watchers etc. Initially my search for information was in the direction of gastric bypass. I do have a basic understanding of the post op diet at the beginning, but it’s the ever after I’m interested in knowing. <o:p></o:p>

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I know that most of the information I need, I won’t know until I attend the skills group. But there’s nothing like hearing it from personal experience. <o:p></o:p>

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I could really use a Band-buddy; I’m 57, live in Massachusetts and looking forward to getting back my energy and health. <o:p></o:p>

I too am in my 50's. I was banded last May and have never regretted one SECOND of it. Like all life changes, it is a behavioral retraining and there is a learning curve. I kindof liken it to learning to ride a bicycle. You screw up and reap the "benefits" of falling on your face a few times and then all of a sudden you have this "AHA!" moment where the light shines down and you have this realization of what it takes to be successful and what you need to do. It's nothing to be "scared" of. You will be able to eat 90% of the foods you ate before.....just in MUCH smaller quantities. The operative word here is retraining the way you eat. That's all it is. I have embraced my new lifestyle and all the benefits, physical and emotional, that I have received from it. My only regret is that I couldn't have done this 15 years ago.

Thanks Kacee,

It's funny you say that about doing this 15 years ago. In the beginning when I was considering weight loss surgery, I wondered if I was too old, wished that I was younger to enjoy the benefits...and then one day I just realized that I'm only 50 something..and I still got a lot of "somethings" a head of me...and maybe energy to spare. So, I stopped obsessing about my age and started thinking about the future.

As a side note...I found this blog...Surgeonsblog. It's written by a retired surgeon. He's got a great post on The Groening of Weight Loss Surgery. It's about lapband surgery and his thoughts on the proceedure. There's some great feedback and comments.