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I am thinking about being banded.


Guest Shayne

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Guest Shayne

This is a big step for me. I have been big my whole life. I just keep getting bigger and bigger. More and more health problems. I am very scared. What is the recovery time after the surgery? Is it really painful? Do people look down upon you because you had the surgery and didnt loose the weight on your own? What was your family and friends reactions. How long are you off work? Thanks for your input.

Shayne

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Shayne,

Recovery time varies. I felt better after about a week, with my 3rd post-op day being the worst. It wasn't awful, I was just sore.

My family has been incredibly supportive, even my mother-in-law. I was most concerned about telling her, but she was familiar with the band and quite pleased with my decision.

In general, I find people to be very supportive. People who think we are weak or lazy are the ones who are uninformed about obesity and I toss their opinions into the "clueless" file, which is where they belong. :)

Tonia

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Hi Shayne,

One of the really cool things about banding vs. other types of WLS is that it's really easy to keep it to yourself if you want to. The surgery is relatively minor, and it shouldn't take more than a week for you to feel almost 100% recovered. It can easily be accomplished during a short vacation from work, for example. Personally, I took three days off--back at work on Monday after a Wednesday surgery.

As for people looking down on me, well, anyone who would hold such an opinion isn't worth my worrying about. My friends and family who know have all been supportive. Those I haven't told have no idea anything was done.

Like you, I have been big my whole life. The band presented my best hope for gaining control over what's so long controlled me. Justifying it to other people wasn't something I felt necessary.

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my dr has had patients go back to work the very next day. personnaly i dont see HOW!!! it wasnt that bad days 2-3 were the worse, but it was nothing the pain meds couldnt take care of!! things like getting in and out of bed were annoying in that you have to take it easy. looking back i really cant think of much that was just AWFUL. it is surgery so you have to expect that you'll be sore. i had mine on a monday and went back to work on friday. now i wont lie that first day back kicked my butt! i was pooped by the end of the day. i even worked through lunch so i didnt have to stay an extra hour! everyone is different!

as far as others reaction...i have been rather open in telling people. i find that i want to tell every overweight person i see about the lapband! lol! now SOME family members i didnt tell because i know them and i didnt want to hear their sh%t! and alexandra's right they havent even noticed.

i have read on other WLS boards where a lady had lost a total of 120 lbs and when people would ask her how much she had lost she would say 15 lbs even if she hadnt seen them in 5 months and had lost 40. when they asked her her total she would say 60 lbs. and no one ever questioned or doubted her. If you tell someone who has never been over 150 lbs that you have lost 150 then yeah they may look at you funny so just tell them a reasonable number to satisfy them... or tell them where to stick it!

my family has been very supportive. they all want me to be healthy and live a long happy life.

good luck shayne! keep us posted!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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