Hi, I'm 45 year old female, 5' 3.5", 230, and have been overweight for most of my life.

I have been doing diet and excersize programs at the YWCA, work 50+ hours a week and my weight is going no where.

I have osteoarthritis of the knee, insomnia, sleep apnea, and hypertension. Have also had Meniscal Tear repaired in my right knee, which limits the amount of excersize I can do while on my feet.

And I find with excersizing on the treadmill 30 min a day 5 days a week, plus 90 sit-ups everyday on a excersize ball, my weight is still not going down.

My dilemma is should I try to increase my excersize level in what little time i have left from the hours I work and cancel my surgery, or should I go ahead with the Lap-Band procedure and continue with my current excersize routine.

Also, I seem to be getting mixed responses from my surgeon and my weightloss/fitness trainer that was at my bariatric nutrionist' office as to what I need to do before/after my surgery.

The Surgeon asked me to go on the Atkins Diet two weeks prior to my surgery, and then a liquid diet four weeks after my surgery, and a gradual move to more solid foods. And that I would require a fill 6 weeks after my surgery and other fills every 3 months.

The weightloss/fitness coach told me that I wasn't prepared for my surgery as I needed to be on a more rigouris excersize program than i'm doing now, a minimum of 5 Hours of Cardio and Resistance Training 3 times a week. I needed to have been eating 110-118 grams of Protein a day before for several months before my surgery. And that I'd require fill's every 6 weeks.

So my concern is i'm not prepared and am doing this the wrong way, and I will either have complications from the band or this procedure will fail in someway.

Please let me know what your opinions are on this, as my sugery is in 3 weeks, and I'm now terrified, and am getting cold feet.

:tongue2::biggrin:

Ask him about blood thinners and what he does for traveling patients. I'm sure he has a protocol of some sort. There are *lots* of things that can be done to minimize blood clots.

Right before my surgery my surgeon gave me a Hepran shot right before my surgery. My surgery center is only an hour and a half drive though. I have a clotting disorder where I am very prone to clots and I didn't have a problem at all...they may suggest that you stop and stretch your legs every hour or so. Good luck and I'm sure things will be fine. :eek:

The other thing you could consider is staying at a motel or hotel for the day of your surgery.... that way you will be close to the doctor's office in case you need to go back (god forbid) for some reason.

i do understand about the long trip. mine was 5 hours away. They gave me blood thinners and the instructions were if a long ride home to walk every hour to keep the blood circulation. so stopping the vehicle and like a 5 min break of walking. the ride home was actually almost 8 hours before we drove to our cutoff and it was closed due to fire so we had to reroute it back. Alot of people have the same concern so please dont feel like your alone. i was certainly concerned and just ensured to walk often.

Well, today I talked to my md's office that is doing my lap band surgery and told them about the 110 gms of protein and I faxed them the 1200-1400 calorie diet plan that the bariatric nutritionist here where I live at told me to do. They could not believe all of the protein and food on it. I told thm also that it was a lot more than I have been eating for the last 6 months! They told me to go back to what I was doing before and then 2 weeks before the surgery do the low carbs so that is what I am doing. I am attending a support group at lunchtime on Tuesday to ask some questions and see what kinds of foods I will be able to eat.

What kind of foods are any of you eating? What favorite thing have you had to cut out? Me I am a steak and potato girl. When could you start eating real food again and has anyone had to throw up as a result of having the surgery and trying to eat real food? I am worried about the throwing up part as I have read that it can cause band erosion. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I am closer to the decison to have it for my health and to live a longer life for my son and my cats.:smile:

I have not thrown up or pb'd since surgery. I finally slimed once, last week, because I ate some rice and chicken, and the rice was a little "sticky". I have eaten all of my favorite foods, except for salad. I won't even try it. For you, the steak will probably not be a good choice.

I eat about 1/3 of what I ate pre-banding. We went to a my favorite pizza place last week and I ate 1 piece of a 10" pizza. If I eat chicken tenders I eat 1-2 of them. I normally don't eat any fries, but I do eat vegetables after I have eaten my Protein. If we are eating stew or Soup, I eat about a cup.

It is amazing to log my food intake now and then try to multiply it to figure out the calories I was consuming prior to surgery. Now, I stay between 1000-1400. I lose about 2 lbs per week. I will probably go for a fill before Thanksgiving. I will have her again do a small fill. I think the reason that I don't get sick is that I am not too tight.

It seems that the one thing many people have a problem with adjusting to, is not drinking with their meals and never having soda again. Even though this hasn't been an issue with me, it is driving my close friend crazy. I would begin practicing chewing your food more thoroughly and taking smaller bites, so you can begin to cut out fluids during your meals. This will make your adjustment easier.

well just ask yourself this... do you eat alot? If not then no dont get the surgery.. It seems to me your doing good without it. If you try to go on a diet and cant and eat way to much then the surgery will help if not skip it because its not magic and its hard work almost like not having it at all.