Kaiser Richmond Pre-op

[reggie71 0]

Hi Jst and all LB Family,

jst if I had to do it all over, honestly I would explore the sleeve. The most important question that some of us face is whether we can be discipline enough. That is a major requirement for all surgeries but more so for the band.

Best wishes, I say research and figure out which one would beat suite you.

Reggie.

[riley4183 0]

Hi Jst, hi Reggie! I miss you girl!

I have a band, and I did really, really well with it and lost 124 lbs in less than 2 years. I was 2 lbs from my goal weight, so they considered that I had lost 98% of my excess weight. I WORKED IT. I was in a size 10 and r e a l l y close to a size 8. Then I met my man, the chef, and stopped excercising and following my plan, and I have now gained almost 40 lbs back (!) and have to SQUEEZE into my 12s. I have lost some again, but it's a struggle and it always will be. So. should I have had the sleeve? (I did NOT want RNY, and if you tell them that they will respect you!) I wonder! If they had offered it at the time, I would have looked into it for sure. But I think I still would have gone with the band. It is adjustable even after you lose all your weight. With the band, as I have gained weight back it has gotten tighter and tighter, so I get to the point that I cannot gain any more - for the first time in my life!! If you want the band, request it. Most folks were RNY when I went through, and when I met Dr. Baggs I said simply, "I will only consider the band" and he said OK (and pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to me - funny guy!). Whichever you chose - IF YOU FOLLOW THE PROGRAM, IT WILL WORK!

I had orientation early November and surgery late February - so it took 3 months for me. And surgery was a breeze - almost drive-thru! In at 8, home by noon. Back to work the next Monday.

Good luck!!! :-)

[wantshealth 0]

Hi Jst, hi Reggie! I miss you girl!

I have a band, and I did really, really well with it and lost 124 lbs in less than 2 years. I was 2 lbs from my goal weight, so they considered that I had lost 98% of my excess weight. I WORKED IT. I was in a size 10 and r e a l l y close to a size 8. Then I met my man, the chef, and stopped excercising and following my plan, and I have now gained almost 40 lbs back (!) and have to SQUEEZE into my 12s. I have lost some again, but it's a struggle and it always will be. So. should I have had the sleeve? (I did NOT want RNY, and if you tell them that they will respect you!) I wonder! If they had offered it at the time, I would have looked into it for sure. But I think I still would have gone with the band. It is adjustable even after you lose all your weight. With the band, as I have gained weight back it has gotten tighter and tighter, so I get to the point that I cannot gain any more - for the first time in my life!! If you want the band, request it. Most folks were RNY when I went through, and when I met Dr. Baggs I said simply, "I will only consider the band" and he said OK (and pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to me - funny guy!). Whichever you chose - IF YOU FOLLOW THE PROGRAM, IT WILL WORK!

I had orientation early November and surgery late February - so it took 3 months for me. And surgery was a breeze - almost drive-thru! In at 8, home by noon. Back to work the next Monday.

Good luck!!! :-)

Hi Jst, Reggie and Riley,

Gosh I miss all my girls so much. Where is everyone??? Has anyone heard from Heather - is she doing OK?

Jst, I think you need to just research each surgery and listen to what your doctor has to say about your health condition as well. I was banded about 1.5 years ago and I think I would still make the same choice. I totally agree with Riley - if you do what they tell you to do it will work. That being said, you can eat around the band (and I have heard you can do it with the other surgeries as well.) I think a critical part of this process is eventually getting to why you over ate in the first place and doing something to change that reaction / behavior. The band is a tool like Riley said and it can help you lose and maintain weight, but it isn't a magic pill.

I was plateauing in the middle of my first year and in October 2010 my surgeon increased me to 7 cc's even though she did not think it was the right thing - she likes to aways back off .5 cc's from full; it was too much but I didn't know it right away. About 6 months after I started having lots of trouble with acid reflux, pain and vomiting. I thought the band had slipped. On 7/1 of this year, my surgeon (Dr. Park) unfilled me to where I was at the time of surgery to 4 cc's (my 2nd fill was to 6.5 cc's where I should have stayed) and ordered an upper GI. Thank goodness the band had not slipped, but my esphogus was showing weakness from having to work too much to push the food down/through the band. She want me to stay unfilled for at least 3 months and then we will see. I was at 171.2 but am now up to 179.6, so I am heading in the wrong direction. That being said, I am not doing what I should be. I am eating sweets and snacking and eating bigger portions. So it is a life long process and journey.

On the positive side, I am doing lots more Yoga and feel great about that. And I made a big decision: I started graduate school last night. I am going for a Masters in Counseling so I can get a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) license. I've wanted to do this for soooo long - so it is really exciting and a little overwhelming. I would love to eventually help women who struggle with the emotional aspects of over eating. I totally believe that individual psychotheraphy should be part of the pre and post surgery after care.

Anyway, I hope more of our girls start posting. And we need to plan a fall walk. If anyone wants to drive to Petaluma on a Saturday, I am happy to host the walk and lunch.< /p>

Love and hugs to all my sistas of surgery (and brother John)!

Pat

[reggie71 0]

Hi Jst, Reggie and Riley,

Gosh I miss all my girls so much. Where is everyone??? Has anyone heard from Heather - is she doing OK?

Jst, I think you need to just research each surgery and listen to what your doctor has to say about your health condition as well. I was banded about 1.5 years ago and I think I would still make the same choice. I totally agree with Riley - if you do what they tell you to do it will work. That being said, you can eat around the band (and I have heard you can do it with the other surgeries as well.) I think a critical part of this process is eventually getting to why you over ate in the first place and doing something to change that reaction / behavior. The band is a tool like Riley said and it can help you lose and maintain weight, but it isn't a magic pill.

I was plateauing in the middle of my first year and in October 2010 my surgeon increased me to 7 cc's even though she did not think it was the right thing - she likes to aways back off .5 cc's from full; it was too much but I didn't know it right away. About 6 months after I started having lots of trouble with acid reflux, pain and vomiting. I thought the band had slipped. On 7/1 of this year, my surgeon (Dr. Park) unfilled me to where I was at the time of surgery to 4 cc's (my 2nd fill was to 6.5 cc's where I should have stayed) and ordered an upper GI. Thank goodness the band had not slipped, but my esphogus was showing weakness from having to work too much to push the food down/through the band. She want me to stay unfilled for at least 3 months and then we will see. I was at 171.2 but am now up to 179.6, so I am heading in the wrong direction. That being said, I am not doing what I should be. I am eating sweets and snacking and eating bigger portions. So it is a life long process and journey.

On the positive side, I am doing lots more Yoga and feel great about that. And I made a big decision: I started graduate school last night. I am going for a Masters in Counseling so I can get a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) license. I've wanted to do this for soooo long - so it is really exciting and a little overwhelming. I would love to eventually help women who struggle with the emotional aspects of over eating. I totally believe that individual psychotheraphy should be part of the pre and post surgery after care.

Anyway, I hope more of our girls start posting. And we need to plan a fall walk. If anyone wants to drive to Petaluma on a Saturday, I am happy to host the walk and lunch.< /p>

Love and hugs to all my sistas of surgery (and brother John)!

Pat

HI Pat, Riley, Pam , Jes and all our LB family. I miss you ladies so much.

Pat congratulations on starting graduate school, I am about to embark on school Quest also. I have a God given talent of event planning, baking and catering. Finally i have gotten the courage to start marketing myself. I will keep you all posted.

I am about to try this Sensa product, hopefully it will help jumpstart my band. I have to do the bulk but if i can get my cravings under control i'll be fine.

Since WLS i have developed a crazy craving for sweets that i never had before and that was my ultimate demise in gaining all my weight back. I wish I could blame it all on this there are other factors as work.

I am so ready to do this again. Hope we can all get together soon.

Love you all,

Reggie

[Carmen188 1]

Hello, my name is Carmen, are the meetings still going on at Kaiser south?

my email address is jolly.carmen@yahoo.com

I am soooo struggling to lose any weight, I am terrible at this lap band thing. I need help

Here's a new band support group that is starting this Thursday near the South Sac Kaiser. I am planning on attending - finally a support group on this side of town.

Support Group Meetings:

When: 1st Thursday of the month

Time: 6:30pm to 7:45pm

Where: Bruceville Terrace Skilled Nursing Facility Multi-purpose Room

Address: 8151 Bruceville Road, Sacramento, CA 95823 (on Methodist Hospital campus)

Who should attend:

Anyone who has had band surgery whether successful or not in losing weight and keeping it off.

Anyone who is considering having band surgery.

Mya Moore-Dudzik has graciously volunteered to lead the group meetings each month. She has participated and led band groups in the past. Mya had a band placed several years ago and has been very

successful in losing weight and keeping it off. Her passion is to help other band patients be successful and to create an environment that is open and honest about bands, eating, relationships.......whatever.

Randee Reidy, our Program Dietitian, or I will be at the meetings to answer any questions each month.

Pam

[Carmen188 1]

Hi Reggie, I too have had a weird obsession with sweets since my surgery, it is totally sabotaging my weight loss, I think before the surgery i would never allow myself to eat many sweets and now I think that since sweets do not cause me any discomfort i want them more. I am going to try to get off the sugar for a while but don't really know if I have the willpower to do it. It's crazy, I am failing miserably at this lap band thing. I got sidetracked i guess i know it was still going to be work but i didn't realize that I was going to have to diet like i did before surgery. a lot of times i think i eat sweets because i know they won't cause me discomfort like Protein does. I am trying to get in the habit of chew chew chewing my food more...i have just gotten lazy and out of control...but I will get it back one day and I know this band will help me lose weight..it's just me right now doing and eating how i like...one good thing is there is no way i can eat as much as i used to without getting sick..and i know without the band i would have ballooned up over three hundred pounds by now with the way i am eating ..so i do not regret the surgery ...I wish everyone the best with their bands...it sure wasn't what i expected it to be.

HI Pat, Riley, Pam , Jes and all our LB family. I miss you ladies so much.

Pat congratulations on starting graduate school, I am about to embark on school Quest also. I have a God given talent of event planning, baking and catering. Finally i have gotten the courage to start marketing myself. I will keep you all posted.

I am about to try this Sensa product, hopefully it will help jumpstart my band. I have to do the bulk but if i can get my cravings under control i'll be fine.

Since WLS i have developed a crazy craving for sweets that i never had before and that was my ultimate demise in gaining all my weight back. I wish I could blame it all on this there are other factors as work.

I am so ready to do this again. Hope we can all get together soon.

Love you all,

Reggie

[Lee 19]

Hi Carmen,

I think that the truth is that regardless of which WLS we selected, it's still about what we eat. I had the Sleeve 18 months ago and I've been on a diet every day since then. I hope that you can get focused on dumping the sugar out of your plan. I know that for me, if I eat a little, I want a lot and basically just have to stay away from it.

I see that you had Dr. Park for your surgery. We have meetings at Kaiser Richmond on hte 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month. They are held on the 3rd floor in the conference room where the pre-op meetings are held. I hope you can figure out how to get there. There is a lot of great support to be found there.

Lee

[MoniqueD 8]

Hello Everyone! I hope all are well....Miss you all!

[reggie71 0]

Hello Everyone! I hope all are well....Miss you all!

Miss you all too !!!!

Hi Carmen,

Hope all is well with you. Yes the sugar craving is no fun. Lee said it best that we have to try and kick the habit. This journey by no means has been easy, but if we continue to pluck at it a day at a time we just may succeed. Take care and best wishes.

[singand_dance 8]

Hi everyone! It's been quite a while and I have news!

I finally had my sleeve surgery Monday, October 17 at SSF. My surgeon is a big fan of the Single-incision technique, but with my gallbaldder coming out at the same time he couldn't do just the one, but I ended up with only two incisions. I had a rough time coming out of anasthesia, mostly because they didn't tape one of my eyes well enough and it got too dry during surgery. When I woke up it was so scratchy. I complained about my eye in the recovery room and to every nurse who walked through my door. I didn't end up getting anything for it until after 9pm. I refused to open my eyes because it hurt so bad so I think that delayed my recovery a little.

On Tuesday, my Breakfast tray came at the same time as the transport chair to take me to radiology for my upper GI. Unfortunately they only had 1 transport person so the Upper GI took way longer than it should have. I got to radiology and sat there until Francisco came and brought me in. Then he had me get up on the table (very painful!) he took one xray then told me the table was going to be inverted so I'd be standing. I was pissed at this point because he made me climb on the table- knowing I'd just had abdominal surgery. He didn't even lower the table for me. Once he inverted the table he left me standing there for several minutes. I was finally able to reach my IV stand where my pain pump button was hanging so I could click away. Then they had me drink the stuff. I love how the guy tells me to take bigger gulps, Uh, I haven't even had a sip of Water this is the first I've had to drink and I'm terrified of gulping! Anyway- no leaks and they wheel me back to the hallway where they leave me for 20 minutes or more, waiting for that single transport person. I'm sure I was quite a sight to see, I was hunched over in my chair watching the clock on my IV and pushing my pain button every 6 minutes.

I got back to my room and slept a little and then my lunch tray arrived, then Dr Alami showed up and took one look at me and said 'Yeah, you don't look great. You're not going home today". I had a change of rooms because there was a problem with the plumbing and got to go home Wednesday.

So far I'm having a little trouble getting all my water down, but each day is getting better. I've only taken my tylenol w/ Codeine once since I got home. Sometimes it makes me nauseous and my pain isn't intolerable.

I miss you ladies, and I hope we can get together soon!

[momcof3 1]

Congratulations Heather! For some reason I thought you had your surgery a while ago. Sorry to hear you had a hard time at the hospital. If you need anything let me know.

Hi everyone! It's been quite a while and I have news!

I finally had my sleeve surgery Monday, October 17 at SSF. My surgeon is a big fan of the Single-incision technique, but with my gallbaldder coming out at the same time he couldn't do just the one, but I ended up with only two incisions. I had a rough time coming out of anasthesia, mostly because they didn't tape one of my eyes well enough and it got too dry during surgery. When I woke up it was so scratchy. I complained about my eye in the recovery room and to every nurse who walked through my door. I didn't end up getting anything for it until after 9pm. I refused to open my eyes because it hurt so bad so I think that delayed my recovery a little.

On Tuesday, my breakfast tray came at the same time as the transport chair to take me to radiology for my upper GI. Unfortunately they only had 1 transport person so the Upper GI took way longer than it should have. I got to radiology and sat there until Francisco came and brought me in. Then he had me get up on the table (very painful!) he took one xray then told me the table was going to be inverted so I'd be standing. I was pissed at this point because he made me climb on the table- knowing I'd just had abdominal surgery. He didn't even lower the table for me. Once he inverted the table he left me standing there for several minutes. I was finally able to reach my IV stand where my pain pump button was hanging so I could click away. Then they had me drink the stuff. I love how the guy tells me to take bigger gulps, Uh, I haven't even had a sip of Water this is the first I've had to drink and I'm terrified of gulping! Anyway- no leaks and they wheel me back to the hallway where they leave me for 20 minutes or more, waiting for that single transport person. I'm sure I was quite a sight to see, I was hunched over in my chair watching the clock on my IV and pushing my pain button every 6 minutes.

I got back to my room and slept a little and then my lunch tray arrived, then Dr Alami showed up and took one look at me and said 'Yeah, you don't look great. You're not going home today". I had a change of rooms because there was a problem with the plumbing and got to go home Wednesday.

So far I'm having a little trouble getting all my water down, but each day is getting better. I've only taken my tylenol w/ Codeine once since I got home. Sometimes it makes me nauseous and my pain isn't intolerable.

I miss you ladies, and I hope we can get together soon!

[MoniqueD 8]

Congratulations, Heather!!!! I hope you are adjusting this week. Each week will get better and better. I know you will ultimately be happy with the results. How much have you lost so far?

Hello Everyone!!! How are you all? It is like a ghost town in here! I do check in occasionally and would love to see you all in the future. Maybe we could arrange a holiday party or walking activity!?????

Me? I'm still maintaining and doing okay. I just celebrated my 2 year Banniversary last week....October 20th! I still can't believe it's been 2 years.... I still struggle, I still have to work hard, and I still need to lose 30 or so pounds!!!! Overall, I am still happy with my results and am told I look good! I feel good and am striving towards....AMAZING! I feel almost 20 again!!!! I think I'm up 5lbs...more like 188/189lbs....When my all time low was 183lbs....Not changing my ticker because I am going to get back there. I have a 2 year sergeon appointment next month and am trying to get there!!!!

I hope all are well.....

[MoniqueD 8]

Congratulations, Heather!!!! I hope you are adjusting this week. Each week will get better and better. I know you will ultimately be happy with the results. How much have you lost so far?

Hello Everyone!!! How are you all? It is like a ghost town in here! I do check in occasionally and would love to see you all in the future. Maybe we could arrange a holiday party or walking activity!?????

Me? I'm still maintaining and doing okay. I just celebrated my 2 year Banniversary last week....October 20th! I still can't believe it's been 2 years.... I still struggle, I still have to work hard, and I still need to lose 30 or so pounds!!!! Overall, I am still happy with my results and am told I look good! I feel good and am striving towards....AMAZING! I feel almost 20 again!!!! I think I'm up 5lbs...more like 188/189lbs....When my all time low was 183lbs....Not changing my ticker because I am going to get back there. I have a 2 year sergeon appointment next month and am trying to get there!!!!

I hope all are well.....

[AudsMom 2]

Congratulations Heather! I too thought you had surgery a while ago, but Im glad its finally done:)

I read just this last page, and honestly if i had th eoption to redo any of it i would have done no surgery at all. I would have gone thru preop, heck i lost a lot on preop, after band i lost what 30, and gained 15 back fast. I am still considered a "success" as most of us are, but i think we all excpected it to be a bit different. I have a HARDER time loosing weight now but whatever..

I cant really focus on it anymore, for the past 3 yrs i have been dieiting daily, now since im pregnant (most know this i think??) i have to teach myself how to eat again, lol. AND eat carbs oh my i missed the carbs. Luckily ive lost 2 lbs since finding out prego, but ihave no energy to work out at all, barely walk it blows. I miss my active lifestyle.

I miss all you girls we need to do another lunch soon! Seriously.

Question anyone talk to Christine?? i need to talk to her about how the pregnancy went with her, im havin lotsa issues.. and since not a pt many places i cant get the band looked at.. so i have to go thru with the pregnancy with my band all a mess:)

How is everyone doing??

[momcof3 1]

Christine is on Facebook .

Christine is on Facebook

Congratulations Heather! I too thought you had surgery a while ago, but Im glad its finally done:)

I read just this last page, and honestly if i had th eoption to redo any of it i would have done no surgery at all. I would have gone thru preop, heck i lost a lot on preop, after band i lost what 30, and gained 15 back fast. I am still considered a "success" as most of us are, but i think we all excpected it to be a bit different. I have a HARDER time loosing weight now but whatever..

I cant really focus on it anymore, for the past 3 yrs i have been dieiting daily, now since im pregnant (most know this i think??) i have to teach myself how to eat again, lol. AND eat carbs oh my i missed the carbs. Luckily ive lost 2 lbs since finding out prego, but ihave no energy to work out at all, barely walk it blows. I miss my active lifestyle.

I miss all you girls we need to do another lunch soon! Seriously.

Question anyone talk to Christine?? i need to talk to her about how the pregnancy went with her, im havin lotsa issues.. and since not a pt many places i cant get the band looked at.. so i have to go thru with the pregnancy with my band all a mess:)

How is everyone doing??