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An obervation on what scared most of us before our Lap-Band surgery.



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I have asked alot of us banders what REALLY scared most of us before we had our surgery. And without a doubt, the response that I have gotten has been, "I was REALLY scared or totally bummed that I would not ever be able to gorge myself again".

When I tell people that are not obese this, their first reaction is to giggle or laugh. But when I tell obese people about my little survey, they almost always agree.

So, whats thinks you? My good friends that I have come to know on this great forum. Did you have the same fears? If not, then what were your fears pre band?

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I think a bigger fear for me was failure. I had failed at successful weight loss so many times and I kept thinking how humiliating it would be to go to such extremes an fail yet again.

I would say that not being able to pig out was definitely a concern though.

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The only thing that truly scared me and made me worry, was that I wouldn't actually get to have the band, that they would go inside and my liver hadn't shrunk - nothing about actually having the band scared me, not being able to eat the same way didn't bother me in the least.

The absolute first thing I asked when I came out surgery was "Did they put my band in" Mind you I was drugged up so it might have been slurred when I asked lol, the nurse couldn't believe that was my first concern !

Barbie

Edited by babbs3772
why not?

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I was worried about not being able to use food as a comfort source, you know, eating to make myself feel better. Also about if the never-ending hunger would ever really go away (it did!)

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I was also afraid that for some reason they would not be able to put the band in. When the nurse was waking my up, she said "wake up Lucy, your are banded". That was such a relief to me.

I was also afraid of faliure. Even last night, I had a dream that I was not losing anymore weight, so I was looking into another WLS. Scarry, glad I woke up from that dream....but you see faliure is on my mind.

Now, do I miss gorging on food. Sometimes, yes. But I am so glad that I cannot do it anymore.

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I was also afraid that for some reason they would not be able to put the band in. When the nurse was waking my up, she said "wake up Lucy, your are banded". That was such a relief to me.

I was also afraid of faliure. Even last night, I had a dream that I was not losing anymore weight, so I was looking into another WLS. Scarry, glad I woke up from that dream....but you see faliure is on my mind.

Now, do I miss gorging on food. Sometimes, yes. But I am so glad that I cannot do it anymore.

Hi Lucy!

I am glad to see I wasn't alone in the concern of whether the band was in or not after surgery :thumbup:

You and I are quite close for surgery dates, I was banded June 16th. You are doing fabulous on your weight loss! Hope to see you around the boards :thumbup:

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Oh my gosh, now that you post this, I think I did worry most about, "What? I can't drink an extra large Baja Blast from Taco Bell anymore? What will I do at my favorite pizza buffet too???" That's really sad. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to be a pig anymore.

I will add though, with any surgery I have, I've always really worried about dying on the table. That's just me though. lol

Thanks for this interesting perspective!

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I can't believe I can never have champagne ever again, so I've been drinking it like it's water!:thumbdown: The dying doesn't bother me because if it happens, I'll get to see my husband. What makes me nervous is that this won't work, or I'll have to have it removed because of erosion or that it'll leak.

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My biggest fear is of course failure. I can't believe I wont be able to drink soda and eat cake. I crave pizza and hamburgers but I think I will be happier without those food in my life. Someone on here once said 'Nothing tastes as good and being skinny feels!' and that helps me a lot when I get down about not eating my old favorite foods.

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I totally trusted my doctor, so I didn't worry to much about the band. I was more worried about ending up in a wheelchair if I DIDN'T have the band. I was concerned about not drinking with meals and not being able to drink carbonated beverages, but those turned out to me a non issue. I guess I was most scared that my insurance comapny would say no at the last minute. I waited 11 months for an approval and had to appeal twice. Either that, or have it done, and then them tell me it wasn't approved and I would have to pay for it myself.

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I'm having my surgery tomorrow, and I can say my BIGGEST fear is that I'll fail, yet again.

Hell, I've been dieting since I was 13 and now I'm doing this. I've gained and lost 75+lbs a few times, and how will I know this time it'll be different?

It will be different for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest will be the fact that I can't 'gorge' like I used to:)

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I'm a Prebander and I can agree with the fear of losing that solace in food...

The other half of me is afraid that this wont work either..

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failure is my greatest fear OMG please dont let me be one of those cases that cant wont lose a pound. i have a good chance of sucess being that i dont care for sweets or soda i love meat and potatos lol but please dont let me fail not too mention i have all eyes oh me being that i have told everybody that i am havihng the proceedure (me and my big mouth lol}

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I too have not been banded yet but agree with you all. I don't fear dying but sure do fear that this won't work and I've failed again. Sometimes I fear that I will miss certain foods but I guess thats not the worst thing that could happen. And maybe thats a good thing lol. I guess you could always smell the foods you crave and maybe take a lick lol. Oh well best of luck to all.

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I'm getting banded in a couple weeks and I too am afraid of failure. Personally, I have only struggled with my weight for the last 7 years and I'm so worried that I won't be able to get back to my "old" self again.. Also I'm worried about not being able to drink while eating.. I'm one of those that drinks alot when they eat, and I'm really concerned that is going to be a problem for me.

And probably the biggest fear is that I am a social eater, meaning I eat out alot with friends and family and I worry about how I am going to be able to continue my social habits without all the eating!! On top of that, only my husband and my mom know about my surgery, so it's going to be hard to explain my new eating (or not eating) habits to everyone...

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
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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

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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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