Hello Lower BMIers and Happy New year@!

I was banded on 12/1/08 and haven't had a fill yet. I had a tough time scheduling a Fluoroscopy and my fill center will not provide a fill until I have one.

At this point I have no restriction...except occasionally when I feel heartburn so I know I have the band. It's extremely difficult at this time as it is very cold out and I usually exercise outside. I've lost 15 lbs since banded but I'm afraid I will gain it if I don't get a fill soon. Being a lower BMIers I think we do have the luxury of taking it slow....looking down the road as a life long process.

I know it's about getting back into the mind set of living and eating healthy but now I am dealing with head issues. I feel guilty paying out of pocket and not seeing changes. I must trust tho that everything fell into place for me to get this thing and I worked incredibly hard to become BAnded so there will be results but patience is the word to focus on now.

I am turning 50 in March and I feel somewhat like I'm about the birth a new me....going through extreme birthing pains now but I have faith in the process. It's not so much a new physical me that is blossoming but a saner more spiritual me (I hope) who won't escape into food or need to hide or fight with life anymore.

Blessings to all in 2009.

Hi there I had my band in December as well, and also started at a low BMI. I've lost 20 lbs so far, which has been noticeable, which is encouraging. The first 2 weeks were heavenly, because I just wasn't hungry.... harder these last few weeks because I am. I want to lose another 40lbs, and keep reminding myself that it may take a year, and I shouldn't expect it to happen overnight... but the bottom line is I sure wish it would! Best wishes on your journey and your fill.

Thanks Susan...I loved the first 2-3 weeks also! It was great I felt so healthy and had great energy. I don't mind waiting a year either. I will be happy if I just lose the weight I need to. This age is tough too....I am 49 now and my hormones are kicking in ....makes me very hungry.

Best to you on your path too!

Hey So., I'll also be turning 49 7/8 this year (and holding). I'll be banded in April or May and I'm not expecting good restriction until at least the holidays, so I'm planning on this taking several years to lose what I want (remember they say 1-2 pounds a week- and that's once the band is working with you...it takes some a year to get to their sweet spot). I think it's important to set realistic goals, especially with a lower BMI and my age...that way you feel good about what you're accomplishing instead of dissapointed (I know, I know...easier said than done...we all want it to 'drop' off us). Hang in there!

Hey Fluffy:

Thanks for the rational words! You are right, but after going through sooo much to get this Band sometimes I feel frustrated I'm back to ground zero with my bad eating habits! Winter makes it harder and our age, low BMI.....but I'm not looking to weigh what I did in my 20s or even 30s...just want to be a healthy normal weight. Today is the big day ...finally getting my first fill and I am aware there could be no restriciton. I have been trying to exercise more tho.

You are a patient person and I will remember this is for the long hall. It is good to know that there is something in place that will help us....because it doesn't get easier but this will even the playing field!

thanks and good luck to you!!!!

Hey thought I would like join you all. I was just banded on Friday the 13th. So far so good. I started out around 37.5 BMI but have high lipids and diabetes and borderline blood pressure issues. Since pre-op I started out at 189 lbs or thereabout, highest was around 195 this past year. Although at one time in my life I was over 200 managed to keep away from that. Anyways, didn't think I would qualify for the surgery, got denied. Went through obesitylaw.com and then was approved but said my insurance changed 1st of the year... well to make that stupid story short... due to the ambiguity of the wording of my policy, obesitylaw.com got my denial reversed and hence I was able to be banded on Friday the 13th. During this time, I really thought I wasn't going to get it so I started taking the Optifast (got some from a friend) and doing boot camp on my own and whittled my weight down since Dec to 169. I lost 7 more lbs on pre-op to 162 and now 5 days after surgery down 7 more I am 155. My heighth is 4'11.

Even more thrilling is the fact I went off my diabetic meds. Now if this darn liquid diet doesn't kill my colon, I'll be a happy camper. I am feeling fairly fine after my surgery.

So that's my story.

Hope to see you all later!

M

Wow you're doing great! Your about at my goal weight (I'm 5' 8.5") LOL! Hope to join you in a few weeks! -BG

Hey Congrats M on being banded AND getting your insurance to cover you! Bet you didn't have Cigna...obesitylaw tried to help me but was denied 3x and found a low BMI study and paid out of pocket. Even though I paid out of pocket this band is worth it's weight in GoLD! I hit my coveted "sweet spot" after my 2nd fill. So be patient ...it takes other's more fills...but when you get there it's like nothing you every experienced. I eat like a normal person now. A handful of nuts makes me super full. I don't have that out of control appetite I had before and I never got full. Now I eat like a thin person and I am fitting back into my size 16s and my stomach is finally flattening out after the post swelling. I think the band is a miracle. Keep doing what your doing you sound like your doing great already!

best

marg

Wow...this site has changed. It has been awhile since I've been back here. I have moved and am starting the approval process again with a new doctor. I hope I am approved. My insurance is now wanting two co-morbidities. Ugh. Wish me luck! :-)

Hello all Thanks for all your posts. I just read the 18 pages from the 2008 thread and it was great.

I'm 185 pounds and 5'6" (31ish BMI) and I'm set to be banded on 4/21 by Dr. Zapata in Monterrey, Mexico. My mom was banded by him a year ago, only 'needed' to lose 50 pounds but has lost close to 70 and hasn't had a single problem.

I go back and forth from "this is a good decision" to "I'm not THAT overweight" "Why am I going to alter a healthy body?" "What am I doing to myself?" "What if I hate it?". I don't know what conclusion I've come to. It seems to change depending on what thread I read.

My mom tells me that she doesn't want me to have to struggle my whole life with weight like she did. She weighed much more than I have hit yet, but I'm still young and there's plenty of time. But is there also plenty of time to lose weight?

I was thin (120) for 3-4 years because I was on swim team and exercising 6 days a week for 2 hours a day. That is not realistic to my lifestyle now, and I anticipate my free time will continue to diminish as I get older. The transition from college to working full time left me feeling like I have no time, and I don't even have kids. But am I just being lazy and giving up? I'm a smart, independent and generally rational person, but am I being crazy?

I'm mostly just scared that it's going to take over my life. My weight affects my life now. I'm not as confident and social as I could be, and it sucks to say, but I'll probably get farther career-wise if I dropped this excess weight. I got a beautiful breast augmentation (I know you're all thinking red flag! but I love them and wouldn't change that decision for anything) 40 pounds ago and would love to be proud of them again. Is it going to go from being quiet at the bar because I'm insecure, to not going out at all because I might PB or have gas pains?

I get the feeling from this thread that the band kind of takes over your life. I don't get that feeling from my mom. Her life is totally normal and has improved DRASTICALLY since her weight loss. Is my mom an exception, or are others able to live their day to day lives without it revolving around the band? I understand that this is a huge decision and you're probably constantly reminded of it, but I'm afraid to be obsessed! How has it affected your normal day to day life, other than meal time?

I obviously have a lot of questions and concerns. I just want to live a normal, slimmer, healthier life and have one less thing to worry about. It also doesn't help that my steady, best-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me boyfriend thinks I'm nuts. But then again, he'd love me if I weighed 500 pounds.

I need your love/support/comments/concerns

Hey! I think you'll find all ends of the spectrum here, so don't let it scare you off. Sure there's those that 3-more years out are still weighing their food and counting every calorie. You'll even find some that still drink 2 or more Protein shakes a day many years out. Personally I/my doc says I NEVER have to/actually they don't want me to drink protein as it slides right through and you might as well have gone on a liquid Protein diet than get the band. I'm pre-band, but after I get to the point where I'm back on solids I will be eating normal healthy food, just a lot less of it, and that's exactly the normal diet my NUT has given me. No Protein Shakes, no counting every calorie or measuring food (I will do this for a while until I get comfortable with the portion sizes/calorie levels, but I've dieted so long this shouldn't be hard), just 4-6 oz. of lean protein first, the veggies and fruit up to a total of 1- 1 1/2 C and try to keep it 1000-1200 cal.

I look at it as you've got to know yourself and what kind of control you'll need. I think those that need long term (obssesive as you put it) control and are having problem are more likely to hang around here than those who are doing well and are now out living life. I'm getting my band in a few weeks, but have been in this process for almost a year and have spent a lot of time researching. I'm a 'good' dieter and I've been a normal-thin weight many times...I also always feel like I'm starving and when I get to goal I slowly put it all back on plus more. I was very thin through childhood and up until my first child at age 28, and I, like you was into exercise, even taught classes. I'm trying to share all this because if I had had the opportunity to do this 20 years ago I would have. As you get older it gets harder and harder to lose the weight and keep it off and you start to get other things (ie. I have osteoarthritis in my back/neck) that are just part of age and wear/tear on your body, which make it harder to exercise so it's a vicious cycle and suddenly you find yourself obese. I wish I could have avoided all those years of going up and down and how I felt like a 'diet failure'.

Could you lose weight through diet and exercise? Sure, I did! Would you like to lose weight through smaller portions and exercise and have the help of a tool that will help you not feel like you're starving the entire time and will help you KEEP IT OFF? Either way, you'll be doing the real work. Good luck with your decision, and I'm sure your Mom has shared her process with you and she sound like she's now got a normal relationship with food.

-BG

Well I am newly banded and right now it is consuming my life but that just because I am still on liquids. I know this phase will pass soon and hopefully I'll start to feel more normal. I had the same kind of questions you had California. I still have them. I think you should keep questioning yourself even til the day you get banded. Also you can't base your decision on anyone else than yourself. If your health and mental well being are in question, then you have your answer. For me I have diabetes, and other escalating health problems. I decided it was worth the risk to find out if it can help me.

Best of luck in your decision.

Thanks.

I guess everyone has had these types of questions. I guess "obsessed" was the wrong term to use. I just want to live a normal life with some aid in portion control. I feel like I'm having to break up with food. Food has always been there, and I anticipate that will be one of the hardest things for me. It's not goodbye, it's just see you later, right?

You all have such an awesome community here. I'm excited to get to know all of you and watch everyone's journey.

Well I'll tell you what, you are right, your perception and relationship with food will change. Mine came before the surgery when I was pre-op and I had some major stuff going on and I could have gone out and had a hot fudge sundae. (or french fries or a belgian waffle) but I couldn't, I was on my pre-op diet. I felt what it was like not to be able to fill that void with food... so I ended up going and buying some new clothes because I went down from a size 18 pants to an 11 pre-op. And I am reluctant to report that shopping has sort of replaced food. I am only a few weeks post op and I am struggling with all kinds of things, wanting to replace food with other things and since I am post op, not feeling up to the rigorous exercise I'd like to undertake.

That's what you gotta keep reminding yourself. The first big aha moment for me came when I completely stopped taking all my meds. I am just waiting to see if my bloodwork says I need to continue any of them.

Also, post op I have a TMI problem most bandsters don't really deal with and hoping a course of anti-biotics take care of it, but it also has a huge effect on how I feel about food at the moment. I can honestly say, I don't turn to the refrigerator. I am probably in a weird place mentally at the moment so I wouldn't say my result is typical.

Is there anyone who feels totally lost in the 6 month waiting period. I feel like I am becoming obsesed with research and counting down the weeks. I feel like a overstuffed pillow. I cannot explain how I feel. I looked at a picture of myself and could not believe how I look. I am very cute in the face, but WOW...I am fat...fat...fat! I let myself go. Food...my friend...foe! I had to go shopping yesterday. None of my clothes fit from last summer. I really was depressed yesterday...I stuffed myself into an XL and 16W pants. I had to wear my Jobst compression tights to fit into my pants and could not breath all day. This process has made me do a self analysis..Why do I eat so much? How do I succeed after sugery? If food is not my friend...who or what will fill the void? I feel like this 6 months is a blessing and a curse! I want to be happy!

Edited April 1, 200917 yr by band75
I forgot to spell check!

Hi Everyone, Can I join?

My name is Jenn and I decided to start this journey about 3 weeks ago. I started the 6 month requirement in July, the weight loss doc gave me phentermine and lipotrophic injections. As it turned out I was allergic to sulfa and the lipotrophic injections caused my body to swell and hives were everywhere. The phentermine caused my BP to rise out of control, at one point it was 164/100 (scary). The doc perscribed Bumex for the high BP. So now I take Metformin for my insulin resistance and PCOS, Bumex for high BP. and Prilosec for reflux. I am a mess :biggrin:.

I met with a surgeon yesterday. He took my height and weight (5'5"/222) my bmi is 36.9. He said we need to build a strong case in order to get approval from Aetna ins. The coordinator said that Aetna is very good with giving approvals as long as all t's are crossed and i's are dotted. For that reason I have to do 3 monthly appointments and take a billion tests in order to get an approval. So hopefully they will be sending my packet in for approval in May.

I apologize if this post is long. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all and sharing in your experiences.

~Jenn