I have just made up my mind that I want this surgery, now I need to know how to get started. I have been on a couple of weight loss regimens on my own and lost weight. In 2007 after being diagnosed with Thyroid disorder and also I have PCOS I was at my all time heaviest of 273lbs, so I went on Synthroid and birth control and glucophage for the PCOS not diabetes. I joined a gym worked out ALOT even with a trainer sometimes and existed off a lot of protein shakes and protein bars, I lost 50 lbs, but started working alot of 12 hour shifts at my job as a nurse, stopped going to the gym as there was just no time, and am now back up to 265. I was working out like a mad woman and hungry and cranky all the time and when I hit the 50 pound weight loss that was it, it just stopped I couldn't lose anymore! So, I lost all my motivation and gained back the weight, this of course has happened before. I need help with this. I am really ready to do this but a little scared, my only weakness is chocolate and man do I love it, and from what I'm reading on these posts you can't really do sweets after your banded, I'm wondering why that is? Well if anyone has any helpful advice about this whole process and where to start please send me a message. I live in Adairsville Georgia and we have Floyd hospital and Harbin Bariatrics over here in Rome, Ga., wondering if anyone here has been there for their surgery? I am going to call Flyd Monday and try to start this process.

If you have insurance, start there. You'll need to find out 1. if lap band is covered and if it is 2. what are the requirements and 3. what surgeons/surgical centers are covered. Once you have that info, contact a doc (or three!) and go to the free seminars. Once you've done that, a lot of questions will be answered, and more will pop up. Good luck!

I have not been banded yet but, I am in the same situation as you but I am 19yrs. weigh 250 at 5'3". I work 12 hour shifts at the hospital at night so I get tired of having to work and then coming home to work out. I have been up and down with my weight since I was a kid in middle school. I have been looking to have this surgery now since I was 16. I new I couldnt lose weight without a good support and this is that support to me. Anyways I started going to seminars different ones not just the ones at the hospital I plan to have surgery but at others as well.After I felt like I was informed enough I set up a diagnostic evaluation with the doc. I then checked my insurance through the doctor of my choice to see if they covered the surgery they said no so then I knew okay im paying cash. so wether or not I was covered I was having the surgery this year. I could have appealed my insurance company and written them a letter saying how i need it and my issues but if i ddecided to do so I would be waiting anywhere from months to years for them to approve. So I am bringing my credit score up and applying for a loan through Care Credit or Capital One Healthcare to finance surgery. Any more questions feel free to ask.

Hi Pixiegurl! I just wanted to comment on one point that you said in your post.

"I am really ready to do this but a little scared, my only weakness is chocolate and man do I love it, and from what I'm reading on these posts you can't really do sweets after your banded, I'm wondering why that is?"

I think when we say that you can't really do sweets after you are banded, we mean that we can't do them because they are too calorie laden. Unfortunately, most sweets, like chocolate, go down very easily and so we lap banders can get in trouble weight-loss wise, because we ARE able to eat chocolate but it will wrec havoc with our weight loss plans, just as it wrecs havoc with our weight loss plans before being banded.

You may read references to people who have the gastric bypass surgery not being able to eat sweets. For them, yes, they can suffer from something called 'dumping syndrome' when they eat sweets. This is a physical thing where they actually feel ill and vomit and feel like they have the flu. Lap banders do not have this dumping syndrome. If we eat chocolate, we suffer from the additional calories not from dumping syndrome.

Hope this helps to explain things. Good luck to you.

Marie715

Oh thanks for your response, I guess I didn't realize the difference. I am also wondering if I have to give up coffee with flavored creamer, I can give up my sodas but I don't know about the coffee that will be hard and I can't drink it black. I mean after you have this surgery can you go back to eating regular foods eventually? It seems like I have read a lot of food restrictions after surgery, like not being able to tolerate breads, and red meats and things, is this true?

Oh thanks for your response, I guess I didn't realize the difference. I am also wondering if I have to give up coffee with flavored creamer, I can give up my sodas but I don't know about the coffee that will be hard and I can't drink it black. I mean after you have this surgery can you go back to eating regular foods eventually? It seems like I have read a lot of food restrictions after surgery, like not being able to tolerate breads, and red meats and things, is this true?

The band is a tool, that's all. Many many successful bandsters can eat what they want, and they do. It took me a while to realize this but it finally came through: I will use it however I WANT to use it. Except for the warning about "no carbonation" (and even that, eventually I may be able to tolerate) I will in large part determine what I can and cannot eat.

I have a friend who weighs 120 and she's 5'5 and she has weighed that since high school. She is my age and healthy as a horse. She does NOT weigh/count/avoid/portion/fret over food. She does generally avoid processed things like white flour BUT she has only done this for about a year or two. AND if she wants to go to, say, Red Lobster and eat 3 cheddar biscuits, she does.

MY point in all this: We will be in control and will use the band as we see fit. Personally I do NOT want so much restriction that I wonder each morning if I'll be able to swallow my own saliva. More power to those who feel they "need" that (but then, what you can eat when you are that tight is prety much nothing) but my doc says to aim for getting full on 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of food (note food...not "protein powder" etc) and be satisfied for up to 6 hours. Period. In other words if my family is jonesing for a hamburger, I will select from the kids/seniors menu. I'll have a small order of fries and may not eat them all. I won't go to hell and the world won't open up and swallow me if I do this LOL

By the same token, bandsters who want to avoid hamburgers and fast food and anything that smacks of "unhealthy" may surely do so. That is the beauty of the band. In other words, there are no absolutes, nor are there any exact ways to work it perfectly. It adapts to us even as we adapt to it.

If you choose leaner, healthier options you'll lose faster. I have 5.5 ccs in my 14 cc band and can still eat bread if I want to. I have to chew it very well, but I can have it. This isn't a punishment, it's for life. We have to choose how we're going to live it.