hi all just taking this opportunity to introduce myself. im mick I live in the midlands england and on friday 3rd april i had my lap band inserted ( 2 days ago). I work for the national health service as a fire officer and previous to this i was an operational firefighter for 30 years. all my adult life i have truggled with my weight even though i was in a very active job. since retiring from the fire service my weight reached 312lbs, the knock on effect being type 2 diabettes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint problems etc. I decided to pursue lap banding via the nhs as i could not afford to go private and as i fell into all the right catagories my healthcare trust agreed to carry out the procedure which has been about a year from application to band insertion.

anyway 2 days in and feeling a little rough still, when in the recovery room i was suffering severe pains in my chest and was told afterwards that this was due to no painkillers being administered directly to my stomach during the operation because i cannot take anti inflammatories.still not complaining it was not to bad. spent 4 hours on oxygen as my levels were pretty low. I returned home on the same day and slept for pretty much the rest of the day.

well thats it for now just thought id say hello

Hi Mick welcome the world of bandster I hope your recovery will now go alittle smoother things will get better with each passing day. Congratulations wishing you well.

Hi Mick welcome the world of bandster I hope your recovery will now go alittle smoother things will get better with each passing day. Congratulations wishing you well.

thanks for your support, its strange in the uk as this type of surgery is still thought of as for failures with no will power, even in hospital i felt guilty as if i was depriving someone else of important medical care, when will people realise that obesity is an illness and not just gluttony

Hey Mick please don't get caught up in view points of society. You have to believe in yourself that this surgery was not performed due to any failure on your part. You are just as worthy as the next person to have medical care regardless what it is. This surgery has allowed you to be reborn to a new life style and a new you. I hope you will love yourself and be proud of the steps you have taken to a healthier way of life.

your right and thanks for the support, day 3 now and feeling much better, apart from the old saying "it only hurts when i laugh". conditioning myself to the next month on liquids, but so far have no real hunger problems, i think boredom will be the real problem.

good luck to all.

Edited April 6, 200917 yr by lich3853
add ticker

Hi there Mick

Welcome and congratulations on your surgery. Hope you're enjoying (really enjoying!) some great belly laughs soon.

In case you're interested, you'll find a whole community of people banded / being banded in April HERE and you'll find your name has been added to the list HERE.

I have a small problem, i need to crush my medication and find it impossible to crush metformin tablets, i contacted my gp today to ask for it in liquid form but they refused because of the cost, even though the hospital advises liquid medication only. has anyone else had any similar problems, i can crush all my other drugs but the metformin is to tough.

hey please excuse my ignorance but was does pb mean?

A "pb" is a productive Burp. It's kind of like throwing up but does not come from your stomach more like your new pouch. My Daughter calls it baby barfing, lol.

It happens when you get something stuck and it won’t go down, it has to come back up. Believe me you will know what it is when it happens. It has happened to me 3 times since my surgery date on 03/13/09.