Hi all. I had my surgery with Dr Zarif April 16 2009. I think he is a great surgeon.

well I hope all stays well!

Hi guys. I got my post card today for the meeting on July 11th. I am not sure if I will be able to make it for this one though. We have someone off at work and I may not be able to punch out for 2 hours to go. I tried to get a part timer to cover the 2nd half of my shift but he cant do it. So now I am trying to get a day shift person to trade with me. Lets hope it works so I can attend. I really want to go this time since we are supposed to be talking about food and different recipes.

Well anyway, how is everyone doing? I have finally gotten my scale to move this week. I am sooo close to being in Onederland I can practically taste it. And if I had Dr Zarif's scale to get on I think I am there already...my scale is usually 2-3 pounds heavier than his. But I will really be happy when I see it on MY scale...

Keep in touch..........

Into week three and everything is going well.

Down about 12 pounds since surgery plus the extra ten pounds of Fluid that appeared right after surgery. Thats 42 lbs since I started a diet on advice of my family doctor, and 33 lbs since first visitng Dr. Zarif and starting my pre-op diet.

I've been following the diet to a tee up to now. However, I have a question about portion size starting this week.

It appears that I should be eating less as I go into the puree phase, but I don't see how that is possible. I survived okay on a cup of Soup or runny grits for a meal, but reducing intake any further without having been filled, just because the food is a tiny bit thicker appears to me to be just too little.

I want to do this sensibly, not eat so little that I get so hungry that I raid the refrigerator and blow the whole diet. Right now I'm sticking with the Soups for the most part. What did you all do at this point?

When you first start the solid foods it is kind of hard to keep it minimal since you have no or very little saline in your band. I know that I just tried hard to eat smaller protions and watch what I was eating. And then after I got my first fill I felt very hungry. So I went back early for the 2nd fill. After that one it did get better. Sometimes I think I still eat too much at one time, but I also know that I am not at my sweet spot yet either. So just rmemeber that it does take a while and often multiple fills to get to where you are really restricted in the amt of food you can eat. Hope that helps.

Well guys I finally did it. Yesterday the scale finally said 199.5 and today it said 199.0. YAY. I am so excited about I am finally in Onderland. How are you guys doing?

Congratulations, that is wonderful!

Since I started the soft foods, and now just yesterday, regular foods, I have been on basically a plateau. However, I'm not worried because I know I'm eating so much less that it will start again.

My joy is just how good it feels to walk around without that extra 40 pounds that I had when I started all this.

I've still got 17 pounds to go before I cross the 300 mark, and that will be a day of celebration. (low-fat and sugar free of course)

You are soooo close Blackhole. You will definately get there. I too hit a plateau when I first started eating real food. And then I hit another one and I finally broke this last one. I was bouncing back and forth from 200.5 to 202 for about 2 weeks before I finally got it to move under 200. On my last plateau before this one I lost 5 pounds in one week and then nothing for 3 weeks. So it just takes time, effort and lots of patience..LOL. As I have never been a fast loser I know that I will definately need to be very patient, but dang it can be so frustrating when you hit those plateaus.... Know what I mean?

Hey guys. It has been pretty quiet in here. How are you all doing? Hope all is well. I just had my 4th fill on Wed. The good news is I found out that I do not have a leak, all the Fluid was there that he had put in last time. I lost 5 pounds since the last visit. I would have liked that to be more, but 5 is better than none i guess.

Are either of you guys going to the meeting this month? It will be on Tuesday the 8th at 6pm. If you come then I will see you there.

Hello. It has been quiet! I was just bideing my time until my first fill which happened today. I don't think he went for a large fill since I'm going on vacation starting next week.

I haven't watched the scale for several weeks now, but somehow I still managed to lose 3 lbs over the past 4 weeks. Not much, but it is 3 lbs less I have to worry about.

Up to now I've been able to eat anything I want since starting solid food, but I haven't, because I knew I shouldn't. Hopefully with at least a little restriction I will have the band helping my willpower.

It's great news that your band is not leaking. I know that is a load of your mind.

I don't go to the meetings. I know it would be good to go, but I'm kind of a private person.

Well congratulations on your 3 pound loss and on your willpower to eat well without restriction. I still have problems with that even after haveing some fills...LOL. IF you ever do decide to come to the meetings just know that you are always welcome. We have people there in all stages, from those still in their 6 month pre-op phase to those of us that are already banded. Have fun on your vacation. Are you going anywhere special? I know I cant wait for my vacation. I am going on a cruise in November. I have one more apt with Dr Zarif before then but I dont know if I want to get a fill or not. I would like to enjoy dinners on the cruise at least a little bit...LOL. Then my next apt after that will be the Wed before Thanksgiving. I am not a big turkey or "traditional" thanksgivig dinner eater, so I dont care if he fills me then. Well good luck and keep in touch.

It looks like nobody has posted on this recently but if you are out there I would love to hear from you. I am getting banded Dec 3rd 2009 by Dr. Zarif. I am a bit nervous but also very excited. I am down 8 pounds in the last 10 days for my preop but I sure could go for a burger right now.LOL What can I expect on the day of surgery?

Welcome and good luck. I dont really remember much from the day of surgery so I dont know if I will be of much help. But what I do remember is going to the hospital, getting checekd in then going back to the OR area. They make you get into the gown and pee in a cup and start the IV and all that stuff...LOL. Then Dr Zarif and the anesthesiologist come see you to say hi and then when they are ready they wheel you back to the OR. They tell you to scoot over to the operating table and put your arms out like a big T and strap them down. Then they give you the drugs to knock you out...LOL. I dont wake up very easily from anesthesia and I dont remember waking up at all. I dont even remember going up to my room (stayed over night). I barely remember much of anything from that first day at all. prob due to a comibination of the anesthesia and the pain meds. I do remember they tried to get me up and moving and I almost fell down I was so woozy. So they did a STAT hemoglobin to see if I had lost a lot of blood, but I had not was just from the meds. I dont remember being in very much pain except when I tried to sit up too fast. That is not to say that I was not uncomfortable for a while, I was. Partly due to some pain (not too bad but there was some) and partly due to the gas pressure. But by about the 4-5 day mark I was feeling almost completely fine.

I hope this helps. it seems kinda blunt but that is all I can really remember. I still have no regrets to this day and I am very happy with my decision to have surgery. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Also I dont know if you come to the support group meetings, but the next one is Tues Dec 8th from 6-8 at AGH conference room 2.

Well got my surgery and I am 2 weeks out. I am down 18 pounds. Everything went well. I just can't wait until my first fill! I am starting to feel hungry now and I feel like at times I am eating too much!

Glad to hear all is going well and congratulations on your loss. There are still times for me that I feel like I eat too much. It think when it happens though, that I am gong past the 30 min time frame. But I am still losing so I guess I am still doing ok. If you have any questions feel free to ask. And keep us posted.

I was banded on 12/28/2010. It was supposed to be same day surgery but the doctor discovered a small hernia during surgery and repaired it. I was in so much pain when I woke up that they decided to keep me overnight. I am still having a great deal of pain on my right side just below my right breast. If it were not for this pain I would be doing fantastic. I am very thankful that I was able to have the surgery. I was just not prepared for the amount of pain I would experience. Occasionally the pain subsides but not often and at times it takes my breath away, as though there is a gas bubble in my stomach that needs to come up and I try to make that happen but it usually does not and then the sharp pain subsides. I have no idea if this is normal or not but after 4 days it is starting to concern me. I am very excited that I am finally loosing weight. I even went through all of my summer clothes today and threw out all of my 22/24 shorts from last summer. I just pray that this pain is temporary and passes soon.