I am on here trying to find info about the surgery and they after life and any problems or success people have had with their surgery and after care.

Trying to decide if I should do this.

Hi Dean, and welcome to LBT. You'll find forums dedicated to both complications and success stories on here. I can say, for me, it's been a life changer, and I absolutely love my band.

Have you gone to a lap band seminar yet? I went to a couple in my area presented by different surgeons, and that was a big help.

If you have any specific questions, be sure to ask.

Yes I have been to 2 seminars. I want to do this, I am just nervous.

I have been overweight my whole life. I just want to be healthy and able to do things with my family without being embarrassed.

It's totally normal to be nervous, even if you've made up your mind this is absolutely the right thing for you. But let us know what questions you have and perhaps we can alleviate some of the nervousness just by letting you know what our experiences have been with those issues!

Check out skymoon1982 on youtube

I have my appointment with the surgeon on the 30th. I guess I am nervous about not knowing what to expect and if I will be sick, have hair loss, how many vitamens and supplements I will need to be on if any. Just the unknown. I definatley know I need and want to do this just not knowing what to expect after surgery.

I hope the seminars were helpful by giving you a good overview of your options for weight loss surgery.

It's perfectly natural to be nervous, and I think most of us were in the same boat. You worry that you won't be successful, that you'll be the one to have complications, that your life as you know it now will be drastically changed, etc.

For me, reading these boards and getting the most up to date statistical info I could find helped alleviate my worries. I decided I was going to follow the band rules to the best of my ability and if I happened to be one of the unfortunate people who ended up with a complication, it wouldn't be because of something I did.

I also chose a surgeon who had tons of experience with lap bands and had come highly recommended. I'm self-pay, and I feel like it was worth every penny. My quality of life has improved exponentially.

I'm not one of the extraordinarily fast losers. I've lost 50+ lbs in a year and I'd like to lose 20 more, and then I'll go for the final 10 lbs (if I decide I need to at that point). On the other hand, I can eat almost 100% of the same foods I could pre-band, just much smaller quantities. One of the pluses of the band is that it can be adjusted to your lifestyle and goals, to a point. For me, it's the perfect tool to help me become healthy again.

I have my appointment with the surgeon on the 30th. I guess I am nervous about not knowing what to expect and if I will be sick, have hair loss, how many vitamens and supplements I will need to be on if any. Just the unknown. I definatley know I need and want to do this just not knowing what to expect after surgery.

I had some hair loss, but nothing at all different then I had after previous surgeries and childbirth. I know there's a million theories, but I think it's due to the shock to the system and hormone disruption. I am lucky that I have a lot of hair to start off with, so it wasn't at all noticeable, except for the bottom of my shower.

I take a multi-vitamin and Calcium. I also added B-12 because I stared feeling sluggish a couple months after the surgery. The only ones the doctor told me to take for sure were the multi-vits and calcium. I just had my year end blood work done, so I should know next week if I'm low on anything, but I don't feel like I am.

I wonder if there are foods you can no longer eat. I know pop is one but that is no problem for me.

Let me know how your blood work goes.

Is it hard to wait 30 min after you eat to drink something?

I guess I am nervous about not knowing what to expect and if I will be sick, have hair loss, how many vitamens and supplements I will need to be on if any. Just the unknown. I definatley know I need and want to do this just not knowing what to expect after surgery.

You shouldn't be sick. Some people do have a little nausea post-op but most docs write a prescription for pain and a prescriptio for nausea for you to have on hand for if you need them. I take a performance Vitamin every day (all the Bs, C, D, E, Calcium, Biotin, magnesium and zinc) and a lot of people actually buy the gummi-type Vitamins because they are chewable. Some do experience hair loss but most don't and significant hair loss is not common at all I don't think.

I wonder if there are foods you can no longer eat. I know pop is one but that is no problem for me.

Really you should be able to eat anything IN MODERATION. I do have problems with soft bread, but not always, and toasted ALWAYS goes down fine. I have no idea why, LOL. And, I didn't miss Diet Coke at all even though I thought I would.

Is it hard to wait 30 min after you eat to drink something?

I drink right up to the time of my meal and, really, don't usually have a problem with waiting for 30 minutes after.

Cathy,

Thank you so much for your helpful information it makes me feel better.

I wonder if there are foods you can no longer eat. I know pop is one but that is no problem for me.

I'm probably a bit unusual, but I don't have any foods that I can't eat except for stringy veggies...celery, asparagus stalks, and the like plus milk on Cereal (the milk pushed the cereal right into the band area and I had a sliming episode..not fun). The worse stuck episode I had was with very tough stringy chicken from a local Chinese restaurant, but I don't have problems with any meat including steak in general. I drink soda very rarely now, and I just let it go a wee bit flat first. If I drink a fizzy drink before it has time for the carbonation to wear off, I feel it right away, and I really believe, based on that feeling, that it's bad for the pouch.

Let me know how your blood work goes.

Will do.

Is it hard to wait 30 min after you eat to drink something?

It's not a problem at all. I think the trick is to stay very well hydrated between meals. On rare occasions, I will sip some Water, or have a small glass of wine during a meal, but I can definitely tell that I can eat more and I get hungry quicker if I drink more than just a few sips while eating.

What is sliming episode?

So do you eat more often, just smaller portions?

And you need to just sip on drinks not really drink quickly