I live in Birmingham, Alabama. I had lap band surgery on May 30th, 2008. Hospitals are never fun and my surgery went ok, with a few minor issues. I had surgery 6 years ago for sleep apnea and then gained some weight and the apnea came back with out me knowing it. I stopped breathing during my lap band surgery and had to be intubated. Then because my O2 levels were so low , they made me spend the night. By the following day I was better and went home. The surgery was not very painful and the day I went home I was just a little sore but the doc gave me lortab . I had a lot of nausea from anesthesia. So I also took phenegren.

I had some issues with feeling really severe pain in my chest and back. It turned out to be caused from swelling and air bubbles. My best advice is to never drink and eat at the same time. when you drink you swallow air. The air gets trapped between the slow moving food particles and the liquid, creating bubbles. It feels like a heart attack. It helps to try and burp. It will pass after a few minutes.

I think that the physical aspects of the lap band, are easy to deal with in comparison to the emotional and metal aspects. I can only speak for myself in this regard but for me it's the honest truth. I am addicted to food, I have suffered from emotional eating my whole life. I believe it is a learn behavior that I developed in childhood.

I had serious issues with the liquid diet even after just a few days. I was starving! I cheated and ate food way too early. But it's part of the reason I didn't loose as much weight as some people. Once I realize I could eat, psychologically I felt better but at the same time I was disappointed that the band didn't seem to be "policing" my eating habits. I went through weeks of being depressed and sometimes really upset with myself for spending so much money on something that didn't seem to be working. I paid out of pocket because my insurance wouldn't cover it.

About 8 years ago when I was much thinner, I had a tummy tuck and breast reduction. I developed MRSA which is a staff infection. It became septic and I almost died. Since then my body has been colonize with MRSA. Now all of us have staff that naturally grows on our skin, but the kind I now have is resistant to antibiotics. I was sent by my surgeon to an infectious disease doctor before surgery, he had me take two different antibiotics for 30 days prior and after my surgery to minimize the risk of another life threatening infection. These antibiotics cause the natural bacteria in my digestive system to die. So I had a lot of diarrhea and still do. I have also felt very tired since surgery. I have missed a lot of work and it has all been a big struggle.

Almost 2 weeks ago I found this website. It took me a while to sign up and get the nerve to start posting and blogging.

Since I have been here I have learned a ton. I started taking probiotic which help replace the natural flora lost from antibiotics, I also have taken since surgery a muti vitamin called Vitaband. It's chew able and taste pretty good. I also take a calcium supplement by Vitaband. They are cinnamon and are so good! I added Vitamin D, 1000 milligrams and plan to talk to my doctor about getting a B12 shot for some much needed energy. I take glucosomine chondrotin for my joints, as a heavy person I have bad knees and this seems to help. For me the key to vitamins is consistency. It takes a while for my body to tell the difference from taking them.

I feel much more "proactive" since coming to this website. I feel empowered by the answers that I have gotten and by the support of the people here. It's great to hear success stories, they keep me hopefull.

I have the realize band instead of some of the other band's on the market. I love the realize website. I have started keeping track of my progress there and it has really helped. It has a place to sign in and I can fill out every thing from recipes and food diary to triggers and emotional issues. I keep track of my workouts, glasses of water, vitamins, band tightness ect.

A year or so ago, I bought the biggest loser books. I never used them and just brought them out the other day. It turns out that the things they preach in the books go along with the eating and workouts with the lap band. I have found so many really great recipes that are low fat, low carb with portion control. There is also a great workout and great advice on how the body works, what it takes to loose weight and keep it off. If you google "biggest loser books" amazon as sets of them for sale, all three books for 20.99 right now. Or the biggest loser website sells them.

My diet.. I am trying to limit my calories to 1800 daily. I know that sounds like a lot to most people but what I have learned is that if you starve your body, it will hold on to fat! I also try to eat consistently every 4 or 5 hours, eating small snacks at a time. this keeps the metabolism balanced and working for me, without having ups and down with blood sugar. This keeps the weight coming off. I try to get in 100g of protein each day and I keep my carbs as low as possible. I have did a bunch of research on protein shakes and finally settled on one. I ready several reports online about obese people and soy protein. Apparently it helps obese people loose weight faster than whey or wheat protein. I have order some and when it gets here and I try it, i will blog my thoughts and the brand. My doc also recommended VHT Evtreme smoothee. They are a simple good tasting drink that helps when you don't have anything for breakfast or a snack. they are made for people who have had the lap band, Ebay has the best price I have found. Chocolate is my favorite. It's great when I crave chocolate like for those PMS moments. I joined a gym and it came with a few personal training sessions. I got some great tips from my instructor. He said the more protein the better within the calorie range for me. He also advised that I eat my carbs in the morning. They will give me some energy to work out and also give me time to burn them off before they have a chance to turn to fat.

I would say the hardest thing for me so far is to stay away from sugar. I love sweets and I love a good cup of coffee with real cream and sugar. I am having coffee in the morning and using the splenda that is part sugar part splenda. I plan to ween myself slowly off of the sugar. It turns out that carbs actually make you more hungry!! I just learned that. That's totally why I am so fat! i was a carb junkie! In turn protein makes you feel full longer

Let see... what else am I doing? Oh, yes... I still don't think my band is tight enough as I can eat big bites. I think from what everyone told me in chat, that I need to be tightened again. So Monday am, I am calling to request it.

I do really well on my diet all day.. then late at night I want to eat.

I was thinking about trying a diet pill but I haven't found one for the evening. I don't want it to keep me up. I think tonight I am going to try and go to bed if I start feeling hungry or read a book.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I am just happy to be here, happy my fever went away and happy I am re hydrated from yesterday. I am going to keep drinking my clear liquids and stay hydrated, as for the diarrhea issue. If it comes back today, I may have to go to my general care doc and find out what the heck is going on. I am so tired of going to doctors that I hope that won't happen. Maybe my body just needs a bit more time to adjust to this new life style.

Thanks for reading! Stay strong! We can all do it!

Rachelle Perrin

As of today I have lost 14lbs in almost 6weeks. Slow and steady wins the race!

Hi Raeband, I am from Mobile, Al I am having my surgery on Tues 7/22/08, I am so excited, my doctor did not perscribe the two week proe-op diet so we went to New Orleans this past weekend for a last hoop lah, had a blast, I was wondering, did you have any problems with vomiting and how did you take the arthritis med. after surgery I take the same thing for my knees, but don't know whether to dissolve in water or try to take whole pill it is quiet large, any info will be helpful, I am self pay also, insurance would not pay.

I don't have any problems taking pills but right after surgery I thought I might and I ended up cutting the vitamins in to 3rds, I also disolved my antibiotics in a small cup of water. But oh boy did they taste nasty! Best of luck Debe!!!