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My name is Amy Workman and I am a bandster (everyone: HI Amy). I haven't posted on here in a long time and thought I might share with you my blog post from today. If any of you watched the recent Dr. Oz show about Lapband, I thought it might be nice for those of you just beginning to see a more realistic idea of the band. I was banded January 27th, 2009. I weighed 327 and today weight 159 pounds. I love my band. My before and after pictures on here are not updated, but you can find all my pictures on my blog. If you have any questions, please email me and ask away. Sometimes we forget when we were first beginning. Do you remember the first time you googled Lapband? Or the first time you logged into the forums...frantically searching for before and afters....looking at successes and getting pumped...stumbling upon a horror story and then getting scared? Do you remember the stupid questions you asked? I remember posting on lapbandtalk.com something like "is one cup of Wendy's chili bad for you?" Well, I am going to try and remember back to when I didn't know much about the band...and what information would have been helpful. Here goes... Did you know: I started at 327 pounds. My doctor, the wonderful and handsome Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, told me that the band is not always the best choice for someone who is a grazer. They find that the band is actually more successful for men, because men tend to eat in volume (sitting down for a huge dinner and getting really full, vs eating and munching on little things all day). Some doctors say that the band will not work as well for those of us who are or were really morbidly obese. I disagree. And there are plenty of us out here who are proving them wrong. Did you know: The band may not work for you? You could have the surgery and not lose much weight at all. It is not a sure thing. BUT, if you work with the band...it can and will work for most of us.What does "work with the band mean"? Every doctor has a different regimen they want you to follow. Every doc is different, as it almost every patient. Some say no pop/soda, some say it's fine. Some have a 2 week liquid preop and scare the sweet baby jebsus out of you about not shrinking your liver enough for surgery and not being able to operate (thank you Dr. Friedman). But, you will have to do your part with the band. You will have to watch what you eat. You will have to eventually get your ass up and exercise. You will have to make healthier choices and just be better. I know you are saying WHAT? That sounds like a diet to me. And I fail at diets!!! The band is a TOOL, not the Alpha and Omega of your weight loss journey. You can "cheat" the band by eating sliders and soft food. I for one could eat cheetos all day long and the band would sleep right through it. But with the right restriction, your band prevents you from eating that large pizza, the extra value meal, the entire bovine. You have to find a doctor that you can have a relationship with. They have to be open with you and you have to be open with them. You HAVE to go see them for fills. You have to follow up. You have to be a good patient. ASK QUESTIONS. What can you eat once you are banded? At this point in my journey, I can't think of one thing I CANT eat. However, there are somethings that I try to stay away from because they are difficult with my band. Example: Bowtie Pasta. It doesnt go down well. And then it just sits in my band and expands...causing me to PB (get to that in a second). I can't eat a sandwich, or a hamburger with a bun, but I could eat a roll if I tear off little pieces at a time. Hot dogs give me problems for some reason. Dry chicken or reheated meat (with the exception of a hamburger) often give me problems as well. I still drink soda, I still drink beer. I love Soups. I can eat veggies. I can eat fruit. Eating after being banded is about going slow. It's about chewing. They say with proper restriction that 4-6 ounces of solid Protein (a piece of meat about the size of your fist) should keep you full for 3-4 hours. Most docs want their patients to avoid "slider meals". Meaning, eating a bowl of Soup for lunch or yogurt for Breakfast isn't going to keep you full or satisfied because it will SLIDE right down. You want your food to stay in your pouch, and slowly drop down. Sometimes though...food may get stuck and then you get "sick". The Dreaded PB: A couple things may happen if a piece of food gets "stuck in your pipe" as Heather refers to it. You aren't going to die. It's not like it gets stuck and you need the Heimlich. But if a piece of food gets stuck, ain't nothing else going down until it moves or comes up. The first thing that may happen is a productive burp (PB). This is not throwing up. When something gets stuck, your slobber starts to build on top of it. For me, when this happens, I get a weird sensation in the back of my jaw. And if I wait long enough, I will have to get somewhere private (hopefully) and let it come up. What comes up is this weird slime/foam combo. It doesn't hurt. And hopefully...it moves whatever is stuck. Sometimes though, it takes a little more work. Sometimes that one piece of food I didnt chew enough will be down there for hours. And then, it's not PBing. It's sort of like dry heaving until that piece comes up. There is a tightness in the chest...a pressure. It's not fun. I will say that not everyone gets stuck or PB's. And most of us would agree that when we do get stuck...it's our fault. We eat without being present, we didn't chew, we ate too fast. Restriction and Tips for Eating: Unless you are extremely lucky, you will not awake from surgery with perfect restriction. Some docs put a little liquid in your band to start with, others wait. I had to wait 6 weeks for my first fill. And again, unless you are the rare case, you probably won't get restriction with your first fill. It took me several fills before I had good restriction. ASK your doctor what his/her fill policy is. Some docs are super restrictive with their fills. They only fill on a schedule. They don't care whether or not you have restriction. All I know is if Dr. Friedman hadn't let me tell him that I was ready for a fill...and if he had made me wait regardless of what I could eat...I wouldn't have been as successful as I was. You will know you have restriction when you have it. It's sort of like having sex. If you have to wonder if you had an orgasm or not...um...you probably didn't. Restriction will keep you full and satisfied for 3-4 hours. You will be able to eat less. Restriction DOES NOT RESTRICT YOUR BRAIN. You may still mentally crave things. You will have to learn the difference between head hunger and physical hunger. This is very hard. When you do have good restriction, you will have to change the way you eat. This is easier said than done. You should be taking small bites. For example, if you are eating steak, you need to cut that sucker up into pea sized bites. You need to chew. Then, set your fork down and wait a few seconds. You should eat sitting down. You should pay attention to what you are doing. You will learn that things like eating in the car is rarely going to end well. (Always have your emergency PB kit in your car. A couple of bags, some papertowels or handywipes. Trust me.) You probably shouldnt drink with your meal or for 30 minutes after. liquids can help push your food down...thus...cheating the band. How much weight will I lose? How quickly will I lose it? Now you know that there is no one answer for this. Statistically, Lapband patients lose around 40% of their excess weight. SO, if you are 100 pounds overweight, statistically you will lose 40 pounds. I hate statistics. And remember, they are an average. 17 more pounds lost and I will have lost 100% of my excess weight...and I am not alone. It can happen. However, there are so many factors that go into how much and how fast. Genetics, age, diet history, personal support, family life, exercise. Some weeks I lost 7 pounds. Some weeks I gained 5. The weeks I gained, I gained because I ate poorly. I cheated the band The weeks I lost, I ate and made healthy choices. There are some weeks, even when I WAS doing the right thing...I didn't lose. It can be frustrating. But you can't give up. You will have to keep upping your game. At some point, even with the band, you will either have to adjust your food or exercise. But, I feel like the band is "cheating". I feel like if I have WLS, I am weak. I'm gonna tell you what. Who gives a flying monkey's ass?! Cheating what? Cheating early death? Cheating sleep apena? Cheating high blood pressure, sore joints, diabetes? I say CHEAT AWAY then. There is no shame in WLS. It's not about will power. It's not about failing. It is about trying to find a tool that works to give you some power, give you your health. I tell whoever wants to know or will listen about the band. And yes, I have heard "Oh...well...I thought you did it the hard way"...or "hmmm...that must be nice". I say listen FOOL. There ain't nothing easy about the band. It makes some things easier but it is still work. And I find that people either give you 'tude about the band bc they are afraid or jealous or because they don't understand. Either way, that is okay. I will educate or I will ignore. I feel like if I were to say "oh, I am just watching my diet and working out"...that I would be lying by omission. AND, my real fear is that someone who is overweight will think "Well, Amy did it "the old fashioned way", and they will feel like a failure when they try and do not succeed. Will my relationship fall apart if I have the surgery? We all hear the stories of what happens when someone has WLS. The divorce rate and seperation rate is a little higher for us. There are several reasons. One, for some of us....when we lose weight, we become a different person...or the person we would have been if our bodies hadn't been our enemies so long. Our expectations may change, we may want more. OR, our partners may not be able to deal with the new us. OR, as in any relationship...sometimes it's just time to move on. I don't think that having WLS should make you fear losing or changing your partner anymore than the normal person. There are tons of bandsters out there still happy and maybe even happier with their significant other. Sometimes though, even though we can't see it or don't want to admit it...we have settled. And once you start to shed your cloak of security or denial...you realize you deserve more (too bad we don't realize that to begin with. Long story short...people change and grow...with or without weightloss surgery.Are you worried about complications: No. But most days I am not a worrier about things that may or may not happen. I heard recently that the stats for band slipping are about 5% and for erosion, about 1-2%. Slipping for example, can be avoided most of the time and according to the docs...is easy to fix. Erosion is of course a little more scary. But I hope that by always paying attention to my body, my band, and how I am feeling...I can avoid it or if it ever happens...catch it early.Do fills hurt? Mine never do. My doc has never done one under fluoro. He gives me a numbing shot and then the fill.How many fills do you have to have? To get restriction, it took me 4. My first year I had around 6 fills. My second year, I had 2.Will you ever have the band taken out? Lord I hope not. Even now that I am at goal weight and weight loss is more of what I do instead of what the band does for me...it's always there. It's my safety net. It will keep me from ever being 327 pounds again.Why did you choose the band over other options? I was 28 when I decided on the surgery. I didn't want my stomach cut apart. I still wanted to be able to absorb my nutrients. I wanted to be able to eat sugar and other things without getting physcially ill. I liked that the removal of the band was a possibility if something went wrong. I liked the idea of being able to control my restriction. And even though I bitched and complained along the way, I liked the idea of a slower weight loss (vs Gastric bypass). It gave my skin and my brain a little more time to adjust.Did you know there are different brands of lapbands? I have the Allegran Lapband. Ask you doctor your choices and the differences. Mine is a 10-11cc band. Some are smaller.Were you worried about the loose skin? Barely. I figured I may look like a saggy deflated sack after I lost my weight, but I would rather be deflated then morbidly obese. And I am lucky. My skin is nowhere as bad as it could have been. Again, so many factors go into skin. Age, genes, working out, sun...etc. Would you do it again? In a heartbeat my friends. In a heartbeat. It was the best decision of my life. It was a tremedous catalyst for change. I can't think of one negative consequence of the band.

I'm 8 mos. post op. I have lost 48 lbs. I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes years ago. I am now off my medication. I have hypertension, I am off one medication completely and have decreased dosages on the other. My blood pressure has been in the normal range. I have dropped in pant size from a 26 wp to a 18. I have gone down 2 bra sizes and 2 shirt sizes. I am about to go on vacation to play golf. I am so excited. I feel energized and fit enough to get out and walk the courses. I have improved my golf swing because I have less body to work around! I am so glad I have gone through this surgery. There has been times I thought what the hell did I do to myself but now I am 'on schedule' with my weight loss. My doctor told me that I should expect 1/4 to 1/2 lbs weight loss per week. I have stopped looking at the numbers. I am working on my activity and food intake according to what I am supposed to do. I was skipping the daily protein snacks but found that's not the right thing to do. So now I am back on track and doing very well. To those who get discouraged (like I did) hang in there! Remember it took years to put it on and it will take time to take it off. Be patient! I am on the 2-3 year plan. I am in no hurry to get to my goal ( which is 40 more lbs) but I will get there. This is hard work, I am a stronger person! I am thankful for all the encouragement from my family and friends.

RUN, don't walk to Dr. Richard Benevides in Richardson TX - in 3 years he never let a MA touch my port. Only himself or PA's (Nurse Practitioners) He's at Richardson Surgery Center. Call him right away!!!!

I have to say that I am a cheater and will take advantage of the loop holes --- but I am a smart cheater. I asked the right questions and found out what the intent of the rule was. Then once I knew what the real reasons for the rule were, I could negotiate and cheat smart. In the case of the first week of surgery -- the intent is to keep the stomach as still as possible so it heals faster and better. The rule is pretty hard to negotiate around. I was further disadvantaged becasue I am lactose intolerant and allergic to eggs. I got pretty weak from near constantly having the runs -- liquid in liquid out.............I began to have cravings on day 5 and 6 too. I was saved by KFC mashed potatoes with gravy. These will give you a fuller feeling and the gravy feels like cheating. But honestly -- the fact that you ate pizza scares me for your safety. If you were my BFF (and you ARE asking for advice) I would tell you to bend the rules with some KFC mashed potatoes and gravy, but not break them blatantly with no disregard for your surgery with something completely dangerous to your well-being as pizza.

Ocella, great advise for preparing for the fill. Wish I had read that before my first fill. What I would like to ad is, when they tell you to push your stomach out and flex your stomach (make it hard), do it as hard as you can, and the procedure will be easier--they will be able to locate the port easily by feel that way. Also, when they take the needle out, ask them (or you) press against your stomach while taking the needle out. That way, you don't even feel it. If you don't do that (like my first time), it felt like a cork must feel coming out of a bottle! Good luck on the mechanics of it. Regarding the fill making you feel fuller than you do now, probably not. My savior is lots of Protein (80 grams a day) and lots of Water in between (minimum of 64 oz/8 glasses a day). I also write down everything I eat, the protein value and the CALORIES. Its different for everyone, but my best lose zone seems to be between 700 and 1100 calories a day. Super good luck to you.

Well you're not going to want to hear this either, but it's true- even with the band, you're still going to need to control your eating. I can eat whatever I want. Nothing gets stuck, and I have almost 8cc's in my band. I can eat 3-4 pieces of regular sized pizza. I know because I have. I can still binge on carbs. I know because I have. The band helps me by making me feel satisfied sooner, and by keeping me satisfied for a longer period of time after I eat a small Protein packed meal, but it doesn't stop me from eating a larger meal, or "bad" foods, if I choose to put them in my mouth. It's a fight that most of us banded people have to fight, and you'll probably need to fight it too. YES, it's hard, and it can be discouraging. But when I eat the right way, seriously, my weight falls off. So it IS worth it. So this may or may not help you... I was able to stick to the liquid part of my post-op diet (I think because I was allowed to have Protein Shakes, and not everyone is) but the day I was cleared to go to mushy foods, my first meal was part of a Chipotle burrito bowl I figured it wasn't crunchy, and if I chewed it up real good it'd be considered mushy!

Telling others is a really personal decision. I made the decision with my husband to have the surgery and only told our kids plus my mother. I felt they had a right to know that I was having surgery just in case something went wrong. Later I told a very close friend and then two others guessed. I don't want to lie to my friends so I confirmed their guesses but asked them to respect my privacy, which they have. I have battled with my weight since my teens so my sons have never known me as anything other than fat, with a bit of yo yo up and down. My eldest son is getting married next year and is trying to lose weight before then. I was shocked and quite upset when he told me this weekend that I had taken the lazy way out! Needless to say I pointed out that I must still manage my diet and exercise and that WLS is no lazy way out becauseI have tried everything else and need a tool which will help me to make a permanent lifestyle change. I don't regret telling my son about the surgery, but it just reinforces my belief that it's my body, my health, my choice and I don't want to be justifying my decision to people who haven't done the research, haven't been through it and often don't have a weight problem anyway!

I get my first fill 9/9 i found this site Preparing for a Lap Band Fill There are several steps you can do to increase the likelihood of a good fill outcome: Make sure you are properly hydrated on the day of your fill (you should be drinking Water every day, but especially important in the 2 to 3 days before a fill) Do not eat a big, late night dinner the night before a fill (it sometimes takes 12 hours for all food to move through the stomach pouch) Do not eat any solid foods for at least 6 hours before the fill (the stomach pouch should be completely empty for a fill) Avoid COLD fluids for an hour before the fill (cold can temporarily shrink the stoma) Avoid getting a fill either during or a few days before your menstrual period (Fluid retention affects fill level) If possible, hang around the doctor's office for a few hours after a fill to make sure you feel okay with the adjustment If traveling from out of town, plan on staying in the area at least overnight, just in case there is a problem with the amount of fill After a fill, limit eating to a full liquid diet for 24 hours, then to soft foods for a day, before resuming a solid food diet (to help the stoma rest and heal) The above guidelines are some of the recommendations that will help achieve a good fluoroscopy and good fill level. Make sure you talk to your doctor about any other specific preparations you should make before a fill appointment. If you are having any trouble with the Lap Band, it may be best not to get a fill at this time. During your exam, it is also important to talk about any concerns or problems you may have in regards to the Lap Band, including eating habits, diet and nutrition, physical activity, and other health issues http://www.lapbandsu...band-fills.html

Thank you the information is very helpful!

Again- I simply don't know why you would sabotage your weight loss that way. Maybe a couple of bites to get it out of your system. If you can't change your diet from pre-band then post-band won't work. No need to respond. I'm truly just trying to help.