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Woot Woot! Just wanted to share my victory -- I NEVER thought I would ever weigh less than 200 pounds (I weighed 200 pounds in high school)!! I am 196 as of this morning -- what a blessing the lap band has been. It is not always easy, but it is totally worth it. It changed my life. I started at 270 pounds 10 months ago, I was on all kinds of medicine and diabetic -- seriously insulin resistant (requiring insulin injections 3 times a day) but last week my doctor took me off ALL OF MY diabetes medicine! I was a size 24/26 and now I am a 14! 75 pounds down and counting...

There is a recipie for instant potato soup in the food section (I usually cook it for 5-10 mins) that's really good and fast, There's a lot there for the full liquid stage and if you look in Google you'll find more than you need.

One week gone already...man time flies when you're starving... I am doing pretty well, little or no pain from the incision areas/abdomen. My left shoulder was killing me all week, I'm not sure if its a pinched nerve from the way I was sleeping the past month combined with the surgery position. Either way it hurt like woooahh. The Dr said I could take some Motrin every now and then but not to make it a habit. I even took a couple of Matt's (boyfriend) percocet from his cracked tooth stash. (He cracked his tooth last week and it we didn't realize it until this week. Talk about ouch.) OK, OK, I cheated. I've been eating mashed potatoes, oatmeal, tuna salad, popsicles, Fudgecicles, Jello, soup. Sue me. I had VERY SMALL portions, like, palm of your hand or smaller. I tolerated them well, no issues. But I definitely know when I'm full!! I saw Dr. Von Reuden Wednesday afternoon; I'm down 8 lbs already. I made an appt. with the SW in the group so I can talk to her about my still nagging desire to eat for pleasure rather than fuel. I'm there with that about 55%, which is bad news long term. I plan on going to my old gym in Columbia, MD once I move back there next week. I am so excited!! No, you really did read that correctly...I am. No one gets excited to go to the gym. I want to try to start running/jogging again soon if my plantar fascia foot allows me. If not, I guess I'm going to find other things to do Heading into a busy weekend followed by a busy week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly and wraps up quickly.

I haven't posted anything in several days...probably a week...but I have bronchitis and have felt like poo. Starting to feel better now, thank goodness and looking forward to the holidays. My daughter is coming in today and I'm so excited! The only thing that could make it better would be if her brother could come too. He has a wedding this weekend and a rehearsal supper tomorrow, so that is not possible. Wow, it is not fun when they grow up and have their own lives. LOL So anyway, I found out last week that the only 2 surgical dates left, during this calendar year, for my surgeon is Nov 28 and Dec 12. I also found out that I can't see my neurologist for clearance until Dec 5. Since that is only one week before the Dec 12 date, I doubt if insurance will approve me that fast. So it looks like it will be January. Ah well. I did find out that my insurance provider is NOT changing, so that takes the worry out of the equation as far as rushing to get it done this year. I'm not too upset about it. I'm really proud of myself. Delayed gratification is NOT something I am good about, LOL, but I think because I know this is going to be a lifelong change for me....It is calming. I'm more relaxed about it. Like...it's going to happen...so I don't need to stress. And the fact that it will be lifetime...just....I dunno...corny, maybe but it really puts me at peace. I'm so excited and so thrilled! I am going to enjoy this holiday season with my family...and NOT shy away from the camera. Cuz...I know it only gets better from here!! Movin right along!!!!

Ok guys and gals, this is the deal....there are automated spam bots that sign up to forums such as ours for many different reasons (post spam links, send spam PM's etc.) We've recently implemented two layers of security checks that access third party spammer databases and we should see a major decrease or possibly a total elimination of bogus members. If you see a member that looks fishy, please use the report member feature! The report member link can be found on the bottom right of any member profile. The members you're seeing are actually most likely real members. We disabled the surgeon/bandster profile search and other related features until we completed our site upgrade. The data you currently see is something these members didn't have control over. Things should be back to normal within 24 hours.

This is your choice and your choice only. If you feel compelled to listen to your parents, by all means do that, but you will have to live with the what-ifs. I am not that close to my parents and I am a grown woman (I can make my own decision), so their opinions didn't mean anything to me. My parents said the same about gastric bypass surgery (when my sister told them she was thinking about doing it). They automatically thought I wanted it too. They said I didn't need it and I was going to die. It just shows how uneducated they are about that procedure and WLS in general. You are correct that the Lap Band fails and so do many people. Lap Band was not made for everyone, so some people have complications and it really does them no help. (You NEED to be prepared for this possibility!) Then there are individuals that fail their bands. They get too tight, they continue their "normal" eating habits after being banded, they ignore their bodies (possible complications), they refuse to exercise, etc. Either one could happen. Then you could have success with the Band, What an odd occurrence. I was being totally sarcastic! There is a thread here dedicated to success stories and I am one of them and I'm not all the way through. I was interested in this procedure after I seen the success that a former school mate of mine had. She lost well over 100 lbs. I figured if she could do it, I could do it too. I talked to her several times and she convinced me that this is a great procedure that will work. She told me about how she still lives a normal life. She doesn't measure and weight food, she doesn't PB, goes out to dinner here and there, and does not let her band hinder her. She advised me to do as much homework as possible and then let her know and that's exactly what I did. I would suggest to you to do your homework. Keep Googling, researching, and doing everything you can do to learn more about this procedure and other ones as well. Use this information to educate those around you and maybe they will be on board, but maybe they won't. I went into this with only 1 person as a support system and that was okay with me. I would rather have one person I love and trust in my life than a million that constantly gossip, talk behind my back, and are negative about issues in my life. BTW Of course, Lap Band is there to market and sell their product. They are a for-profit company. They also let the consumers know of possible side effects (read the fine print). Also, I don't think that it would be possible to give a major surgery to that many contestants and no one know this for years and years. That statement about the Biggest Loser contestants is laughable. Those individuals are isolated from society. They have no other choice, but to follow a diet and exercise (they do have cameras watching). They have the finest foods and assistance in preparing them and they also exercise 4-6 hours per day! Results are pretty much guaranteed. LOL!

In my case, the band is forcing me to change my eating habits. It has become 2nd nature because of lessons learned over and over again. Example: Today, all I have eaten so far is a Protein shake for breakfast, then went to the gym. After noon, as we are getting ready to sit down and watch some football on TV, my son says he is going out for Chinese take out, and do I want anything. I said sure, get me a small Lo-Mein, and some Spare Ribs. Now before being banded, I could have gulped down the entire thing, along with a Coke. Well I had ONE RIB, and maybe 2 swallows of Lo-Mein. My band started screaming at me! I am finished with lunch. dinner won't be so bad, as long as I choose the correct foods to eat. I cannot over eat if I wanted to. It is physically impossible because of this thing wrapped around my stomach! I am not sure how I could fail. I have tried dozens and dozens of diets and failed because I have no will power and discipline to see them through. With those I failed every one! The band took care of that. Lets face it, surgical option is for people who cannot loose weight by standard diets alone. I believe everyone here is a failure when it comes to dieting with will power alone. It is the EASIEST way to loose weight!

hey there! I get my surgery on dec 13th.. I can eat mushy 24 hrs after surgery... its interesting how different doctors have different guidelines

Hi guys, I was banded on 9/19 also. I am wondering about this shoulder pain. I have it and thought I hurt it getting up. I have gas and didn't know I could take gas x. I will have to get some of that. I am in a bit of pain but stopped meds today because they weren't doing much and I thought I could deal. I am wondering now. I am going to take them at bedtime! Glad to be here. I need the support of others going through the same thing!

Hi, I am not the one being banded, it is my husband. He is the pastor of Ashley Road Baptist Church in Morris, IL. His weight has affected his ministry. He isn't able to visit like he wants to. Our church has been awesome. They have rallied around him. Tonight they all were excited about his Psych appt on Saturday. It has been a blessing to have our church family in our corner. Stick with it, want a blessing you can be to the ladies in your church.