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So I've had my lapband surgery on Jan 26th. On the 13th I went in and got my first fill of 3cc. I started out at 292 and 285 pre surgery. Total as of yesterday I lost 22lbs since I started this whole process. Everyone that has been posting and commenting really inspire and motivate me. It's like having my own little pep squad. I know there are people that are farther along in this journey and I can't wait to be where they are. I'm only 26 and I have my whole life ahead of me and so much to look forward to. Thank you everyone for the inspiring words and stories.

oh sweetie.... im so sorry. Really wish i could help. You know i would. But you made a good point.... why will it take a week when they should have all that together already? That looks like a RED flag to me on your doctors office part.

I cannot believe how fast a month has flown by! Ok well at first it seemed as if it was crawling but hey tomorrow begins my second month! YAAAAAAY! My original and only goal was to be under 300lbs by this time. A month has flown by and I now know that it was a really really, really tall order in such a short time. I came off the liquid diet on valentines day cause my husband decided he was taking me out to a formal dinner and there was no way I was going to pass up on making such wonderful memories. :wub: I just had the soup and dessert and brought home my entree for the babysitter. Next day I continued to eat normal foods in half cup portions. I did not meet the original goal but I'm in no way disappointed. I'm wiser now! Ususally in the past I would have just given up and rolled right back into the old swing of things. "What's the use... I'm not seeing the results I expected!" That was B4! But thanks to good ole perseverance and loads of invaluable advice from you guys right here on LBT I consider my first month in an overwhelming success! What did I accomplish? 1. I now recognise that the last fill I got since over a year ago had put me in the green zone(aka sweet spot.! I was there all along! 2. I now understand what it means to have your head in the game and how necessary it is for this banded life to be successful. 3. Every morning I smile 'cause my normal clothes are getting loose and the tight fitting ones are now fitting right. Also I have clothes that I can put away now cause I know I'll never wear them again. I have a few outfits that I ordered just b4 christmas and were small in some body areas due to their cuts. Those are starting to fit and will come in handy when my current clothes get too big. Shoes that I was able to wear for only half of the day stay on my feet all day now cause my toes don't rub on the inside of them anymore. (Go figure! My feet lost weight!) 4. I understand what it means to just eat two spoonfuls and be satisfied and I no longer have the mentality that any food is forbidden cause I'm on a diet. 5. I have recognised and have come to accept that slow and steady is the way to go when it comes to weightloss. 6. I have managed to keep my caloric intake between 800-1200 for the past month. ( I have never, ever, ever been able to do that before) MY STATS: Ok so by now you're like... "Tell us how much you've lost already! " So without further delay... here are my figures for the month.... B4 Feb. 3rd 335 Feb. 10th 325 Feb. 17th 321 Feb. 24th 318 March 2nd 319( TOM in full swing) So for the month I lost a grand total of 16lbs for the month and 33lbs since I've been banded!!!!!! My goal for next month is to exercise cause that was definitely lacking in this month. Thanks for readng and check out my before and after pics for the first month. I would greatly appreciate your comments. Thanks for posting about your journeys cause when I get stuck or lost I run unto the site search for posts related to my problem and I'm on my weigh again! Til next month......

I have been heavy up and down all my life. I had thought about the RNY but it seemed to drastic and way out of reach dolllar wize in the states. I recently just 2 years ago saw a dr. in Bend Oregon who before he would see me had to have cash up front of $2500 just for some simple tests and exam. well that was a waste of cash! well tax return came and went...other things are always more important than yourself. I finally had a visit with a local girl in Burns who had Dr. Aceves perform her lap band...she was excited, happy with the care and services. The hospital was clean and quiet....she could not boast loud enough about the care she recieved, So I did some research and this is when I made the decision...this year was gonna be my time to shine. My knees are going to feel better when they are not packing 354 lbs of person on them. This grama of 4 is gonna be a cool grama, one that can kneel down and kiss the babies and get down and play on the floor with them. My babies will never again say "Grama why you so tired all the time"....I am excited to start my new way of living. I have lost my love life relationship with my husband, I want this back more than anything. He is not so supportive and over the years has become more of a roommate than a husband. I want this to change aas well, I want to rock his world again like I did the first time we met. I love him more than he knows. I have very supportive friends and family during this time, so I am praying for a fast recovery and quick weight loss. I will post more when I get home.

If you suffer from acid reflux and you are willing to go with the gastric sleeve plication, you may be able to have your surgery covered by insurance. The sleeve plication is a procedure based on the Nissen fundoplication which is used to treat acid reflux. My sister was unsure of having the band but was interested in plication as a stand alone WLS procedure. While plication on it's own isn't usually covered by insurance, the Nissen fundoplication is covered so her doctor will give her both at the same time and it will be covered by her insurance. While plication as a WLS is relatively new it does show some promise, especially since one of the side effects of the fundoplication was weight loss. Plication is also being preformed with lap bands so far the majority of us that have had the band with plication done are happy with the results. If you do decide to consider the plication be aware that not all doctors will bill it as a treatment for acid reflux, the doctor that my sister is using is in Miami so you may need to travel. One important benefit is if you do go this way, you won't have to jump through the usual insurance hoops and can pretty much have the surgery right away. Another option you may have is to see if you have a hernia, if you do you could have the surgery to repair the hernia and then self pay to have the band put in which could save you thousands over paying for the band surgery on its own

For me, it was the severity of the procedures. I was hesitant enough about WLS, but removing part of my organs was just too much for me. Also, since I'm self-pay, I was FREAKED out complications because my insurance would not cover any complications. Lapband was far less risky, IMHO, and therefore, less of a risk financially. I've been infertile for four years and would like to get pregnant one day, and the fact that you can remove all the liquid from the band and have a normal size stomach again appealed to me in terms of nutritionally providing for a child if I was pregnant. It's different strokes for different folks. I think Gastric Bypass is a fine procedure and is a better fit for some people. I think Lapband was the right fit for me. The best advice I can give is research, research, research! Good luck!

Now if you are from Texas or Houston, you know that it is Rodeo time here. Rodeo brings the cowboys, good times and lots of good food. Last night my hubby and I went to see Kid Rock and I had to walk through all the yummy smells. Barbecue,pizza, fried sweets, tamales, etc. While everything smelled wonderful, I had no desire to eat any of it. I am on mushies, so there was plenty around there that I could have eaten if I wanted to but it felt so good to not do it. This is a major thing for me. Whenever I think about the carnival and the rodeo, I want to eat a corndog, lemonade and a funnel cake! It feels so good to be in control of myself at a place like this. I also was able to by a large t-shirt instead of a extra large. I was pretty pleased about that! I am going to try the gym this Sunday and see how it goes. When I was out last night I had to walk about 4 miles to get the center and back around everywhere. At sometimes it was a pretty quick pace and I was not worn out,like i was when I first started walking. I will skip any ab exercises but I will be doing some cardio. I am also going to clean out my closet and take the clothes that I really can not wear out and donate them. I once had someone tell me that they never get enought plus size clothing in when people donate.

Wow, I looked at the Cheesecake Factory menu, I am impressed! I always loved that place! I usually have a fish item and substitute any potato with a veggie. I love salmon so that is the usual choice. yesterday I went out and forgot to have the sub and had wild rice pilaf with the veggie. I obviously used all my carbs once I ate that! It was delicious but I do not want to do that, way to stressful! I took a look at the baguette they put on the table and decided it was not worth it. At least I made that choice correctly!!!

Ah yes...he IS a crackhead. That OTHER crackhead in the practice...Dr C also gave me a ration of sh*t for a 6 lb loss in a month. This was back in January when I had to get an unfill. He harassed me about the unfill AND he harassed me about not losing enough. I lost really fast right after being banded and after losing the first 70 lbs the loss slowed considerably. I still thought that 6 lbs in a month was great but Dr C thought it wasn't right. And yeah...I had *quite* an altercation with their so called "nutritionist" over the 800 calories a day thing. They can BITE ME!!! I said to that tiny chick "don't you think it's a lot to expect a 300 pound woman to eat 800 calories?" And she just looked at me like *I* was the idiot......