JerseyGirl80

Hello, I'm in the same boat. I've lost 25lbs since the start of my process to date. My surgery was Dec 13th. I gained a few pounds over the holidays. I am eating less making healthy choices, also exercising and still having trouble losing. Don't get discouraged, from reading alot on these forums this seems to be the norm for a lot of us. As everyone is different some lose right away and some take a few "fills" to start feeling enough restriction to jump start our weight loss. Hang in there and be patient. Your body is also still healing, don't push yourself too much or start regretting the surgery already. This is a slow process. If you are gaining significant amounts of weight back, you should talk to your Doc and/or nutritionist. Cheer up! Your journey has just begun!

I had my surgery Dec 13th, I didn't work that week and took off the following Monday, even though I planned to go back that day. I returned to work the next day, Dec 21st, but only worked half days the 21st, 22nd and 23rd, we had off the 24th and a snow day the 27th, so I really took it easy getting back into things. I have a desk job, and those half days were more than enough for me. I was happy to be out of the house, but I felt really tired. I had to keep getting up to walk around the office because my bra was rubbing against one of my incisions and I have a tendency to press my stomach against my desk so that was really irritating me. I was very uncomfortable for the most part sitting in my normal work position. I have returned full time back to work and I'm still feeling a little tired but I noticed I'm feeling much better this week. My incisions are still a tad bothersome because of sitting at my desk but other than that I'm ok. Hang in there and don't push yourself, you are still healing,take as much time as you need to recover and remember everyone is different we all heal at different paces. So I guess it's taken me about 3 weeks to start feeling more like myself. Hope you feel better soon!

Welcome Courtney ! I also have PCOS so I know what hell it is and how frustrating it can be to workout, diet and get no where. Good luck with your journey!

Same for me, but I did have to answer about 100 questions on a scan-tron about myself.

I've always drank at least 64oz of water a day, one habit I was able to keep after years of doing weight watchers. But somedays I just don't want it. Sometimes I use crystal light packets, I only use half a packet per 16oz because it's a little too sweet for me. What I've been loving lately is True Lemon, it's basically crytalized lemon flavor, it tastes like u just sqeezed some fresh lemon in your water. For my protein I throw it in a blender with some ice and a little frozen fruit. When I was on just liquids I had this 3xs a day and that gave me 72 grams of protein. I'm still having this every morning for breakfast.

We are here for eachother! We don't want to shut out our loved ones, but sometimes it's easier to talk to others that are going through the same things. We need this little place on the web!

Loving everyday ~ I agree with Mommy2P. I have a similar situation going on with my bestfriend, we are as close as sisters could be, but it's very hard. I try not to even bring up my band, or eating or working out unless she asks, because I feel like I'm rubbing it in, even though I'm not. It's normal to want to talk about this because this journey is so exciting, of course we want share it with our bestfriends and sisters and who ever will listen, but we also have to know when to keep things to ourselves or keep it between other bandsters. Your sister is probably feeling left behind, or maybe she's used to being the skinnier sister and now it's looking like she won't be. This may sound terrible but somewhere in her head it probably made her feel a little better knowing that you were bigger than her, not that she felt this way to be mean, but it's just how things are sometimes. I can only imagine that this could really upset someone. I've always been bigger than most of my friends, and all of my family members, but sometimes (this is awful of me, I know) I felt a little relieved that I wasn't the biggest person out of my circle of friends. Unfortunately we all have terrible body images of ourselves, no matter how big or small we are, and us women really put ourselves through hell trying to subconsciously keep up with one another. I'm sure she is happy for you, and just sad for herself. I don't think it's really about jealousy, that's too harsh of a word, it's more like her being out of the spotlight and most likely hearing how great you are doing from every angle. Hearing all that is probably just reminding her of her failures and her weight struggles. But do not feel bad about this. You have done something wonderful for yourself and you should be proud. Eventually your sister will come around.

For me blood work, an EKG, a chest X-ray, a psych evaluation, and meeting with a nutritionist was all that was required by my insurance (Aetna). I did not have to get an EGD. Some insurances do require it and some require a stress test, mine didn't. These tests may also have to do with your overall health level, size, or age, for example if you have upper GI problems or heart conditions your Doc may order them just to be safe.

I used to be so tired and cranky if I didn't have my coffee in the morning. But since my surgery 3 weeks ago, losing a little bit of weight and quitting it (for now) I haven't felt the need for it. I thought I was going to get crazy. My nutritionist also recommended to limit it once I was allowed caffeine again due to dehydration. Instead I've been drinking sugar free hot chocolate at work the last few days, it probably does have a little caffeine but not as much as coffee and it tastes much better. I guess it's a mental thing, I need something hot to drink in the mornings and the hot chocolate is a good substitute for me.

This really annoys me, my surgeon vaguely mentioned this at my last appointment a few days before my surgery (which was Dec 13th 2010). I was so excited and nervous about the surgery that this just went in one ear and out the other until I started reading things on the forum. I thought something was wrong with me, I thought "Oh God am I such a pig that I'm starving and can still eat with a band?!" but no, I guess I'm normal. I would have really liked to be aware of this before hand. I went into this thinking I was finally going to have some control of my eating right away. I knew I would have to do a lot on my part too and it's not all the bands job to make me thinner but if I had warning I would have been more prepared for my "dieting" instead of being thrown into it. I guess it's my fault for not getting on the forums sooner and learning as much as I could from other bandsters. My Doctor gave out more information than anyone could consume, but this very important detail was just like "oh and by the way...." at the last minute, they got some nerve! Poo on these Doctors!

Hey! I'm 30 and a crazy cat lady too hahaha! Good luck getting things rollings, the anticipation of approval and the waiting for your surgery day is the worst part. I had mine done Dec 13th, things are going well so far.

Welcome RhondaR, My surgery date was December 13th so I'm right with you! I've actually moved along past the pureed stage and I'm eating regular foods. My doctor said it was ok as long as I chewed really well and stayed away from tough meats for at least another week. You sound like you are doing great, keep it up!

Thanks for posting this. I have the exact same thing going on for me. I read this and thought, "did I post this?" lol. I had my surgery 3 weeks ago and I can pretty much eat anything and almost as much as I could eat before. I drink diet soda and can even handle eating meat and some bread. I do get fuller faster but I'm still eating ALOT. I lost 13lbs after surgery and I gained 4 over Christmas and New Years. I lost 2 pounds as of this morning though. From what I've been reading on here the lack of restriction is normal. We may not feel any restriction until after a few fills, until we find that "sweet spot" as they call it, when there's just enough of a fill so that we are comfortable but only eating about 4oz of food. I really don't think you will hurt the band as long as you chew really well and don't over do it.. I too am starving every few hours after eating, it's so frustrating!. I'm trying my hardest to make healthy choices to keep my weight down until my band is where it should be. Just hang in there!

Welcome to the site! My boyfriends mother is in her mid 60s, she had the lap band put in May 2010, everything went well with her surgery. She's losing very slowly, as she has arthritis in her knees she has not been able to work out until recently. She has lost about 50 pounds and is finding it much easier to get around and do things. She's looking fabulous and no longer has high blood pressure. This week I'm getting her to work out a little with me, we will be doing Leslie Sansone's walk at home DVDs, they are great for any fitness level. I'm excited to get her moving, as well as myself. I just had my band surgery on Dec 13th and everything has gone well so far. I find it a little odd that your doctor was pushing the bypass on you. My doctor asked me what I wanted, he didn't push anything on me at all. If anything he asked what I thought would be right for me and my lifestyle after he explained all options to me in great detail. It's your body and your decision, he can make suggestions but it really is your choice as to what you want to do with your body. Good luck to you and I hope everything goes well!

I like muscle milk light but only the chocolate flavor, vanilla tastes fake and strange to me. These come pre-made in boxes (like a juice box), I haven't tried the powder. But as far as protein goes, I prefer Pure Protein in the cans because they have much more protein, again I prefer their chocolate flavors and cookies and cream over the vanilla. The Pure Protein vanilla is really gross! Anyone try throwing their protein shakes in the blender with a little bit of frozen fruit and some ice? It's much more filling than just drinking it straight from the can/box and it's so yummy!

Congratulations! I don't share your surgery date but I was just banded on December 13th, so I'm just starting this journey too. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

I have a bestfriend too that has been pulling away. We've been friends since freshman year in high school, we are now 30. I had my surgery and it took her 3 days to text me to see how I was doing. All of my other friends were texting and calling my boyfriend the day of the surgery to see how it was going. But nothing from her but a lousy text 3 days later. We don't talk or see eachother like we used to before I started making changes in my life. I was upset for a moment, until I really thought about it. I hope what I'm going to say makes sense. For years her and I were fat together, we ate together, binged together, took comfort in eachother, we even would work out and lose some weight together when we'd get on a health kick once or twice a year.. Then after a while, we'd gain the weight back together and give up on ourselves, together. The mentality between us was "I'm fat, but you're fat too so it's ok, at least I'm not alone". We kind of put this wall around ourselves, so when one of us changed it was inevitable that it would be hard on the other person. There no excuse to not be supportive, but how could I not expect it and not understand it? I'm not being selfish about this, and I'm realizing she's feeling left behind. She has not gotten to the point that I have, her mentality is still in that comfort zone we trapped ourselves in, so maybe she's a little angry, sad or upset. I can't say that I wouldn't feel the same way if I was still stuck in my fat comfort zone and my misery partner got up and left me to do better for themself when we've done everything together for so long. I don't know if anyone else has had a relationship like this, which obviously was a damaging one because all we did was enable eachother, but stop and think a minute before you judge a friend that you feel has not been acting the way you think they should be, in their mind there may be some reason. They aren't acting this way to hurt you, maybe they're acting this way because they're hurting. I know my friend is happy for me deep down inside, but that doesn't make it easy for her and her feelings right now. She'll get over it and she'll realize it's just silly, and I hope she will do something to help herself lose the weight too one day. She needs some time to get used to the idea that I'm making strides to do better by me and I have to be sure not to change my inside while my outside changes.

I had my surgery on a Monday and by Wednesday I had a decent BM, it didn't take long for me. My doctor suggested taking Maalox if I had trouble going, luckily I didn't.

Hello and welcome. Just remember it is your body and your life, so in the end it is your decision. I hear from people all the time "oh you can't do it yourself?" or "so you're taking the easy way out" and I tell them, if I could have lost the weight myself, I would have, and it's not "easy", maybe easier, but the weight is not magically going to fall off with the band. I don't know if your family members struggle with weight, but I find that most people that don't are the ones that like to make us feel like failures for not being able to do it ourselves. I try not to dwell on the negative things, I have no support from my family, all my support comes from my bestfriends, my boyfriend and his family. My boyfriends mother got banded in May, she's doing well, very slowly losing but she's feeling better, looking better and getting around much better. She is 65 yrs old and also has arthritis (which the weight loss is helping). She had high blood pressure and was off her meds for it in less than a month after surgery. So losing definitely helps with those ailments. I'm 30 years old and I've been on a diet for at least 15 years, yo-yoing and making myself crazy trying to be "normal", I never strived for "skinny" just "normal" and could never quite get there. Now that I'm getting a little older, dropping any weight is seeming to be more impossible, and my health was starting to suffer because of it. I just got my band on Dec 13th, so I don't know how well it will work for me, but I know I made a good decision for right now, I'm feeling better already and I've lost 13lbs. Good luck to you and remember whatever choice you make should be for you and no one else.

I went to a seminar in July 2010, I made an appointment with the surgeon at the seminar for August 2010. At my first appointment with my doctor I was given a perscription for blood work, a chest x-ray, an EKG, a pysch evaluation, and a sleep apnea test. Every insurance is different in their requirements, I have Aetna which from what I've been told is one of the easiest insurances, they don't require a 6 month diet like some do. They just required proof of me being overweight for 2 years, my current weight to be on record for 3 visits at the surgeons office and they wanted co-morbidities. During September and October I got all my tests done. By Novemeber we were just waiting for all my test results to come in. My next visit with my Doctor (early Decemeber) I was asked when I'd like to have surgery, I decided after the holidays would be the best, so I was scheuled for early January. But due to a change of my insurance at work, I had to rush it all and wound up only having 9 days to prepare for surgery. But luckily all went well and I was banded on December 13th 2010. So in total my process was 5 months.

The gas will pass, just keep walking around as much as you can. My Doctor suggested taking Gas-X strips which helped. The pain in your back and shoulder is most likely trapped gas. I had horrible pain in the center of my back as soon as I woke from anesthesia, it was the gas. I had these pains for the first 5 days after surgery, it was moving around my body trying to find a way out. You just gotta keep moving and let it out.

If you have good insurance and you are physically and emotionally ready to make this step, do it, don't hesitate, you don't know what could happen. I was very close to not having mine because of the insurance change at my job. My Doc doesn't take the new insurance which was devastating news and I was on edge for days waiting to hear back from the Doc to confirm my clearance for rushed surgery. Luckily the office staff was amazing and was able to get me a surgery date right away. Otherwise, I would have had to start the process all over again with another surgeon, more tests, more dieting blah blah blah. And from what I understand the requirements are harder to meet for BCBS (my new one) than Aetna (my old one).

Thank you. Seriously, I really think the hair is worse than the weight for me, that's sad! I've had the worst time losing weight too. I was diagnosed with it almost 2 years ago, I knew for years that it was what was wrong with me, but it took me a while to see a doctor about it. When I told her I was considering the band, she said "that's great because with having PCOS, significant weight loss would be almost impossible to do yourself." My doctor is treating it with metformin and birth control, the combo of those drugs are supposed to do some great things and also help with weightloss, but we will see, I just started with the meds so only time will tell. I was a little over 300 when I started all this, I'm down about 27 pounds so far. I'm hoping with the meds and the band, weight loss will be a little easier.