JerseyGirl80

Thank you. I didn't care about telling people, for the most part I've got nothing but support from everyone, but I guess there's always some A-hole's in the bunch. I figured, for me, it was just easier to tell most people than to hide it. Believe me if it wasn't a work enviroment where it happened she would have never said a word to me again about anything, because I wouldn't have been so nice about it. Also, this woman gives her stupid opinion to anyone and everyone about anything because she thinks she knows it all, so it's not just me and I should just expect stupidity from her. Mind you she can't even write a proper sentence, but that's another story... I guess I'm just sensitive today.. I do understand why people keep it quiet, but again, for me it's just easier to not to. Thanks for listening to my rant.

Hi Erin, congratulations on your decision. I'm a recovering binge eater myself. So far my band has been a life saver, I can no longer binge eat. I do still want to on occasion, but no where near as often as I used to. The best part is that my band doesn't allow me to binge when those cravings start. The other night I said "screw it" and I decided to binge a little... I am laughing just thinking about it because my "binge" eating the other night consisted of an extra cracker and a second laughing cow cheese, which I couldn't finish btw lol. I don't keep crap foods in the house so cheese and crackers was the most damage I could have done... so much for that lol. Good luck to you!

Saturday weigh in 248lbs, October starting weight 254lbs. 6lbs lost.

My surgeons office got proof of me being overweight themselves by requesting my medical records from my primary doctor. They will probably ask you for your primary doctor's information to contact that office for your records. I didn't do any running around to get them any information, they did everything themselves. Some doctors charge you for a copy of your records. I'd wait to see what your surgeon says.

You're welcome, you are not a PITA lol, please ask as many questions as you want, we're here to help. I found my whole process to be very fast. I went to the seminar in Aug 2010, had my 1st appointment with my Doc in Sept 2010, and I believe I knew my surgery date sometime in Nov 2010 but knew the estimated month probably in Oct 2010. I was originally scheuled for Jan 2011, but had to change to Dec 2010 because my insurance was changing at work come the new year.. That wasn't fun! Anyway the thing I loved about my surgeon was that he did not pressure me or try to push certain surgeries on me, he asked what surgery I wanted. I don't know if he does this with all his patients or if doctors try to convince some people to do the bypass or sleeve due to diet history, health issues, weight, loss expectations etc., but there was absolutely no pressure from my surgeon to do anything other than what I wanted. I have to admit when I first met with him I was a little ify, his personality was a little "stuffy" for me, but he did warm up a bit after I was seeing him for a while. So I'd say, give your surgeon a chance. I work for doctors, they don't have the best personalities to begin with, most but not all lol, some of them have great personalities you just have to find the right one for you. My thing is, these bariatric docs probably see so many overweight people for consults that seem all gung-ho at first and never come back, or fail at losing any pre-op weight because they just aren't that serious. So when a new patient comes in they probably just take it with a grain of salt, they're really not sure how serious a new patient is. So I'd give your doc a chance to prove that he's human lol. I also wanted to say, the other surgeons on my docs staff seem to be a little more laid back, the head honcho is a little less, but he's the boss and very professional. I love them all, but the woman doc in the office is my favorite, shes a sweetheart, I see her all the time now, she does my fills and follow up visits. After babbling all this time my point is, give your surgeon a chance, but if you really aren't feeling it, move on and find someone that you like. This is long term care and you will have to be with him for a long time and have a relationship with him and his staff. You want to enjoy this experience and feel comfortable. I'll shut up now!

I'm happy to help if I can.. Honestly I didn't do any research trying to find the difference between the two. That may have been an oops on my part, but I'm happy with what I have. Others may have choosen one or the other for good reasons, but I don't know. Keep talking and looking around the site, I'm sure there are other people with a Realize band here. I do think it's great that you are researching as much as possible, I would definitely encourage it. I really don't even think about the difference, I come to this site because I like it, I never thought twice about not being here because I have a Realize band, I just think of myself as banded and when I talk about it I actually say "I have a lapband". So to me, I really don't see that big of a difference from what I've read on here compared to the Realize website as far as how it works and such. As far as positioning and it being able to be seen under my skin was never a concern for me. I've been fat so long I don't care what kind of mess my body looks like after I lose my weight and if you can see the little alien port sticking out a little, so be it lol. I'll just be happy to be a normal size for once. It never mattered to me whether I had a LapBand or a Realize, as long as I was banded. I was reading a post the other night and some people were saying how their lapband port is very noticable now that they have reached their goal weight, but it doesn't seem to bother most of them. Others said they could feel theirs but not see it, or only able to see it while laying down, everyone has a different story. I'm no where near goal, but I've been able to feel mine since my abdomen healed enough for me to go feeling around for it. As to why my doctor chose Realize over LapBand, I don't know. Maybe it's easier for him to manuver while operating? maybe his patients have better results? or maybe that was the only band that was available that day? Who knows. I think the difference is brand and models, they both do the same thing in my book.

If I order chinese I try to get something off the steamed portion of the menu with garlic sauce and brown rice. I never finish it or even come close. If, on occasion, I do eat anything bad from there it's just a few bites off of someone elses food or sometimes I'll share a dinner with someone when I decide to splurge. I don't feel deprived or left out when my friends or family are ordering out or going out to dinner. I don't dread these moments like alot of people do, I live a normal life but just try to make the best choices I can when it comes to food. Everything in moderation, if you want to eat some of your favorite things from the chinese place on occasion, in my opinion, it's ok. Live and enjoy, just don't over indulge.

When I reach goal I'd like to maybe get married lol.. fingers crossed.. I refuse to ever be a fat bride! Also, a gift to myself for getting to onderland will be a cruise to Bermuda in May, I hope I get there by then!! 50 more pounds to go!

I have the realize band. I don't think there's much of a difference if anything, that I know of anyway. My doctor gave me a choice and I let him choose what he thought was best, he chose the realize band.

Hi Shalene, I'm in NJ too. If you're still shopping around for a surgeon, mine are wonderful. They have a few doctors to choose from, even a woman (which I love, I'm more comfortable with female doctors all around) but I think they're all great. Great bedside manner and very personable, which is hard to find in any kind of doctor. They specialize in WLS, have their own on site nutrionists, on site support groups and the office staff couldn't be better at doing all the run around for you. They have Union and Hobboken offices and host seminars twice a month. Good luck to you! here's a link to their site http://www.njbariatriccenter.com/

It's normal to not lose or even gain some weight after surgery. The first month or so is all about healing, not weightloss. I was banded Dec 2010, the same happened to me, I lost about 13 or 14lbs the first week and then maybe another pound or 2 until my first fill, 6 weeks after surgery. Once I started getting fills the weight started coming off slowly. The more fills I get over time, the more restriction I get followed by more weightloss. I have months where I'll lose a good amount of weight, and some where I only lose a few or none at all. For some of us it may take a few fills to gain restriction. You have to be patient and be very careful with what you are eating in between fills. If you aren't feeling restriction prior to fills you will have to diet all on your own as best as you can until your band starts helping you. The process of getting the band is so exciting and patience is the last thing we have when we've been through so much. We just want results right now, and that's understandable, I think most of us felt and/or feel that way. But that's not the reality of it (for most of us anyway), results may take a while. So just be patient for now, don't be upset if you gain a few pounds or if you're stuck at a certain weight, it's ok, you're on the right road. Give yourself time to recover before you start pushing yourself or being upset with yourself. The scale will start moving in the right direction before you know it.. Good luck!

I've been "dieting" since I was 15 years old, failed everytime because I am an over-eater and a binge-eater. My band has been the only thing that has every worked for me. Honestly, I don't even feel like I'm dieting at this point because I can't eat all that much anymore, and I have my eye on the prize. Cheeseburgers don't appeal to me as much as shopping in a normal sized store does. With the band you still have to watch what you eat, your doctor should have told you by now that your meals should consist of, low fat proteins first, then veggies, then carbs if theres room. For alot of us we gain restriction over time through getting fills gradually, your band might not start working overnight, it could take serveral months or several fills to feel a comfortable amount of restriction and as weight comes off the band may become loose, requiring more fills. All of us can drink milk shakes and eat "slider foods" til the cows come home, just because we have a band that doesn't mean we are magically going to lose weight. We have to work at this a little too. The band does alot of the work, but we do too, we have to work WITH our band, not against it. The band is not magic, if you think you'll be able to eat whatever garbage you want and still lose weight, you might want to rethink that. If you're serious about a life change, you should WANT to be eating healthier. None of the weight loss surgeries are magic, people that do not work with their bands, or their re-routed organs will either not lose or gain their weight back (most of them anyway). This is life changing, old habits must die in order to be successful at this. I doubt anyone is perfect when it comes to their eating, but we do what we have to do to get where we want to be. I didn't give up all the foods I love, I have them all from time to time just in moderation and in very tiny amounts. 90% of the time I eat how my doctor and nutrionists have told me too, but I'm human and I still love food, I just know how to eat it now. My band keeps me from overindulging when I do, from time to time, indulge in "bad" foods. Please get more educated and talk to as many banded people as you can about this before you make such a big decision. I really am finding that ALOT of doctors are either misinforming patients or leaving out alot of details. The band is not as scary as you might think, but you need to know everything before you jump into this.

Even before I got my band, I was always good at eating right during the day, then once night time came the binge eating or non-stop snacking would start. Still today, these urges get me. The main thing that helps me with this is not keeping any unhealthy snacks in my house, ever. When I do allow myself to have "bad" snacks, I get a small serving of it and it's just a one time limited thing. Now when I'm hungry late at night and feel I need some kind of snack, I'll have cheese and maybe a few crackers, fruit, a handful of nuts, chobani yogurt, or carrot sticks with some fat free dip. These kind of snacks never worked for me before the band, I just thought "are you kidding? who really believes carrot sticks are a snack?"lol but now because I can't eat that much these sort of "snacks" really do help me. Occasionally when I get really exciting with my snacks I'll have a skinny cow or weight watchers ice cream, but only on the days when I know I'm on the lower end of my calorie intake. I'm mainly a salt craver, not so much sweet, my doctor actually recomended eating beef jerky (high in protein) whenever I crave chips or something salty, this helps too because I love chips/doritos, I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner lol. Honestly when I really have the munchies at night I try to eat something healthy and go to sleep, I've even taken naps on days when I'm home and bored to keep myself from eating just because.

I went through my whole process and was scheduled for surgery in January 2010. A few weeks before my surgery date my company announced they were changing insurance carriers after the new year. To make a long story short I had to rush my surgery and have it a week after I found out about the change. My surgeon is not participating with my new insurance (this is something you'd definitely have to find out), I knew that but chose to have surgery anyway, so not to have to go through the process all over again with a new doctor and possibly more requirements/longer diet, etc... Right now I pay all my visits and fills out of pocket. $50 a visit, $150 a fill. As far as my new insurance paying for future treatment, I don't know yet. I'm going to need and endoscopy soon, but I don't know if I'll be covered.

Late check in, starting weight 254, Oct 15th weight 249.

I'm sure he's trying to scare you. I didn't have a post-op "liver shrinking" diet because my surgery date was changed at the last minute. I only had a few days to prepare, I was fine, the surgery went fine, I wouldn't worry. Just do as the doctor orders, you'll be fine.

After 10 years of thinking about it, it was my first and only choice. I didn't want anything cut out of me that I couldn't get back, the side effects of that were too risky for me. I didn't want to lose my weight quickly, and I wanted to feel like I was doing it, not just my surgery. (even though bypass people struggle too) I feel that with my band I'm still in control for the most part and I can still be accountable for what I'm doing. I know how to eat healthy and did for the most part before surgery, but I was also an over eater and a binge eater, the band restricts me from doing that anymore and I'm so thankful to modern science for that lol.` Don't get me wrong, I lack discipline and I'm lazy most of the time still lol, but this band was just that extra push that I needed. It's helping me relearn how to eat and I love it. It's making me feel better, and that's making me want to work out, which was the kiss of death before lol. My feeling is that, I'm young and healthy enough to work out and push myself, so to me the band was the right choice. (no offense to anyone at all, I'm just being honest) But I just feel that the bypass is more for patients that are incapable of doing as much, whether it be age, other ailments or extreme weight, like over 400 or 500lbs, but that's just my opinion. Bypass is the right choice for some as is the band.

People can also gain their weight back after bypass. What's bad for bypass patients is that they can't route their organs back to the way they once were (this was a big thing for me), but we can have our band removed if there's a complication or if we find that it's just not working for us the way we planned. They also have malabsortions issue (another big thing for me), we do not, our digestive system will still work the same. There's no garantee with any weight loss surgery that the weight will be gone forever. Bypass people may lose the weight faster and with less effort at first, but they still have to work to maintain it and to lose any excess weight over time. They still have to watch their diet and work out just like we do, aside from worry about the (to me) more risky side effects. I think some people would be better off with bypass and some with the band for different reasons. But all in all you have to really look at all the pros and cons to both surgeries to make the right decision for yourself. I find that (some not all) band patients, sleeve patients and bypass patients tend to try to sway others to have "their" surgery because they're happy with their decision, and there's nothing wrong with that, everyone has their own opinion but in the end it is your choice. Good luck!

No one can really tell you yes, or no. Everyone is different, some people are in alot of pain and for some it's minimal. I wasn't in much pain at all, most of my pain was from the gas, and I wouldn't really consider that pain, it was mostly just really annoying and uncomfortable. My incision spots really didnt hurt, my abdomen just felt like I did a million sit ups, it was that kinda muscle burn feeling you get from working out. The only other pain I had was my body being very sore from lifting myself, you'd be surprised how much we actually use our core to move ourselves around and when we can't the rest of our body has to compensate. For me, my experience with pain as a whole was very minimal, again all of it was more so "uncomfortable" than "painful" . The worst part was not being able to sleep in my bed for the first week or so, but I had no trouble sleeping at all. It was just too hard for me to lift myself out of my bed and I was afraid of rolling over (I'm a stomach sleeper) so I opted for the couch. Don't be afraid of some pain, it's worth it, the pain won't last forever. Good luck!

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You're welcome. FYI, for anyone thinking of changing their insurance mid-process, this could be a setback. You may have to start the process all over again meeting their requirements, and for all you know may be much harder to meet than the ones you have now. I'm not sure if all or any insurance companies would even recognize the steps taken before you were under their coverage. I was originally scheduled for surgery in Jan 2011, less than a month before my surgery date my wonderful boss decided to change our insurance to the crappiest cheapest (for him) coverage he could find. As of the first of the year (Jan 2011) I would no longer be covered under Aetna. I freaked out but luckily my doctors office was able to get my surgery date changed and everything. I wound up getting surgery a week after I found out about the insurance change (Dec 13th 2010). Mind you I had just made it in enough time to stop my medications. But had no time for a pre-op diet. It was crazy stressful, here I am thinking I have time to prepare mentally, clean the house really good one last time, grocery shop ect, then all the sudden I had a week prepare everything. If I had waited I would have been screwed, (even though I still kinda am, my visits and fills aren't covered). But anyway, not only was my deductuble going to be almost $5,000 and the requirements for approval included 1 year monitored dieting and a repeat of all the tests I had to already go through, but it turned out that my surgeon wasn't participating. I would have had to find another doctor, and I couldn't say more good things about all of the doctors and staff at NJ Bariatric Center. Even though all my fills and follow ups are out of pocket, I'm glad I stayed with them, either way imy after care would have cost me almost the same using my new insurance, but would have cost me a whole lot more paying for the surgery.

Not to butt in but.. A weight history is a documented "weight history" from your doctors office. It's just the weight the doctor recorded whenever you've been seen for any reason, check-ups, gyno visits ect. This needs to go back 2 years so it shows that you have been obese for at least that long. Also, Aetna paid almost all of my bill for the surgery and it was just under $25,000. The only bill I recieved was from the hospital for $500, everything else was covered. Anyone wondering about this needs to contact Aetna, your coverage and deductable could be different than mine was.

Amazing, you look wonderful and so much healthier too! Congratulations!