Better_Days

Hi All, Im Andy and I was banded Aug. 9th 2006, so far I have lost 79lbs and about 16 inches off my waist. With the exception of deciding to have my daughter, its the best decission ive ever made. The way I look at the band is, its a safety net for me, I have been eating right and exercizing like I would with any other weight loss program I was on, except now, when I fall off the wagon, its still there carrying me through the times when I would normally say screw it, and be off the diet. Without the guidenance, help, and support I get from my surgery center and surgeon I think I would not have half the loss that I have. For those of you who are thinking of doing this, I highly recommend you look into the place your going to have the surgery, is the surgeon going to be available to you, is the staff? Is anyone in the office banded? who does the fills? how much are they? Do they have a support group, how often do they meet? I know when I walk in to the office, I get greeted with , hi Andy, not, sign in here, or can I help you, its a little thing, but it means alot to me, I had the surgery allready, but they treat me the same way they did day 1, its just really important to have support I guess is what im trying to say. Oh yeah, and 1 other thing, I REALLY REALLY REALLY MISS EATING PIZZA What do you miss the most???????????????????????

Robin, as far as the Gym goes, first, ask your Dr., mine told me, when I feel up to it, go for it, start slow and work into it, I waited about 7 days after surgery and started cardio, riding a bike, then at about 2 weeks, 2 and 1/2 weeks started with light weights and stayed with the really light weights for a while and just increased the reps. Take it slow, any exercise is better then none, a body in motion stays in motion, a body at rest, stays at rest. GOOD LUCK

Yeah, sorry bout that, my e mail is ajgrzelewski@yahoo.com when you post a message it sends it to my e mail, so sometimes I forget Andy

Hey Bandguy, Stick in there, Lapband Hell only last a few weeks, I think you wait a month because of swelling from the surgery, dont sweat it man, you have the rest of your life to live banded, the time will pass and the fill will come, then the weight will come off, I know it is frustrating as hell to wait, but you dont want to do anything to screw this up either. I would call my Dr. tomorrow and tell him whats going on, my guess is he will tell you its ok to do soft foods and in 2 weeks he will probably want to see you for your fill. If you dont lose any weight over the next couple weeks its ok, it will come off, I promise, maybe to counter the extra calories for the next 2 weeks, go out and walk a extra half mile that night, or go up and down the stairs 10 times, something a little extra to help the metablolism. Just remember, its only a couple more weeks and you can do it, then its all the real foods again, just in smaller quantities, if you want to talk or just vent cause this thing is really pissing you off, e mail me and I will send you my cell number, ive been there man, I know it sucks at first. good luck Andy

Yes, I exercise daily, I have turned into a "gym junkie" sometimes 3-4 hours a day, depending on work, I also bought home gym equipment for the days I just cant get to the gym, but the biggest thing I did was putting a recumbent bike in my family room and thats the seat I use to watch TV, the only way I allow myself to watch is if im peddaling the bike, it doesnt have to be fast, but if I want to watch a football game, I have to peddal for 3 hours, this accomplishes 2 things, first, I watch a whole lot less TV, lol, and 2, huge weight loss with all the cardio, metabilism through the roof. I really think exercise is the key, you dont have to be quite as obsessive about it as I am but at least 30 mins a few times a week would really help Good luck to you

I had my surgery at the Cincinnati weight loss clinic on Aug 9th 2006, Dr. Osbourne was my surgeon and I have nothing bad to say about anyone at that place, they are friendly, knowledgable, very helpful, they have always taken every call or returned my call within an hour, half the people that work there are banded, they know what were going through, they need the support groups as much as we do. I would be more then happy to talk to anyone who is considering going to the cincy clinic, and I am not associated with them in any way, except I had my surgery there, I just think it would of been nice if someone offered that to me prior to my selecting them, e mail at ajgrzelewski at (@) yahoo

Good luck, I drank Ensure and Boost, all the flavors were tolerable

In my opinion, one of the most important factors in the surgery is the support you recieve, before, during and after, if they are treating you like this now, whats it going to be like when you have questions, need fills etc. I think I would push, call your insurance company, get someones extension there that can give them the ok, then go right to the clinic, be persistant, let them know all that needs to happen is someone at this office needs to call this number and give them a date, they will give you the ok. Sometimes we just need to give people a little nudge, when they see we are serious, they tend to focus a little clearer. Good luck