imawinner

Hello Jay, I also had my surgery in 2008. July actually, so I'm older than you lol! I too have not had the success I had hoped for. Since my surgery I lost a few pounds (40), got very sick from gallbladder and lost a few more (30). Had some surgeries, got well and gained back 30. Got extremely frustrated. Gee whiz!!! I go to support group meetings and listen to people whine because they had their surgery two months ago and have only lost twenty pounds. It's never too late to start over. Since rededicating myself I've lost a whopping 3 pounds and only have about 80 to go. You can start over too. Join me Jay. Start over with me. We can do this!

The first few weeks after my surgery I went through a "mourning" period. It took what seemed like forever for me to be able to get banded. I was totally elated. Did everything exactly like I was instructed. Made all the support group meetings beforehand. Had my family and friends on board. I was set up for success. Surgery went great. Not a problem in the world until I realized that I had pretty much divorced my best friend - food. I missed her. My comfort, my confidant, my one true constant. I would silently ask myself if I realized what I had done. I would get irritated watching people eat. There was no way in the world I wanted to express any of these feelings to the people that I dragged into it with me and especially not to my husband that had just shelled out 15K . I didn't regret getting banded I just had to really learn how to live without my crutch instead of just talking about it. It sounds laughable now... You'll be fine. Really. Oh yeah...my best friend...In hindsight I've learned that "she" never was my friend. We still visit often but our relationship is changing

I have had the esophageal spasms and it feels a lot like what you would think a heart attack feels like. Very painful and scary. My doc prescribed donnatal to relax the spasm as soon as I feel it coming on. Made a world of difference. He tells me that they aren't sure why it happens to some people after the band. I can tell you it gets much less frequent with time. Hope this helps.