NWgirl

That's great you and your wife are doing this together! Congratulations and good luck!

Hi there! I am 4 months post-op and am down over 45lb and 6 clothing sizes! I feel great about myself and my decision to purse WLS. I recently got my fourth fill (4.8cc/10cc) and am definitely re-learning how to eat. I swear I have PB'd 4 or 5 times since the fill over a week ago!

Sounds to me you need to find ways to get more protein in- this could be different cooking methods, etc but I would not expect to be satisfied off of one Protein Shake and a handful of nuts (approx 20g protein with nuts plus whatever your shake was)! You've got to learn to live a new lifestyle and not just a diet. I know me and I know that the tiny amount of food you've described would never keep me satisfied enough to stay up with a diet.

Hi Lance! My advice is to read everything you can. I got pseudo obsessive about reading everything here before I had my surgery.

I can drink diet soda, but have heard of some Dr's not wanting their patients to. Mine said to wait for a month post-surgery to drink it. Supposedly it can contribute to erosion concerns and some people really do not handle the carbonation so well.

How old are you? I was 23 when I got banded (24 now) and cannot praise it enough. Don't be too worried about the process and about losing your favorite foods. After surgery and until my second fill, I could eat whatever I wanted. Actually, I could still eat whatever I want, but don't think the time to eat them is worth the reward. Also, realize this is a lot more of a mental game than a physical one. Make sure your head is in the right place and that you are willing and ready to follow the guidelines. If you have any specific questions, I would love to answer them!

I also gained about 10 pounds to push myself above the 40 BMI. Most home scales are not as accurate as the Dr's office (although they seem to show the opposite problem of weighing less than a Dr scale), so this may also be the issue. If you're really worried about it, call the Dr's office and ask about the weight and find if they use the first weight or if they use the highest before submitting to insurance.

It was a requirement for my surgeon because people with apnea can have a hard time with general anasthesia and not just because of insurance.

What goes in, comes out.

I ended up sleeping on my stomach a few days after surgery. I would go to bed on my back and wake up on my stomach with little pain.

After surgery, it seemed to me that the blinders were lifted and I saw myself like others might. This was after over 30lb loss, but my head wasn't in the positive mindset. I was sad and mad at myself and all I could see was the bad. I then put together a collage of progress pictures and was able to SEE the positive changes and let myself be happy with me. I'm a work in progress and some days may be better than others, but you have to love yourself first and foremost.

My first fill was 2cc, and I didn't really feel much different. My second fill of 2cc (bringing me to 4cc) was the Ah-ha moment that let me know this was going to work. As for pain, you get a needle poked into your stomach. It's nothing much really. My last fill was 100% pain free, but strangely I bled afterwards. My other fills were more uncomftorable, but no bleeding.. After fills, my Dr recommends 48hrs liquid, then a day of mushy before going back to a regular diet.

The fitbit has a step counter, mileage tracker, stair tracker (per flight, not per stair), activity level indicator, and the ability to start/stop to track sleep or a specific activity. I love my fitbit and use it in combination with Lose it to keep track of calories/exercise. I use Lose it for the mobile app because it can sync with Fitbit and has a bar code scanner, which is awfully handy. I also bought the new Wifi Aria scale from Fitbit, which was $130 and auto uploads weight, body fat, lean vs. fat mass to the fitbit website. It really makes for one location where I can go to look at all of my stats.

It sounds like you ate the bread a few days ago? I am guessing the bread is no longer there, but I would call my surgeon and ask anyways. No question is a dumb question. For future reference, I was told not to eat anything from 2-4 hours prior to a fill because they don't want food to be left above the pouch or physically stuck in the pouch if they tighten the band down.

P.S. Did you buy a Fitbit? I love the heck out of mine!

Well, if your baseline is 4000 now, I would shoot for another 500 or 1000 steps to start and increase daily/weekly at a pace that's comftorable to you and is not one that will injure you. Recommended steps per day is 10000.

If you are using insurance, the likelihood is that they require you use a center of excellence location. If you are self pay, I would recommend going through a center of excellence as well, because they are certified as having a complete bariatric team and have to pass/maintain high standards to become an excellence center. From yourbariatricsurgeryguide.com: To receive this designation, a center goes through an extensive approval process, including an onsite inspection of the facility. The stringent certification criteria stress safety, proficiency and volume. Research has shown that bariatric surgery outcomes are better in high-volume hospitals — that is, those that perform higher numbers of these surgeries. Also, I would be wary of a location that charges a program fee. I have gone to a center of excellence and was not required to pay an extra amount. Remember, don't jump at the first surgeon you find The ASMBS Center of Excellence criteria include the following: Hospitals must perform at least 125 bariatric surgeries per year. Surgicenters must perform at least 100 bariatric surgeries per year. Bariatric surgeons at these Centers of Excellence must have performed at least 125 bariatric surgeries during their career and must continue to perform 50 surgeries per year. Centers of Excellence must be staffed by a multidisciplinary bariatric team including surgeons, nurses and other consultants. All centers must pass a rigorous onsite inspection. All centers must report their long-term outcomes to the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD). The information gathered in this database is used to analyze the safety and benefits of bariatric surgery. All centers must be re-evaluated with an onsite inspection every three years.

The only deaths I've heard of, other than the member mentioned above, are those through the True Results franchise in California. I also seem to recall another death about a woman who was put in the ER due to band related problems, but because her bariatric surgeon was busy with other patients at the time, she chose to go home instead of waiting and passed on. I think most serious problems are unlikely to happen, and deaths like you are wondering about are due to negligence, either on the Dr or the patients part. The chart below shows complication/death rate as compared to bypass.

Awesome progress! I have also gone from a tight, tight 22 (should have been a 24, but vanity and pride prevailed) to a loose 16. It is an amazing feeling and each time I moan to myself about slow weight loss, I remember the 6 clothing sizes I've dropped.

It's always nice to see more guys on the forum! Welcome!

I am not telling anyone other than intricate people. I really get peeved when you see magazine articles that say "Suzi lost weight all naturally, no surgery!"

Some people have more stomach fat than others, so that could be an issue. It could also be that your surgeon placed it in a hidden away place