NWgirl

Only you know if your friends are purposefully snubbing you. If they were my friends, I would assume they know I'm on a strict pre-op diet and they may not have invited me because they didn't want me to feel tempted....

If you are not in pain from constipation, you should be okay. If you get constipated, take a stool softener or milk of magnesia to move things along.

You can order it online. I know their webpage has a store locator to who sells it, but there were none in my area.

24-48 hrs

That it can goop up and may be hard to pass through the band.

Kilo is right about 50% more than a lb. So if you see someone who is 120 kilos, they are about 240.

Congrats! Have you noticed big changes in clothing fit and size?

Men can be funny when it comes to this and not voice their true opinions. My honey was really hesitant at first because he was worried about me and what might happen. As I talked to him about it and he could see how much I wanted it, he came around. I had him watch some youtube surgery videos with me so he knew how minimally invasive it really was (this was his main worry, that something would go seriously wrong in surgery). I also showed him skin photos, and all he had to say was that if I ended up with a lot of excess skin, then I could get it removed but that it wouldn't bother him either way. The possible physical improvements in my health and body image due to surgery totally over rule any possible vanity issues. Even if he wouldn't have been on board, I would have gone for it anyways. Sooner or later he would have come around. Your husband loves you for you, not your physique. Try to find why he's so hesitant about this step. My honey watched me diet up and down for over 7 years and knew the mental pain I had endured. The fat wasn't going away without a little extra help!

I am not from the area you stated, but I also needed a new PC when I started this journey. I went ahead and called the practice I was using for surgery and asked if they knew of a PC that they would recommend. I figured they would know of some that were WLS friendly, and they did.

Use A&D or some other baby rash cream. They also make chafing sticks for runners that may be useful.

Unlike gastric, where you don't really have control of where you're body says stop, the band can be adjusted to restrict or allow more food intake, which will then correlate to weight loss or gain.

Protein: tuna, salmon, steak, chicken, turkey, beef, tofu, quinoa, cottage cheese, eggs, Greek yogurt, milk...

Some Dr's require such strict diets because they want the liver to be as small as possible. some don't seem to mind as much. I was required to do low-fat/low-cal, but you may be on to something with the trying to get used to the change.

Actually, Lapband is approved for a BMI down to 30, but insurance requirements are usually 35+ with two co-morbidities or 40+ without.

I was hungry after four days post-op, so it's completely normal. Just remember to make good choices and if you need to, use a food scale to portion out your food.

Flavorless protein powder is not really flavorless, it just does not have extras added. It still smells and tastes protein-y. Nectar makes protein powders that mix and supposedly taste like juice and not the traditional types. There are also protein shots available, which are usually a berry flavor.

It's always exciting when you get that final confirmation!

Have you tried adding a Protein drink or such after your workouts? I am guessing maybe (I hate to say this because I don't really know what you're doing and not doing) you are not eating enough and so your body is holding on for dear life. You said you ate bad last week, but lost weight. How many more calories do you think you ate? To test the theory, I would add in a healthy 100-150 calorie snack and see what it did over the course of a week or two.

Only you can decide if this is right for you. The "expected" weight loss of excess weight (anything above BMI 25) is about 50%. I remember seeing a thread a while back about lower BMI candidates and a good point was made about excess weight (http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/144303-bmi-27-and-considering-the-lapband-depressed/)- If you are currently at 170 and a "normal" BMI for you would be 25 at a weight of 135 on the high end, would you be satisfied with getting surgery and only permanently losing 20 or 25 pounds (which would be equivalent of the 50% of excess weight)? I love my band and wish I would have had the option of getting it when I was only 40 or 50 pounds overweight, but it is not a magic bullet. As a lower BMI person, you would also probably take longer to lose the weight as you don't have as much to lose. Please read through the forums and gather some more info. This gal http://www.lapbandtalk.com/user/242962-lellow/ was a low BMI bander and lost all excess plus some. You can definitely be successful!

Maybe it is free for your Dr, but I have read of people who are using insurance and the surgeon will do it if they pay extra. You're right in that there probably is not a billing code for it yet. I would have paid extra if my surgeon was doing it, but she is not.

If it's free, I'd do it. It supposedly is supposed to pose less of a risk of band slippage and the band shouldn't need as many adjustments. You should come out of surgery only physically able to eat a small amount. It does not actually remove any part of the stomach, but the risks are that the folding can cause death of tissue.

I read this article on another post a few days ago and it is only something related to band or bypass. The cause is that alcohol is metabolised differently after those surgeries, so people can drink and drink and the effect wears off quickly, so they drink more. It's not necessarily a replacement of a food addiction, just a thing with how it runs through the body.

The band won't stop you from buying ice cream or eating it. Just don't even go down the ice cream aisle.

You'll be fine. It's pretty quick and painless.

You need to go have fill removed from your band. These are symptoms of being too tight. It's extremely important that you not get dehydrated.