Ginger2120

Hi, my name is Janel, and I say kind-of new but not really because I've had a band since 2003. I had a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Deol in Troy, and the surgery was a huge success and I lost an amount of weight I was happy with and life was good :clap2: Then in January of 2005 I found out I was pregnant. I was thrilled!!! I had my band emptied and my pregnancy was a breeze!! In september of 2006 I had a beautiful baby girl!! Now Isabelle (my daughter) is 7 months old, and I still haven't had my bad filled because I have gall bladder problems and I need it taken out before I can have a fill. But it gets worse.....I no longer have health insurance so I can't have my gall bladder out!! I gained more weight than I wanted to with my pregnancy, so now I'm almost back to my starting weight before surgery and I'm starting to get depressed because I don't see a way out of this situation. I know that some day I will have health insurance again and get back on track, but sometimes it's hard to keep my spirits up.

I know that lots of people with the band have babies, but this is my first and I'm nervous! I go to see my surgeon tomorrow and I have a thousand questions for her. THe first worry I have is my port. Mine is placed in the muscle in my waist and I can already feel myself growing and I'm afraid it's going to stick out and cause me pain once I'm really pregnant!?!

Thank you all for your kind words! I honestly don't remember looking like the before picture which I suppose is a good thing! THe biggest thing I've noticed I can do now is keep up with my 7 year old niece. I spend last weekend with her and I couldn't believe that she got tired before me!

Hi Stephanie, I am also a patient of Dr. Deol's. I lost about 80 lbs in my first year and I feel like a whole new person!

Hi Everyone, I've been banded for over a year, and I've been lurking on this website since before I was banded. Today is the day I can post my before and after pictures!?!! (Thanks to Penni)

I finally have before and after pictures that I would like to post, but I can't figure out how. I tried to attach the files but it said they were invalid. Can anyone help me with this? Thanks, Janel

when I started eating "real" food I was so careful. I had read so much about different problems people had and I was so afraid to do anything that would hurt my band. But I haven't had any problems so far! My biggest problem in the beginning was getting all of my Water in, and my weight loss was slow because I wasn't doing it. But since I've been drinking my water everyday I've been losing like crazy! I hadn't been weighing myself because I was afraid I wasn't losing weight, but then my clothes started falling off me and I figured I better see how much I had lost!

Hi, I am also a Michigan bandster. Dr. Deol put my band in September 22nd of last year. I've lost about 80 lbs since surgery! She is a wonderful surgeon and the staff at Troy Beaumont is amazing. It was the easiest surgery I've ever had! :banana

Hi Baileymb Dr Deol operated on me, and my Mother is also a very worried mother. My surgery took about 2 hours because I had a lot of scar tissue for Dr. Deol to go through. I didn't have a cathader, they just kept having me go to the bathroom in pre-op. It was nerve wracking sitting in the pre-op area, but they let my parents sit with me, and as soon as the guy with the needle full of happy stuff came, I didn't care what they did with me! I remember going into the OR and Dr. Deol was talking to me and the next thing I knew Dr. Deol was telling me that my surgery was overwith and it went fabulous! Honestly the hardest part of this surgery is the waiting and worrying! At least for me it was. I think I was in such excellent hands during surgery and my hospital stay my whole experience was a breeze! I have faith that Dr. Deol and her staff will make your surgery just as easy. GOod Luck! Email me if you have any questions about surgery with Dr. Deol, I think I'm her biggest fan! Janel

Thanks Nancy for your kind words. I'm only 26, so some people think I'm still too young to get married! Being married and having a family is something I want very much, but right now I would settle for someone to talk to and laugh with. Right now if something funny happens at work or I hear something funny on tv or the radio the only person I have to share that with is my Mom! Don't get me wrong, I love her to death and don't know what I would do without her, but it's always nice to have that someone special to share trivial little things like that with. SOmeone who will give you a hug just because they like being close to you. These are things I need in my life and I don't have. I know it will all come in time and I have to be patient, but some times I just get tired of being patient.

I have a question for some of the single people. Did you get your band and start losing weight and feeling really good about yourself and then you start meeting people (men, jerks) and have enough self confidence to talk to them and get shot down? This seems to be a viscious cycle in my band journey. I feel so good about myself and start meeting people and eventually get up enough nerve to ask someone out and get the big rejection and it sends me into a huge depression. Unfortunatly this last depression I've gotten into won't seem to go away! There are days that I feel like I'm the only single person in the world and at least before my band I was depressed and could eat whatever I want.