success150

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. jUST LIKE WE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF THE LAP-BAND i BELIEVE THAT WE ALSO NEED TO HEAR ABOUT THE FAILURE OF THE LAP-BAND AS WELL. i AM NOT SAYING THAT THE LAP-BAND ITSELF IS A FAILURE, JUST THAT i FAILED AT HAVING THE LAP-BAND. i AM FROM SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA AND DR. GEORGE MERRIMAN WAS MY SURGEON. HELLO, MY NAME IS LISA STARKS AND I BECAME A BANDSTER BACK IN 2011, I FORGET THE MONTH AND DAY. WHEN I FIRST DECIDED TO GET THE BAND I REMEMBER FEELING NERVOUS, EXCITED, AND SCARED ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I REMEMBER THINKING, I AM FINALLY GOING TO LOSE THE WEIGHT AND BE SOMEWHAT SMALL AGAIN. HOWEVER, I STILL WAS ANXIOUS AND COULDN'T WAIT UNTIL THE VERY DAY OF THE SURGERY. AFTER WAKING UP FROM THE SURGERY I REMEMBER FEELING SO MUCH PAIN AND HUNGRY TOO ONLY TO HEAR YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE DOCTOR SAYS YOU CAN EAT SOMETHING. WHEN I FINALLY DID GET SOMETHING TO EAT I REMEMBER FEELING FULL AFTER ABOUT 3 OR 4 SIPS OF THAT YUCKY broth. ANYWAYS AFTER GETTING SETTLED IN AFTER ARRIIVING HOME, I MADE MY FIRST MISTAKE. i WAS DRINKING 4-0Z OF BROTH OVER A PERIOD OF ONE HOUR, MAN WAS I HUNGRY, ABOUT THE TIME OF THE SECOND PHASE, I WASNT READY TO CONSUME SEMI-SOLIDS AS I THOUGHT I WAS BECAUSE food STARTED TO GET STUCK IN MY ESOPHAGUS. THAT IS SOME PAINFUL ORDEAL LET ME TELL YA. ALL THOUGH I WAS CHEWING SLOW, TAKING SMALL BITES AND TAKING MY TIME THE FOOD JUST KEPT GETTING STUCK. i COMPLAINED TO THE DOCTOR AND HE WENT IN AND PUT A SCOPE DOWN TO SEE IF I HAD ANY BLOCKAGE OR IF SOMETHING WAS STUCK IN MY ESOPHAGUS THAT WAS PREVENTING ME FROM PASSING THE FOOD CORRECTLY AND TO OUR SURPRISE THEIR WAS NOTHING WRONG AND RIGHT TO DAY I AM STILL EXPERIENCING THIS. NEVER THE LESS, i STARTED OUT DOING GOOD ONCE I GOT BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK WITH HOW MUCH I WAS SUPPOSED TO CONSUME BY THE HOUR AND THE FOOD STOPPED GETTING STUCK. iN TWO MONTHS TIME I WAS DOWN 29.9 POUNDS AND I WAS 308 POUNDS WHEN i STARTED. i CONTINUED TO FOLLOW THE DOCTORS ORDERS BUT i WAS DOING LITTLE TO NO EXERCISE. NEEDLESS TO SAY BY fEBRUARY OF 2012 i HAD GOT DOWN TO 266 POUNDS. i WAS SO EXTATIC. i HAD LOSS A TOTAL OF 42 POUNDS. YALL I FELT SO GOOD , I WAS ABLE TO DO THINGS LIKE TAKE THE STAIRS, BEND OVER AND TIE MY SHOES, AND WALK LONGER WITH OUT GETTING SHORT OF BREATH. i WAS ALSO ABLE TO FIT IN A DRESS THAT HUNG LOOSELY ON ME. i WAS EXCITED ABOUT LOSING EVEN MORE WEIGHT AND THEN THE DEVIL KICKED IN. i STARTED EATING THINGS THAT WERE NOT PART OF THE PLAN AND SO i GAINED ALL THAT WEIGHT BACK. NOW I AM MISERABLE AND TRYING TO LOSE THE WEIGHT ALL OVER AGAIN. IT IS HARD BECAUSE i AM DIABETIC AND I AM HAVING TO TRY TO CONTROL THAT AS WELL WHICH IS NOT GOING SO WELL. THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN TRYING FOR OVER A YEAR NOW TO GET MY A1-C DOWN TO THE CORRECT LEVEL. i WALK ON THE TREADMILL BUT I'M NOT ABLE TO DO MUCH MORE THAN THAT BECAUSE OF SEVERAL PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS AND HEALTH ISSUES. BUT TO GOD BE THE GLORY I AM GOING TO BEAT THIS THING, BECAUSE GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD. I HOPE I HAVENT' BORED YALL TO DEATH WITH MY STORY BUT I NEEDED TO TELL IT JUST IN CASE SOME ONE ELSE IS STRUGGLING LIKE I AM. HANG IN THERE AND THE LORD WILL SEE US THROOUGH. THANKS FOR LISTENING.

To Meggs, Sharpie, and B-52 thanks a bunch for your replies, comments, and advice. It means a lot and its great to have this online support. I will take everything that you all said into consideration and do my best to get back on track. Thanks again, Success.

Sweetheart, I am so sorry for what you are going through but you have got to do whatever it takes to get yourself out of the dump. You need to call on your Heavenly Father Jesus Christ and ask him to help you shake back. You are exactly where the devil wants you to be now so that he can play on your emotions. This is your life, get it back. I haven't lost any children but I have been through the depression before and it took me a while but I am finally free of that. I prayed myself out of it and I finally got on the right medicine. So I can relate on some level. this is the only advice I can give you. Go to God he will take care of you. I'll be praying too. God Bless.

Well this was six months ago and I'm sad to say that I haven't made any significant changes. I don't know what is wrong with me or what's really going on but I do know that something has got to change because I didn't have this lapband surgery for nothing. Woe is me. Hope you are doing well though.

Just stay intouch with your nutritionist. Don't listen to everything you hear. If you have your husbands support, then you have the best support there is. I don't believe that your losing weight will cause you to divorce, because if your husband is on board with this and you have no ideas about leaving him, then i believe that your losing weight will make your relationship stronger. Whenever we try to better ourselves, satan always devises a plan to plant doubt in our minds that cause us to think the worse. I know that some of the things you heard frighten you but don't let that stop you from doing something that will help you make yourself potentially better. Call on your Father and ask Him to help you discern fact from fiction and to give you the courage to do what's best for you according to His will and His plan for your life. I wish you the best.

I agree with all of the above. Great job for recognizing it. now put it behind you and move forward. What's done is done. Don't look back, because you will only hate yourself and keep on doing at least that's how it happens with me. I ate ice cream and oreo cookies. I felt myself falling back into my old habits and quickly recovered. I talk to myself and God and it really helps. So I wish you best of luck and keep us posted.

PattyGirl, I am sorry to be so straightforwad but you need to drop that friend. you cna't have the band and not have support. drop her and get a new one. best of luck.

Well, that is what I am here for and I am glad that I can help you in that way. God said use His word for the edification and lifting of others and If I can do that for even the meekest of persons I am glad to do and it makes my heart sing to know that I am doing so. Praying that your situation gets better. Remember, God is bigger than all our problems.

Oh Wow!! that sure is a lot to go through just to get yourself taking care of. I know things are a bit hard right now with you having to borrow a car and all but DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!!! KEEP YOUR MIND FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND. THAT IS JUST THE DEVIL TRYING TO GET AT YOU. DON'T LET HIM PREVAIL, WHAT YOU ARE FEELING IS NORMAL. JUST STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW, SUCH AS WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT AND HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT AND DON'T DETOUR FROM IT. YOU WILL START TO LOSE WEIGHT AGAIN, OTHER FACTORS HAVE COME INTO THE PICTURE AND NOW YOU ARE STRESSING OR WORRYING...DON'T!!! GET IN YOUR CLOSET AND PRAY FOR YOURSELF, ASK YOUR FATHER FOR GUIDANCE AND COMFORT AND THE ABILITY TO STAY FOCUSED AND ASK HIM TO WALK WITH YOU ON THIS TEDIOUS JOURNEY. YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT HONEY....JUST GET BACK ON TRACK AND STAY THERE. AND YES, I AM SHOUTING BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO HERE ME AND NOT THAT DEVIL. BUT IN A GOOD WAY....GOD BLESS YA AND LET ME KNOW HOW THINGS GO.

Thanks Dee for the advice and words of encouragement. I will do my best.

yea!!! I am all smiles for you. Congratulations on a job well done reaching such an important milestone. I had the same opportunity as you but I let mine go to waist, and although it isn't too late to start over I am very dissappointed with myself. On July 12th, I made my year. I started at 304 pounds. In February of this year I had got down to 266.6 pounds. However, I was unable to hold on to that loss. I slowly gained the pounds that I had loss back. Now I am up to 287. I am ashamed and very dissappointed in my self. There is no excuse, I just started back eating the things that got me in this situation in the first place. My insurance is out of the picture right now so I can't go get an adjustment. I need to know from you what you did to get back on track at those points in time when you got off track.

Tym4Me, girl that is absolutely amazing. keep up the good and hard work.

Hello Pats, I am so sorry that you are going through this issue. I know how u feel. The only thing you can do is continue to sip as much water as you can to keep from getting dehydrated, but i'm afraid that the only person who can help you is your doctor. He may have to do another EEG to see if something has gotten caught in the band . Best of luck to you and God Bless.

Hey Elcee, I agree with your comment totally. I am doing good though. I haven't had an adjustment yet and its been 7 months since i was banded.

Georgia girl, i feel your pain, i haven't loss anymore weight either but its because i haven't really been exercising. exercising is key and if you are losing inches then you are losing weight. we don't notice it but others too. this is a slow process, don't get discouraged. it'll happen. just keep doing what you are supposed to do and by that i mean eating right and exercising. I have fallen off the band wagon this past month by eating a lot of carbs and sugar and trust me, i feel it. i am sleepy and sluggish all the time and i don't like that feeling. it is so disgusting. any ways with my spouse's help i am getting back on track. well good luck and remember it'll all work out. just be patient.

Cocobean, i didn't have food stuck that long but everytime I ate something even if is was just some soggy eggs, it got stuck. it didn't go down and i had to go cough it up. so i had to do liquids for that extra month or so. i too had a hernia repair and my doctor said that was part of the problem. once the swelling went down from that i guess, i was all good then. bread is a no no, i have found that i can eat it toasted with a little butter though. and i sure do miss it. I am 7 months post opt and i can't tell you how good i feel. I lost 33 pounds, so far. i haven't had any fills or adjustments. sometimes i still have the stuck stuff, like the other day i was eating somethning and i had to stop and go cough it up because it wouldn't go down but the key here is to chew, chew, chew,. no drinking while u eat. if i don't do anything else right i got that part locked down. well good luck with everything.

Hi- i don't know how long your stuck is going to last, i can only tell you that mine lasted for a month and a half. and yes drinking stuff aggrivates it but you have to take your time and sip things slowly. hot liquids worked for me i found that cold liquids made things worst. so go back to your liquid diet until it resides, i mean that is what i had to do. will love to know how things turn out for you. good luck and God Bless.

i want a tickler, can't seem to get one. well i' ve been in your shoes, u are too restricted, and u are just going to have to wait it out. sip on hot liquids very slowly and don't try to force anything down and if you are stressed out it doesn't help,get away from the stress. just take everything slow and overtime the restriction will go away.

hELLO, EVERYONE. EXERCISE? WE ALL HAVE TO DO IT. WALKING ...GOT IT. BUT NEED TO DO OTHER FORMS OF EXERCISE SUCH AS CARDIO AND STRENGTH TRAINING. NOT MUCH MOTIVATION THOUGH. I HAVE ARTHRITIS IN MY KNEES AND LATELY I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING WITH BACK PAIN, NOT TO MENTION THIS RECURRING PAIN IN THE LOWER LEFT QUADRANT OF MY ABDOMEN. ANY SUGGESTIONS??

Hey, Jamie. Thanks for the advice. I was already considering this. you just gave me confirmation. hope everything is going well for you.