claraluz

roro, welcome. As usual Whippledaddy has written what I would have written had I but the gift of expression he has. I saw myself in what you wrote. I, too, lost 100 pounds and gained it all back and hated myself. I, too, settled for less because I didn't think I deserved more. For me, the surgery itself was very simple. It was a day procedure, I went home that evening. I never had any pain. I took a week off work, but I could have gone back sooner if I needed to. But having a week off was probably a good idea. Leatha is right. Research. Don't look to friends or family members for advice. If they have never been fat, they know nothing. And even if they have been fat, they may be at a different stage of fatness than you are. Meaning perhaps they have not hit bottom yet and realized they are powerless to fight this without help. For me, being banded has been both a physical and a spiritual journey. The physical part involved learning to work with my band, rebelling against the bandster rules, but eventually realizing they are there for a reason. Losing a lot of weight, stalling, then losing quickly again. Learning that even with the band, I have to eat right and exercise, the difference being that with my band to help me, I will never regain the weight and all my effort will not be for naught. The spiritual part of the journey has been much more interesting and rewarding. I am not yet near my goal weight, but my life and my relationships have changed dramatically. I no longer battle depression and self-loathing. People treat me with the respect I deserve. I have never had to demand respect. There is just a subtle change in how I present myself and people respond to it. I no longer feel old and like I am just waiting for the end. I have hopes, dreams, goals. And a lot more physical and psychic energy with which to make them happen. Honestly, I could go on and on, but I'll restrain myself. I researched for two years before I decided to have the surgery. Your research does not have to take that long, but please read until you understand how the band works, what changes you will have to make after the surgery, foods that you will no longer be able to eat. Learn the bandster rules. Research your surgeon. Etc. I wish every obese person could have what I have with the band. But it is a very personal decision. Good luck with your research. Nancy

Welcome, welcome, welcome! So glad you found us. I love this site. I stopped visiting the other ones when I found this one. We will help you any way we can. And if you post, you'll help us, too. Even after 16 months I still learn from everyone. Nancy

Lisa, I'm so glad you were pleased with the experience with your surgeon (whoever he is) this time. I hope everything goes well with your appointment today with the local surgeon. I hope they can tell you why the wound is so painful. I'm a little concerned about that. If it's normal, I hope they can at least give you something for pain. I'm hoping a lot for you as you can see. Nancy

Glad you are back. Sorry about the gas. It's a rite of passage. The banding journey is not always fun, but it is usually very rewarding and fulfilling. Try to rest as much as you can in between your walking. Nancy

Hello and welcome. There are a few other Austrailians on this board. I'm sure that by the time Feb. 21 gets here, you will find numerous things to worry about. That is just a normal part of the process. If you can't find the answer in old posts on this board, please be sure to ask. Regarding the liquid phase, some people are hungry during that time and suffer through it through sheer determination, but for me, it was painless and whisked by before I knew it. Like Michelle, I didn't even want to eat. Nancy

Lisa, God bless you. I hope you get the results that you want from your now complete band and port. But most of all I hope you are OK. Nancy

Hi, Rusty. I'm from Houston, too. There are several of us on this board. I hope you find all the info. you need. If not, just ask. Nancy

I hope all is well and that you are on the road to recovery! And to your new life! Nancy

I've heard that you can make a new habit or break an old one in three weeks, but that has not been my experience. I dieted for a year, walking three miles everyday. I guess you could say I established new habits. But as soon as I reached goal, the old habits came right back. That's why I need the band. nancy

Sometimes it takes getting a number of fills at first before you have the right level of restriction - especially if the fill is not done under flouro. Then, as you lose weight, the band can begin to feel looser and you might need another fill. Currently, I am very happy with my restriction and I haven't had a fill in so many months, I can't remember when it was exactly. But I know that it's possible I will need another one eventually. Hope this helps. Nancy

There's just not that much you can do with clear liquids. But like everyone else says, hang in there. It will be worth it. One thing about being banded is that you find out how strong you really are. You are a strong, brave woman. Hang in there. It gets better. Nancy

Welcome! I think you'll love being banded. Nancy

Betty, I just realized you've lost half your excess weight in three months! That's incredible! It's 18 pounds a month! You go, girl! Nancy

It wasn't just the first time. I went back for three or four fills and every time there was almost nothing in the band. That's when he started using this other substance and my band has worked fine since then. The other thing is that my port was slightly tilted so he had a hard time hitting it the first time. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Now my port is so close to the skin and in perfect position, so it's not problem. The other substance he used is an FDA approved drug (not that I trust that so much anymore) so supposedly even if it leaked it would not be a problem. I don't remember him withdrawing air the first time, so maybe that was part of the problem. But I would think that by the third or fourth time the air should have been gone anyway. About the band working without a fill: I had to have an unfill once for a few weeks and although I could eat much more than I should have been eating, I could not eat like I did before the band. There was still a small amount of restricton there. Nancy

I'm not sure it's all due to swelling. I'm 16 months out from surgery and haven't had a fill in many months. I think there is something about the band itself that causes some people like me to trap gas in their stomachs. The one-way valve theory makes sense to me. Nancy

No, it's because in order to do the surgery, they fill your abdomen with gas, so they can see things better and get to them easier. I think that's it, anyway. But I don't recall hearing anybody talk about having swelling after the surgery. I know I didn't. Nancy

That's great! I'm so happy for you! I think you're going to love being banded. Nancy

I drink a protein/soy milk/ fruit shake in the morning and it causes just as much burping problems as anything else. I once even actually PBd air! That's all that came up! But the preceding symptoms were just like a PB. Nancy

It couldn't happen to a nicer lady. That's very touching and I'm so happy for you. That's wonderful, Paula. Nancy

I'm sure some of the weight I lost was Water, but it couldn't have been more than say, 10 pounds? At the most? I just wish that I had realized what the numbers meant when I began to lose a substantial amount of weight. When I had lost 50 pounds, my fat percentage had only gone down 4%, while I had lost 20% of my body weight. Also, I was still wearing the same size I had started out in - or just about. Even now, I am wearing larger sizes than others of my same height and weight. So that is another thing to keep an eye on as you lose because muscle is more compact than fat. If your body isn't actually getting smaller as you lose, you may be losing muscle. Just a thought. Nancy

I posted an earlier thread about feeling kind of weak and since I've been to my doctor and she's run all kinds of tests which were all normal, I wondered whether it could be that I've just lost a lot of muscle mass. Well, since I have a Tanita scale and I know where I started out and where I am now, it occurred to me that I could figure out exactly how much muscle (and/or water) I've lost. Here's the grand total: I've lost 73 pounds Of that, 50 pounds were fat. And 23 pounds were something else, presumably muscle. That's a lot of muscle. So people, it really is no joke. Eat your Protein and do weight training. Especially those of you who are just starting out and are going to be losing a lot of weight fairly rapidly. Nancy

I have the same problem and I do have huge burps! But sometimes they don't come easily at first. I find that walking around helps. Also, once the first burp comes out, I can usually burp more easily to let the rest of the gas out. It's a problem. Nancy

Once in preparation for a department Christmas party we were told to write a complimentary word or phrase about each person in the department (anonymously). Someone compiled them and at the party each person was given the list of what people had said about them. For me, someone put down, "Survivor." It surprised me and puzzled me. But the more I thought about it, I thought it must have been written by one of my close friends. In retrospect, it is my favorite compliment of all time. We're all survivors. We're fighters. We were handed some bad luck, but we never gave up. That's something to treasure. Nancy

I can definitely relate to the emotional eating you describe. To be honest, even though I'm banded, I sometimes still do it, but on a much, much smaller scale. I don't quite feel the compulsion to overeat in the same way I used to. Sure I do have the desire to eat more than I need. But the experience of having overdone it a few times with the pain and salivating and even PBing keeps me from attempting to eat beyond the full sensation my band gives me. So there are times when I know that I would like to eat more and that I can't. I just accept it and I usually move to a place in the house where I never eat and I do not feel the compulsion. Then too, because of the band I cannot eat some of my favorite binge foods such as bread. I also went to therapy right after I got banded which helped me work through some of the main sources of emotional pain. That was a big help, too. This whole band journey has been an emotional one for me. I had to deal with some of my hardest issues in therapy and that was painful. There is the elation of weight loss, the frustration with plateaus, the hard work of learning new coping strategies. But it's all worth it. It's gonna be OK. Nancy

You've gotten some good suggestions, but I think the main thing is to realize that you're not really losing slowly. You're doing fine. And sometimes slower is better anyway. Easier on the skin, for example. Nancy