wineguyd

While Gastric Plication might be reversible should there be complications, the main problem I have with it or any stomach reducing procedure is that it's too easy to stretch it out again. Many people with emotional eating problems force feed themselves. The band is a solid object restriction. It wins the argument every time, the only way you could defeat it is by downing ice cream and shakes all day. Please consider that.

That's correct. BUT... I'm a wine merchant and wine lover and wine goes best with food so this is my little compromise, I used to chug a gallon of water, juice or whatever with my meal before the band, Now I enjoy one good glass of wine slowly sipped through out the meal.

Typically it's your surgeons call and often they make the decision during the procedure since everyones physiology is different. My doctor placed a Realize band three years ago, no problems since. I don't think it would have mattered to me if he put the other. In the end the success is more about the doctors surgical ability and patients ability to follow post op instructions than it is about the band itself.

You are going to need to get as much protein into you as possible for the first month, stick to protein shakes or Slimfasts, V8's are good once you have lost 50-60% of your excess weight.

I didn't tell anyone about my desire to have the procedure and only told my friends a week after the surgery. I did not tell my parents or brother(they live out of state) and waited till I saw them five months and 50 pounds later after the procedure...priceless!

Hey Joleen...congrats!!!! Had mine done three years ago and it's life altering, it's a rebirth!. Stick to the instructions your doctors and nutritionist gave you and you'll do fine. Just remember that the band is just like a speed bump in the road...it encourages you to slow down so as not to damage the suspension but if you choose to ignore it you will do damage. You will find that you will, over time, be able to eat and drink all the things you like...just more slowly and in smaller quantities. The band will help you lose the first 50% of your excess weight easily, you will find that the weight loss will slow down on the next 25% and then you will have to work on the last 25%. The best thing you can do is get into the habit of walking every day.

I also never heard of any deaths directly related to the band, I'm sure there were plenty of people that died from other health issues that happened to have the band, but that's not the same as saying the band caused the death. I know one man that had a complication and had to have the band removed, but that was the worst of it, and it also underscored the advantage of the band...it can be undone if there's a problem. Gastric bypass permanently alters your digestive system...get a problem and your screwed.

Over time you will find that cutting your food into small pieces and chewing well will allow you to sip drinks with your meal. You will never be able to gulp down fluids after swallowing a chunk of food with out feeling like a backed up drain pipe. I got the band three years ago and I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner every night...but I sip not gulp. It's actually much healthier for you to limit fluids with your meal, your body digests and absorbs nutrients better without liquids involved.