Cheryldee

I was banded in October of 2009 at the age of 37. I never had weight issues as a child, but as soon as I got out of High School and started College.. it slowly started to creep up. I managed to diet with some success while I had my children, but it seemed that with child #1, I packed on 50 pounds that never seemed to leave, then another child, another 30 pounds and finally child 3 came and added only 25, but add that to the other 80 and all of a sudden I had an additional 100 pounds on my body that I didnt want to keep. The following 10 years was spent yo- yo dieting with only temporary success that eventually found me right back to where I started.. and then sometimes more. This coupled with a family history of obesity, and being diagnosed pre-diabetic led me to the decision that I had to do something and not wait for some medical issue to arise. Insurance at the time saw lap band as a "un-needed" surgery so I had to self pay. If I had waited till some medical issue had arose, I may have been able to have insurance cover it, but I was unwilling to allow that to be the catalyst for starting my journey to a better and healthier me. I went to many seminars and researched some surgeons then made my decision to move forward with the surgery.
I can not tell you that everything has been perfect and that the weight just came off without any issues, but I will say that I would
have lap band again and again and again.. without hesitation if I needed to. You have to look at lapband as not the "FIX ALL" remedy to the weight issue. But merely a tool that will help you greatly with your journey. I still can "cheat" and you learn that chocolate goes down just fine... so does malts.. and milkshakes, pudding and many other fattening foods. So once again, you have to be able to control that yourself. But my issues with portion size has been greatly helped. Before I would eat all of my plate of food and then be picking of my poor childrens plates... but now, I dont even order a plate, I share some of my husbands.. and usually get just a small cup of soup or a small salad... and thats it. There was an emotional part of eating that I had to deal with that I didnt even realize that I had until after I was banded. I turned to food for so many things, celebration, sorrow, gatherings, walking past the office counter and grabbing a piece of candy,simple boredom. So many times I found myself staring at the open fridge saying.. What the heck? Im not even hungry! Why am I here..? But I had to learn new ways to channel my time and not constantly turn to the food. If you are thinking about having this done, I would go ahead and start getting used to NOT eating any pasta or bread at all... just cut it out completely from your diet now. I had to go through some major withdrawls for that, and wish I had weaned myself off that a bit earlier instead of cold turkey.. .oh I tried to eat some occasionally.. but always ended up being very sorry I had! The weight for me came off slowly.. I guess I was hoping to wake up from surgery 100 pounds lighter... but it took a year and a half to get rid of 80 pounds and that was with the occasional weight gain in there... I would loose 15 then gain 5... and loose 7 then gain 5... so I did some yo-yoing even with the band.. but the good news was I was at least going in the right direction.and not going up more than I was going down. I had my share of plateau's and once had to have the fluid taken out because I got too tight... irritated my band and had to start over... that was hard because although I tried really hard NOT to go back to old habits, my portion sizes crept up and I could eat more than I was able to with a tight band and gained back almost 18 pounds while they cinched my band back down slowly. That was a bit depressing because I started not fitting into the clothes I was so proud of that I could finally fit in and I had to go back up to sizes I was hoping never to see again... but that was just a temporary thing and within 2 months I was getting back into those clothes again.. but it does sometimes take you a step back before you can move forward again. Patience is the key... you didnt get heavy overnight.. and certainly you will not be skinny overnight. I keep waiting.. but Im still not skinny. Am I healthier ..yes, am I able to do more with my kids, yes, but I have already told myslef I will probably never be a size 2. Heck, I wasnt that in High school... so you have to have realistic goals. I would love to get down to a size 10-12. Right now I am a 16.. but I used to be a 24. So.... all things considered. Im great. I also think you have to realize that eventually to get to that perfect size you will have to exercise. Lap band will take you down to a certain level.. but I think for most people... it takes you finally feeling like getting off that couch to get you to the next level. I am at that point now. I walk atleast 1 mile if not 2 a day, and have started to do Zumba twice a week. That (im hoping) will start showing me some additional results. I have been at this size for almost a year, so time for me now to take over and do the rest myself. But I certainly do not think I would have made it here without my lapband.
I will say that one problem I have now is that I really have to tell myself to eat. I can literally go all day and look at the clock at 9 pm and say.... I didnt eat anything today... I better eat! Three years ago that would NEVER have happened... I woke UP hungry! But because of my band, I do have to make myself eat. It is so easy NOT to eat, but I know that is the main reason why I am not losing weight right now. I have to get my body started in the morning and continue burning during the day. So that is my current goal..