Deb

Hi, My name is Deb, I just turned 54 on March 1. I have been married for 27 1/2 years to a wonderful guy, Jim. We live in Iowa, 17miles NW of Des Moines. I have one son, Trevor who is 22 and a wonderful kid. He is going to school to be a police officer. God gave him to us, as a true blessing, through adoption, as we could not have kids. I am an RN and currently on Short Term Disability because of pain and the need to take pain meds. I have worked at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines for 36+ years and would like to go back but I know I have to lose a lot of weight before I can go back. I am a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse and I love my babies!!! I have always had a problem with my weight. I can lose it but can't keep it off. I have lost 117lbs. 2 times on weight watchers and have gained it back and then some. It is very depressing and you just wonder what is wrong with me!! But through this process I have found out it may not be me but heredity, and a combination of hormones that cause you to not keep it off. I have not had the surgery yet but hope to by the end of the month. I have my 2nd appointment with Dr. Eibes, the only Dr. here in Des Moines that does Lap Band surgery, on Fri. March 9 and then the surgery will be scheduled. I look forward to giving and getting support through this site. I am a christian and need to totally rely on Him to get me through this. He helped me lose the weight before and I know with Him all things are possible!!!!! :angel:

Yes you are right the Drs are all different. I think it would be hard to follow that progression. I guess he is very conservative and wants to make sure your band is secure before putting any stress on it. Good luck. Hugs, Deb

Hi, I am 5 days post op and I was on clear fluids the day of surgery then for the next week full liquids. We are to have 3 protien shakes a day, I use EAS which I get at Sams Club. It comes in vanilla and Chocholate. I have doctored them by adding sugar free strawberry syrup to the vanilla and sugar free chocholate syrup in the chocholate. I also have some sugar free cinnamon drops for coffee and that is good in the vanilla. I also am not to drink or eat more than 2 oz in 15 mins so it takes me 45 mins to drink the shake. I can also have 2oz light yogurt, or 2oz sugar free pudding, 2oz broth, 2oz sugar free Jello with sugar/fat free whipped topping, 2oz tomoto Soup or I can have other lowfat cream soups. This will go on for 1 week then I can start on mushies. It has gone very well and I have had no problems with swollowing or nausea. I am so thankful!! We all have different orders from our doctors and we seem to make it through. I have to wait 15 mins before eating or drinking so set an alarm so I am sure to get my Water in. Hope this helps. Hugs, Deb

Hi Syrah, I am having surgery March 28 in Des Moines. Where are you in Iowa? My Dr. is Dr. Eibes and he has had me doing the presurgery diet. Not bad though. Pray all goes well for you. Hugs, Deb

Hi Wen, Welcome to this forum. I will be banded next Wed. March 28th and my Dr. fixes hiatal hernias when he bands them. I don't know if I have one or not but it is on the surgical consent just in case. Good luck on your process. Hugs, Deb

Hi, I am on my 2 week presurgery diet now and what Dr. Eibes in Des Moines, Iowa has you do is for the 1st 12 days you eat 8 Proteins, 6-7 carbs, 2 veg. and 3 fats a day. Then you can have sugarfree Jello and popsicles. Also he wants us to drink at least 64oz of no calorie fluids. Then the last 2 days we have 4 protien shakes a day and total of 5 servings a day of the following: 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup sugarfree pudding 6oz light yogurt 1/2 cup plain oatmeal, cream of wheat, or maltomeal 8oz V8 juice If you make your shakes with Water you can choose another serving from the list. I have lost 10.5 lbs already in 4 days. So I'm not complaining. Hope this helps. I know all Dr. are different with their orders. The reason he has us do this is to shrink the liver before surgery. Hugs, Deb

Hi, I now have a date for Lap-Band surgery!! March 28th and start my presurgery diet on Wed. March 14th. I am so looking forward to getting started on the path of weight loss for good!!! Hugs, Deb

Welcome Bunny. I have only been here for a short time but their is more info and support than you could ever get through. Praying you have a easy, complication free weight lose journey. We have a 22 year old son who homeschooled from 8-12 grade. Hugs, Deb

Hi, I have been to both offices here in Des Moines that does bariatric surgery and they both have everyone have a psych eval. I think it is a great idea. I'm sure emotions play a big part in how we eat. Our desire for food will still be affected by anger, guilt, loneliness, sadness, and stress and other things. We don't want to keep eating the way we have in the past and if we don't deal with some of those emotions we may not lose as well and keep it off. Just my opinion. Our heads can really get in the way! Hugs, Deb

Hi, I just read this article today. You said you had a 10cm band and it talks about that. Thought I would let you read it for yourself. Not sure it has anything to do with the problem you had but wanted to share it with you. I am so sorry you had to go through this. Praying for your complete recovery. Hugs, Deb <DT class=head id=head17303945><INPUT type=checkbox value=17303945 name=uid>1: Med Princ Pract. 2007;16(2):110-3. <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2><!--var PopUpMenu2_LocalConfig_jsmenu3Config = [ ["ShowCloseIcon","yes"], ["Help","window.open('/entrez/query/static/popup.html','Links_Help','resizable=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no,alwaysRaised=no,depend=no,width=400,height=500');"], ["FrameTarget","_top"], ["TitleText"," Links "]]var jsmenu3Config = [ ["UseLocalConfig","jsmenu3Config","",""]]//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2><!--var Menu17303945 = [ ["UseLocalConfig","jsmenu3Config","",""], ["LinkOut","http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=pubmed_AbstractPlus&cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=17303945&dopt=ExternalLink","",""]]//--></SCRIPT> Links </DT><DD class=abstract id=abstract17303945>Slippage after Adjustable Gastric Banding according to the Pars Flaccida and the Perigastric Approach. Khoursheed M, Al-Bader I, Mohammad AI, Soliman MO, Dashti H. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait. Objective: To evaluate laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding and the 'pars flaccida' techniques for treating morbidly obese patients. Subjects and Methods: Between May 1999 and July 2002, 64 patients underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. The 'perigastric' technique was performed in the first 31 patients. From September 2000 the band was positioned according to the 'pars flaccida' technique in the remaining 33 patients. The patients were divided into three groups: group 1 - 'perigastric' technique using Lap-Band size 9.75 and 10 cm (31 patients); group 2 - 'pars flaccida' technique using Lap-Band size 10 cm (12 patients), and group 3 - 'pars flaccida' technique using the Swedish band (21 patients). There were 58 females and 6 males with a mean age of 36.6 years (range 17-56). The preoperative mean body mass index was 46.2 kg/m(2). Results: Band slippage occurred in 10/31 patients (32.2%) of group 1, 3/12 patients (25%) of group 2 and none in group 3 patients (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The 'pars flaccida' technique significantly reduces the incidence of postoperative slippage after gastric banding. This complication is further reduced in the Swedish band group. Furthermore, we do not recommend using the 10-cm Lap-Band in the 'pars flaccida' technique. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel. PMID: 17303945 [PubMed - in process] </DD>

Hi Ashley, Thanks so much for your encouragement. I just read your blog and loved reading it. Your mother must be so proud of you. I have a 22 year old son and I would be so blessed reading something like that to me.Treasure your time with your Parents and Grandparents!!! I have family in Humble, Texas, a sister and her son and his family. My neice wanted to have Lap Band surgery and their insurance does not pay for it. We do serve an awesome God!! Hugs, Deb

Hi Desi, My prayers are with you and I know you know we serve an awesome God who loves us more than we can understand, and I know for me I need to totally trust and rely on Him. He will be right there with you every step of the way. We pray for wisdom and complete understanding for those involved in your surgery and recovery. It is scary going into surgery for the 1st time I know that. I am not banded yet but hope to be by the end of March. This will be my 3rd surgery. My last surgery I had a Christian Dr. and I asked her to pray with me before surgery and she laid hands on me as did the physician assistant student. It was so comforting and I was not afraid at all. I wish every Christian would be able to have this experience before surgery as it was a terrific blessing to me knowing I had a surgeon who worships the same God I do!! Let me know how you do and I will continue to pray. Blessings and Hugs, Deb :angel:

Hi Mary, Both of the introductory sessions I have gone to have talked about both heredity and hormones. I went to webmd and also found some articles on it there too. They don't really understand it because it is so complicated. I can lose weight but can not keep it off. I know that is what happens to most people who lose weight. Keeping it off is way harder than losing it for me anyway. I am going to be using the lap band as a tool. I know that is all it is and I have to do the rest. Thanks for your input. Hugs, Deb

Rosi, Thanks and praying all goes well with your surgery and recovery and new way of life after banding. I too believe this is just a tool and pray the weight does not come back on. Have you heard about how people do long term with keeping weight off. I have not really talked to anyone about that. Really haven't talked with anyone here that has had the surgery. How is the presurgery diet going. Hugs, Deb

Thanks Kat!!! I am anxious to get my surgery date scheduled, but also a little scared. I can't imagine having to pay for the surgery without insurance. I couldn't do it. My Dr. hasn't done many Lap Bands but has done a lot of gastric bypass surgeries. Hugs, Deb