janetj

Hi, You had your surgery almost 3 years to the day after me (mine was October 6, 2008). You are doing great, probably better than many and either better than me or about the same. As for YouTube I have posted my videos since the beginning of my journey ( I am Usalbgirl on YouTube) and have often talked about my slow losses. But I eventually made it to goal and so will you. It took me over two years. Once you are there it doesn't matter how fast or slow you got there--you will enjoy it. Good luck.

Also, when something doesn't work for someone and they act as if it wont work for anyone. Let's just talk about whether it worked for you or not. WeightWatchers didn't work for me, but it is a great program and has worked for, and will continue to work for, millions of people. I wouldn't tell everybody that asked to stay away from it--I would just give my honest and truthful experience. Maybe that is what we should all do here. Tell our experience and let others decide for themselves whether they think it will or wont work for them. I do wish everyone the best and much success on whatever method they choose!!!

I hate it when something works for someone and they think that means it has to work for everyone. Before the lapband, people would say to me "WeightWatchers works, and if it is not working for you the problem is you and not Weight Watchers." They would say that because it had worked for them. But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work for me. So now to read people say "the band ALWAYS works for EVERYONE and if it doesn't work for you it is YOUR fault." I totally disagree. The band worked for me--and I am very grateful to God for that. But I don't believe it works for everyone, any more than I believe Weight Watchers or ANY program works for EVERYONE. My surgeon told me one of the ways the band works is that by having the food at the top of your stomach, it activates the nerves that send the full message to the brain. I think some people may have a flaw in these nerves and even with the band they don't send the message. I think some people have more sensitive nerves and others have less sensitive ones--that's why some people can hit their sweet spot with little to no fill and it takes others way more fill, and still others have nerves that are so de-sensitized that they never hit their sweet spot and thus the band doesn't work for them. If you did everything you know that you were supposed to and the band did not help your hunger, then the band failed you--plain and simple. It's unfortunate but true. Just like some people can take a medical treatment and it cures their disease and another person can take the same treatment and it doesn't help them--that's how the band works. And just because you are one of the lucky ones it works for, don't try to make the others feel bad. Just be grateful that it worked for you!

Sorry that the band didn't work for you but how do you know that in the long run RNY will work for you? One of the best things about the band is that it is adjustable. I am two and one half years out and with my last fill I have as more restriction than I did one month, two months, three months after surgery. How many RNYers can say that? Or has their stomach stretched and they can eat almost normally? Let us know how you are three years out. As for how much banders loose, I have lost 100% of my excess weight. I started at 290 and met my goal to be 145. It took over two years to get to my ultimate goal, but in the first year I lost 80 pounds and I am a slow looser. At 18 months I had lost 120 pounds. It's true that the lapband does not work for everyone, but in general, if you can get to the right fill level, and be patient, it can work. I documented my journey--from surgery to goal--on YouTube. My name there is usalbgirl. You can watch my experiences--good, bad, and ugly. I love my band, but I do know that it does not work for everyone, but to act like the RNY does, is not true--they may loose faster, and they may loose all of the weight in greater percentages, but at five years, the numbers show the same results for bandsters and RNYers.

I would not go there under any circumstances!!! I read the article you linked to. Dr. Madan is an EXCELLENT surgeon--he performed my surgery on October 6, 2008. HOWEVER, at the time he was the head of bariatric surgery at the University of Miami Hospital/Medical School--that is a Center of Excellence. While I can say with absolute certainty that I do not believe Dr. Madan was at fault for either patient's death--it takes more than an excellent surgeon for a successful surgery. You need an EXCELLENT anesthesiologist, nurses, and facility. My surgery was done at the hospital with a full operating room and with a full ER if there had been a problem. Further, because it was a Center of Excellence I had to go through a full medical screening and clearance--I'm not sure a for-profit surgery mill does this. So the cardiac patient that died may have been due to the anesthesia (which seems likely given cardiac arrest) and the other patient may have had an infection or heart condition (which seems likely given that she had diabetes) that made her unsuitable for surgery in the first place but because this is a for profit surgery center they wouldn't turn her away. When it was time for my surgery, I was anemic, but was cleared on sleep study, stress test, cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc. and they postponed my surgery until my hemoglobin was higher--they wouldn't do a high risk surgery. They tell people "no". I am not sure this surgery center would and the desperate patients don't care. What screening did you have to do? How were your results? I would say ONLY do this surgery at a Center of Excellence because you need more than an Excellent surgeon--everything needs to be excellent.

Sorry to hear that. My surgery was postponed because the tests showed I was anemic. My hemoglobin was 6.9 (normal is between 12and 16). I was totally beside myself. I found out 2 weeks before my date of August 4th. The surgeon would not touch me until my blood was at least a 10. It took about 5 weeks for it to get up and on my surgery day, Oct. 6, it was 10.5. It had been as high as 11.8, but I had a real long and heavy period that lasted from September 18th till the day before surgery. I was so disappointed that it had to be canceled but, when you are anmenic your heart and lungs don't get enough oxygen and they are stressed so it's too risky to put you under and also you are more likely to have severe bleeding. So while it is disappointing, it's safest to wait. Let me know if you have any questions and good luck.

Yes!!. Actually I posted a video about this exact subject on YouTube. I had my surgery last Monday (October 6th). I had to do a two week liquied diet. I "cheated" once and did my own plan on nine of the other 14 days. On the cheat day, we had a bbq and I ate a small plate of food. On the other days, I decided to eat eggs for dinner. So every night except the first day and last two days I ate 3 scrambled eggs for dinner. I drank an EAS Protein shake for Breakfast and maybe lunch and then had the eggs for dinner. I chose eggs because they had the same nutritional makeup as the shakes. I don't recommend not following doctor's orders but I knew I could not do 14 days with no food. I at least wanted to shrink the liver so I didn't eat any carbs or sugars and like I said the eggs (which were soooooo good) had the same nutritional make-up as the shakes. I ended up loosing 16 pounds and my surgery went well--thank God. I asked my surgeon how my liver was (I didn't tell him about the eggs) and he said it was fine. I looked all over when I was on the diet to find someone that would say that they had cheated. I never found anyone. Good luck and stay strong. (By the way, I live in Miami)

Tammygirl, Thanks for the welcome. I don't think my surgeons have a support group (they haven't mentioned one). Mommie of 4, That would be nice. I think I will have to get a cab, because I am not going to tell not even one person. I even thought of having someone pick me up and say I had a "test" but then I thought when I loose weight they might put two and two together so I can't risk it. LOL. This has got to be what its like to be in the CIA. I am also going to vlog on Youtube--in a Halloween mask and disguise my voice. No I'm not crazy but they have good support over there too and I want to take part but not be identifiable. OK,maybe I am crazy.

Congrats!!! Glad all went well. Now you can be "SkinnyonedaySOON" and then just "SKINNY". Good luck and God Bless. Janet (Ms. Jackson if you Nasty)

Hello ladies, I am soooooo glad I found this forum. I am keeping my surgery a super secret and have no one to talk to about it. To imagine I could find a group of women like me to discuss it with is so wonderful. Here is a little about me: Single, no kids (want to be married and have kids) Professional business woman (being vague just in case someone I know is on here) Live alone (just got out of a relationship with someone I thought was the one--I was wrong) 37 5'4'', weighing in at 282 (ouch!!!) and always been heavy Love Miami, and this group of wonderful women.

Hi ladies, I am having the surgery (hopefully in about three weeks--gotta finish all the pre-testing). I am not telling one person. Not anyone. Why? There are so many reasons. First they would say I should just go on a diet and pray. Well, I have been doing that for since I was 7 and now I am 37. It hasn't worked. Second, if for some reason I don't loose or don't loose fast enough, the horror that would be. Also, my family is against any surgery so this would be too much for them to take. Unfortunately, I am single and have no kids so I live alone. That is good for my secret though. Only problem is getting home from the hospital--so if anyone is in Miami . . . . Good luck to all of you.