krlongfellow

My surgery date is March 1st so I will be starting a very similar pre-op diet in a couple of weeks. I don’t get to have vegetable or fruit juice.😢. Praying I can tough it out!!!🤦🏽‍♀️

Hi, I'm new here. I am still in the process of "going through the process". I am finished with most of it and am waiting for insurance approval. My number one question for all of you that have been through this is......Is it worth it? Would you do it again? Are you sorry you did it? As you can probably tell, I fluctuate between being excited about having this done and thinking, "what the HECK am I doing?" Will I forever regret doing something this extreme? ....and then I think to myself...."Why don't you just shut your mouth and stop eating?" Of course I have had this attitude for 20+ years now and am at an all time high of 276 lbs, so obviously THAT hasn't worked for me. It's not that I CAN'T lose weight, I just can't KEEP it off. I guess I am ultimately looking for some encouragement here. Looking forward to your replies. Thanks in advance.:confused:

Hi, I have only posted a couple of times on here, but I just wanted to know if any of you have experienced a band slip? I am not officially diagnosed with one yet. I called the nurse at the office and that is what she suspects. My dr. is on vacation and will be in on Friday. The nurse didn't feel there was any emergency at this time. A little background. I pb'd on Chinese food. Not violently...in fact quite gently. I do not have trouble with pbing normally. Ever since then (Last Tuesday) I wake up in the middle of the night with a strange "golf ball" feeling in my throat. No real "acid" or burning feelings. ONce I get up and sit up for a while I am able to go back to bed. I have no pain, and I am having not trouble eating. I have put myself on liquids and except for having a few RF Wheat Thins w/ hummus, have stuck to the liquids. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do? Can a minor slip be fixed without surgery. I am self-pay so all of this really, really concerns me. By the way, I am almost one year out and have lost 76 lbs, with 40 more to go. Thanks for any advise. Kim

Just wanted to pop and say "Hi" and introduce myself. I am 41 year old female. I have been married to a wonderful man for 23 years. We have 7 children-5 boys and 2 girls. Their ages are 21, 19, 17, 15, 11, and 5 year old twin boys. Yes, I am very busy, but not busy enough to be thin! LOL. My BMI is 43, weight 276. I am through all of the tests and evaluations and am now waiting anxiously for insurance approval. I hope to really get to know all of you. I have been active on a "twins" site for a couple of years and have gained some really great friends. Hoping to add some more from here.

Thanks for the welcome! First of all....who said I was sane? LOL. My best friend and I always agreed that you lost 1/4 of your brain with each kid......so where does that leave me? IN THE NEGATIVE! I really felt that 5 children were MORE than enough, but God decided to surprise me with a pregnancy at 35 years of age and as if that wasn't a big enough shocker, made it TWINS! I really don't even remember their first year of life. It's all just one big haze. Things are better now, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. They keep me young. They are one of my main reasons for having this surgery done. I want to be able to keep up with them and do all the things I did with my older children with them. At 41 I have found myself slowing down because of my weight and that is very FRUSTRATING for me. I have always been very active even though I have been considerable overweight. Hopefully this surgery will be the answer to my dreams.

I have heard a few comments from people that any WLS is just taking the easy/lazy man's way out of losing weight. I must confess that I wondered about that in my own case. As I said in another thread, I am alway telling myself if I would just shut my mouth and have a little willpower, I wouldn't have to do this surgery. Now after reading about everything you guys do day in and day out....it's not any different than any other type of diet, you still have to restrict your food intake, you still have to learn to live without certain types of food...the only difference I can see is that you are using a tool to help you maintain a feeling of being "full". Why would this be any different than the long list of diet "helps" that everyone else uses: pills, herbs, supplements e.t.c......To me it all adds up to the same thing. This is NOT a CONTEST.....the only winners are the ones that lose weight and achieve a goal of being happy and healthy. Who cares how you get there? It's like comparing how you were born. Is a baby born by C-section any LESS of a baby because it wasn't delivered "naturally". Is a person that has lost weight by WLS Less of a "thin person" than one who did it without any "help"? Of course not

My psych. person chose to do the "short" version on me. She said that she didn't feel the "long" version was necessary in a case such as mine. I think they are just looking for confirmation that you don't have an emotional eating disorder such as anorexia or bullemia and that you are emotionally stable enough to be able to deal with something as drastic as surgery to help you lose weight. My short test took approximately an hour or so. She just asked certain questions and I answered them verbally. There was also a written "test" I took that just asked questions such as, Have you ever felt like hurting yourself? and things like that. As far as failing it. I suppose you CAN fail it if you aren't emotionally stable. I'm sure you will be fine though.

I think you will find that the fear of not waking up after surgery is a very common one. I personally don't suffer from that fear, but a few people in my family do. I would just discuss it openly with your dr. and let him know how you are feeling. I'm sure you won't be the first patient to tell him of that particular fear, and maybe he will know a way to ease them for you. Good luck.

I congratulated you on the other thread, but you deserve to be congratulated AGAIN!

Congratulations on hitting 90 lbs. Wow! What an accomplishment. You must be SO proud of yourself. I will definately use you as inspiration when it's my turn.

Welcome Susannah. I can't offer you any advise because I am a pre-bander. I haven't received a surgery date yet. I am in the process of getting approval from my insurance. I CAN offer you my sympathies though. Making this decision takes enough thought, let alone add MS to the picture. Hopefully these wonderful people on this board can put your mind at ease about the procedure, I know they did mine. Take care, keep us informed of your progress, and I will be praying for you. Kim

Wow! You are quick at answering! Thanks:D I think that is where I was confused about the cc's. It makes more sense to me that the larger volume of saline solution they add the tighter the restriction. Thanks for clearing that up. That's awful about the old ports! Now that you mention it, I think my surgeon mentioned that problem to me when he was showing me the Lap Band. He said something to the effect that this was the "new" kind. I didn't understand the significance of it until now. How much of a process was your port revision? Was it done as surgery or just under local anesthesia?

Ok....another question. What is a Port revision? Is that a fill? I haven't heard this term before. Also, I am horrible at math. Is 2 cc's less than .80 cc's? The higher the number of cc's the MORE the restriction or the LESS? If .80 is MORE restriction, why is that? Why do you have to have more and more as time goes by? Sorry for all the questions, I am by nature a very curious person and have to know every detail before I am satisfied. Thanks;)

I went to my first seminar way back in August. The surgeons here require you to attend a seminar, meet with the dr. to make sure you are a canadate, have a psych eval., meet with a dietician....then begin the long process of getting permission from the insurance company. I know they told me it would be a good 5 or 6 months, but it seems like you all are getting in A LOT quicker than that. Maybe it's because Maine is the end of the earth and we don't have as many drs.? Very frustrating I can tell you to finally make up your mind that this is for you and then have to wait and wonder for sooooo long. Sigh...I guess I'll just keep hanging on. It's kind of like being pregnant and watching everyone else have their babies and you're still waiting for your delivery date. LOL..I know, I think of things in very weird ways. Forgive me.

Thanks Nette, that definately answers my questions. I am so glad to hear that it's not like regular throwing up. I go to GREAT lengths to avoid throwing up. It just kills me. I feel like I'm being turned inside out.:sick I think I can handle just regurgitating something, not that I look forward to it. That is interesting about the tight feeling in your chest. That must definately take some getting used to. I really need to start practicing chewing. I am soooooo guilty of swallowing my food whole, and it seems like that will get me into a whole heap of trouble after I'm banded. I also drink profusely when I eat...helps to wash it down quicker so I can get another bite in! LOL. I am PSYCHED! I can't wait for my surgery.

I have tried everything to figure out what "PB or PBing" stands for, but I just can't get it figured out. Anyone so kind as to enlighten me, and while you are at it, let me know what some of the other initials stand for? Also, can anyone describe to me what having something "stuck" feels like, or if you overeat what it feels like? I have also heard that you need to learn a new feeling of being full. Thanks..Kim

Babs: I am impressed! -89 lbs since JUNE!?? Wow, I'm not only impressed, I am JEALOUS! LOL. I just pray that I am that lucky (and committed). What an inspiration you are. I can't tell you how much this site has helped me in just 3 days. I had so many questions (and still do), but reading through the old posts has answered a lot of them. Thanks everyone for sharing your journey.

Hi Teresa, Thanks for the welcome. My name is Kim and I'm from Maine. I loved reading your stats. You have been at this for a while! ......and you are SO close to goal! I am very jealous. LOL. How has the journey been for you? I also have another question for you seeing as you are an old pro.....I have noticed people telling how many cc's they are up to. Is it a GOOD thing to have a higher number of cc's or is it just a "just letting each other know" thing? As you can probably tell, I am a newbie anxiously awaiting insurance approval so I can get this ball rolling. I have been at this since August of last year! First you had to go to their seminar on LapBand, then you had to be approved by the surgeon that you were a good canidate, then the nutrition appoinment, then the Psych. eval.....Sigh.....The psych people took 3 MONTHS to get the results back to the surgeon. I was so hoping to be losing weight by now. My son is getting married in June and I was hoping to be down at least 20-30 lbs. I sometimes wonder if it's ever going to happen for me. Well, I've certainly gone on and on...forgive my rambling.

Hi to both of you fellow Mainiacs! I thought I was the only one. I am in the process of waiting for insurance approval. Everything else is in place. I notice that this forum hasn't been visited in a while. Hopefully someone will check in and chat with me. By the way, I am from the Augusta area.

Mary, Could you please tell me what the two week "pre-banding" diet is? I haven't heard of this. Of course, maybe it's something they tell you about after you have a surgery date (which I don't yet, I'm still waiting for insurance approval). Thanks, and you have done a GREAT job! WOW! 82 lbs in 6 mo......sigh....if I can be so lucky!

Wow! Thanks for your quick responses everyone. I feel better and more confident all ready. I guess I am just looking to make sure that there are no horror stories like the ones I have read from people who have had Gastric Bypass. I always vowed I would never do that, it seems like "jumping out of the frying pan into the fire" to me. I have researched this procedure until I am SURE I could perform the surgery MYSELF! LOL. But I have to say, I have had a horrible time trying to find a message board for Bandsters. I just happened to stumble onto this one, and BOY am I glad. Thanks for your help, and I'm sure I will be posting with more questions.