Samantha Fleschner

HI All, I just want to start by thanking everybody for all of the knowledge that I have been able to gain through this site. I was recently banded, 9/19, and have had many questions and felt annoying to have to bother by doctors office consistently to get answers. It has been amazing that I have been able to find answers to all of the questions that I have had, and answers to questions that I did not even know I had. So for starters, thank you to everybody for the knowledge. I feel very lucky that I am involved with a surgeon/group that is very well known and has a lot of experience in helping people with weight loss, specifically with bariatric surgery. I live in NYC and am a member of NYU's Weight Management program. http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/ What I like about this organization is that they are not just about the easy way out. In preparing and qualifying for surgery, I had to in addition to qualifying due to health related issues, overweight, high BMI and a obesity-related illnesses. They also sent me to see a psychologist who helped evaluate me for the surgery and to ensure that my mind was in the correct place. As somebody who has battled with weight throughout my childhood, I would think that I had enough medical documentation and experiences to demonstrate that I was an appropriate candidate for surgery. Although originally when I was told that I would have to go for evaluation, I did not understand the purpose and felt that it was a waste of my time. After meeting with the doctor and subsequently understanding the purpose of the evaluation I understand and I now pleased that the doctor’s office that I selected to do my surgery, cared so much that surgery was the correct thing for me. Now about me :-) I am a 34 year old woman who has battled with being overweight for as long as I can remember. Through my life I've tried some of the common weight loss methods, ie Weight Watchers, Nutritionist, and going to the gym. Although in recently years I have greatly improved my eating habits, I have not been able to get my weight under control. This March I had a life changing event happen, my father passed away unexpectedly. This caused me not only to reevaluate how I was living my life; it also had a negative effect on me physically. As a result I developed high blood pressure. This is combination with being overweight and having a diagnosis that is exacerbated by being overweight, fibromyalgia, I decided that it was time to get my life under control. I knew then, that if I did not lose weight that I would have no guarantee that I would live a full life and that the quality of my life would be poor. So that was as people saw, the straw that broke the camel’s back. I am now excited about the possibilities that will now be open to be that I am going my health and overall life together.

Good luck and remember to breath. I'll be over before you know it and you will be waking up in recovery.

Dr. George Fielding as well as the rest of his staff are amazing. They are extremely supportive and make the lap band experience a breeze. Good Luck!

Congrats! I'm looking forward to that feeling of being able to fit into things that I haven't been in a while.

I will hopefully be an XL/size 18 next summer. I'd be happy to be able to save some money as well. So yes please :-) Also, I think we go to the same doctors office, Dr. George Fielding did my surgery.

I have also been recently banded and can empathize with the pain. The day I had the surgery I felt no discomfort and was amazed how good I felt when I was recovering from anesthesia. Though the next day I woke up and was shocked at how uncomfortable I was. I ended up having to go back to the doctor two days later partly because I was in extreme pain because the medication that they gave me wasn't working but moreover because one of my wounds needed cleaning. But now four days out, I'm starting to feel much better. The pain will improve with time.

Hi All, My name is Samantha, I am a 34 years old and I live in NYC. I was recently banded, 9/19, and I am looking for somebody, or somebodies who could help me through this process. Living in NYC, like many places in the world make this process even more difficult because a lot of delicious food is easily available. Personally I am looking for somebody who I can go to when I feel like I'm going to make a bad decision, who can also give me advice for to things to do socially with others where food is not the starring player. Like many who live in NYC, most of my social activities have always revolved around food. At the moment, since I'm still on the pre-op diet, I have not be engaging in social actvities due to lack of energy level and swolleness. But once I'm healed and am able to go out again, I want to be able to socialize and spend time with my friends, but need to find ways of doing that, where food is not the means that gets everybody together. In an ideal universe, I would like to be able to find a buddy/mentor or buddies/mentors that grow into friendships so that I can have more people in my life who are able to personally understand when I have going through and what I continue to go through. If this sounds like something that you might be interested in, please respond or message me, sorry I'm still learning how this website works, and I will give you my email address.

Hi All, I have battled with PCOS for about 10 yrs now. I found out I had it after having to have emergency surgery because my right fallopian tube twisted and cut off the oxygen from my right ovary. As a result of PCOS I battle with painful periods, difficulty with weight loss, and hirituitsm. I am hoping that as a result of having the lap-band and subsequently losing weight that the symtoms associated with my PCOS will be more under control. I am thankful that I was able to find this group and have other people that I can gain knowledge, support and advice from.