mrsto

I've been fat & thin so many times, I'll comment on my past experience (I'm not at goal yet with the band). The last time I dropped close to 100 pounds, it took a long time for my head to catch up to the way I looked. I dated like CRAZY, and loved the attention. By the same token, I was very confused by it. Then I put the shoe on the other foot, and I totally got it. It would be a beautiful world if we were all attracted to each other by our personalities and spirit alone. Some people are, but the majority are attracted physically, first. Even when I was at my heaviest, I wasn't attracted to obese men. A little heavy, yes. WAY heavy, no. So why would I think that they would be attracted to me? I was wearing a size 8 when I met my husband 8 years ago. And even then, I had already gained about 28 pounds, which he didn't know. What he ALSO didn't know, was that after 6 years of maintaining a perfect size 6 (sometimes a 4), I had pretty much thrown in the towel & was on the upswing. My weight climbed slowly. He said something to me once before we were married, and after my reaction, never brought it up again. He loves every single pound of me, but his biggest concern is my health, and that we have a long life together. But we're older than many on here, who are out in the dating world. Our priorities are different. With ALL that said, if I was heavy when I met him, he would not have gone for me. And I get it.....

Did your doctor say that you can eat right after the fill? Mine says liquids for a day, and then food as tolerated. Many doctors want their patients on liquids for up to three days after a fill.

LOL!!!

ROFL!! Thanks CG - even though I know that is true, it hit my funny bone; needed a good laugh today

I'm with Catfish on all counts. Please do NOT beat yourself up for this. None of us are perfect! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off.....and move on. As far as your "mental state healing about food", I'm not clear on what you're thinking about that. If you're thinking that the surgery will heal your relationship with food, and your emotional compulsion to eat, it won't. That is the most difficult part about WLS; it does nothing to your brain. We all have to work on our issues with food. The band helps a great deal with hunger, but it does nothing on our brain. Band or no band, there is a lot of work to do in our relationship with food. Please......stop beating yourself up. It will do you more harm than good. Good luck

Tylenol is like a fart in the wind. I used to take lots of ibuprofen before surgery, and I miss IT more than any food item I had a bad sinus headache last week, so I took a swig of Lortab. I hate it, because then I'm a space case for hours. But when the pain is really bad, I do what I gotta do

B52 - couldn't have said it better myself. It's ALL about the presentation of the post. If the posters with negative band issues kept their posts to "For me" instead of screaming "the sky is falling", others probably wouldn't feel the need to defend the band. I think some are just frustrated, and blurting out their fear and emotion; not really thinking through how it comes off on the receiving end. I know that many do have issues with the band; their body rejects it......just doesn't take to it. That is a fact of life, no matter WHAT the medical procedure. But that's never to say that others shouldn't do it. Before going into any procedure, one must weigh the pros & cons. I went in fully knowing that it could go either way. If it fails, you will not see me post "NEVER GET THE LAP BAND" in this, or any other forum. Blanket statements like that are unfair to all of those having great success, and to those considering it.

Is your surgeon Dr. Billy? My doctor is also in Ventura. If Dr. Billy is your doctor, I would have to completely disagree with your comments about him being all about money, and not caring. He is highly reputable, and I find the exact opposite to be true. And he's got hundreds of patients that mirror my same feelings and experience. I had several concerns before surgery, and one issue after. When I email him, he responds within a half hour. When I see him, he takes plenty of time with me, and addresses all of my questions and concerns. There are a couple of people in the office that I'm not thrilled with, but overall the care has been excellent. If I had it to do all over again, I would choose him, and highly recommend him to anyone who asks. I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with the band. I can only imagine how frustrating and disappointing that must be for you. But you are the exception. Some women can develop a blood clot from birth control pills.....and actually die. Does that mean that the masses that have zero issues should run? There is way more success with the band over failure, which we read daily in these forums. And that's not to mention the thousands that aren't involved in online forums. PS: On Dr. Billy..... When I first met with him, he recommended the gastric bypass. I was actually scheduled for it, but flipped out about 10 days prior...cancelled it. I tossed the whole idea of having anything, but gained another few pounds in the four weeks after that, and settled on the band with plication. Dr. Billy did clearly tell me about the issues with the band. He's not a big fan of it over the other surgeries, because of the possible ongoing issues, and percentage wise, the weight loss isn't as good as with the bypass. But even with all that info, I didn't want to rearrange my innards, or remove 3/4 of a major organ. I was ready to do the work, and more comfortable with something reversible. So far, so good..... I'm hopeful that things will move along nicely....as they have been.

There is so much talk about getting all the water in, and how important it is to avoid dehydration. Is dehydration a bigger issue when banded? Maybe this was touched on in all of my pre-op classes, but I don't remember. I only remember how important it is to get in 64oz of water daily. Just wondering why this may be more of an issue now, over pre-band. Dehydration is never good, but with all the talk about it here, I thought I'd ask if it's band specific.

Just curious..... If you're tracking your intake, drinking all your water and exercising, what is it that you think Weight Watchers is going to do?

I'm so with you on the 64oz of water. I don't think I've EVER had that much since being banded. And maybe, never have (unless I was so thirsty from eating salty foods). I think that the most I get in is 48oz. And I'm fine with it. All I drink is some coffee in the morning, and the rest is water. I used to like Crystal Lite, but since being banded, don't gravitate to it.

I hear ya! It's a lot to deal with.

I agree with Mis. Is the study over? Seems like a bit of a roller coaster ride to put your self through. Just my opinion, but once your band issue is straightened out, I would leave it alone.

It shouldn't affect your fill, but it might effect your weight loss. SSRIs are know to cause a bit of weight gain, so just be prepared. Maybe it won't affect you as much, since you're following such a low calorie plan. But it is a possibility

When I hit a plateau, I up my calories a bit for a day or two. I only up them by about 200, but it seems to trick my metabolism, and stop it from "resting on its laurels"

Right after I had surgery, my hunger pangs were very different than pre-op. They were so strong, it felt like I had an alien inside, ripping up my stomach. When I told the nurse, she said that they hear it a lot; especially from plication patients. What you're feeling today is very different than what you will feel as you heal. Everything will normalize. Your stomach has been through quite an ordeal, and it will take some time before things settle down. Did your doctor put you on an antacid for 30 days post-op? If not, you might want to ask about it. Mine put me on famotidine (generic Pepcid), which I took twice a day for one month.

Everyone has their own comfort level with how often they weigh, but for this very reason, I stay off the scale on a daily basis. Drives me nuts! Then, when I DO weigh (about once a week), I'm (usually) happy with what I see.

Just sip constantly. As CG says, as you heal, you will be able to drink more normally. After being banded, I could only take 2-3 tiny sips at a time. Now I can drink almost like I did pre-surgery. I don't even think about it. It takes time, but everything settles down & starts to feel more "normal".

Based on what you're saying, it doesn't sound like you need a fill at this point. Believe me, when the time comes, you will know it I remember when I entered bandster hell. It was a flashing neon sign; hungry all the time. It was difficult, but after that first fill I was good for about 6 weeks. Then I had a second fill, and seem to be doing fine. I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon last week. I've been doing well, but thought that since I was going to drive all the way out there, maybe I'll have a tiny fill; maybe 1/4 cc. (totally wrong reason to have a fill). He looked at my progress & didn't think it was necessary. He said that I'm losing better than most who are perfectly adjusted. He also said that he'd do it if I really wanted it, but thought I should wait another month & see how it's going. I still don't know if I'm in the green zone, but I'm losing, and able to stick to small portions; no stuck episodes or any other issues.

You look radiant! Such an accomplishment!! Congrats on your fabulous success......you earned every pound of it

The best thing you can do is try not to dwell on the few days of bad eating. Just move forward. 4 pounds doesn't need to become 14 pounds. I've had a handful of days since being banded, that weren't great. I didn't go out & have cheesecake, a big Mac, pizza and anything else I could put my hands on. But I did overeat. About once a week there will be a day where I just NEED to eat more. Whether it's chemical or emotional, I just feel like I will flip out completely if I don't have that extra whatever. So, I have it. And after a day of 1400-1500 calories, I'm over it. The next day I'm right back on track with my usual 1000-1100 calories. The way I see it, is that I'm doing this for life. What happens one or two days is nothing in the big scheme of things. Rangle this in before it takes control of you

It IS worse than quitting drinking... You don't need alcohol for survival, but you do need to eat. We ALWAYS have to practice our addiction, but we have to control it. It's a curse!

I don't follow the minute rule. I can't even imagine! I don't inhale my food either; just take small bites, chew well, and feel it go down. If I had to wait one minute between bites, any hot meal would have to be eaten cold (after the first few bites). Feels too much like a punishment. I think the one minute between bites is a way to get people to retrain themselves from scarfing, to dramatically slowing down. I was told to limit meals to 20 minutes. I would say that it takes just about that time to eat a cup of food; sometimes a little less, but I have that sense of "full" at about 15 minutes.

Yeah, we do love our dogs! My little girl is the best therapy I've ever had, and I couldn't love anything more....if I gave birth to it She's a border collie/Australian shepherd mix, and tends to make sure that I'm walking fast enough - LOL! How do you insert pictures? I've tried several times, but can't seem to figure it out.

SO well written! A very sad commentary on our society indeed! It's no wonder why 12 year old girls dress like porn stars, and at 16, already looking to plastic surgery. Pathetic.......so unbelievably sick. And it just seems to get worse.