Daffodil

I had my band 3/21/07...still a little sore in the incisional area, but otherwise feel good, energetic, happy ! First few days post-op I had lots of gas, but that is better. Good luck ! Surgery weight : 270 Current weight : 265 Goal : 140

Hello Crishell ! Oh my gosh ! I was trying to explain MY fear of weight loss to my boyfriend and here I read your comment ! It feels good to know I am not alone in these feelings! Aren't these forums great? I weighed 100 lbs at age 8. Have never been thinner than 201 lbs as an adult. People say I am very pretty and I always have taken care of myself in every aspect except weight---gorgeous hair, make-up, nails, clothes, perfume-- I am a very feminine, girly-girl. But now I am both excited and FEARFUL of becoming thinner...why?? I think it is because I know me as a 267 lb woman---how I move, how my legs and arms and tummy feels...there are so many unknowns when I think of my body, my physical being, being different. Am I afraid of more male attention? Maybe. Soemtimes I think some short-term counseling might assist in understanding our fears... This is something we need to experience and then find our way. :bolt: Banded 3/21/07 in Connecticut pre-op weight: 270 current weight: 266 goal weight: 140-ish, maybe smaller

Hello ! I was banded last week. Dr. T has had NO deaths ( I believe there have been no deaths from lap banding in the USA to date ) :bolt: . It is a very safe, minimally invasive surgery. DR. T is wonderful---caring, earnest, compassionate, skilled. His office can be somewhat disorganized, but Alba always calls you back promptly. From the blogs I've read from people all over the world, Dr. T is very conservative and cautious in his approach to surgery,i.e. he requests that his patients follow a lengthy liquid pre-op diet to help shrink the liver and facilitate safer surgery, his post-op liquid diet phase is longer than most physicians to allow the stomach to heal , he requires a good pre-op medical work up...in addition, he is very proud of his record of no blood clots following surgery and he is admirably aggressive in treating his patients so they do not ( CANNOT ! ) get a blood clot...you receive blood thinner injections in the hospital prior to and after surgery, you wear the pneumatic booties while in the hospital, the staff gets you up to walk the evening of your surgery...and considering blood clots are a potential fatal result of any surgery, these measures are critical. About open vs laparascopic banding....Dr. T. will only do the banding laparascopically, he will not convert to open. If he gets in there and finds, for instance, the liver is too large, he will get out and tell you to lose more weight and he'll try again. He will explain why he does that when you see him. Hartford Hospital was a mixed bag. Pre-op staff on Center 8 were marvelous, especially one of the aides, Jean, who herself had a gastric bypass by Tishler a few months ago. Post-op on Bliss 8 is sketchy. I had 2 good nurses and one ditzy one who brought me a horse pill in a medicine cup the morning after surgery and when I told her I was just banded the day before she said she "forgot" and would crush the pill ! If I took it whole I could have obstructed ! Also, a person I know who had the banding done in February told me to ask for the white plastic post-op instruction packet which contained the post-op diet instructions, as he never received it from the hospital and Nina had to send him one....I asked Miss Ditz and she swore up and down that no such packet existed and I should have received it preoperatively and then sheepishly came in 10 minutes later with the packet in hand ! My advice: Speak up for yourself with the staff. Insist on prompt care. You will do fine ! Do it for your adorable 18 month old, do it for yourself ! :clap2: