eyespy

I wrote this in another thread before I found this one. By social life, I mean dating! I feel more comfortable saying that on a singles thread. It sounds like there are a lot of you who were dating regularly pre-surgery. I wish I had the same luck. Where are all the guys who can appreciate a large woman?? (Here's the orginal messsage, and thanks for this thread!!) For those of you single Lap-Banders, how has your social life changed since being banded? I have to admit that part of why I want to have the surgery is to improve that aspect of my life. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect the surgery to magically make everything better in my life. I'm pretty grounded and have realistic expectations. I like the person I am, but I do have issues with my appearance. I want to improve my health, so if that were not a factor, I would not consider the surgery just to look better. I would also love to hear stories from those of you who met your significant others when you were overweight. I know there are lots of overweight women out there who are with guys who are not hung up on weight; I just have not had the good fortune to meet one.

Thanks!!

I just added my picture to my signature, and I wanted to see if it worked. I've been using a computer for years, but I don't quite have the hang of all this message board stuff!

I sent a PM, but then found this link. What if we book directly with the cruiseline? What bandster activities will be going on? Anything particularly scheduled? Would I stil be able to particpate with you guys if I signed up last minute through the cruiseline?

No, I just tried to link it from a pitcure I scanned into a file. I just put it on my avitar, now. I really like the picture, though! (That's seldom!) You can't tell much from the avitar one. How did you put your ticker into your signature?

I thought it was a great show, too. I especially liked it when the doctor told the thereapist to remember that obesity is a disease. When you saw pictures of the heaviest man on the show as a baby and toddler, you just know that his weight problem is not totally environmental. I too hope they will show some lap band surgeries, but I have a feeling it will just be gastric bypass. Anyone know how to contact TLC? Maybe if they hear from enough people, they will make some episodes about it.

A couple of weeks ago there was a link to a PBS special on Lap-Band surgery. I didn't have time to watch and thought I would get to it later, but I forgot to write down the info. Does anyone have that link?

Thanks!!!!

Thanks for all of the recipes. I have been copying and pasting them into a file to keep for when I have my surgery.

<p>I thought she looked like this actress, Megan Gallagher, that I have seen in several small tv roles, including Picket Fences, and more recently on 7th Heaven as Rose's mom. Now that you mention it, she does look a little like Rachel Ray.</p> <p> </p> <p>I would also like to know if she has been banded. I'd be kinda ticked if she was just some "never been fat" model!</p>

Who doesn't get up and dance when YMCA starts playing? Disco music always gets me moving!

Guess it didn't work. Back to the drawing board!

I am considering getting the surgery. I travel a lot for my job, and when I do, I rarely have time to stop for lunch. I do, however, have time to eat while driving between locations. What suggestions do you have for portable foods I could bring with me to eat on the run? :hungry: While traveling, I currently eat Breakfast, snack on something during the day, and eat one large meal around 3:00 or 4:00 and I'm full for the rest of the evening. I know I will not be able to eat that way after surgery. Can most of you eat Peanut Butter crackers? Is that hard to eat? Knowing if I can work the surgery into my life is major factor in my final decision. I am pretty sure I am going to have the surgery, but I want to cover all of my bases first. Alysa

Just needed to vent. I thought I was scheduled for a lapband seminar required by the surgeon I want to use. Turns out, I had the date wrong. It was last night, and I was out of town until last night for work. I wrote on my calendar that it was tonight. This is the second one I've missed because I travel with my job. They only do the seminar once a month. I will not have to travel anymore for the rest of the summer. I cannot get a consultation with the dr. until I attend the seminar. I have attended one at another hospital, and it was a waste of my time. I have learned more by being on the web site than I did at the seminar. I started crying when I got off the phone because this is another month I have to wait to even get things rolling. I know there will be a lot of insurance paperwork and requirements that will take time. Because I'm not traveling again until after the summer, I was hoping to get the surgery done this summer. If I don't do the surgery this summer, I will probably have to wait until next summer to have it. That's another year of being obese and unhealthy. I am ready for a change!! I feel so sad right now. Thanks for listening to my venting!!

I have already been to another seminar for the other surgeons in town, but I only went for the information. I do not want to use them as my surgeon. The seminar I have not been able to attend is by the surgeon I want to use. I am sure they have their reasons for waiting for the seminar, but it's just frustrating. I have been looking forward to getting this show on the road. I'm not so worried about fast tracking the surgery, I just want to get started with the insurance paperwork. I know my insurance requires 6 months of dr. supervised dieting, but I am not sure if they just need my dr. to sign a form saying I have done that or if I will have to complete another 6 months after starting the process. I have BCBS of FL, but apparently there are a variety of plans within that. So, all I can do is wait. I'd like to gt started on changing some of my eating habits, but I don't want to jump out of the 40 BMI because I haven't had a formal diagnoses of PCOS, although my dr. feels I have it, because I would need to have a comorbidity if my BMI is under 40. I'll probably go ahead and make an appointment with my Dr. and get an official diagnosis in the meantime.

According to the surgeon's office I called, PCOS is a comorbidity. I would definitely go to your primary doctor and have tests run for anything conditions you suspect you have. Also, my doctor told me that if I lost weight, I would not have PCOS, so I think the lapband surgery probably will help with hormonal issues. According to a lot that I have read, obesity does cause hormonal issues. Good luck with your journey.

Thanks, everyone. I'm feeling better. I just was feeling frustrated earlier. When I'm upset, I just like to gripe about it, and then I feel better. If I have to wait another month, I have to wait another month. I just hope this seminar doesn't turn out to be as uninformative as the last one was. The last one I attended just talked about obesity in general and then described gastric bypass and lapband. They didn't discuss the details like the pre- and post- diets and all of the other things I have learned on this site. In my opinion, there's no point in attending the seminar unless you haven't researched either option. Oh well, I'm venting again!! I'll probably call back tomorrow and talk to their insurance department to see if they can at least let me know of any specific things I need to do. Thanks for the feedback.

I haven't attended my first seminar yet. I do that next week. I know this is probably out there somewhere, but I would like to know the progression of diet until eating regular food. I know it goes from liquid to mushies to solids and that different dr.'s recommend different timelines, but what is the general amount of time for what stages? I am considering having the surgery in December because I would be off from work for several weeks. I would like to time it so that I could have some solid food for Christmas dinner or at least mushies--cornbread dressing!

Does anyone know what the statistics are for people who are banded and gain back the weight, and over what period of time? I heard somewhere that for gastric bypass it was 50%. I can't remember where I heard that, though. I want to have all of the facts before I make my final decision.

I am in the beginning stages of researching the procedure. I will be attending a doctor led seminar soon. I currently have no impulse control when it comes to food. I eat what I crave, and when I eat, I eat past feeling full. :hungry: I worry that this will continue after I have the surgery. Did anyone else struggle with these same things prior to surgery? Have you been successful after?:clap2: Also, What do you wish you would have known or done prior to surgery? Thanks, Alysa

I have told my parents and a few close friends I am considering having it done. Thanks for this post. I have been thinking about this very thing. With the rate of weight loss, no one would necessarily know, unlike with gastric bypass. I don't really want to tell people, but I don't know what I would say when they ask about my weight loss. I am not good at lying, and I know word will get around any way. I am still having a little trouble dealing with the fact that I cannot do this on my own. I am a little embarassed about having to have surgery to lose weight, so that's why i don't want to tell many people. Still, I have never had bad thoughts about anyone who had WLS, so I know it's just silly. If there were a surgery that would cure alcholism or drug addiction, it wouldn't be embarssing to have surgery. I know I will get over this feeling, and eventually I will probably tell everyone!

Love this thread! Now that I hear that others with the same sort of issues are being successful with banding, I feel relieved! The last thing I want to do is go through all of this and end up right where I started. I am fat because I have no impulse control when it comes to food. When I get a craving in my head, it will not go away. Even if I resist for days! Poo on whoever said that if you resist a craving for 15 minutes it will go away. I am not an emotional eater, although Oprah keeps trying to convince me I am. When I am depressed or mad or whatever, I don't turn to food for comfort. I eat primarily when I am bored, which often I am because I am too tired to get of the coach. I will say that at times I am an emotional non-denier. That is, if I get a craving when I am upset, I will go ahead and eat it, but I usually do anyway. I don't seek food out when I am emotional. I am a social eater, though. I like to go out to dinner with friends. I was a skinny kid. I got a little chubby when I hit puberty, but mostly remained on the high end of a healthy weight range until after I grauduated from high school. Then, I suffered from severe, clinical depression for several years. (Thank God for Prozac!) When my brain chemistry was out of wack, I basically did nothing but sleep and eat. I ate to the point of feeling beyond stuffed. I would be hurting from over-eating, yet I was looking in the fridge to see what else there was. Once I started on medication, I started eating normally, but I had gained 60-80 pounds. I am fat because I eat too much, and I eat too much of the wrong foods. My Sunday School teacher once asked us to write our favorite food on the board. I wrote, "Anything processed!' Lately, I have noticed that I don't have much of an appetite. I think it's the change in daylight. But has that stopped me from eating? NOOOO!! Well, wasn't that cathartic?

Sooverit, I have not met with a surgeon yet. They do seminars once/month here, and I will be out of town for the one in April. I have to wait until may. I cannot see the dr. until that happens first. I am not a patient person, so it's a little frustrating to have to wait. With insurance restrictions, I may have to wait anyway until undergoing six months of an official dr. supervised diet. It's not like I haven't dieted for six months in row already, but who knows what the insurance will decide counts. My GP documented all of the things we have tried last year when I went for my yearly check-up. I asked about the surgery then, but didn't really start thinking about it seriously until recently. I finally realized that if I COULD do something about my weight, I would have done so by now. I am not as worried about withdrawels as I am going through the liqiud phase of the diet, especially before the band if needed! Good luck with your appointment. Can't wait to have mine.

I was just wondering what people's time-lines were from attending the first seminar to surgery. I was planning to take everything slowly, but the more I read here, the more excited I get. I'm still going to take my time and make sure I'm ready, but I think I'll do it sooner rather than later!

I know that one of the questions to ask your surgeon is how many lapband procedures he has perfomed, but what is the answer? How many is enough? Here is information I got from the website of the Dr. I am considering. He has a good reputation, and I believe none of his patients have died. I am a little concerned that he has only performed 100 + lapband surgeries. He seems to be very credntialed, and I know several patients that have used him for gastric bypass. As I said, he has a good reputation. I haven't had my initial consultation yet--still in the research phase and waiting for the seminar in May. Below are his credentials as listed on the hospitals web page. Memberships in professional and scientific societies include the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Bariatric Surgeons (ASBS), and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). Dr. L. is a physician teaching proctor for the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons. has completed a fellowship in bariatric and minimally invasive surgery (which is the highest degree of training that can be obtained in the field of bariatrics). He has performed over 1,000 gastric bypass surgeries and taken care of over 3,000 bariatric patients. He has performed over 100 lap band procedures.