dialit

Here they finally are...afters and befores.

I'm Diane and I was banded May '07. I'm 43, going to turn 44 on Valentine's day. So far, the 40s have been the best and the worst of times!

22 lbs is great! My experience is that sometimes the weight loss slows for a while, or stops, and then cranks back up again...sometimes on its own (like after my period), sometimes it takes a fill. I didn't even really feel my fill. I guess the RN got through at a nerve-less spot!

I'm thinking..."its a (sort of) clear liquid"...ain't it? :tt1:

If you've ever felt a pregnant mamma's tummy, and she's told you..."oh, that's a foot", that's what my port feels like. You can't see it, but if you press on my abdomen you can feel it. No way a band could EVER show!

I'm also prone to fever blisters, and have noticed an increase since surgery, but I attribute it more to stress than weight loss. Said it on other posts, will say it again here...I would never have pegged myself as an emotional eater, but take the food away, and surprise! One thing I would suggest is try adding a serving of yogurt to your daily intake. I found eating yogurt daily minimizes the outbreaks. This was true for me before surgery, and yogurt goes down easy post-op, so its worked out. Make sure you get the kind with live cultures, not the kiddy stuff!

I am not a person who has had problems in the past with anxiety and depression, and I can tell you that though I don't think its the surgery, I'd definitely say that losing food as a coping mechanism sent me crashing. In counseling now, and on meds, and doing much, much better. I think of it like this...for 40 years I used food to keep my emotions from swinging to one extreme or another, and now without that "packing", I've got to learn how to swing gently. Hence the therapy!

I agree. The puree is to give the healing process time and let your body focus where it needs to. Further, though its a bother and somewhat visually unappealing to do the puree thing, accept this step in your process! If you are going to fight your band from day one, push the "rules", you may find you don't get to have the ideal relationship with it you've been dreaming of!

There used to be a thread on this, but I can't find it now that I've reached it! Talk about a GREAT feeling! And I must confess, I have waited 3 weeks since my "entry" into the magical world of "1" just to make sure I was really there before announcing. Here's a great Christmas present for me...my NS goal was to be a size 14 by Christmas, went to the "after Christmas" sales on the 26th, and bought my first pair of size 12 Levi's!!! and they aren't "stretch" jeans, either! :eek: My goals right now are to get to 175 and/or size 10. I know that will still keep me in the "overweight" BMI range (though just barely), but I've been the recommended weight for "normal" (long, long ago) and was so skinny and sickly that I don't care to revisit that. I will probably revisit my goal when I get there, and I think my most likely long term goal will be more Fluid, and have to do more with whether or not the outer package matches the inner person than with a number. There have been a lot of "reality checks" along the way, too. :smile: 1) Marriage problems are not necessarily resolved with weight loss. :eek: I know, SURPRISE, but its true. In fact, they can get worse! That's right, because, see #2, all the stuff you suppressed with food is now running loose in your relationship, adding to the fun! :wink: 2)I would never have ID'd myself as an emotional eater. Well, guess again! When the unlimited food went away, and the novelty of losing weight passed, the lid on Pandora's box was blown off explosively! I remember so naively sitting in the MD's office before this journey began and thinking, "I won't really need counseling". HA! My poor shrink! Freaked out me! 40+ years of stuffed experiences, emotions, fears, all jumping out of the box together! :clap: 3)Building a new life to go with my new body takes A-C-T-I-O-N. You can't just sit in your house like you did 90 lbs ago and say "I wish I could go skiing" and then have it happen. YOU have to take the initiative to start doing all the things you always wanted to do but never "could". They don't come to you. This was and continues to be a tough one for me. I'm not completely used to self-direction yet, and I will frequently catch myself sitting in the living room thinking "I wish I could..." and sometimes it takes a little while before my wise self smacks that whiner in the head and says "YOU CAN! Now get off your no longer well cushioned ass and DO IT!" This adventure has been and continues to be FANTASTIC. I have "gained" so much more than I've "lost", hee-hee, and I feel that for the first time, I am moving every day toward a more mature, more authentic, more self-directed me.

Thank you all for your supportive comments and cudos. Hey, having to do with #2: "I would never have ID'd myself as an emotional eater. Well, guess again! ..." the DH and I came up with a great analogy for this... if your emotions are like the pendulum on a grandfather clock, emotional eating packs the box, keeping the pendulum firmly in one position with food on both sides. When you take away the food, at first the pendulum swings WILDLY, and you have to learn to manage the swing range!

I had the same food issues you have, and I found that the right amount of fill and a few unpleasant episodes of sliming...OK, and a couple episodes where I WISHED I could throw up and make the pain go away, suddenly I found myself a LOT more able to exercise some self-control. Now, I still catch myself emotionally eating, but its a LOT sooner, and I'm a lot more honest with myself (i.e. do you really want to eat this...you KNOW what will happen!), and I've found myself able to stay more self-aware and in control.

A little over 7 months for me and I am down 90+ lbs. I can walk, I can breathe, I can sleep without machinery, my BP is down, and I look 10 years younger and feel about 25 years younger!!!! I eat things I LOVE, and a little bit is more than enough, because I feel SATISFIED! I worried about all the same things you have listed, but, I realized that I had already put myself in such severe jeopardy, that taking this risk would likely actually REDUCE my risk for health problems in the long run...and it has!

I just found this thread, passed my 6 month bandiversary in November. I can't BELIEVE I didn't do this sooner! I feel like an entirely new person! With the exception of hypertension, which has greatly improved but isn't fully resolved yet, ALL of my other comorbidities are GONE!!! No more aching back, no more aching knees, no more aching feet, no more snoring! I live in a very hilly area, and 6 months ago, I hated to walk anywhere. Every up hill stretch led to dizziness, being out of breath. Now most of the up hill stretches feel like flat ground! Not everything has been rosey...there has been a lot of emotional work to do. Now that I don't have the option of eating all my emotions, I've had to do some really intense inside work, but it has all been worth it!

I've noticed that the days I feel "tighter" - almost too tight, are days when I am experiencing more stress than usual, and then there are days when I feel I could eat anything! Usually, those are pretty laid back days.

The difference is that you KNOW that this time is it, is real, and is long term. That you really are changing, and that you have come so far to reach this point, that instead of feeling Eurphoria, what you are feeling is the PEACE of KNOWING. That is definitely the case for me. That joyous "high" of losing weight in the past for me has always been a kind of "Make hay while the sun shines" joy, because I knew in my heart I should enjoy it while I could, because the weight would ultimately be back. After the first couple spins on the diet and re-gain it wheel, I don't think I ever believed again that my loss was permanent. Now I know it is. And that feels like peace of mind, not euphoria.

I went to UWMC for my band...fairly new program, longer history with by-pass, but on my insurance plan, so that made the choice a little easier. I am 3 months post-op, down 41 lbs since surgery, 54 pounds total, and couldn't be happier! Great to know there are so many WA and NW folks here!

If you are on any prescription meds, check with your pharmacist to make sure they can be broken or crushed. If not, talk with your PCP about substitutions. This was VERY important to me, as I realized, TOO LATE, that at least one of my four blood pressure meds, which could not be broken or crushed, was too large to swallow post-op! We decided to just cut that one out, and it turned out fine, but it gave me real worries at first! Also, important to note that some anti-depressents (like Wellbutrin) cannot be broken or crushed. IF YOU ARE ON ANY PRESCRIPTION MEDS, CHECK WITH YOUR PCP and SURGEON ABOUT POST-OP SOLUTIONS!!!

I made the mistake the first time of marrying "my best friend". The sad thing was, we were too young, I had too many pieces of luggage, and in the end it didn't work out. Worst part was that the divorce ended up nasty, and I lost my best friend. When it was all over, I wished I had never married him, not because I regretted the marriage relationship, but because it's been like having my best friend die. 15+ years now since we split, and I still miss his friendship terribly.

1 night stay, but less than 24 hrs overall.

I snack almost every day, but not all day long. I'd say I average 4 meals a day. Between my schedule and the DH's schedule, we often begin our days at 5 or 6am and sit down for dinner at 7-8pm, so I tend to eat Breakfast around 7, lunch about 11, snack around 3 and then dinner around 7. See? Its an every 4 hour thing for me. But my Snacks, which used to be 1/2 a bag of chips (and I don't mean the single serving size), have pretty much dropped to a single string cheese stick or a 1/2 cup of yogurt. And you know what...I don't even miss those chips at all.

Well, for me, the LAP band has allowed me to focus on the EXERCISE lifestyle changes. I've found my band to be pretty "self-disciplining" in the food arena. A few episodes of PBs (productive burping - puking without stomach acid), SLIMING (my experience of this is something getting "stuck" and then every saliva and mucous gland in my head, neck and mouth producing OVERTIME, trying to lube it loose! and making me spit, blow my nose, and in general feel like a ball of goo), and chest pain - made particularly embarrassing because in line with Murphy's law, they usually happen in public- and I was "persuaded" to remember the importance of small bites, chewing thoroughly, etc. I've also found without the strong hunger and cravings of my pre-band life, I am able to make better choices at meals and Snacks (higher Protein, less junk), and to actually stop when I am full. The mouth seems to have less sway than it used to (note - the mouth used to be the only one in charge, and whatever it wanted to eat got eaten!). I am sure everyone's experience is different! Good luck to you as you journey through this exciting ride!

Hey, Kity, just found this thread. I am a "retired" teacher...AKA went into a non-ed field because the teaching was too tough on my family. I've been out of the classroom almost 10 years...still miss it though, and maybe I'll go back after kids' college cost is paid! As for SRA, here is their website: https://www.sraonline.com/products_main.html?PHPSESSID=768bccbc28f1dacf2ad760ef2849906a If that doesn't work, do an internet search of "SRA reading", that will get you to the McGraw-Hill publisher's page, and then you can search by title "SRA". Good luck to you in your new position! Just remember - you as the teacher are the PROFESSIONAL. Don't let a curriculum guide tell you what to do...it was written by some unknown "editor". You are the one who is the expert on what your kids need to succeed!

I had a similar experience about 4 weeks after banding, though I had not had any fills yet. My pain would kick in about 1.5 - 2 hrs after I ate, and last for several hours. This went on for almost 2 weeks, then died out on its own. By the time I could get in to see my surgeon, it was all over. He had an ultrasound done to see if there were gall stones. Nothing showed up, but he then offered to do a hydascan (its a newer test that can detect smaller gall stones). Since my symptoms had passed and have not returned, I decided against the test, but that will be my first move if symptoms return. I talked with my mom about my symptoms, and she said they matched her one gall bladder attack exactly. I've come to believe I somehow ticked off my GB and it had to throw a bit o f a temper tantrum. Dr. says that shouldn't happen, that GB probs are either infection or stones, not just inflammation. I've talked, however, with MANY people since then who have had one "attack" and then nothing more, so... If the pain persists, I'd see your surgeon ASAP.

I also had the same thing happen, but it stopped after 2 cycles. Good Luck!

I'm with jet lag jane and aubry on this one. I am not the same person I was before banding...ok, I am, but I'm not. I am more attractive to ME!!! And that is what makes me more attractive to others. It isn't necessarily the pounds you've lost...you may be at the beginning or in the middle of your journey. It is the getting lighter and healthier, feeling more graceful, and having an aura of joy. Let's face it. Didn't most of us buy into the "fat is unattractive" line, and not about others, about OURSELVES! I know I started to love me more before the band was even in, and I started to show that to the world within a few days of surgery...and it just keeps growing as the exercise increases, the sizes drop, the cpap goes into the closet, the meds reduce. I feel 10 years younger in 8 weeks! And I am acting 10 years younger, too! If you are more attractive, inside and out, then of course that is going to shine out and others are going to be drawn to you, people who maybe never noticed you before, or who treated you like a kid sister or whatever. Didn't anybody see 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'? We are what we project to the world. If we are projecting tired, worn-out, wary, self-abusive, what do we expect others to see? Having said all this, I would say that if the guy was a creep who took advantage and then dumped you, this is a different ball of wax. But if it is someone who just never seemed to notice you before, while you fantasized about a romance with him and thought to yourself "he'll never notice me...I'm not good enough, pretty enough, blah, blah, blah", then he wasn't ignoring you, he was just following along with what you were showing the world at the time. I would even have to say the same about a DH with whom things had grown distant, etc, but then picked back up as you changed. As long as there wasn't intentional malice, everyone deserves a chance to love you as much as you are now loving you, and no one should be punished for ignoring you as much as you were ignoring you.