LapBandFan

Hello fellow bandsters, I have been off the boards for a while, been so busy with work, but hope to be back as a regular now, I need you guys and have missed you all. Latest on me. I had my revision surgery on February 26th,2005 yeehaw!:banana and have lost a grand total of 138.5 pounds to date. I am scheduled for my first adjustment or "fill" on April 26th. I realize that is way later than normal for a first adjustment but my surgeon felt like we needed to wait a while and allow my stomach swelling to go completely down and for me to get healed up after the second band placement. I am so exctied to say the insurance did pay for the second band and Praise the Lord for that! (happy dance in progress):banana:banana:banana:banana:banana I have been kinda bummed out lately though cause I need my adjustment as I am back on regular food and I am able to eat way more than I should. Have to keep telling myself to eat the bandster way when you are SATISFIED, not necessarily FULL!!! I just have to make a conscious effort to watch it and that is why I have not lost any more. I also have got to get going on the exercise and Water intake again too. I feel like a failure as I have not been being very good lately in my snacking etc. I am sharing with you my goals now I need to lose 80 more pounds and here is what I plan to do to make it happen: 1. Be on this board daily as I need the support DAILY!!! 2. Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day. 3. Exercise 30 minutes (at least) every day. 4. STOP SNACKING BETWEEN MEALS!!! (those one or two bites of sugar free candy and sugar free icecream and sugarfree Cookies make a difference!!!) 5. Last and most importantly PRAY for guidance from above. Please pray with me as I start the second part of my journey. I need your support. You guys are great thanks so much for letting me vent.

Being recently re-banded, I would love to speak with other re-bandsters I am thinking my doc placed in me the BioEnterics® LAP-BAND® VG System which is the biggest band there is. I would love to talk with others who have been rebanded and discuss things. Thanks,

Thanks for all your replies. I was wondering why this time around after rebanding I was not losing as fast or shall I say at all yet. Also I have been more hungry this time around and can eat way more than I did with the smaller band on my first surgery. I was getting scared I had done something goofy to my band, but have only been on solids for 2 weeks so was being very careful. I finally did a search on this post and found others who had posted they had this same bigger band and could eat more and did not lose right away until after their first adjustments or a few thereafter. Whew! I was worried something was wrong. Thanks for all your info, and yes, Judy your infor was helpful, thanks. My password to my Weight loss journey album is "loser". I only have the password protection because some folks I work I don't want them see me in my previous days...I know I should be proud and am, but those pics could make you lose your lunch.... ha ha. Thanks again!

Scotty, thanks, I needed the encouragment. You are doing great yourself. Pat yourself on the back! I am determined to be on the boards more for the support and look forward to seeing you reach your goal as well. Thanks again.

Welcome to our world! I am so happy for you! I am so thankful I had the surgery done and that God provided the wisdom for them to make this wonderful new tool to help me lose weight. You will be sore for a while, but this too shall pass. Take it easy and please do exactly as the doc ordered on the diet and exercise, it is so worth it. I will keep you in my prayers that you will heal speedily. Take care!

Hello, I have a friend who has finally been approved for her surgery but she needs to lose about 30 lbs before they will do the surgery, as a safety thing I am sure. She is very nervous about this and wants to get it off, but don't know where to start. I suggested that she go on a low-carb diet and lots and lots of Water drinking and walking if she can, but she had lots of health problems so the walking is probably not an option. Is there any of you who have done anything to lose some weight quick before surgery? If so please advise me and I will share with her..... Thanks so much!

Did I ever! I think we all do that, it is a mental thing where you know you you are giving up a lot of your favorite foods in the world and eat like there is no tomorrow! Don't feel bad for doing that, it is a normal reaction of us food addicts. I have been postop for right over one year with second surgery for slipped band since 3 weeks ago and would do it all over again in a heartbeat! You will miss certain foods and I actually went through mourning over some of the foods I can't have any more (diet cokes especially!) any carbonated drinks and pastas and breads! But the good Lord above knew I did not need these things and now I have adjusted and accepted the foods I cannot have and love my band! I have lost 140 pounds in a years' time and have about 80 more pounds to go. So don't feel gullty for enjoying your last supper. Good luck on your journey to a healthy fun life!

I made it through my revision surgery Friday. The surgery did take longer than the first surgery mainly because of adhesions and scar tissue from the first surgery. I was in surgery 4 hours. He also had to remove the old lap band and install a new one the reason being that my stomach that had prolapsed over top of the band was so swelled up and inflamed from my almost nightly vomiting that it would not pull back down through the band at all, so therefore he had to remove it and replace with a new one. Bless his heart, I know he must have been worn out after my surgery. I am pretty sore, but have been blessed to have not had any nausea at all and very little gas pains. God is so good. I am moving like a granny woman, but at least I have my new best friend back with me. Please pray I heal up well and that this sinus drainage drys up so I don't cough any. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Marie, Yes I did have to stay overnight with the revision/rebanding. I am getting stronger every day. My doc allowed me to advance to full liquids now so I can drink some Protein shakes (a little at a time) so that gives me more energy. I am still very sore and it is just as sore as it was the first time around. I hope that goes away soon, but I know it will just take time to heal. The sinus drainage is better. I am so excited about that. I take the claritin nightly and it seems to work better than taking it first thing in the morning. Thanks for asking. Just to clear things up, I only had band slippage, not erosion at all. Take care and good luck to us all!

Hey folks, I am now three days out from my revision surgery, still sore but not hungry in the least, I have wonderful restirction as with the first surgery but I am sure it is from the stomach still being swollen. I am blessed to be able to work at home (I do medical transcription) and only felt like working 4 hours yesterday before pooping out, but hopefully I can work a little longer today. I am still doing the clear liquid diet, usally have 1/2 cup of warm chicken broth and about 2 popsicles per day with sips of water throughout the day. Thanks for all your prayers, words or kindness and concerns. I love the caring, considerate folks on this board. I needed this board when I found it. You guys are great for support. Thanks! Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day.

Say a prayer for me today as I go in for my revision to reposition my lapband. I am looking forward to having my "best friend" back in working order. Thanks.

Just had to share.... God is so good, I just heard from my surgeon that my insurance will be covering my second surgery for my revision! PRAISE THE LORD! I know I have pestered everyone to death asking for you to pray for me about this and I appreicate all your prayers and concerns. Please keep me in your prayer as I go through the surgery this Friday, 2/11/05 at 1 p.m. Just had to share.... God is so good! [/url] Brenda Fain

You go girl! You are an inspiration and a darn skinny one now! Would love to see before/after pics. keep up the good work.

I have been banded since Feb 2004 with a 135.5 pound weight loss within 11 months' time praise the Lord. Anyway now my band has slipped and I am scheduled for revision surgery this Friday and have not heard back from BCBC of MA for approval on the revision. They are who covered the first surgery to get the lapband so I am praying they will cover the revision. Any of you had slippage and had to do revision? If so if you have this insurance did they cover for revision surgery? I am praying they will.... Thanks for any prayers from you all on this....

Here is a very informative link for the lap band with several video clips explaning several things. Enjoy. http://www.uclabariatrics.mednet.ucla.edu/resources/resources_videos.htm

I have created an online website for pics of my weight loss journey, in case anywone wants to visit. It is www.picturetrail.com/befain click on the album Brenda's Weight Loss Journey.... Please sign my guestbook while you are there. I would love to see your site if you have one regarding your weight loss journey. Have a great day.

I am sure it was devestating to be this close and have to be put on hold. Just think of it as a "bump in the road" on your new weight loss journey. There are reasons sometimes in life we are not allowed to have what we want, so be patient and just take care of yourself right now and the immediate health problems and in time, you will be a bandster along with all of us. Keeping you in my prayers!

As I have posted last week, I do indeed have band slippage (by the way with no apparent symptoms except vomiting/spitting up nightly) and was able to eat normal, solid foods so I must say you can have slippage and still be able to eat and drink and food go down fine. Scary that there are no symptoms I know.... I am supposed to hear from my insurance today on approval for revision and surgery for fixing of the slipped band. Please pray they do cover. If so I am to be scheduled for surgery either tomorrow morning or Feb 14th. I will keep you posted. I have faith in God that he will help me on this... Thanks for your prayers and concerns....

Well, no news yet on insurance coverage for my revision. The nurse anticipates it will be covered but don't know for sure. I am on the surgery schedule for next Friday, 2-11-05. By that time we should know about coverage or not. Thanks for all your prayers...

Leatha, yes, same insurance company and plan.I am praying so hard they will cover. I am not a wealthy person and need them to cover. Thanks for your encouarging words. I will keep you all posted.

I have been posting here off and on for two weeks about my problem with allergies and drainage at night leading to vomiting. I have not had any problems with my band thus far until these last 2 weeks with this vomiting at night. I know it is not acid reflux because I only vomit when coughing vigorously etc. I have switched my allergy pill to a different kind, increased fluids, sleep in the recliner and all that but still it is persistent. I go today for an exam under fluoro to see what it looks like and probably get an unfill. I have a huge fear of slippage or band erosion, so please pray God will give me peace about this. My appt is at 4 pm EST and I am a worry wart. The main reason I worry about the slippage/erosion thing is that the last time he looked at me under fluoro, he was concerned because he said my pouch looked "generous" or bigger than normal. :paranoid But I swear I go by all the banding rules of eating, etc. and wondered how it could go wrong. So please pray that I calm down and have a good turnout this evening after fluoro. If an unfil will help with the mucus I am gonna go for it. THe nurse said he would probably bring me back in in a couple of months and do another fill to get me back up to 1 cc where I am now. Thanks for listening to me whine and worry.....

Here are my before/inprogress pics....I do need to update the recent pics.. but until then down -135.5 pounds Praise The Lord!

Thanks for all your kind words... The Lord has blessed me and helped me...just keep a prayer for me in mind about insurance approval for my revison... Any of you have before/after pics? Is there a place on the forum to look atjust pics before/after? Thanks

I load it from my PC then it shows up on the screen as if it is there then when I say save changes, I get this error message: There has been an error in the upload. Please ensure that the file has been correctly selected and that the upload has taken place successfully. I have resized the pic so it is actually smaller than the recommended size. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Good morning fellow bandsters... I finally got time to fix an attachment of a pic of me from before and after. Not too good at technical stuff on the computer sometimes. Is there a place on this board for us to view other before/after pics of you all? Just curious. The first pic with me in blue is me at my highest wt of 365 lbs Feb 2004 the other pic is of me at Christmas at 240 lbs. I am so thankful for my BAND! God is so good!