Hevnbound

Little late to worry about it since I am having my operation Monday but I can't help but notice that this forum is dead! The Lap Band Over 70 forum is alive and well. Hope I haven't made the wrong decision! Not second guessing, just making a statement. I will post again when I'm up and conscious!

Four weeks after surgery and I've reached my first plateau - BUMMER! Start weight - 322. Goal - 299 (twoderland!!) Today's weight - 301 ..... I'll take it and be happy!! (322, 317, 306, 303, 301) !!!!! Congratulations to all who met their goal. Kudo's to all who made the effort!

303!! Was hoping far a loss like last time that would have me in twoderland one week early. I'm happy at. 303, however!

CONGRATULATIONS Bea to Onderland!! AWESOME! My goal at the moment is Twoderland and with this St. Patrick's day challenge, I'm going to make it!! If I keep up my current progress it will be sooner than later!! Today's weigh in: 306.8. !!

I'm all for making weigh-ins, beginning and end of challenge starting and ending on same day of the week. Repetition is a great memory enhancer! Put my vote down for "Hump Day", Wednesday.

317 today!! :-)

Karen - with an attitude like yours, you will do well! I would imagine a revision as you are going to have must be a little more invasive than just having the sleeve? All this means is that your pain issue might be a little worse? Just speculating here. So, after saying that I can say that I have apparently been an exception to the rule according to my surgeon. I have had no pain, no pain medicine, no nausea, etc! The only problem so far was my very raw throat. A raw throat is common after surgery because of the breathing tube they insert (I think that is what it was). It did a job on me. It was so bad that I literally did not sleep Monday night. I have sleep Apnea and because of my inflamed throat, the CPap machine wouldn't function properly on exhale - my throat would close up as the air blew across my throat! Hard to explain but bottom line, I was not able to sleep. The fact that I couldn't sleep on my side made the problem worse. I am not complaining however since that is really the only "hiccup" I had. Meeting with your anesthesiologist is a good opportunity to discuss any fears you may have and to tell him in detail any issues you may have such as a bad reaction to anesthesia, sleeping/breathing problems, etc. PLUS, discuss the raw throat issue!! I am somewhat anal when it comes to Doctors orders - I follow the instructions to the letter. I was on a liquid diet for 4 weeks pre- surgery and never cheated. As a result I lost almost 40 pounds before I had surgery. When I tell you this, I am not bragging, I am saying that perhaps that made a big difference in my body's ability to tolerate surgery as well as it did. Post surgery will be no exception - I will follow the Doc's and the Nut's directions. Three days out, I have had no problem with my new/old stomach. I sip, take plenty of time and pay attention to what my stomach tells me. I continue to be serenaded by my stomach and bowels talking to me ... WOW! My wife thought it was thundering one time!! LOL That's all I have. I feel blessed. Sure I followed the doctor's orders (after all, he has done over 800 sleeve surgeries)!! However ... I don't discount the prayers sent up for me! I asked everyone I knew and some I didn't to pray for me! I will be praying for you, Karen. Let us hear from you. Truly, you sound like a fun person with a great attitude and that will take you a long ways. Sam

Good for you. IMHO you are handling this very well! Hope it all works out the way you want it to! Congratulations on the surgiversary - I'm celebrating 3 days today..... :-)

Are you OK? We haven't heard from you since Sunday. These things can sometime go bad and we would like to know all is well. Most everyone jumped on your guy and, from what little we know, ... rightfully so! However, there is probably more to the story. I really like what Butterflyhigh said - was a lot of wisdom in her comments. As a romantic type, if I don't hear differently from you I'm going to assume you two reconciled and he agreed to get counseling and you will live happily ever after!! :-)

Well, ..... I'm home and all is well. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. Although is wasn't a piece of cake, it has so far been a walk-in-the-park with a couple of unexpected rain storms!!! :-). NO! Make that a couple of rain showers! My experience to this point has really made me feel blessed. I will keep you posted with updates. Let's keep this thread active for the benefits of others our age who would benefit from our experiences.

Back home - one night stay - all went well, EXCEPT ....... ..... Throat where they insert a breathing tube or something that made me more uncomfortable than anything else. So much so that I got no sleep the night I was in the hospital. The throat problem made my Cpap machine not work ... Throat would close as I exhaled. Primary problem was caused due to fact I couldn't sleep on my side level! At home now so all things are well. Slept 11 hours last night. Throat much better. No problem with surgery, etc. now the journey starts trying to get in my liquids. Only downside so far is I have to deal with drain 'till Monday but that won't be a problem. Edit - OH ..... I forgot ... Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I don't mind saying that having this done at age 72 was scary!!

Returned my Force 10 days after use. GOOD: Fit my wrist well, very light, could forget it was on Looks good - if you like the "techie" look Display; time especially ... Bright and clear Records stairs very accurately Price reasonable when compared to others with similar features Vibrating alarm Visual display of sleep patterns. (On app) BAD: Hard to get band snapped in properly. Watch out for this or no more Fitbit! Steps counted way over actual. Compared to cheap pedometer .. 10 to 20% over depending on daily activity Calories burned very optimistic! Limitations to counting some activities (eg. Pushing grocery cart through Super Walmart -unless you try to steer the cart with one hand and let the arm with the fitbit dangle ... Try doing that for awhile and you will get extra exercise ..LOL Although seeing sleep patterns is cool .... I know whether or not I've had a good night sleep All total ... A lot of money for a gimmicky device. Although not as fun, a standard pedometer seems to register activity better and by using MFP for food, exercise, etc you get a more accurate measurement of activities for a lot less money. My $ .02 worth.

Heading out to hospital shortly. Weighed and measured today. Surprised myself!! Starting weight 12/15/13 @ 364.5!! Today's starting weight for St Patrick Day challenge - 322 Goal weight. - 299 !! Good luck everyone See you on the other side - sleeved and ready to start part two of the journey.

Thank you SuperFab and others for the encouragement. Getting ready to head to the hospital in a couple of hours but wanted to check back here to wish everyone good luck and prayers for a successful surgery. I am surprisingly calm this morning - hope it stays that way.

My surgery is Monday at 11:00am and I know where you are right now. What has helped me get over the jitters is to keep reminding myself why I decided to do this in the first place and what I can look forward to because of it. God bless and prayers for a successful and uneventful surgery and recovery.

Thanks all for the encouragement - I needed that! Magtart - Thanks for the link to Chris1142's story, Dr-Patient - Thanks for the prayers. I will try my best to keep you posted. I hope your friend goes for it. Did you read the link that magtart posted? Great story! npwoman ..... I like the "73 is the new 63"! Wonder where all the men are on Bariatic Pal? This reminds me of the Weight Watcher meetings I use to attend - 85% women! Of course I liked the odds then and I like the odds here! Surrounded by good looking women - what more could a guy want? :-) You ladies have a blessed day and God willin' I will meet ya'll here next week.

Debby3Sons .... I realized I was on the Lap Band Forum shortly after I made my post. Sorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone. Joanne M Holl is still my hero, however .... :-)

I selected the VSG (vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy) because of it's "finality" and less complications than the band. The downside is that it is more dangerous than the band during the initial surgery and, if complications post surgery do happen, age comes into play regarding successful recovery. Weight loss is quicker with the Sleeve. Personally, I think the Band would be a safer way to go for older patients that have no co-morbidities and less weight to loose. The band can be reversed relatively easy. The Sleeve cannot be reversed - and, as previously mentioned that is one reason it appeals to me. I don't need anything that I know I can undo and/ or cheat with. Do your own investigation, talk to people who have had the surgeries, discuss it with a Bariatic surgeon, attend a seminar, make sure you have your spouses' and family support and then make your OWN decision. Thanks for the good words. Of course, I added that last bit of "wisdom" at no additional charge assuming you have not had the surgery yet?!? :-)

Joanne, you are my new hero. My surgery is Monday and the age factor has been a source of concern since the first day I started this journey. Your post went a long way in alleviating my trepidation. And, I'm only 72 ... :-)

Did you have the surgery or rescheduled? I canceled and am rescheduled for Monday at 11:45.

I always like a challenge. My VSG surgery is Monday the 17th so this will work out great. Good luck everyone.

Used Fitbit Force for two weeks. Wore it continuously. Compared it to an el-cheapo pedometer. Fitbit was way over the actual count. I did all the fixes customer service suggested but still no better. Inflated number of steps made me feel good but since it was a false reading, it did me no good. Number of flights of steps climbed was cool but I have no problem keeping up with that number per day in my head. sleep patterns were super cool but I can tell if I had a good nights sleep or not. Not worth the money for me. Personally it fits in the "gadget" category. The watch however, was a good feature. So now, I just take a few minutes extra and manually enter info into My Fitness Pal. Just my $ .02 worth.

A known side effect of Morphine is severe itching. If you request it, they will change to something else just as effective.

330 starting weight and 72 years old will compound my problems. Would need to look for hygein and skin protection products - OTC and natural. Maybe Spandex will help outside the house? Plastic Surgery is not an option. I'm not a vain person but still concerned about appearance. Also, I plan on exercising but flapping skin might intefere? I'm fat right now but at least my skin is fairly tight- LOK!

2/13 also - Lake Norman Medical, Mooresville, NC. Good successful surgery, recovery and new life everyone.