Lynn_Marie

Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I've posted here and long overdue. I have gottten WAYoff track and need your help getting my head back in the game. I'm 3 years post op, had lost 60 pounds at one point, but have regained some of that. I've forgotten most of the rules (guidelines) and I guess I got pretty lax with everything. You know, you get to feeling better, having more energy, get rid of some health problems and next thing you know you accept where you are at instead of working towards the original goal. I know the band is a tool that is there for me to use, and I believe if I can just get my head back in the game I can lost what I have regained, plus go on to my original goal. Any and all advice welcome!!!

I could probably sit here and list everything that has gone wrong and right over the last 3 years and make excuses and try to explain why I am not losing, but the fact is, I am at the place where none of that is neither here nor there. I just want to get back on track and I need information to do that. I didn't receive much information about what to do and how to do it when I was banded and what I did have I have long misplaced or lost. SOOOO....I am reaching out to all of you to REMIND me of what I should be eating, how much, etc ... Please! Thanks!

I just recently had surgery and am new to this forum, but I have noticed that there are quite a few people who have had bands removed, replaced, port revisions, stomach erosion, etc... Anyone care to share their experiences or advice on how to prevent these???

I've traveled in the states and abroad since being banded and I wouldn't consider emptying it because I want to use it for the tool it is. Besides, since being banded food is no longer the focus for me, people and places are. I get so much more out of everything I do now! It's great!

Well, I don't know if you were interested in hearing from someone who went to MX for their surgery or not, but that's what I did because my ins wouldn't pay. It cost me $7,700 plus airfare and it was well worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. There were four of us who went and no one has had a single problem. We've all lost and are satisfied. One of us had been 'jumping through the hoops' for almost a year and had spent A LOT of her own money on all the tests, etc...and the psych was still telling her she wasn't ready. Well, Miss Not Ready Yet has lost about 80 pounds since August 13, 2007!!! and is doing GREAT!!!

Four of us went to Monterrey and had surgery with Dr. Arturo Rodriguez....no complications...no problem finding after care in the Kansas City area...YEA DR. MALLEY! But there were several others we could have chosen from in the KC area as well as Topeka, etc... Insurance wouldn't cover surgery and it was a heck of a lot less in Mexico where they have been doing them MUCH longer than here in the states. I also liked that the doctor we chose had not only done thousands, but is also a member of the AMERICAN BARIATRIC SOCIETY as well.

Before you spend the money you might want to research The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears. Maybe get the book A Week In The Zone and see what happens if you follow it for that long. I checked it out from my local library pre band at the request of my endocrinologist. It was the ways he wanted me to eat for metabolism and to keep blood sugar levels even....and it worked wonders!!! Eventually I plan to follow it again WITH my band, too! Check it out!!

You'll have on a hospital gown and nothing will be uncovered until after you are asleep and won't know it anyway. Besides, the docs have seen every shape and size of body there is, male and female, and really are more focused on where to make incisions and doing their jobs right. I've had LOTS of surgeries, and compared to the others this one was a piece of cake. But not to make lightly of it, it is still surgery and you definitely want to do everything asked of you. :smile:

Allergan has a new commercial that just started running within this past month or so. They are the company that own the LapBand System. Could that be what you are referring to?

Since my last fill my restriction has been SO RANDOM!!! Mornings are usually tight. Lunch could be a Lunchables, Jr. or a few ounces of turkey and a cracker or two. For dinner I shoot for several ounces of protein first and then some bites of veggie and maybe another side (not bread, pasta or rice.) Some nights everything goes down EASY. That's when I remember to eat S-L-O-W-L-Y and chew, chew, chew. Night before last was one of those nights. I ate 4 oz of smoked turkey, 2-3 T of BBQ beans, 1 T of potato salad, a bite of rib and a bite of BBQ beef. Other times it's 'stuckdom' for me, and I slime and pb. I KNOW my problem is too big of bites, and not chewing enough and waiting between bites. I have an appointment for a fill this coming Monday and am just not sure if I should or shouldn't. My desire to lose weight is making it hard for me to even consider passing up the 'highly coveted' fill. Part of me is screaming, "GO! GO! GO!" while another part of me says, "NO, NO, NO...not til you MODIFY YOUR BEHAVIOR!" So, what do you all think??? :angry_smile: Do I go....OR not go???

I can swallow my meds ok, but not all in one handful like I used to both am and pm. Now it's one pill at a time over an hour and a half in the morning. One of them I break in half. Not because it's too big to swallow, but because I have a little trouble with them disolving and then wanting to come back up just a little if I don't. I can take the evening ones faster because the band seems to be looser then. Hooray for this though... I don't have to take 2 diabetes pills a day or 2 shots of Byetta either since I got my band!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!! Looking forward to the day I can be like Gayle and take NO MEDS!!!

It may be that people just don't want to commit for whatever reason. For what it's worth, I have been thinking lately about pulling out my Zone books and following that plan again. It was the last plan I followed before wls and it was at the request of my endocrinologist. For quite some time weight was falling off at an amazing rate. Of course, I wasn't able to keep it up long enough and without the band to help I regained it. But the plan makes all the sense in the world to me because it helps keep blood sugars level, which is important to everyone...not just diabetics and hypoglycemics.

Thanks for the responses! I have read them all carefully and have decided to cancel my appointment for Monday and wait at least a couple weeks to see how things go. I am not losing as fast as I would like to be, and I know my band could be tighter. However, I feel I need to practice modifying my behavior when it comes to the size of my bites, the rate of speed at which I eat and sometimes the amount that I eat. It's a learning experience for me and each stage takes some getting used to. Thanks again!

Hi...I don't agree either. Good choices are very important for weight loss with the band and good health in general. If you read on a lot of the threads you will hear people complaining about staying the same and even gaining weight. There are other reasons that could be happening, but a lot of times when you look at what they are eating and drinking it's not a whole lot in quantity, but it's real high calorie.

Ok...I'm relatively new to this, but I don't believe reflux is an absolute at all. I've only been banded for about 6 months but I have only had reflux once and that was since my last fill about 3 weeks ago. I think alot depends on how tight your band is adjusted and how much you eat. I am still learning when to stop eating. My old habits of wanting to finish something because it tastes so good to me or simply because I don't want to waste it, are what caused the reflux and some other things I've dealt with. But I will learn, and so will you. I think I'm writing this as much for myself as I am for you....Small bites, chew throughly and slowly, and listen to your body and stop on time. Good luck with your tests, surgery, etc...

Normally I try to stay away from processed foods and white flour, but some days lately I have been eating a Lunchables Jr. for lunch simply because I am quite tight right now and can't eat very much and also because I have been having trouble with eating too big of bites and not chewing throughly enough. The turkey and cheese in the Lunchable Jrs is already in small cubes for me and the crackers are the little Ritz Bits. Eventually I'll get back away from the processed and white flour...but for now it's one of the things that's working.

I'm sorry to hear you are having to go through this. I can't answer your questions about the band specifically because I had my left mastectomy 3 months prior to being banded. (mast 5/21/07 - lapband 8/13/07) One thing I would like to ask you though is if you are having a BREAST SURGEON do the biopsy. I really hope so!!! I made the mistake of allowing a general surgeon do mine, and although it went smoothly, it would have been better if I had gone to my BREAST Surgeon first. She told me there was actually no reason to do a biopsy because CLEARLY the films showed that it was a malignant carcinoma. She just has so much more experience with it and could see it where the gen. surgeon couldn't. In the end it didn't matter because I chose to have the whole breast removed to forego radiation because I have stents in my coronary arteries and it's so hard on them. Not trying to scare you or anything...but I just promised myself after my surgery that I would always tell women to definitely see a BREAST surgeon from the very start. Sorry if this was a little off topic.

I hope and pray that I will be able to get off my thyroid medicine someday, but kind of doubt it because there is damage to my thyroid and I've been on Synthroid for 20 years now. Anyone out there hear of any bandsters like me being able to get off it after losing a significant amount of weight? I've lost 45# and still want to lose at least another 40-45.

OOps..sorry! Just realized you said Juarez, not Monterrey. I've been to both places so guess I just missed it! :biggrin:

Are you talking about Dr. Arturo Rodriguez? If so, no, you do not have to go through Belite. He has a website you can access for information and phone numbers. :biggrin:

In the beginning I didn't have any problem with air/gas or belching. But since I have had 4 fills now and am getting some good restriction, I am having some issues with it. It started sometime after the 3rd fill for me. One day after my 4th fill it was so bad all morning and I hurt so I took some Zantac and that worked wonders!!!

Hi Bunkey...I had 3 c-sects and trust me, lapband surgery doesn't hold a candle to them! I think you will find that compared to c-sects the lapband surgery is a breeze. I did not have a catheter, nor did anyone else I know who has had this surgery. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. I'm no expert, but I'd say that there would have to be other reasons for a catheter to be placed. Good luck! You'll be fine and I think pleasantly surprised!

I like GNC's chocolate and the vanilla from WalMart. The chocolate caramel at GNC is excellent, too. I like mixing it with light soy milk or skim milk.