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I also was banded by Dr Watson on 10.10.07 and even though it is early days I am really pleased so far (ask me again when I have had my first fill!!). I found him to be very approachable and also has a lot of experience over many years in doing lapbands which was good to know. I am finding it difficult to find chewable vitamins - can anyone give me some ideas about what they use and where they buy it from in Perth please. I am mostly having Protein Shakes in place of my meals and eating soft food like mashed potato though it is getting more difficult as my hunger increases. cheers Melanie

It is only very early days for me and what is helping me succeed is having supportive people around me who ask how I am every day and say how great I am looking already. Since the surgery and not being able to eat all the foods I was craving (potato chips, hot chips, chocolate and pizza) I have now stopped craving them. The protein shakes with some freshly made peanut butter from the health food store give me my fix of sweetness and fill me up till my next meal. I have a puppy that needs to be played with a lot so he is helping make my initial exercise fun - I am teaching him to walk on a leash. I write down everything that I eat throughout the day and I am feeling a sense of pride when I read back through the different days and see how well I have been doing. The other inportant thing that is helping and I know will continue to help me to succeed is knowing that I am not alone and that I can come here and read how others are going.

My doctor thought that I was too young (bless him!!) to have the bypass surgery and I agreed that the slower weight loss and learning to change my own eating habits was the best option for me.

My doctor also told me that I can't do any of my gym program for a month and to do walking until then. I am two weeks post op and even though I feel fantastic I am staying away from the gym for another few weeks.

I find that the best ways to manage the head hunger and urge to binge are to distract myself and stay out of the kitchen/shop etc. I have got a pile of books and magazines that I will read or I will go for a quick walk outside. My urges to eat tend to only last for a few minutes and if I can get past that I am fine - till the next time.

I form very bad keloid scars and have seen a plastic surgeon in the past who suggested that he could try and break down some of the scar tissue (my scars were about a year old at the time) by injecting something into the scar (sorry I can't remember what it was). The possibility of it making a significant difference wasn't enough for me to go ahead given that I would have needed about 3 - 5 treatments and it was quite expensive. I use stacks of Vitamin E oil, body butters etc and find that over time the scars are not quite as raised as they once were - and yes I can feel them under my bathers but I do not know if others notice them. My surgeon has said that he may be able to remove some of my loose skin and work on improving the look of the scarring that I already have at some stage in the future however he does not want to do anything until I have reached my goal weight and have remained there for about a year!!!! Wow considering I was only banded 2 weeks ago I have a long wait! I hated the huge scar that I have from liver surgery for the first year or so and over time I learned to look at it as a reminder that I am alive so it helps tell the story of who I am. It doesn't look any less ugly but I have learnt to not only be proud of my scars but also to love them.

I am adding benefibre to my protein shakes (I had the surgery on 10.10.07) and find that it mixes in really well and I can't taste it so it is great.

Have you talked with a surgeon yet about lap band surgery for yourself? That would be the time to discuss your current daily levels of drinking and your thoughts that you will be able to significantly reduce the amount of alcohol you drink once you have the lap band. I think the doctors are the people you should be talking to if you want honest answers.

I would suggest that you have at least a few things to discuss in detail with the surgeon. As a psychologist myself I would not be sure that the tiredness has a psychological basis, I would tend to think that the answer lies in the types of foods you are eating. As Chickie above said, the Low GI foods are the way to go if you want to reduce the sugar highs and lows.

For myself the type of food I choose to eat makes a huge difference to my energy levels eg. eat a hamburger or chips and I have a quick burst of energy and then I am tired and hungry again an hour later, eat a couple of slices of wholemeal toast and a piece of fruit and I am fine for hours. I have only been banded about ten days ago and am finding myself full of energy even though I am eating so little compared to pre-banding (I am on mushies and protein shakes).

I live in Australia and had looked at the bell plantation website and unfortunately the cost of posting $12.00 worth of PB2 was going to be something like $85!!!!! I haven't seen it available anywhere in Australia so for now I will live vicariously through you guys.

Are you going to get the opportunity to talk with a counsellor or psychologist to discuss your fears and feelings on unworthiness? The emotional triggers and our own often negative thoughts about ourselves may be separate issues to be addressed first before you start thinking about a Lapband. Surgery won't stop you obsessing about foods if that is what you have always done but counselling may help you to see the patterns in your life/behaviours. The most valuable asset that you have is YOU snappy, please don't ever forget that.

I had liver surgery a couple of years ago and have already had one hernia repaired which was almost the size of the entire initial incision. Because of the extensive scar tissue and adhesions I have inside my surgeon told me that until he went in to do the lap banding he wasn't 100% sure that he would be able to do it laprascopically and if I needed open surgery that he wouldn't do it due to the major scarring I get and already have. Thankfully he was able to do the lap band with one less puncture site and moving the port position and the puncture sites (he did tell me that it was very difficult and he almost thought he wouldn't be able to complete it). He mentioned that he saw the new hernia that I have however he didn't repair it and it is something that I will look at getting fixed in the next few months.

The dietician I saw sugested that I use the fit of clothes to measure my weightloss and I have already marked out a pair of jeans that I can zip up (but cannot breathe in!!!) as one goal and a shirt that is made from stretchy material but still 'gapes' across my chest as another. I plan on digging out other clothes that I haven't been able to wear for so long each time I hit another target.

I have been telling everyone as I want to be surrounded by lots of support.

Within the first week I noticed a change in the way tops were fitting me across my chest, no gaping buttons!

Thanks for adding me to the October list Holly. It has been great to read through the threads here and see that there are some others from Perth, Western Australia who have also been banded by Dr Stephen Watson. I am sticking to yoghurts, protein shakes and mashed potato's at the moment and find it amazing that after a few mouthfulls I get that full feeling!!!! I am already finding clothes are fitting me much better. Mel

Hi Rastis and Raine and the other Perthites Stephen Watson did my surgery also and so far it has all gone great (lap band on 10.10.07). I am going to see the dietician that he recommends tomorrow so I will be able to let you know what she is like (I am sure she will be very helpful). I have lost about 3kgs since the surgery but I imagine that this will be gained once I feel able to keep down anything more than a few teaspoons of mashed potato. I am going back to work on friday, a few days earlier than I had thought as I am feeling so well.

It is great to see all of the Aussies on here (and everyone else). I am in Perth and had my band put in on the 10th Oct 07 so it is very new for me.

Hi everyone I had my lap-band put in on 10.10.07 and was out of hospital the next day and am moving about quite freely though I still have quite a bit of pain. To the person who said that ‘life begins at 40’ they are so right! After many years of being overweight (why is it that I was able to put on 30 kg’s in the space of 6 weeks whilst on some strong medications 20 years ago and was never able to lose more than 5 or so kgs of it??) I will be ecstatic if I can lose approximately 15 kg’s. I am also looking forward to not hearing children ask their parents ‘when is that lady going to have the baby in her tummy!!!!’ I live in Perth, Western Australia and am looking forward to getting to know other people through this forum. J

I take quite a few pain killers for an injury and I have been using a tablet cutter to cut them all in half and I then take my time swallowing each bit with quite a bit of water. I haven't had any problems doing this. My doctor gave me information on which tablets I am able to break in half or which are available in capsules or liquid and if needed I will change some of the larger tablets I take to something that is easier to swallow but no problems so far.

I was banded on 10.10.07 and am able to eat jelly (I chew it till it is liquid) and pureed apple as well as clear soup and water. I am seeing a dietician on wednesday so I will find out a bit more about what I can eat and when as the information from my surgeon and from a booklet he gave me is pretty different. Good luck to everyone.

I just had the lap band put in on wednesday 10.10.07 so this is all very new to me. I am glad that I have found this site so that I can learn from everyone on here and share my own experiences. I am sticking to Water, clear Soup and a little jelly or yoghurt at the moment and think that I am still feeling emotional hunger rather than physical hunger so I am finding lots of ways to distract myself from wanting to eat.