Geeta

Hi there, I just had surgery a 2 1/2 weeks ago and I know I have been dealing with a lot of emotions too. You are doing GREAT though, look how much weight you have lost already! I am down 12 lbs and I had the surgery almost the same day as you did and yesterday I saw my doctor for the first follow-up. He said this is an "unsusually fast amount of weight" to lose on the band because it is a slow process. So if you have lost 11 lbs already you are ahead of the game! I am not always feeling full either and it is hard apparently until you get a fill. Talk to your doctor and let him/her know how you are feeling. Psychologically, maybe try writing a list for yourself and post it somewhere you can see it. Make a list of ALL the reasons you got the band. Reminding myself why I got it helps me stay motivated to stick with the program. Also try making a "weight loss chart" on some graph paper so you have a visual of the weight you are dropping. I know for me, I feel frustrated because even though I know I am losing weight I am so large right now that it doesn't show as fast as I want it to! Creating a visual item can be a helpful reminder. You can do this, you really can. Don't kick yourself for not being perfect, none of us are. It's one meal at a time. Good luck!

I have a situation. I will not bore you with all the details and try to keep it to the point. I have a person in my life who I have been friends with for many years and have supported when no one else did. She has, for no apparent reason, decided to tell everyone we know that I have had this surgery even though I told her in confidence. I told her that I would be telling people as I was ready (as I don't have a problem with others knowing but it is my business who I tell and when I tell them). The worse part is that as I have told people they obviously already know (I thought I was imagining it but I wasn't) and I have not known what to say. I finally said bluntly to a friend of mine "You already know this don't you because XXX told you" my friend admitted that I was correct and that she felt terrible being put in a situation to lie to me so she wasn't going to. She also told me that I was right, my other "friend" has a BIG mouth and I wasn't imagining anything. I am angry and hurt and I don't know how to approach this woman who has been "calling to see if you need anything" everyday since I had my band put in. I have not returned her phone calls but she doesn't seem to get it. I am trying to get better and everytime that phone rings and I see her on the caller ID I feel like throwing it across the room. HOW DARE YOU! I feel like calling her and saying "The one thing I needed from you was to know I could trust you and you couldn't even do that!" But I also feel like calling her a few select four letter names I will leave off this board! This is why I need advice. What would you do? Has anyone else experienced this? I am particularly appalled and stunned because the profession I and this woman both work in is all about confidentiality and trust. I am great at giving others advice but it's a lot harder when it is personal and I think the fact that I have been there for this woman through SO MUCH, particularly over the last two years (I have known her for seven!) is really making it hard for me to know how to approach this situation. Any advice? I am just too angry and still tired from recovering from surgery to think clearly and could use it. Many thanks.

I just had surgery one week ago and I have no regrets I am thrilled to have this weight loss tool. Are you going with self-pay or insurance? I had an unusual situation occur in that area so if you are going with insurance just make sure you have everything squared away before you have the surgery. Good luck to you!

Sending good virtual healing vibes your way from CA! You are going to do great!

Hello again and thank you to everyone for the great advice. I really appreciate it. You all brought up a lot of interesting points, some of which I hadn't considered. I think you are correct that I need to say something. I thought about it today and it is the only way I will be able to release this anger I am feeling, I can't avoid her forever. I want to talk to her but I think I need a few more days to cool off. Then I am going to need to do a lot of soul searching to decide if I should keep this person in my life at all now that the trust is gone from the friendship. I've just never had anything like this happen to me, it's exhausting. I also think part of why I am angry is that I realized that except for this incident with my friend I have been feeling very good since my surgery and recovering well (despite being tired). I am so pleased with it so far! But, at least for me, it's the emotional stuff that knocks me off my feet sometimes more than the physical. Unnecessarily draining. UGH. Thanks to everyone again for your support. Oh, and I had my stitches out today - man are my incisions itchy!!!! It's like chicken pox when I was four! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Congrats to you! I was banded last Monday and the gas gets less each day, hang in there!

<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1> <!-- / icon and title -->I just wanted to share my great experience so far. I had my surgery on Monday and I am really shocked at how good I am feeling because I am usually very sensitive to pain. I hardly have any pain at all, my left side feels like I took a punch but totally manageable, so I am skipping the pain meds. I have been able to manage and release the gas well too and I thank everyone for talking openly about that on this site as it prepared me for it! If you are thinking of having this surgery, I highly recommend my surgeon, Dr. Katkhouda at USC, he did an incredible job, I just can't say enough good things about him. I was up and walking around hours after the surgery and went home the next day. Mostly just a little soreness and feeling sleepy. No regrets, I woke up in recovery and one of the first thoughts I had was "This wasn't so bad! I am so glad I did this!" When I checked the scale today and it was already down another 5 lbs, I had that warm fuzzy feeling all over again!

Thanks for all the support and dancing Bananas!

Thanks for sharing your experience I am being banded in the morning and I am a little anxious so I like knowing what I can expect afterwards. Good luck to you!

I am new on here and being banded next week. This sounds like a lot of fun in Vegas and I would love to come out and meet other people from this site. I am in SoCal and can drive 2 others in my car if anyone wants to carpool and share gas.

I am also being banded next week - July, 25. It is almost 3:00 in the morning now and I am feeling a wide range of emotions but mostly excitement and anxiety so I am having trouble sleeping. I find that what is reassuring me is reading posts on this website as well as reading positive comments about my doctor and his patient's personal experiences on other sites. Good luck!

I'm being banded on Monday July, 25th. At least I hope so now that I have developed some wierd allergy thing since yeterday I hope they don't postpone me! Good luck to everyone!

Hi everyone, This is an amazing website and I am thrilled I found it! The before and after photos blew me away. I am having lap band surgery in Los Angeles through USC bariatric center on July 25. I am very excited and naturally nervous too. I have a question, the surgeon is asking that I lose at least 15 lbs before the surgery, five of which I am down. But I am not sure how I am going to get off the other 10 before the surgery which is coming up quickly. Does anyone have any suggestions for fast pre-surgery weight loss? It's ironic that you need to lose weight before the surgery because if I could lose it so easily I wouldn't be having the surgery int he first place! I am currently at 295 and I am 5'8". Thanks a bunch. Geeta

Thank you so much for the suggestions Alex! I have been very careful with my eating and I have managed to drop to 289 to date. I think the fact that it is so hot here in Los Angeles has helped because I am not that hungry and mostly just drinking a lot of fluids. Just psyching myself up fr the surgery now!