Sasquatch

I finally tracked down the Dec forum. Hello all. I had my surgery on Dec 1st. I have lost about 45lbs (15 from pre-surgery - but it all counts!). I went in to have a fill last week and discovered I didn't really need to. I'm still losing 2 lbs a week. I've had restriction since they put the band in. Apparently, I have thick stomach lining and may not need many fills. Finally, my body doing something right I've been very happy with the band so far but find myself eating more than I should. Old habits die hard. I'm going to work on slowing down and taking lots less to start with and taking more if I'm still hungry rather than taking medium amounts and trusting myself to stop when I'm full. It's all an adjustment but I keep reminding myself that I need to change these bad habits for life, not just until I lose the weight. Live Every Day Like it's On Purpose! Karen

I didn't lose anything the first few days after surgery and was kind of bummed too until I thought about how swollen I still was and how much liquid I was still carrying around from the IV they had me on. Once the swelling started to go down and I'd had a few days to get the liquids processed out of me I started seeing the loss on the scale.

I'm not sure about the skin thing because it's only been six weeks but I'd be curious to hear what other people say. I can tell you that the port was a little worrisome at first but not now. It was sore for about 2 weeks and I had trouble bending over and sleeping on that side. It was nice that the incision was above the belt line so my pants didn't rub on it. For 2 weeks after that I would get occasional twinges if I leaned or bent over on that side but now I wouldn't even know it was there if there wasn't a scar. My surgeon recommended no abdominal exercises until about 6 weeks out and I am going to start some this week. Other than that I've got no pain and can't feel it unless I'm deliberately pushing on it to try and feel it. Karen

I have to keep telling myself, the band is not magic! I had lost 15 lbs prior to going to surgery (12/1) and I've lost 15 after but since Christmas its hovered around that 30 and it hasn't gone down for three weeks. I'm hoping my first fill will help, I know I can eat a little more now but I'm trying to eat well. The weather has been cold and rainy and my local Curves shut down at the end of Dec so I've been trying to find some other exercise but it isn't consistent. It's about breaking those old habits and not expecting the band to just fix everything!

I'm new to the site but after hearing all the things you are having to go through I feel like I'm cheating a bit. I checked into some local places where I live but they were all incredibly expensive and my insurance doesn't cover it. I decided to have my surgery done in Mexico to save myself $10,000 and they don't seem to require as much red tape. I'm scheduled for Nov 30th and really looking forward to it. My family was a little hesitant about me going out of the country but everything I've seen so far in my research has been overwhelmingly positive. Now I just have to get my Passport in time