snowbird

I was born and raised in Massachusetts. When I was in college I took a federal civil service exam and put down the Seattle region for where I wanted to work, even though I had never been there. Sure enough I got a job in Washington state. I lived there for a couple of years and then started thinking about moving back home. A week or two later I met my future husband, and ended up staying in Washington for the next 25 years. When our youngest son finished high school, my husband and I retired, sold the house, and picked up and left for Arizona. We still spend summers in Washington and a lot of time traveling. I'm in Georgia at the moment, watching my son play college baseball. He must have gotten my bug, since he decided on Augusta State University after growing up in Washington.

It gets better. I couldn't lie on my left side for a week or two after surgery, but it gradually heals and is okay. I can sleep in any position now, including on my stomach.

It just means that your band is restricting how fast the saliva can go down. You might want to try eating more slowly or chewing more. It is called "sliming" and sometimes is the beginning step of pbing, where your food gets stuck and comes back up. Consider it a warning signal from the band that you are either eating too fast, not eating the right foods that the band can handle, not chewing enough, or are a bit too tight. Very normal, and basically a sign that your band is there and functioning. However, if it gets so bad that you have to constantly spit it out, even when you are not eating, it means that you are too restricted and need to be unfilled a bit.

My daughter tells people she lost 250 lb of ugly fat pre-op when she kicked her boyfriend out right before her lapband surgery . . . She has since lost an additional 125 lb since the surgery, and is very happy. Why would someone, who supposedly cares about you, tell you things specifically designed to hurt and humiliate? And why would you want to keep that person near you?

Do some research and read the previous posts about the doctors you mentioned. If you ask the question "which doctor" here, you will get a lot of paid coordinators masquerading as patients rhapsodizing about how they LOVE their doctors. We've been through this before, so the best thing for you to do is some reading on this site. This is a major decision; it is worth it for you to do some work to come up with good answers.

if you had a good marriage to start with, you will both get past this. However, don't expect a lot of support if you have the usual results of lapband like sliming and pbing. Unfortunately, you will have to go it alone. Just come talk to us! I bet in a year's time--heck, in a couple of months' time--this will no longer be an issue for the two of you. I have been married 30 years; I have made a few major decisions that my husband did not agree with, and we had uncomfortable periods because of it. But in the end we realize that is just part of sharing life with another human being. You aren't always going to be perfectly in sync, and sometimes it's even major issues that you don't agree on. Show him you love him, show him how happy you are when you are thinner, talk about how much healthier you feel and how you are looking forward to a longer and healthier life. As other people said, a lot of men find any change to be threatening. When he becomes used to the idea of a thinner, happier, healthier wife, he will forget his anger and fear.

I think the doubts come from all the times I have lost weight before and hit a hard plateau, then eventually gave up and regained it. This time, though, I have a great tool to push me through the barrier and keep me from backsliding.

I remember reading an article about 10 years ago about how every so often in our society, we are sold the idea that our lower GI needs cleansing. It was really big in the 19th century, when "doctors" would give people nicotine enemas which would, for some reason, give people just the most incredible energy. I think cocaine enemas were big at one time too. It's funny to see this idea resurface again lately.

I took one pain pill post op. I did feel a bit bloated afterwards due to the gas they pump into you to aid in the surgery, but nothing too uncomfortable. By the way, this is gas they pump in around your stomach not into your stomach, so what you eat doesn't make much difference. The port pinched a bit if I lay on my left side for the first week or two, and sometimes the stitches hurt when I sat up for a few days after surgery. PBing is mini-vomiting when your pouch is too full or food is stuck in the stoma. I don't consider it an evil side effect; I consider it the band doing what it is supposed to do. It is unpleasant enough that I try to follow the rules of chewing and watching the types and amounts of food I eat. It beats the hell out of weighing what I did pre band. I can't eat and enjoy foods like I did preband. That is the only side effect I have. Since that was the whole point of having the surgery, I can't complain about it, even though a pain free hamburger sounds good now and then. "They" can't force you to do anything. Your insurance, however, may go by what your doctor says and/or refuse to cover a procedure. Usually your BMI has to be at least 35 to cover surgery. Some insurances apparently want gastric bypass instead of lapband if your BMI is over 50. You would have to talk to your insurance company about that, and make sure you have your regular doctor on your side in this process. If you keep active and exercise, and keep up your Protein levels, you should not lose muscle tone. The pain in your shoulder, I think, is referred pain from your diaphragm. It is caused by the surgery and sometimes from the pressure from the gas I talked about before. It goes away after a few days, and many people never get it at all. Don't know anything about your doctor. Good luck on your lap band journey.

You can go in and get a fluoroscopy; that's really the only way to tell for sure.

Anyone forced to have LB & hate having it all the time? No, I don't think anyone has.

I keep some papaya enzyme tablets on hand, and actually take a couple every day in the morning. They taste good, like pineapple flavored sweet tarts. They seem to help when things get stuck. The other reason for your problems was probably lying down so soon after taking the pills. That's a natural thing to do if you have a headache, but that will cause some reflux when your pouch still has anything in it.

Generally speaking, the same ones that put them on.

darlin, what size band do you have? I am assuming from the amount of your fills that it is a larger band. If it is a band that holds 10 cc or more, then 3 cc is still not very much. It does take a while, sometimes, for a fill to kick in, for some reason. I would give this one about 3 weeks, and head back for fill #3 if it isn't providing any restriction.

I'm kind of amazed at the life of this thread. It keeps rising from the dead. I think it hits the "WTF is the matter with you??" button in all of us.

So you were given a great chance to turn your life around but won't eat right and won't exercise, and now you want to blame your doctor? Grow up, girl.

My daughter has a woman in her support group who gives herself one day a week where she can eat anything she wants. She has lost over 200 lb. We all find ways to make it work for us individually. I count calories, some people set exercise goals, some give up certain foods. There are probably as many different ways of dealing with banding and eating as there are bandsters. If free days work for you as rewards for being faithful to your plan the rest of the time, go for it.

Oh, Dedria, give it up. You have been outed.

Sugar does make me hungry. Eating sugar makes me want more sugar. I have also noticed it brings on hot flashes, generally makes me feel lousy and without energy, weak and lightheaded when my blood sugar drops after I have digested the sugar, and even makes my skin break out. Splenda doesn't do that to me, so when I need something sweet I use Splenda. The generally accepted medical reason to avoid sugar is the effect it has on blood sugar levels; a spike up when you eat it and a spike down when its effect runs out, which causes sharp hunger pains and light-headedness.

I figured I would be a slow loser due to my age and relatively low BMI when I was banded. I have been pleasantly surprised to have been able to lose 10 lb a month so far. I haven't weighed myself since February 6, but I think I will probably hit the 10 lb mark this month too, based on the way my clothes are fitting. I don't exercise much or regularly, though I always just move a lot, walk when I could ride, walk fast, generally bustle around. I also don't set goals, not even the 10 lb per month thing. I get too discouraged if I fail, which perpetuates the failure. I would like to hit my final goal weight by the end of the summer, and I have about 20 lb to go. I am pretty restricted, so I can't eat much at a sitting. I probably don't ever eat more than 1/2 cup of food at a time; it is just too uncomfortable. I watch my calorie intake and try to stay below 1000 a day, which isn't that difficult because of the good restriction. So the answer is, as usual, we are all different. What works for one doesn't work for another; what is necessary to lose weight for one doesn't matter for another.

Dr Ortiz and Dr Martinez do the surgeries together. They usually do 3 to 5 a day, from what I have seen. The surgery takes 35-55 minutes. When I say "from what I have seen" that is from accompanying my daughter, getting banded myself, and going into the office for 3 fills.

I've gotta agree with shortgal. Do you really understand the changes you are going to have to go through for less than 50 lb? I'm not talking about the surgery; the surgery was a snap. I'm talking about the daily effect the band has on your life. Sometimes I just wish I could eat a sandwich, but I can't. Not even a quarter of one. I'm not complaining about the band. I was 80 lb overweight, headed for 100 again as I was a few years ago. I would not give up my band for anything. But there is NO way I would have done this to myself over 30 to 50 lb and wihout the fear of severe health problems stemming from obesity. Really, try something else.

You are going to have to pay attention closely to your body and what you can tolerate. I can't tolerate any bread, whole grain or not. I have to say I think your doctor is wrong there. Also, tomato skins give me problems--hard to chew up into small enough pieces not to cause difficulty and blockage. Take everything very slowly, chew thoroughly, and determine if a particular food is going to work for you. The foods you can tolerate often change from fill to fill, from day to day, and from time of the month to time of the month. As I've said before, whoever said this was the EASY way to weight loss is woefully underinformed.

Boy, do I know what you mean. The only way i can deal with my sweet tooth is to buy only sugar free cookies and chocolates. They taste good and satisfy the craving, but for some reason they don't make me want to eat the whole package. In fact, if you have ever overindulged on sugar free chocolate, you will know the unpleasant side effects of overdose . . .

Yes, he has a very good reputation. He is not my surgeon, but I have heard only good things about him. Excellent choice.