sarahthree

great thread!! you all look fantastic. i find before and afters SO motivating -- such a great part of the process... sarah

you two inspired me to get some of my own!!! LOVE it!! very happy with the purchase... sarah

isn't it exciting?? man that place has been sucking my wallet dry since i was first able to start wearing their stuff about six months ago. it feels SO good to find sexy lingerie, though, that i am able to grin and bear it when i shell out $50 for a bra... s

new pics! before at 280ish, afters at 170. thanks for letting me share! s

i've finally become able to really see a difference, so thought i would post some pictures here -- i always get in such a tizzy when i look and see no one else has posted new before and after pictures, so figure it was time i finally contribute!!! before pictures were between 270 and 280; the current pictures are between 180-185. i'm ten months out (although a substantial portion of my total weight loss was pre-band) and just bought my first size ten jeans!! love LOVE love my band. s

tell her to research the percentages of morbidly obese people who keep their weight off after dieting down to a healthy weight. then tell her to look at the serious complication rate of being obese (100%) and compare it to the serious complication rate of having bariatric surgery (0.5-1%). then tell her to mind her own biz! i'm sorry she made you feel bad. don't let that sway you; WLS is an AMAZING tool and shouldn't be something to feel guilty about. best, sarah

i don't know that i can answer your question directly -- i think it just comes down to the fact that there are other things which matter much more with regard to being "ready" for surgery than age. there are a lot of hoops that most people have to jump through on doctor's orders before surgery, and i think they are absolutely necessary and wonderful: lifestyle change classes, meetings with nutritionists and psychologists, pre-op diets, etc. etc. before i started the process, i dreaded those things, but now, in hindsight, i couldn't be more grateful for having gone through all that preparation. the two things that weren't required that i believe should be are, first, really significant past attempts at weight loss. surgery is NOT an easy way out by any stretch of the imagination, so one has to be sure from the very beginning that one tried all of one's less invasive options first. i know that dieting for most of us who are obese and morbidly obese is kind of pointless, given the statistics as far as regain is concerned, but i think the experience of losing weight on one's own give a dieter a lot of perspective. it sounds like this is already part of your experience, right? the second thing i think is imperative for a surgery candidate is reading of the boards. spend several months reading lapbandtalk.com and obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband to read about all the ups and downs of life after surgery... take in as much as possible, ask as many questions as you can come up with, etc. the people who are most lost after surgery and who struggle the most to have any sort of success, in my opinion, are those who haven't been prepared adequately by their surgeons (through classes, etc.), by their past (through weight loss attempts), and by other post-ops (through message boards)... three totally essential parts of being ready for surgery. just my 2 cents! all the best of luck to you-- sarah

i wanted to have both procedures done at the same time as well, but my surgeon refused, saying the gall bladder removal is a "dirty surgery" and can contaminate what's going on with the band. he couldn't be convinced! i ended up having my gall bladder surgery in august and my band in january, but he said he would be willing to do them a month apart -- i just couldn't finish all my pre-op appointments in time for that. best, sarah

yeah, been there! i am just glad we are doing something more sustainable now. i find i don't even care about taking progress pictures because i can just go back and look at my progress pictures at the same weight from last time... haha! congratulations on all your success so far! best, sarah

i'm from the city -- was banded january 3rd in south san francisco, and just moved a few weeks ago to the east bay. welcome to the area! :hurray:

rachel, were you at class on saturday? the girl with the cute hair, right? i think i overheard someone say your name was rachel but i'm not sure. :biggrin:

700 isn't enough calories over a long period of time.... i would maybe argue that it's fine for maybe a couple of weeks, but keep in mind that, to get the nutrition you need, EVERY single one of those 700 calories is going to have to be high-quality, well-planned, etc. i don't know anyone who can successfully eat in that way. try upping your calories! you will still lose as long as you are burning more than you eat (so long as you haven't been eating only 700 calories a day for long enough to alter your metabolism, but i've heard that can take around 8-9 months). have you thought about maybe trying bodybugg? i just got one recently and find that it brings a lot of peace of mind as far as calculating how much i've burned and eaten each day, each week, each month, and i never end up eating too much or too little, or exercising too much or too little. maybe that could be helpful to you in resolving this...? it really sounds like you're suffering from how few calories you are taking in, and even with no appetite and really tight restriction, you should be able to find (healthy) ways to increase your calories on a daily basis. keep us posted; i hope you feel better soon! sarah

audie, gall bladder problems sound especially likely given how quickly you've lost your 100 pounds (congratulations, by the way!). fast weight loss is proven to nearly guarantee gall bladder problems, unfortunately. i'm sorry you're having trouble; keep us posted! best, sarah

i think GNC carries some little vials of Protein syrup stuff. from what i've heard it doesn't taste great, but you're swallowing such a small amount that it isn't that awful, and you get your protein taken care of pretty quick. i also love egg white omelettes and babybel light cheese as high-protein meals. good luck! sarah

julie, yes, i did have to wait a while, as i recall. they are SWAMPED and have waiting lists for everything; it's crazy! it never hurts to call once a week or every two weeks, though, to check on where she is on the list. she should just wait on the line instead of pressing any buttons to go through the menu options -- that way she should get a live person to talk to. hope that helps! best, sarah

:heartbreak:!

congratulations!!!!!! keep us all posted!

spclk, i checked in the sixties support group and there were tons of people there, all older than you! i wouldn't worry about that at all. as far as liquids go, each surgeon has his or her own post-op rules, it seems, and these can vary widely. my surgeon required two days of Clear Liquids and two weeks of full liquids and purees. it wasn't a problem at all, and in fact MUCH easier than i would've imagined. don't get me wrong; i was really excited to chew! it really wasn't awful, though, to wait two weeks without solids. i lost about 10 pounds right after surgery, which brings my total since orientation down to about 24 pounds lost. i'm trying not to weigh myself, though, as at this point, i know it's just about healing and not about weight loss. the loss will come once i have restriction, i'm sure, but right now, i'm just focusing on my new lifestyle changes and getting back to working out and so on. i had no insurance problems at all. i have kaiser and all i needed was a referral, and then i was in the program. it did take about eight months to go through the pre-op classes, but they were absolutely invaluable and i kick myself now when i think about how angry i was when i learned i'd have to complete all those classes before surgery. they were SO valuable and i'm sure they will be a key to my success. i don't know much about the way programs work outside of kaiser, though; i'm sure if you post something on the general board, you can get information from other bandsters who went through your insurance company. there are all sorts of us here; this board is a priceless resource! best, sarah

spclk, thanks for your message. i have been doing great -- just had my two week post-op appointment and was advanced to normal (soft-ish) foods (thank god i still remember how to chew) and given permission to exercise. i have no more pain with the exception of maybe some very slight and occasional port soreness. my incisions are closing up nicely (although the big one where the port is looks, as my surgeon described it today, a bit "punky"). all in all, no problems and i'm thrilled with my decision, however early in the game it might be. i researched lapband for about a year before my surgery, so i feel pretty prepared for what comes ahead -- just hoping i'm lucky and have no major obstacles along the way. i don't think you should be worried about your age at all -- there are plenty of bandsters who are your age and significantly older and who do very well. have you found anyone on the age-specific support groups who might be able to ease your mind a bit? keep us all updated on how things go for you! best, sarah