Sue Can Do

One of our members posted one of these vids recently. I'm going to post the entire series here. I feel they're a must watch for anyone considering or living with the Lap-Band!
"Dr. Paul O'Brien of the Centre for Bariatric Surgery in Melbourne gives a presentation on obesity, weight loss, and gastric banding. The Eight Golden Rules are meant to guide you to your weight loss goals in partnership with your surgeon."











http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsN1uznPeT4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLZjhnWhuw4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8VPnLHoiY

It is discouraging but I'm not giving up. I eat so much less than I used to, I know it has to start working soon. I am hoping for just a little more fill next time and hopefully will hit that sweet spot. wish there was some way that food didn't look so good.

The reason I called this last chance is that I will never have the full bypass surgery and if I can't lose the weight this way, I will just have to learn to live with it. I have tried every diet in the book and know what I am supposed to do but cannot stick with it long enough to lose enough weight. I have about 125 lbs to lose. I am almost 60 years old and have knee problems ( one has been replaced) and low back arthritis and stenosis. I was worried I was going to become disabled several times in the past year. I have grandchildren and want to be active as I get older. I want to enjoy my retirement. I have been overweight all my adult life and this is my last chance to get healthy and active before its too late. I am very motivated to make this work but the food still looks good. Even though I'm not hungry, sometimes I still want to eat. I also hate to exercise and have not found anything I like to do. So those are the challenges.

I started this journey about the middle of 2014. My insurance required that I have a 6 month doctor supervised diet. I was able to go to the dietician and she reported to my PCP. I saw the actual surgeon for the first time in January. I had a attended an informational meeting back before I started the 6 month wait that the doctor spoke at. So I was familiar with him. The staff at the weight loss center was very good and informative. I had my lap band surgery Feb. 20, 2015. I went in on a Friday for the procedure and was home by noon that day. I had very little pain and did not use any pain medication. I did have the referred pain in my Left shoulder that lasted about a week. It was pretty intense at times and I used tylenol. Helped a little!
My surgeon required a 10 day liquid diet prior to the surgery. This was mainly Protein shakes, juices, broth, SF Jello, and popscicles. That was tough. I just kept telling myself, "You can do anything for 10 days". I lost 11 lbs before I even had the surgery. The worst part is I got tired of everything being sweet. I did get some V8 and Tomato juice and drank broth. That helped some. I also quit drinking diet soda and caffeine. I drink tea and SF lemonade mostly now.
After, the surgery I was on a liquid diet for one day and then could have full liquids or mushy foods like Cereal soaked in milk mushy! Protein Shakes, yogurt, Soup, etc. It was then I really grieved for food. I wanted something real to eat sooo bad. I was eating around 600to 800calories per day and I was not losing much weight. Couldn't figure that out, except my body was in starvation mode and was afraid I was going to die!
Finally, I progressed back to real food. about 2 weeks later.
I had my first fill at about 2 and half weeks out. I have had a fill every 2 weeks since and had one this week and I finally think I am getting somewhere. I can eat about 6 oz of food now and not get hungry for 4-5 hours. I was getting worried as I was getting hungry too soon. Hoping for the best. I have lost 21 lbs since surgery, 10 weeks out now.

The reason I called this last chance is that I will never have the full bypass surgery and if I can't lose the weight this way, I will just have to learn to live with it. I have tried every diet in the book and know what I am supposed to do but cannot stick with it long enough to lose enough weight. I have about 125 lbs to lose. I am almost 60 years old and have knee problems ( one has been replaced) and low back arthritis and stenosis. I was worried I was going to become disabled several times in the past year. I have grandchildren and want to be active as I get older. I want to enjoy my retirement. I have been overweight all my adult life and this is my last chance to get healthy and active before its too late. I am very motivated to make this work but the food still looks good. Even though I'm not hungry, sometimes I still want to eat. I also hate to exercise and have not found anything I like to do. So those are the challenges.

I received my lapband in December and have had a fill every two weeks since then. I am now up to 7.2 cc and just barely starting to feel like I'm in the green zone. It's been extremely frustrating, but I'm not giving up. I can finally go about four to five hours in between meals and not feel hungry. Just like you, even when I'm not hungry, I get brain hungry and still want to eat. I'm still working on that. I felt exactly how you did with the liquid diet. It was hell and I was so tired of sweet food, such as Jello. I've only lost 9 pounds since December, so you can imagine how frustrated and discouraged I've been. The bright side of this is that I've kept that 9 pounds off and haven't gained anything since Christmas, which is a flippin' miracle in itself. Today was a really good day as far as keeping my calories down, so I'm feeling happy right now. I think this latest fill might actually have me at a good spot.
Best wishes to you in your lapband journey.

The reason I called this last chance is that I will never have the full bypass surgery and if I can't lose the weight this way, I will just have to learn to live with it. I have tried every diet in the book and know what I am supposed to do but cannot stick with it long enough to lose enough weight. I have about 125 lbs to lose. I am almost 60 years old and have knee problems ( one has been replaced) and low back arthritis and stenosis. I was worried I was going to become disabled several times in the past year. I have grandchildren and want to be active as I get older. I want to enjoy my retirement. I have been overweight all my adult life and this is my last chance to get healthy and active before its too late. I am very motivated to make this work but the food still looks good. Even though I'm not hungry, sometimes I still want to eat. I also hate to exercise and have not found anything I like to do. So those are the challenges.