Kalipso2

i was the only overweight person in my family so i knew i was going to have a lot of explaining to do. 1. do as much research as you can so you can answer every question that they can possibly ask. 2. don't make it sound like you are asking for their approval... you don't need it. 3. be confident in YOUR decision. 4. have your fiance there for support. having him by your side will strengthen your decision. i found that my friends have been very supportive. hopefully yours will be too. from what i've read from others, skinny friends are accepting but overweight friends get angry, jealous, envious, etc. just remember... this is your journey and you deserve to be healthy AND happy!!

it's sad to say but i've never worked out. i'm almost 3 years post-op and it's taken me that long to get to my goal weight probably because i haven't exercised. but... i haven't gained any weight back either. i guess i just felt this was a more realistic goal for me. i knew i'd never keep the exercise up and i didn't want to gain weight when i stopped.

shopping is my new addiction too! i started my journey in april 2008 and each spring and fall since then i've had to replace my entire wardrobe, shoes included! i'm seriously out of control! to the point where my one credit card company lowered my credit limit to the amount i have charged on it even though i pay on it religiously every month. my entire taste in clothes has changed too. not only am i wearing more form fitting clothes, i'm wearing patterns and bright colors! i LOVE getting dressed every morning compared to dreading getting out of my pajamas 70 pounds ago : )

i had a lower BMI before my surgery so i knew my weight loss was going to be slow. i had 68 pounds to lose to be "normal" on the BMI chart and i just hit my goal this week... almost 3 years after my surgery. it was frustrating in the beginning and i've had to work for every pound that i've lost but it's been worth it!

it's only natural to be scared... especially your parents. i was 37 when i had my surgery almost 3 years ago and my entire family tried to change my mind. not that they didn't want me healthy, they were afraid of the surgery itself. i'm the only one in my family that is overweight so they didn't really understand the concept behind the lapband. i had dinner with my older sister the other night and she said, "you don't eat enough" so she still doesn't really get it. thin people usually don't "get it". i NEED the band to help me stop eating. luckily all my friends have been supportive and i get teased as being a "cheap date" because i either order off the kid's menu or i share their meals. just do as much research as you can before you have the surgery. you may think you'll be okay only eating a half to a cup of food at one sitting but it's more difficult than you think! your brain wants you to keep eating because the food is good or there's so much left on your plate but if you don't "listen" to your band you'll throw up. it's a total mind game for me... even after 2.5 years. also, you might not be able to eat the foods you love anymore, even in moderation. i can't digest bread or ground meat so that means NO pizza, NO burgers. EVER. my 2 favorite foods in the entire world. i've gotten over hamburgers but pizza is still hard for me because it's everywhere... at every party, every family meal, etc. BUT, i love my new body! i went from a size 18 to a size 8. sometimes i can even fit into a size 6 pair of jeans! i haven't done that since high school! its nice being able to cross my legs without having to grab and pull the leg over. i love walking without sweating. it's amazing how i can take the stairs at work without a second thought. it's life changing!

when a band slips, the lower part of the stomach pushes upward past the band. usually the doctor will unfill the band completely in hopes that the stomach that slipped up thru the band slips back down past the band. if it repositions itself, you can get fills again. if the stomach doesn't reposition, surgery is necessary to fix it.

i'm almost 3 years post-op and have had no "equipment" problems!

what irritated me was this quote, "With gastric banding, doctors insert an adjustable silicone band around the upper part of the stomach, giving the patient the illusion of fullness with small meals." i'm not hungry after small meals. that's the truth, not an illusion!!

actually, having an unfill could help you start losing weight again. you need to eat to lose weight (the healthy way). when you're overfilled, you eat less because you're afraid to eat. just concentrate on protein and water and you'll start losing again!

my friend and i had weight loss surgery a week apart. she had the gastric sleeve done and i chose the lapband. she had over 200 pounds to lose where i only had 70 to lose. she lost 160 pounds the first 1.5 years after surgery and i lost 50 pounds during the first 1.5 years. she and i just met for lunch this past weekend. she has gained 30 pounds back and i've lost an additional 20 pounds this past year. so... she lost 130 pounds in 3 years when she needed to lose over 200 and i lost 70 pounds in 3 years and obtained my goal. it's true, the band doesn't work for everyone. i'm sorry it didn't work out. i wish you the best of luck with the bypass!!

shoot, eat while you can because you won't be able to after surgery!! not that it's a good idea not to follow your surgeons instructions, i didn't follow the pre-op diet. i just couldn't stomach the medi-fast food they gave me and it's hard only having liquids. it's a little easier post-op though. now... post-op is a totally different story. please follow his instructions after surgery. that is SO important!!

i think it's a good idea to get checked out by your doctor because i know how worried you probably are but chances are you're fine. like i said, i just got over the flu too (well bronchitis) and was getting sick from all the nose drainage into my stomach which then aggrevated my acid reflux. some people can't eat bananas because of the stringy parts of the fruit... it's not easily digested but everyone is different. i haven't been able to eat ground meat since my surgery 3 years ago and boy do i miss it!!!! hope everything checks out okay but in the meantime try sticking to liquids or mushy foods.

is the pain on the left side? sometimes if i eat too fast or don't chew enough, food gets stuck and it hurts in my back by my shoulder blade. the food isn't stuck enough to where i need to throw up but it takes awhile to go away.

I'm Kris. I'm 39 and live in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm single, never married, no kids. I was banded April 2008 and soooo close to my goal weight I can almost taste it : ) I'm open for anything, friends... support... dating...

my surgeon does require liquids the day of the fill and soft foods the following day. your stomach swells a little after a fill so its easier on the band and your stomach if you don't eat solid foods. you might feel more restriction during those 2 days because of the swelling so you decrease the odds of foods getting stuck if you take it easy those 2 days after a fill. don't get me wrong... i've eaten after fills and have been fine but there is always that risk of getting stuck.

it doesn't sound like your band has slipped. your stomach was probably swollen from the stomach virus and eating ground meat probably wasn't the best choice to eat right away because it's hard to digest. drink liquids for a day or two and then mushies for a day or two and your stomach should be less swollen by then!

wow, i never heard of the port being in the chest area... interesting. no, i didn't get to decide which band i was going to get or the placement of the port. my surgeon picked my band type and cc size after looking at my stomach during surgery. my port is to the right of my belly button and up about 2"

i weigh myself every morning... it helps keep me on track for that day. if i've stayed the say i can eat "normally". if i've gained a pound or 2, i watch what i eat that day. since i'm almost 3 years post-of, i don't see my surgeon very often. i haven't been to see him since April 2010. i'll probably make an appointment to see him April 2011 for a yearly check up. i've lost an additional 25 pounds during this past year after my surgeon didn't think i'd lose anything more!

i know exactly how you're feeling... i really do. since getting banded almost 3 years ago, every day has been a struggle. every meal is a struggle. i've done okay with losing the weight but after 3 years, i'm not at my goal yet. i'm close but it's been an uphill battle the entire time. i read about how easy the weight has fallen off for other people and that just hasn't been the case for me. at each meal i'm sad because i can't eat what i really want to be eating since my band doesn't allow pizza (or any bread) or ground meat. i have to stop eating before my brain is ready to stop eating so i feel cheated at the end of every meal. i know i need help but i've been in therapy before and it never helped me. i've thought about joining an Over Eaters Annonomous group but i don't know how accepting they'd be of a 148 pound woman who has had weight loss surgery. so, yes, there are other people out there who are going thru the same struggles you are!

i set my goal to the highest normal weight on the BMI chart. i'm 3 pounds away and i think i want to lose more. everyone thinks i'm good where i'm at but i want to be in the middle of the normal range so i have some pounds to play with. i've worked too hard the past 3 years to settle for anything less than being a normal weight. i went from obese to overweight.... i want to be normal!

the way i see it is if all you had to do was eat slowly until you were full, you wouldn't even need the lapband! i think i read somewhere that if a "normal" person gets full after 20 minutes of eating slowly but the band does much more than that for me! after the 2+ years of being banded, i know my body and my band so well that i can tell if i take one more bite i'll throw up. i don't understand why doctors don't want to tell their patients how much is in their band! seriously, this foreign object is inside ME, i deserve to know what's going on. i always ask how much fill is going in and what my total cc is. it's your right to know!

i don't know why but it does happen! i can weigh the same for a week but go down a size in jeans. it's frustrating, but the scale will eventually move!

wow... it was AGES ago when i took xenical but i remember the horrible side effect after eating a meal with too much fat. it was MESSY lol. while i agree with a pre-op diet, i don't agree with taking pills!

i didn't have the stomach flu but i had brochitis. my nose was draining into my stomach which was causing me to throw up. it was horrible! i hope you feel better!

i agree with Acadia... if you can't handle the protein shakes before surgery, how are you going to handle them AFTER surgery? you will be drinking shakes for a long time after surgery! most of us continue to drink them because its an easy way to get a lot of protein in at one time. if you don't like the shake you're drinking now, keep trying to find one that you do like!