Kalipso2

i'm almost 3 years post-op and i can still remember eating all of my "last meals"! in all honesty, it will be awhile before you can eat any of those foods again and you'll never be able to eat the volume ever again. the volume is what i still have a problem accepting. the most difficult part of this journey will be in your head. but the outcome is worth it!

my surgeon is one of the most respected surgeons in Ohio. he's the reason i chose to drive 4 hours to his office and hosptial for my surgery. i met him during my initial consultation and liked him on the spot. i saw him for a few minutes before my surgery and then never saw him again. i thought for SURE he'd check up on me in the hospital but he didn't. i thought for sure i'd see him for my first post-op appointment but i didn't. i admit, i was a little pissed off. after all the money i spent, i expected to see my surgeon. then i thought about it. his job is to perform the surgery to the best of his ability... not necessarily post-op care unless there are complications. i wanted HIM to perform my surgery... and he does a lot of surgeries a week... he just doesn't have time to do the follow-up care. but, he does answer all his emails himself and they're usually answered within 24 hours. i've had some scary episodes that i needed his advice on and he WAS there when i needed him. he surrounds himself with the best office staff too. so, i was upset in the beginning about not seeing him post-op but now i understand that he needs to continue to do what he does best... surgery!

i'm one of the believers that you shouldn't deprive yourself of any foods, in moderation of course, IF your band lets you. unfortunately, my band doesn't allow me to eat bread, ground meat or french fries (pizza included). if i try to eat them i throw up. with that being said, i don't see anything wrong with occasionally eating at Sonic. i usually eat chicken fingers if i have to eat fast food. i usually order a kids meal when i eat out.

i worried about this before my surgery. not so much the band but i worried about being able to feel the tubing from the port to the band. i mean, its just "floating" inside the body, right? lol anyway, i've never felt anything except my port.

what you didn't mention is your weight loss. are you losing weight? whether its 3 "big" meals, 3 small meals with Snacks or 6 small meals a day, what it comes down to is weight loss.

i know this is going to sound horrible... and it is... but i'm almost 3 years post-op and i haven't exercised at all. it's not that i hate exercising, i just hate sweating! right after i was banded i took a running class because i wanted to run a 5k. i couldn't even run a half mile so i gave up. now, i'm only a few pounds away from my goal weight but it's taken f-o-r-e-v-e-r! now i'm starting to seriously consider adding exercise to my maintenance plan. i really, really do want to run a 5k. that's been my dream from the beginning of this journey.

i'm almost 3 years post op and this is the first time i've had the flu since being banded so bear with me... i started feeling sick this past thursday but i thought it was only a cold. by sunday my throat was sore and the nasal discharge was absolutely horrible! today is tuesday and i'm not really feeling any better. the thing is, i haven't been eating or drinking like i should be. i can get past the not eating but i know i should be drinking but i just can't. just my nose dripping makes me gag all day long that i'm afraid to really drink anything. and i've gained 3 pounds since thursday. how is that even possible? unfortunately, my doctor is 4 hours away so going for an unfill isn't possible. shoot, even staying home from work isn't possible. any helpful suggestions?

most people who frequent this site are 100% happy with their band and would probably do it all over again. if i was given the opportunity to do it over again with what i know now, i honestly don't know what i would do. don't get me wrong... i'm EXTREMELY happy with the results but it hasn't been an easy journey for me at all. i'm (relatively) young and thought i'd breeze through the surgery and lose weight quickly but that just wasn't the case for me. i had never had surgery before so i don't have anything to compare it to but it is painful for the first 3+ days. i suggest taking the prescribed pain killers as directed. i live 4 hours away from my surgeon so my first few fills were aggressive. i ended up being over-filled. i threw up constantly and gained acid reflux on top of it. i was losing weight so i didn't say anything to my surgeon. (totally MY mistake. i don't blame him at all). when i finally scared myself straight by the acid reflux causing me to vomit in my sleep and choking on it, thankfully my band hadn't slipped. i'm almost 3 years post-op and i'm so close to my goal weight i can almost taste it... but its been an uphill battle for every single pound... not the cake walk like i thought it would be when i started out. the most difficult part of this whole journey is learning to listen to your body. your band will tell you when your full but your brain will tell you its still hungry. its like the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. which one you listen to will determine whether you lose weight or not. as for sleeping... i'm a stomach sleeper and a week after surgery i was sleeping on my stomach again. the port is a little freaky. thankfully, i didn't think about it much before surgery. now, when i'm stressed i run my hand over my port and its like a comfort to me... like a reminder that i can't eat to ease the stress. i don't think its visible but for some people the port is visible under the skin. i've lost 65 pounds and still continuing to lose. i have never gained any weight back. i've gone from a size 16 to a size 6. i'm not the biggest girl at work anymore. i'm more confident. i'm healthier. but what i wouldn't give to eat 1 normal sized meal again.... its an every day battle.

well, if you're losing weight i would say no to the fill. everyone gets hungry at some point. the band won't erase the hunger feeling totally. my advice is to always listen to your surgeon. he knows best!

that's the wonderful thing about this website... even when you think you're the only person to experience something you come to realize you're not alone! i'm now almost 3 years post-op and i went thru the same exact thing about 6 months after surgery. my doctor is 4 hours away so i got pretty aggressive fills. i was losing weight pretty quick because i was throwing up all the time. i let it go on for almost 3 months before i said anything. he looked at my band under xray and thankfully it hadn't slipped but it was swollen. he took half my fill out and then did very slight fills from that point on. right now i'm about as filled as my band will let me be... at less than 4.5ccs in a 10cc band. scary thing is, i was okay with the throwing up too. my family got used to it too. my pre-teen niece saw me throw up after every family meal and i just hope i didn't damage her in any way. it was always a joke about whether i was going to throw up or actually use the bathroom. i didn't get scared until my acid reflux got SO bad that i was choking on my own vomit in the middle of the night... or when i started throwing up black liquid. it's been almost a year since my last fill and i'm doing okay. i still have bad days. i wonder if things will ever get easier. i'm only about 4 pounds away from my goal weight and that makes me happy!

before i was banded i knew that hair loss was a possibility but i expected it to happen right after my surgery. i didn't start losing my hair until about 4 months post-op... which it looks like that's when yours started? luckily, i have super thick hair so it was only noticable to me and my hair stylist (who freaked out while washing my hair)! the hair loss DOES stop, i promise! just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine. keep up with the Protein and vitamins!

like most of you, i can only fall asleep laying a certain way.... i'm a side/tummy sleeper too. i spent the first night in the hospital and i made sure i was so pain free that it didn't matter i was on my back. plus, the nurses come in every 15 mintues so i didn't get much sleep that first night anyway. the second night i was at my parent's house and not my own bed and i laid more on my side with a pillow in front of me. i slept this way for a few days. by a week after surgery i was back to sleeping on my stomach with no problems!

that's why we all do our research... some decide to get banded, some decide on the sleeve and some decide on the bypass. my friend had the sleeve procedure a week before i got banded. she had 200 pounds to lose, i only had 80. in the 2.5 years that have gone by, she lost 160 pounds and i've lost 65. she's slowly gaining her weight back and i'm still losing. to each their own...

congratulations and good luck on your journey! you'll be itching to be back home in 3 days though lol i tried staying with my parents but their hovering got on my nerves! so as soon as i knew i could be off the pain meds long enough to drive myself the 20 minutes to my apartment, i made a run for it!

my first goal weight is the high end of normal on the BMI chart. i'm only 2 pounds away and i know i'll get there soon! but i don't think i'll be satisfied being at the high end. i'm going to work toward being in the middle of the normal range that way if i gain or lose 2 pounds here or there it won't make me underweight or overweight!

i was skinny as a child and teen. my early 20's i started gaining weight. by 30 i was fat. my mother felt the need to call me out of the blue to TELL me i was fat and that SHE was telling me because she was afraid my friends wouldn't. like i didn't own a mirror? her words hurt... bad. i started doing dangerous things to my body in order to lose weight. i felt and still do feel that my lapband was the only think that could help me! now that i'm skinnier than my mom, she's telling me i need to gain weight. go figure...

congratulations on winning the battle... if i were in your seat, i'm not sure if i could have won against a chocolate glazed donut!

if you're already thinking of reasons to have the band loosened, it's not the right tool for you (other than becoming pregnant). for me, i consider it a lifetime deal. i'm almost at my goal weight and when that happens i may have just a little fill taken out but i doubt i'll ever have it taken all out... it's just a part of me now.

i really think what you're feeling is absolutely normal! he has guided you to a healthy and happy new life! when i met my surgeon i thought he was cute, funny, sincere, supportive, etc. then i got to thinking.... ewwwww he saw me NAKED looking my WORST lol no harm in crushin'

the bites of food you eat before the pain... what are you eating? maybe its a food your band can't tolerate. mine happens to be hamburger. are you eating tiny, tiny bites and c-h-e-w-i-n-g a lot?

not a whole heck of a lot of anything! honestly... this is the most difficult thing i've ever done! think about that steak you eat... or even a chicken breast. once you're banded and at a decent restriction, you'll only be able to eat less than half of that piece of meat.... even though it tastes so good. you have to train your brain to stop eating. and it's hard stopping.

congratulations!!! i still can't believe how much my body has changed. i've gone from a size 18 jeans to just recently a size 6 jeans! i've become addicted to shopping instead of food lol the other morning it was coooollldd here so i was going to wear a pair of dress pants instead of a skirt. i tried on 3 pair of pants and they were all too big... and they looked bad. not something i could get away with wearing for a day. i've gone thru so many sizes of clothes these past 3 years that Good Will is probably stocked up because of me lol my mom and i went shopping the other day and i picked out this bright printed shirt and my mom commented on my new "taste in fashion". i told her when i was big, i wanted to stay neutral... in the background. now i want to stand out!

WOW... you look awesome! you went from looking like a lost little boy to a confident man! yummy : )

i'm only a few pounds shy of my goal weight and i don't have a low profile port but i don't think its visible at all. mine port is to the right of my belly button and up 2" or so. i wouldn't worry too much about the port being visible.

getting as much weight off before your surgery is helpful and 20 pounds is a great start! it sounds like you'll do great after surgery! i agree... stay away from the scale for now. your surgeon won't turn you away for not making the 30 pounds!