Hi all!! I turned 41 on July 1st and was banded on July 2nd. I am 5'7" and at the time of my surgery I was at my highest weight of 280. I am a single mother of a 7 year old son. My insurance paid for everything so the surgery did not cost me a dime. The day of my surgery I was in pain but went home the same day. I was banded in New York. It has been almost 6 weeks and now I feel good. I have occasional discomfort still where the port is. I needed a good 3-4 weeks until I felt back to normal. It was a slow recovery for me. I had my first fill 2 weeks ago and it was uneventful. I did not feel a thing. I have lost about 30 pounds in 6 weeks but there have been a few weeks when I lost nothing so dont be discouraged. Some weeks are great and others nothing. I take a multivitamin and calcium everyday and eat a lot of protein. I do not exercise because i hate exercise. If there is anything you want to know just ask. Hope I can help.