AbbieRoad

I'm in southern NJ - Medford, to be exact. I'm in the process (long process, thank you Aetna!) of getting the band with Dr. Goldstein. Anybody else use him?

Wow, so I was on this whole "should I or shouldn't I" trip. Last year I sucked it up and made an appointment to be seen about the lap band. The doc gave me a laundry list of things to do, it took me nearly 9 months to complete them all (as I was dragging my feet!) and then, miraculously I got pregnant, which, was the whole reason I wanted to loose weight - so I'd be more fertile after trying with no luck for 4 years. Unfortunately 3 months into my pregnancy I had a miscarriage. Devistating as it was, it's motivation for me to push forward with a weight loss surgery. Revisiting the idea of wls, I decided the sleeve sounds like it's better for me. A new doctor for the sleeve as the old one only did lap band. He says he can use everything I did for the band prep, all he needs is my weight history and he'll submit it to my insurance company. This is all moving sooooo fast. I'm petrified! On one hand I'm ready, on the other hand, I am just plain terrified. My doc is readying my weight history so I can pick it up tomorrow & take it to the sleeve doc. I could be approved, and scheduling my surgery within the week. Completeing the 2 week liquid diet prior to the surgery - that still has all this possibly happening in a month! I'm scared! Excited, but scared.

I haven't had my surgery yet but I threw my back out last year, and a chiro taught me some back stretches to do that really help, and he got me re-adjusted. When it hurts - make sure you ice it, DO NOT USE HEAT! Heat will draw all teh blood to the area and it will feel even worse. Ice is the way to go. Remember RICE! Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation (not sure how you'd elevate your back though!)

there's something called Yonanas that I've been eyeing up. It turns any solidly frozen fruit into "ice cream" but it's only fruit - no other ingredience (unless you add them yourself!) . The commercial for it makes it look awesome, but I really wanna try it before I spend $50 on it! I'm not banded yet, but it looks like it'd be great!

Initially I was only going to tell my hubby, and my sister. But I've decided to tell my parents too. Basically immediate family only. I feel like it would be hurtful if/when they eventually find out - to know that I went through a major surgery and kept it from them. I don't have a surgery date yet. I have just recently decided to do the sleeve rather than the lap band, I feel like the sleeve is a harder thing to keep secret than the band since the weight will probably come off faster.

I've recently begun changing my mind after being dead set on the Lap Band for the last 2 years. I'm doing some final research and the more I see band to sleeve revisions, the more I am changing my mind. If I go with the sleeve, will I have to drink Protein drinks for the rest of my life? What is a day in the life of someone who's been sleeved say, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years - what's it like for you once you've met your weight loss goal?

Ok that makes sense, good - I like that answer! Thanks!

Hey All - I'm kinda in the same boat. Have been dead set on the band all along and now I'm close to having completed all the hoops I needed to jump through for the insurance company, I'm starting to change my mind and considering the sleeve even more. What made you change your mind? I wish I could find a doc that performed both the lap band and the sleeve - who could give me a good honest suggestion. Seems around me I'm only finding docs who do one or the other! Obviously a lap band doc will urge lap band, warn me off the sleeve. And a sleeve doc will do the opposite! Ah! What made you change your mind?

Last year around this time I started seriously considering lap band. Jumped through all the hoops, all that was left was a barium swallow, which I needed to be below 350 for, and get down to 343lbs. (I'm 6' tall and 350lbs now)I was scared to do it, and dragging my feet a bit.. Then I got pregnant. After almost 4 years of trying, I got pregnant naturally. We were thrilled! At about 2.5 months, just this past week, I miscarried. I am devistated, and I have no answers as to why it happened, they say 1 in 4 end that way, so I am blaming my weight. So, taking my mind off my loss and my sadness I am focusing on getting banded, and taking off weight. The good thing that came from this, is had to be put under general anestesia for a d&e after my miscarriage, and I handled the anestasia just fine. I was really nervous about that with the band. Some girls in my plus size & pregnant group I was in mentioned they had lots of issues with their bands while pregnant, and if they hadto do it again they would get the sleeve. I was always scared of the permenance of the sleeve. What do you all think? Has anyone been pregnant with the band? Does it get in the way when the baby is closer to full term? What happens if you vomit a lot during pregnancy? Could the band slip? What happens if it slips during pregnancy? Abbie

See I've been looking for a doc that does sleeve AND band, but can really only find ones that do one or the other (or combinations there of, but not the 2 that I'm looking for.) I've spoken to a band doc, I've spoken to a sleeve doc. They both suggest their relative surgeries and assure me child bearing afterwards will have no consequence as long as I wait the suggested amount of time after surgery. I wonder if I have too much to loose for the band. I am 350, my ideal weight is 180 according to my height (6' tall) 170lbs is a TON to lose. The fact that in the sleeve communities there are whole forums of people who had the band for 2 & 3 years and then went for the sleeve - that scares me. I want one surgery, and that's it!

Thanks all. From what I'm reading it seems like there are an awful lot of people I'm finding who had the band and ended up having the sleeve surgery or another gastric surgery. That scares me, I want it to be done, so I can focus on my health, and not worry about future surgeries. I like the outlook you shared Kiwi. I'm 30, I know more things will come out. I'm terrified to change my body forever. What happens if I'm 60 and there's an issue, I can always have the band removed, I can't have my stomach put back on. Then again, will the band last until I'm 60? Will it need to be replaced, will it erode, or slip in the next 30 years? I feel like I need a crystal ball to make this decision!

oh I know it's mostly banders. I'm looking for band experience with pregnancy. I went to obesityhelp.com and read - it seems like the anti LB page. It kinda scared me. I'm sure people here considered the other options of wls before choosing the band.

Ugh. So I've been thinking about lap band for years. Last May I decided I wanted to actually look into it and see what I needed to do. The doc gave me a whole bunch of things to do before I could qualify with him for surgery. Loose 15lbs, (I was at 360, 6' tall) which, I've lost 10, then gained it back and now I'm at 360 again. Heart clearance, sleep apnea tests, sleep studies, nutrition counceling, psych test, plus assembling lots of info. I've done everything except loosing 15lbs and the barium swallow. I can't schedule that because I need to be 330lbs to get the barium swallow. I feel like every time I make a move, there's another road block. I commit to go bike riding to get active and loose weight - I get a flat tire. I suck it up, do it again. Get another flat tire. Now I finally schedule the barium swallow and I find out I need to loose 30lbs before I can even do that. I'm starting to get super defeated here. I'm dragging my feet as it is because the idea of the surgery scares the heck out of me. It's just so frustrating though. I haven't been 330 in about 5 years. I feel like if I could diet down adn loose 30lbs, I would have done it already. I did it once, about 10 years ago. I went from like 310 to 260 but I didn't have a child, I had a lot more cash flow for healthy eating and I was way more active. It slowly crept up, then I got pregnant, then my son had some medical issues - that's when the stress eatting really kicked up into high gear. The doc wont' do the surgery if you weigh more than 350lbs. Which doesn't really make sense either, since I know other people who weighed more than that who've gotten the surgery - just from a diff doc. This is the only one in my area though, so, I'm kinda stuck! I'm not sure what I'm looking for here. Just a bit of a rant. I'm not telling anyone except my hubby about the surgery so I don't have anybody to rant to really. I'm just feeling emotional too because I turned 30 this week and this is not what I wanted to look like on my 30th birthday.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that's done crash diets before. Restrict down to 1500 calories or less, exercise to burn off 500-600 calories, and repeat as long as I can stand it. I'd loose weight in the beginning, but it would stop. When the weight would stop coming off, i'd stop dieting. I'm a very result oriented type of girl..and we all know diets don't last forever anyway. I'd always heard that when you stop loosing weight that's because your body isn't getting enough calories and it's going into "starvation mode" or, "famine mode" (like my Irish ancestors would say) basically your body believes food is scarce, so it slows the metabolism and begins trying to save any of the fat you have stored. How is this avoided with lap band? Is there some kind of loop hole since I won't *feel* hungry? Does your body eventually figure out that you're not starving?

thanks- I plugged my info in (6' tall, 29 year old female) and got: 2247.1 to reach my goal weight without exercise. I guess by being banded and making my caloric intake 1200 calories I'd just loose weight faster. Which, I guess is the point lol. That and keeping to the 2247 calories When I add exercise, which, admittedly I don't do every day, it should go faster. Apparently, just existing each day I burn 3,357 calories. Any exercise I do is extra. I'm sure i'm sounding pretty dense. I know the basics, reduce calories increase exercise. I'm just trying to figure out, since the lap band tricks your mind into being full on less, does it also trick the body into needing less? Like a mental thing maybe?

Didn't realize it was a big subject! I don't know, I'm not worried I'll wither away and die...just that I won't loose weight. Something about the numbers just isn't adding up for me. I love fruits and veggies so I'm not worried about getting Vitamins and such. I'm just thinking, if I eat even 1200 calories, exercise away 500-600 calories (which at 350lbs, isn't hard in an hour of bike riding) that's leaving me at 600-700 calories. Is that typical for banders? Is it alright to do that? I'm a long way off from having that "problem" still in my 3 month supervised diet but still, just something I'm wondering about.

Hello- I haven't been banded yet, just starting the journey. There is a support group that meets at the Center for Emotional Wellness in Cherry Hill. Not sure of the schedule, haven't had my first meeting there yet.... but you can call and find out what the deal is with it! I'm banding with Dr. Goldstein in Voorhees, once I get done all this pre-op check list craziness!

Ahh I'm in South Jersey, good luck to you though!

Hey all- This question is probably going to make me sound awful - but - here it goes. I don't drink often at all. Less than even once a month usually. However - there are certain occasions that I drink, er, excessively.... My best friend's halloween party, a high school friend reunion annual christmas party, a 4th of july party - that's about it. So, more or less three times a year. These times, the object is obliteration pretty much - we drink a lot, laugh, play drinking games, kinda relive our college days (I'm 29) The other 363 days of the year I'm more or less obtaining from liquor all together. At most I'll have a glass of wine at a social function but that's even rare. I know drinking is empty calories, I know carbonation is a no-no (adios beer & captain & cokes) but -what about shots? Haha--so, is three times a year binge drinking ok? Does it even work? I have a really high liquor tolerance now (Irish heritage?) does that really change all that much? I know I'll prob. have to wait a few months after the surgery before trying it, and if I can't drink like that it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me but I'd be bummed. Maybe I'll party heartier at this 4th bbq to make up for loosing the future ones.

Didn't know that helped....my hubby and I have been trying for almost three years. Hadn't even brought it up to the lap band doc. We have one child already, he's five. I have aetna too and am concerned about lack of weight records, but my doc said even gym or personal records will help... Worth a shot.

My doc says only one day of liquids pre op...said liquids will make your body too weak and he wants you to be strong to be able to heal up. I asked him about liver shrinkage and he said it's barely negligable, a centimetre at most and he would rather not make you miserable and weak! Makes sense to me!

It went pretty well - got my giant check list of things to do! Cardiologist, sleep Study, Loose 15lbs, Barium Swallow, Bloodwork - Nutritionist for 3 months, Psyche exam...the whole 9 yards! Where did you go for the Barium Swallow? I'm nervous about the sleep study too.... I am not good at falling asleep in strange places and hate sleeping away from home!

Well, my bmi is higher, 45, so I don't need co-morbidities....which seems like a kinda strange thing to be "happy" about, but, I think that should help me get approved. I'm tall, 6', but I weight 350lbs. I live in Medford! Not too far from you! Howdy neighbor