Rascal76

Anyone have any good or bad experiences with?

Good morning, I am so excited... I feel like I want to shout it off the roof tops! I have a date, I have a date! LOL May 19th at Lowell General Hospital, in Lowell, MA... Dr. M. Jiser. Getting the realize band! The countdown is on! I'm thrilled to be a part of this group! How is everyone doing? Smiles, Shannon

Hello Everyone, I am sooo excited! I finally have a surgery date! I will officially be a bandster on May 19th! Anyone with me on that day? I will be having surgery at Lowell General Hospital, in Lowell, MA. with Dr. Jiser.... I am also getting the realize band which I'm happy about! So keep your fingers crossed! The countdown is on! :biggrin2: This site has been so helpful and so great in answering all of my questions... I really feel like I'm going into this as well informed as possible! I know after surgery I will look to it even more! I thank you all for your posts and pm's along the way! Smiles, Shannon

:redface:Hello everyone, I have been on here for a few months really preparing me for surgery... My surgery is Monday - I can't tell you how happy I was to finally get a date! So Friday I went to see my surgeon to sign the consent form... and I was waiting for a really long time in the waiting room... I was surrounded by gastric bypass patients... they were just thrilled with their sugery... everyone was soo happy and had lost tons of weight with what seemed to be great ease! Long story short when I finally got checked in... I started to question my procedure and the nutrionist chimed in as did the surgeon and told me that they really think I would do fine with either surgery, but overall with my diet the bypass would be the best option for me... I am soo confused.... I was so set on the band and now I'm in limbo... Please weigh in with your comments... I need some guidance... Shannon

Thanks everyone... I really appreciate you taking the time to write to me! This is such a huge step... Although I might like the faster results of the bypass I don't like the risk and I definitely don't like the idea of being vitamin defficient for the rest of my life!

Thanks everyone... Those are the exact reasons I chose the band! I mentioned those concerns and was told basically I was a surgeons dream for either surgery... young, very healthy, able to exercise, etc. Then he said with the band I would expect in a year you would get down to maybe 165 (which usually thrills me to death), but a year later with a bypass I could be 135... I said I was in middle school when I weighed that! It was like dangling a cookie in my face... like do it, do it, you know you want to, you know you like it! Ugh! Then I asked about complications and he said with the bypass the complications are up front and basically if you make it out of surgery you will be fine... but with the band the complications come later, slippage, port problems, infections, esophagus (sp?) problems,etc. Now as I mentioned I have been coming on here for quite some time and it seems like the problems are really minimal in comparison. Ugh! This is so frustrating... I wish I was never in the room with all those people for hours... they all said they eat what they want, they don't experience dumping syndrome,etc. I wow really surprised by their reactions.

You are right... I wondered the same thing... I asked about children because I don't have any yet and they said with some extra vitamins the baby will take what it needs and that I should be just fine. I think the office is pro bypass...I don't know that they really have a lot of what they consider "successful" bandsters... The main reason I think they told me to side with the bypass is that I like sweets and they think if I have a rough day or am feeling depressed I will eat around my band... therefore not seeing the results.

Hello, I met with my surgeon last week who said he just switched over to the Realize band and he loves it! Said it was easy for him to put in, also mentioned the benefits listed above and raved about the Realize website for support! I can't wait... 12 days to go until surgery! Good Luck Everyone! Shannon

Hi everyone! I'm in... getting the realize band May 19th! Can't wait... 14 days to go!:wink2:

Hello Everyone! Please add me for May 19th! Shannon

Thanks everyone for the well wishes! To answer your question as to who the "approved" is... It's the insurance company. Shannon

I have been contacted and told that my case was submitted to my insurance company for approval! I am sooo excited! Seems like it has taken forever to get to this point! Now everyone please please please send happy thoughts and wishes for a quick turn around! If I hear back early enough this week I will have surgery May 5th... if later in the week then I'm looking at May 12th (The surgeon only does lap band on Monday)... Ugh.. the torture continues... I'm ready now! Waiting for my official date! Shannon

Hello, I totally agree! I'm not much of a May Flower.... but Love the name shrinko de mayos! It's fun and energetic!

Hi Coco, I had to lose weight too... and I did very well with the following diet from my nutritionist... Saw results immediately... She focussed on a lot of Protein 65-105 grams a day... and I don't cook much so she gave me super easy things to eat... Here goes: Breakfast: Two hard boiled eggs (or eggs of any kind) Fresh Fruit Snack: String cheese Lunch: Lean Cuisine the new chicken Flatbread one is delicious and a small salad Snack: 100 Calorie pack (my choice) The new carrot cake ones are good and actually have 2 or 3 grams of protein Dinner: Body Fortress Protein shake - Buy it all Walmart $13.00 for a huge container... I like the vanilla but chocolate is good too. I mix the Vanilla with a cup of Simply Smart Milk, ice cubes, a sprinkle of cinnamon and thow it in my Magic Bullet and it's a nice, super creamy shake! If I am still hungry or feel like something I can have another 100 calorie pack of my choice. Don't forget to drink tons of water! When I did this I lost around a quarter pound to a half pound a day! Good Luck! Shannon

Thank you everyone for your kind words... I'm starting to feel a little better and yes tonight I am definitely only having a shake for dinner and taking my dog for an extra long walk! Thanks again! Shannon

Hello, Just feel like I need to post something to vent a little frustration with myself! I know and have known for a few weeks that in order for me to get surgery I need to lose 5% of my body weight... I easily lost most of the weight except for two pounds... two pounds you say no big deal, well you know what... it's turning out to be a huge pain in the ass! I knew last Friday that I had to lose it and I have lost 2lbs a hundred times in a hundred different ways really really quick.... For some reason this time the scale goes down and I think I'm in the clear - I can eat that and of course it's back up the next day... So I did pretty good this week and the scale has moved down and for some reason this afternoon at work I got myself worked up thinking I really wanted chocolate! Big mistake! Idiot! My appointment is now less than 24 hours away and I have just devoured an entire medium size Lindt chocolate (hollow) bunny! Tell me what I am thinking? Why would I do this to myself when I know for sure that I have been wanting this for almost a year now??? Why would I let myself do something so ridiculous? I will be crushed if tomorrow the scale isn't down! Ugh... feel like crying... how can I be so dumb?

I am staying on plan today because I have to lose 2 pounds by Friday! In order to get my surgery I had to lose 5% of my weight and my last weigh in is 2 days away! Wish me luck!

Not a big fan yet, I hope I just have to get used to it... but it was so easy before when I knew where everything was...

I've been taking Xenical too (stronger version than alli) and my doctor is totally aware and did not mention me stopping... Of course my surgery is not until May. Shannon

Hi everyone, I'm sure you have all heard this before, but I'm going to put it out there any way to vent!!! I know this process is long and grueling... but the hoops you have to go through are ridiculous...! At this point I have gone to 3 support group meeting, gone to a cardiologist 2x's, gone for blood work and an upper GI, met with the nutritionist, went to two nutrition classes, met with the nurse practionier and oh let's not forget the informational session... This Friday I have to meet the surgeon and on Monday I meet the psychiatrist and then the following Friday I have another nutritionist appointment... Plus I have lost my required 5% of weight.... and yet with all this, they still can't give me an idea of a surgery date! In fact because I asked, the nurse told me that she was "concerned" that I was just interested in getting a date instead of mentally preparing myself... ! I told her on the contrary I went to the info session a year ago and didn't go through with it because I didn't think I was ready, so in fact I have been preparing for a year!!! In any event the point of the story is now I think she is annoyed with me and I won't be surprised if when it comes to assigning a surgery date she pushes it out even further.... UGH! Sorry just had to vent... this is really making me upset... I know I just need to relax and that in the big scheme of things a few more weeks isn't a big deal, BUT... I can't get my head around that... I want it now... (pout)! Shannon

Hi everyone... I use that same protein shake from Walmart and I also really like it! I get the vanilla kind and mix with ice cubes and a sprinkle of cinnamon... it's really good. I also like to take some butterscotch fat free sugar free pudding (powder - not made yet) and blend it in... soo delish!

Thanks everyone... The nurse did write me back yesterday and told me that I should just finish up my appointments and as soon as they know something they will tell me and we can schedule something! So she sounded much better... maybe she won't black list me after all! LOL Yesterday was a rough day... I feel like I'm lost in limbo somewhere. My weight is really getting to me... I'm not sure where everyone lives, but I'm in MA and today it's supposed to be close to 70 degrees and I couldn't find anything colorful and cute to wear to work because it's all tight and ill fitting... so I'm of course in head to toe black...! Do I really think I'm hiding anything??? I just so want to get this done so I can feel some sort of hope again... Right now I feel a little bit lost. Thanks for listening! I appreciate all your responses! Shannon

Hello! I'm from MA, but about 45 minutes north of Boston... In Dracut. I am having my surgery done at Lowell General Center for Weight Management. I can't wait... I'm hoping for a mid-May surgery. I was not told I had to go on a pre-op liquid diet before surgery, but told to lose 5% of my body weight before they would do the surgery. What hospital are you having the procedure done at? Good Luck and Welcome!:cursing:

Hi, I drink the same tea as coolcrystal and I love it! I am not banded yet, but it's great for getting rid of the extra stuff! Any way to answer your question about Alli... I think it should be fine to take 2. I got a prescription for Orlistat which is a stronger version of Alli. It is double the strength and I am fine. I took Alli and I saw nothing, now I take Orlistat and sorry to be gross, but I see grease in my stools... This is going to sound really bad, but after you go to the bathroom you should see the grease in the Water and sometimes it's orange in color! Ick!

The program I am in at Lowell General Hospital (MA) asks that you try to stay out of work any where between 4 and 6 weeks! That is for both lap band and gastric by-pass! Seems like a long time, but they said they require it so you can get adjusted to your new tummy! They have a feeding schedule every one to two hours and said work would get in the way of that.... I was thinking it sounded like a really long time - thank god for short term disability! If everyone feels well by the second week looks like I migh have a couple weeks of nice weather to relax in! aahh!