Lunabeane

Just because something is minimally invasive doesn't down grade it to minor surgery. Perhaps WLS was minor in your situation but it isn't minor in every situation. When someone is under general anesthesia and is intubated they are at risk...especially if they have significant co-morbidities. When comparing WLS to open heart surgery you are making a grandiose statement. Each surgical situation is vastly different. Somebody with diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, asthma, and an irregular heart beat is going to be more at risk than someone that's "just" obese. I don't think someone should make generalizations when it comes to a surgery that is addressing multiple variables. It's both untrue and misleading. Just sayin'.

I was very fortunate to have a wonderful Endocrinologist that did absolutely everything in her power to help me. From day one she has done her very best to save my kidneys from the high blood pressure and diabetes. I'm so thankful that I found her. I absolutely detest glucophage and never want to take it again. I have high hopes for the band and I think that it will work for me. I have just failed so many times that I am afraid to say it's going to work. I'm in Pittsburgh...and it's good to meet you!

I very rarely hide anything about my life and struggles. I feel that if people want to learn from my experiences then great...if not...so be it. My friends and family have seem me on one failed diet after another for seven years...let's hope they get celebrate some success with me.

We live in a capitalist society...people work and get paid for it. Furthermore, something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Obese people very rarely get positive press. In fact, I feel marginalized because of my weight all the time. If someone wants to use their talent to write an article that articulates what it's like to struggle to be healthy and fit then they should be reimbursed for it. You should get pissed that people get paid triple that to right a 500 article degrading "fat" people.

LOL...I was told as long as it's smaller than a "Good and Plenty."

I am on a 1000-1200 calorie diet. I get between 40-60 grams of protein a day and neet to drink 64oz. of water a day. I use www.thedailyplate.com to calculate my daily intake. I really have to force myself to log my food. This is the diet that my nutritionist established for me.

My surgery was covered by my health insurance...and costs almost $30,000.00. A friend of mine had the surgery done privately because she had no comorbidities and went to Denver to have it done for less than $9,000.00. She's doing wonderfully. I wasn't willing to pay out of pocket for my surgery. I was willing to put up a fight with my insurance company if need be as they cover the surgery for a tremendous amount of people.

I don't see why anyone wouldn't be successful with the band if they could control their food consumption. However, my Dr. did tell me that people with BMI's over 50 had a more difficult time losing weight with the lap band and that they usually suggested the gastric bypass for people with higher BMI's. I'm not sure I buy it as it's clear that many people here had BMI's over 50 and did wonderfully. Whatever you decide, make sure that it's your decision and not your Drs. If you feel more comfortable with the band then do the research and go for it. However, make sure you know that the weight comes off much faster and much "easier" with gastric bypass than it does with the lap band. I felt like my Dr. was steering me towards gastric bypass surgery and I really put my foot down. Once he realized that gastric bypass surgery wasn't an option then we focused solely on the band and how it would work for me.

Do you have trouble swallowing pills? I've been taking all of my pills since the day after surgery.

I just commented on my left side this evening. It's actually quite pronounced on my left side. If I look down my stomach looks slanted.

I was a bit embarrassed when I saw all of these people saying that they had no pain, didn't need pain medications, were back to work in 3 days, and felt fabulous. I felt like crap and still don't feel 100%. I'm 10 days out and I'm glad that I'm still home. I'm going to go into work a couple of days this week and get some paper work done but my job is to heal...even though it's taking me a bit longer than most others. I'm walking everyday and taking it a bit slower transitioning to pureed foods. We all heal at different rates. I'm a diabetic which means that I heal slower than non-diabetics do...I also have irritable bowel syndrome which is compounding the gastrointestinal problems brought on by the surgery. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we all have to take our own path...if you still needs those pain meds then continue to take them. There are some people that don't need pain meds but there are others that do. The more pain you are in the more stress your body is under. Rest when you need to rest, take the GasX strips, walk as much as you can, and keep to the diet that your doctor has required.

Good for you! At 19 I weighed 95lbs...and I loved every minute of it! Cute clothes and cute boys. Within a year you'll look and feel fabulous and your self confidence with shoot through the roof. This is the beginning of your adult life, my dear! Embrace it and run with it. You'll have a couple of tough days but it'll will be the beginning of a new life.

My doctor required me to stop taking BCP for 12 months.

The GasX strips really helped me. The GasX strips, walking, and warm tea with honey.

Of course, darling!!!

I'm so sorry that this is happening, Shannon. It will get better. I'm ten days out and it's still a bit difficult but nothing that I can't manage. Once you start on the full fluids and pureed foods you'll feel much much better. The pain will get less and less everyday and soon you'll be snuggling up with your little one.

My weightloss clinic provides an option of using pills to jump start weightloss if patients are not seeing results after the fill process starts. I, of course, will not need to utilize these services as I am going to wake up tomorrow weighing 124 pounds!

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I'm hoping to be completely off of my glucophage and blood pressure medication in the next few months. Here's some light reading for you... Polycystic ovary syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I took a different approach. I force myself to cook lunch/dinner for my family everynight. I never really get to cook because I frequently have business meetings in the evening...so I decided to use my time off to get my "domestic" life in order as well. I don't want to give food a chance to beat me...I want to control the food. I refuse to run away from it. I won't hide in another room while my family is eating...I'll sit right next to them in the diningroom and talk with them while they eat. I'll also decide what food comes into the house and I'll cook it the way I want to...and then I'll give it to my family and go and eat my pudding! LOL It's actually worked quite well. I cried once this week because I wanted to eat but I think my battle against food is going quite well.

I just got that pain for the first time tonight. Under my ribs on my left side. It caught me off guard.

I'm 34 and weighed 245lbs at my heaviest. I'm 5 feet tall. I never had a weight problem until I had my son 7 years ago...at which time I acquired dibetes, high blood pressure, a goiter, and a total melt down of my endocrine system. I also have PCOS which makes it difficult to lose weight. Had you asked me two years ago if this surgery was for me, I would have declined. I just got to the point where I needed help on this journey. I wanted to be able to play with my son and I wanted to feel good about going out with my husband. I wanted to feel like me again. You know...the skinny me in my head! I wanted to be the person that I loved being before my body and my mind bailed on me. I've lost 13 pounds so far...and I was banded on May 16th. I can't tell you that it was the best choice I ever made...because I'm still in the healing process and I just haven't gotten to the point where I'm still not afraid of it. LOL. But I look at all of these incredible goals the people here have made and I hope that it works in my favor. I would take that first step and go to an information session. I did more research for this surgery than I did for my own dissertation!!! The more you know about something the more confident you will feel and the better decisions you will make. Good luck to you.

I actually had a fair amount of pain. It was manageable but it was painful. I had gas pain for the first 3 days and then some muscle pain for another three days. There was nothing that was debiliating but I was a bit surprised that the pain lasted as long as it did. Now...it was far less pain that my gallbladder surgery but a totally different kind of pain for me. I can't stress enough how important it is to walk, walk, walk! It was a real benefit to my recovery. I was on pain medication every 4-6 hours for three days, then I stopped except for bedtime. After nine days out I'm still quite sore but I walk everyday and take an over the counter pain reliever. My surgeon feels that I may have pulled an abdomenal muscle...which makes sense.

"Dr. Phil is brilliant," is an oxymoron. There is absolutely nothing brilliant about Dr. Phil. He's a man that studied a subject, found a market, and sold his product. He's no different than a car salesman.

I took off 50lbs, took my glucophage faithfully, and had no problems getting pregnant. Although...I will say that I had a very difficult pregnancy, delivery, and post pardum period as a result of my pcos.

What a great idea, Melissa. I was at Lane Bryant this evening and I realized that I get to buy a whole new wardrobe...maybe two or three time!!! And I'm sooooo psyched about that. I need to get someone to subsidize my shopping sprees that I see in the future.