staplegater

Awesome choice! I am 5 years since being lap-banded and going through the process of having it removed and a sleeve done. It has been a nightmare, even with no fluid! 3 out of 4 of my family members had the lapband and then changed to a sleeve because of how horrible it is. They LOVE their sleeves.

I tried to search the forums, but nothing came up. Does anyone have any good excuses for the scars, other than it's a lap band? It would be easier if they weren't so fresh and pink. I've been hiding this from the world. I've been wearing one piece bathing suits which I never even did when I was really overweight. Maybe someone is going to see me naked this weekend who has also seen me naked before the surgery...I think he will have questions and I'd rather not tell him. :laugh: Gal bladder maybe? I don't know. I think 24 is too young for that. Any suggestions?

For some reason the girly parts thing didn't even occur to me! That's usually my first excuse for everything. Regardless of whether they love you or not, unfortunately they still tend to want to know about large, fresh, pink scars across the abdomen. Even if they don't ask, I still see them look and react so I have to come up with something,

Oh honey, I'm drinking a Pyriamid Apricot Ale right now and it's soooooooooo good. No guilt here so you shouldn't have any either. My doc told me that the no carbonation rule was just to keep people from drinking soda and beer and after you're healed it won't cause any damage except weight gain. Enjoy life!

I go to a different doc than my surgeon for fills and I pay $150 each time with no insurance.

It depends on what kind of pain meds you get. I would say 75% uncomfortable and 25% pain. It hurt. I just wanted to sleep through the first week. It was not fun. I did not have good pain killers. You would think Mexico would give you the good stuff, but no. It, as all things, passes though.

It might be slow, but it will happen. There are definitely ways to cheat the band, and it's ultimately up to you what you make of it. You'll have surgery, feel not good, then feel really good when you loose 15 pounds in a week, then feel not good when you don't loose anything for another 6 weeks until getting a fill, then it won't be enough of a fill, then you'll get another... then eventually down the road it happens. Just be patient. It's different for everyone.

I stayed overnight. I showed up only with my purse and wearing the clothes that I was going to wear the next day, knowing I was only going to be wearing them for a few hours. They gave me slippers. I wore the gown the rest of the time until it was time to go home the next day. Don't wear anything requiring a bra. You'll have a super tiny incision right where the front of your bra sits and it feels icky to put pressure on it. Even a sports bra felt weird. If you're not sleeping, you should be walking the halls, so I don't see how necessary it is to bring a book or anything to read. Walk walk walk walk walk it will feel sooo much better.

I don't know if it's hunger pain, but occasionally I will get some pain in my stomach. It's always in the morning, and it's like a prickly kind of pain. I'm usually hungry when I wake up because I take group fitness classes from 530-630 and I think it keeps my metabolism up through the night. On days I'm not hungry, I do feel pain. Maybe it's hunger? I don't know why it's so random though. I haven't had a single complication since surgery.

People are just haters. Who wouldn't want to be able to eat less and be full and be healthy? Why wouldn't you change something if you weren't happy about it? I don't understand the big deal. I like to tell people that I did it because of environmental concerns. I'm conserving by eating less food which in turn frees up the strain on our farmers, saves waste from packaging, saves gas for food transport, ect. I'm totally joking, but the best is when people don't understand that I'm joking. That one really throws them for a loop. It's true though, so they can't really come up with a good response. If they're jerks about it, be a jerk right back. Come up with a slew of ridiculous things about how it saves the rainforest or slows global warming or fights terrorism...

It's going to be a VERY bumpy road until you get a fill. Once you get that first fill and actually feel a full, satisfied feeling after a few bites of food, it will all be worth it. The weight loss will come when your band is functioning properly, and right now your body is just healing. Good luck. You'll be just fine.

I had my first fill today :wink:! I'm so happy to have finally gotten one! I got my surgery in MX and the only place that does fills around me was SO busy. The experience didn't really hurt other than the prick. I was expecting it to take 2 seconds, but when she told me it would be over in 30 seconds I kind of panicked but it was over before I knew it. I was mostly just super grossed out by the huber needle that was sticking into my body. I never even looked because I knew I would freak out, but I could really feel it in there and it was just plain gross. It was kind of like going to the gyno - doesn't really hurt but the whole time you're just squirming and praying for it to be over. I only got 1 cc and the max for my band is 4cc's. The doc said most people with my band find their sweet spot somewhere around 2, which is awesome because I'll need less fills. She told me that I would most likely be disappointed with this fill. I told her that I wanted her to put enough so I would be happy, but she said that erosion and other nasty things can occur by filling up too quickly and not letting your body adjust. So I made an appointment in 2 weeks. Right after I went to lunch and had a bowl of Soup and I was soooo full. It was awesome! Even if this fill doesn't work, at least I know what it CAN feel like.

Flinstone Vitamins are good for the first few weeks for basic nutrients, but you really do need something that contains a lot more after that. There's a reason that they're for kids. Even One A Days are not that great. You should get basic nutrition from foods you eat and really only need a supplement for things you don't eat regularly. Definitely need all of your B's instead of the 2 or 3 that Flinstones ones have. My surgery doc said only chewables, but my fill doctor says that swallowing pills is fine. I didn't really believe him, but I tried it out and nothing horrible happened. It just needed a few minutes to dissolve and move into my stomach. If you can swallow pills, I really like Rainbow Light brand, which is pretty cheap on Ebay. I guess any Vitamin is better than no vitamins, though. Just relaying what I've been told.

I had that same kind of pain where it felt like I needed to burp really badly but instead just got a horrible wave of pain in my stomach. If you breath deeply when you feel it coming on, it's easier. It's totally normal though and will go away.

Just hold out a bit longer. It's SO worth it! You will discover this in time.

I take a lot of comfort knowing that even if I hit some bumps in the road and gain a few pounds, it would be really physically difficult to gain back all the weight that I have lost and will lose. I won't let myself be that person again and I know that I don't have to be anymore. You're in bandster hell and it really does feel like hell. I'm in it too, but there's hope ahead. I read a blog that said it's like having a brand new swimming pool with no Water in it. It's just kind of a bummer to look at because you cant' enjoy it yet. You'll be able to fill it up and enjoy it soon.

I just laughed so hard that my rectum hurts!! Did my band slip?!?! I'm going to keep a link to this post handy so when people post things like that I can politely refer them to this. Emphasis on POLITELY

This past weekend I drank way too much wine before dinner at a friends house. I ate a piece of pizza, a brownie, and a plate of fettuccine alfredo. Then I decided I wanted more, so I had another plate of alfredo and ANOTHER brownie. I was thinking to myself "how am I able to eat all of this??" I could not believe how much food I could eat because I've been restricting myself and staying between 1200-1400 calories a day. I haven't had a fill yet, but still, that was a lot of food! I didn't get sick, but the next day my stomach was actually sore and it hurt. It scared me. Luckily everything feels back to normal, but ack. The wine must have numbed the pain. Drinking + eating is scary. Hopefully the fill will fix it.

Best decision ever! I weighed 178 on surgery day and today is day 35 for me. The scale this morning said 162! I lost 10 pounds the first 10 days and have lost between 1-2 pounds a week since. I've had to WORK for it though, but it's ok because my relationship with food has completely changed and I know the weight will keep falling off. It feels great and I go for a fill in 2 weeks. Wish it was next week but I'll be out of town

Congrats! You'll go through some ups and downs but it's been the best decision I've ever made. My 1 month bandiversary was on May 21 and I was down 16 pounds! Woohoo!

I didn't think you were being condescending! No worries. I can totally understand the fear of the unknown in that way. My mother had already got a lapband at the same place a year or so before I did, so I was reassured by that. It was an excellent choice and location and I would recommend it highly. I think a lot of people also go to Mexico because of how highly most recommend it after having their procedure there.

We go to Mexico because we can't afford it otherwise. It was anywhere between $10-20,000 here and $6000 there, so the choice was obvious for me. Exact same device and procedure and Mexico has actually been doing lapbands for longer than in the US. That's awesome if you can afford it here though. Would have loved to just drive a few hours and then be home.