RestlessMonkey

I didn't overeat for the reasons you list but I overate for rewards, and had to find myself a new way to reward me for doing onerous tasks etc. (My "carrot" was carrot cake! LOL) I'm a "throw myself across the bed and cry" type when something makes me sad, but you'll find what works for you. Honestly a therapist might help you a little! Some people "journal" their feelings; writing it all down helps. Some channel it into exercise. Or that cry on the bed thing... but food never changed a thing when you were sad. It made you bigger, over the long run, but it didn't do a thing for you. You might have THOUGHT it was helping but it wasn't. Once you figure that out, it'll be easier.

If you do exactly what your doc says pre and post op (Ie following his diet to the letter, don't advance to solids/mushies etc before you are allowed to) the odds of complications are small. They are still there! (this IS life, you know!) but they are small. Modern anesthesia is a miraculous thing and again the odds of you not waking up are VERY slim. You have the same chance of dying on the table as you do dying from a fall in your shower or bath and yet you do that every day without a worry! :rolleyes2: That's just how slim the odds are (at least if the google site I found is correct! LOL) The band is different from bypass so you must not MUST not compare yourself to your family. You will have it way easier in some ways (no dumping syndrome etc) but the loss will be slower. Brace for that and don't feel like a failure when it comes true. On the plus side 5 years out bypassers and bandsters lose similar amounts of excess weight. The band is a tool and if you are committed to losing, you'll figure out how to work it for you! Good luck! OH and the pain? It's really individual but I had very little. I took 2 doses of the presciption pain med on day 2 but otherwise tylenol or nothing at all did the trick for me. The pain will pass, regardless. And if you have a good surgeon who removes most of the gas they pump in to spread your organs out and facilitate banding, you probably won't have much either!

It's one thing to walk for exercise and another to prevent clots. I won't address the exercise...but for clots, while you are awake you need to get up and move a bit every 30-40 minutes. Walk around for at least 2-3 min. When in bed you probably should wear the elastic "ted" hose if they sent them home with you.

Actually while diabetes (or blood sugar issues) is a big offender, as is lack of sleep...just being too full shouldn't really cause it unless you had a lot of carbs. However...it is not "normal". Most of us do NOT get sleepy every time we eat. Therefore it's something the OP should get checked out. It may be minor, and in fact probably is, but it shouldn't be ignored.

It varies widely. I've read everything from around 10K by a surgeon in Denver to 25K+ in some areas. You can go outside the country and pay less (I never would)

Just follow YOUR doc's orders (whatever they may be!) for pre and post op and you'll do great! Welcome and good luck!

Good luck! You are VERY smart to wonder about it and take care of it. If you decide, once the dust clears, to get the band, I bet you'll do wonderfully with it!

1. I'm worried about malabsorption issues as I age. Older people are at greater risk for malnutrition anyway; rerouting my guts so I can live longer just to be malnourished seem at best ill advised. 2. My husband's been an RN for 25+ years and worked in a GI lab for a chunk of that time. By Pass patients have MANY GI issues. It stands to reason...because of the nature of the surgery....and I didn't want to trade one problem or disease for another. 3. I couldn't stand the thought of my stomach sewn shut but just sitting inside me...still producing acid, but closed off from everything. Seems unhealthy and just WRONG and in a way it is; you're just blocking it off but it's still there. 4. The band is reversible so that if I need to be able to eat more, for whatever reason, or if I had just "flipped out" and been unable to adapt, it could be removed. As an Adjunct to that, because they ARE researching obesity and may come up with a better intervention some day...the band can be removed so I can opt for the "better" new thing. If it ever happens. 5. At 5 years out, lap band patients and bypass patients have similar weight loss (55% - 60% of their excess weight) but bypass patients have more medical issues. 6. With the band I can still eat foods I love, just in moderation. I am more "normal". Bypass patients often have things like dumping syndrome, for example, where if they eat sweets they have symptoms much like a panic attack or heart attack. I, on the other hand, can have a piece (albeit a small one!) of birthday cake on my birthday and not need a trip to the ER. 7. Down the road if I lose a lot and start gaining, I can always get my band filled a little more. Bypass patients...if you stretch out your tiny tummy, you're screwed. Even the one big NO NO for bandsters...carbonation...many successful bandsters more than a year or so out can indulge if they want. So I may life a glass of champagne at my 70th birthday, and have a bite of cake, and not have any GI upsets or be malnourished. Those are just some of the biggies for me.

I agree w/Shauna80. chocolate (candy, cocoa, cake, cookies) goes down VERY easy with the band. shakes, sweets, chips...all are "slider" foods. I truly think you first need some heavy duty BEHAVIORAL therapy to deal with anxiety. Find a "Behaviorist". You can pick a different type of analysis and talk about it forever if you want, but behaviorists just deal with it. It isn't that cut and dried, but almost. Get that under control and then see how you feel. Otherwise you'll go through the time and expense of banding, overeat and not lose, and just feel worse, I hope I don't sound harsh because I don't mean to! I graze graze graze (also a no no with the band!) so I had those issues to deal with. Not the same as yours, but still something "in the way". And unfortunately I didn't even have the option of a pill to stop me, so therapy was my first and last resort. You can help yourself, but a good therapist must be your first step, IMHO.

I'm told to eat until "satisfied", not "full". If you doubt you can do that, or not graze, or stick to all the rules you're right to question getting the band. Did you not address these issues in a seminar? If not you might want to attend another by your surgeon. It isn't for everyone.

Research has been going on regarding Leptin since 1995. It helps mice but not humans. They can't give it to humans effectively; it doesn't cross the blood/brain barrier. So it's all hype...so far. Maybe in the future, but not yet. If/when it works you'll know; you'll hear it on the news!

Depending on how you work the band, WW and the band aren't really compatible. WW requires you get the 8 healthy guidelines in (or at least, it did) but I've been told with the band to eat Protein first, then veggies, THEN fruit, and if I STILL have room (implication being that I won't) to have grains/breads/pastas. However if you do WW as a general guideline and not verbatim, I'm sure it can be helpful (the support, getting weighed weekly, etc). A point used to be roughly about 50 calories. More Fiber could move that up a bit, more fat down a bit, but 50 is a good average. Althought they've just recently changed the diet again, I think that's still a good average. So 1000 cal would be 20 points a day, and you'd want to get those mostly in lean meats, then veggies, then fruits. Maybe that will help give you a starting point! :scared2:

Think of the preop diet as a kind of "prescription". Not everyone needs one, and there are different ones. That's why it's important that you pick a surgeon you trust, and then TRUST him/her to do right by you. As long as you do that, and follow YOUR instructions to the letter, you'll come through fine!

I spoil myself fairly regularly. But I have "big" bonuses like when I get below 300 we are going to Vegas for a few days. When I get to 250 we are going to see my Beloved Mickey Mouse. So Travel is what I'm after...but only when I'm smaller and can enjoy it

It's hard but you need to be strong. If you advance your diet too fast you can cause a slip (or set yourself up for one later). Just tell yourself that the "hell" is only for a little while. As you get restricted you won't be able to eat a bunch of inappropriate foods anyway and will be full and happy with way less; then it won't be such an issue. So be strong now! Just leave the room/house when they eat if you need to!

I wasn't ever really sore there.

Talk to your surgeon. A HUGE concern is blood clots. That's a potential on any plane flight for any person and becomes more so on us obese people post op. The doc may give you instructions like "get up and walk for 5 minutes every 30" or some such. It really is not an optimum time to travel. Even a week later would be better You probably won't need to saran wrap your torso (most docs don't restrict showers beyond 24 hours or so) but you will be sore, you will be hungry and must NOT eat ahead of your post op diet, and you may be "not all there". Just think; the combo of no food, pain meds, surgery etc can alter the old mental status a bit. And if you are one of the unfortunate people who have severe gas pain etc for up to 2 weeks post op, you'll be in misery. It may go off without a hitch but I'm a "girl scout" type...I would move the surgery or cancel the trip.

Yes this is a question you need to be asking your insurance.

If it were me and I WANTED to go I'd go. I'd just drink Water or whatever, and say I wanted to support XYZ cause but can't eat. I'm a "teller" so most people know I have the lap band and I'd say "I can't eat today because of my band". If you aren't comfy with that say you have a stomach bug.

I am a nurse...get checked regardless. It IS a sign of diabetes but can be a sign of other issues as well, especially if it happens after every meal. Tell your doc!

The swelling is, I think, your stomach etc swelling a little because when you get a fill the band tightens a little and agitates it! You don't notice it usually but it can impact how "full" your band is so most docs say to just drink liquids (no food) for a time after a fill to give the stomach etc time to settle back down. The doc knows where the port is because, as the NP in my office says "He put it there". Seriously, they remember, plus good operative notes give them guidelines Mine has never used fluoro on me and found it find. He does use lidocaine to numb the area and that stings a bit (not as bad as a bug bite) then I feel....nothing! It's easy.

I have to say that if I thought for one small instant my husband was trying to hold me back because he wanted me FAT so no one else would love me...I'd leave him. I don't understand the mind set of forgiving someone who wants to keep you down. I do understand we're all different and try not to be judgmental! But really ladies think this through. That's not love. That's posession. If the other team member in your marriage wants to hold you back how will you ever ever grow/change/achieve? Different strokes for different folks and I don't pretend to understand anyone's dynamic but my own....but to me, love means a lot of things but it doesn't mean "keep you in the dark so no one but me can have you"

you shouldn't be sleepy just after eating unless you are very tired before every meal. It's a sign of diabetes (among other things). Are you getting too many carbs? ARE you getting enough sleep? Don't mean to be alarmist but unless you are running on no sleep (or only 5 hours or so) a night this shouldn't happen to you EVERY TIME. If it is, call your primary and get checked out. Something's up.

As long as you can get ample fluidcs down, I'd wait a little. Your throat is most likely swollen from the strep anyway. By Monday/Tuesday if you aren't able to eat mushies then I'd call the doc, and by next Thurs if you still can't eat solids then for sure call. NEVER get so tight you can't keep liquids down! NEVER! But since you can drink liquids I think you're ok over the weekend and it will probabl resolve on its own.

Each surgeon seems to have his or her own way of directing their patients, both pre- and post-op. Once you find a surgeon you like and trust your safest course is to....TRUST that surgeon! Do what s/he says! They have different styles, different techniques, and they know what works for THEIR patients. Never take something you read here over what your doctor tells you! So you can see that your questions are only going to raise more until you pick your doc. Generally, you need to follow their instructions to the letter preop and post op (for the healing period). 6 months down the road, one year down the road...how you eat will largely be up to you. You will decide how tight (how filled) is "just right" FOR YOU and you will decide what you can and can't eat. SOME people have problems with white bread, white chicken, stringy beef. Some like to be so tight that they almost can't eat, but that tight can lead to slips and erosion. You'll decide. I guess it's like "being in love". Until you're there and you feel it it is hard to describe! :scared2: You'll figure it out. Again...just pick a surgeon you trust, and you'll do fine!