RestlessMonkey

ohgary respectfully then, the lap band isn't for you because, at least to start, your "meals" will top out at about 2 oz each after you've gone through whatever liquid diet your surgeon requires. Even with more radical weight loss surgery you will have to modify your habits. Since "diets" aren't for you, perhaps a therapist can get you headed in the right direction. Unless you're willing to work, there's no magic pill, surgery, or elixir that will make us thin.

My doc says one year and unlike AFW's doc, he said (although I'm 53 and it's not pertinent to me, he made me repeat this anyway LOL I guess that's how strongly he feels) I risk my life AND that of the baby if I don't allow my band to heal etc. I didnt ask how or why; I suggest you ask your surgeon.

Furthermore statistics vary but in the USA most lap band patients AVERAGE a loss of about 50% of their goal weight. Many do better, many do worse. Maybe he's just trying to be realistic. Mine didn't set a goal weight. They are all different. You could always ask yours why he chose that number.

They require a seminar and that's good It will answer all your questions better than we could. Each surgeon does things his or her own way.

Regarding self pay; most I've heard of require you finance it yourself but some can provide info on companies that do finance bariatric surgery.

What Jodi says...although mine lasted 3 weeks and I didn't do what my surgeon said exactly (tho I did lose 15 pounds) so I had to do it ANOTHER 18 days. So All told my preop diet was 5 1/2 weeks. Moral? Do exactly whatever your surgeon tells you to do! (and not everyone has one! :thumbup:

I'm allergic to vicodin (nausea etc) so I was given...Darvocet TABLETS LOL I had no restriction at all though and swallowed the 2 I took fine! See, every person and every surgeon is just a little different!

Lap band isn't a forced diet. It's a tool and you can bypass it or "eat around the band" if you aren't committed to "dieting" while on it. You're going to have to deal with your head hunger.

Honestly? If I were you I'd give weight watchers a shot before I had surgery. If you haven't ever really "dieted" you might find you like it and don't need the surgery. It's come a long way; at your weight and height you'll get a LOT of food each day, and they have 2 different diets to choose from. Check it out before you have surgery.

I must proofread...it is called ON Q (not on W) a play on both the size of the device (cue ball) and the fact that it delivers pain meds "on cue"

Sorry I'm a nursing student and called it Q-ball but it is On W...it is a cue ball sized plastic orb filled with pain reliever. That part of it stays outside your body and a very very slender cannula (with holes along the length) goes inside your body and washes the area with a pain killer. Many love it; it drove me INSANE having that ball of liquid (again its about the size of a cue ball) pinned to my clothes. SO I removed mine; the pain was less than the pain of it, to me. Most don't feel that way! Please get the surgery you feel is right for you. Whether you have saggy skin or not depends on more than just a slow weightloss. Age, genetics, previous skin damage (ie sun exposure) , HOW much your skin is stretched now....all play a factor.

The surgery hits everyone differently. It wasn't any big deal for me, I removed the Q ball thing the MINUTE I got home...it bothered me more than the pain! All told I took 2 pain pills....but everyone is different! It sounds to me like you should maybe take tomorrow off from work too; any way you can do that? It takes a while to clear the anesthesia! :thumbup: Glad you are through it!

I am sure all will go well. It's entirely likely that your surgeon is used to the problem and isn't worried about it! :thumbup: Good luck! I bet you're excited!

When I say experience of your surgeon...I don't mean how often he's done the surgery actually (like we usually mean!) but what his experience has been with his patient base and what he finds when he goes in to operate...

It depends on how you answer questions about gas, acid reflux, digestion etc....and your surgeon and his experience. I had an upper GI only (no lower) because I have a large ventral hernia, but if I hadn't had that, I wouldn't have needed it preop. In fact when I went they said my surgeon usually just does one post op. AND postop, same day before I could go home I had a "thin swallow" GI to make sure what I was swallowing was going into my stomach and not my lungs. Once I was cleared , I went home.

Sleep well and good luck! You aren't any different from the rest of us, we all grapple with the big change! :thumbup:

I googled "How to I pick a good surgeon" and this popped up in the first option: Pick a surgeon who does little but the procedure that you need to have done. If you must have a lump removed from your breast, pick a surgeon who does this procedure a hundred or more times per year Just because she does bypass doesnt' mean she's good at placing the band (you have to move the liver, maneuver it around the top of the stomach, place it low enough to give enough of a "pouch" but high enough to do some good, etc etc)

My surgeon also has a "center of excellence" and he's done over 1000 surgeries. Guess which one I'd pick? LOL Honestly I understand students need to learn etc etc...however I stand by my initial answer...I would find a surgeon with more surgeries under his or her belt.

There is no way on earth I would go to a surgeon who had only done 50 unless that was the only way on earth I could get the band. And even then I'd wait. Sorry but statistically you want surgeons who have done higher numbers, with a team who has "seen it all". That is not to say your surgeon isn't a marvel of modern medicine! I am just playing the percentages and I want a young person with TONS of experience to cut on me. At the least, I'd want a "pro" to scrub in and assist. Not to scare you...but that's one thing that articles always say when telling you "how to pick a surgeon"...you want one who has done it and can't be caught off guard by anything that happens. Bariatric surgery is risky...we obese are high risk to begin with. I wanted every point in my favor when I went in.

Froggi "woobie" is from the old movie with Michal Keaton..Mr. Mom? It was the little kid's name for his favorite blanket LOL So my husband and I call any cuddle object a woobie. :thumbup:

I like pizza too (not sodas but I did like an occasional beer) I had to come to terms with it my own way. So I can't tell you how...but I can repeat that a therapist would probably help you A LOT. If you don't handle your emotional eating, then you are going to struggle with your weight for a long long time. If you can do something now while your kids are young you'll be grateful forever. You have to do it though. I wasn't an "emotional" eater and so can't give you any tips there, but I was a "reward" eater (I guess that's kind of emotional in a way, but I didn't eat from sadness or boredom or loneliness or anger or whatever LOL) and the therapist helped me.

So, Aprilapple, you were going for a Peep study? LOL Sorry I'm still on liquids I'm a little loopy LOL

Toothbrush and paste? Hair brush? clean undies? A woobie?

I understand. I cried a little too. BUT....food won't be your comfort any more. If I were you I'd find a good therapist and go to some sessions....because you will grieve that loss just like the loss of a loved one...and if you don't find another outlet you can "eat around the band" by choosing high fat, high sugar foods instead of the healthy ones. The band will help you control your true "body or physiological hunger"...but that "head" or emotional hunger you have to deal with. I personally went to a therapist for 10 months to try to figure out how to stop overeating and she helped me immensely. Without that, I would've been afraid about the band too. You won't EVER eat as much as you do now, if you're successful. But once you are through losing, you will be able to eat most of the same foods, just less. (no carbonated beverages like sodas or beer though...doesn't work with the 2 stomachs!) It is a tool to help you but won't do it for you. And if you aren't ready, that's ok. It IS scary. Anyone who thinks it's easy hasn't ever really faced it. SO I do understand. To give up that relationship to food is big. I realized that, while I do like to eat 1 and a half chick fil a sandwiches, I never ever wished I could have 3 at once. Well, I figure one day when I can eat 1/3 of one and be full, I'll be happy with that. BUT I have to forgo them and make healthy choices now so I can lose. I'll still have to "diet" if that's how you want to look at it; the band will just help me be full, not hungry, while I am making those healthy picks. You are very smart to make sure you want to do that and CAN do that before you pay for the surgery and get the band! They are questions we all should face and answer; the successful ones do face and answer before proceeding.

I would say in the same way we're to avoid acids at the start, we should also avoid things that are alkaline. So I vote wait and ask your doc tomorrow. For example, alcohol and coffee are liquids but many docs want you to wait until healed to have them. Best to see what your doc wants. One more day won't hurt.