Hollie519

The lap band does not make you not addicted to food anymore. It's just like with drugs. No surgery will make your mind not addicted. The lap band is a tool to help you change your life. This means changing your mind. Honestly, I have had the lap band 11 months on Wednesday and I am still addicted to food almost as much as I was before I had the surgery. The difference is, I have the will power to say, no you don't need that now. I mean having the lap band is the first step. If your craving for food is strong enough to call it an addiction than it is all psycalogical. I have found that if you are addicted, you should also be having some kind of counseling. I did notice that i am not as excited to go out and eat anymore. This helps but I am still not done being an emotional eater. I don't do it but the want is still there. In a sense, it helps but you still have to do some psycalogical work as well.

I have noticed that certain things that pertain to weight loss are upsetting me more than they should. For instance, people who think this surgery is like the bypass. You can't sit on your ass and lose weight. God did not intend for it to happen that way. ok perfect story: I was at the gym, on the eliptical machine, and another lady got on to the one next to me. She seemed about 30 and in great physical shape. When she started to move, she was acting like she was taking a strole in the park. I watched to see if she'd ever speed up and she never did! Oh my gosh, i was like can you move please. i didn't really say that but it was super discouraging to have this lady next to me acting like this was a freakin joke. I mean i have no clue why i act this way. I mean earning your own is a big thing in my life. My parent's are very wealthy but you can bet i don't see a dime of it. i have to work for everything i have. My father was the same way. His wealth comes because he busts his ass everyday. Maybe I just need to keep telling myself that good things happen to good people and karma is a bitch. I just would hate for someone to think that i ate candy bars and got thin like you can with the bypass. I want people to see the sweat and tears and the time a effort i put into my body. Sometimes I guess I just feel discreditted for the work i put in. I just wish it didn't bother me so much!

I just told my boyrfried that we need to be on a break. After posting a thread with my thoughts of my childhood, I realized i have a lot of work to do on myself. I also found myself wondering if I was just with this guy because he loved me before I had the surgery or am i clinging to him because I thought he'd be the only guy who'd ever love me. He also, is like my child. Sometimes i feel like a single parent; more often than not. I pay all the bills and make sure he is doing everything he should be. I can only take care of his stuff to an extent. I am not his mother nor his wife, so certain things i can't do. It always seemed funny to me that those things I couldn't do, never got done. There were just always certain obsitcles that I thought, when they were finished I'd be happy. I have come to realize, that no matter what gets accomplished, i am not happy. i don't know if it him or if its me. I mean, when he's gone, i miss him. i don't if its because i don't want to be alone or if it is him. We have a lot of the same views on life and have a good time with each other just sitting back and debating things. I don't know. i'm so confused. i am only 18 years old and i feel like i'm thirty. Because of the surgery, I had to do an at home program to graduate high school. So since September, I've been working full time. I will be starting college soon and i don't think i can take it. I have money anxiety that comes from my dad and I am so frequently so occupied with worrying about how things are going to be paid for. I need help. i mean he makes money, but he doens't worry about the bills or about the responsibilities that i take on that I shouldn't have to. I just want to scream, I AM ONLY 18!

Oh I appologize. I must have heard incorrectly than. Maybe the advocat at UCSD had the surgery out of the country. I just know her we have the same doctor but he is originally fromo Russia. Maybe she had it done there. Who knows. I'll have to look into that next time I go.

The point is, there are ways to eat around your band. I did not do that regardless of the fact that I smoked pot or not. For ME, it neutralizes my stomach. I do not get hungry. If I don't go in the kitchen, I will never eat. That's all I was saying. I never said for other people it was that way. And I have made the committment to quit so why are you trying to argue with me?

Yea lol I have to have mine for 5 years but I think I will keep it until i know my mind can control itself with food. Probably not until after I have kids and than some years. I'm terrified to gain it back.

um I believe the patient advocat at UCSD has had hers for the last 10 years and she got in the us. In July 1994, the LAP-BAND® System became available on the market outside the U.S. to be used by the trained surgeons. After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established U.S.-based clinical trials in 1995 (The FDA regulations require clinical trials in approved centers before an implantable device, such as the LAP-BAND® System, can be used widely in the U.S. in a surgical procedure), they approved the LAP-BAND® System for general use in June 2001. To date, over 350,000 LAP-BAND® System devices have been distributed worldwide to allow thousands of patients to lose and control their weight, reduce their health risks, and live happier, more active lives. Allergan continues to refine the LAP-BAND® System and surgical technique in conjunction with surgeons around the world to achieve better outcomes for our patients. The latest generation of the LAP-BAND® stem - the LAP-BAND AP® - became available to U.S. patients in 2007. So in some sense you are correct but they did do the FDA study here first. I am in an FDA study right now to have the study be approved for people under 18.

the band has been in the US for more than 5 years. Well thats what wikipedia says.

WAY TO GO! WOOOO HOOOOO You have officailly lost like a 4 or 5 year old toddler. Crazy feeling!

it sucks when too many people ask you how much you have lost. Around the holidays, when all the family was in town and we were going to all kinds of christmas parties, i got asked a lot. It actually made me discouraged because i felt like i was saying the same number too many times. That's how i learned to not discredit myself. Every pounds is a big deal.

When i had the surgery, my wouldn't even stop buying ice cream until I told the doctor. When he called her out, she was very mad. So i know what its like to feel like you are all alone.

And about the hives, I've tried everything. They have not gone away for the last 3 months. They dont' just leave and resurface they are just there. I went to the doctor. I had my house sprayed. I thought it was bugs first. My boyfriend deosn't have one bump and the itchiness from stress runs in my family. I go to see a psyciatrist on Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to get something perscribed so they will go away. i have anxiety as it is. I'll keep you posted.

thanks for your input. i think i am very judgemental period. i don't mean to be. I really don't, but it comes from my mom. I have always been compared to natuarally thin people. i have always belittled my talent of being able to learn very quickly. I never studied a day in my life and graduated with honors. The last math class i took was Honors Pre-cal and i would have gone on to calculus had it not been for the lap band. I have always been a loyal and trustworthy person but like I said, my mother was actually the one who belittle the things that were special about me first. As a young child, i picked up on it and thought that was the way i was supposed to be. I don't mean it to sound offensive to anyone and I am trying to head down the path of change. I feel like what others take as me being judgmental is really me judging myself. I compare myself to everyone and really wish I knew how to not do that. Its damaging to my self-esteem massively. I am trying to be a more open minded person and learn to accept myself. thanks again for your input. Every word gives me a realization about myself. Much needed realizations.

Sorry I like to post on the dailey. :] Today, when i got on the scale, it said 156. I know it's because of water weight. Yesterday I found myself drinking like 2 gallons of water. i was so thirsty. Anyway, my surgeon at UCSD told me that he would give me a job there if I lost 100 pounds by my year mark which is coming up rapidly. Technially I'm at 90 but I know i'm really 92 so its ok. I know how to read my body now. BUT this means i have to lose 8 more pounds by October 3rd. So I am a little nervous because I am at the point where the weight comes off slower. I mean this is my future. I gave up school pretty much to have the lap band. It would be a pain in the ass for me to try to get into college now. I mean i graduated with honors but doing an at home program never looks good on a transcript. Plus i don't really have enough extra caricular ativities to even stand out next to the millions of applications San Diego universities reaceive. If i get a job at UCSD, they will help me go to school there. So literally my entire future is riding on 8 pounds. I know my surgeon has faith in me because he hooked me up with an interview on KPBS radio and an interview in the union tribune. My last visit in the beginning of August, he confirmed he would give me a job and introduced me to the Chairman of the Board. Sorry I just needed to vent and get some encouragement for those last 8 pounds by October. Plus I want to dress a little revealing for Halloween since I am 18 and have yet to do that. :] Feels good to finally tell some people. I have known about getting this job since like December but i didn't want to jinx it.

Oh plenty of times! haha He asked me if i was doing drugs actually. lol But than he said no because even your face looks great. HAHA! I have actually found more enjoyment seeing people I went to high school with. My freshman year, some senior called me a whale. I started a new job in June and guess who worked here. You could tell she knew it was me even though I haven't seen her in 4 years. I love to see all the guys that i was just there friend and never more. They are all drooling over me now and i haven't even hit my goal weight. I can't wait for desert season to start, so i can see all the family friends who weren't always nice to me. I actually had one of them talk a bunch of shit about me in front of everyone and than ask me to give him sexual favors later. haha no I can't wait to see the look on his face now. :] Good job, girl! Keep up the good work.

Hey they don't lie. Here we have a Mountain that is a 3.5 mile hike to the top. It's like stone steps the whole way up. Intense! The first time i did it at 220, i had to stop every 10 minutes because I couldn't breathe. I than did it at 180 and flew up it. I am going on Monday at 154 and i plan on trying to run a bit on the way to the top. Skinny people don't understand why heavy people don't work out more but its like hello, you have half the weight. Try putting weights on of what you've lost and see how hard it is. I can't wait for biggest loser to start again. That show always gives me big motivation.

wow thats really cool that they trade clothes. I wish they would have had that here. My mom is a size 16 and my sister is a size 7 so I had enough clothes between sizes. But that trading thing is something they should start doing in more places. I have never worn a bealt! Ever but I did get a super cute short halter top dress for graduation and i looked hot. lol :] I can cross my legs now too. Even better.

That is really sad that you have a doctor who would admit that to you. Let me tell you, my doctor has done so mnay lap band surgeries and has a huge success rate. Before he was in California, he was in Chicago and did the lap band there as well. I'm very sorry your doctor is acting this way toward you. One of the doctors I saw for the screening also said he didn't believe in the lap band. I was also discouraged. After seeing my own results, I know I made the right decision. Just take your doctors negativity as insentive to prove him wrong. You can do it. 15 pounds already! Congrats. Don't ever discredit yourself. Not even for 1 pound. You've earned every bit of it. Keep it up.

I felt like something was stuck too but there was nothing there. I waited 36 hours to see if i could pass it and I couldn't. GO TO THE DOCTOR!

Well yea, I mean I had someone ask me why i needed to resort to surgery. he said why don't you just stop eating and go to the gym. DUH! Don't you think i've tried that. lol i wish people only knew the difference between lap band a bypass. I chose lap band because the results come from the work i put into it. I know my mother is my underlying problem with why I think this way. i have had so many years of counseling because my dad was an alcoholic but that was never my problem. My mom is. She fills my brain with her thoughts and than i get confused. I mean you guys should see the hives that have been on my arms for the last 2 months. I'm so itchy all the time. I can't wait to start counseling. At least this time, i'll be able to go by myself and focus on me and not my mom.

ok well i know I am a good person. that wasn't my problem

GIRL YOU NEED TO GET SOME TAKEN OUT! I was like that and didn't do anything. Eventually I was swollen shut and couldn't even have water. I had to be completely deflated and back on liquids for 2 weeks. It was right around my 18 birthday too so it sucked.

I did a report on it to get pe credit for my at home school program. The point in the band is to help you learn portion control. The band is removable because its not meant to be there forever. Because it is so new, there is no designated time that it is supposed to be left in. The patient advocte at UCSD has had hers for 10 years with no complications. She actually just had a baby. We owe our happiness to a little Swedish man! :]