Hello everyone! I'm Liz. I'm not really sure where to start or what I'm supposed to put here. I am currently in the process of re-enrolling back into the program through Kaiser Richmond. I just had my first weigh-in today to start the process and I'm already down 6 lbs. :thumbup: (In a month and a half all I've done is no fast food, no soda, home/semi-home cooked meals. I only exercised 3 times.)
In case you're wondering, my understanding of getting re-enrolled back into the program requires 2 weigh-ins and a couple refresher classes. If I'm wrong, hopefully someone on here can correct me.
I can't remember when I first enrolled in the program, it's been a few years. In 2008 I was about 3lbs from my goal weight for surgery. I don't know what happened, but I started gaining the weight back. Then about a year ago I stopped going to the support group. 7/29/10 I weighed in at 3lbs over my starting weight (during a regular dr visit). But what made me want to re-enroll into the program and really do it this time, was talking to a client of mine (I'm a hairstylist) who had just gotten the gastric sleeve done. She encouraged me to re-enroll. So here I am. I finally feel like I am ready to lose the weight.
I have to say though, I'm torn between the band and the sleeve. I feel like the band is the right choice for me, but I have so many worries/doubts that I have to wonder if the sleeve would be better. Since I've got about 20 more lbs to go until I can have surgery anyway, I still have time to make up my mind, but I still worry about it. Plus it's kinda discouraging that there are no banders when I go to the support groups, it's all roux and y and a few sleeves. So I know exactly what to expect for roux and y, but I don't think that helps me as much since while they are similar surgeries, they are still different surgeries.
My biggest worry/fear is that I'll get banded and I'll be starving. I don't expect to never be hungry again. I mean like I'll eat my couple ounces of food and then even though my pouch will be full, I'll still be hungry b/c the bottom half of my stomach will still be empty. Does that make sense? Can someone please help me with this? I know how the band works but in my head it doesn't make sense.
Has anyone ever heard of anyone going from being banded to getting the gastric sleeve? I heard from someone who heard that there have been a couple cases where people who got banded were able to get the roux and y done b/c the band wasn't helping them lose weight even though they were doing everything how they were supposed to. Of course since I heard it from someone who heard it, idk how accurate that information is.
Has anyone here gotten banded and not told your family members? Acquaintances? Since I'm a hairstylist, I work with people I see on a regular basis and I don't want to say that I had surgery when the weight loss becomes noticeable, but I don't want to lie either. I just want to avoid any negative reactions. Same thing with certain family members. But I feel like they'll know somethings up if I'm shrinking and eating way less food than I used to. I have some major family issues. Advice?
I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions in the future.
~Liz