Catherine55

You are definitely not alone -- and good for you that you decided to post here! I've gotten so much support from the other bandsters on this site. It's a really great place to go when you have questions, need to vent, or just want to be able to say how great you feel because the band is working! I love my band. I was banded about 8 1/2 months ago, and it has made a world of difference. There is no way I could have stuck to a diet perfectly for this long -- and still be excited about getting to goal. If you round up to the nearest pound, I'm down 50 lbs at this point (OK, 49.6!) and I feel fantastic. I hope you make the right decision for yourself! The band is a big commitment, but if you're up for that part, it makes losing weight so, SO much easier. Best wishes, Catherine

I'm 8 months out and 49.6 down. I think you are doing great!! Can you just imagine what your weight would be if you'd gone through the last nine months without the band? Definitely cut yourself some slack! :biggrin: I can totally relate to your frustration with being stalled. I've been there myself. Try mixing things up by eating different foods, varying your calorie intake, and mixing up your workout. There is no way that you won't lose more weight, so just hang in there until the loss cycle comes back! Best wishes, Catherine

That is awesome! I had a 2-incision surgery as well, but my second scar is a whole lot more visible than yours will be! What a great innovation. I hope you are recuperating nicely! Welcome to Bandland! Catherine

I had a major NSV this weekend. I got stuck in the middle seat of an airplane for one leg of my flight to Austin. For years, I've been terrified of getting stuck in the middle because I knew that I'd be cramped and uncomfortable, and that the people on either side of me would just be hating me the whole time. BUT, at eight months post-op and 48 lbs down, I fit in that seat with a bit of room to spare! Woo-hoo! :tongue_smilie: Catherine

Hi, Lindsay! I agree with the people who said that this is a normal part of the process for a lot of people. They don't call it Bandster "Hell" for no reason! Just give it some time and do your best to embrace the changes and make them enjoyable. The food thing doesn't have to be torturesome -- it's all about quality vs quantity. So, plan to eat things you really love that aren't crazy fattening. For me, that involved making a bunch of delicious Soups and freezing them in individual containers to get me through lunch at work during the winter (I have a few recipes on my blog that are really yummy, especially the mexican chicken Soup with cheese). Don't stress too much about exercise. You don't have to be perfect right now. I mean, it's great if you can get that in, too, but if you can only deal with one big change right now, let that be the food one. Honestly, I love my band. I don't find it to be a burden and, at 8 months post-op (and 47 lbs down), I find that the changes I've made have been so easy to make when compared with how amazing the related benefits have been. I hope that helps! Hang in there. It will get better. Catherine

Congratulations!! I had to do a 3-day liquid diet too. It wasn't bad at all. The only hard part was being around other people who are eating. If you can avoid that, it should be a breeze! If not, be sure to keep boullion cubes in your purse so that you can at least have some broth if you want something to tide you over! Catherine

1) What is a good Protein shake? Honestly, they are all pretty disgusting! I haven't found one that I like, but you'll probably get a few recommendations from others. 2) Did you use anything to help diminish your scars? and if so, what did you use? Yes -- I started out with Mederma (didn't do anything as far as I can tell), then used Vitamin E -- but then a friend recommended Epidermis to me, and it's been great. There are photos of my scars and a link to the Epidermis site on my blog somewhere (you can just Google Epidermis to find it as well-- I get the square that costs $40-something and cut it into small pieces). 3) The gas pain has me worried. That is one of the biggest after-effects of the surgery from what I can tell from reading on this site..what works the best?? Walking around after surgery seems to help. Other than that, I took some gas medicine that my doctor gave me. 4) What can I expect the day of surgery as far as afterward...will I want to sleep all day? You'll want to relax and take it easy and have the option of napping on and off. Maybe rent a few movies to tide you over. 5) How are your emotions in the weeks following the surgery? Great! I was very happy that it went so well and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The full liquid diet was a breeze after having to do Clear liquids, and the 2 weeks of that, and the 2 weeks of mushies just flew by. I hope that helps! Congratulations on your surgery date! :tongue2: Catherine

Definitely don't forget to bring lip balm! You are going to want it after surgery. I brought a loose cotton dress to wear after surgery, and that worked out just fine. I also packed a tank top with a built-in bra, since I'd heard it might be hard to wear a bra depending on where the incisions are. Whatever you decide to wear, just make sure it's really comfy and not tight or hard at the waist.

That happened to me once, too. My band was tighter for a few days because my stomach was irritated from the PB/vomit episode. I just went on liquids for 2 days and that helped. Of course, there is no substitute for asking your doctor, but this worked just fine for me. Catherine

2000 is definitely on the high side -- my doctor recommends 1000 to 1200 per day. So, it should be easier to get to your total! For Protein, I'd go with fresh delicious fish -- maybe some poached salmon. (I like to poach it in a bit of Water with 1 tsp Dijon mustard, a splash of white wine and some capers.) It's fresh, healthy, low-cal, high-protein and delicious. Sounds like the calorie counter will be a great way to keep track of things once you Iron out the amount you should have. I hope it is helpful! Catherine

Well, it certainly looks like I'll make it to the 170s this month, which is great! My weight loss has been SO SLOW because of all of the working out I've been doing. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, and I'm losing inches though, so I'm trying to keep it all in perspective! How is everyone else doing? Catherine

Your "sweet spot" is when your band is tight enough that you can't eat too much, but no so tight that you can't eat enough. For me, right now that spot seems to be 2.85 ccs in my 5 cc band. It's different for everyone. Also, your sweet spot changes as you lose weight (I believe that is because there is less fat around your stomach, but I'm not 100% on that). So, you may find that you need to get an adjustment as you get closer to goal. I've had the same fill since March 12th, and it's still working well for me. I hope that helps! Catherine

I had turkey chili a few times on my post-op full liquids diet. I just would blend it with some chicken broth and nonfat Greek yogurt (tastes like sour cream) to thin it out. Was totally fine and went down well.

I had my surgery done in Mexico by Dr. Rumbaut, and his office helped me work this out before I had my surgery. They had relationships with two hospitals here in NYC, and so I was able to get in with the team at NYU and book my first checkup before I got banded. I would see if your doctor can help you with a referral. Honestly, the NYU team refused to schedule an appointment for me until after my doctor's office called them to straighten things out.

I used Dr. Rumbaut too and had an excellent experience. I posted all about it at the beginning of my blog, if you are interested, including photos of the hospital. Funny . . I just visited a friend at Lennox Hill Hospital here in NYC, which is supposed to be one of the best hospitals in the world, etc. . and it was a complete hole next to the hospital in Monterrey! Best of luck with your decision -- feel free to message me if you want more information about my experience with Dr. Rumbaut. I also should mention that the woman who answers his U.S. telephone line (Cathy) is fantastic. She spent so much time speaking with me and answering all of my questions, and I really appreciated it. She was banded by Dr. R. as well. Also -- Dr. Rumbaut is banded, so I felt like he had a great perspective that other surgeons who are not banded do not. Catherine

I agree with Holli on Amazon.com: Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band: Everything You Need to Know Before and After Surgery to Lose Weight Successfully: Robert Sewell M.D., Linda Rohrbough: Books I bought 3 books before I had my surgery, and this was by far the best one. I read it several times, and it really answered a lot of my questions. Plus, the book has short essays by people with different perspectives -- patients, doctors, psychologists, so it was really interesting to learn about the band from those different points of view. The other books I bought were Amazon.com: LAP-BAND Companion: Mark J. Watson, MD, Daniel B. Jones, Brooks Hart, C.M.I.: Books and Amazon.com: Fighting Weight: How I Achieved Healthy Weight Loss with "Banding," a New Procedure That Eliminates Hunger--Forever: Khaliah Ali, George Fielding, Christine Ren, Lawrence Lindner: Books. The Lap Band Companion was pretty good too -- and it's different enough from the first one I mentioned that I was glad to have both. Fighting Weight didn't really do it for me though, but mainly because I wasn't that interested in Khalia Ali. The part written by the doctors was good though.

I had some doubts right before surgery, but then I went and looked at my pro/con list. The pros heavily outweighed the cons for me -- and now, 10 months down the road, I see that a lot of my "cons" just aren't as big of a deal as I thought they would be. It's normal to be afraid and to worry. But, as a practical matter, this surgery is pretty low-risk (especially compared with, e.g. gastric bypass surgery). I bet that statistically, your chances of having the surgery go wrong are significantly lower than your chances of having health problems due to your weight if you don't have the surgery. Plus, even if you could be perfect on a diet for a year and lose the weight, (and this is a statistic I actually have seen) your chances of keeping it off would only be 5%. Hang in there! If you have a pro/con list that helps you work through this, I'd recommend that you bring it with you when you have your surgery. I did that and, while it turns out that I didn't need it, I thought it would help me to have it to look at if I thought I might chicken out! Best wishes for you to make the right decision for yourself! Catherine

I have this scale from HoMedics (bought it at BB&Beyond) and I love it. I can step on and off it 10 times and it always shows the same exact weight. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14755357 I also really love it that it gives me my weight by 10th of a pound. It's nice to see even small progress. Plus, I love it that the scale is so accurate. After years on a scale that could vary 3-5 lbs within 30 seconds, it's nice to see a number and know it's real! BTW, HoMedics has some cheaper scales than this one -- I just got this one b/c I wanted it to go with my bathroom. I don't use all of the features on it. Catherine

Just to clarify -- I'm not hungry between meals. I thought that the earlier poster's message made it sound like you never have the sensation of hunger once you get the band. That's not the case -- you still feel hungry when it's time to eat. You just get satisfied a lot faster and with much less food! Catherine

Hi! Your stats are exactly the same as my pre-op stats! I am 5'6 and started at 230 as well. The band has done wonders for me -- I'm now in the low 180s, just 8 months post-op. If your experience is like mine, you will find that the band prevents you from overeating and helps you stay on the straight & narrow. For me, it's been an incredibly great tool, and I am so glad every single day that I got it. I've been keeping a blog since before my surgery -- feel free to check it out. Given that we are the same size, you might be interested to see the photos I put up, etc. "Lise the Loser" is another blog you might like (there is a link to it in mine) b/c she was about the same size pre-op as well. Good luck with your decision! Catherine

I'm excited today. . . I bought a pair of size 16 black pants on-line from The Gap and. . . they fit! I'm wearing them to work today. I haven't been in a regular 16 for quite some time! Woo-hoo! It's so nice to be able to buy misses sizes instead of plus once again (and to be out of that weird no man's range between 1X and 16 misses)! Catherine

Also, this book was really great -- and it has a section for spouses at the end. I would encourage you and your wife to read it. It was the best of the 3 books I bought before I had my surgery. Amazon.com: Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band: Everything You Need to Know Before and After Surgery to Lose Weight Successfully: Robert Sewell M.D., Linda Rohrbough: Books

A few suggestions. . Definitely give her back rubs post-op -- she will have some shoulder pain! Tell her every time you notice that she looks good. It would be helpful not to have the wrong foods in the house, but you have to be able to live as well! Still, this may be a good opportunity for you to get even healthier! Don't criticize her food choices -- or encourage her to "just have a bite" of foods that she shouldn't have. And, be sure to let her know how proud of her you are, even though you love her at any weight. I hope that helps! Catherine

Just wanted to add something on the other posts -- I do still get hungry -- it's not like you lose that normal feeling -- but I get full very quickly and stay satisfied longer. On bread -- I can't eat soft, doughy bread, but I can have toast or a crusty roll. I don't eat a lot of it, but once in a while, if I really want some, I have it. Also, the change in eating hasn't been that bad. I still eat pretty much whatever I want. I just pay attention to what is working with the band, and I eat a whole lot less than I used to! I really do think this was one of the best decisions I ever made. I still have 30 lbs to go, but I already feel healthier, more attractive, stronger (have been working out!) and better about myself than I have in years! This morning, on my way to the office, my doorman stopped me to say that I looked beautiful! How nice is that. :thumbup: It feels incredible also not to spend every single day beating myself up over how my clothes fit, how fat I've gotten, etc. The small inconveniences of the band (having to chew, the occasional stuck episode, etc.) are nothing compared to finally taking charge of an issue that had been bothering me for as long as I can remember. I hope that helps! This isn't a magic cure or anything -- you have to work with your band. But, it makes it SO MUCH easier to stay on the straight and narrow with your diet for the long-term. Best wishes to you! Catherine

I am really happy with my decision, and I love my band. I've been blogging since just before my surgery -- feel free to take a look. I recently posted up my pre-surgery pro-con list (from when I was at the point where you are now) and how I feel about the cons now. None of them were as big a deal as I thought they would be. Best wishes for you to make the right decision for yourself! Catherine