brittneylee

i absolutely HATED the shakes! i drink isopure now. they are like fruit juices basically. i think they are comparable to gatorade in taste. they have 40 grams of protein per drink so its amazing! my nutritionsit told me once i got to the puree stage to just chew my food WAY more than i normally would and puree it in my mouth. during that stage i ate ALOT of beans! the way my dr told me to figure out my weight is by my height. hope that helped some and good luck!

I am 20 yrs old and i seriously had the same feelings as you are having now. I was active all of my life. I played fastpitch softball for 10 yrs, and once i graduated high school i ballooned to 291 lbs. I was mortified with how i let myself get the way i was. BUT I had a turning point. I thought to myself it didnt matter what my weight was before. I was overweight, yes absolutely. But with Lap Band I dont have to be overweight anymore. I was also scared about the excess skin when I am done loosing weight. The way I think about it is if I want the extra skin gone, it can literally be gone in 1 day. It will take me lets say 2 yrs to get all of the excess skin, but it will take 1 day for it to be gone. There are so many different emotions I can imagine you are going through right now. I went through them. I have to say though getting the lap band was the best decision I have ever made. By having the band I will be able to live a normal, more fulfilling life. And in all honesty, the feelings of being unsure or scared, or whatever you are feeling right now will go away once you step on the scale and see the weight that you are loosing! I wish you the best of luck in the journey you are about to embark on! :frown:

today i am 4 weeks post op. i have lost a total of 31 lbs. i lost it super quick! for the past week and a half i have not lost anything!!! should i be nervous? is this normal???

hello! i was banded on 02/11/09. I am now onto the last stage of the diet before the real deal begins. during the mushie stage i ate ALOT of beans. also i ate yogurt, jello, soups, and i even ate some red meat (but chewed it very well) and lots of mashed potatoes. you WILL get thru it! i thought it would never end, but im now on the last stage of the diet, and i am so relieved that i made it! :]

i went to my surgeon today and asked him this question and he told me 2 weeks after surgery is fine. he said that they dont want you in the water because your incisions, but after 2 weeks they have formed a water membrane and you wont repture the stitches or anything. hope this helped! :]

Hi Emily! I think this is awesome that you are taking control of your weight now! I am also a "younger" patient. i am 20. I am only 4 weeks post op, and i already know this is the best decision I have ever made! the journey is worth a lifetime of happiness! good luck to you! :]

sugar free popsicles really did the trick for me! also i did alot of broth for the 2 weeks after post op. idk if you like the protein shakes, i think i am allergic to them, so i didnt get protein for the whole 2 weeks. i found these drinks that are called isopure, and they have 40 grams of protein in each bottle. SUPER helpful. they almost taste like gatorade! i am now on the mushy stage, and i get lean cuisine "meatloaf" and i eat the mashed potatoes out of it. they are super low fat and taste delicious! good luck on your surgery!

yes i think that is normal. same thing happened to me after surgery. it is all of the gas they pump inside of you so they can move around. not to worry, totally normal! it will go down in a couple days!

i am just now 2 weeks out of surgery, and i didnt have any of those problems. i didnt and still dont want to eat. since the pre op diet and after surgery i have lost 32lbs. i would absolutely call your nutritionist or surgeon or someone to see what you can do. maybe you arent drinking enough water in between everything?? i know its supposed to be 64 ounces throughout the day. but definately call the nutritionist, because everyone is different, and everyone reacts differently.

i dont know if this is a success story, but it is doing well for me so far! i was banded on 2/11. When i started the pre op diet i was 291lbs. the day of surgey i was 284 lbs. today, 13 days after surgery, i am 260 lbs. it is going SUPER fast for me. everyday is some more weight loss! dont get cold feet! you will change your life for the better with this!!!

i had a few complications with my surgery. first off they were originally going to do my incisions under my breast area, but my diaphram was too high. because of that they did my incisions maybe an inch about my belly button. i had 2 extra incisions because my skin was too thick apparently. so i have a total of 6 incisions. during surgery i apparently bent 2 of the surgical tools. my surgeon had to move alot around inside of me, so i was very sore. my surgeon told me that i was going to be in alot more pain, and have a longer recovery time. i was banded on 2/11. after surgery i threw up 3-4 times in the hospital. i had gas pain in my chest, but icy hot did the trick for it! even with all of my complications and pain, it is SO worth it!! even if i knew what was going to happen before it was going to happen i would still absolutely go thru it! pain is only temporary, and 9 days after surgery it has gotten ALOT better! i have lost 23 lbs so far in 3 weeks ish. no matter what you are feeling, no matter if you do or dont have complications, pain is temporary, and you get to be drugged up :tt2: You will be absolutely fine! every patient handles the surgery different. honestly you wont know until you do it. with all of my complications and everything i will be back at school on monday, so it honestly wasnt THAT bad! and this is coming from someone who had complications! so dont let the fear stop you! good luck!!

I was also banded on 2/11, and I feel EXACTLY the same way! I am not an emotional person, but I feel like an emotional wreck! This has just come up the past few days, and I feel like I cry everyday! I have no idea why I cry. I mainly cry when I have to get my protein in. I absolutely HATE the taste of the protein shakes, and the protein powder. I have the unflavored protein and cant do it! If you find any ways to get through this let me know because I can really use it!!! Good luck to you!!

i think one pound a week may be just the guarantee of what you will loose. i know some people who have lost 60lbs in 3 months. so i really think it is just how your body reacts to the band, and how well you follow the diet, and how much exercise you do. they do say that when you have so much weight to loose that you loose weight faster. i was on a diet where i was eating 1500 calories a day and i lost 25lbs in 2 months, and that wasnt even being banded... so i feel ya on what you hear about the 1-2 lbs a week. but a good way to look at it is that is 1-2 lbs that you are lighter each week! have you thought about gastric? you loose weight so much faster with that surgery... good luck to you!!

wow you decided a week ago to have surgery! that is so quick. i have been going through the process for almost 3-4 months now. im sure Dr. Martinez is an amazing surgeon, but when i think of TJ i think of it being dirty and very run down :] good luck with the surgery! I wish my process of surgery would be that quick! Surgery will be fine! congrats on taking the big step of being banded!

I have completed all the requirements to get the band, and i have my final post op visit with my surgeon on jan 5! they told me they have openings for surgery in january still so looks like i am joining the january bandsters!

i may be wrong, but i dont think insurance covers the skin removal because it is considered cosmetic surgery.

So about two weeks ago my mom came up to me and said that maybe I should think about getting the lap band again... i was going to get it last year, went through insuranace and everything, then she and my sister talked me out of it. So my mom said I should get it, and I had been doing more and more research on it and we decided it was about time I do it. Being overweight is not healthy and it was about time I get healthy! I joined this website a week or so ago and I was completely thrilled I was going to get the surgery done! As my mom, sister, cousin and I were eating this morning, my sister, who is 5'3 120 lbs procedes to tell me that she thinks I am making the wrong decision by going to the extreme of having surgery. She has been fit all of her life and doesnt understand how being overweight prohibits what you do in your everyday life. Then my mom gets into it saying she doesnt think I should do it because I wont be able to really eat anymore. My thoughts on that is I have obviously eaten WAY too much to get to the point of thinking about having weight loss surgery, so eating small amounts is worth it. When you go from having food being a huge staple in your life to it just being there for survival purposes, I am sure it will be a big step. But I really think that is a HUGE payoff! Ya I wont be able to sit there and eat fast food or fatty things like that, but I will be able to go running again, or go on rollercoasters without worrying about the size of the seat! I am so emotional right now with this. Last week I had my whole family's support and today I find out I dont have anyones support but mine.... I don't know what to do.

Hi everyone! Im Brittney. I have been thinking about having the Lap Band surgery for a year or so now. I went to go see a surgeon about a year ago and he gave me all of the information I needed. I wanted to try and do everything I could before I went to the drastic measures of surgery. I was on diet pills and they worked for a little while. I lost 30lbs since January which is NOTHING! I have finally decided that I am sick and tired of being overweight, and I have decided to go through with the surgery.... Am I making the right decision? Please give me your thoughts! :pray2: Thanks all!:grouphug: