Excited for the Future!

My doctor uses both and didn't favor one over the other. I tried to get his opinion and he said it really was up to me. I chose the Realize band simply because there was less metal in the port and the port was smaller. My doc also said the surgery time was slightly shorter with the Realize. Only a week into this but so far so good!:thumbup:

Jennifer, I was only banded last Wednesday but I will tell you I was hungry from the get go and feel as though I am able to eat way more than I should be able to a week out of surgery. I haven't lost much post surgery like i thought I might. I haven't exercised so much but I have at least walked around the block a time or two each day which was more than I WAS doing. I think that at work going for walks helps, in my office there is always someone going for a walk, we have a huge work campus to walk around (about a mile all the way around) however I also live near Seattle and I just don't walk in the rain and cold so that is quickly coming to an end for me. I hope you have better weather in Texas! LOL!!! And how about weekends? Can you get up before the kids and get a half hour of exercise in on those days? Then if you can find 2 days during the week as well you will be off to a great start. Keep your chin up, everyone loses at different rates...Its hard to be on the slow end but you will do it! :thumbup:

I was banded on 11/12. It has been up and down for me. The day after surgery I felt great, cleaned half the house and never napped, stayed on pain meds every 4 hours. The next day was miserable, the pain meds made me so sick to my stomach, everything I put in my mouth (protein shakes, jello, pudding, milk, water) tasted rancid! I was nauseous all day long. All of that slowly got better over the weekend. I am feeling much better but even though I am walking and doing what I was told I am still having the shoulder pain especially when I belch, caugh, sneeze, yawn or do anything that I have to take deep breath. I hope that will go away soon. I am getting very sick of sleeping on my back since I usually sleep on my side and even my stomach. I go tomorrow for my post op and to get the staples out! I can't wait for that!!! I think getting those out will improve my discomfort tremendously. And my sleeping arrangements. Today was my frist day of pureed foods which was a great relief. I feel like I was able to eat WAY more than I should have been. But I did find out when I over did it....I have pain in my back and kidney area twice now...That one bite too many will do it. So I will be watching that much closer in the future. Haven't felt like anything has got stuck or ready to come back up as of yet, very thankful for that. Overall I haven't had a bad experience and the recovery has been easier than I thought in many ways. I was hungry by the second day which was a little discouraging and the pain in my shoulder, I think those are my biggest complains. And tonight the staples are finally just getting ichy, like the incisions are healing and I want to rip them out! But tomrrow at noon I will let my doctor do that! Thank you all for sharing and I look forward to hearing more from everyone!:thumbup:

I personally am going with the Realize on the 12th. My surgeon didn't really say one is better than the other. The reason I am going with the Realize is for one it is a surgery that will take 10-15 minutes less and the port is slightly smaller with less metal. Because there is no real research on which is better, I went with my gut feeling on this. Also the Realize band has a great support website if that is something you are interested in. Good luck!

My doctor told me to be on a 30 carb or less a day diet for 4 weeks and I have to lose 5% of my weight. I had only lost 5 of 12 pounds at my preop and I was put on an all liquid diet. I lost the 7 pounds needed in 4 days and was able to go back to eating the low carb diet. I did great from the beginning then this week I fell off the wagon at a birthday party, had 2 pieces of pizza as well as cake and ice cream. My surgery is Wed the 12th and I am freaking out that I just screwed myself. I think I will do liquid for the next 4 days and hope for the best. I did read in a few places and my nutritionist told me it only takes 3-4 days to shrink your liver. i am not sure I believe this but i a praying its true!

My surgery is the 12th too. I was feeling very unsettled until the past few days...I am feeling much better and ready for the next chapter. I am a little nervous that my liver hasn't shrunk enough though! Good luck on Wednesday!