laurenica23

Hi! I'm a singer and had surgery in December. The first couple days my throat was sore from the breathing tube, but less than a week later I was singing. My breath support wasn't as good until about 2 weeks out. I had some pain on my right side from them cutting through the muscle during surgery to place the band, so that's why. I don't have acid reflux or anything, and I've been just fine since the surgery. I've recently hid the 30-lb mark and my voice is still doing just fine; in fact, I'd say it's better. However, I'm only 24, so my voice is still changing somewhat. I haven't thrown up at all since having the surgery, and I think if that happens a lot it could affect the voice. I've been very fortunate in that way. I also don't have any acid reflux, which can affect the voice as well. Overall, I feel like it's been a very smooth transition for me. Good luck!

I was eating too much (and eating too much sugar) once I was allowed to eat real food. More recently I have cut out all processed sugar and started counting my calories ... I've also recently gotten a fill that has helped my hunger TREMENDOUSLY. I would encourage you to, while it's hard to turn down those delicious foods (and drinks), try your hardest to do that. You are only one month out, so I think you should make sure you're eating what your doctor wants. Also, don't drink too much alcohol as you are still healing. This was the worst time for me as I didn't have a fill and didn't feel any restriction, so I know how difficult it is to turn down tempting food. You can always tell your friends you aren't that hungry or your can nurse a drink rather than drink a couple. Just remember you feel the affects of the calories you eat/drink - not your friends. Good luck!

I'm a little over 2 months out and I'm still trying to figure that out. Since surgery I've lost about 14-15 lbs. However, I struggled with sweets for a while and have recently cut them out totally. Since then, along with a pretty good amount of restriction, I've lost 5 lbs in one week. It's hard to say if that will continue (I work out 1 hour, at least 3 times a week), but if I stick to 1200 cals a day I should lose at least 2-3 lbs a week. My overall goal is 10 lbs a month. I'm in my roommate's wedding in October, so I totally understand how you feel about that! I'd LOVE to be under 200 by then, but we'll see.

The Clarian Bariatric Center is great. I had surgery in December with Dr. Samer Mattar (in fact, I just had a follow up appt with him today!). I don't believe he's doing LBS anymore (just GBS) but there are other doctors on the team who are experienced and knowledgeable. Their dieticians are great as well. They do te surgery at Clarian North in Carmel.

My doctor and dietician both say around 1 cup food; 1 1/2 cup max. 3-4 oz protein and 1/2 cup veggies. I can eat more protein if I want, but fewer veggies. They prefer no snacks. Also, I can have 1/2 cup fruit with breakfast only if I want it.

I had already chosen my doctor and I did the supervised weight loss with his office. I had my surgery Dec 20. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

I have Anthem! I had to do 6 months of supervised weight loss classes, but after those, they approved me almost right away.

When I was in high school I had daily migraines. I was drinking lots of soda and taking lots of excedrin migraine everyday. I went to the doctor finally and he prescribed me some medicine and told me to STOP all forms of caffeine. So I began drinking lots of CF diet soda. I had caffeine withdrawl for about 4 days ... severe migraines. Eventually I began drinking caffeinated sodas again (within a year or so) and was drinking A LOT of it before my surgery. I was going through drive thrus to get large diet sodas 1-2 times a day and I always had cans of diet soda at home. Then when I started supervised weight loss I tried to cut down to 1 soda a day. That worked for a while until about 2 months before surgery when I freaked about not having soda and began drinking it a lot more. Finally I decided I needed to get over the addiction to soda, so over Thanksgiving vacation I decided to stop soda for a few days. I did, then only allowed myself a soda once every couple days. This prepared me a lot and my cravings slowly went away. I had my last soda the day before my liquid diet began and I haven't had one since ... about 3 weeks ago. If a craving ever gets to be too much for me, I'll probably take a drink of soda, swish it around my mouth, and then spit it out. At this point it's the taste that I love, not the caffeine anymore. I always stock light lemonade in my fridge now, but drink only 1-2 cans a day. Much less than I was drinking with soda, but it is a replacement. And I like opening the can ... cause it reminds me of a carbonated drink. I never thought I would able to give up soda, but I'm doing just fine 3 weeks later. It's entirely possible to give up soda and caffeine. You could even have a replacement drink like I do with light lemonade.

I'm not a big fan of Oprah, either. However, I do think Dr. Oz has some good things to say. He's a very intelligent doctor who makes well informed decisions. His wife is a vegetarian and I think he's more of a "in moderation" guy than a specific diet guy. He enjoys eating meat, but at home, eats what his wife cooks and finds her vegetarian dishes delicious and healthy. To me, it seems that lately Oprah is putting a lot of blame on her thyroid problems. I don't watch her show that much, but from what I've seen this is the impression I get. I have hypothyroidism as well. I was talking to my mom about it the other day (she's a nurse practitioner) and asked her since my thyroid imbalance is controlled with medicine, if it would be difficult for me to lose weight. Some of it may be that I have age on my side, but she told me since it's well controlled, it shouldn't be too difficult to lose weight. The fact is, I can't blame my weight on my thyroid problems anymore. I respect her decision to NOT have weight loss surgery. At the same time, I think she should respect the decisions of others who have had weight loss surgery. The statistics are there -- a lot of people who have a lot of weight to lose tend to gain it back after a while. For me, the lap-band is a tool for me to keep my appetite in check as I lose weight and when I get to the point of maintenance. Obesity is a serious health issue and surgery is one way to treat that issue.