Joyce Ellis

That's why we all call it the crap band, now. :-)

My lap band slipped and life was miserable. Once they took the fluid out, I started to gain weight. I had it removed last June and was told I would gain 50 lbs. My surgeon refused to do the revision for one year. When the band came off I became very down. I cried and cried for fear that I would gain weight. Also I was grieving for the tool that I had, because I thought it was a lifelong choice and tool. Initially, I got down to 134 lbs. I gained to 142 when food was getting stuck all the time and it seemed what I could tolerate was higher in calories. Plus, I wasn't vomiting any longer, so more cals were retained and stored. I spent a few days at the beach and that helped. Then, I became empowered and thought I could follow a 1200 calorie diet and not gain a lot of weight. I tried that very faithfully for four months. I actually thought I could lose some weight but that didn't happen. Then, I guess I said, screw it and ate what I wanted. The portions were still smaller than most peoples. Also, I didn't resume foods I couldn't have with the band like rice, pasta, red meat, etc. At my 6 mo post op I was about 155 lbs. I saw the bariatrician 5 or 6 weeks ago and was asked if I could lose 5-10 lbs before surgery- June 27. I said yes and immediately started a 1200 cal diet. My weight was 173. I followed it faithfully. I wasn't losing. I am only 4ft 10, so my dietician told me to begin a no carb,1000 cal diet. I am shooting for less than 900. I see the surgeon one week from today. I had to buy larger clothes. I hate to shop now. I hate the way I look. I know hate is a strong word, but that is how I feel. I know I can stick with this plan till next Thursday. Thursday night, we are going out for my final meal of choice and a drink. Then, I will do whatever pre op diet he wants until surgery. Sorry to shed a negative light on this journey, but it has been very hard. Feel free to keep in touch with me. My name is Joyce and my e-mail is joy686@aol.com. I wish I had someone to talk to that had been thru what I had. I can say that my surgeon truly had my best interest at heart. He didn't want me to have a revision and be a statistic- not good for him or me. I always said I didn't want to die to be thin. I still have a lot of life to live, but when I was thinner I felt better about life and had a lot more self esteem. I chose to redo the bariatric classes. I felt it could only help. I am so sorry that this happened to you. One girl on obesity help told me right after I had it removed to cry until I couldn't cry any more. I will tell you to do the same. I am so sorry!

Kaiser seems to preach similar information from site to site, but in the long run, I believe each surgeon does what he feels is best. I had a lot of inflammation in my esophagus due to the band slipping one year ago. I was told I would have to wait one full year before a revision could be performed. Outside of a divorce, this has been the toughest year of my life. I have gained weight, and now that I have been on a 1200 cal diet for 5 weeks, I am not losing. I definitely know how to count cals and use MyFitnessPal to log, so I am doing 1000-1200/day. I wish you the best. He didn't make me do the Options class, but I work where there is a large bariatric program, so I took their six months of classes. I figured it could only help. I did all the pre-op labs, EKG, chest x-ray and psych eval. My surgery is June 27 in South Bay. That is 30 miles from my house in the San Fernando Valley. Good luck. I wish they could have removed the band and done the revision at the same time, but it is what it is. Joyce

Pretty soon you will be out of the plus size department. I had a lap band and will be sleeved on 6/27. I remember, though, that I was a 22 and could shop in the nicer stores. I was between a 10-12. Now I am a 14-16. Almost back to plus sizes, but won't. The sleeve is soon to be here. You will find you gravitate over to the plus size department and then realize those are not going to fit! Congrats!

A lot of SF products use sugar alcohols to sweeten them. They have 2 cals/gram instead of 4. They all end in OL, i.e.: mannitol, maltitol, sorbitol, etc. It is what is in ex-lax. It causes you to retain a lot of water in the gut and can cause terrible gas and diarrhea. SF jello is usually OK as are popsicles. Discuss this with your dietician or MD.