BandedDietitian

The end goal is a weight YOU are most happy with. Of course pending that your weight is not still causing high blood pressure, diabetes, or other comorbidities. My doc's patients are all being tracked and he told me from the beginning that the bell curve results show that the majority of his banded patients will lose 80% of their excess weight. For me, that would put me at about 188lbs. I kind of aimed for this and when I was about 195-200lbs (65lbs gone) my skin was so bothersome that I decided to have a body lift and brachioplasty (first stage of a head-to-toe skin tightening process). My plastic surgeon removed 15lbs of skin and flab. I weighed 185 post op and stayed there for the past year. Last week I had the second and final big plastic surgery of a thighplasty and breast reduction (36DD to hopefully a C-cup) and he also removed big flappy mess in my underarms. I weigh the same as the surgery day, granted I am very swollen all over my body so I will probably weigh about 5-7lbs less in a few months. The 15-lbs taken off me for the bodylift and brachioplasty allowed me to drop a full size in pants and shirts. I went from a regular 16 to a 14. My waist could actually fit a 12, but my thighs had not been done yet and now that they are, I'm hoping that my legs will eventually fit that 12. I'm happy with a 12. I was a 22W moving into a 24W on the day of my LapBand in 2009. I am 5'6" tall and I think I look good this size. I get complimented A LOT on my figure now and love it. My tummy is super flat. No more ass-shelf. And now I have no more old lady boobs. I know I'll never have super thin model-like thighs. I've come to accept that. I look really nice in clothes and when I go shopping, my only restriction is price, not style. I look really good in belts that show off my skinny waist. You gotta find a place in your journey where the image in the mirror pleases you. No doctor can tell you what that is. Jennifer

Ah yes, NaNa I know what you're talking about. I had some issues with my port in 2012 (right about 3 years post op) and needed to get my port replaced. My sugeon removed the old port and we decided not to put the new one in until we figured out if my abdominal pain and swelling were actually from the port. Well, when he snipped it free, a very tiny amount of saline dripped out before he sealed up the end of the tubing. I was pretty much NON-restricted after that. I really, really tried to eat the same portions as when I was restricted, but I was damned HUNGRY! With our bands, I eat until I'm full, then I stop. I had lost almost 75lbs until that port was taken out. I gained 17lbs over 3 months and freaked out. I was really, honestly trying to count calories and keep my exercising up, but those pounds came back on in a blink. I was able to eat sandwiches again and loved it! I figured I would live it up a bit before the new port got placed and it was nice to eat bread, tortillas, french fries, and whatever else were my cloggers, but not go to nuts. It took me 10 months to get those stupid 17lbs back off and IT WAS HARD!! I am honest with myself and live "wide awake" now with the fact that I am, we are, food ADDICTS. We eat for nurturing, not for nutrition. I need this band, and I'm scared of the day if I ever have to get it removed for some reason. I don't abuse my band, never have. I have only vomited once in over 4 1/2 years and it was due to food poisoning, not because I over stuffed my pouch. I have sliming occasionally when I eat too fast, and I'm thankful that my band keeps my addiction in check. I still turn to sweets when I'm emotionally upset, but I eat a couple of Hershey kisses instead of full candy bars. I also will buy the mini cupcakes from the bakery, eat 2 (100 calories), then throw the rest in the trash. I would have gladly and easily eaten the whole package before my band. Therapy has helped tremendously to force me to realize my addiction/abuse of food. Just like anyone with an addiction, it's one day at a time, one meal at a time. Some days I beat my deamons, some days they beat me. I'm thankful that I have this band every meal so it keeps me full and restricted. It helps me stay strong so I can choose the best foods for my body and maintain my weight loss. I am 80lbs lighter and aiming for 100. I'll get there, and I'm in no hurry. Congrats to you for getting that 50lbs back off! Never give up on yourself

1. Airplane seats (the seat belt BARELY closed at my fattest weight and I almost needed the expander) 2. Weighing less than my husband 3. Gardening for 8+ hours and not having my back hurt for an entire week 4. Hiking faster and not feeling pain the days after 5. Riding a bike and not having my gut be squished by my thighs as I pedal 6. No more spare tire (after my body lift of course) 7. Clothes shopping 8. Full length mirrors 9. Always having my eyes bigger than my stomach even on my "cheat" days 10. Going to the doc to be weighed, have my blood pressure taken, having blood work done (they're all NORMAL!)

It sounds to me from your brief description is that you need to get to the core of WHY you are putting slippery, high calorie foods in your pouch. We all have to come out of sleepwalking through life and denial tand accept that we are food addicts. Seek a good therapist to help fix your head before you go and have another surgery. He/she will help you discover why you are sabbotaging your band and weight loss in general, if you are brave enough to go down this path. Were you truly ready for this surgery at this point in your life? Did you do it for the right reasons? Hell, we all can be drinking milkshakes, eating cheesecake, and creme brule and blame the band for not restricting our minds from making bad choices. Your reliance upon the band to fix your head is a fallacy. Our heads made us fat, it is our head that needs healing. I found a wonderful therapist in 2010 and I still seek sessions every few months. We are food addicts/ food abusers and will always be one. Have you ever thought of Overeaters Anonymous or something similar? Drinking alcohol is another easy way to keep weight on. What are you trying to stuff in your pouch to fill your soul? You gotta take the effort and figure it out. Best of luck and keep on trying. The food part will easily come once you resolve your psychological issues.

In my experience as a Bander (4 1/2 yrs) and as a dietitian (11 years), it's not about the food...it's about what's EATING YOU. Your phone call on Monday needs to be to your therapist. We have the duty to ourselves to put forth the work on our heads because afterall, it was our heads that told us to get overweight.

Body self image. Boy I've been dealing with this since July 2009 when I was banded. I feel exactly the same way as you! I have lost 65lbs on my own with the gastric band and recently another 15lbs was taken off via plastic surgery (body lift and brachioplasty). Now I'm 80 lbs less and really, really having some major body issues. We all have to deal with this and honestly, I still felt "fat" after 65lbs gone. I felt strange buying clothes in "regular" sizes instead of plus sized. Because I had a lot of flappy skin hanging everywhere, I saw myself as fat, but just deflated, physically. It wasnt' until plastic surgery removed all of this in one momentous day last month that I feel closer to "normal"? Whatever normal is. It is very hard to re-change all my self talk at clothing stores: "I can't wear that style, my muffin top will show. The sleeves on that shirt will accentuate my flappy arms. My fat ass will never fit into those jeans since they are too slim and straight cut." I'm having to buy a whole new wardrobe and honestly it takes trying stuff on and physically looking at myself in the mirror (a LOT) to re-wire my brain. I am 43 and have been overweight since age 8. It's tough. My therapist helps, but she is not trained to deal with weight loss patients specifically. My gastric surgeon does offer support groups, but I never seem to connect with anyone there (not at the same stage as me, not willing to let go of an unhealthy lifestyle, non-compliant, in-active, etc). From my before and after pics.....your transformation looks exactly like mine We both look older when we were fatter, and younger when skinny. I was 263lbs on my LapBand day in 2009 and now I am 184 (with residual swelling from my body lift). I want to be 163-ish by July 9, 2014 which will be my 5-year anniversary of the band.

My advice? Put some more money in the bank and wait for a full body lift. Getting it all done in one shot is a hell of better deal financially (for me, anyway) and getting through the healing. I am 8 weeks post op from body lift and brachioplasty.

Hi Skiddles, Here's my body lift story..I am 8 weeks post op as of today. If I had to get on a plane 2 1/2 weeks post op I would have died...not literally, but surely I would have felt like dying. My drainage tubes were in for 4 weeks. I had 2 in the pubic area only. I could not wear underwear during this time and pretty much stayed inside my house. Showering daily was exhausting. sleeping was painful, sitting in chair other than my Lazy-boy recliner was very uncomfortable. In fact, I slept in the chair for 5 weeks each night too. I was on pain meds for 6 weeks due to swelling and pain. Of course the pain meds were taken every 2 hours the day after my surgery and very slowly tapered off over the whole 6 weeks. Standing up was very difficult for about 4 weeks. Lying down flat on a bed..impossible. I'm amazed when I read how some people are up and about and shopping or going out to see a movie on day 3 post op...they SHOULD NOT BE. I had my brachioplasty done the same time as my body lift and could not even imagine wearing a bra for the first month. I also had my "bra fat flaps" liposuctioned on my back right where my bra strap would have been. My thighs also had liposuction in the front and on the sides. Remember, this is MAJOR, MAJOR surgery and your body needs to heal. I had ZERO complications post op and I'm still swollen even 8 weeks post op, especially in the evening after I get home from work. Even though I have a desk job, I took 5 1/2 weeks off to heal. My advice: be gentle to your body and remember that each person heals from this serious surgical trauma differently. Everything online I read told me that drainage tubes stay in for 2 weeks. My surgeon said he's never done a body lift and taken them out that soon. Your drainage must be LESS THAN 25CC PER TUBE PER 24 HOURS. Would you recommend someone fly on a plane after having their body cut in half and sewn back together shortly after surgery? Also, the psychological effects of this surgery are very HEAVY. Expect depression for about a month. I couldn't even look at my body for the first 3 weeks because I was so bruised and beaten up and in my head I wondered "why the hell did I do this to myself?" I had to have phone sessions with my therapist during that first month because waking up in someone else's body is the freakiest thing I'd ever done...and I'm no cream-puff I assure you. My doc removed 15lbs off my body in 8 hours. Be sure that your doc gives you a compression binder for your abdomen after the first week or so to help push all the layers of your new tight stomach together. It will hurt like crazy to wear the thing, but will benefit you in healing faster. Take measurements of your waist, hips, thighs, arms, breasts, etc. before you have your surgeries. Weigh yourself the day of. You'll be shocked at the results. With 15lbs gone I am a full size smaller in pants and with my arms trimmed down, a full size smaller too. I had NO clothes to wear to work on the first day and shopping for a whole new wardrobe was terribly exhausting. Trying on pants really hurt after the 30th pair. I still have a hard time finding jeans that fit my larger thighs, and flat tummy and skinnier butt. My thigh reduction won't be scheduled for a while since I want to enjoy my summer and swim and bike to get to my goal weight (15lbs to go). Good luck and take it VERY EASY ON YOURSELF.