GayleTX

Oh, those stockings! Pulling them up on my legs was the hardest part of my surgery! I hadn't been able to get on panty hose in years...or tie my own shoes, for god's sake!! How was I supposed to get those things on?? But I did and then I was unconscious and then I was awake and they were gone. No biggy!

Very good question....it is hard to understand until you have a band inside of you. No, you don't feel a thing as far as the band or it's restriction. (I'm not sure, just guessing, but I'm assuming there are no nerve endings where the band is stitched to your stomach.) Anyhow....restriction doesn't affect you until you put food in your little pouch....the tighter the band, the less food you can hold in your pouch. The sensation comes when you get the very full feeling and your body warns you to stop eating right then!!! Some people are warned with a hiccup, some with a sneeze/drippy nose - has to do with the pressure on the vegas nerve, I believe. Some people don't get a warning and they have to measure their food until they are practiced enough to judge how much they can comfortably hold. (And some of us just go ahead and overeat, the food backs up into the esophagus....... and then we throw up!!). This is all one reason that the band is a very good wls choice for people who are 'volume eaters'....not necessary addicted to sweets, but just simply eat too dang much!! With the band you can't do it. Hope that makes sense. Someone else may have a better explanation.

Yep.....runny nose/sneezing is a very common 'stop signal'....wierd, huh. I just hiccup.....loudly, of course.....embarressingly loud and unexpected....and, of course, if I'm out in public it's louder than usual. :embarassed:

Ditto to the above......the only second thoughts are 'thank god I did this!" As for having your band before your husband..if you go first, get your weight down, learn to cook the right foods, test the good supplements, learn to eat right, then you will be better prepared to take care of your husband after he has his - if you are like most families, you have primary responsibility for the medical care, food prep/shopping - you can get it all figured out, then you can bring him in and lead the way. And as you go through your wls journey, he can begin to eat better, lose some weight and then be in good shape for his own surgery. JMHO......

Claramae.....I cant get the PM to work or I'd PM you.....do you by any chance live in Farmersville? (If you'd rather not disclose, I certainly understand)

Are you drinking your Protein supplements? They really help to keep the cravings away......make nice thick shakes with crushed ice in a blender and they will help make you feel full. Also the warm ones seem to settle the tummy down.....try warming a cup of chocolate protein and sipping on it. However....this period of the bandster experience is hard....you are going to have to be strong until you get a fill or two or three and get some restriction. Once the original swelling from the surgery goes down you are going to be able to eat just as much as your were more than likely until the fills.....but just because you can doesn't mean you should and I know you know that or you wouldn't be concerned!! It's hard, but you can do it....it's such a short period of time out of our lives and so important.

I'm staying on the plan tomorrow because.......i's only 1 week til my class reunion..........EEEEK!!!

Most surgeons have about a 1-hour class on nutrition during med school. After researching before wls I decided to consider my surgeon's guidelines but to follow the advice of people I knew who were successful losers and who had remained healthy and remained successful. I have followed their lead and it has worked well for me.

I thought I would feel deprived and sorry for myself at potlucks and buffets after surgery. But surprisingly enough, I don't. Instead I find myself feeling somehow a little bit 'smug' and maybe a little superior that they are eating like pigs and I am eating like a lady, a healthy lady at that, a lady in control of her urges and her life and her future. I know I shouldn't because I have a 'tool' that helps me, but it's probably the feeling that 'normal' people have when they eat out with those who overindulge in food.

((Hugs to you, my friend)). This is a stressful time of year for school people, isn't it. This retiree celebrated NOT having to go back this fall by eating the top off a pizza tonight.....a real happy meal for a bandster! If it's any encouragement.....I had been on anti-depressants for 3 years when I had surgery (them along with a lot of other meds). I'm now off of them and happier than I've been in a long time. There's just something so empowering about being in control of your health and your body and your appetite......we may not be able to control our workplace or our co-workers and our bosses.....but with a LapBand we can control our appetites and our future. And that alone is enough to give us strength to begin to pull out of that black hole. When you have hope, you have strength. When I had my Psych Eval, the therapist recommended that I see a counselor before she would release me for surgery.....and that was a valid assessment on her part. It's a life-changing surgery with lots of challenges and we sometimes need a specialist to help us find our way. Since you have so many demands at work, it would be nice to have an hour each week to just turn over your stress to someone else. Best wishes to you....and don't let those wolves at work chew your heels off this year - just do what you can do and take care of yourself so you can begin next year as a thinner, healthier and happier person.

Sombody is not telling the whole story somewhere along the line. The whole purpose of the band is to get it filled......it is 'non-operational' without it. Serious lack of communication here.

Whatever you do, if you go out of state/country, please be sure you have a local doctor lined up in advance who is willing to do the fills for another doctor. Many people have gotten themselves in a bind by just 'assuming' a local doctors would do their aftercare. There are companies who specialize in medical loans and many of them don't charge interest for the first year or so. I've seen a number of people post that they had used them. If you will start a new thread with the subject matter in the title, I'm sure you can get some feedback on that topic.

<p>My PCP said he'd write me a letter of approval.....then wrote a letter to the insurance company saying I "should try weightwatchers." Traitor!! </p> <p> </p> <p>We moved, got a new PCP...he knew less than I did about it and wouldn't discuss it with me. control. I just bypassed him and went straight to the specialists after that. </p> <p> </p> <p>So....I agree with the above poster...this is a specialized field - go to a seminar or two or three....visit with a couple of band surgeons or clinics that coordinate band surgeries - they will require tests, etc that tell them if you are an appropriate candidate. You don't have to have PCP approval. </p> <p> </p> <p>I believe there is a forum on this website that is mainly for very young wls patients.</p>

LapBand surgery was not even being done in the US 10 years ago.....:cry

Okay, this 63 year old is here to tell you it can be done. It was my last hope and I went into it as a sick, depressed agoraphic old lady with diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, and using a walker to get out of bed in the mornings and taking 11 perscription meds a day and weighing 350 pounds. Six months later..... I was 10 years younger, was walking a mile a day, was off my blood pressure meds, off anti-depressants, and getting out of the house. A year later .....I was 20 years young, walking and working out at the gym, completely off diabetic meds and arthritis meds, drivng and taking vacations and doing all my own housework and shopping again. Now, a year and a half later.....I'm off all meds except a diuretic and protonix. I have a life again and a future as well. I recently had my fat apron removed (a panniculectomy) and that was a wonderful advancement in my mobility and my appearance. Maybe I'll have a little more work done after I get to goal. It has been my observation over the past couple of years that most of the older wls patients do very well. Most of us are choosing to do this out of desperation.....we are doing it for our health, for our future, not just to be able to fit into a cute pair of jeans. If I never reach my goal, it's okay.....every pound I have lost already (152 pounds so far) have made my life better so that makes it all worthwhile. It has also my the lives of the people who love me much happier....my son doesn't worry about me as much, my husband doesn't have to do all the work around here, my mother gets to live with me and not in the nursing home because I can take care of her now. What more could we ask? Best wishes to you.....

Gas-X is a lot of people's best friend for quite a while after surgery. Take as little stuff as possible to the hospital....you won't need anything except maybe chapstick and a bottle of Water to sip on the way home. Go dressed in a few clothes as possible, a loose, one-piece dress that is comfortable (not pants) that you can put it back on afterward, sandels you can just slip on. Many hospitals give you a small hard pillow to hold against your tummy for a day or two (for riding in the car, for coughing, etc) but you might take one with you just in case.

I carry a paper (plastic?) cup with paper towels stuffed in it in my purse....and one in my car....and one by my bed....and one by my computer. I hardly ever need one any more, but the first year or so I had lots of 'surprises'.

I recently had my band completely emptied so I could have abdominal PS surgery and not risk ripping stitches while PBing or vomiting (it was at my fill doctor's insistance). Anyhow........it was at least 2 weeks before I could tell that I didn't have any restriction.....felt about like it had for the past few months only with no PB'ing. However......at about 3 weeks, I began to get hungry and wanted to eat more (and did). At 4 weeks, I ran into the fill doctor's office, ripped open my blouse and begged for a fill just like a junkie!! I was so ready for my little band to go back to work!

Don't do this alone......it's not as simple as the infomercials make it sounds!! You'll need support and cooperation and lots of love and understanding as you go through it. If he doesn't know what is the problem when you start sliming and vomiting...and you will...and suddenly losing your appetite and dropping pounds.... he'll think you're dying!! You may think so, too, but you're not.....this is not a lot of fun especially in the beginning. Get some support and help and don't do him the disservice of not trusting him. You'll need each other through this.

<p>Happy to share! I'm always so happy to see people that are wanting to do this the right way and stay healthy - it's so easy to cheat with the band that it is imperative to have a plan. And I'm sure there are people who don't have to do this to lose, but some of us don't lose as easily as others, and some of us have a lot more to lose than others. I'm not saying this is what everyone must do, but it's what I do and I've done well and my health is better than it's been in decades. </p> <p> </p> <p>As you may know, GB people cannot tolerate anything with sugar in it and only very little fat....makes them really sick, vomit, sweat, faint, etc. So that's the number one elimination for them. But the following is their basic diet and it's the diet that all my support group follows - it's made our weight loss much faster than average and kept us all healthy:</p> <p> </p> <p>*80-100 grams protein/day - your little pouch can't hold that much food, so Protein supplements are very important. Find some (both liquid and bars and puddings, etc) that you love and use them daily and forever! It will help protect your muscles and your hair and help keep you satsified - it digests slowly and you don't get hungry so quickly. You do need to eat dense protein when you can.....tuna, fish, cheese, eggs, etc.</p> <p> </p> <p>*Less than 50 net carbs/day - eat your protein first, then eat a few veggies. Eliminate all starchie carbs (white carbs is a good way to remember it)....no white bread, Pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, things made with any of those products (like cake..ha!) etc. Eliminating white carbs will keep your blood sugar from bouncing and making you think you are hungry even when you are not. </p> <p> </p> <p>*At least 64 oz water/tea every day. The liquids in your Protein Shakes count toward those liquids.</p> <p> </p> <p>*No carbonated drinks at all. </p> <p> </p> <p>It will help to record all your food intake....there are several online programs - fitday.com or dailyplate.com are both popular. I don't concern myself much about calories....no more food than we can hold in our little pouches we are not going to get too many calories if we stick to the above plan. After 16 mo. I hardly ever go over 900-1000 cal./day even eating all I want to. </p> <p> </p> <p>A GOAL WITHOUT A PLAN IS JUST A WISH!</p>

Most bandsters I know are never able to eat bread of any kind except maybe very crunchy toast. Bread is just a memory if you have a band. Many of the infomercials and even some of the surgeons tell you beforehand that with with a LapBand you can eat whatever you want, just less of it. I don't know of anyone that has had that experience. There are usually a number of things that you just can't tolerate with a band. And if you really need to lose a significant amount of weight, there are many things you can't eat and get the weight off (starchy white carbs - bread, corn, Pasta, rice, potatoes, etc are all evil as far as weight loss goes).

In what part of the country do you live?

If you are asking whether or not you will be eligible and approved for LB, it would depend upon what your insurance company guidelines are and/or what your chosen surgeon's criteria are. They all seem to have different cut-offs. The co-morbidities and long-term obesity will definitely help with the approval, though. Many insurance companies require 6 consecutive months of a documented, doctor-supervised weight loss program.

The beauty of the band, Jennifer, is that it is there ready and waiting to help you when you are ready. You've had a slight setback, but you haven't ruined anything. If PB'ing ruined your band, we'd all be in trouble..PB'ing and learning to eat right are part of the process. You're just trying so hard to avoid doing that again that you've gone toward the 'soft food syndrome.....stop it!! LOL! Why is it the foods that go down so easy are the evil ones that should never cross our lips??? But they are. It will be very helpful to plan your days....your meals and your Snacks. If you haven't done so already find some good Protein supps that you love...they will keep you healthy and strong and keep hair on your head. Then decide on some good dense protein that you can eat without getting stuck.....I'm a year and half out and I still can't eat chicken or steak or roast; I may never be able to. But I can eat pepperoni, and shaved deli meats and crispy bacon and eggs and cheeses and shrimp and fish; I pick up a carton of chicken salad at Jason's Deli every few days. There are lots of things you can eat, especially if you cook. Eat the Proteins first, then the veggies (I still can't eat lettuce salads very well). Eliminate the white carbs (they cause the cravings that makes that soft food look so good!). Plan your meals and your snacks, always have something in your bag to eat on...don't ever get too hungry or too full. You can do this!! You're going to be fine. It's also very helpful to record all your foods on a program such as FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. There's just something about seeing those numbers pile up that keeps you honest....and it's pretty educational, too, about food values. I also love looking at the 'report' section and seeing that little weight graph go down, down, down!! I still use it......if it goes in my mouth it goes on fitday. Best wishes to you..........

No heavier than you are, people are not going to be all that intersted in it unless they themselves are considering surgery....that has been the group I've gotten the most questions from. In that case, you'll have an opportunity to help someone out. But, yes, it's irritating....if you wanted it told you would like to have done it yourself in your own time.