GayleTX

You are aware that you can't drink anything for an hour after you eat? If you do it washes the food out of your pouch and then you are hungry again. Besides that, when there is food in your pouch and you try to drink, it often just comes right back up. Also, chicken is hard for many bandsters to eat....just doesn't want to go thru the stoma from the pouch to the lower stomach. And how does being fat....or the prospect of getting fatter..... affect your social life?

I started the process in October....it was the end of March before I finally got it done.

Support groups are very helpful and a good idea for all of us. There are many support groups going on around the Metroplex....some through clinics/doctor's offices and some just through people who find each other somehow. Did you ask your doctor or nutritionist if they have one. DFW's a big place! It's helpful to have your group be cental to your area so you can have a good core group that doesn't have to travel too far. I meet with a small group in Plano area.

It often takes a week or so for the restriction to kick in. I think most doctors wait about 3 weeks before they do a second fill. I have a 10cc band...my first fill was 3.5cc, got that amount again in 3 weeks and didn't need another one for about 6 months and then just a small amount. But everyone is different.

Not familiar with it but I'll bet if it exits it's done here in the Metroplex!! Let's keep looking !

BTW.............WalMart has a housebrand that is much cheaper and just as good if not better than Chrystal Light

Most definitely! And it's a great mixer to use with your Nectar brand protein powders.....gives you good cool thin drinks that you can sip on all day and get lots of protein.

You need to be sure and get in lots of protein every day....it keeps your sugar from bouncing and will help you stay on an even keel. Being diabetic myself I was scared to death of what a liquid diet would do to me.....by drinking 2-3 high protein shakes a day I didn't have any trouble at all. (Was completely off all diabetic meds within 3-4 mo after wls, too, and am doing good).

had my pani removed (all 16 lbs of it) Friday morning. It was not nearly as traumatic as I had anticipated. I left the hospital the next morning walking upright and went to my DS' house overnight (he lives closer to civilazation than I do). The worst part of it so far has been the constipation caused by the meds. But my son made an emergency run to Walgreen's at midnight last night and I was cured by sunup. MOM is a miracle drug for sure! I'm in my own home now with nothing but steri-strips on my incision (I had anticipated drain tubes, compression garments, a body cast, and full-time RN on duty!). The amputation feels very strange.......I'll have to get used to not having a bag of fat flapping against my legs when I walk. I still weigh what I did when I check into the hospital.......this swelling better go down and so had the scale or I'm going to be very upset!! I also have a round purple belly above my stitches.....just call me Barney! Seriously, the nurses all really praised my sugeon....if any of you plan to have their PS in the Dallas area, Dr. Pollock must be the man. And the Texas Institute for Surgery is like a visit to a Hilton Hotel.....wonderful place (part of the Presbyterian system). Most of their surgeries are day surgeries but they do have 9 overnight rooms. The night I was there, there were 2 patients - with 2 RN's, a CNT, and a security guard all at your beck and call (and a wonderful dining room that prepared your food according to your instructions---too bad I can't eat much!). Thanks to everyone for the well wishes!!

Nana.....your surgery is tomorrow!! Best wishes to ya!! Pheal...and happy birthday to you! What a great gift you've given yourself....a little plastic twistee that nobody can see! Wonderful, isn't it!! Keep up the good work! Maybe you won't need the skin removed....but some things diet and exercise just can't fix unfortunately. However, a good pair of Spanx or Flexees do great in the meantime....buy yourself another birthday gift!!

Of course I can eat it....lots of it every day. But I don't. I'd rather lose weight. That's why I had surgery.

I really like the Revivial bars and the Revival soy chips (lotsa flavors) are wonderful!~!

I have been grumbling about this very subject all afternoon.....I went shopping today. Everything is too short, of course, and there is not one alteration lady left in captivity in our area - even the dry cleaners can't hired one. Why do the manufacturers think that just because you have a 'generous' waist, you have legs like an Amazon?!! I'm 5'2" and sure isn't much space to pack a lot of poundage into.

Curing Type 2 diabetes with gastric bypass (not lapband, actual bypass where they reroute the intestines) is a topic that is being studied all over the world right now and is a major topic at many of the bariatric surgeon conferences as well as diabetic conferences . The 'cure' has little to do with the change in diet but with the surgery itself....that's why it is so exicitng to diabetic community. Here's one article I found about it: "The latest research shows that weight loss surgery not only helps patients lose weight, but in many cases, cures their diabetes as well, Senay says. Dr. Louis Flancbaum of New York's St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital performs bariatric surgery on the severely obese to help them lose weight. The most commonly performed bariatric surgery is known as gastric bypass, where the stomach's size is reduced and the small intestine re-routed to minimize calorie intake. "It appears that gastric bypass surgery is a cure for a variety of people who have type 2 diabetes," he says. "It seems that the re-routing of the food alters the way hormones are secreted from the foregut and from the pancreas, and that that seems to have an effect on type 2 diabetes that occurs even before people lose weight. However, I have a lapband and within 3 mo after surgery my diabetes was completely controlled by my diet (not cured, controlled) and has remained so. I am quite so, tho, that if I went back to my old eating habits it would be back. Gastric bypass is quite different.

Ya'll make me soooo thankful for my fill doctor!!!

I saw the mother's interview on TV.......she apparently doesn't have the full picture of what it takes to live with a lapband. So many doctors say "you eat anything you want, just less of it" and that's apparently what she thinks. I don't know of anyone that has found that to be true. But...the girl seemed very mature for her age and very bright so maybe she'll get through it successfully....I hope so.

Don't be nervous.......the presenters have heard all the questions before and they will be giving you the answers before you even know the questions. They will also no doubt have hand-outs and you won't even have to take notes unless you just want to. Just realax and listen. Hopefully they'll also have some of their patients there as inspiration.

Some very good insights in this thread. I think the word 'entitlement' is a good one. There are many things I've denied myself in my life, things I've done the martyr game with, felt very noble for having done so, but one thing I've never felt I needed to do without was food. "It just wasn't FAIR that I would have to do without when others could eat.....etc etc". I'm well on my way to my goal now, but still have not found anything to replace eating/socializing.....I'm still denying myself some of the other pleasures I would enjoy.....or, to be honest, I don't know what I would enjoy at this stage of my life. I need to work on that. Sula....I'm a therapist, too ---- hey! aren't we supposed to have the answers??!! LOL!! Guess we do for other people, just not for ourselves. Best wishes to all of us on our journey!!

Update: Day 23...the tightness around my belly is finally starting to loosen up a little and the incision itself doesn't hurt at all - just an itchy feel now and then. But I had a bit of a shock today....I had DH measure my incision - 36 inches!! No wonder I felt like I'd been ripped open - I had!!

Wish I could give you a good answer.......but I'm 16 mo. out and still haven't found the answer. I keep thinking I'll find a wonderful hobby or a new friend but it hasn't happened yet. If the shrink asks you that, ask him/her for suggestions that have worked for other people.....they love to give you their opinions and advice...LOL!! (I can say that, I'm one of them!).

<p>I was almost 62 when I had mine and had all the co-morbidities that you can name that go along with being fat. I was SMO...a BMI of 62. I just knew I'd be rejected. But my cardiologist (specializes in bariatric patients) did all my pre-op work, cleared me for surgery, and referred me to the most experienced and skilled surgeon in our area. </p> <p> </p> <p>I did extremely well, have had no complications. I've been extremely compliant with my food guidelines. I've lost 152 pounds in the past 16 months. </p> <p> </p> <p>From my research it seems that older patients are as successful if not moreso than very young ones......IMO - it's because we choose to have this surgery for much more compelling reasons that the young ones sometimes. For example, I was not wanting to lose weight to get into cute little jeans or a bikini or to catch a man - I made the decision to have surgery to save my life.</p> <p> </p> <p>I am now off all my meds except a diuretic and my blood pressure and diabetes are totally under control without meds. I can walk again, I can drive again.....I have my life back.</p> <p> </p> <p>Please know that there are LB infomercials and even some doctors who will tell you that with the band you can eat whatever you want, you just eat less of it. It has been my observation and experience that for the majority of people that is just not true. The successful losers I know are the ones who follow the same eating guidelines that the Gastric Bypass people eat. But it's much easier than you'd think once you get into it. </p> <p> </p> <p>Best wishes to you.........</p>

I meant to say do not put cost ABOVE competency...and I'm sure you won't. It's just that after 3 weeks I'm still somewhat swollen and stiff and hurt some...and I know that's normal. The thought of somebody 'practicing' on me scares me more now than it did 3 weeks ago because I realize more fully now what a drastic thing this is.

elinrw.......fees vary greatly around the country. my surgeon's fee was $4200, the OR was about $6000, and I spent the night in the hospital, which is not common (I don't remember how much it was). Lots of people go to Mexico and have had good results. Whatever you do, please put competency about price - I had an excellent surgeon and even at that this has not been a lot of fun.

Sharon, I am a Type 2 diabetic - been on oral meds for 20 years or so - had been on 3 kinds at a time for the 2-3 yrs before wls. After being banded, I checked my sugar more regularly than I had been and watched it go down, down, down. I gradually cut back on my pills and within 3 mo. I was taking none at all. I am 16 mo. out from surgery, my sugar runs about 110 most of the time. But I am very compliant, I eat no sweets, no white carbs. Most of the people I know have had the same experience. I hope it works as well for you. Best wishes!!

Oh, yes, Val.....I l plan to go back in a year or so when I think I'm thru losing and have a tummy tuck and love handles removed probably. In the meantime I'll get by with a nice high rise girdle!