viprvenm

Yeesh! You weren't kidding. They had to stick me 8 times before they found the vein that gave them enough blood. Fun times. So glad I am done with that. Now for the respiratory stuff tomorrow... hoping that is not much of a big deal. Talk to y'all soon! Jason

Hey Hel! I did go in for my 9 week weigh-in today and lost 3lbs. Now I don't mean to be nasty, but I honestly do not think that the Barium that I had to drink for the Upper GI tests is out of my system yet... the nurse agreed and said that would make my loss this week 5.5lbs, but either way I am happy with a loss. I am now up to 62lbs in 9 weeks!!! I also did my initial psych eval today and it lasted about 1 hour. It was nothing more than describing my life to a new friend. I thought that the therapist would ask very detailed questions about anything and everything, but it seemed pretty generic and pretty much a "chat session." She said that she would not have a problem in the least writing a letter of clearance to have the Band done. Now I must go back to this same clinic this coming Friday to see what she called a Physicians Assistant. I did not ask any further details, but I assume I will find out Friday. Should not be much to deal with though. Tomorrow when I wake up I am going to do my lab work for the surgery. Wednesday I am going to do the respiratory testing that Dr. Fox has ordered at the hospital. It looks like after this coming Friday I will be done and ready for August! I will continue my eating well and exercise. Things are on the right track & I must admit I am getting excited!!! One more thing... as of Sunday night I was feeling a bit odd. Before I took my regular nightly blood pressure medicine I checked my pressure and it was 91/62 which I thought was a bit low. I decided not to take the meds, of course. I have been keeping track of it since and it has gone back up to normal and stayed. I am going to call my primary phys tomorrow and talk to her about it. I may be getting my hopes up, but it would be nice not to need this med any longer or at least be put on a lesser strangth for the time being! We will see! Talk to you all soon and I hope everyone is doing well this week! Looking forward to some fireworks this coming weekend!!! Jason

Becky & paisleypea - As you both know encouraging words mean more during this process than just about anything else. I have said it before & plan on saying it 7,384 more times.... THANK YOU!!! Your continued support coupled with the support I am getting at home gives me all of the motivation I need. I decided on Apr 27 this year that I am not willing to look back at the old me. This feels so much better than sticking myself on the couch with a plate of food! Thanks again for following me in my journey! Talk to you soon! Jason

Well this morning I went to the hospital for the first part of my pre-op tests. I did the abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray, & upper GI series. Let me tell y'all (for the ones who don't know) that Barium you have to drink is so YUMMY!!! LOL j/k but it was not as bad as I thought. Radiologist said things looked normal, but he would send a full report to Dr. Fox Monday or Tuesday. Next week I will finish the respiratory part of the tests. Also on the 29th of June I take the 1st of 2 parts to the psych tests. I am not sure why it's 2 parts, but I will soon find out. Anyhow it was interesting when I got to the upper GI series... the table was limited to 300lbs so they decided to do the entire test while I was standing. It all worked out ok. Took me about 2 hours today... not bad at all. I sure was ready for something to drink after not drinking anything for 14 hours. HaHa!! hsj - Thank you again for your encouragement!!! Jason

Howdy Howdy!! I got quite the surprise yesterday at my 8 week weigh-in. Last week was my first week doing weights at my gym and I was very curious to see how this would affect my weekly weight loss. Much to my surprise it helped this week... 7.5lbs!!! So this brings the grand total up to 59lbs in 8 weeks!!! I am excited! I made my appts yesterday also for my pre-op testing. Things are starting to roll in the right direction. This week alone my BMI went down 1 whole point... I have gone from 74 to 65. My surgeon wants a BMI of 60 before doing surgery so I am well on my way! Talk to you all soon!!! kat, hsj, & Hel - Thank you all for your responses... y'all are awesome!!! Jason

I have found the same thing about this site... what a help! Best of luck on your journey... post up a bit and let all know how it goes! Jason

Hello. I am certainly no expert and have not yet had the surgery, but I have over 200lbs of weight to lose. From the research I have done and informative videos I have seen about losing 100lbs or more it is a given that you will have loose skin no matter how slow/fast you lose the weight. Once the skin has stretched that far there is not a way for it to disappear alone. The fat cells will shrink, however the skin has been formed and must be surgically removed if desired/necessary. I don't mean to disappoint you... just sharing what I have learned thus far. I know without a doubt that I will have to undergo extensive loose skin removal after reaching my goal weight. I tell myself ... whatever it takes to feel great and life live as it should be lived is what I plan on doing! Best of luck my friend... don't get too discouraged!!! Jason

This thread is very informative and helpful... thanks for sharing your experiences everyone! Jason

I want to be able to complain... I want to be able to complain to!! LOL I am at the start of my journey, but have lost 51.5lbs in the last 7 weeks and this is before getting my band. I was at 489 starting weight and looking to have the band sometime this August. One day I will be writing my own post like this and I cannot wait!!! Great job on your success and you are another awesome role model for us all! Enjoy life to the "fullest" without overeating, of course!!! Jason

Thank you for the compliment! I hope all is going well with you after your band. Let me know how you are doing up till now if you don't mind. Jason

Hey everyone! I forgot to post up again yesterday... I think my memory is going with the weight. HaHa!! I lost another 4.4lbs and hit a short-term goal... I crossed the Halfway Point!!! 51.5lbs in 7 weeks!!! I was excited to see that. I have started doing weight training three days a week now and it is pretty cool. I still do treadmill the other 4 days. In case some of you have not looked I posted up a recent pic in this thread. For me it is located on page 2... not sure if it is different on other computers or not. Anyhow check it out and now you can put a face to a name. Remember... you will be seeing less and less of me as the weeks pass by! lol Talk to you all soon and have a great night! Jason

Now the reason I have lost so much is that my starting weight was 489 with a BMI of 74. I lost a lot of water weight the first two weeks and now and just plugging away at body fat. I have taken my BMI down to 67 in 6 weeks and am still going strong. I will talk to my surgeon about the phentermine and going off it slowly. That sounds like great advice and I appreciate you letting me know. Talk to yall soon! Jason

Hello Christy! 60lbs I'm sure feels awesome and I am happy for you! I will check out your blog and be sure to keep this post in mind as I will be adding to it each week. Thanks for jumping in here! Again... congrats on your success so far with your Band!!! Jason

Man alive... did I receive some positive support!!! Thank you to you all and Bobbie - Best of luck on your journey. It sounds like you are getting close as well!!! I thought it a good time to share a pic with all of you. I have not even thought to do it yet. This pic was taken this past April at my sons baptism. My son, Tyler, is 14 months and daughter, Lauren, is going to be 4 this Sunday the 14th of June and she is more than excited about her Princess themed Bday party! Mama has planned a swimming party over at Papa and Grammy's house... what more could a kid ask for right? Dr Fox's office took a pic of me at my first visit on Apr 27 but they have not given me a copy of it yet. This is the most recent picture as yet. The lovely woman by my side is my most supportive and Beautiful wife, Dana. We have been married 7 going on 8 years next month and we met on the internet from over 2600 miles apart! That too has been an incredible journey!!! Thank you all once again for the awesome support and inspiring thoughts! I am glad I can be the same for you! You too keep up your awesome work and we will all make a huge success of our weight loss journey! Jason

I have been on Phentermine for 6 weeks now and have lost 48lbs so far with exercise. I was told Tuesday that around another 8 weeks my surgeon would allow me to have the Band. So far it has worked well for me, but the information in this post is very interesting. I hope this continues to go well for me for the remainder of my wait. I was told that I would be taken off the prescription 2 weeks prior to surgery. Good luck to you on your journey! Jason

So... today was my 2nd appt with Dr Fox so I waited till today to do my weigh-in instead of going on Monday like normal. Last Tuesday I started doing two workouts per day instead of my normal once a day. I am now up to 30 mins on the treadmill and walking 1 mile so I am doing this twice a day now!!! It feels great! I lost another 6lbs this past week bringing my total up to 48lbs in 6 weeks. Dr. Fox came in the office and shook my hand. He said I am very impressed. You have shown me how committed you are and I don't see a reason why we cannot go ahead and schedule your Band for sometime this August.... I was not expecting this at all at this appt since I am just now halfway to my goal. I had a big smile on the ole mug! HaHa!! He said that I had given this 6 weeks and if I could give it 8 more he had no trouble proceding with the surgery. He handed me paperwork to have my labs and all tests done at the hospital as well as the psych test here in town!!! My next follow-up appt is July 15th to further discuss the surgery date in August. Needless to say he and I both were very pleased. He told me that since I have been working so hard he did not want to continue dangling the carrot in front of my face so to speak... he wanted me to have a solid goal. I have brought my BMI down from 74 to 67 so far and things are going well. I am excited about today's news and the future!! Jason

HaHa!! I forgot to post up this past Tuesday when I went in for my 4 week weigh-in. I lost another 7 lbs and that puts my total for my first month at 38 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am stoked about this; my pants are starting to ..... well ya know. I think it's time for a belt! We don't want to scare anyone ya know? I pulled a muscle in my calf the other day so I have taken the treadmill very slowly this week, but have made up for it by trying some arm exercise machines at my gym and it feels great as well! I am hoping that by Sept I will be very close or at my goal of 100 lbs lost. This is when Dr. Fox will rediscuss the surgery with me & I cannot wait! I can already feel this improving my life & I want more! Well I have my next weigh-in this coming Monday. I will try to post up sooner this time. Talk to y'all soon and I can't say thank you enough for people keeping up with my posts and giving me that "thumbs up!" Peace & God Bless. Jason

Well I am at the 3 week mark and lost another 4lbs this past week. I have lost 31lbs so far so I now have 69 more to go before Dr Fox and I will rediscuss surgery options! I am excited to keep seeing loss each week no matter how small. It feels great so far! Hope everyone is doing well! Talk to ya soon. Jason

I take Lisinopril for HBP and my surgeon has told me to lose 100lbs before surgery. I read that diuretics can slow weight loss and asked my regular Doc about it and she said not to worry. I have lost 27lbs in 2 weeks so she was not worried. Perhaps I will ask her again before surgery for the reason you mentioned. Sorry you had a rough go at recovery. Good luck to you in the future with your weight loss with the Band!!!

Just want to share my experince. I had my initial consultation to have Lap Band Surgery on Apr 27, 2009. I was told that my BMI was too high to do surgery. I have been told to lose 100lbs before he and I will re-discuss surgery options. My surgeon put me on Atkins Diet, Phentermine (prescription appetite suppresant) and was told to walk on the treadmill 1-2 times a week. Well I took it upon myself to walk EVERY night and right now I have been doing 25 mins on the treadmill. I have cut out all the high carb foods as per Atkins Diet. Monday, May 11, 2009 (YESTERDAY) was my TWO week weigh-in and I have lost 27lbs already!!!!!!!!!! It can be done so please don't think your Doc has given you an impossible task! Your results may vary, but it sure has been working for me so far. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions viprvenm@hotmail.com Good luck and of all things try your best to keep a positive attitude - it will help you more than most other things! God Bless. Jason

Hey again! I had my 2nd weekly weigh-in today and lost 10lbs this week. I am up to 27lbs lost in 2 weeks right now and feeling great about my progress! Doc told me I would lose quite a bit of Water my first couple of weeks and it has shown. Even my shoes feel looser now. HaHa!! Well thanks again for the positive comments and support. I will keep updating about once a week I imagine. See yall soon! Jason

Thank you all for your support! It means the world to me. For the past week & a half I have been going to walk on the treadmill nightly & eating SO much healthier. At my first weekly weigh in........ 17lbs down!!!!!! I was shocked & overwhelmed! My doc's nurse said... don't give up. Man o day... I have no plan on giving up. Cutting out all the high carb foods has not been as hard as I had thought. It is going well and I am happy! I will continue to keep yall updated and once again thank you for your support & kind words!!! Jason