becky1963

I get what you are saying, Pearlgirl! Wait for that first fill. It will come probably. I paid for my band myself and darn well wanted the physical block promised! It has been a fantastic deterent for overeating. I LOVE bread, but can only eat two bites of ANY bread now or it will come up. You learn very quickly what is going to work and what is not. My best friend is at the point you are right now after getting her band 28 days ago. She is getting her first fill tomorrow and is apprehensive about the "stuck" thing, but she is more afraid of never getting stuck and eating anything she wants! Which I totally understand. That's the whole point of this band--to physically have a way of managing overeating in a healthier way. There would be no point in getting it if there weren't a mechanical way of forcing you not to overeat! Good luck!

I agree. Very skilled. My incisions are very neat and barely noticeable. I also have had a very easy time getting appt. for fills. I live almost 100 miles from his office and they are very patient and flexible when traffic slows me down or the weather is bad.

You do not need psychiatriatric help..you are the normal person who overeats. I've lost almost 30 lbs. six weeks post op and still want that feeling of food in my mouth every so often. A couple of weeks after surgery, I wanted that feeling so much that I ate a HUGE mouthful of food and then spit it out. I later found out that a friend of mine who had WLS did the same thing at a fast food place. It is normal to want that full feeling in your mouth. I have to say though, that after experiencing some success with weight loss, that the feeling is lessening. The major blessing from the band is not feeling hungry all the time. That has helped tremendously.:thumbdown:

Sister, can I relate! WHen I tipped the scales at 300 lbs., I was exercising my heart out at the gym and some older lady came up to me and said (VERY LOUDLY), "You need to lose some weight!" I was moritfied. Two very sweet young girls came up to me immediately (My mouth was still hanging open at the gall of that woman) and were very consoling. Everyone was looking at me (and at 300 lbs, I tried to be as unobtrusive as was possible anyway) and I could not get over the embarrssment of being singled out. That was a very long time ago, but I will never forget the way it made me feel. I like to think that it made me much more careful in the way I treated others! You know, I don't think these people realize that they have not contributed to one measely pound being lost, but are probably responsible for some anger management issues:cursing:

There are pro's and con's to telling people, but never feel ashamed of getting banded! I've have been overweight my entire life and am finally losing weight after being banded without spending every waking moment thinking about food and how to lose weight. My reasoning is that if there is a reasonable way of losing weight through a surgical procedure, then there must be a physiological componant to the issue of weight loss rather than no willpower. If I had no willpower, then I would have not been able to keep the same job for 24 years or take care of my family. There is no shame in getting medical treatment for something that affects your health. Anyone who thinks otherwise does not have a clue and must be dealt with much patience and tolerance. (easier said than done!)

Congratulations! I had a very easy time too. Just a word of warning: You may feel so good that you accidently overdo it. About two weeks after I was banded, I had a couple of days where I didn't feel 100% well (tired, sore at incisions). It only lasted a day or two, but I looked back and realized that I was exercising a little too vigorously. Wasn't doing anything other than walking, but I was walking about an hour and my doc;s nurse said that my abdominal muscles were being a little too strained and to cut back some. That did the trick. Good luck!

Mim, that was a very touching post. I'm from Alabama (tied with Mississippi as the "fattest" state) and there is no beach or Water park that I could go to that I can't find lots of others either my size or larger. This just reminds me that it can be more difficult for those who live in the "thinner" states! In fact, a study was done amongst overweight teens in Alabama years ago that seemed to suggest that self-esteem did not suffer because of weight issues, chiefly because larger body shapes were not unusual. I guess that's about the only "up" side to obesity in the south!:wink2: When I went to Colorado, I remember thinking "I am the biggest person in this state!" :biggrin:

Hang in there is right! I felt EXACTLY the same way two weeks before my first fill. I went for my first fill yesterday and my doctor asked me about my hunger levels and I was honest and told him that I was hungry all the time--not like the first 3 weeks after surgery when I always felt full. He gave me 1 cc in my band and I felt an immediate difference. I was almost exactly the same as the period after surgery when I could only eat a little at a time. Today I've had all my Protein in my meals (only about 800 calories were eaten today) and feel full. My dr. did not put me on any food restrictions after a fill and I get to go back for fills every two weeks, so I am NOT panicking about the in-between times.

I'm so glad you had such a good experience! I was banded the day after you were and had my first fill was today. I was a bit worried, because I Pb'd for the very first time this morning after taking some disgusting tasting medicine:scared2:; Breakfast came back up needless to say. I was a lttle worried that my dr. wouldn't do the fill after I told him that but I wanted full-disclosure. However, He did it anyway along side the nurse he's trained for the task her on out. She couldn't find it on the first try (dug around a bit-weird but not very painful). She couldn't find it so the dr. tried with a new little more aggression with a second needle). I'm squimish, but it was not bad. WHen they found it, it was over instantly. I've already got resriction and had to go back to the diet from week two. I've had steady weight loss-only three pounds since two weeks ago and noticed my appetite had come back a week and ahalf ago. I was really glad to feel the restriction come back to night! People talking about Bandster's Hell weren't kidding. I have wanted to eat any and everything--mainly restraining-but giving in on an extra serving of Protein or a small sweet treat like taking a few bites out a dinner companions dessertthings that could and would get out of hand with no restraint. Hang in there, I hear it gets better and better! Banded June 10, 2009 First Fill July 16, 2009 (1 cc.) Total lost- 20 lbs since June 10, 2009 Banded by Dr. Touliatos in Birmingham at Birmingham surgical center. Very skilled surgeon and effiecient practice in office.

Papaya enzymes are the main ingredient in Adolph's Meat tenderizer--sorry, I'm a home ec. teacher!

I also agree with other other posters about the need for some carbs.

Have you checked your iron levels lately? I'm prone to anemia (genetic thing) and your symptoms sounds somewhat similar. Also, I had a friend who had a gastric bypass and after losing 200lbs, she developed severe anemia with symptoms similar to yours.

I'm so happy to have stumbled onto this thread! I've always been very hot natured. I thought I was having some kind of post op infection even though I have no temperature. Now I can just enjoy the energy savings from turning down my AC!

The pain has not been that bad at all. The gas was pretty bad, but, to me, no worse than my worst binge. Just keep some gas-x strips handy. They worked really well for me. I sleep on my side and it was painful to move from side to side for about a week. Press a pillow to your abdoman when you move and this buffers the pain a good bit. My two week post op appt. is on Thursday and I can't wait! I don't think my scale varies more than one pound from the dr's scale, but I like to make sure!

Sounds like you've got the right mindset! One thing I think you will like to hear: my incisions were MINIMALLY invasive. One looks like anything was hardly even done. I saw a few post op pics on this website and, quite frankly, I'm not sure I would have had the nerve to go through with it if I ended up with some of the incisions I've seen here! I know everyone responds to incisions differently, but Dr. T is obviously very skilled and did not butcher me up. Everything is nice and neat! 6/20/09- 19 lbs. lost!!!!

Robitussin DM (or generic drugstore brand) was extremely effective for me. I get all phlemed up everytime I have ever had surgery and this loosened up everything so that I didn't fell like I was coughing my lungs up. It still was somewhat painful (hold a pillow to your stomach to lessen the discomfort) but nothing like keeping all that junk in.

Hey, Melinda! So far I have no regrets. My healing has been as easy as it can be for a 46 year old woman. I've lost 18 lbs. in three weeks, and I am reminding myself not to expect that every month:-) If you are young and in good health, then I do encourage you to take the risk if you've tried everything else. One thing I have learned from others: don't drink your calories. I 've been so good not to drink my favorite thing: real coke. I did have two tiny sips of a friends Pepsi today, but I was glad I did not overdo it. I don't like really sweet things (I'm a meat, potato, and bread person) except for the coke, and I've kept crystal light and Water at hand. There's risk in every surgery, but I think Dr. Touliatos does a good job of screening his patients. As long as you go in realizing the potential problems and having a plan "b" in mind, that will help. I tend to look at life with the expectation of the things that can go wrong, but that makes it easier for me to go into plan b mode when I need to without my life flying apart. There are enough things in life that will hit you upside the head already that you will never see coming, so plan, plan, plan (I've been a teacher for almost 25 years so that's where my mindset comes from).

Hello! I had my band done on June 10th of last week, and so far so good. I'm getting tired of the liquid thing , but I don't have far to go before I start the mushy stage. I LOVED the folks at B'ham Surgery Center. They were quick and professional. I've had the luxury of taking it easy, but I did walk 30 minutes on the treadmill this afternoon and did 10 minutes on the eliptical. I've been REALLY good about taking all my protein and vitamins. I'm ready to get back in the swing of things!

I am totally with you! Tonight I made some chicken broth with a chicken thigh and I wanted that chicken so bad I put it in my mouth just to taste, but I started gagging because I wanted it to go down sooo bad. I ended up spitting it out, but I was so close to making a HUGE mistake! I've lost 16 pounds since June 1st (banded on June 10th last week). This liquid phase sucks!

Hi! I was at the point you were a year ago and was FURIOUS that my insurance wouldn't waive the 6 month supervised diet. Well, after months of fighting the system (unsuccessfully, I might add), my mother became very ill and I had to put off my lap band plans. I did, however, start the 6 month supervised diet, making it a priority to go to the doctor come hell or high Water and I just finished up recently. I'm awaiting approvel right now. Let me just say that I posted on this board last year and I was so angry when I got responses like the one I am about to give you. The thing is, the 6 month period gave me time to calm down my enthusiasm and to realistically look at the situation. I feel that this time to keep researching and to seek out people that I knew who had the surgery and to find out the good the bad and the ugly helped me to get prepared for the inevidible let-downs that are a part of the process. I was 45 years old at the time and did not want to spend one more minute being overweight. I have always been overweight and missed some things in life that I regret, like marriage and my own family. (I'm one of those with a "pretty face" who is never asked out). I felt like that I was not getting any younger and that it was grossly unfair to be kept waiting. After waiting this past year (my mother has since passed away), I have gained some clarity about the furor to get banded immediately. I am a good researcher (I am finishing my doctorate degree in education so I know how to research:-), but the extra time to see so many different stories about banding has helped me to go into this realistically. I even know someone who almost died when her body rejected the band, but I have decided the band is still a better option for me and so does my doctor. Don't give up if you and your doctor feel this is a good option. However, do give yourself time to get past the "honeymoon phase" of your research and desire to lose weight. You will be glad you did. Best wishes on your journey!