maplef50

Thank you guys for all the encouragement. I needed that! I don't care what anyone says having someone who has gone through exactly what you are going through is priceless. You guys are jewels. BTW, I'm feeling much better now. I'm a week and one day out from surg and almost back to my normal routine. I'm still taking it slow but I'm able to do everything I did before except sleep on my side. I'm sure that will come in time. Again Thanks!

Thanks guys, I thought it was something minor but I just wanted to know if there were others out there who have experienced my problems. I am not so scared now that I know this too will pass (no pun intended) Today is the first day I am going to go outside and walk. I'll try walking around my block a couple times today. Once this morning then again this evening. I don't have a huge block but it will be a pretty good walk. (taking my own sweet time of course) Again, Thanks a lot for all your help!

My surgery went off without a hitch but I had to have a hyital hernia repaired while my surgeon was in there. I am having a pain in my left shoulder on the back and it just seems like I can't get enough oxygen in sometimes. Other than that I feel pretty good. I only had to take pain meds twice and now not at all. What could that shoulder pain be and has anyone else had breathing problems?

I GOT MY SURG DATE TODAY!!!! It is Aug.6, 2009. My surgeons office will call me with the time. Since I have already lost 19 pounds he told me to continue doing what I am doing and for now. I am surg ready. That was good news! I am so excited I could burst! :smile: I'm a bit frightened too `:cool2: I welcome any advice from you LapBand pro's?

I GOT MY SURG DATE!!!! It is Aug.6, 2009. My surgeons office will call me with the time. Since I have already lost 19 pounds he told me to continue doing what I am doing and for now. I am surg ready. That was good news! How about that Donna, I too am a RN (retired). However this surg is about me so I am like a baby in the woods and I'm not a good-caregiver for myself. I took care of my Mom until she died 2 yrs ago and now my youngest sister is ill and I'm her primary care giver as well. I just wish I were a better care giver for myself. I posted a tread about a month ago about how I hated exercise and asked if it were mandatory for weight loss with the band and after hearing almost everyone say a resounding, YES!! I decided to start walking and found that I like it. I do sweat a bit but somehow I don't mind it much. I'm getting more excited by the day! Thx everyone!

Thanks for the advise Ann. I don't think I'll power walk or anything but I did want to continue what I started so as not to revert back to my object hatred of exercise, which unfortunately wouldn't be hard to do at all. I guess I'll do like you did and take it slow and start walking day one. Who knows walking might even help the healing process as long as I don't ever-do. BOY, DO I HOPE YOU ARE RIGHT!!! :thumbup:

I hate to exercise because I don't like to sweat but I took the advise of some of you here and started to do an exercise I like that didn't seem like exercise. I started to walk. Not fast mind you but I have been able to trim off the pounds 1-2 at a time doing this. Now, I go to my surgeon tomorrow to get my surg date and I want to know barring any complications how soon I might get back to my walking routine. What did some of you do and how soon after surg did you get started? I'm getting more excited by the day!!! A bit scared too :thumbup:

Kamie, I'm glad to hear you did all your homework on the subject and that you are doing this for yourself to be able to do the things in life that you want to do. I wouldn't worry about your thin soon-to-be in-laws because although fat may never have been one of their challenges you can bet they have something just as challenging that they do deal with. So don't feel inferior to them over something they were born with and had no hand in. We don't get to pick our own genetics, We simply get what our parents gave us. So in that department they were a bit more fortunate. So what These people are probably not judging you so don't judge yourself to harshly. I think you are taking the right steps to deal with an issue you deem a problem and I just know you'll make a success of it. Maple

Hi Kamie, I understand your ambivalence. I too had it in the very beginning. I wondered if it was right for me. I wondered if I would be able to eat tiny food for the rest of my life. I hate to exercise so I wondered if I could lose weight without doing any and the list goes on of things I was wondering. Then I pondered the things I couldn't do because of the weight. I can't shop at a regular clothing store. I have to pay twice as much for the ugly clothes I end up wearing From the fat lady shops. I look twice my age because fat is not my friend. I can't walk as fast or as long as I would like and my back and knees hurt when I try After doing my pro's and con's I don't have to tell you the pro's won out. I started my process about mid May and I am already done with all the pre-testing and ready to go. There are lots of folks here who took the plunge and haven't looked back or regretted their choice. I look forward to being among the pack. I have been fat since the birth of my last child which was 35 yrs ago. I am simply tired of being sick and tired. If you do your pro's and con's list and your pro's win out then do it now don't waste your young life wearing a fat suit like I did. On the other hand if your con's win out then I'm sure you'll be able to make a fine life for yourself just as you are. This is a really personal choice that each of us have to make alone. I will support you in whatever choice you make and hope you will stick around to do the same for me. Maple

Enjoy your vacation Lisa! I'm happy for you. I haven't had a vacation in just some time. I'm going to treat my convention next month like a vacation although it is only for 4 days. I will get to stay in a really nice hotel and be with many many friends, some of whom I haven't seen since last year this time so it should be super enjoyable and spiritually enlightening. You know what....I just thought of something. You might be able to do your own leg work by letting your fingers do the walking in the yellow pages and find your own Psych eval doctor then go to your lap-band doctor and just get the referral and short cut this process. Basically any Psychiatrist will do a eval for surg. When did you plan to have your surg anyway? Maple :thumbdown:

Lisa, My doctor asked me to have a sleep study because I carry a great deal of my weight in my tummy and chest which causes me to snore when sleeping on my back and I have sleep apnea as well. He wanted to make sure that all the I's were dotted and all the T's were crossed before he went ahead with the surgery. It is different for each paitent though because not all the people that were in my orientation group had to have a sleep study. Don't sweat it. Maybe you won't have to have one either. I just happen to be one of the ones who did. :confused: And you are right it was a ton of bother at least to me, but I'm done with it now. I had the last part of it yesterday. All my tests are done now and all systems are go. I'll call my doctor tomorrow to make an appointment to see him about getting a surg date. I want to do it in August because I have a very important convention to go to in July and I want to have a good time and not be tender footing around fresh out of surgery and drinking only fluids. that would simply put a damper on my excitement about the convention and my new Lap-band. WOW! that does seem like a long time to wait for a psych eval. Did you doctor have another psychiatrist he could recommend that might be able to get you in sooner. I had all my appointments scheduled for the same month I did my orientation. I was at the doctors about twice a week for a month, with appointments and follow ups but I was able to get it all done and over with. I hope your doctor and insurance company will work together to get this done for you in short order too. Let's keep in touch :thumbup: Maple

Again I'd like to say thanks to all of you who gave me positive and encouraging feedback to my question. It helped me a lot and gave me some ideas of exercise I can actually do that don't seem like exercise at all. As I lose more weight I'm sure I'll be moving even more. I walk more now than I have in years since I lost the 16 lbs. I went shopping at Walmart and walked all over the store. I usually would get a scooter or leave without getting all of my items because of the back pain related to my weight. I was amazed at myself. I'll get there. You are right Krtork, I think I will start to feel better and stronger each day after my surg and I lose even more weight. Please people stop saying that the band may not be for me, that isn't helpful. Thanks again ladies!

Thanks again guys. Since I have already lost about 16 lbs I am able to walk around Walmart instead of taking the scooter. Walking would be something I might be interested in but power walking and sweating sounds yucky to me right now. I think dancing, walking and learning to bowl might be my exercise program. At least these are things I know I would like to do and could keep up as a routine. Thanks again gang! :cursing:

I am ready for the band and I know I will make a success of it barring no complication with the surg. Thanks Jachut, Sarah R., And MacMadame. You guys gave me some encouragement on this issue and I'll take it to heart. I do like to dance and always wanted to learn to bowl. I just never thought of these things as exercise before. You guys are great! Thanks again :thumbup: