thebandedgirl

I had surgery on Thursday and went back to work on Wednesday. I was supposed to go back on Tuesday but couldn't make it! Honestly, I wish that I could have afforded two weeks off. I was exhausted when I got home every night for a while.

A lot of people think that this is an easy solution. They have the surgery and expect the weight to magically disappear. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that! You have to commit to working hard by eating well and exercising if this is going to work for you. It's easy to fall off track and it's easy to eat foods that slide on through the band (anything with a mushy or chip-like consistency, to start).

Mine's in my signature. More readers would help me write more

I've lost about 25 pounds since I started my pre-op diet at the end of May. I lost a lot of that in June and July and am finally starting to see the number on the scale moved downward. But it's been slow!

I was an outpatient and kind of wish that I'd been able to stay overnight. I think a lot of that is because my bed is kind of low to the ground and getting in and out of it hurt a lot, though

You might want to check with your surgeon for any restrictions (s)he might have. Mine wants his patients to use whey protein only pre-op. I used the EAS from Sam's Club; it wasn't bad. I'm not a fan of protein shakes to begin with, though!

Welcome

Hi Margie! I was banded on 6/18 and will have my fourth fill tomorrow, which will bring me to 4ccs in my band. My surgeon will only put 1cc in at a time, so getting to good restriction is taking a while! Hang in there

Hey Steve, It's really common for people to gain weight when they advance to mushie foods. Remember that this is a time for your body to heal more than it is a time for weight loss. It'll start to come off again

That's awesome! I didn't learn much at the seminars I attended, either. I really did my research before I even decided to walk through the door of a surgeon's office! Good for you for putting all of the time and work into educating yourself :thumbup:

Best advice I can give you: Take it slow and follow your surgeon's guidelines. You'll do great! :thumbup:

I didn't have to write one, but I would probably go through my journey of obesity. I would then write the ways in which I would "work the band" to help me lose weight ("My exercise plan is..." "My diet plan is..."). Depending upon the requested length, I would probably also write a section sharing what I'm looking forward to during and after my weight loss journey (off of meds, fit in an airplane seat, run a marathon, etc). I'm a fairly good editor and would be happy to edit a draft or two for you if you'd like. Just PM me and we can work it out.

Welcome! This is a great place to come for support and answers to questions :thumbup:

Hey, how are you doing? Your profile says your surgery is tomorrow--I wish you well! If you think I can help allay some of your last minute fears (if you have any), please feel free to PM me. I'll write back :thumbup:

Hey Gary, That's a legitimate fear, though! I had it too. Also paralleling your story, I had my gallbladder removed in a "do this or you will die" surgery. It's the same as your appendix--there's no risk. Your appendix isn't going to get better and will kill you for sure; the surgery has much slimmer odds of a really bad outcome. It's a no-brainer. I'll be honest and tell you that I was apprehensive until I went in for surgery, when I wasn't able to think about it any more. But I was able to examine my fears and decide every time that surgery was something I wanted to do. Then I was able to reason with those same feelings and make them go away. They came back, sure, but what was important was that I was the one in control of them and I could either fuel them or make them disappear. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to send me a private message if you need support :biggrin:

Dr. N is great! My port's really mobile and likes to run away from the fill needle, so he's had to do my last two fills.

Congratulations. June 18 was a good day this year :frown: I'm doing pretty well with my band. My surgeon has a very conservative fill policy: 1cc by 1cc by 1cc. Despite the fact that I've had three fills, I only have 3ccs in my 10cc band. I completely understand his reasoning, but when I come to places like this and see that people who were banded around the same time we were have good restriction already, I get kind of discouraged. Still. I've lost almost 25 pounds in right at three months (since I started my pre-op diet). That's definitely nothing to be ashamed of! How are things going for you?

Hey Carlene, Have you checked out LAP-BAND's website? It's over at Official Site: the LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System for weight loss surgery and will answer a lot of your questions!

Dr. Nirmul was my surgeon, too :frown:

I'm 26 and was banded on June 18 of this year :frown:

Sugar. Sugarsugarsugarsugar. I can't stand artificial sweeteners and really try to stay away from sweets in general. I drink my tea unsweetened and water mostly. Coffee gets sugar, though :frown:

*high five* So awesome, congratulations!

Awesome! Congratulations on your band :frown:

Hey Gary, What are your fears? Surgery itself? Life after the band? Something else? I think recognizing exactly what we're afraid of and giving it some sort of name or label is an important part of moving past the fear.

Hey Carlene, Welcome to LBT and congratulations on deciding to do some research! Foods like clam chowder, Peanut Butter cups, and popsicles are what many of us call "slider foods" because they slide through the band really easily. The band can help us eat less, but only if we eat the right kinds of foods--anything liquid or really mushy will slide on down to the main part of your stomach and leave you feeling less full for a shorter amount of time. You might not have to give them up, but you're definitely going to have to eat your favorites only occasionally if you get the lap-band. Please start your journey by reading a ton. Look at the information on this message board and do some Googling. Read read read read and make sure that you're okay with all of the changes you're going to have to make; then start researching surgeons. There is a section on LBT to help. Banding in Mexico is common, but it's not "better" than going with a surgeon in the US. It can be less expensive, if you have to pay with cash. Just like choosing a surgeon in your area, you will need to research surgeons in Mexico and make sure they're going to do a good job for you. I've heard some wonderful praise of some surgeons, but also horror stories of others. Exercise isn't as necessary for weight loss as eating less (and eating healthy foods), but it still helps burn calories AND is necessary for good cardiovascular health. It's hard to make time for exercise and to stop thinking up reasons why we don't want to start moving. We should all do it anyway, weight loss surgery or not Believe me, I'm preaching to myself here :frown: