timmmers

Hello again fellow bandsters. Almost three weeks post-op and am already so happy that I got the band! I have had zero complications other than one time when a little bit of food got stuck on day two of eating "real" food, but after some PBing it passed. However, I know that I will get off of the "high" of being banded in the months to come, so I really want to build a solid foundation of support from other bandsters. I really want to attend a meeting, but I have school on wednesday nights. So, I am wondering about other meetings in/around this area (I live in Richmond). If any of you know of other meetings, PLEASE let me know! Thank you kindly ~

My doc actually told me to take advil! He said that as long as I drink before I take a pill, and then drink at least 250ml (one cup) of warm Water afterwards, AND as long as it doesn't get stuck... then he suggests I take advil as it's much better at releiving pain and it also speeds up the healing process. I haven't had any problems thus far. oh, and this was definitely not TMI. There have been posts that are A LOT worse. This is a good place to be open and honest.

wow! I logged onto this page to ask the exact same question! I'm glad I'm not the only one and that this seems to be very common. It's the strangest thing that the first bite seems so difficult, and then the rest are fine... Does anyone know why this happens? (just curious) Thanks for all of youre replies though. I'm not so worried anymore. I only started eating solid foods three days ago, so I was worried something was wrong. *whew*

well, neesh, if you actually look at what I said, never did I write that you won't get a band! Nor did I say that you won't be successful, nor did I say that people who cheat are not successful!!! In fact, I actually said that people who do cheat ARE still successful. (look at my original post) The only thing I have said is that it will be HARDER for you, and that you CHANCE of having complications will increase. The only reason I responded to your original post was because I am concerned for your well being, and I wanted to say that I highly recommend that BEFORE you get the band, that you really work hard on figuring out why you overeat, why you are not able to stay on a liquid diet for only ten days (by the way, some people are asked to go onto liquid diets for 4 weeks, or sometimes even 6 weeks!), and why you have the urge to get other people to say "it's ok that you're cheating"? Because from my research, the people who figure this stuff out are MORE successful. Let me repeat, to make sure you understand what I am saying... I am not saying that you shouldn't get the band. I'm only saying that I recommend you work on these, what I call, "daemons of eating" before getting the band. Trust me, the liquid diet was HARD for me. A few times on my way home from work I was so hungry that I would *scream* in my car to let out the frustration. Being able to do the liquid diet had changed me...once I got the band I had a totally different mentality. I knew, deep down in my soul, that I could do this! That I had conquered my body's demand for food even when it didn't need it. And that really helped in my first week where all I could drink was clear fluids (not even just fluids, but only clear fluids!) and now that I can finally eat real food (though still only mushy food) I don't have that overwhelming feeling to eat. I am not trying to make you feel like you have failed or that you do not deserve this. I 100% think that you deserve to get healthy and if that means getting the band, then to get the band. I want you, and all bandsters, to be successful! Cheers ~

HDmama - yeah, he prescribed advil as my post-op pain treatment after day 1. He said that as long as the advil makes it through my stoma without any problems (which it should) then advil will be the better pain releiver (versus Tylenol) as it also is an anti inflammatory. I was not allowed to have advil before the procedure. Nooshie - Thank you! and Best wishes on Thursday! I was really nervous the day of (everyone at the clinic kept on asking how I was and I would look at them with no expression as my mind was racing with fear. They would all say "you should be happy! you're getting banded today" and I would think "yeah but OMG it's surgery".) but I am SO happy that I got banded and it really wasn't as bad as I had feared - not even close!

You can not want to hear the truth all you want, but it's not going to make it go away! I have to agree with ParrotheadCathy and ccweeks - the pre-op diet is a lot more than just a simple liquid diet. There are many factors at play here. Your surgeon wants your liver to be as small as possible to make the surgery as SAFE as possible. Being on a liquid diet also helps clean out your stomach so that no food is "stuck" there when you get the band. And lastly, it's actually a TEST to see how well you can stick to a liquid diet. TWO bites of solid food during your post-op diet CAN lead to slippage, erosion, and potentially removal of the band, conversion to bypass, or sever internal bleeding. Like I said, I do NOT want to be waying you to not get the band - I would recommend the band to anyone. BUT, you need to be in the right place mentally first. I care, and if your surgeon is a good surgeon who actually cares about your health instead of the money, he too should care, that not only are you cheating, but you are posting online to the world that you are cheating, hopign to hear that "it's ok". You obviously have aguilty mindset for cheating - so I know that you know it's wrong. You just need to realize that THIS IS SURGERY! and that you can have severe consequences if you are not fully ready to get banded!

24 years old and was banded 11 days ago

Hello all October bandsters I got banded October 1st (9:30am) and posted one here on the 2nd, but haven't since then, so thought I should post an update. Things have been going SO well. I had no pain for the first three days as I was on hydrocodone (Lortab), but once I started switch to Advil, there were a few times when I had a bit of pain. Most of the pain has been gas pain, shoulder pain, and a little bit of diaphragm pain from what I believe is the band itself. However, today I only took one normal advil - and that's it! So, the pain is definitely going down and is much more manageable. I wanted to return to work last Monday, but ended up taking the Monday and Tuesday off as well. Most people I found could return to work after only three days (as long as it was a desk job like mine), but it I didn't feel well enough until my 6th day. On day 7, one week after being banded, I had taken a Motrin that was not one of those sugar-coated ones. That was a stupid idea because it ended up getting stuck. I felt a LOT of pain, and then I felt like things were backing up in my throat. I had a feeling that I wanted to just throw up to get it out. However, I am a volatile vomited, so I mentally did NOT want to throw up. but, after about 10 minutes I couldn't take it anymore so I went to the toilet, allowed myself to relax. Next thing I knew this tiny amount of mushy food came up and out... and RELIEF! It wasn't bad at all - all I could feel was just satisfaction. It was painless, quick, not disgusting at all. It was nothing like throwing up pre-band. There was no stomach fluid, so it was just like if I was swallowing food but backwards. Don't want to ramble here, but I was just SO relieved to know that if things get stuck (which of course I do not ever want to have happen again).. but, if they do, it's not the end of the world. One of my biggest fears is gone, which is such a great feeling. Since then, I have finally moved to mushy foods. I have had mostly things like yogurt, cottage cheese, mashed potato, and today I had fish! It's felt SO good being able to eat "real" food again after 17 days of liquids! I'm able to eat about a cup of food before feeling like I'm full. It's SO much less food than I used to eat, but is just about as satisfying. I have lost an average of one pound per day since being banded. I know it's going to stop soon as my stomach heals, until my first fill (currently have 0cc's in my band). The only things that's being bothering me is a feeling of pain in my left rib cage. It feels like it's my diaphragm or maybe lungs, or something. I'm not sure exactly what it is nor how long it will last. I have had the feeling there for about a week and it worsens 1 hour after I have eaten. I'm going to call the clinic tomorrow and ask if it's something I should be concerned about, but considering I was only banded 11 days ago, I highly doubt it's anything unusual. I got a modified SILS procedure, so I have a larger cut in my belly button, plus 4 very small holes in my belly. All of the cuts are healing really well. I have steri-strips on them which are supposed to start falling off after two weeks, and stitches in my belly button. I'm really looking forward to being able to see how those have healed. Overall, though there has been some pain, I am already SOOO happy to have been banded. I'm really looking forward to healing up completely and getting my first fill - and watching the weight melt off. Good luck to all of you bandsters! Take care ~ Tim

I would love to see your videos. What is your youtube member name? or can you post a link here? Best wishes ~

Hello neesh sorry, I don't want to sound cruel or harsh, but I really think you need to consider this surgery in more depth. The band is just a tool, it will NOT tell you what to put into your mouth - YOU will need to decide what to eat and what not to. If you have some daemons that are hurting you and preventing you from being able to stick to your doctor prescribed diet, then I really think you need to work on getting rid of those ASAP. I have done a LOT of research on the band. I am a statistician, so looking at the numbers was very important to me. And from all of the research I found, people who cheat during the pre-op having a much lower success rate (not that it will not work, but it will be harder), plus those who cheat in the post-op liquid diet have a DOUBLE chance of complications. I don't want to discourage you at all! I think the band is a wonderful tool, but I really want you to be sure that this is what will help you the best, and that you will have the strength (or at least the support required) to be successful once you are banded. Best wishes to you. Take care ~ Tim

Welcome to LapBandTalk Kels764! I was banded 11 days ago, so I have not had too much experience with the band myself, but I had researched the band for 1.5 years before deciding to get banded. Like you, I also feared not being able to eat the foods that I "love" more than the surgery (though, I sure did fear the surgery the day of), but I got to tell you what I learned. First of all, you are actually able to eat quite a variety of foods. Some people make claims that you can't eat anything afterwards, but I think those are probably people who got gastric bypass, etc, and just want others to do the same thing they did. So, to clear things up, you will be able to eat a lot of those foods you like to eat now. However, every bandster is different. Some people can eat rice with no problems, others can't; some people can eat pasta; others can't; some people can eat chicken and dumplings; others can't. So, unfortunately, nobody can tell you for sure if you will or will not be able to eat certain types of food. However, if you want to be successful with the band, you will need to grow a new relationship with food. The band is a tool - not a magic device. If you really wanted to, you *could* eat absolutely anything with the band... especially bad liquidy foods. To be successful means using the tool to it's best ability, and working on the other things that helped you get to where you are now. Personally, I found a counsellor two months before I got banded, and I worked with her once a week on dealing with those issues. Being able to get my mindset into the right place, so that I don't just sabotage myself was really important. As for feeling full.. though I'm just banded, I can tell you that you will definitely have a different sensation of fullness. Will you ever have that "omg I ate so much I feel so full and feel like passing out" feeling?... probably not. Personally, I was addicted to that feeling, so not being able to feel it ever again has been (and still is) something I need to work on. BUT, on the contrary, I have never once felt hungry, and I am able to eat such a small amount of food (in comparison to what I used to eat) and I feel satisfied... and then don't even think about food for at least 4 hours! This feeling is so strange, and really has my mind boggled as my entire life I have never felt this. It truly is a wonderful feeling and very liberating. If there is one thing I could make sure you understood from my ramblings, is that everyone is different, so the best way to get a good idea of what you will go through after (and even before) getting banded is to READ a lot of posts, ASK a lot of questions, and be open minded to different viewpoints. I wish you the best of luck! Take care ~ Tim

I'm in bandland. I got banded yesterday morning. At the hotel across the street from the clinic, just about to head home (2.5 hour drive). I had my surgery done at NWWLS., with Dr. Michaelson. I'm going to break down what happened to me yesterday for any of you who are interested in what happens at NWWLS or just in general. I left home at 5:45am (after only getting about an hour of sleep_ to make it to Everett, WA by 7:45am. Didn't need to be there until 8:30am, so we went to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) to check in. They gave us our room right away!!! Btw the hotel is just wonderful! Very nice rooms, beds, extremely good customer service, TV, and best of all, quiet and dark making it easy to do a lot of resting. Rested for about 15 minutes and then headed to the clinic. Filled out paperwork and waited for about 15 minutes. Was brought to the back. VERY nice private care facility. They gave me blood thinner into my thigh, tested my temp, BP, and O2 stats. Then, Dr. Michaelson spoke with me for a few minutes. Met the anesthesiologist, who asked me the same questions all over again. He was really nice (Dr. Ortiz I think). I then walked into the operating room, laid down, got hooked up to monitoring machines, and then got some absolutely amazing drug that made my eyes heavy - but it also made me feel absolutely NO anxiety. About 2 minutes later they gave me the anesthesia... and I was out. Ta-da, I'm banded. Waking up from general really sucks for me, so it was a pretty strange feeling. I don't remember much, other than it was a bit difficult to breathe, and that my mom (who came along to drive me home, etc.) was in the room answering questions for me. I knew where I was, but had no idea what time it was and kept on asking.. about every 2 minutes. haha. After an hour in the recovery room in my bed, I was asked to walk to another room with a chair. I had fear that I wouldn't make it, but I actually liked walking more than the sitting. Got to my room, and was checked about every 10 minutes (BP, O2, etc). I was supposed to get the SILS procedure, but the doctor reverted to a standard procedure because he said I was too tall for his instruments. So, I have 5 incisions like most people - I would have liked just having 1, but safety was definitely more important than looks. After about 1 hour, I started to feel some pain, so they gave me liquid vicodin (Lortab Elixir). The drugs kinda "knocked" me out half way, but made the pain go completely away. After another 45 minutes, they told me I was good to go. So, got into the car and drove to the hotel. Did a 10 minute walk around the hotel. Then, back to the room and slept for an hour. Took more Lortab as I was feeling a bit more pain. Felt sleepy again, and slept for 2.5 hours. So, all in all, it went really smoothly, and pretty limited pain. I would like to have no pain, but it's definitely not bad. My sleep was alright last night. I was told to set my alarm for every 3 hours to take pain medication, so that it wouldn't bother me. I had my alarm set but accidentally hit the snooze button, and it never rang again. So, I missed my first dose. Woke up about 2 hours later in quite a lot of pain. Took the medication, and about half an hour later was all good again. Had some really strange dreams (not scary, but just weird). Got about 3 hours of sleep until my alarm went off again to take more meds. Went back to bed until 9am. Got up, had some more pain meds, and started drinking my liquids again. I LOVE coffee, so I got some coffee as well, but only drank about 1/4 of it before feeling full. And hour later, had 1/2 of a small yogurt (50 calories). but then felt full again, so didn't have any more. Just finished packing, and am going to head down to the clinic to get checked out, finish up some paperwork, and then drive home. I'll keep you all posted. Definitely going to need my pain medication today, and probably tomorrow, but want to get off of it as soon as possible (I have had drug addictions before in my past and don't want to get addicted to these meds). Good luck to the rest of you bandsters, newly-banded, and those considering getting banded! Cheers~

First October 2009 bandster... I'm in bandland! I got banded THIS morning, about 8 hours ago. At the hotel across the street from the clinic, and am here until tomorrow. I had my surgery done at NWWLS., with Dr. Michaelson. I'm going to break down what happened to me today for any of you who are interested in what happens at NWWLS or just in general. I left home at 5:45am (after only getting about an hour of sleep_ to make it to Everett, WA by 7:45am. Didn't need to be there until 8:30am, so we went to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) to check in. They gave us our room already!!! Btw the hotel is just wonderful! Very nice rooms, beds, extremely good customer service, TV, and best of all, quiet and dark making it easy to do a lot of resting. Rested for about 15 minutes and then headed to the clinic. Filled out paperwork and waited for about 15 minutes. Was brought to the back. VERY nice private care facility. They gave me blood thinner into my thigh, tested my temp, BP, and O2 stats. Then, Dr. Michaelson spoke with me for a few minutes. Met the anesthesiologist, who asked me the same questions all over again. He was really nice (Dr. Ortiz I think). Walked into the operating room, laid down, got hooked up to monitoring machines, and then got some absolutely amazing drug that made my eyes heavy - but it also made me feel absolutely NO anxiety. About 2 minutes later they gave me the anesthesia as I was out. Ta-da, I'm banded. Waking up from general really sucks for me, so it was a pretty strange feeling. I don't remember much, other than it was a bit difficult to breathe, and that my mom (who came along to drive me home, etc.) was in the room answering questions for me. I knew where I was, but had no idea what time it was and kept on asking.. about every 2 minutes. haha. After an hour in the recovery room in my bed, I was asked to walk to another room with a chair. I had fear that I wouldn't make it, but I actually liked walking more than the sitting. Got to my room, and was checked about every 10 minutes (BP, O2, etc). I was supposed to get the SILS procedure, but the doctor reverted to a standard procedure because he said I was too tall for his instruments. So, I have 5 incisions like most people - I would have liked just having 1, but safety was definitely more important than looks. After about 1 hour, I started to feel some pain, so they gave me liquid vicodin (Lora-tab Elixir). The drugs kinda "knocked" me out half way, but made the pain go completely away. After another 45 minutes, they told me I was good to go. So, got into the car and drove to the hotel. Did a 10 minute walk around the hotel. Then, back to the room and slept for an hour. Took more Lora-tab as I was feeling a bit more pain. Felt sleepy again, and slept for 2.5 hours. Just went for another walk and am now in my room writing this post. So, all in all, it went really smoothly, and pretty limited pain. I would like to have no pain, but it's definitely not bad. Best wishes for the rest of you October bandsters. Cheers ~

I'm in bandland. I got banded THIS morning, about 8 hours ago. At the hotel across the street from the clinic, and am here until tomorrow. I had my surgery done at NWWLS., with Dr. Michaelson. I'm going to break down what happened to me today for any of you who are interested in what happens at NWWLS or just in general. I left home at 5:45am (after only getting about an hour of sleep_ to make it to Everett, WA by 7:45am. Didn't need to be there until 8:30am, so we went to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) to check in. They gave us our room already!!! Btw the hotel is just wonderful! Very nice rooms, beds, extremely good customer service, TV, and best of all, quiet and dark making it easy to do a lot of resting. Rested for about 15 minutes and then headed to the clinic. Filled out paperwork and waited for about 15 minutes. Was brought to the back. VERY nice private care facility. They gave me blood thinner into my thigh, tested my temp, BP, and O2 stats. Then, Dr. Michaelson spoke with me for a few minutes. Met the anesthesiologist, who asked me the same questions all over again. He was really nice (Dr. Ortiz I think). Walked into the operating room, laid down, got hooked up to monitoring machines, and then got some absolutely amazing drug that made my eyes heavy - but it also made me feel absolutely NO anxiety. About 2 minutes later they gave me the anesthesia as I was out. Ta-da, I'm banded. Waking up from general really sucks for me, so it was a pretty strange feeling. I don't remember much, other than it was a bit difficult to breathe, and that my mom (who came along to drive me home, etc.) was in the room answering questions for me. I knew where I was, but had no idea what time it was and kept on asking.. about every 2 minutes. haha. After an hour in the recovery room in my bed, I was asked to walk to another room with a chair. I had fear that I wouldn't make it, but I actually liked walking more than the sitting. Got to my room, and was checked about every 10 minutes (BP, O2, etc). I was supposed to get the SILS procedure, but the doctor reverted to a standard procedure because he said I was too tall for his instruments. So, I have 5 incisions like most people - I would have liked just having 1, but safety was definitely more important than looks. After about 1 hour, I started to feel some pain, so they gave me liquid vicodin (Lora-tab Elixir). The drugs kinda "knocked" me out half way, but made the pain go completely away. After another 45 minutes, they told me I was good to go. So, got into the car and drove to the hotel. Did a 10 minute walk around the hotel. Then, back to the room and slept for an hour. Took more Lora-tab as I was feeling a bit more pain. Felt sleepy again, and slept for 2.5 hours. Just went for another walk and am now in my room writing this post. So, all in all, it went really smoothly, and pretty limited pain. I would like to have no pain, but it's definitely not bad. I'll definitely keep you all posted. Good luck to the rest of you still waiting to get banded. Cheers~

Just got a call from my surgeon's office. I'm being banded at 9:30am! (October 1st). So, 45.5 hours!! Wow, I can't believe it's happening! After 1.5 years of thinking about it, it's a surreal feeling that I'm going to be banded in less than 48 hours. Good luck to all October bandsters!

The point of the liquid diet is to highly reduce the number of calories you are eating, so that you have extremely rapid wieght loss, as well as the clear out the stomach for the surgery. Fat is stored in the liver, and when you lose weight, the fat from the liver is lost first. During the surgery, your surgeon needs to work where the liver usually rests, so he (or she) needs to move the liver out of the way. To make it easier (and safer) to work in that area of your body, the smaller your liver is the better. So, the reason why most doctors put people onto liquid diets is to decrease the size of the liver and therefore make the surgery a bit easier. However, I have heard from surgeons I have spoken to in person, they also put people onto liquid diets to test to see if they are in the right place mentally to loose weight and eat the right food after the diet. If you can't handle loosing 5/10 pounds before the surgery, how will you manage 100? But, as long as your surgeon is experienced, the surgery will be a success no matter how big your liver is. So, really, it's just a bonus to have a smaller liver and not necessary a requirement. I hope this helped!

Hello all Thanks canadagirl33 for your reply(ies). I'm getting banded in two days!!!! OMG! I'm so nervous (and so excited). I've been on the pre-op for 4 days now and have lost 6 pounds. Wish I could just do this diet for a few months and I'll be at my goal (hahaha). As per your suggestion canadagirl33, I live in Richmond (specifically, south Richmond). I used to live in Tsawwassen. So, if there are any bandsters out there in Richmond or Delta (or anywhere close to these two places), and would like to meet up, please let me know. I go to Kwantlen in Surrey, so meeting in Surrey is an option too. I would love to be able to talk to people who have been banded, and learn from their experiences. Because my surgery is in two days and I have SO much to do before then, I won't be able to meet for a few weeks (after I recover). I would love to make it out to a support meeting, but I am in school during ALL of the meetings. So, meeting up one-on-one or in small groups is my only option at this point. Would really like to speak with some of you in person. Hope you're all having a great day! Cheers ~

*woot* I'm so excited! I definitely have spurts of extreme anxiety, but just going to focus on the positives. 5 days!!!!

I have my surgery in one week, and I have to make a big decision before having my surgery. My doctor is a leader in laparoscopic surgery, and offers the SILS (Single Incision Lap-band surgery) procedure as an option. The biggest difference between the regular surgery and the SILS is that the SILS, like the name suggests, is done completely through one incision/port. My doctor said that for him it doesn't make a difference, and that I am a good candidate for this procedure. However, I have read online that it is a technically more difficult procedure to perform (for the surgeon). So, I'm uncertain what to do. Has anyone else had the SILS procedure here? What did you think? How was the pain? any other complications? Would you recommend it? Thanks!!! :-)

sorry, I should have included the links in my previous post. There is this thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/october-2009-bandsters-101511/ and: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/october-2009-surgery-date-100378/ Cheers ~

Hi Greg Congrats! And thank's for the positive post. I have my surgery in one week today, and am really starting to "freak-out" I just started my liquid diet, and am extremely excited to get banded. Kinda wish it was done already. Thanks for the tips about walking. I have heard many people say to walk, but it's good to hear again that it really does help. I hope to be walking within a half hour of getting out of surgery - I guess I'll see how it goes (I'm getting the SILS procedure, so the pain should be less for walking, but more for shoulder pains). Best wishes ~

Congratulations! There is an entire thread for October bandsters already. It's actually just a few threads below this one right now. There is a list that is randomly posted in that thread that has the breakdown of who is getting banded on each day of the month. Best wishes!

wow, I can't believe someone else is in the same situation as me. I had got my own psychologist do my evaluation two weeks ago, and when I saw here on Wednesday, she told me that she wouldn't be able to get it done for at least another week. But, my surgery is set for October 1st. So, I got really frustrated. The surgery clinic called today asking for payment, but I don't want to pay until I get my eval done. So, after a lot of anxiety and frustration, I was able to speak with my counselor and convinced her to get it done by Monday. I'll pay tomorrow, get the eval submitted on Monday, and surgery on Thursday. Which means that I start my pre-op diet RIGHT NOW!. As of this second, I am now on my pre-op diet. OMG! So excited! :-D Good luck with getting all of your paperwork organized! And best wishes on your pre-op and the op itself.