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Hey Guys, It's Nadia. I came to a couple of meetings and then stopped. The band hasn't been working for me...well I haven't been working with the band. I went for yet another fill with Doctor Arseneau and turns out I gained 9lbs since the end of January. I've been really discouraged and I've been eating very poorly so that's why I haven't been posting or coming to meetings. I'm not sure what else to do at this point...I know what will work and what I should do but actually putting in the effort to do it is the problem. I find that I eat when I am bored because I tend to sit on the couch and watch tv and I eat and eat and eat to the point where I can't fit anything more in. I want to be active and get out there and be more productive but i have no one to do it with and I am so nervous about doing it on my own. Anyways I will do my best to come to next month's meeting. Nadia

Thanks for the advice. To be honest with you I havent been having much protein. I havent had trouble shoving anything down my throat. I mean I can't binge to the degree that I could before but I am still eating way more than I should. Do you get fuller off of protein? I have been travelling a lot recently because of work and next week I am at a conference from tuesday to friday so I will be eating out mostly. Due to religious reasons I can't eat regular meat, it has to be halal (kosher) so its not like I can go and eat chicken breast wherever I am. My office recieves complimentary dairy products from dairyland every wednesday and the eggnog cartons have begun to show up, instead of milk or cream I have been adding eggnog to my coffee. Every night I tell myself that I will control myself the following day and I am fine for the most part when I am at work but then I overeat at dinner. I have spoken to the other surgeon Rick and he will see me as a patient but I first have to get a referal from my family doctor and I couldnt get an appointment until next friday. I get so discouraged when i get on the scale and dont see any change, its like all the pain for nothing. Anyways, today is another day right? I think I need to pull out my george foreman grill and make some chicken breast. Nadia

Hi everyone, I really wanted to come yesterday but I had to drive my brother to Seattle. I am finding that I can still eat a lot after my first fill, any tips on how to limit the amount I eat? I try not to overeat but I always do and then I get discouraged because I feel like I ate way too many calories in a day to lose weight. I have been excercising but I still wish I didn't eat as much as I do. Should I go back and get it filled more? I hope the meeting went well, any interesting discussions? Nadia

Hey Guys, I just had my first fill this morning. I panicked when I saw the needle inside of my stomach and he made me drink three sips of water and asked if I felt anything. At first I did but then as he put more and more I couldn't feel any trouble with the water going down. What if he did it wrong? What if he missed the port and there is still nothing in my band, would i know? Is that possible? How is it supposed to feel? He put 6cc's! Is that a lot? At the meeting everyone said that its normal for there to be 3 cc's or 4 but 6?! What do I do? Is this normal?

Hey Guys, Last week I kind of getting depressed about not losing more weight, like i went through so much pain and was hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel but now I am realizing that this isnt a miracle and will still need work. Dr. Leung's office called me today and rescheduled my first fill from the 9th to the 12th which is kind of annoying because I wanted to get my first fill over with. I have been having pureed foods even tho he said not to but everything has been going down fine, no pain and no gas or anything so I am hoping I am healing properly. I still have that open incising on my tummy tho, it is healing very slowly and I have gone from having a gauze on it to just having a bandaid on it. I have started to write down and keep track of everything i eat on a note pad and then inputting it onto weightwatchers online. I keep telling myself that the more I try to control my intake the happier I will become. I have also begun doing activities that will occupy my mind and stop me from eating, like reading, painting and of course forcing myself to hit the tredmill or eliptical for atleast 30 minutes everynight. I signed up for a greek cooking class and Im looking for a beginners healthy cooking course but I dont think I will find anything until the new year. I am literally forcing myself to become more social and get out of this self inflicted rut that Im in. At the end of november there is a huge industry conference that i am a part of and planning and I was really looking forward to dressing up and looking good...I have to put in the effor in order to make it happen. Anyways sorry for the rant, hope your all doing well and thanks for the support. Nadia

Hey guys, I have been doing much better since our meeting last wednesday. I have not lost any weight in the last week despite being on a pureed diet, it has been discouraging but I am trying to write down everything i put in my mouth. I had a conference yesterday and couldnt eat the sandwiches there so I had the soup and potatoe salad one day and orzo salad the next which went down fine but I dont think Im going to lose weight by loading up on food like that. I am hoping my first fill will help me control the amount of food I consume. Any tips on how to survive halloween candy? I bought that book 'Mindful eating' and I work with dietians who have studied 'mindfullness', it seems like a lot of people have bad relationships with food and I really want to work on that relationship. I dont want to look forward to eating, I just want to eat an amount and go about my day. Does it get easier? Does the weight come off easier?

Hey Guys, I just wanted to thank everyone who was at the meeting yesterday, you guys have really helped put my mind at ease and made me feel better about my decision to get banded. Thank you so much for all of the advice and for being so open about the ups and downs you have each faced. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at next months meeting and telling you how my first fill went. Thanks, Nadia

Hey guys, So two of my eight incisions are infected but my doctor gave me some antibiotic cream. Where is the meeting on the 21st? What time?

Hey guys after I took a hot shower it went away a bit. Yesterday was my first day walking outside my house. I went to save on and walked around more than any other day. My mom thinks it's a muscle pain or because of sitting too much. Dr. Leung and the dietician have different opinions on what my pre-fill diet should be. Dr. Leung said clear calorie free and sugar free but does that mean my body can't handle skim milk and stuff? I'm confused. I'm getting out of the house today and going to the mall with my mom. What if I did half wat dr. Leung says and half the dietician?

I had my surgery a week ago and last night I started to have a terrible pain on the left side of my waste. It feels like a cramp but it's not going away. Has anyone else felt this? It hurts a lot and I'm not sure what to do. I tried to come off my T3's but then this pain started. It right on the side of my waste and it hurts when I inhale just like a cramp after u have run too hard. Help!

hey guys pain wise I do feel a little better. I was prescribed two T3s every 6-8 hours but I have only been taking one every 6 hours. I feel super gassy still and my tummy is making so much noise. I finally had a bowl movement and that helped a little. I'm so sick of drinking things. Even tho I feel a little hungry I'm tired of drinking things. My surgeon said clear fluids for a month which seems impossible! I'm getting a litttle frustrated and depressed. My surgeon also said that I can shower today but my mom had been sponge bathing me and washing my hair in the sink. Would it be better to continue that or take a full shower. So far all I can have is apple juice, broth and water. I tried white grape juice but I find it too sweet. I have also had two Popsicles and some jello. Is there anything else I can have? This frustration is normal right. I keep breathing and walking around. How active should I be? Like grocery shopping active? Help!

I had my surgery yesterday and they admittd me to the hospital. The surgery took 4 hours because my liver is twice the size it should be so they put two extra holes just to get to my stomach. I'm in so much pain and have soo much gas. Has this ever happened to anyone

Is there a meeting on October 21st? The 3rd wednesday of this month? I would like to come.

Hey, so i am less than 24 hours away from my surgery and i am freaking out! I am nervous and I am trying not to think about it but i cant help it. I feel like i have butterflies in my tummy and tension in my shoulders. Please tell me this is normal! My mom said that if i want to back out at any moment then I can but there is something inside of me pushing me through. Im scared when i think about having to live with something foreign in my body for the rest of my life but I know i cant think like that. Someone wrote on here that the day they got their band was their re-birth, the thought of having a whole new life with all these possibilities is pushing me through but I cant help but be scared of what is coming ahead of me. I saw some video on youtube about this chick who was being interviewed for gastric bypass surgery, she had lapband but it didnt work, she said she couldnt eat anything healthy because it didnt stay down so she just ate chips and ice cream cuz they went down well. She said her surgeon said that she 'out-ate' the band and it was her fault. She started her weightloss journey at 300 then lost 60lbs then when she had it removed she went up to 365. I know that they warn you about everything like, chewing, what to eat and not to eat, control everything, but if Ive failed at every diet why would this be different? There are pictures of people smiling when they go into the OR, I dont feel like smiling, Im scared!

Hello, I am new here and my surgery is one week away so I am very nervous.

Hey guys, I wasn't told to go onto any pre-op diet, I asked the dietician about a pre-op diet and she said that I could whatever until the midnight before, is that true? I hear a lot of pre-banders saying they are on a specific diet but I wasn't told that.

Thanks guys for the advice and support. My mom knows a lady who was banded and she said that she was never able to go to social functions or anything because everything she ate had to be blended and mushy. She had the band for 8 months and couldnt eat anything solid, everything had to be blended. She had the band removed because a piece of cilantro managed to plug the band and nothing would pass, her surgeon was out of town and no other doctor would touch her. She was admitted to the hospital and could barely breathe and eventually her surgeon removed the band. Now that I have learnt more about the band I think that perhaps her band was too tight and she didn't chew well enough. When I spoke to the dietician yesterday she said that I would eat the amount of a lean cuisine, which isn't too bad and I am sure as the weight comes off I will think about food less and less. Does it take a long time for your body to adjust to the band? Do you feel hungry? I would like to attend a meeting, I have a place in Burnaby and my family lives in Mission so meetings in the Valley or in the city.

Wow, reading all of your responses to my one sentence is almost bringing tears to my eyes. I had my pre-op today and started to cry in the waiting room cuz I was so overwhelmed with so many emotions, I am also having some negative feedback coming from family members. I know this is the right thing, I am scared and stressed and for the first time in my life the doctor reported that my blood presure is high. Do i wish I didnt have to get this surgery done...Yes...but do I want to continue to live like this...no. I just need to keep pushing ahead and once it is done it is done. I just turned 26 and I feel like Ive wasted my life in a body I hate which has held me back. My family members who are giving me grief are my skinny sister in law and my brother, its like she wants me to remain fat and insecure. Please tell me all these emotions go away and that this is the right decision cuz I know in a year or so I will be diabetic. Ne ways thanks for listening.

Hello, I am new here. I am scheduled to have my surgery done in exactly a week, Oct 2, by Dr. Leung. I know that he is very experienced but he kind of scared me when I went in for my consultation. I truely feel at the end of my struggle, like I am so far gone that this is the only solution. I have my preop on monday and will be meeting with a dietian and everything but I am scared and nervous. I try to think about how amazing it will feel to love my body and have extra energy, I just turned 26 and I feel like I have wasted my whole life in a body I hate. I've had my galbladder removed and developed collitis and IBS as a result, I finally have both of them under control for the most part and now I am worried I'll be in for another long haul of upset stomachs and pain. Whats the worst part of having it done? Can you ever eat the same amount as a normal person? I know i overeat now which is why I am obese but once the weight is gone can you ever just have a normal life? Is it true that you have to drink things out of a straw for the rest of your life or does your body adjust?

Hello, I am having my surgery in one week. How long have you had your band? What is the hardest aspect of having lap band surgery?