Karen12345

Hi Faith. I just wanted to put in my two cents. My nutritionist explained to me the vital importance of getting sufficient amounts of protein each day to me before surgery. She explained that they believe the number one reason for the hair loss could be the lack of protein. Our skin and muscles and brains also need protein. Basically she said that almost our entire bodies are dependant on it. I am 6 months post op and have followed her instructions and have done what I see others on this site have done and made sure that I get at least 60 grams of protein a day. Now that I have really good restriction its a little more difficult getting it with my food so what I do is start my day with a scoop of the Isopure power mixed with just a little water (like a half cup). I like all of the flavors but even if I didn't, a half cup aint that hard to get down. That gives me 25 grams and then at some point in the day I'll do another scoop or an Adkins shake. All of that to say is my skin has never looked better and I haven't lost any hair. I am 50 years old and so I was very concerned with loose skin so far it's going great. I think a lot of that is due to the protein.

Hi yall. My heart so went out to you. Hang on, I promise it gets better. I was banded on 10/8/09 and I have struggled with the food the whole time. I get obsessed with almonds and sugar free ice cream. It's been lots of other things this whole time, but mostly those two. I was concerned before the surgery about my food obessions and just as I thought, this surgery did not remove them. I have now gotten really good restriction with my last fill and I can tell you that almonds and even sugar free ice cream are a thing of the past. I can barely get any food down so I'm having to work at getting all of my proper nutrition. The band has finally gotten to the point where it's working. Just like others have said, you don't have restriction yet. I am glad it took awhile to get here because I really needed to learn how to pay attention to the feelings of being "full" and learning how to chew my food and to take small bites and to eat slowly. Hang in there, it will get better!

So I now have 6cc in a 10cc band and I'm able to drink liquids slowly. I am making sure that I get all of my nutrients by drinking Atkins Advantage Protein shakes, chewable multi Vitamins, and liquid Calcium. I have also been able to eat about a cup of yogurt each day. I have lost 7lbs in the last 4 days so I'm very pleased about that, but I am concerned that I might be just a little too tight. I'm wanting to stick it out for a little while longer to make sure that it's not just some irritation or swelling. I tell myself that maybe this is the "sweet spot" and yes, it's very tight and that this is where I'm supposed to be. I was able to eat one scallop and about 1/4 cup of spinach but it was very uncomfortable and I had to take tiny bites. So does anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible to maintain this type of restriction long term? I really don't mind it so much. P.S. Going on a cruise next week for 5 days so I'm torn between being grateful that I won't be able to eat and wanting to get a little unfill....

Thank you Mimi. I may just do that. My doctor went out of town and will be back at the end of the week.

I am now 6 months post op and I have felt the same frustrations you felt, like why did I do this if I was gonna have to do it all on my own. After the 4th fill, I would have restriction half of the time. I still obsessed about food and I would eat things like sugar free ice cream (like way too much of it) and chips (for some reason chips didn't give me problems). It started to get to where I couldn't eat but one or two chips and then they would get stuck (or I would be full) so I would just put them away. I lost about 15 lbs in 2 months like that. Last week I got another fill and now I can only eat just a tiny bit. It takes me about a half hour to drink a protein shake. I think I am now at that sweet spot. I have lost 4 lbs in 3 days and I'm very concerned that I better step up the exercising cuz the weight is going to really start falling off. All this to say, for the first 4 months I struggled with gaining pounds and losing pounds and now I am just going down. I think those that have lost a lot of weight probably went thru similar experiences. Oh, I just want to say that without slowly working my way into learning how to eat slowly and pay attention to my body that I would not have been able to handle it. I really would have hurt myself with this type of restriction in the beginning. Good luck!

Hi there. I'm Karen and I live in Houston. I was banded 10/8/09 and started at 322 and have lost about 78 lbs. I'd love to be your buddy. Can you email me at karen@karenkeeline.com? ttyl. Karen

They are so right. I was banded on 10/8/09 and I only lost about 25 lbs the first 5 months. I got my 4th fill a couple of months ago and had some pretty good restriction and lost another 15. I just got another fill yesterday and now I know what everyone has been talking about with the good restriction. I now know that I was doing all of that pretty much on dieting and willpower. Now, I cannot eat the amounts I was eating before. I used to eat really huge salads because lettuce was a slider food. Now I don't think even that is going to be possible anymore. I have to sip the protein shakes! Anyway, yall hang in there. I think it just takes time to get to the place where we start losing pretty regularly. Oh, and yes, I have to exercise. I walk 30 minutes about 5 days a week.

Hey fellow Oct 2009 bandsters! I was banded on 10/8/09 and have lost 78 lbs (322 to 244) and although it isnt as fast as I had imagined it would be, I'm very happy so far. I just had what I think will be my last fill for awhile. I had restriction about half the time and with this one, I'm thinking it's going to be some serious restriction. I have struggled with eating things I shouldn't (sugar free ice cream and lots of nuts). I walk 30 minutes about 4 or 5 times a week. I am feeling better than I have in a long, long time. I see that we are all doing about the same. I expect that 6 months from now, we are all going to be pretty happy with the results. Bye!

I too gained a couple of lbs before my first fill and then only lost a couple of lbs after that. I'm now on my 4th fill and am probably at my sweet spot. I look back now and see that anytime I starve myself (like the all liquid pre-op diet) that I always gain back some of what I lost when I go back to food (even small amounts or "mushies"). My body is now used to having food 3 times a day, I eat about 1000 cal a day, concentrating on making sure to get all of the nutrients and protein that I need and I walk 5 days a week for 30 minutes and the weight is falling off. Pretty much just like all of those that have lost weight have said... watch what I eat and exercise. I wanted to panic in the beginning but it's all good....

Hi Miss Tammie. Glad you made it back. I had 3 1/2 years clean and was banded on 10/8/09 and then relapsed a month later. I am very active in the program and service and even was at that time. I was very excited about the morpheine that I was going to be able to get with the surgery and didn't really mention that to anyone, so I guess I had started to keep secrets. Anyway, I'm now clean 4 months (today in fact) and have lost 70 lbs so far and have had 4 fills (or 5???) and have pretty good restriction now. I have days where I want to binge and so I'm battling with not eating sugar free ice cream. I am still an addict and so the disease wants to pop out somewhere. Anyway, I just wanted to say hey and to post this just in case any other addicts wanna talk.

I too was getting a little concerned because I could eat pretty much anything. Eggs for some weird reason gave me problems. I was just filled to 5.5cc's last week and I think I have hit my sweet spot. I have to take very small bites and chew, chew, chew. I am able to eat, but only very small portions....

Hey there! I was banded on 10/8/09 and lost 20 lbs afterwards. I have now been battling with the same 5 lbs up and down for the past 3 or 4 weeks! I wasn't able to get my fill a couple of weeks ago (he poked me like 8 times!) so I'm going in on Thursday to have it done under flouroscopy. I am too able to eat anything and I pretty much have been. Scary and frustrating worrying that this band isn't gonna work!

Hello Everyone...if your name is not here why dont you copy and paste then add your name and date! Happyloser 10/1 bethany329 10/1 Timmers 10/1 Lindac80 10/1 Marfar7 10/1 Ca7696 10/2 Opus03 10/2 RedboneLA 10/3 ihavehope3 10/3 Viking_girl 10/5 O-2BTHIN 19/07/2009 leetie 10/7 karenkeeline 10/8 Jtreece 10/8 MommyOf1 10/8 Suz-Q 10/9 Noodles 10/9 SharPei 10/13 Guy 10/13 Cshytle 10/13 MoniqueD 10/14 Jenfromtheburg 10/14 ncarreras 10/14 okiegirl79 10/14 Kme 10/15 Nooshie 10/15 Oliverdog 10/16 danyett 10/16 We3601 10/19 Onikenbai 10/19 1019Joanne 10/19 Mzcancer 10/20 Soexcited 10/21 erenstar983 10/21 pina3940 10/21 jenrobbar951 10/27 HDmama 10/22 Crazychica133 10/26 Idahlem72 10/27 Daria77 10/27 Barley 10/28 4girlfamily 10/29 Tina Schweitzer 10/29 questions09 10/14 Chatty826 10/29

Hi Texas Mama! I am sorry that your BCBS didn't cover it. I have Anthem BCBS and so I went thru a great doctor that took my coverage. The cash price was $12,400 but because I used my insurance, it ended up being over $40,000 at Methodist. Apparently if I had walked in there and plunked down $12,400, the doctor and the hospital woulda/coulda done it for $12,400. His name is Ziad Amr and he was and is absolutely great! I'm also in Houston. Let me know if you need anything! Karen

I have lost all of my weight 3 times and everytime I got down to 130-150, I was still unhappy and gained the weight back. I finally figured out that I needed to change my insides and not my outsides. I was over 300 lbs and happier than I've ever been. I am losing now and I can see myself wanting to get crazy in my head, like getting thin is gonna be this fantastic event and I have to keep reminding myself that my life is now, today, and that I have everything that I need to be happy right now. I'm hoping that I can maintain this as I shrink....

Yall, I hope I don't upset anyone but I felt compelled to share when I read your comments. Yes, it's gonna be really cool to shop in the "normal" stores and yes, it's gonna be nice to put on our shoes without it being a lot of work, but inside we are the same people and we are going to feel pretty much the same. If we were happy, grateful people fat, we will probably be the same. If we were miserable with ourselves and thought it was because life and people treated us differently because we are fat and that those things will change if we lose weight, we are really off track. I feel more beautiful and sexy now (and I did at 322) than I ever have in my life. I finally figured out that happiness has nothing to do with weight. Yes, I look forward to losing and wearing all sorts of cute clothes and being able to do more physical things and my feet not hurting and not having to take diabetes medication, but life will be the same. People love me fat and they will love me thin, but not because of my size.

Hi MyBandJourney2009 (what is your name???? I looked for it and can't find it..) and Susan. Yall are both doing great. I really enjoy this conversation. You both are in the same place as me. I have lost 48 lbs but really 34 of that was before the surgery. I'm 4 weeks post op now and have only lost 14. I know that's good, blah, blah, blah but the scale has been stuck on 274 for almost a week now and I'm really, really ready for another drop in lbs. I write down everything I eat and it's at about 900 calories a day now. I walk on the treadmill about 5 times a week for a half hour each day. Anyway... I know it's gonna start moving eventually. Yes, I would love to plan a get together in December. How about planning a meeting every 3rd Saturday and start meeting on December 19th? If that's not good for you, when would be a good time? TTYL, Karen

Hey there! I am doing great! I am now down to 274 and have been stuck there for about 5 days but I'm cool with it. I have been reading the posts and it seems that these plateaus are normal. I walk for 30 minutes about 5 times a week. It's been 4 weeks since the surgery and I'm still on mushy foods. I do eat tuna fish and a Soup of chicken and veggies... I'm sometimes confused if those are really mushy foods. I see my doctor next week and he said that he would probably schedule a fill the week after. It seems that he is going to be really conservative with the fills. I don't want to get anxious about it so I'm just going with the flow. I'd love to get together sometime with other women in the Houston area. The 290 area works well for me. Talk to yall soon!

Hang in there! I have really enjoyed trying all of the flavors of Crystal Light. They are the cheapest at Walmart. My favorite is Pomegranate Lemonade!

Yes, I forgot... the reason my doctor put me on the pre-op diet was to shrink my liver. The liver stores the carbs and so by eliminating carbs, my liver would shrink and not be in the way of what he needed to do. I just got back from my 2 week post-op visit and he showed me pictures of the band during surgery and of my liver. He said he could tell that I had followed instructions.

My doctor had me lose 20 lbs before he would do the surgery. He suggested a 1000 cal/day diet. I just did portion control and started drinking the protein shakes (low carb of course).

Hi there! Is it Susan? I'm doing really well today. I was banded last Thursday and I'm starting to feel pretty good. I woke up early and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes today and it felt great. I had gotten up to 322 so I wasn't able to walk without my feel killing me. I'm now down to 285 and I can really tell the difference. How are you doing?

This is my first post and I'm not really familiar with these types of things... but here goes... I had my lap band put on last Thursday, 10/8/09 and it still hurts on the side where the port is when standing up or sitting down or leaning over. Is this normal? Also, still feeling a little queasy...

Thank yall so much for replying. It makes me feel better knowing that others are experiencing the same thing. I was able to go and walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill today... not real fast but at least I worked up a sweat. Please keep in touch!