JoJo1

I am always sad when I hear that people don't get along with their Mom. I was close to mine and am very close to all of my adult children. I know these things are complicated and I am not judging in any way. I only hope that some day the two of you can call a truce. Best of luck on your journey!!!

They fill your abdomen with gas to expand it so they can find their way around in there. It isn't actually the stomach. That does create some discomfort after the surgery but they give you meds for it. This is the first I have heard about a quit smoking requirement. It is interesting. I have never smoked so I did not have to do it, but they do worry about blod clots after the surgery so that is probably the reason they require it. I had my first fill after 6 weeks and so far have not needed another one. I am thinking maybe in another month I will need one, but that will be a full three months after the last one. I still have restriction and am only estimating this one. A fill is decided by how hungry you are and how much you can eat. Be advised that hunger is not wiped out by the band. Hunger is normal and is ok. Being hungry all the time is not ok. You are likely to experience quite a bit of hunger after the inintial swelling goes down and until you reach the proper amount of restriction for you. This could take a few months and it takes some people a year to reach it. It depends on your Doctor and his approach to the fills. These are good questions to ask when you go for your consult. It is good to know ahead what his philosophy is on fills. I went to Mexico and got a small 4cc band so that is why I have only needed one fill. The bands inserted here in the states are typically larger and require more fills to get to restriction. This will pay off down the road as these state side bands are supposed to last longer.

I have plenty of time, I actually do burp a number of times, then I will chew a couple Papaya Enzymes. If it doesn't go on down, I will make it come up. I do this by swallowing a couple big drinks of water. Then it comes up and all is well.

Actually Eggs have their own built in defense system. They are high in Cholesterol but they are also the highest of any food in lecithin. Lecithin breaks down Cholesterol in the Blood stream. I happen to think they are a bargain in every sense of the word. I eat them. Flax Meal makes a wonderful hot cereal with much lower carbs. You just mix it with boiling water. I mix in a teaspoon of cinnamon and three packets of splenda and a tablespoon of peanut butter. Yum!!!

I am three and a half months out but have also been using Nioxin Shampoo and Scalp Therapy. I never expected to lose any. I am sure I won't because the Nioxin prevents it......

I agree with this 100%. If you spend your life pleasing others, you will not only make yourself unhappy, you will never succeed in making them happy. It is a purely selfish decision, on one hand but we deserve to do at least one positive thing for us.

Well it seems to be true for you. It is a discussion that happens on here a lot. I've noticed that even Docs cannot agree so I am sure it won't be resolved any time soon. I also did not lose any hair, but I did lose it a lot after the birth of my children. That is a pretty rapid weight loss if you think about it, but I suspect hormones in my case.

If the insurance doesn't cover it, get a loan and do it anyway!! It will change your life, and maybe it will have a better chance of transforming you if you actually have to pay for it.... Worked for me........... Best of luck!!!!

Yes of course I agree with that. However Anerexia is a different thing. These people don't eat at all. It is extreme malnutrition. This can happen with bandsters but it is not very likely. One of the posters here was saying that malnutrition was common in bandsters because a few had issues with inflammation in their gums. She was comparing them with the sailors who got scurvy. In both of these instances, these people are starving to death. Of course nutrition is always important, but starving sailors and anarexics are not the same thing. Just an opionion and not intended to be offensive.....

I recently shared with one of my clients that I had WLS. She told me she did too 25 years ago. She had her stomach stapled. She has always seemed pretty round to me but not huge. She went on to tell me that she lost down to 120 lbs with in a year after her surgery but was not comfortable there at all. She said she scared herself everytime she looked in the mirror. She has still kept off over 100lbs for that 25 years, but she did not like being thin. She does not know why either. I thought her story was very interesting. Those of you who find yourself there, may want to see about some counselling to see if you can work it out. I am hoping to just enjoy myself at my goal weight, but you know, if I find myself not liking it, I will beat it to the counselors office. I don't want to waste my money!! I was self pay and it will take me a few years to get it paid for.

You can be sick. It will not hurt your band, however I don't think you will have this happen very often. My daughter was very sick and went to have her fill taken out thinking it was part of the problem. Then she was still throwing up and ended up in the emergency room. She was very dehydrated and needed anti-nausea meds. She was fine after about 24 hours. She just had a heck of a bug. This is the most severe thing I have heard of from reading countless posts so I am sure you can get sick. Here's hoping you never do!!!!

I was banded in Tijuana also. Are you using Dr. Kuri? I was banded with a woman who went by herself and did not even tell her husband. (how does that work?) It is safe, take it from someone who did it. They pick you up and take you back to the airport so there is not any way anything can happen to you. I did not tell anyone in the beginning either. There was a part of me that wondered what I would do if it didn't work, and I didn't lose any weight. I was also worried about the people in my small town becoming the food police and watching me in resturants etc. After my weight loss started to become noticeable, I told people who asked and I am still just doing that. It feels the most comfortable to me. I hope I can help someone else down the road so I don't want to it to be a secret forever, but for now, it works the way it is.

Keep in mind here that everyone has a different experience. I had a small 4cc band placed in September. I am filled to 2cc. Half of the capacity of my band is in fill at the present time. Most of the posters here have larger bands and require more fills to get to proper restriction. My experiece is that I do in fact need very small portions, however if I want to, I can snack between meals and at times I have to watch that very carefully. I was kept in check over the holidays when I would have just gone crazy after one of my thousands of diets. I was unable to go crazy. The snacking did keep my weight loss down to only one pound, but I am so so happy that I lost and did not gain. I have never lost weight very fast and I am not losing fast now, but I am fairly consistant. That is new with the band. I said all of that to say this, you still have to do the work, of losing weight. If you don't you won't lose, and you could in fact, gain back much of what you lost. This is true with any WLS. If you are not ready to completely change your relationship with food, you can and some people do, fail.

I am not convinced that the hair loss is related to fast weight loss, or any other food related cause. There are tons of opinions and even the docs don't agree on it, but my suspicion is that it is either a reaction to the surgery or a hormone thing similar to what happens to a woman after the birth of a baby. This discussion will never find the true cause, but it is also a possibility that it is different for each person. Whew!! complicated Huh?

From What I have heard on here and from life expierience as well, it looks like a universal fact that the less you have to lose, the slower it comes off. That is what makes people give up on the diet and gain back the weight. This Christmas Season, I slacked off on the exercise, and had a few too many snacks. I worried about weighing myself, but I still managed to lose a pound. I am at 29lbs lost now. I am about 3 1/2 months out. I need to buy some smaller pants now. That is the coolest part. I won't need my Woman Within catalogs any more. Now that the holidays are past, I plan to pour on the exercise and watch it very carefully. I want to be into a size 12 by spring. Congrats on your band date, I know you will not regret your decision. I love my band because it kept me in line during difficult to navigate times. The old me would have given up, beat myself up, and gone on a binge.

I am sure this is true!! You have to remember though, that those sailors were starving to death. People in this country especialy obese people are not very likely to suffer this kind of deficiency.

Okay I asked my daughter who is a dental assistant and who also has OCD this question. She said you can definitely brush too hard and she has a few times. She says over time, it will cause your gum line to recede (inflamation) and make your teeth ultra sensitive. Definitely worth a try just easing up a little and see if it helps.

I mix Flax Meal with Boiling water until it has a hot cereal consistency. I add a teaspoon of Cinnamon and three packets of Splenda and a tablespoon of peanut butter. It is good and low in carbs. I skip the milk because I don't want the carbs, but it seems to satisfy.....

The whole time I was reading these posts, I was thinking you might be over doing the brushing and causing the inflammation!! Maybe you could try just being a little more gentle for a few weeks and see if it helps..

I notice you are from Central Oregon. I live in the central mountains of Idaho!!!!

It was a case of only taking in the information that supported what I wanted to do. I am sure the info was there but I didn't take it in until I needed it. I didn't know much about the handling of food. What foods slipped through and what foods were considered good Bandster food. I processed it when I needed it. I didn't know that bands have a "shelf life" so to speak. They most likely will have to be removed many years down the road. I did not understand PBing or anything about upchucking when food got stuck. Some of it, you can't know until you need it even though you read about it. On a little different note, I talked to a woman who had her stomach stapled 25 years ago. She lost down to her desired 120lbs and found that she did not like it. She scared herself when she looked in the mirror. She gained some back but still feels like she did the right thing. I have made the point here and in other threads that you have to be mentally ready to be thin or your brain will figure out a way to fail. Even though you think it is what you want, you may find yourself in the same position as the woman who told me that story. She has kept more than 100lbs off but prefers to not be thin. Personally, I have a 150lb goal but I don't want to look too old and raggedy. I may gain a few to stay looking healthy, but won't know until I get there. So far people think I look younger so there again, time will tell. Have a great New Year!!!

This is why we have to be really ready to do this. If not, it isn';t going to force us to comply. We can easily screw up the whole thing. I am only a little over three months out, and so far I believe I was ready. I love it. There is a mental side that people don't address. I am lucky that I only have this at times and have a reasonable amount of sucess controling it. Sometimes we need to find out the mental reasons we got fat as well as the physical ones. If we only address the physical ones, the mental ones will come back and bite us in the proverbial "Ass"!! That is what happens when people abuse the band and end up having it removed.

I am totally shocked. I paid 7000.00 period. Amazing doctor and he also takes insurance.

I also have spent way more of my life dieting than not dieting. I do think I have a slower metabolism than most people and I do believe I caused this situation by continuously dieting. Often, these diets were severe starvation type diets. I reached my "sweet spot" finally and even though I worried at first that I might be too tight, I finally settled in and feel like it is ideal. I love this. It has changed my whole attitude about food. I don't have to get on the scale all the time to prove how bad I am. I feel so so much better. If I eat out and leave food on the plate, I am now proud of it. Maybe this sounds weird, but for now I really love it. People are starting to notice my weight loss. One man made me smile all day. He came into my salon for a haircut. He asked me if I remembered an older woman who worked there a couple years ago. I told him it was me, and he did not believe me. I loved that too!! You need to get your fills and stay on top of it. You will feel this way too. Just replace every fearful thought with a positive one and soon you will be on top of the world. Happy New Year to all.......

I had my surgery on Sat. and went to work on Tuesday. I worked a full day on my feet, and was fine. Tired but fine!!!