labradoodle

Has anyone had a lap band operation done by Mr Shaw Somers at the Hospital Group? If So how did it go? What was the aftercare like? How many fills were you allowed?

I feel very stupid but could you please tell me what pm means when you say on this site to pm you. Also what does 'Addy' mean? From one very stupid lap bander!! Also sorry but are the lap banders meeting up this Wednesday at The Holiday Inn ,Woking and if so at what time? Sorry to be such a bore. Labradoodle

[Agreed. Banded in September 2006 with hospital group and have only lost 10Ibs. Had two fills and after that I have to pay. So I am trying to do it without having another fill. Might join Weight Watchers. Also like you they said that they had a support group in my area but when it came to the crunch I had to travel one hour away to get to a support group. I needed a local support group so If I had known that then I would had chosen a different consultant/ hospital. Looking on the bright side I have dropped two dress sizes and have not put any weight on. I would probably be another stone heavier if I had not had the operation. Good luck, speak again Labradoodle quote=ukangel;453743]Hi Everyone I had my band fitted in Birmingham on the 7th Feb 07 I have been receiving my aftercare at Manchester and have found that there has been no group support as they promised prior to the surgery. I have seen the dietician twice and really found her little help. I have not had a fill as yet and feel that I have no restriction. I have been on a conference today and have eaten as I did previously without exception. I am really struggling to revert to my old eating habits and feel thta all the great work that I have achieved in the past coulpe of months as the scales are slowly going back up. Has anyone else had the same experience with the Hospital Group or is it just me that feels like they have had my money and now they are not interested? Thinking that I may go on the Cambridge diet as a form of damage limitation prior to me getting my fill.

You very kindly told me where to go on Wednesday for a support group but not the time. I would really like to meet up for some support so would appreciate it if you could let me know the time of the meting. Hoping you are feeling much better. Labradoodle

Hi Hope you can help. I mentioned yesterday that I live near Guildford and wished to join a support group - I badly need it. Have the band but got the wrong attitude with FOOD! I just love it. My e-mail address is nicholas_suzy@tiscali.co.uk. (not underscored but in lower case). Look forward to hearing from you Labradoodle

Hi Just wondered if there is a support group in Guildford, Surrey or nearby. It would be very helpful. I was banded in September and have lost approximately 10Ibs. I have been tightened twice, the second time just before Christmas, but it is really weird as it has only been since February/ March that the golf ball effect has occurred. Hopefully now that this has kicked in I should lose weight more easily. Also summer time should help. Looking forward to your reply Labradoodle

Hi! I am from Surrey and was very interested to see that someone was from Kingston as that is only about 40 minute drive from where I live. I must admit that I would love to have some local support. I was operated on in September and have had one fill to very little effect. I am scheduled for another fill in a week and a half time. Hopefully this will do the trick. The diet is fairly easy to follow but the Water drinking timetable really throws me as I have always drunk water at meal times only and never in between. I would drink a couple of pints of water at one meal. Now I can no longer do that and i keep finding i am not drinking enough. Hope to hear from all of you Labradoodle:faint: :help: :clap2:

:help: :hungry: Hi everyone. I am being filled in a weeks time and I definitely need it! I had the operation for a lap band done 5 weeks ago and am now eating most things in ordinary quantities. I really need to get the fill to stop my weight going up. Does anyone else find it difficult to drink as much as you need to without drinking at the meal and without eating it when you drink. My swallows just gone their head around it!! I have always drunk with a meal (naughty I know) and not in between. Not complaining, I know why - just wish I could do it with ease. Oh well I suppose practice makes perfect and school holidays do not help with the diet regime. Thanks for listening to my groans and may I say what a fantastic site this is, even if I do not write on it that much. It is so helpful seeing how much you have all achieved and the advice that you give each other. Keep up the good work all of us from all over the globe. I , by the way, am in Surrey, UK. If anyone is near to me I would love to hear from you. Labradoodle ( at the moment getting bigger, but soon hoping to get smaller!!)

:help: I am 3.5 weeks post op surgery and can eat almost as much as before, although I do need to eat slowly or I get a golf ball syndrome in my chest. Painful. However I am trying to cut it down not easy. i see the dietician this week and I am hoping that I will be recommended for a fill asap before I put on even more weight. Kind of depressing For the first two weeks I was not even hungry and I thought that was great but my appetite has now returned with a vengence. However I remain positive that once I have had a fill my hunger should hopefully go. Here's to hoping!! I am just trying not to think about it. labradoodle :help:

:faint: Glad to hear you are doing well. I am from Guildford, Surrey in England and our family love Somerset. We have been down there many times (twice to buy dogs - a Labradoodle and a Shih Tzu) and several times on holiday. We always stay in the same B and B in Porlock and just love walking the Moors with the dog. I was banded September 20th so am a new comer like yourself. At first I too lost weight but now 3 weeks on I am constantly hungry and although I am eating more slowly I am still eating far too much. I see the dietician next week and then hopefully I will be scheduled for a fill. Being told just to eat less or I will not lose weight is not helpful nor is the remark after a meal "well you must be full now". I say "yes" but I mean "no". If I was full I would not be overweight in the first place and have to have had the band fitted. So roll on to the first fill so that for the first time in my life I will feel full. Good luck and thinking of you Labradoodle.

:help: I was banded 20/09/06 and for the first 10 days I was not even hungry -unheard of for me! I am now 3 weeks on since the op and although I do not feel as hungry as I did before the op I do not really feel full either. If I eat slowly I could probably eat all day if I was silly enough to. It would be nice to feel full after a meal even if only for a short time. I do eat very slow as otherwise I get intense pain which is agony. I chew well (difficult when you are hungry) . I imagine I must be ready for a fill soon - I am hoping when I see the dietician next week that she will recommend me for one. Particularly as I feel that I am gaining weight since the first two weeks of the op. It is the mental attitude that is so difficult and the complete turn about of what you eat. I know I can do it but whilst on soft foods what do you grab when you are really really hungry. I fshall be really glad to see the dietician next Thursday to sort out my head and what to do next. I just hope she does not think I am completely stupid over my lack of control at times. How do other people manage so soon after their op and before they have had their first fill? Labradoodle

:clap2: Like you I am a recent bandster. I was operated on 20/09./06 and for the first two weeks I was told to only have fluids or Soups that I could drink through a straw. I actually had them slightly thicker than that but I blended everthing and only had the consistency that it would easily drip off a spoon! Between two and four weeks I have been told that i can eat soft foods like shepherds pie, fish pie, porridge, omlettes, scrambled eggs etc. Any foods that can be mashed down with a fork are ok to eat. I am seeing my dietician in two weeks time which will be four weeks after the op. Hopefully I may get a fill 2 weeks later which will be six weeks after the op. I do hope everything is going well with you.Do not rush into eating too much as your stomach needs lots of time to recover. Also if you start eating solids too quickly I was told it was more likely that your band might slip later on. Don't know if this is true or not. Good luck with it all and think of where you will be in a year's time! Labradoodle:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

:flypig: Well I agree that it is interesting to see what people do for a living. I do not go out to work but instead look after the dogs whose owners work. I usually have three or four dogs in my house including my own. Job includes fresh air and exercise. the dogs i look after are real sloppy joes from very loving families and just want lots of tlc and time to play with other dogs. I get to meet other dog walkers , make lots of friends and yet be at home whenever my children need me. I choose my hours and it is a great job.( only qualification a liking of dogs and a respect for dogs). At present just had op a week ago so I am unable to walk dogs so I just have two dogs in the house (1 is mine) and a dog walker coming on in to exercise them. Labradoodle

Well I agree that it is interesting to see what people do for a living. I do not go out to work but instead look after the dogs whose owners work. I usually have three or four dogs in my house including my own. Job includes fresh air and exercise. the dogs i look after are real sloppy joes from very loving families and just want lots of tlc and time to play with other dogs. I get to meet other dog walkers , make lots of friends and yet be at home whenever my children need me. I choose my hours and it is a great job.( only qualification a liking of dogs and a respect for dogs). At present just had op a week ago so I am unable to walk dogs so I just have two dogs in the house (1 is mine) and a dog walker coming on in to exercise them. Labradoodle

The worst is over Hopefully Hi had surgery done on Wednesday 20.09.06. Painful at first and heartburn was awful but have now been prescribed Omeprazole by the doctor and my life has changed! I definitely feel brighter now. Funny how before surgery all I thought about was food, food, food. Now I am not even hungry. I am just having soups and having drinks because I need to. I am still not driving yet. Off work as i look after 3-4 dogs in the house whilst people go out to work and I really could not control dogs at the moment even though they are not big ones. I just have two at the moment and a dog walker to walk them. I can't believe how tired I am. I do one thing and need to fall asleep to recover!! Good luck to everyone going for an op today. Labradoodle

:help: Burning in throat Is this acid/ reflux. I was banded on Wednesday, today is Saturday and I am on a liquid diet suffering from pain. It can be when I have eaten, talking or even just breathing. If it is normal how long will it last and what is the most natural way of preventing it. I was banded in UK 20/09/06 so would love to know if anyone else has this particular problem. Labradoodle

20/09/06 is D-day for me. I am glad as I think the waiting and wondering about if I will make it, am I going to be permamently disabled, am I going to be permamently in pain, am I going to permamently regret it and so on. In fact I am keeping myself busy so I do not have to think about the children growing up with out me! Gosh i am cheerful aren't I. I should not have got myself into this mess in the first place - it is all self inflicted. I have found the pre op diet very difficult to follow and hate to say I have cheated by eating the odd mouthfuls of proper food. How can anyone live on milk and yoghurt for days? Roll on Soups, brroths and slimfast. Even if I do have to Water them down to drink through a straw. Oh, well. Here goes. Wish me luck and hopefully by this time it will be tomorrow it will be all over and I will wake up finding everything has gone according to plan and that I will have no side effect. I can hope. Wishing luck to all other bandsters out there particularly anyone getting done this week Labradoodle:clap2: :eek: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :help: :clap2:

You are not the only one. My surgery is for Wednesday and I am finding the pre op diet really hard. I have a very upset tummy with pains - it must be all the dairy. What i really want is somethiing solid. Does it really matter so much if you just have one bite of something solid to settle your tummy. My bmi is 38 so I am having great trouble fighting my demons who keep telling me a little bite of something solid won't stop the operation. However as I have had to pay £8000 myself for this op and I will not get it back if the op is unable to go ahead due to my having eaten too much I KNOW i must not give in. Stop thinking about food. It is only another 2 weeks and then I am on to mushy. Cannot Wait. Never thought I would long for baby food! As for the operation I am excited. I was going to do it last year but chickened out. Thought I would miss my food too much and that I could do it on my own. Now I know that I cannot. Life is more important than food so therefore Lap Band here I can. But yes i am petrified that i will permently disabled afterwards or something will go wrong , I don't talk about dying. My life insurance is in place just in case. So yes i am going ahead but i never knew that you could be so nervous and excited at the same time. Who have you told? Only one person knows about me other than my husband as I feel ashamed that I have to resort to this. I need encouragement not "I do not think you should do it". I may tell people afterwards when I lose weight. Good luck and thinking of you Labradoodle

Hi I am actually in England having a lap band done Wednesday. Have to do the pre diet for five days and already am suffering severe diarohea and tummy pains. Have cheated slightly and nibbled on pieces of cheese. My BNI is 38 so I am hoping that I will get away with it. I keep seeing visions of meat korma (my last meal before i hit this diet). The only thing keeping me going is the waste of money if i ate and then they could not operate and they would not refund your money. £8000 down the drain! Labradoodle Keep on in there

Hi. I am seeing my consultant Tuesday (tomorrow) and have been doing my homework for the last year. i saw a consultant last year but chickened out of having it done, but this year having gained many more pounds I decided to go ahead and do it. Surgery due to everything being ok with the tests and consultant will go ahead next Wednesday on the 20th. This site is superb, very helpful, and certainly shows the downside of the band! However I have decided to be an ostrich and go ahead unless told not to or that would be dangerous by the doctor. I am both excited, and nervous. A walking jittery wreck who is thinking food and lap band, milk and yoghurts 24/ 7 . is this normal. Lap Band Talk is fantastic. I have found out an awful lot from it. Any pre op or post op advice from anyone out there. I would love to hear from you. Any advice or encouragement or disencouragement gladly welcomed. Would love to hear from all you lap banders. It would be so nice to talk to people going through the same thing. labradoodle:hungry: :clap2: :help: :eek: :clap2: :clap2: :help:

Hi. I am due to have surgery on 20-09-06 and I feel kind of nervous, excited and just wishing the whole thing over before i chicken out. I have tried every other way under the sun and now reckon with 8 stone to lose if I wish to be here to see my children grow up i desperately need to lose it. How do other people cope with the pre-op stage and who did they tell?

Hi. I am a new member and due to have a lap band inserted on 20-09-06 provided all goes well and I do not Chicken out. I am having it done in Chichester - St Richards Hospital with the Hospital Group.. Any advice or encouragement?