gingerjane

My biggest incision was in my belly button and my port is just to the right of it. The other ones are 1/2 inch if that. They were SUPER small. I know a girl that had bypass like 7 years ago and she has a HUGE scar all the way down her chest and stomach.

These are the exact reasons why I haven't shared it with a lot of people. You have those that judge weight-loss surgery. They have their opinions and most of the time are all-to-willing to share them. The decision to be banded is a personal one. I had a girl tell me I'd be miserable. She was totally against it. Now, she doesn't acknowledge that I've had it. Only 1 time has she made a positive comment about my weight loss. But, I know she's miserable. She munches on carrots all day and spends her lunch hours running around so that she can keep off her weight. I'm sure there is an element of jealousy there. (Not saying I don't watch what I eat or exercise, but she's pretty much on the obsessive end of it) Let them think what they want. I think that some of the other posters are right - here comes a little jealousy thrown your way.

Hands down mine is regular muscle milk, chocolate. If they ever quit making it, I might have a heart attack. I drink it every single morning for breakfast and LOVE it. (My band is always tighter in the mornings) An 11 oz serving has 22 grams of protein in it and it doesn't have the funky aftertaste that I find a lot of other protein shakes have. (I've tried about 4 other varieties and GAG on them - this one is literally like drinking a shake. It's not milk based, either)

I'll try to answer some questions for you. I'm not at goal weight but I'm 6 months out and started out at 5' 8" and 280, so we're pretty close in size. 1) I don't think you can avoid loose skin. At all. I have some but it's not as bad as I thought. Of course, I'm also not at goal but I have had two kids so I was a bit stretched out anyway. I fully anticipate a tummy tuck at the end of this journey. 2) The best way to figure this out is to find a doctor and have them submit the paperwork. Your HSA will qualify to cover the out of pocket outside aside from what your insurance pays but it's all based on individual doctors. For me, I ended up paying about $600 out of pocket. 3) I've lost almost 60 lbs and I cannot see my port. I still have a hard time feeling it. It's on my right side next to my belly button and it's not noticeable at all. My husband can't even feel it really, unless I show him where it is. 4) Still working on that goal weight but I have been very pleased with my weight loss so far. I still eat foods that I love but a lot less of them. I don't crave sweets like I used to and I did give up caffeine and soda. I hope by my one year bandiversary that I've lost at least 90 - 100 lbs. My goal overall was about 110 lbs. 5) I do not regret it AT ALL. Not one bit. Every day that goes by, I am so thankful for my band. It has been such a blessing for me. My life has changed in so many ways and in good ways. I'm able to shop in a regular department now, I feel better in my clothes, I'm more active, etc. I can't even begin to describe how great it is. Hope my answers help. I know a lot of people on here hit goal within 1-2 years - so I'm hoping for the same. I feel like I'm on the right track. If you follow your band rules, you'll be successful. If I had to go back and pay full price for it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I've been through airport metal detectors with my band and nothing has gone off but I have the Allergan band. Not sure if you might have the Realize Band but I know it has hooks that hold your port into place.

Whoo hoo!!! Girl - I cannot WAIT to see 199! You are too lucky!:thumbup::tongue2:

Well, here is my take. Your doctor should NOT be ugly with you at all. You're a human, not some pawn for him to mess with. That makes me so mad to hear that surgeons get on their patients. :crying: We need SUPPORT. Not belittling. I would go in, explain the situation and request a fill. If they get nasty, I would try to switch doctors. You are doing the best you can and anyone else would be in the same shoes. Life happens. They need to deal with it. Hugs to you! :tongue2:

Well, the scale finally moved for me, and I lost 1.4 lbs this week, which I'll gladly take because Aunt Flo is moving in for the week any day now. I sort of cut down on the weight training and went for more cardio. I also joined a volleyball league! I've pretty much accepted that I won't see 210 by Halloween, but I'm still going to try to get as close as I can. I just want to see the two-teens next week if I can. One step at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time, right?

I had not quite 1/2 of a chicken wrap (chicken, a little bit of cheese and bbq sauce) - I left most of the tortilla, and then 1/3 cup of white chicken chili. YUMMY!

Congrats! :thumbup::thumbup: I would do what was suggested - take the Protein shake with you and drink as you walk around. It just takes some getting used to. I've had mine for 6 months and LOVE it. It's almost a blur remembering what my recovery was. I had surgery on Monday and went back to work on Thursday. I was sore but it did ease up quickly. The more you move around, the better it gets quickly. :glare: Good luck!!! :smile:

WOW! That is awesome!!!! :smile::thumbup: How did you do it so quickly? I'm still struggling to hit 60 lbs. You're ROCKIN' it!

Congrats girl! :yesnod: As for me, I squeezed out 1 lb. That's it. I'm so annoyed with myself right now. :smile: I got a fill on Friday because my band was pretty loose. I've been working out a lot more than I was and it's like my body is holding onto everything. It's starting to tick me off. I'll never see my Halloween challenge if this keeps up. Today more Protein and hopefully I can get the scale to move this week. Ugh. (Having a cranky day because of it)

I had a really bad vomiting attack earlier this month and was freaked out thinking my band could have slipped. They think the attack was my gallbladder, but I basically vomited every 15-25 minutes for five hours. We're talking at least 8-10 times. I just had a fluro done and everything was fine. I think that the stitch they do to hold it in place really helps with that.

Welcome aboard! If you ever have any questions, I'm more than willing to help, too. I love this board - it has been so good for me throughout my entire journey so far. And I had to crack up at your user name. My friend and I always call ourselves "Fatty McFats". LOL!

I had that with my last fill - because I had lost a good amount of weight and could still eat my Protein without the PBs, they held off on the fill until today. They did a fluro and saw that my band had loosened up (I had lost 20+ lbs since the last one) so they tweaked me a good one. I would wait - you've lost a GREAT amount of weight and are doing really well right now. Remember - it will come off faster at first because you have more to lose. You're still doing an awesome job. The goal is to eventually get to 1-2 lbs per week for healthy loss. I know it's hard - goodness knows I struggle with the same concept and I've only lost 56 lbs since March, but that's still 56 lbs that has made a BIG difference. What they did for me is skipped the last fill and scheduled the next one for four weeks out. I would look at doing that. You're doing great!:biggrin:

THAT. IS. AWESOME!!!! :biggrin::thumbup::thumbup:

My doc only used a fluro the first time I got a fill. After that, it's just been a regular fill on the table. I'm lucky that my band doc is literally 5 minutes from my house. I am not sure how I would handle that but I would check out forums and encourage her to join up so that she can "talk" with other Bandsters, too. We're a welcoming group because all of us are in the same boat. I'm sure someone will know a good fill doc that she can use near her, because I know there are a number of Canadians on the boards. And their treating her like a leper really ticks me off. It's called "SUPPORT" and these are supposed to be medical PROFESSIONALS. It's like a high school pissing contest. Ugh.

I have to agree. Sometimes people just have to call out the "elephant in the room". (No pun intended) He is speaking the truth. It's not an "easy fix" - it's a tool.

I thought Sharon Osborne had Gastric Bypass. I'm pretty sure that was the one. But, one of the NFL coaches had a band - I think he coaches the Eagles? Wouldn't surprise me if Drew Carey had it. I haven't seen the pictures yet but I did hear he's got a very different look. It wouldn't surprise me if KELLY Osborne got a band or something. Have you seen her lately?

Whenever that happens to me, I find that sticking a picture of the ideal body type on the front of the fridge helps me. Sounds hokey but it does work, because then I look at it and I'm like "dangit" and I walk away. That and snapping a rubber band on my wrist. Pain tends to help with Pavlov's Dog, too. LOL!