CoryW

Hey Everyone, it has been a long time since I last checked in. Well things haven't been going that great lately. Well as of the summer last year, I was down more than 120 lbs. Since then, my surgeon retired, I started seeing a psychiatrist and taking anti depressants, I haven't had a fill in over a year and I've gained about 60lbs back. When I went for my psychological evaluation before surgery the psychologist told me that she thought I suffered from severe depression and anxiety and that I should see a psychiatrist to help me with it. I had already tried anti depressants through my family doctor but suffered bad side effects from them. Anyhow it took me another year to finally get help. The good thing is the AD have helped me tremendously. However, not only do they curb the bad obsessive behavior but also the good obsessiveness. Since I started on the AD's I've lost all focus on weightloss and just can't seem to get my mind back where it needs to be. Anyway, I just wanted to share and hope that this is a first step towards getting back to where I need to be.

Dr. Naaman did my lap band and my Wife's bypass. We have nothing but great experiences there. Julius is the person you will see for follow ups and he is great to deal with.

Mine have always been quick and easy. I'm a bit numb at the port incision so I never ever feel the needle. I feel a little tightening in my throat initially then everything's fine.

I lost ~100lbs before i had my first fill. I went ahead and got a fill once I was regularly getting hungry. Since then I've had 2 small fills and I'm rarely if ever hungry.

well i'm back on the horse. started excercising again and watching my intake. i've dropped 3lbs this week so far. wanna be looking good for when i make the final table of the WSOP this summer.

I had to take nexium daily before surgery. Since, I only have to take it every 2-3 days to control the reflux.

I'd be up for a challenge. I need something to help me refocus on getting the weight off. Between school, work, family and general stress I haven't been as focused as I need to be.

I live in cypress. I've been banded since september.

I've pretty much lost the taste for all food. Having to chew things up to the point of breaking down has pretty much ruined food for me. I now eat out of necessity and not desire. I have no complaints though it doesn't feel like a big loss.

anyone else experience this? before surgery and weightloss i could pretty much let anything just roll off my back. since then i can't seem to let anything go and will steam about things that upset me untill i'm ready to pull my hair out.

Well today I went over the 100lbs lost milestone. Here are some pics.

Good day for me!!! I went over the 100lbs lost plateau as of this morning.

Here's one of ours when we first got him. His name is The Dude and he's quite a bit bigger now.

Time for my monthly update. Once I hit the 260 mark I didn't lose any weight for about a month. I knew I needed a fill and with school starting back up I was having trouble finding time to exercise. I decided to give myself the month of Febuary to take a break from worrying about weight loss and I just maintained. I managed to fluctuate between 259-262 and ended up exactly where I started when the month came to an end. The March refocus started with an appointment on 3/1 to get a fill. However, my 2yr old daughter got a bad virus and ended up in the hospital with dehydration so I pushed my fill off to 3/8. I was real nervous going to the dr. for my first fill but it was very quick and easy. This looks to be a big month for me. I've lost 6lbs since my fill on 3/8. I'm 4lbs from reaching the 100lbs lost plataeu. This morning I was able to move to wearing size 40 pants and 1X shirts. That's down from size 50 pants and 4X shirts. My wife is now going through the process of getting approved and will soon join me on this journey.

I am one of Dr. Naaman's patients. I was referred to him by a friend who had bypass. The staff was much more helpful than the other doctors. I will tell you atleast from my experience you won't see much of him. I had 1 or 2 meetings with him prior to surgery and then once after. I'm probably not a good source for things like this cause I'm not one to ask many questions. You will mostly deal with Dr. Naaman's assistant Julius after the surgery. I really like Julius and he is always available to answer any questions. I went for my first fill this week and Julius is the person that does them. The whole fill process took about 45sec and was pretty much pain free. The finance/insurance person (her name escapes me) very clearly explained the entire process to us and said she would help us through and issues we had with billing/insurance etc... Thankfully we didn't have any so it wasn't necessary. I would definitely recommend him. I've had a great experience. My wife is now in the process of having lap band surgery by Dr. Naaman.

I had my first fill today. He told me to lay on the table felt for the port wiped it with alcohol and pop he was done. The whole thing took about 40 sec. I was very nervous going into it but getting a flu shot was worse than this.

I was very conscience of when i was getting full. As soon as i felt myself gettting full i would stop eating. By the time I had lost the sensation of getting full I was used to eating a certain amount. honestly, I think i could have lost quite a bit more by now but I've been pretty lax about exercise. Betweeen going to school full time, working full time the wife and a 2 yr old, it's been a struggle to find time to work out.

Well guys, I go for my first fill on thursday. I've hit a plateau at 259. I've been here for 3-4 weeks and I'm starting to feel the hunger for snacking.

I was banded in Sept and my wife wants to get banded badly but we also want to have another baby. Everything we've heard is that she should wait until after we have another(the last) to get banded. does anyone have any advice on that?

I'm so glad my doctor didn't require 2 weeks liquid pre-op. I barely lasted 2 weeks post op before I started going crazy. I ultimately had to go in there and ask to move to mushies. He let me move on a few days early cause I wasn't having any issues and my blood tests looked good. It all gets better once you're off liquids.

Hey everyone, I thought I'd post my monthly update. Everything is still going well for me. I was able to lose 10lbs this month by far my slowest month yet but I probably closer to the rate I should be losing anyway. I've fallen off the exercise wagon a little with school and work starting back up this month. I did get up and walk this morning so I should be back to exercising this week. I had my first "issue" this week. I ate a spicy bowl of turkey chili for dinner one night and ended staying up all night with horrible abdominal and back pain. I determined it was a lot of gas pains. I had similar but not as severe pains about 4 days later when I ate something with jalepenos on it. Other than those 2 days this has been the best thing I've ever done for myself. It's amazing to feel how much better I fit into the desks at school since losing weight. I had not realized how much weight I had gained until I looked at a before picture the other day and saw how bloated my head/face had gotten.

If you take blood pressure medicince, check that. I had the same problem but after I adjusted the BP meds, I was feeling great again.

Here are my first before/After pics. The before is from the day before surgery.

Happy New Year!!! I thought I'd post an update on the first day of the year. December and the Christmas holidays were very good for me and my weight loss. Since classes are out and I took a few weeks of vacation from work I was able to be more active than previous months without changing my new band eating habits and it really paid off. I've lost 17lbs since my last doctor appointment on dec. 5 bringing me to a total of 75lbs since being banded. I still haven't had a fill but I also have never been hungry or tempted to eat more than my band can hold. anyhow i haven't been on the site in a couple of weeks and i hope everyone is doing well in their own journey.

Just got back from my latest check-up. The doctor was very impressed. I'm down 51 lbs since my surgery (9/16/06) and have yet to have a fill. I'm taking half the BP dosage I was at surgery time. I also only need to take reflux meds every other day. I've gone from 48/50 waist to 44. from 4x/3x shirts to comfortably in a 2x. every thing has been going great for me. I have a ton more energy to do things with my wife and to play with my 2yr old. My performance at work has improved and my total outlook on life is better. I've had tremendous support from my family, freinds and co-workers. I felt compelled on Thanksgiving to send a letter to a few freinds expressing how much their support has meant to me. I don't post much here but I do read a lot and many of you have been a great inspiration for me the past few months.