dccandee

Hi Sue, My name is Diane and I have only been on this site twice. I posted once when I signed up and the second time, I read the posts. Between work, home and 2 other lapband sites, I keep pretty busy. However, after reading your post, I just had to speak up. I was banded on February 7, 2006 and am almost 9 months out. I have lost 77 pounds and am getting closer to my goal everyday, although the closer I get, the slower it goes. It does get frustrating sometimes., I know a lady who had her surgery the day after I had mine. She is now in the process of having her band removed. She feels it just didn't work for her - and sometimes that happens. I have found that the majority of the time, it DOES work, BUT you have to work with it. Before she was 2 weeks out, she was eating pizza cheese and Cookies and all the wrong things. Her choices since then have never really been very good and, in my opinion, she never really gave the band the chance. This is not a cure, it's not something that will perform magic - it's a tool. A wonderful too, but you MUST have the committment in your head and your heart to make it work. The food choices you have been making are killing your chances of success. You definitely need to incorporate all the behavior modification changes you learned about pre-op. The band does not keep you from making bad choices and if you don't follow a pre-thought out, well scripted plan, you will not succeed. It IS hard and it IS frustrating. No one ever said it would be easy, but if you can't committ to whatever it is you need to do, then it wasn't worth the $10,000, or any amount of money. We didn't go through surgery and have a permanent foreign object implanted into us just so we can fail. I have struggles everyday, but I try to take things one day at a time - one meal at a time. Also remember, everyday you have the chance to start over again. Are you exercising? There really is no restriction until you start getting fills. You probably won't even feel the first one, but until you start to feel something, you have to buckle down and try to make this work. It's not going to happen by itself. Now, you went through all the pre-op testing, classes, had the surgery - this all took a lot of courage. You need to dig deep inside yourself and find that courage again. Willpower is very hard, but it's the only way this is going to work - for you, for me, for any of us. Do you drink enough fluids? Sometimes you think you're hungry but you're really thirsty/ If the foods you are eating create so much of a problem for you, get them out of your house!! I have a husband who makes him own stuff - like spaghetti (my personal favorite). It's hard to stay away, but I know I didn't do this for nothing. I have added years onto my life - my diabetes is well under control and I am coming off most of my meds - my blood pressure is way down and my doctor says my heart rate and pulse are now in "training mode" because of the exercise. Remember, the more of the "bad" stuff you eat, the more your body will crave it and the harder it is to stop. You have to find a point and say - enough! Just for today, I'm taking control again and making this work. Try it hour by hour if necessary, but do it! Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failure. Good luck, and God bless... Dy

Hi everyone, My name is Diane, usually known as "Dy". I was banded on February 7, 2005, at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, MA and am down 75 pounds. I heard about this site from someone in my LapDogs website group, so I thought I'd give it a try. My highest was 254.5 - was 249 at surgery, and am now at 179. In the beginning, the weight was just falling off - why, who know?? It has slowed down considerably now, but still maintaining my "routine". I have a Vangard band, which holds 11cc's of saline and have about 9cc's now. My surgeon gave me the larger band because I have hemochromatisis (among other things) and my liver is enlarged. The larger band was easier to implant. I am a diabetic, have high blood pressure and have asthma. Since surgery, my diabetes meds are down, my blood pressure is great and meds are reduced and have not had many problems with my asthma. I try to make good choices everyday and eat mindfully, but it doesn't always happen. One of the best things I've learned from this experience and my support groups is to forgive myself whenever I "slip" up. We are all human and this is a life-long journey. Now, when I do something I'm not supposed to do, I don't beat myself up about it anymore. I just try to start again. I had a bad nose-dive in July that lasted about 3 weeks. I finally got control of myself and realized I didn't go through surgery and all this for nothing. I put myself back on Stage 3 & 4 foods for a couple of days to "clean" out my system then began again. It really does work. I faithfully exercise - I'm not a gym person, but I do walk a lot (3-5 miles a day - hey, I work in Boston, the best walking city in the world!) do aerobics, toning, hand weights and floor work - regularly. I'll do these for 3 to 4 days in a row, then take a day off. Sometimes my schedule will interfere, but for the most part, I'm pretty faithful. I feel great, I look better and I would do this again in a heartbeat. It saved my life. Hope to hear some of your stories and get to know all of you. Thanks for listening. Dy :flypig: Banded 2/7/05 by Dr. Julie Kim Tufts-New England Medical Center Boston, MA