AngryBaby

1. I will never burp like a "real" person again. I only have hiccup/burps. 2. Being overfilled will not help me lose weight... only maintain/gain 3. The skin... the horror 4. When I have a good fill I can eat whatever I want (while remembering not to eat the crappy-for-you food) 5. Water is my new crack. I can never have enough of it. I even wake up several times in the middle of the night jonesing for a sip.

The first pic is the most current with me at 202 lbs. The second pic was me right before surgery at a well rounded 272 lbs.

Forgive me... this is the first time I've tried this. In the first pic I'm the one wearin gthe red t-shirt and I'm at a well rounded 272 pounds. The next pic is me right now at 202 lbs.

I went to Victoria Secret and for the first time ever I bought a bra and it fits!!!! I have never been to Victoria Secret for anything but perfume. Unfortunately that is when I discovered that me and my mom wear not only the same EXACT size but we also have the same color preference and style of bra. Our similarities are kinda starting to creep me out....

I have an Implanon. Implant that goes in the arm and lasts 3 yrs. It's great for me. I just don't want to pop out a kiddo any time soon and my memory sucks. There is no way I could ever remember to take pills or remove stuff at the right time. Everyone reacts to the Implanon differently. Some people have sporatic periods (me). While other people stop having it. The periods aren't as bad or painful so they are really easy to deal with. The same goes for the depo shot. They contain basically the same hormones except that the depo shot only lasts around 3 months. I have severe alergies to many weird things, so I wanted to stick with something that was similar but lasted longer. Talk to your doctor. They will help you figure out which will be best for you! Good luck

Of course it is vital to also focus on the cause. By denying the cause, it will cause a never ending cycle of mental/physical issues. I have come across many people on this site who have been banded yet they still have the same issues that caused them to become obese in the first place. Some of the people have gone to a therapists, did a bit of inner reflection, or whatever. If you never address these issues, they will continue to plague you. It is basically up to you if you want to address them before/if you have surgery or later down the road. Try to take a critical and unbiased look at who you are and what you would want to get out of this. If you feel that you need to do more work on your inner being before you work on your outer, then you should do so. Unfortunately we cannot give you an answer on what will be best for you. It is up to you to decide.

Thanks for the compliment <3 It is also my XBOX 360 gamertag. Oh man I'm ALWAYS thirsty since surgery. I absolutely have to have a water bottle beside me when I go to bed at night. I wake up every couple of ours and have a couple of drinks. Like I said I always have AT LEAST one water bottle with me at all times lol

Just so you know where I come from. I believe in God however I also believe that there is not one single religion that can completely justify that they are the one true religion that is right in all ways. (Just a little something to get off my chest) That being said I live in the bible belt (Texas in the United States). We have a little saying. You can pray to God all you want to about winning the lottery, but he can't help you win if you never try to buy a lottery ticket. In other words it won't help to just pray about losing weight and being healthier. You have to put forward the effort and try to do something about it. If you've exhausted all of your other options and have been unsuccessful in losing weight. Why would trying bariatric surgery be wrong? It is still an option. Just a thought...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE water. I was a heavy water drinker before and now I quite possibly drink even more. I cannot chug-a-lug like I used to but I space it out throughout the day. I always have at LEAST one bottle of water with me at all times. The only thing that bothers me if I try to chug the water is that I feel pain in my upper stomache. (It will streatch out your pouch if you drink too much at one time, just like food)

Well I had a pear shape before I started losing weight. I had huge thighs, rear, and tummy. So far I've lost 6 inches of my rear alone, 2.25 off of each thigh, and 4 off of my stomache. My stomache is still pretty big, but it's slowly deflating. Don't worry about it too much. After you lose all the weight you need to, the worst that will happen is you will just have loose skin around your midsection which can be taken care of by spanx or plastic surgery. Try not to worry about what you might look like later. Believe me it will only worry you and drive you crazy. Just try to maintain this healthy lifestyle and you will obtain a greater sense of self-fullfillment.

I'm anywhere from 4-14 pounds a month. Overall it seems to average at roughly 10 pounds a month

I used to always be hot. I've been know to hang out side while it was snowing wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt ONLY! Now I'm a popsicle. I guess a 50 lbs weight loss will do that too you? It's 74 degrees in my apartment right now and I'm bundled up in a fleece blanket, trying to get warm.

just to put in my two cents. Just because someone is a RN doesn't mean that that truely understand what the lapband is. I have family members in the medical field. Not all of them fully understood the concept of the band. They just believed it was a form of the gastric bypass. Remember that old saying about if you assume... it makes an A$$ out of U and ME. Don't take everything at face value. Good luck on your journey!

Basically liquified. My doc recommends chewing each bite 35 times if your not sure how long you should chew. After a while it becomes habit and less of a hassel

1. Wear knee high boots without it cutting off circulation due to my calfs being WAY too big 2. Wearing shorts without my thighs rubbing together which makes those shorts look like they're giving me a wedgie. 3. I wanna run. Where to IDK... I just wanna run 4. Not being afraid of jumping for fear of flabs of fat bouncing around or trying to slap me in the face. 5. Sky diving or bungie jumping. Which I won't even bother trying now (see number 4).

collarbones, knuckles, crossing legs OH MY!!!

For me, it used to be about restriction. "I can eat too much...I need a fill". However (now that I'm at my sweet spot) It is more about not getting hungry. I don't crave food. In fact just thinking about the foods I used to love to eat makes me nausious. (Greasy cheeseburgers, onion rings with a giant Dr. Pepper, blah blah blah...) It's weird how much things can change with just one last fill.

Don't be afraid of getting stuck. It usually only happens (well in my case) when you are being careless. Otherwise if your totally feel like your doing great without a fill then just tell them that you don't want one. I've done it a few time the past couple of months. There is no requirement for you to have a fill. It's just something that's there for you if you realize you intake is still WAY too much.

I actually had mine removed a year before I had lapband. I felt tons better after my gallbladder removed and I was up and about roughly 2 hours after surgery. I recovered really quickly compared to getting lapband

I'm 5 months post-op. I'm pretty blunt and will answer just about any question if you ask it. So, fire away!!

Uh waiter... WAITER!!! There's a hair in my food. I demand a refund and such. (damn) Nevermind... it's my hair. *gasp* What's that?!?! Is it a tumor? Do I have cancer in my hand? Am I gonna die?? Oh wait... it's my knuckle. me- What's this? my fiance- It's your collar bone. me- I have a collar bone?!?!?! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! my fiance- believe it or not... everyone has a collarbone me- Well duh! It's just that I've never seen mine before. :thumbup: That is just a small chapter in my random book of life.

I have the band and my mom has the sleeve and we are both doing great. We have both lost a large amount of weight in a pretty brief time period. She's lost roughly 50 lbs in her first 3 months and I have lost roughly 50 lbs in my 4 months. She's down from a size W22 pant to a size regular 12 and I have gone from a size W22 to a size 17 juniors. The major difference between the two of us at the moment is that she can't eat as much as I can and her recovery time was MUCH longer and difficult than mine. I bounced back after surgery and feeling pretty great after 2 days (granted I'm only in my 20s and my mom is edging closer to 50). She took about a week and a half to two weeks to start feeling better. Her progression from liquids to solids after surgery also took a much longer time than mine. She was stuck on the liquid phase 3x longer than I was. She's doing great now and looks totally awesome. The biggest problem she has is just TONS of loose skin. My skin isn't as tight as it used to be but it appears to be bouncing back pretty nicely. Summary from our experience: Lap-band has a quicker recovery time although you might have some food restrictions that you may not have with the sleeve. It is adjustable, so if you feel that you can still eat way too much all you have to do is get another fill. However you can outstreatch your pouch, have band errosion, or have a flipped port. Sleeve you lose weight faster but have a very slow recovery time. With faster weight lose you have a greater chance at having looser skin. You can eat whatever you like. However you still have the chance of restretching your stomach back out and you may not learn all of the "good" eating habits because you can eat almost anything. Thus, counter-acting all of the progress you have made. Keep in mind that there are known patients who have converted from the band to the sleeve and those who have converted from the sleeve to the band. Just do your research and try to figure out what would work out best for you! I chose lap-band because it's reverseable and I have a problem with over eating so I need something to help me restrict my food intake without me "starving" all of the time. I also love the idea that I can get a fill or have the fill removed due to pregnancy. Mom chose the sleave because she travels throughout the US all of the time and can't waste time going to a doctor every month for a check-up or a fill.