kosy2

I lost 2.5 pounds the week before Christmas and 6.5 the week between Christmas and New Year's.

I was banded September 28, 2010. I really enjoy the support group and believe it is another important part of the weight loss process. Hope to see you at the January meeting. Michele

I am usually a big mouth and tell everyone everything. When I went to my first support meeting at my doctor's office the first thing that was said by one lady was BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TELL. It really got me thinking and I decided not the tell anyone except husband, children, and sister-in-law (my number one support person). It has been hard for me sometimes because I am an open book. I just did not want any negtively. Then last week I was hospitalized for 5 days. I was septsis with E coli. I was so thankful that my extented family and friends did not know about my band. I know I would have had to hear how the band made me sick and how I was wrong to get it. Well it was NOT the band that made me sick but I could have never have convinced them. I can always tell them when I am ready. It may be years from now. Once you tell you can never take it back. Listen to that small iner voice. You will know when and who to tell.

After my first fill of 4cc in a 11cc band I only feel a little hungry around 7:00pm. So I eat about 1/2 cup of veggies and meat. To give my body the 60 grams of protein it's needs I take 4 1oz. shots of Pro Stat 64. I has 15 grams of protein per oz. and about 67 calories.

Deviled eggs

I have suffered with depression since I was about 12. I have been on countless drugs including sam-e and none of them worked for more than a couple of months. When I started the Lap-band process in June 2010 I was so depressed I just wanted to die. My phyc. doc. I saw for my eval. suggested a book by Paul Gilbert called OVERCOMING DEPRESSING. Life has been wonderful since reading this book. Good Luck

5'3" female. my goal is 140 and a tummy tuck that would bring me to about 130-135.

I am 45 day since surgery. You sound just liked me before surgery. It started really bad about 2 weeks before surgery and I to tried to stay away from this fourm. The harder I tried the more time I spend reading and the more anxiety. Surgery day came, I was a tiny bit sore (never needed anything for pain), after 2 days I started to feel a little hungery, Week 3 was the hardest as I was really hungery. One month out got my first fill again no pain. The best part was yesterday after spending all day cleaning out 8 years of junk in the basement I realized that it was 8 pm and all I had was water all day. I love my band - SHOULD HAVE DONE IT YEARS AGO!

Birth stone ring I wear on my right ring finger fell off.

1. Burning the grany panties. 2. Being able to really clean my house. 3. Buy good quality clothes. 4. Walking next to my husband - not 10 feet behind him. (he is a mailman and walks too fast for me now) 5. Going on a cruise - putting on the little black dress - hearing my husband say WOW - PRICELESS

Genesis Today sells a liquid protein that has steiva. 1oz. has 15 grams of protein and 60 calories. Some health food stores sell it or you can buy direct from www.genesistoday.com They also sell liquid nultivitamin and calcium. I have used their products for years.

Right after I am finished eating I swish some cold water around in my mouth and then spit it out. It makes it much easier to wait the 30 minutes my doctor requires. Of course I only do this if I am at home.

Never use Protein pills but do use liquid Protein. Pro-Stat 64 is 15 grams protein in 1 oz. I do 4 shots per day. Nutrition Direct sells a 32oz bottle for 23.95 shipping included. Call Ken Martone @414 397-1987 or email @ nutritiondirect1@aol.com. He will send FREE samples. Michele

Were you on the Today Show last week?

I am only 16 days post op. I am more than willing to answer any questions.

IMHO 99% of loosing weight and keeping it off for good is in the HEAD. I feel very blessed to have found a wonderful psycologist at my surgeon's office. I have been seeing him once a week since my pre op psyc eval. Twice in the last 10 years I have lost over 120 pounds only to regain. And that does not count all the Monday morning diets over 40 years. I get how to loose weight. I need a Psycologiest to help me understant WHAT"S EATING ME.

Information session was May 26, 2010. I could have had surgery on Sept. 8, 2010 except I had a 9 day cruise booked for Sept. 9th. Had surgery on 9/27/10. Note that my insurance did not have any requirements other then BMI above 40 or BMI equal to or greater than 35 in combination with one or more co-morbid conditions AND Psychiatric evaluation

I am 1 week post op. I am very blessed that I have not had any problems. I am hungery. Still on full liquid until Friday. Looking forward to food that I can chew and chew and chew.

In 21 hours, 28 minutes, 45 seconds I will be banded. That's what I thought until I called the hospital to check on what I need to bring with me and if I really needed to be there at 5:30am for 7:30am surgery. According to them One hour before surgery was what they required. She suggested I call my doc to see why they were telling me 2 hours. Big shock when I called doc and found out the my surgery was changed to 11:30am. Like when were they going to let me know? My guess was when I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am tomorrow morning. So a word to the wise - DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING! Also, if you are still in the pre op testing stage REQUEST A COPY OF ALL TEST RESULTS. I started a small binder with pocket dividers labeled food journal, insurance, test results, progress charts, miscellaneous. This has been very helpful keeping everything in one place and I can easily keep on top of things. I saved myself time and money as well. My doctor had me get a HIDA Scan because of gullstone and then return in 1 week. The day before my appointment I was in his office for weekly visit with phyc. doctor and asked if I really needed to see surgeon the next day because I had 2 days eariler gotten a copy of the HIDA Scan that stated gullbladder was fine. The surgeon had not received his copy of the the report and I was able to whip it out and give it to him. NO NEED TO SEE HIM THE NEXT DAY.

Born and raised in Baltimore Maryland. Stay at home mother of 5. Ages 17,21,23,27,29.

Let me start my saying that everyone is different. That said I am 20 hours out from surgery and I feel really, really, good. I am a big baby when it's comes to pain. For me the IV and nausea just after surgery were my biggest fears. I really impressed this to my doctor and she said she would use all the meds she day to prevent nausea. To my great delight I did not have any nausea at all. I feel real sore but could not really call it pain. To be honest I felt worse after a personnal trainer worked me over for 30 minutes a couple yers ago. I could not move without pain and was eating meds like they were candy. So far with the band I have not had any pain meds since a small dose in the IV just as I was comming to. In hine sight I really did not even need it. I was just afraid that if I did not have it the pain would get to bad. It just has not for me. (Knock on wood) As far as the IV the RN was really good and I hardly felt it. I understand they can put numbing cream on first if you want. Looking back all my worring was for nothing. It's like paying interest on a bill before you make it. How smart is that? Hopefully NOW I have learned this lesson. Michele

Now the rest of the story. Arrived at the hospital yesterday at 9:30am for my 11:30 surgery time. Only to be rushed along. Why you ask? Because my surgery time on the schedule is 10:30. It seems to me that somethings must be tripled checked. Just to let you know I am feeling really good. Hospital sprang me around 4:00pm. I feel reall, really sor but could not really call it pain. Have not had to take ANY meds so far. I was really nervus about the pain before surgery but to be honest I had a personal trained work me over once and I was in more pain that lasted 5 days. Compaired to that workout this surgery was nothing. And I am a real baby when it comes to pain.

For over 20 years I would get chest pain. My husband would say "It's just stress, I get it too". Having 5 children I trusted what he said and went on with life. Over the years the chest pain would come and go be mild to I was sure I was have a heart atack but terified to see doctor. When I started the process of getting the Lap Band and I was getting the test results and found out I have gullstones and small hiatal hernia I started to rethink my chest pain. The kis are mostly grown and besides my weight I really have very little stress in my life. Because of my stated chest pain I had to have a Cardiac consultation. Cardiac doc and I both agree that if is really was my heart I would have other symptoms. My surgeon did a HIDA Scan to rule out gullbladder problem. I check out fine and he do not think the hiatal hernia is the problem either. I was really concern about what this chest pain could be and wanted to know before the band. I was afraid I would not be able to tell the differance between the old chest pain and something pertaining to the band. Then 4 weeks ago I had my last appointment the RN at surgeon's office to go over pre op diet, day of surgery, and post op diet. She also gave me a RX for Omeprazole. I was to start taking it the day of surgery and contiue for at least 90 days. This is an acid blocker. So I decided that maybe, just maybe the chest pain I have been having could be GERD. I started taking the Omeprazole 4 weeks ago and OMG NO MORE CHEST PAIN. All this time I think what I had was GERD and I just did not know it because in addition to the chest pain I would sometimes get heartburn. When I was pregnant or if I had too much coffee. Don't be discouraged. I sure with the right medication for your GERD you will be able to proceed with the band. Prayers for you from me. Michele

I live in Baltimore Maryland and thought I would keep a detailed record of all pre surgery cost. Got my last bill today and here are the numbers. Amount submitted to Insurance $14,091.31 Plan Allowed 9,415.16 My deductable 300.00 Plan paid 7,757.23 What I paid 1,686.93 This does not include the cost of CPAP machine. Thank God I have Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Standard Insurance.

I have been with my husband for 36 years. When I met him I was 117 pounds but only for one week. I was going to Diet Workshop and had lost 53 pounds. But when we started dating we would eat out alot and I started to gain weight. He hated it but when I would loose weight he hated it. Over the years I begain to see a pattern. Each time I lost weight he would begin to bring home more sweets home. He said "they are for the kids" but guess who eat most of them? yea, ME. I truely believe that he is a small part of the reason I have not been able to keep the weight off. Since 1999 I have lost 120 pounds TWICE. Only to regain. I do not expect this time to be any different. In fact that is a major reason for me getting the band. A sort of stop-gap. My hope is that after a few years of me at a normal weight he will know that I am not going anywhere. I am thankful that my doc required a phyc. eval. I found a wonderful doc and he has really helped me. I have been seeing him once a week and plan to continue for a while. I believe 99.9% of my food isues are about my thinking and therefore the need for phyc. doc. Years ago a phyc. doc explain to me that with all our relationships each person has a certain "dance". Any time when one person in the pair changes their "dance" it trips the other. If you stay with the new "dance" long enough the other will learn the new steps.