Erick

Well, I was almost the same start point as yourself, 41yo@296#. I know it is different for everyone, but it has been a great decision on my part. Right after surgery I was a bit tender for about two weeks, but I was doing all my normal activities almost from the second day. I did put off serious workouts for about a month. Since then I have been mountain biking (average 50 miles a week now) and some gym time each week. It is now a little over 3 months post op, and I am 249#. I have had two fills, don't know how much, but each time things were extra tight for about a week afterward. I believe I am at a great spot right now. Honestly, I have had more complications from dental work. I have gotten quite good at predicting when to stop before I have an issue, but I still over do it about once a week on something and have to cough it back up. I wish you luck! Cheers, Erick

Well, I didn't have a pre op diet, and my second week ended with a low point only three pounds lower, then promptly bounced back up two over the weekend. That has been my nominal fluctuation for as long as I can remember. I guess I am back on course. Wow, that was a lot of crap! Cheers, Erick

Well, weighing myself this morning, 7 days out, and I am just over 15 pounds down. I know this won't continue, but I am wondering if this is a bad thing. I had expected 1-2 pounds a week, after I started to get fills and returned to the gym. I am just not feeling hungry right now, but I am eating and drinking as I was told I should. Saw the Doc yesterday and he though all was fine. He said I was feeling like I would at proper restriction. I am chalking this up to swelling. But, it does show what is possible for me. I am still on liquids, I had started pushing into thin Soups and yogurts three days out without issue. I was feeling cocky and tried a small sliver of roast beef, chewed the crap out of it in small nibbles, that seemed fine. I tried it again a few hours later with my Soup for dinner and shortly afterward I felt tightness in my abdomen like trapped gas and you all know what happened next. I had my first experience with PB or slime-ing (I don't know what the difference is, but that wasn't vomiting). Damn, that came up quick! Like a huge ball of snot at high velocity. Luckily, I was prepared with a wastebasket nearby. I don't think I could have handled that discretely in public. Definitely a disincentive! I feel great and have returned to work. I still think this is awesome. Cheers, Erick

Well I am a week post op, now (10-12-2010) and have just gone in for my follow up visit. I am down 13 pounds, I know this won't continue, but I haven't really done much out of my usual routine besides the post op diet. I haven't started exercise in earnest, yet. Thankfully, I haven't had much pain or hunger to speak of. I feel great and my pants are already starting to fall down! Until my surgery I had at least one, if not two substantial meals a day and feel lethargic for hours. Getting out of my easy chair in the evening was a several step process. Now I spring right up. I really do hope this continues. Ultimately, I told only a couple of people directly affected. Even then I was vague. I don't think I will have a problem telling people who will ask in the future, commenting on my (hopefully) successful weight loss. Sandworms, I was at first resentful my wife was sharing with more of our friends. But, she explained to me that she was hoping my good example might inspire some of our other friends (we have many obese people around us) who may be fence sitters or that thought bypass to drastic to consider, to see another option. Mostly this is for the benefit of some of her girlfriend's husbands, most of them like myself, stubborn, middle aged, prideful, who tend to think WLS a cop out, at least for men. At only a week into this side, my only regret is not pursuing this five or ten years ago. My only consolation is they get better at this as time goes on. Thanks, everyone, for your comments!

Hi All- Just wrote an introduction, so I won't go through that again, just the specifics for you men in here. I am 41 and I am scheduled to get banded on the 28th. My wife had the bypass last year and it is going pretty well for her. My question for you guys, is did you tell anyone around you what you were up to? My wife told anyone who would listen, and generally the responses were very supportive, congratulations, way to take control, etc. If it wasn't positive, it was generally concern for having to do something so drastic, but still glad she was getting things under control. I, on the other hand, have told no one. Just put in for the vacation time and just smiled when the boss said he wished he could take some vacation right now (he just got back from going to Italy last month!) My wife has told some of our mutual friends, but I haven't talked to any of them. I guess my problem is that most around me have watched me do the gym for a few months at a time. Diet on and off, etc. for the last 15 plus years. I have had people tell me repeatedly, "you don't look that big! you carry it well!". Perhaps they were just being kind. I feel as a man I am taking the final option, raised the white flag, admitting defeat. I know I am just taking advantage of a tool, it will still take me to make it work. But, I should have had the will to make it out on my own, without a crutch. Am I just being hard headed, vain? Cheers, Erick

It has been 4 days now and have been recovering very well in my opinion. Have gone out with my family every day, I have been driving since day two, haven't been taking anything for pain since day three. Still tender at the incision sites. Especially the one over the port, if the round bump I can feel about an inch below my skin is what I think it is. It is right next to an incision a couple of inches down and couple inches to the left of my sternum. I thought it would have been much lower and around to the side more, in the "love handle" area as the Dr. described it. I go in for my follow up on Monday and will ask him then. Last night was the first night I could sleep on my side as I normally do. Weighed myself this morning, 5 pounds down from the surgery day, 9 pounds down from my first doctor visit six weeks ago. My pants are already starting to fall down, I am having to cuff them to keep from walking on back. Sweet. I really want to keep a 1-2 pound a week pace, that would put me at goal inside 12 to 16 months. I have never been the kind of person that changes weight, good or bad, quickly. It has been a steady 5 pound a year gain since, well, probably since puberty. I haven't really felt hungry to speak of, I hope that lasts awhile. Cheers, Erick

Well, I joined the ranks yesterday at noon. Things went smoothly and I was discharged two hours later. Honestly, I have had more hassle getting dental work. Only had one issue with the administrating nurse botching the IV, luckily the anesthesiologist came along and got me hooked up without any further discomfort. I was quite sore yesterday, but less than I was prepared for. Today, my wife and I went shopping and saw a movie. I can't wait to get all healed up and start getting my fills. I will have to ask my doc when I do my follow up next week, but all my incisions are across the top of my abdomen. I had expected something in my navel. But it is nice not to worry about wearing my pants! Hope everyone else due this month have such good fortune as I have had! Cheers, Erick

Hello All- I have checked out this site before, on the run up to getting my wife's bypass last year. That was the choice for her, she was done last December and is 70+ pounds down now. It has been slower than she would like, but she is now settled enough to add exercise and complete the picture. Now for me, I am 41 and I was a poor, skinny kid, right up to my late teens, early twenties. But in the 20 years I have been married, I have gained 5 pounds a year like clockwork. I look back through weigh ins for check ups and other than a 1 or 2 pound dip (that is made up by the next weigh in) you could lay a straight line from 21 to 41. From 195# to 295#. When I was in my early 20's I considered myself just a big guy, that I could reverse it. I mean, whats an extra 20#? I had many people around me much bigger. I was 220, but my co worker was 280 and I would never let myself go like that! Every weight plateau, 230, 235, 240, I would think this is it, I won't hit the next. I would do the gym for awhile, try whatever diet my wife was on for awhile. Something always caused us to drop it, usually some stress related family, job or finance issue. Of course, there will always be something. When my son came along, when I was 30, I thought I needed to set a better example. Now he is 10 and overweight, I am 50# heavier than when he was born. That worked out great, didn't it. Now, I am one waist size away from shopping only in specialty stores. I wear 40 loose (which is really 44) and I can't pull them up to where the need to be, they just slide back under. Most shirts are not long enough to keep me covered if I raise my arms. I wear the same thing most every day, un-tucked. I don't have nice clothes to dress up in any more. I take 3 meds for hypertension and run a CPAP for my sleep apnea. The final straw was a couple of months ago at the Boardwalk, when I got on a ride with my son, a glider type affair you lay face down in. The precocious teenage girl running the ride couldn't close the safety bar down, I asked if I needed to scoot up, she quietly told me, "it's not even close, you are going to have to get off, Sir". She was polite about it, but I still had to climb down and leave my son in it, and walk past the crowd waiting in line. I can no longer deny it. My loving wife and I talked and felt now was the time, I am not getting any younger and perhaps our son can see the struggles we have gone through and we can all get thinner together. I am going in the 28th of this month. We are not waiting for approval (we did the same for my wife's operation and her approval came in days after it was submitted). Even if I end up paying full ticket, we think it is an investment in ourselves. I hope a few months from now I am one of the success stories. When ever I look at online forums, I seem to mostly find the two extremes. It was the best thing EVAR!!, or it was horrible. I guess if it just went as expected, we are not moved to write about it. So wish me luck, as I wish all of you luck in your goals, I know the smaller me is in here somewhere! Cheers, Erick

Thanks for the encouragement! Well I am ten hours on the banded side of the fence! Everything went very smoothly, I am dealing with the sore shoulders and I can only lay on my back. But, knock on wood, it has been very manageable, especially with the help of my lovely wife. I wish everyone has such an experience! I am on my way! Cheers, Erick

I know where you are coming from, last year when my wife got her bypass, the hospital billed 125k. That was for the OR and 48 hours in a room without complications. The doctor and anesthesia was an additional 8k. BCBS disallowed 80% of that I believe. I think they bill for 120%+, knowing it will get knocked down. Seemed insane to me, when a couple of months earlier my wife underwent emergency gall bladder surgery at a different hospital, with ER admission, 24 hour recovery and everything for 35k total. Cheers, Erick

Well, I go in tomorrow to get banded at noon. So far it has been a non-event waiting for this. Anthem BCBS has been just great this whole time, they assigned me a case worker nurse on a voluntary followup deal. I didn't see any harm to it and she seems very nice, knowledgeable and supportive. I really thought I was going to have to justify this to someone there, but they really stick to the defined pre requisites. Even with my doc being out of network, approval was less than two weeks. Wish me luck! Cheers, Erick

Well, I was going in on the 28th. But, due to a work conflict on my wife's part, we had to bump it a couple of weeks to October 12th. Not a big deal, but I still spent the better part of a couple of hours seeing if I could work out a plan to keep the 28th (drive myself, wait around the lobby for my wife to pick me up a few hours, etc). I did, however, get word from my insurance that I was approved! We were ready to go self pay if need be, but this is better. Last time, when my wife had her bypass, the hospital billed $125K for just it's part (a pre planned procedure with a two day stay and no complications. 800 (x 2) dollar morphine!!!), of which Anthem disallowed 80% or so. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the hospital on my own without the insurance company to back me up. I know it is all a shell game between providers and insurers, but geez. My wife had an emergency gall bladder removal with an ER visit and a two day stay at a different hospital earlier last year was $35K total. I went to my one insurance required support group meeting last week. Interesting, that of 30+ people in the group, only myself and one other pre-op were going LAP-BAND®®®®. All the others , including all the post op, were sleeve or bypass. One other pre op explained she was fighting with insurance for the sleeve, though she had been approved for LAP-BAND®®®® or bypass. She was very against a foreign object in her body. She felt they all suffer from rejection and infection, no offense to the two of us going LAP-BAND®®®®. Different strokes. Cheers, Erick

Thanks for the reassurance that I haven't given up or given in. My date got bumped two weeks due to a schedule conflict with my wife's work to the 12th of October. So I have a couple of more weeks, I am still not considering telling most people pre op. I have never been one to share, anyway. They don't hear from me about most aspects of my life. So now I feel like I would be saying, "We hardly know each other, but I am getting surgery, wish me luck!". Doesn't work into most conversations easily. I keep hearing the key to weight loss success for women, especially, is a large support group. I went to the one support group session hosted by the hospital as required by my insurance. I did find it encouraging, but I doubt I will go much. I have little patience for other peoples' neurosis and I am sure they don't want to hear about mine. Ultimately, I do believe and look forward to my success in this. I may think differently soon. Thanks, again! Cheers, Erick

Thanks, Jack, I appreciate the encouragement. Talking with my wife last evening and she told me she quit telling people around her, other than those effected by her 6 week recovery (she had bypass), shortly after she began telling people. She said she felt some negativity from some, including other heavy people, and did not want to keep explaining, justifying. So I guess I am not unique, even in my own household. Now that it several months past her procedure and it has yielded such good results, she tells most anyone it was the best thing ever done for her. But she still hears from some things like what else she could have done with that money and how they, or someone they know, lost a huge amount on their own, by willpower, acai berries, tantric chanting or (fill in your own option here). So I anticipate, like anything, people will have opinions. Only a very few really matter. I am going in for my band in less than two weeks, so I won't have to ponder this much longer. Cheers, Erick

Hello All- Unless something unforeseen happens, I am scheduled for the morning of the 28th. We are not waiting for the approval, I have a BMI of 39 with hypertension and sleep apnea, we didn't when scheduling my wife's bypass last year (she had a BMI over 40) and her approval came back quickly, before her surgery. Other than some hassles with name brand prescriptions over the last few years, Anthem BCBS has been very good to work with and I don't expect issues, but if there are, we are prepared to go it alone. I am so pleased that our doctor doesn't require the jumping through hoops to prove we are worthy or really need this. The last doctor we tried to work with for my wife five years ago, came highly recommended but insisted on a 30 pound loss before the initial face to face consultation. She went bypass last December and is close to 80 pounds down as of now and looks and feels more than ten years younger. She and I both wish we had done something years ago and regained some lost time. I wish you all luck and no more delays! Cheers, Erick

Thanks, everyone! I am starting to realize this is going to happen. Marte80, I don't meet too many who spell their name like you or I. My name, according to my mother, was actually supposed to be the German spelling "Erich" (which would have made it even more unusual here). But when my mother was in delivery back in '69, already hooked up to pain meds, she was asked by the nurse if the name was to be spelled with a "c" or a "k", to which she replied, "Yes". Tsaleen, I had to rush my wife last year in for emergency gall bladder surgery in the middle of the night. She felt like she was being stabbed with a knife, over and over for hours. After she recovered from that, we decided not to wait any longer for her surgery, which we had looked into three other times over ten years. I guess my own decision threshold was lower. Cheers, Erick