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You are going to be fine! Your surgeon I am sure has done many lap bands and nothing is being cut on just added. ( : your emotions are normal, we have all had them. I am a nurse and went back to work in 10 days and have done just fine. As far as the pain goes its not bad, I'm sure your c/s was worse. Just remember to walk as soon as possible to break up the gas. Good luck!!! Very excited for u!!!

I had quite a bit of "cramping" pain the first 10 days or so. Usually it was when I was drinking. If I took a sip that was slightly bigger (and I was being quite careful), it felt like my stomach was spasming and jabbing at me. It did get better after 10 days though. My surgeon reassured me by letting me know that the discomfort was due to the trauma my stomach had been through and it was normal for it to be extra sensitive during the early stages of my recovery. Afterall, it was cut open, most of it taken out, stapled back together and then sewn. So obviously there was alot of damaged tissue in there, trying to heal. And here I was sending liquid down quite often during the day, irritating it (not to mention my stomach acid also eating away at the wounds). If the pain is too intense, constant and not linked to something explainable (like a "normal" early-stage reaction to eating/drinking), it is important that you consult your physician. In fact if you feel like anything is wrong, don't hesitate to seek medical advice. If they check you out and find that everything is fine, all you've done is use up a bit of time. Worth it to reassure yourself. If on the other hand there is something "off", it's best to catch it early and get it treated!

It does take a while for you to feel it. I had my surgery 9/10 and I have now lost 130 lbs. I wear a size 12 pants and medium top. Even fitting into smaller clothing it didn't register. And just recently I feel like I have lost weight. When I look in the mirror and do say to myself I am skinny. I have been so used to not looking at myself in the mirror. Everyone else has been saying it for a long time. My mother and husband say I look frail. So good luck and keep up the good work. Our mind plays such games with us. Take a lot of pictures and you will also notice it.

Congratulations! Your starting weight was very close to mine (252). I lost 10 pounds on the 6 month diet my insurance required, and was put on a liquid pre-op diet that lasted 3 weeks because I caught a cold and my surgery was moved, but only by a week, not enough time to stop and start up again so I stayed on it an extra week. I found I do boring really well (the liquid diet is boring). Lost 25 on that. The rest is post-op. I don't think I ever would have been able to do this on my own. The band helped curtail portion size, and I did the rest. I always knew what to eat; I just ate too much of it (plus the pizza, subs, etc.) Now I eat healthy and the band is there to remind me if I am eating too much. I am really glad I did it. My surgeon is pretty happy with my results too.:sad_smile:

Hello fellow/soon to be sleevers I have never joined one of these sites, I have been looking at the site as a none member since I discovered it last week when I was 3 days post sleeve, the first day I went on it I couldnt belive how informative it was and I could so identify with a lot of what other people were going through, I was on the site till 2 in the morning the first day I was on the site. Any how something about me, I have steadily put weight on over the last thirty years and at one time I could diet and lose most of the weight but the weight would never stay off. I suppose it was yoyo dieting but the closer I got to 50 years of age I think the string got stuck I would lose less weight then put it back on plus alot more at my heaviest I was 20 and a half stone or 287 lb for my American friends. Life was getting unbearable I was becoming quite down about my weight and loosing any confidence I had. In December 2009 I went to my Doctor and told him how I was feeling, he really listened to me but because he knew how the NHS worked (I couldnt afford to self finance the surgery), he said I would need to prove that I was serious about loosing the weight this way and I most exhaust all other avenues, I had already taken Xenical twice previously so he started me on Reductil, an appetite supressant, I was given a months supply and I took it with apprehension as I knew of the side effects but I was so desperate to lose the weight. I went to get a further presciption and discovered it had been banned in the UK that week. The doctor then referred me to an exercise and diet programme which was a 2 year programme but it was the pathway I needed to be on to get the surgery. I'm a qualified nurse so I do know what I should be doing and what I should or should not be eating but doing the right thing is another thing, however the programme got me back to the gym and my new found love of zumba. I was seen by a dietition who kept on trying to change my mind about the surgery,a bit of a devils advocate, when she was convinced I was serious she referred me to a psychologist who I saw once and she and the dietition made a report and sent it to my local PCT, who would then decide either to fund or not to fund the surgeryon the NHS it was then a waiting game. At last I got the letter I was sent by the PCT in June 2011 to a private Consultant Mr Decadt at the Spire Regency Hospital, Maccelsfield about an hours drive from my home, thank god for sat nav, I was so excited. He agreed to do the surgery but it would have to go back to the PCT to ensure they agreed with the funding,I made lots of phone calls to the hospital and to the PCT followed to see what was happening I suddenly got a phone call on the 27th September to arrange two pre-op appointments before the op date on the 17th of October I couldnt stop smiling I was so excited. And I remained excited right up untill the op. I am now 10 days post sleeve and the scale is steadily going down and I am feeling great though I am very easily tired. I know its early days but I dont think I will ever regret the decision I made to have this surgery. I have three Grandchildren, three year old triplets, the light of my life I want to be able to keep up with them and to be there when they have their children and I feel I have a better chance of that happening. Hope to be talking to many of you in the future Maureen

@bgtribble We have almost the identical stats. I am also 5' 6" and my heaviest weight was 259 pounds. As an adult I had always maintained a healthy weight for my female frame - about 145 - and was a lifeguard, canoe trip instructor, avid backpacker... never a 'small' person but fairly 'trim' and definitely healthy. I got married and had a baby and then the weight started to creep up on me... 10 pounds heavier, 20 pounds heavier... and over the past 15 years, I ballooned up to 259. Now that I'm back in 100's again I feel I have regained my 'old' Self. I'm not at goal weight yet, however I am feeling SO much better even at this interim stage of the process 65 pounds down! Like dear Bandista above (she is a guru - listen to her!) I also love food and cooking, and am able to still enjoy beautiful food and meals out... but in smaller portions. The best thing is having the background of satiety constantly there. The "Hunger Monster" that derailed my weight loss attempts in the past is no longer there. Now I have a can of tuna & mayo or a small piece of tender steak or 5 Tbsps of egg salad and that's it. Give me three slices of roast duck, a few spears of asparagus and no starch (potatoes, rice and breads are out for me) and BOOM. I'm sated. No desire for anything more. Happy for you, jiggyjiggy120 - you are about to embark on getting control back and feeling better. It's a tremendous thing!

Hi everyone, I wanted to introduce myself. I'm very excited to be on this board. You all are so very supportive of each other and I know that will help me as I begin this journey. I'm Jen, I've been married almost 10 years to a very wonderful and supportive husband. We have one son together. He'll be 6 in a couple of months. I've been overweight most of my life. It's just in the last 12 years though that I've become extremely overweight. I started at around 400lbs and I'm currently at 350lbs. It's taken alot of ups and downs over the last 5 years to get to this weight. I have already talked to my insurance company and I'll need 6 months of supervised diet. So I called yesterday and made an appt with Dr. Stiles to start that process. I am not using my regular PCP because he is very old fashioned and will barely give me medicine when I'm sick, much less help me get approved for surgery. So one of the bariatric surgeon's offices recommended Dr. Stiles. Well, I look forward to sharing in all your journeys.

My story is I was over weight since I was little. I have lost and gained so many times. I finally found out our insurance paid for the surgery. I told my parents I was seeing a nutritionist, as I run a home daycare and my mom is my back up provider. I went to the seminar in January followed all the appts needed by my insurance and had surgery on June 15. I lost about 10 lbs before surgery and since I have lost 34 1/2 lbs. I am excited that I have so much energy. I walk 5-6 days a week about 3-4 miles. I am eating just about anything I want. But I can only eat about 3 ozs at a time. Drinking all the water I can. I can not stand protein shakes and have not drank a single one since surgery. I am only eating protein and getting just as much as I was before surgery. I didn't eat a lot of meat before surgery, so I think my body is used to it. I went out and bought an up Jawbone which keeps track of your steps, activity levels, and food intake. I bought my husband one too and you can compete for who can take the most steps as he is dieting too. I have gotten sick a few times from eating something that didn't set well with my new tummy. But I have been doing great! I ate lettus and tomatoes on my meat yesterday for the first time and have not had an issue. I love me some tomatoes, so I was excited! Hope everyone else is doing good!

Good Morning, My name is BlueRose and I am new at all of this. I have been morbidily obese though for a long time now. I have just recently found out that Medicaid will pay for this surgery now, where as before they did not. It may be changed, but as it stands right now my husband and son and I have an appointment with Dr. Bell who is in Morehead City NC, for July 10th at 10:30 Am for a consultation. This is my very first appointment and they said that I need to take with me a record of what my weight has been like for the past five years. Any ways, I was wondering if anyone had anything to tell me about this surgery that I should know or maybe ask Dr. Bell about. I am very happy that medicaid is now paying for this, but at the same time I am now also very nervous.

Hi all!!! I am from denison,tx and was banded on 10-29-2008 . I'm still on liquids for two more weeks.i'm also 5"3' and weigh 229lbs i'm down 10lbs from the fourteen day liquid pre-op. I'm looking for a buddy to share our progress and trade recipes.

Hi, Like my title says I can't believe I'm doing this! I am a 30 yr old single mom to 3 wonderful boys. They are 14, 6 and 1 1/2. I decided to join a support forum because I am having LAP-BAND® surgery performed on Tuesday!!! Even just thinking those words chokes me! Tomorrow well in a couple of hours I have to go to the hospital for all of the pre- op testing!!! I'm so nervous I can't sleep!!! My life is very complicated! I don't work right now mostly because I am ashamed to be seen in public. I am 4' 10 and weigh 210 lbs I'm always in pain and have become so heavy for myself that it is actually causing a sore in th bottom of my foot! Well I'm going to go read some of your posts! I hope to hear from some of you real soon! Lets take this journey together because I haven't really told anyone in my life and I can't do this alone. :thumbup:

Hi Cely, welcome to the forum. I am the husband of the banded one, but I'm the one that does the posting. Congratulations on getting banded and on your weight loss. 19 lbs is fantastic!!! And that is without even being filled. Imagine how it will be after you hit that sweet spot. As for the heartburn and burping, a couple of things come to mind. First, my wife was advised not to eat beef...well...don't eat steak. It is stringy and some people have trouble getting it thru the stoma. The not being able to breath or burp thing sounds to me like my wife's signal that YOU'RE FULL ! With you band you have to relearn a few things and one of the biggest things is "listening" to your body. When a little bit of your food came back up, that could have been a lot of things. You ate too much, too fast, too spicy, too big a bite. So s-l-o-w down and enjoy your food, chew it till it doesn't have any "lumps". As far as helping with your meals, check out www.FitDay.com And keep coming back to LBT, ask questions, do research.

So I am 19 almost 20 I have a 5 month old son and a wonderful boyfriend.. I want the lap band SO BAD! I have always been a chubby girl but after I went to college I ballooned to 240 and now after giving birth and gaining 60 lbs while prego I now weigh 256 lbs its a terrible feeling like I said I have always been chubby but now I can feel it starting to affect my health.. I cant get around as easy I'm so much more lazy I have a hard time breathing and I just feel completely uncomfortable in my OWN skin.. I attend the first step at my hospital which is the seminar on Thursday and I have my appt on Feb 9th for consultation! I'm so excited and PRAY I get approved.. I just have a few questions abou the lap band.. the lady at the seminar said that I wont be able to drink caffine or alchol.. which I am fine with but I am not fine with NEVER EVER being able to EVER drink it again.. so that is one of my questions and my second question is.. does the lap band ever get removed or is it something I will have for the rest of my life? and my 3rd question is.. I know that the weight comes off slowly but will I ever be able to lose about 100 lbs I'd like to loose a little more then that but would be fine with 100 Thanks everyone :thumbdown:

My nut put me on a 1400 calorie diet. It is hard for me to meet that goal. She also wants me to eat 25 g of protein a day. The protein feels me up. I have lost some weight. My next appointment is July 10. I was nervous that I will lose too much weight. I am working out three days a week. I waiting to see what she says on Jul 10. I am also logging everything. If I do not lose enough I am hoping she gives me more pointers on what I am doing wrong.

Are u drinking plenty of water? I am almost 3 weeks out and I get hungry,although I thought the removal of Grehlin was taking care of hungry.. :/ I have found that if I don't drink enough fluids I get hungry more often. When I wake up in the morning,I require myself to drink 20 ozs of clear liquids before I put any food in my mouth,10 more ozs before lunch and at least 10 more ounces before dinner. This keeps me full and works on getting the required amounts of liquid in too.

So, I've been lurking for a while and have decided to join the fold. I decided about 10 years ago that I was never going to 'diet' again and would have to either make piece with my size or have surgery. I have made piece to a certain extent, but I have recently made a huge investment in myself by returning to school. I have one more year left. It has been a huge time and financial commitment and I feel like my size will likely hurt me as I seek employment in a competative field. So...for the last year or so I have thought about surgery more earnestly. My insurance expressly does not cover any weight loss surgery so I will be self pay (or self borrow) as the case may be. I live in the Pacific NW and surgery seems cost prohibitive, so I am leaning towards Mexico. I have tons of questions, of course, but mainly I am looking for support as I have isolated myself quite a bit over the years. In that vein, if one tavels to Mx, can you go alone? I don't have anyone to go with. Also if anyone knows of good support groups in the Seattle area that are open to the public I would love to start going and learning. Thanks for your ear.

Hi Everyone. My journey started in 1996 with my gastric bypass. I'm now 18 years post-op and have maintained a 130 pound weight loss. I have had 2 pregnancies post-op. My kids are now 15 & 16 years old. My surgery was open and lapriscopy wasn't an option then. I've dealt with issues of birth control and anemia. I had no setbacks until my 10 year anniversary when I developed an internal strangulation hernia that required surgical correction. I also had an upper Gi bleed this past January. Other than those items, my surgery enabled me to have the lifestyle and become the wife and mother I had only dreamed of previously. I keep within a 10 pound window for maintenance. It gets harder to keep within that window as I get older; however it is achievable by keeping to the same rules used for weight loss to maintain. We all need to be mindful of our Protein, limit the carbs, exercise and keep hydrated. I think having support is so important and I'm greatful to have found this site.

Aw, I hate to hear that for you!! I know that feeling also, of cringing at myself in the mirror. I still do! What about starting smaller, maybe! I'm 234 lbs and even though I'd love to be in a 10, I think I may go out and purchase a pair of 14's. I don't know what size I can get into with my med bones and my child bearing hips. Hehe. If I bought a 10 and came to realize its not a healthy attainable weight for my frame, I think that might depresse again. I think you will do fabulous!!

My husband has Blue Cross Blue Shield and they paid. It has to be presented as a medical issue. We had to give them a five year history from the primary doctor showing he has been over a certain weight for 5 years or more. Plus he has high blood pressure, sleep apnea and diabetes runs in his family. If you have medical issues over your weight, I do not understand how they can turn you down? Did your doctor present the case properly? My husband just had his surgery this month, 8/10. But it took us a good portion of the year to get the packet together for insurance approval. Oh.. one more thing his primary doctor had to write a letter of recommendation as well. Not sure if this helps.

I am excited to get the lap band after trying every diet under the sun. I am happy that there is lots of support out there to help me out.

It was 4am, and super cold outside (like it usually is in the winter...) and I woke right up when the alarm went off. I wasn't allowed to shower that morning, but I had to wipe my abdomen with this weird sticky wipes..gross. We had to take our 6 year old daughter with us because our babysitter caught the flu at the last minute. She had to miss school that day because no one was going to be home to get her up and ready. Her and I had packed a bag of her toys, and made sure the DS and iPad were fully charged to keep her occupied. 4:30am, we were off. Stopped by to pick up my best friend who wanted to see me off before she had to go to work. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am on the dot. Checked in and waited. They called me back and took two tries to get the IV started. I knew this would happen and warned them when they called to do my pre-op registration. I still have the bruise over two weeks later from the first failed try. The next two hours went by super quick. The surgeon showed up and made sure I didn't have any last minute questions. The anesthesia team came in and asked me a million more questions and then gave me some meds to help me relax. Not that I really needed it. This was going to be my 8th surgery, 6th one on my abdomen. They wheeled me in to the OR, and it is all a blur after that. Woke up in recovery with some pain and nausea. They had given me a 72 hour nausea patch prior because I knew I get nauseated after anesthesia. It hurt to take a deep breath, and I asked for pain meds. The only pain I had in my abdomen was from the port. The pain in my chest was from gas as was the pain in my left shoulder. I knew this would happen as well thanks to this forum. I kep falling asleep, and every time I did, I de-sated so they kept waking me up and put me on oxygen. Once I finally got my pain under control and started breathing okay (about a few hours) they moved me to short stay. The whole time I was in recovery, this guy came in and had surgery on his leg, but kept complaining about his stomach hurting, and was cussing up a storm. I asked them to give him pain meds so he would shut up lol. They did, and they he was quiet. After resting in short stay, they wanted me to try taking deep breaths and using this device (can't remember the name of it) but it's to help prevent pneumonia. It hurt SO bad to do that, but I kept trying. They also set a 15 min timer, and I was in charge of re-setting it, and every time, I had to take a cap full of water. My pain came back, and they gave me liquid lortab, man that stuff was nasty! I asked for pills after that. Then it was time to go to the bathroom. I felt like I had to go, so they slowly helped me sit up which was painful. Then I slowly walked to the bathroom. Only I couldn't go. Turned the water on and everything. So after a bit, I walked back to my bed. Sat for another hour and tried it again. This time my nurse gave me a cup full of warm water, and told me to pour it over my private area and that might help to stimulate me to go. Sure enough, it worked! Felt much better after that. My daughter came back to visit me not long after I was moved to short stay. She did so good the whole time! She was asking the nurse all these questions about mommy. When it was time to go, she asked if she could watch them take out my IV and then help wheel me to the car. The nurse thought my daughter was very caring and had a great time showing her everything she asked. She has always been fascinated with the body and health. I see health care in her future like her mama! At 1:30pm, it was time to go home. I was very excited to get home and rest. The drive home was fine. I like about an hour from the hospital. That was my day. I'd do it all over again in a heart beat.

Hi Everybody! I live in the Northern suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had my surgery on 6-23-11 by Dr. Jeffrey Baker at Unity Hospital. He works out of Baker Bariatrics. He is a very skilled surgeon who has done many procedures and is really nice too! I highly recommend him. Plus my insurance covered him so that was a bonus! I am 6 weeks out and have lost 20 pounds so far (i had lost 20 before the surgery) so am down 40 pounds so far. Started at 243- at 203 this week. I had a 'mini stall' at week 4, but only lasted about 10 days. Now moving down again. Overall, I have had no complications or problems that weren't expected. I have not had any nausea or vomiting since the surgery. My incisions healed well (can hardly see them now). I consider myself very lucky!! I am 47, married, no kids except for my 9 year old Beagle, Brewster. Tonight I start in a beginning running class training for a 5K race in October. I have already been thru my closet and was able to give 2 big bags to the Lupus Foundation- I have lost 2 sizes already!

Hi everyone, I am so happy to have found this website. The others seem more dedicated to the RnY WLS and I had the sleeve done exactly 1 week ago. I weighed 256 pounds prior to the surgery, down from about 300 at my highest. I had been hovering around 250 for the past 8 years. Anyway, I had Kaiser Insurance and they have a program that is extremely rigourous. First, you have to prove that you have tried all other weight loss options. You need solid proof, like your Weight Watchers log or documentation that is extensive. Once you pass that hurdle you wait to go into a class that lasts 6 months! You go once a week for 2 hours for 6 months where you learn about the surgery, nutrition, hear success stories. If you miss a class, you MUST make it up. If you miss 3, you are out of the program. After finishing the 6 month class, you are evaluated. If, during the 6 months, you have lost 10% of your weight (in my case, 26 pounds) then you go to the next step. I did not lost the 10 % and, in fact, only lost about 3 pounds in 6 months (so depressing) so I was referred back to the Dr. for another consultation. After being approved by him, it's on to a gall bladder scan and a fitness test. With Kaiser, you have to wait 3 months for a gall bladder scan (very frustrating). The exercise fitness test consisted of walking three times around a rather small building. This was the easy part for me because I go to the gym several times a week, love to exercise but for whatever reason, my exercise did not lead to weight lost, only maintenence of 250 pounds. After the fitness test and gall bladder scan, you are assinged a series of three appointments. One is for the shrink, who spends about 20 minutes making sure you are sane, then the nutritionist who gives you the same information you have gotten in the class and finally, a consult with the surgeon where you decide which of the three surgeries you are going to have. lap band; RnY, or Sleeve. For medical reasons, my surgeion pushed the sleeve. I was happy with that choice because I don't want to be fooling around with lap band adjustments and also, at 55 years old, I feel I needed a permanent fix. Then FINALLY, you get a surgery date. This whole process, including the 6 month class took a year. It was a long long year. Very frustrating because I could not lost that 10% and that slowed me down by a month or two. I had to get through Thanksgiving and Xms without gaining weight because in the pre op appt and in bold black letter in the pre-op instructions, it is stated "If you gain weight prior to the surgery, your surgery will be cancellled." That is a sobering thought after waiting for a year. Needless to say, I pigged out at Thanksgiving and gained about 5 pounds which was hard to get off by Xmas. My surgery was scheduled for Dec 29, so I really watched myself at Xmas and managed to check in on the 28th at the exact weight of 255.1, a whole 9/10ths of a pound lower than the last appointment. Whew! So on the 29th of Dec, I checked into Scripps Mercy Hospital in downtown San Diego (this is who Kaiser is contracted with for bariatric surgery) and waited to go under the knife. My surgery was delayed by about 3 hours but they gave me a bunch of Morphine and Versed so i didn't care. Finally, they wheeled me in and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery, feeling so weird but actually, not in a lot of pain. My biggist problem was the after effects of the anathesia and, of course, the bloating from the CO2 they pump into you to do a laproscopic surgery. I was up walking within about 5 hours. Conditions at this hospital were amazing. The staff was the best I have ever had and all they cared about was my comfort. Their goals were to control nausea and pain. I didn't have nausea and the pain control was a morphine pump which I used liberally. I also got liquid Ativan to help my bad back so all in all I was pretty damn high at the hospital. I got out Sat. morning and things have been pretty smooth sailing since. I'm still obsessed with food and can't wait to get a little something on Monday (12 days after surgery after bargainaing my doctor down from 14 days) I'm so happy to have found this site to help with my recovery and to answer all my questions. My surgeon was Dr. Janos Taller who is with Pacific Bariatric Surgery. I personallly thought he was excellent. Thanks for reading and good luck to all contemplating this surgery. If you have Kaiser in San Diego, now you know the protocol. Smillzee

I was banded on Friday 10-12 and had gas for 4 days--thats it! I was so scared because I read a lot of people on here saying how bad the gas was and how long it might last--I read upto 4 weeks. Clearly this is a support group and the people that have little or no gas don't post messages saying "GUESS WHAT? I HAVE NO GAS!" probably because they would be stoned to death by a mob of bloated banders. So, you might read a lot of problems people are having because they here for help and support. Everyone is different. I walk and took gas x strips and it's gone. Good luck!

I decided to have weight loss surgery in December 2012. It took mow way to long to get through the pre op process. I finally had surgery 2/19/14 it was the best decision I have ever made. I am now down 75lbs today and feel amazing. I am now in regular size clothing and feel more confident every day.