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@B-52. That's kind of good to hear..... Bc that's exactly how much of it I ate also lol! And I was full and there was so much of it left..... Might eat on some more for dinner lol

Did anyone resume the bc pill after surgery? Did this help at all with staying regular? My doc says that I can resume taking my pill 3 weeks after surgery. So I have another week to go. I was on my period during surgery and that totally sucked.

WOW....and how do you tell your family and friends?! I am struggling with all those questions right now. There are so many people in my life who will judge me and my decision. My date for surgery is July 1st. I called my mom immediately and told her.....her and my sister were the only family members who knew. She told my dad who I do not have a good relationship with and he is confused about it all. (they are divorced) I truly wish she hadn't told him. One of the before/after pictures that runs across the top of the screen is a friend of my ex-husbands and unfortunately, my ex and children (grown sons 22 & 26) were not totally thrilled with his decision worried about his health and still do. I know my decision is not what they would want but I do want it and I have been working on this far too long to listen to BS from those who have negative ideas regarding it. I have asked that those I have told....to NOT tell anyone until I am ready. I want someone to ask me...or to see results. I don't want to worry about the small stuff!!

I survived, now if I could just pass some gas I'm sure I would feel better. Plus it doesent help that I'm still stuck at the hospital awaiting discharge and watching true life I had gastric surgery..and that my roomate is crazy and throwing stuff at the staff so I can only safely walk on my half of the room bc when I try to leave she throws stuff at me :/

I did the same thing - not telling many pple to avoid all the comments and questions regarding how fast the weight would come off and what I can/cannot eat. I knew it would be slow and bc it was surgery everyone else thinks it should be DRASTIC/FAST. I am going to a Continuing Education lecture next weekend and I just know the ladies that know I am banded will think its too slow and insignificant (Like I care) - But I am abit self conscience and hope they don't ask too many questions.

i know how you feel! I am 5 weeks post op and I too still have sorness around my port when I do too much. I find that I forget about my surgury bc most of the time it doesn't hurt, but as soon as I do something strenuous... boom the soreness is totally there! good luck! amy

At first I was only going to tell my DH and no one else. Then I decided to tell my MIL and she said that she wanted to fly to TX to help out. I decided to let her and then it all went downhill from there. She then tried to convince me to tell other people in the family bc they were "worried" about me bc she was now coming to TX. So, I ended up having to tell my SIL and Grandmother, Dad, etc. Or else she said she was telling them. So, I decided that I would tell them so they would get my unbiased story. At work, only a couple people know. My boss & HR lady. I was lucky to be traveling right before my surgery this week so I didn't have anyone asking why I was off this week. HOwever, I have a feeling that once I go back on Monday people will be asking. I want to say I had surgery, but then I will get the questions. I hate to lie and say that it was gall bladder bc what if I end up with gall bladder later? I thought that I could say I just had a cyst removed (female stuff) bc I always have issues with that. The reasons I don't want people to know: -Don't judge me -Don't need to hear your opinion -I have made up my mind and only need support

thanks for the responses... I haven't talked with Dr A's nurse in many months - I emailed them when I was freaking out thinking there was a leak bc I was getting no restriction - she just suggested to get it checked under fluoro - which I did - and there is no leak... Not much they can do...

does anyone know what to do about the kezaysim that need to be eaten and drunk at the seder?? is there a way to deal with it bc of medical issues or is a loosening required?

Now I'm all worried....I took mashed potatoes and added a lot of water to them today...I had maybe 3 or 4 bites...It was really watery...so it was really nasty...but I started looking in the problems area of this forum and was reading alot about band slipping....my doctor told me that he does a lot to prevent that but Now I'm freakin out...bc I dont want it to slip....I can have full liquids but somehow feel that my watery mashed pots wouldnt classify.....am I stressin over nothing?? I'm just worried.

I didn't tell most of my family because I didn't need opinions from the peanut gallery--I knew most would not be helpful and would be against it. And they have reason to be: people do gain the weight back. I know several people (friends, colleagues, family members) who have gained back considerable amounts of weight after WLS, far more than I know people that have been long term successful. And yes, and there are the possible side effects. I am living with one of them right now. I won't BS you, it is a gamble. I knew that going in. At the end of the day, you take your shot, for good or for ill. Maybe you got what it takes to be one of the lucky success stories, maybe not. Sometimes discipline and following the program to the letter does not get you the results you want--sometimes your body is just an a**hole and doesn't care how hard you are trying. However as Wayne Gretzky said, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." This is your body, your future, and only your decision. As long as you go into this with eyes wide open, you'll do fine.

I may be misunderstanding but I find it interesting that many of you (I think ) are assuming I started this thread because I was eating crap. Interesting. .. actually I ate one slice of Turkey, about a tbls each of stuffing and mashed potatoes and a few green beens. I was really good and still got all the comments and scrutiny. Oh yeah... I did have a little piece of dark chocolate too. So what? I'm a big girl, aren't I? I only got fed up and said something because this has been going on for weeks and I was sick of it. I tried talking to my family about it nicely and it didn't work, so BAM! now they get it. I don't mind honest curiosity and questions about my diet but I don't need to be policed.

So yesterday I had to leave work early because I almost blacked out. I felt weak, faint, a little dizzy, and just plain bad. I was so afraid of going back to the hospital that I left work early and just went home to lay down. This happened after lunch and I thought it was the Soup I ate (maybe it had too much fat or oil or something) anyway I go to work today and after I came back from break I started to have the same symptoms again! I was freaking out thinking this was way serious and ended up calling on of the surgeons on call. The guy I spoke with wasn't my surgeon but I gave him a run down of everything and he said since I didn't have a fever, abdominal pain, or diarrhea it was nothing to come to the ER for. He then suggested that because this has been happening after I ate at work and then resumed standing up(for the rest of my shift) he said either my blood sugar is very low or you may be dehydrated(But he ruled out dehydration because I had gotten in all my fluids). He suggested I drink a couple of ounces of apple juice which I promptly did and I felt a little better but the symptoms returned! I drank a little more and low and behold, my symptoms were gone and I felt good as new! I really hated this happening at work though, because my boss(the assistant manager, anyway) wanted to know my business(Only my manager knew I was out for surgery). She then commented on my weight loss and asked me if I had gastric bypass! Luckily someone else was there in the room and immediately shut them down. (It's none of their business, the point was I don't feel well and I wanted to call my doctor). I was thankful for the other woman thinking it would be completely ridiculous(Word at my job spreads like wildfire, they thrive on rumors). I then gave some BS VAGUE story about my esophagus and how I can only eat certain things so as not to irritate it. After about an hour and a half I was able to resume my work shift! I have never in my life had issues with my blood sugar. I wasn't even "pre-diabetic" pre-op. So just be careful fellow sleevers!

First off let me say that it depends on the insurance company as far as what their requirements and guidelines are as far as approval. I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF! i have BC/BS of NewJersey and once i had my consultation with the surgeon they gave me a print out of the requirements. when i got everything together it went to the surgeons office first and they submitted it to the insurance company. i had to have : 5yr history w/ Dr. (just height & weight) 6months w/ Nutrionist Approval letter from PCP Psych eval it can be a mess, make sure you get the names and dates of who you talk to because it seem like someone is not on the same page. you also want to make sure that you do what ever the insurance company wants or they may not approve you :cursing:, UGHHH ! i hated that part. hang in there and don't give up it's worth it !

Just changing what you eat and how much you eat will help you lose weight even if you can't start exercising. But you have to want it! I'm the first to say that if it's a hug you need that's not me but if it's get off your couch motivation you want that I can give you. They need you to lose weight for a couple reasons, one reason is to see how serious you are and two because if you don't start changing the way you eat now you are in for a rude awakening because the band alone will not get you to goal you have to do your part by exercising and eating healthy and being carefull about slider foods. Foods like cookies, chips, ice cream will just slide through no matter how tight your band is and that will sabotage your weight loss. I went on my pre op diet at 374 lbs and lost 30 lbs in 3 weeks, went into surgery at 344 lbs, almost 4 months out and I am at 293. My husband is doing it without surgery and started the same time as me and has lost at least 50 lbs ,not exactly sure because our scale only goes to 500 and he didn't register the first month. He started out walking half a mile a day and now he can do a mile, mile and a half. So to get to my point you just have to get fed up with watching life pass you by and truly force yourself to make out an exercise schedule and stick with it. Good luck and feel free to send me a messege anytime.

i totally and completely understand your fears, smammas!!! my doc also prescribed me an appetite suppresant. are you getting your band back, or do you have any info. on that yet? yes, the reflux goes away immediately. mine actually went away when he unfilled me. i needed to have the band removed bc my stomach swelling didn't go down and he said i was at risk for other issues if they didn't take it out. but after 90 days of healing, we can discuss putting it back! today was my first day eating solids in 2 weeks! i had cerearl this morning and one small bowl, just like with the band, was enough!!! so, so far so good!!! :thumbs_up: thanks for your thoughts! take care of YOURSELF, dianne!!! thank you so much for your thoughts! :frown: myself, i have lost over 90 lbs. but to reach MY goal, i need to lose over 50 more... to reach my "ideal" weight, i need to lose 80 more. sooooooooooooooooooo, i have a long journey still in front of me. good news: it's not as long as it was 2 years, and 93 lbs. ago!!!!

I have been reading this new book called the Stubborn Fat Fix. It discusses all kinds of foods and how they affect your body. For example, think about the meat you eat- the animals were fed antibiotics that cause them to gain weight and it gets passed to us. So I am trying to make sure the meat I eat is antibiotic and hormone free. I think the ONLY way to know for sure is making it yourself. The lost goes on about so many foods.... I will post more later ...food for thought

No worries, this won't be a full recap of my life. I just feel that my story is one that should be shared because of how the band changed my life and then unfortunately had to be removed 4 years later. Before I jump into the story I will say that if you are feeling ANY unusual pain - not necessarily in your port area or stomach - see your surgeon. We have a foreign object in our bodies and it's not unusual for our bodies to try and reject it... Before the band: I've been overweight my entire life. Like many others I couldn't latch onto the right tools to lose that unwanted weight. My level of discipline is something that I continuously struggle to build up - especially when it comes to food. I was an anxious kid who turned to food in times when I needed comfort or was under stress. Although I was always active - playing multiple sports throughout life - I couldn't seem to maintain a healthy weight. My junior year of college was spent abroad in Italy. It was there that I gained a new confidence in myself and my abilities. I've always been an outgoing and confident person but it took experiencing another culture to make me feel like I had the control to make a change in myself. When I got home I went to the initial lap band seminar to get an overview. From there on it was a whirlwind of appointments and all that pre-op stuff we all had to go through. Four months after that seminar I was in for surgery - November 2009. At the time I was one of the youngest to get the band - only 21 years old. Life with the band: It felt like the weight was melting off of my body. I barely worked out the first year with the band and had lost the first 40 pounds with almost no physical effort. I changed the way I was eating, that's for sure. The band did its job - it restricted how much I could eat, how quickly I was eating and just made me more conscious of the choices I made. I noticed that every time I was getting a fill, I could barely eat for the following days. Looking back, I don't think that's the right way to do it but in my mind I was thinking, "great, here's an easy 3-4 pounds gone." I became a better me. As the weight fell off, I became even more confident in all areas of my life. I had my first serious relationship, I was fiercely going after my career goals and just felt happier and healthier of course. It became harder to lose weight as I got closer to my goal weight (which by the way, I'm still not quite there). I added in exercise and it helped me shed more pounds. As of summer 2010 (year and a half post-surgery), I wasn't able to get anymore fills. I had a fill where almost immediately after the solution was injected I started to feel back pain. They sent me home anyway and told me to come back if it worsened. Oh boy did it ever... it turned into radiating pain throughout my entire body. My jaw, neck, legs, everything. I couldn't even drink water. So, they took the last fill out and I returned to normal state. They couldn't really explain why the pain was occurring other than maybe my band was at its max capacity at 10cc's. So needless to say after that experience, I stayed away for a year. I didn't want to go through that pain and felt that my band was telling me that it has done its job and now its my turn. After a year of unsuccessful weight loss, I went back for another fill but had the same experience. The doctor took even more solution out this time just to see how my body would react. It was around summer of 2012 when this back pain really began. It was the same pain I was feeling when I had the fills that needed to be removed. It's pain that starts in the mid to upper back and then radiates throughout my lower back and through my sides...almost always coinciding with nausea and after I ate something. In the back of my mind, I knew it had to be from my band. I was only 24 years old and shouldn't be feeling that kind of pain. But of course, like many of us do, I dealt with the pain for months hoping it would go away. I altered my desk and computer at work thinking it was my posture. I tried changing how I was sleeping. And by this point, I was on a serious workout regiment - a lot of weight lifting and hard cardio so I thought it could be from that. The turning point: During Fall and winter of 2012 I had back pain every single day. Some days it was so debilitating that I'd have to leave work. The only remedies were laying down on my back and wait for the pain to subside or occasionally ib profeun. The pain and frustration brought me to tears. It was affecting my life at work and my social life (not fun having an episode while you're out to dinner with friends). So in April 2013 I decided it was time to just make a call to my primary care doctor. I needed to start somewhere. I was in the middle of an "attack" at work and walked outside to call my doctor because I was so fed up. They couldn't see me that day so they sent me to the night clinic the next day. I explained my situation and also happened to mention that many of the women in my family have had their gallbladders removed. While he didn't seem to think it was my gallbladder (because of my young age) he decided to "rule it out" by scheduling an ultrasound for me the following day. I had the ultrasound. The tech was awfully quiet and wouldn't share my results with me. They had me wait as the results were sent to the referring physician. Then, they told me the doctor was on the phone and needed to speak with me. "You have huge stones!" he said. "And we need to remove your gallbladder immediately." I couldn't believe it. At that moment, I was relieved that I knew something was wrong and that I followed through to find the solution but I was scared too. So I thought that the gallstones were the cause of all my pain. But then, I scheduled a pre-op consult with my bariatric surgeon so he could perform the gallbladder surgery. He wanted to remove my gallbladder the next day. "No problem, see ya then" type of conversation. But before he walked out of the room he happened to ask how my band was doing and I said, "eh." I told him my suspicions for the cause of back pain were initially due to the band. Because of that he insisted that while I was there they should just see how much fluid is in the band. Thank goodness he did! What went wrong: The doctor pulled out brown fluid from my band. "Hmmm..." he said. He tried again just to be sure he made it into the port and didn't collect fluid from stomach cavity instead. I've never seen him lost for words or for explanation. He sat down and stared at the brown fluid and said he had never seen anything like it. The brown fluid suggested that there may be an infection somewhere but that would mean that somehow there was a puncture in the band itself and therefore stomach fluid was leaking inside the band creating a bacteria. He sent the fluid for culture testing immediately and shipped me down to radiology for a CT scan so he could see a full picture of the band. Hours later, he came in the room and said that the band looked unharmed. Therefore, he had no idea what was causing the bad fluid. We discussed taking the band out. And since I felt like it wasn't working for me anymore anyway, he was most comfortable with taking the whole thing out. Back in the OR: So 10 days from my first call to my primary care, I was back in the OR. And not only was my gallbladder being removed, we were also taking out my band in the same surgery. I was scared of course but also praying for pain relief. And it was unnerving that the doctor wasn't even sure what he was going to find when he got in there. When I came to, I was in the exact same recovery room that I was in just 4 years ago! Itching like crazy again because apparently I'm allergic to morphine and a little more uncomfortable than when I got my band in. The doctor came to explain what he found and how he removed the band. Gallbladder was no issue, he removed it and moved onto the band. He found that the band part that is wrapped around the stomach (the part that restricts your intake), had eroded into my stomach lining. The CT scan didn't show him this part of my body so he was surprised to find this. In his thousands of patients, I was the first he had seen this happen to. There was no research to back up his findings. We're still not sure how this happened or why. Even better, the way he took the band out... he cut it into pieces and then removed it through my mouth. Yuck! Needless to say, the recovery process was more difficult because of the two surgeries and complications with removing the band. They had me there for almost 2 full days because of all the follow-up tests they needed to provide to be sure my esophagus and stomach weren't leaking. Another CT scan, a barium swallow a JP drain and 2 days of itching from pain meds later...they let me go home. Life after the band: I can't believe it's no longer part of me. For so long I felt like it was my safety blanket. I'm disappointed that it didn't get me further and that it caused me so much pain. The gallstones were just a coincidental find that led to finding the real issue with my band. I'm almost 4 months out from surgery and have adjusted fine to life without a band. It's what I learned while I had the band that is making me maintain weight. My discipline is stronger than it's ever been but needs to be even stronger when it comes to nutrition. The back pain has subsided and I no longer anticipate feeling like that on a daily basis. I'm still working toward my goal weight and almost there! Moral of the story: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! I waited too long to see my doctor about the pain. I suffered for months and months because part of me didn't want to know the truth. I was scared that it was the band's fault because the band had given me so much and I didn't want to believe it. So if you're feeling any unusual pain, anywhere, just talk to your doctor. And tell them everything. If I hadn't mentioned family history of gallstones then I might never have had the ultrasound and therefore never have gone back to bariatric surgeon when I did.

Thanks, I just tried Source Organic Whey protein ( I ordered it online, it is produced in northern CA from pasture fed cow milk organic and non GMO) which I liked, it tastes like milk when mixed with Water, I added peaches and vanilla in the blender and was pleased. Will continue to investigate.

I have BC/BS and they told me they don't cover it, but true results knew what to say, and got it done. BMI had to be at a certain level and all that though.

Welcome! Your story is very much like mine--except the BC--I spent my 20's and 30's in a bikini on the shores of So Cal and age, bad habits, and a removed thyroid have landed me into sleeve land. My surgery is 6/30/15, so you're ahead of me, but within a few months we will be about the same place. Keep reading these posts! They'll help a lot with the pre-surgery questions.

That's funny bc every day at dinner now I say to husband, do you want the rest of my plate, I can't finish it. Its a good feeling.

I'm an April surgery (2005). I puked a lot my first year. Mostly bc I was drinking too much after eating as I was parched. It could definitely be bc you're eating too quickly or too much too quickly. This isn't to say you're eating too much (especially if it's protein) it just may be too much at one sitting. I still need 2 or more sittings for a meal.

My story is similar to yours. My surgeon is very conservative too. I lost 100% ewl before complications after kids. Had my band out and asked my surgeon which would be better for me after band and he said I should do sleeve. Hope he is right bc doing surgery in June! Maybe get another option? I had heard the same things as you about sleeve being less successful but there are plenty of successful revisions on this board. What complications did you have?

Your Dr is a very smart man!!! Wish mine was. I remember being banded only a year... my weight stalled and creeping ever so upward even then. I'm lying on the exam table looking up at the ceiling. Getting ready for my umpteenth fill... wondering WTH I'm gonna find that ever elusive "sweet spot". Well, I'd recently then only heard about the VSG, and said to my Dr... "Hey, I just heard about this WLS called the VSG" His reply? "That is total BS" Silence. Well here I am two years later with my BS -- but guess what? I'm losing and I'm losing really good too! I'm loving my sleeved life. Better than the band? Oh... the Band doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the sleeve. Read all you can! We are here to help! You have already gotten super information from other posters before me. Just be prepared for a rollercoaster ride... while you are in it it has it's ups and downs, but when you get off the ride - you think... SWEET!!!!!!! A great majority here loves their sleeve. More than anywhere I've ever read regarding other procedures. The Sleeve ROCKS!!!!!!