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This is all new to me. I am hoping by keeping this journal I will be able to stay on track. I have been banded 10 days now. Basiclly, I feel good. Usally I'm alway on the go but now I get tired very easily - have been needing naps. Incisions are 99% healed and the port area is the only place that's tender. I still get shoulder pains though. I'm able to eat now and that scares me. I am only 10 days and can eat almost normally just less of it. Does this mean soon I will eat more and more and MORE....... Today, I was at a meeting where I ate lasagna, bread and brownie. :think I feel guilty and horribe!

Actually compared to some of the deals I find on beautypedia those prices are kind of steep. I can get a 16 oz bottle of 10% AHA lotion from acne.org for $33 and the MUAC lotion is $25 for only 8 oz. But it looks like it has a lot more ingredients than just AHA and a very low pH. So perhaps I will give it a try.

Hi bandsters Thought I would start a new thread that shows what happened when you get off track with the stress in your life. For the last 6 months I have beening caring for my 85 year old mother, who died in the end of January 2011. I gained 39 lbs in that time period, by not eating the correct foods and stopping my exercise. Now I'm going to fight my way to one-erland. If any of you would like to join me please tell of your struggles which caused you to gain and then everyday we will post the positive things we are doing to get this weight off. I'm starting today using my little tony 3 times for 10 minutes each. I am also going to drink 8-8 oz glasses of Water.

Rosswife. So glad to hear I am not the only one. I am 19 days post and after every meal for about an hour and before bed and through the night I feel like I'm having a heart attack. It's awful. I am on ppi but am struggling to even eat two spoonfuls of food without incredible pain. Going to see doc tomorrow as quiet worried about this.

It will all come together. I am a little over 10 weeks out and eating regular foods. I get all my liquids in and then some. I still don't have much of an appetite so eating is sporadic and I still use Protein drinks to make sure I get all my protein in. Initially, I couldn't imagine how in the heck it was all gonna work because I could hardly drink-but it will...

I have Anthem BCBS and my approval was back within 3 days. BUT I didn't know for 8 days later... I just happen to call BCBS to find out and they said OH yeah it was approved last week!!! Can't hurt to be the squeaky wheel! As for my surgery date, well I still dont have one. I was approved on 4/1/11. I have my pre surgery consult on 5/19/11 and was told surgery will be within 2 weeks of that appt. Why won't they just give me a date? IDK....

I hate that stuff I have to take 10 oz. picked mine up today:( that stuff is nasty lol

I had the lap band on March 15th 2017. I started off weighting 205. Today i weight 185 a total weight loss of 20 pounds in 4 months. Is this normal shouldn't it be more? I have a 10 cc band and currently have 6.5 cc in it. I been working out 4 to 5 times a week and feel like I'm not losing anything for all the hard work I'm doing... Also i have PCOS and i thought this would help it but no luck yet... I'm thinking i should have got the sleeve... Any thoughts or words of encouragement. Or how's the weight loss for everyone else going at 4 months in?? Please help... Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

Im in AZ. Getting sleeved 10/26 at Banner Gateway. Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

1 mo post op (Feb 18)- 206.8 2 mo post op (March 18) - 198 3 mo post op (April 18th)- 193 4 mo post op (May 18th)- 184.2 5 mo post op (June 18th(- 178 6 mo post op (July 18th)– 174 7 mo post op (Aug 18th)- 178 - went on vacation and ate big (7 day cruise) 8 mo post op (Sept 18th)- 174 9 mo post op (Oct 18th)- 170 10 mo post op (Nov 18th) - 167 11 mo post op (Dec 18th) - 170 - haven’t even been trying 12 mo post op (Jan 18th 2008)- 174 - again, not trying. But finally refocused - exactly where I was at 6 mos post op – so basically no weight loss in the past 6 mos 13 mo post op (Feb 18th) - 183 - Ouch! started taking steroids and made my weight go up, along with not eating right and no exercise! 14 mo post op (March 18th)- 185 - grrrrr 15 mo post op (April 18th)- 180 - weight is finally going down, but inches are actually coming off faster since I've been exercising a lot. 16 mo post op (May 18th)- 178 17 mo post op (June 18th)- 175 18 mo post op (July 18th)- 179- still not focussed:sad: 19 mo post op -(Aug 18th) - 178 - focussed again - This time I am committed to getting to goal and will not stray! I do not ever want to see the 180's again! 20 mo post op (Sept. 18) - 171 -

I was banded on 4/19 and on day 2 I was supposed to start pureed food. There was no way this could happen. I was in such pain and so nauseous, I could only sip water. I then found I could eat a sugar free ice pop. That went down well. I also then searched other people's post-op instructions, on this website, and saw that a lot were instructed to follow clear liquids for 2 wks, full liquids for 2 wks, and THEN pureed foods for 2 wks. Ultimately followed by real food. Needless to say, clear liquids are working for me. The protein shakes are going down okay, too. Good luck to you!

My surgeon actually gave me a card to show when I go out. It says that I have had a surgical procedure that limits my consumption to 1/10 of an adult meal and basically ask the to reduce the price of my meal to senior or child's meal. Not sure if all restaurants will honor it. I'm two weeks out and tonight is the first night I will go out to eat. I plan to have soup but curious to see how I will do

We moved into a place owned by a friend of ours. It was located about 3 miles from any store and our friend offered to help as much as he could in keeping Steve sober. I started working a second job and after a few months of moving into this new place everything started going really well for us! Steve was sober and money was coming in, he and I were happy again. I had gotten my son into special education pre-school, he was doing great! During the time we lived with my parents I had a second miscarrage, we really wanted to have another baby especially now that our life together was looking great. I started seeing a specialist who helped me figure out why I kept losing pregnancies and what we could do to help prevent it the next time. After Steve had been sober for a year and 3 months I found out I was pregnant! Around week 10 we found out we were having twins!! Once this was determined we started working very hard at getting Steve his license back. The babies were due in Jan 2007, we were to have them by c-section in Dec of 2006. My doctors were only going to let me work until Oct of 2006. On Oct 8th 2006 Steve got his license, On Oct 10th 2006 I had my last day at work. On Oct 11th 2006 Steve started his new job! Hows that for handy work!! In Nov 2006 we had a big problem with the friend we were renting from. There were many different problems. I would tell my sister about them and eventually she offered that we move in with her until the twins were born, this way I would have some help with them when I came home from the hospital. Sounded like the best option since we didnt have much money to work with at the time. So we moved in with my sister mid Nov. Now let me explain my relationship with this sister. She and I have always had a rocky relationship, right up until her first child was born, at that point it was like we both just said "oh okay, its time to be a grown up now". We moved into my sister's within a week of living there she and I went right back to old times, we didn't get along we could hardly stand to look at each other! I don't know why and as easy as it would be to blame her for it all I just can't. Steve and I were still doing alright, he was working most of the time so i had to take care of our son alone most of the time. On Dec 20th 2006 at 7AM I gave birth to two beautiful babies! Baby "a" was a boy and baby "b" was a girl, both were healthy and perfect. I too was healthy and the three of us returned home on Dec 23rd just in time to have Christmas with the family! Steve went right back to work a week after the twins were born, So I was running this ship solo. In Jan I started noticing some money coming up unaccounted for. So if we started with $300 and ended with $50 I could only explain where $175 of it went. The rest was just.. gone! This was horrible since I was trying to save up so we could get out on our own. Steve never had an aswer for it. One time $260 came up missing, and to some people out there that may not seem like a big deal but to me at that time, that was half a pay check! And remember I had twins to care for! Steve had no real explaination at all, he said he got the money out of the bank so he could get tires for the car then when he went to get the tires the money was missing. When I was cleaning up our rooms at my sisters house one time I had found a perscription bottle of mine from when I had the twins, my doctor put me on very strong pain medication and the bottle was empty! I never took any. I asked Steve about it he said he had been taking them for a toothache. In April 2007 we moved out of my sister's and into our own home. When we first moved in Steve was still working, he would complain of headaches and or toothaches that always landed him in the doctors for pain medication. I started getting worried about it and confronting him. He assured me it wasnt a problem and then he backed off going to the doctors. I started seeing a change im Steve that I couldn't explain, he seemed less and less motivated. Often money would come up missing and I just couldnt put my finger on what was going on. In Nov 2007 he came home and said that he had gotten laid off from his job. Mind you it was highly unlikely that this was the truth and I knew that. So the next month or so he went around "looking for work" non stop. He ended up getting a job in some factory but he needed boots and special clothes and all of this was expensive so his mother said she would give him the money for it. He got the money from her but never made it to work there. Also never bought the items he needed. A woman moved in next door to us who was a single mom and she had a son who was the same age as my oldest so we got pretty involved with her. She seemed like a nice enough lady. Steve got a job working for the school district, cleaning. I slowly noticed that the woman next door seemed to be getting too close for comfort. One day while Steve was at work and I was home alone with my neice and my 3 kids, two complete strangers came to my door. It was two ladys who lived near by and they each had kids that would play with my kids sometimes. They asked if I would step outside with them for a minute. I did, the one lady said she was so sorry to be the one to tell me about this but if it were her husband she would want to know. After that she let it loose! She saw my husband with the lady next door sitting at a park at a picnic table holding hands and touching each others legs ect. She said she has seen him park his car down the road and then walk in her house through her back door. In not so many words my husband was cheating on me! I thanked them for coming to me with it and they left. I had a lot to deal with, alot to process! I asked my neice to sit with my kids for a few minutes and I went outside, got my bike and rode it to the school (about 2 miles away) where Steve was working. I found him and asked him about it, he said no way these people are just trying to cause problems. I didnt believe him, but I didnt have proof he was wrong either. I went back home and I decided I would just watch how things went. Over the next few months my world got turned upside down! There were times that Steve went fishing with his friend, he wouldnt come in until 4 am and the woman next door would be waiting outside for him! I confronted him about it and he said she just had a bad day and needed to talk. I told him that she needed to call her girlfriend then, not wait up for my husband. He said I was just jealous. On mother's day I woke up and was making a cup of coffee, none of the kids were awake yet. Steve came to the kitchen and said we needed to talk. I told him to go ahead, he said he didnt love me anymore and wanted to change things. I didnt believe in divorce! I found it hard to believe that this would be how it would end... after all I have done so far for him, for my children?! No, we will seek help. After he and I talked he went to his sister's house to see his mom and his father stopped by the house to see me. Dad and I talked a while and he just told me that no matter what Steve says, he still loves me and not to give up on our marriage. He encouraged me that I had come so far with Steve and all of his problems, if I could get through his drinking with him I could get through this too! When he returned I sat him down and just eplained to him that I understood his feelings but if they were the way that they were because of another woman then maybe he needed to remove himself from that situation so that he could think more clearly. He agreed, he was going to stay awaay from this woman and see what happened with he and I. Roughly a month later I realized I was pregnant again, within days after finding out (I did NOT tell Steve) Steve and I were having a rough day, someone had come to me and said they had seen him with her recently so I confronted him about it and it blew up into this big fight. During the arguement I began spotting, and yet another miscarriage! I told him I was having a miscarriage and I just couldnt handle him yelling at me or us fighting, I wanted to talk to him like a civilized human being! He asked me to give him a minute and he went outside. I thought, Oh good, let him cool down and then maybe I can make him see all the efforts I have put forth and how stupid it would be to throw that all away! I waited, and waited, and waited some more. An hour had gone by and still he hadnt returned! Two hours... nothing! Somewhere around hour number 5 he finally called and said he was fishing with a friend, which I knew wasnt true because that friend had just called for him. I told him this and I also told him his son was asking for him, I told him I would drive to this park that was down the road from our home and I would wait there 25 minutes for him, if he showed up I knew he wanted to work on our marriage and our family.. if he didnt I would know he had other intentions and if that be the case, he needed to go some place else to stay. I got into my car, now let me explain. I had a saturn ion, I had NO gas in this car the needle was on E! I had a 5 dollar bill in my pocket and that was all, hardly any food in the house, but if I were to go to this park and wait for him, I was going to need that $5 in my gas tank! So I went to the local gas station, a small run down place and I went inside and told her I needed $5 in gas on pump 3. She took my money and said go ahead. I went outside and I put the nozzle in my car and began pumping... I was lost in thought, I didnt want to be late if he were to show up and I wasnt there I would just die inside! I then snapped back to the here and now to realize I had been pumping gas for a while now! I looked and it was just over $10! So I went inside and told the cashier I did not have anything but $5, she said not to worry it was her mistake. I promised to have the money to her tomorrow. I left the store and went right to the park and there I sat, I waited, and waited. I think I was there for about 45 minutes and no Steve. My heart sank to my feet as I drove home. I was home for around 2 hours when I started to become annoyed and restless, I got up and went to my car, I am unsure what my intentions were. As I reached my car I saw the woman next door come home and Steve was not with her. I got into my car and backed up I got onto the road and saw him walking towards the house. At this point there was no doubt in my mind that he was in fact with her the whole time! I was so angry!! I floored it, gas all the way to the floor! I got up to around 30 MPH and was within feet of hitting him when I slammed on my brakes! I threw the car into reverse and I backed into my driveway. I got out of my car and yelled to him that he'd better see if he can stay at his tramp's house! He laughed and said he would be staying at home and there was nothing I could do about it. I knew he was right, but I was not about to admit to it. I said to him "how dare you leave me after I tell you Im miscarrying YOUR child! you leave for hours at a time! No worries at all about me or your children. Just to go tie one on with the tramp next door. She doesn't want you! She doesn't even know you! Does she know about your drinking problem? Your drug problem?" The woman from next door jumpped in at this point she said "I am no tramp, I will have you know!" then she turned to Steve and asked him about me being pregnant and he said that he hadnt slept with me for months, which was a lie (obviously) but then I began to wonder why he would defend him sleeping with his wife to the neighbor? It was then I had made up my mind, if he did come home he would be on the couch for the rest of his life. At that point I could have cared less if he were to return to me, I was so heartbroken and depressed there was nothing he could ever do to fix this. I realized it was important for me to be civil and act like an adult for our children. My oldest son being autistic, he needs structure. The twins were so young still they too needed for things to be stable. I went in the house and got a pillow and blanket, put it on the couch for him then I went to bed. In the weeks to pass I slowly came to realize the one thing i needed to focus on were to get Steve sober and clean, it was more of a challenge now since his girlfriend fed him both drugs and drinks! But I needed him to be something like a father to my children, I needed him to be clean for them. This was my goal from this point on, I laid out a plan to get him clean and the two of us could just carry on with our lives, living under the same roof but not tied to each other. This would allow my children to still have mom and dad. I didnt care if I ever remarried or got with another man, at this point the one man I trusted with my everything has done nothing but destroy me! Who wants another?! That being said, I did just that. I took all of his prescription medications and offered to hand feed them to him. This is when I realized he had been taking over 50 pills a day, of various different pain meds! It was a wonder I hadnt found him dead yet. There was a point when he admited to snorting the pills. He said that he would get pills from the woman next door as well. Then I found out he was stealing pain patched from his brother in-law and pills from my mom. All together somewhere around 47 a day that he stole, was perscribed himself, or he would buy! At one point I was giving him all of his pill sin the morning, like if the max a day was 6 pills I would give him all 6 at 7 am and no more until the following day. I hid the bottles, he always seemed to find them and eventually I got sick of him cheating at the plan so I flushed the pills! He got so mad that he busted the bathroom door in! He called his mom to take him to a detox center, I refused to entertain the idea of a detox center that fed him pills to help him get off from pills! Seemed a waste of time to me. But his mom came running, she helped him pack his things and then she took him to the detox. Two days later he was home again with a whole new bottle of pills! I started to realize there was a good chance I wouldnt be able to actually help Steve clean up his act, but at the very least I could try and make a home for my kids. I had gotten a call from my landlord telling me I was 3 months behind on my rent and that he was willing to work with me but for only so long. It was time for me to get a job! I began working for a retail company, a few months later I got a job also with an insurance company and a few months after that I started also working for a medical center! I was working from 7 am to sometimes as late as 12 am no less than 6 days a week. I got our money situation back on track! Eventually I got a job offer at a fuel company that was less than 10 miles from my house so I took it. I left all three of my other jobs because the money I was making at the fuel company was good enough as long as I could put in the hours. Steve always slept on the couch, the neighbor girl had moved (without him) and their relationship had come to an end. He tried to patch up things with me but there was just no way I could trust him again. During all of this I had found out so much about his drug abuse, he had spent so much of our money on pills and cocaine and God only knows what other drugs! He slept on the couch and looked after the kids while I worked. I started talking with someone from the church about the way the church veiws divorce and weather I was in the right for wanting one. I started feeling this was the route to take when my father in-law (a man I felt very deeply for!) became very ill and eventually died. I became worried about Steve's mental well being if I were to bring to him the idea of a divorce. So I continued helping him build himself up, keep clean and sober. Roughly a year after my father in-law passed away, in August of 2009 a friend of mine was in a car accident and I was very worried about her. I was trying to tell Steve about it when he cut me off to tell me about a movie he got. I was devistated that he cared so little about me that he couldnt even pretend to listen to me when I was obviously upset. This was my wake up point, when I realized it was over, the battle no longer needed to be fought! I wanted a divorce.

I am almost 10 months out and I could snack/eat all day. I notice at night I could eat more. I tend to pick slider foods. I fluctuate between 132-134. If I ever go over, I'll do a protein day. I will never risk gaining back the weight. I would have to try really hard to gain weight...eat frequently and make poor choices consistently. I will always be a food addict and I still crave the same foods, but I can only eat them in small portions. Congratulations on your weight loss. You rock.

OH thanks for that... i dont see my surgeon till next week. you know... getting hungry and bored..lol so tomorrow i will head to the gym that will help. yeah i had some goldfish like 10 slow to mush and it made me feel full. i'm so thirsty for water i was always used to gulping and its so different now. lol so drink more, think less and do more... lol

I was banded... 10/31/2006.

Happens on Youtube too. They lose their weight and then disappear. A FEW people stick around to try and pay back the support they got when they were new. There are a couple of channels (Back to basics, ProofWLS works) but for the most part, a lot of people that I was following in 2009/10/11 have stopped updating.

I went through gastric bypass surgery with my daughter 3 years ago. She lost 100 lbs. the first yr. and wears a size 10 (down from a 24) and looks wonderful. She still has trouble keeping some foods down. Can't eat mashed potatoes at all. She cried for 2 weeks after her surgery....so depressed at the big change in eating. I'm convinced a lot of it was because she simply loved food (whereas I just eat to get full) and she knew it was permanent. I think with the band you always know there are choices and adjustments that can be made. I hope I'm not as depressed as my daughter was. I have no idea what to expect. Hope the seminar fills me in, but they are only going to tell me the good things. I want to know real life experiences.

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings" So, I think I'll write a song about this struggle and drama and love/hate relationship with food and my experiences with being obese....errr, I'm FAT...then I'll sing it and it'll be OVER. Ha ha ha... well, maybe not. Maybe I'll change the saying to "It ain't over till the fat lady sleeves!" There are so many things I can't do, or choose not to do because of my weight. It's like a prison in ways (weighs)..and self-imposed sometimes, other times because of things I can't control. Some things are just literally impossible to do. Like running, fitting into a roller coaster seat, etc. Other things I won't do because it embarrasses me to do it or I'm afraid of being judged (wearing shorts, having my picture taken) Silly and sad and vain at times, but true. Singing is one of those things in my life that people say I should do more of. Why don't I? It's because of my weight. I absolutely LOVE to sing, and I believe I'm pretty good at it. My husband even bought me a guitar last Christmas and I attempted to learn to play it three or four times till it made me cry trying to hold it and play it with nearly no lap and a belly that looks like I'm about 7 months pregnant. Then, of course, I feel guilty because it looks like I didn't totally adore him for buying it for me - he loves me to sing. Of course, being overweight doesn't prevent me from singing, physically speaking, other than I seem to have more limits on my lung capacity. There is, however, the lack of energy, and being depressed about being unable to lose weight without WLS and be healthy and realizing how it affects my family and my goals and our future... all add up to mean I don't feel much like singing these days. I admit the way I look affects my self acceptance and esteem. What's there to sing about? Yeah, and the occasional pity party. So, WLS is my "swan song"...lol. I'm gonna be the fat lady singing that my losing battle with FAT is OVER. I'm gonna use this WLS tool to kick the BUTT of obesity in my life! And, this got me to thinking about all those "little things" and "big things" I will be so very happy to do again, or things that will be different (in a good way), whether it's because of the physical limits, or because I choose not to because of my weight and size and my feelings of guilt and frustration for not keeping myself healthy and fit. So, the parts of my life or things that will change or improve when I am at my healthy goal weight --- (from 295 to 150-ish) Energy - Hugs - Clothing - Shoes - Less pain - Marriage - Travel - Sleep - Pictures - Singing - Swelling - Exercise - Activities - Social life - Family get-togethers - Summertime - well, here's some detail...in no particular order and by no means complete: 1. I can walk into a "normal people" department store and find a cute dress that fits me. How happy I will feel... because I will always remember what it was like before, at 300 lbs.... (No more crying in the dressing room, I have to get a bigger size? good grief, how hard it is to move around just to change clothes because I'm sweating and it's a small space and the mirror is mean to me.) 2. I can wear cute shoes. I can wear strappy sandals. I can wear heels. I can put shoes on without holding my breath. (No more "supportive" shoes for plantar faciitis-hopefully, so no more heel pain and knee pain, hip pain that presently prevent the heels and cute shoes I want to wear) 3. I can sleep.. fall asleep for a nap anywhere... spend the night anywhere. Sleep will be good. (No more CPAP needed. Sleep Apnea cured.) 4. Climb stairs, walk fast, walk all day shopping (No more getting totally out of breath to the point I black out or wheezing like I am dying) 5. Fit in things/seats.... - be it plane, train, roller coaster... or restaurant booth, movie theater, desk chair, swing, stadium seat. (No more fear of breaking a chair, not fitting and being told I'm too heavy, no more pain in chairs that are not big enough for me, no fear of the terribly judgmental looks from passengers on a plane or train as they see me get on - hoping I'm not sitting next to them...uugghh) 6. ENERGY ... Oh my, that one applies to so many areas - or every area of life. 7. Sex ... I'll leave the details unsaid - but this is a priority. It's gonna be better than my present weight allows it to be. 8. Mom & Grandmother things - My grown children are close to marrying age and in serious relationships which means upcoming weddings and not too many years till they'll be having kids, too. The thought of being healthy, energetic and active for the future is great motivation here too. 9. Long life - My husband and I have been married three years this July. It's not our first go-around, and we have a LOT of things to enjoy as we grow together and we want a long, enjoyable future - not one filled with pain, health problems and limitations. 10. I'll SING - I have committed to pursue this talent in a way that will be personally fulfilling and hopefully inspirational. It's not that I can't sing now, while I'm overweight... but I feel as though losing my excess weight will be like a curtain lifting to reveal the "me" I've been all along, but finally I admitted needing help to find again. So many more... but for now, that's what I'll remind myself of today. This is why the surgery will be worth it. The pain, the challenge, the new habits, the struggles, the day to day choices, the realization and commitment to the lifestyle changes, and the milestones that may come slowly. Flutterby (it's gotta be what butterflies were really called first... there it goes, fluttering by) and I'm coming out of this cocoon too... soon!

Hey Everyone, I'm new to the forum and my sleeve surgery is scheduled for the first week in April. I was hoping to get some advice on what your post op hospital stay was like? The hospital I am going to is about an hour away from home so we wont be able to come back and forth. My husband is going to stay with me the whole time. What advice do you have on what to pack for me and him? How long did you stay at the hospital? Did you have visitors? Anybody have a longer ride home? Just trying to get some ideas since we will be farther away. Thank you! This forum has already given me such great ideas and advice to help calm some of my nerves. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using BariatricPal mobile app