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After a stall at about 143 I'm finally at my personal goal weight in 19 weeks post-op. It looks like I'm having no trouble keeping my Kcal down so I expect to go lower. I know I'd never have accomplished this without the sleeve! My surgery is a secret so I cannot post photos but believe me.....it's amazing! What kinda of fitness goals do people set? It's nice to be working on something. I have no: fatigue, reflux or complications. My only compliant is hair loss which obviously is considered normal.

Band broke after 10 years went from 12stone to 16stone had op cant lose weight 16.3 spent £6000 feel a failure had abroad need help support wish got another band gutted Heather from Scotland op in latvia too expensive here Sent from my SM-G960F using BariatricPal mobile app

I have a BMI just over 29 and am getting sleeved in Mexico on January 11th. Like others, I'm not morbidly obese, but if I don't do something soon, in 5 or 10 years I'm sure I will be.

I would not get frustrated. Give your body time to adjust. I was banded in jan 08 and have lost 60 lbs, I walk 2x /day gym 3-4 x week. I had weight loss every month but this last one, month 8. So I got another fill, got another coming up next week, lost only 2lbs this month. very slow the further you get down the road. It seemed as if I hit a plateu about every 10-15 lbs for a week or so. We had a support mtg on this topic, advise was to use the FITT technique. Change only one of these to break that plateau (Frequency, Intensity, Type or Time). I may only lose 1 lb per week, but my body is changing still every day it seems, everything fits differently each time I get dressed. It is wonderful. The inside stuff has to change as well. So it all has to catch up together as well. Learn to use the band to your advantage and don't work around it. The tighter you can tolerate the better, Hey that is what I signed up for. If I put in too much food, it should punish me, I have to learn to do the right thing , to make "good food choices". If we don't we will end up dissatisfied or worse ,where we were to began. This is a lifetime journey. relax and try to enjoy. I was banded in Pinehurst NC. Whoo hoo! No regrets!! Keep up the good work and don't be hard on your self. Marsha:thumbup:

I'm new too and felt exactly like you before my surgery on Dec 3rd. I now understand already what people are talking about! My appetite is just not there anymore which feels like such a blessing and that is how I am able to be on an all liquid diet for the last 10 days without cheating or any cravings. It is actually amazing! Before surgery I was on the pre-op diet for 10 days where I had 3-4 Protein shakes and a small meal. That was so much more than I'm eating now and I was starving. I too, was never able to stick to any diet plan in the past but with the grehlin greatly reduced, my appetite is now completely manageable. Yours will be too and that, my friend is how you will be successful!

Apart from the cost of actual surgery, the cost of fills here (along w/ most other healthcare) is ridiculously cheap. A fill at the Dr. I consulted w/ is less than $10!

Ok so feeling better...I DO have a funny story about my stay.....they listed me as a regular diet....the nurse said it would be easier for me to stay on my pre-op diet thta way so I could pick and choose (fruits plus veggies etc) so my lap band buddy brought up my shakes..hospital didn't have them and I ordered off the menu for example I would order a chicken broth...extra hot water...2 crystal lights.....an apple....and a skim milk....and this would do for breakfast/snack.....well the 287lb girl only ordering like this must have put up some red flags......dietary keep sending up ensure shakes to me....I would send them back...and sure enough 10 min later the girl would be knocking on my door saying "the dietitian says you have to get something in your body or you won't heal" so i would show her my shakes in the room and tried to reassure her....no luck, they kept sending them....lol when I left there was a pile by the door!!!!

I'm so sorry you are not feeling well. The first advice that I can give you is call your doctor and go see him/her. Let them know how you are feeling. I had gastric bypass done 10 years ago and I remember that the first days were fine, but around 2 months after I couldn't even drink water. Your symptoms could be do to several possible causes. Some people just experience this normally a few months after surgery. Or it could be that the bile that was stores before in your gallbladder is working differently to help with digestion. Some people develop scar tissue around the incision from the gastric bypass surgery. It could be different things or just the body attempting to recover after two surgeries. I remember I could only drink Crystal Light for about 4 months after the surgery, as water would make me gag. I'd make an appointment with your doctor to make sure everything's working well. It's always good to check. Good luck on your road to recovery! Life will be normal again. It takes a while, but it gets better!

Hi zoey, I will be there! I'm using alighterme too and having surgery on June 19 with Lopez. Im also going by myself and have been hoping I'd find a friend to meet there. Great to meet you L

I've been banded just over 2 years and no problems other than being too tight for a few weeks and that was easily fixed by having a little Fluid taken back out. I know at least 2 other people who've had their original bands for 10 years or more and have had no major problems.

People started noticing about 20 but now at 50, my clothes are big and my face has shrunk. I measured the other night and my neck went from 19 to 15. I'm being very evasive about questions. I answer the how much weight question. And I say, "no carbs, no sugar, small portions, low calories" to the "what are you doing". None of that's untrue. I do the quick "thanks" and change the subject too.

my friends think this is so easy. have surgery, lose the weight, no work at all. the preop is so difficult for me. I too cheated 10 days out. I am hoping the fear I feel about the surgery being called off keeps me on track. I am in a panic that I will fail.

21 days on liqued diet and 8th day on clear liqued diet and i dont think i can see anymore chicken broth yuk, I dont even want to smell it ughhhh Im afraid if i skip drinking the broth it might cause a problem i have 5 more days and then i go back to semi liquieds I think i can even have a hard boiled egg and tuna. Whats even more frustrating I have only lost 5lbs since surgery 5/02/2011. I have seen some people loose 10-15 7 days post op... Should i skip the broth?

Dr. B did my LapBand 7 weeks ago. He's one of the more experienced surgeons in the business.......the clinic that I went thru for all my pre-op work referred me to him because I was 'special' (senior citizen, heart condition, etc.). I had my surgery at the hospital in Decatur (only place he works that my insurance would pay for). The nurses/anesthesiologist/staff seemed very skilled - said they did 10 LapBands every Monday morning. The whole thing was flawless......I was in at ll:00, out at 2:30. Never even had so much as a gas pain afterward. I've had haircuts that were more traumatic! (The hardest part was trying to get on the damn surgical hose!) I've had one follow-up visit; he said come back in 6 months, but he gave me instructions to call him any time I needed to. (I'm getting my fills at the clinic that did all my pre-op work).

I had a fill on Friday 3/19/10. I am pretty tight right now. I can only keep liquids down. Sometimes if I drink Water too fast it will come back up. As tight as I am right now, I know I will be on liquids for a while. I am curious. If you were ever too tight, how long did you stay on liquids before the band loosened or you went in for a slight unfill? It has taken 10 months to get to restriction and I do not want to lose it. If I can endure for a fews day, then it will be worth it to see the weight come off. Thanks for your responses in advance.

I clearly remember day 6, I was planning on calling my doctor on day 7 even though I had an appt on day 8. On day 8 I arrived at the doctors, when the support staff asked how I was I started crying, my first week was nausea, diarrhea, pain and I thought I had made a horrible mistake. After seeing the doctor and learningmy pain was normal, my nausea was going to get better I felt so much calmer and reassured. I had to crush my antidepressant pills and some other daily pills, I said the same thing you are saying. I was in the habit of taking all my pills as soon as I got out of bed, I thought it necessary to cont. to do that. So every morning my day started off adding these damn pills to shakes and running out of room. I can't quite tell if you crush pills or your mess r liquid. The best product I found to mask the flavor was carnation instant milk sugar free, it was hard to find, found at Walmart, chocolate flavor really strong. By week 3 I could swallow pills so I became happier. Also if you r doing 4 oz on day 6 this might be causing your nausea. I was doing 4 oz too, I dropped it down to 1-2 oz and felt much better, much, much better, then in a few weeks I was up to 4oz and could tolerate it. I AM SO HAPPY NOW, I am at 10 weeks, still have some nausea but I think I just need to eat slower or??? GOOD LUCK

I have been exploring vsg since march 2012. I only had 10 pounds to lose to qualify for surgery. The process of losing weight dragged on and on and on. When I finally met my goal weight last week, I canceled my weigh in appointment. Since then I have been out in the land of cards. Please don't diagnose me as I do feel crazy and afraid. What surprised me was when canceled my my weigh in, I feel a huge let down and depressed. I m in the uncomfortable feeling of wanting to lose weight but being unsure I am willing to sacrifice and discipline myself. Have I turned my back on a solution to my obesity? Now I feel like there is no way out of this dilemma. I am embarrassed to appear confused on this forum. At first I did not want to eat so much protein everyday. Then I became afraid of being a failure and only losing 50 percent of my e w l, and some of the studies report. I will struggle with not being able to drink liquids at mealtime. And yet when I visualize the scale dropping to 215, 205, 195, 185, 175, 165 I feel happy and giddy. But from what I have read on the maintenance boards, maintaining a low weight is just as difficult as trying to lose weight without w l s. Now you can see how I have talked myself into a corner at least for the time being.

My old insurance covered their removal through a dermatologist, had to do a couple visits because there was a limit on how many they could do at once. HW 493lbs 3/2/16 SW 416lbs 1/10/17 CW 411lbs

Hi, I had my surgery in august so I am about 7 months in and have only lost about 35 lbs. I lost 10 of those on the pre-op diet. I am filled at 5.2 I believe. I get sick a lot no matter what I eat. I can eat something and be fine and the next day eat the exact same thing and it gets stuck. Also, when I do get sick because i feel my food is stuck most of what comes up isn't even food its flem. Does that happen to anyone else? I haven't lost much weight in a while no matter how good I eat. I don't know what to do. Hoping everything is ok with band and that it hasn't stopped working. I know Im eating bigger portions then I should. I don't get that same full feeling I did when I first came out of surgery. Does anyone have any advice or have experienced some of the same things?

Hello All, Im new to the forum but Ive been reading and more and more im getting anxious and inspired by all the stories. I have BCBS TX and I started my journey 06/23/14 only req'mts were BMI 40 + (mine is 42.6) Psyc eval, Nutrition counseling, and EGD. All have been done my file was rcv'd by ins on 08/01/14, and as of today its in review, im a little nervous and scared of being denied. I wondering how much longer will I have to wait!?!?! My tentative surgery date is 09/26/14 but could be sooner if approval process picks up the pace. Please enlighten me with hope lol

Hello, I just want to give you all an update on how surgery went for me! Monday August 19th I was given a 6:30 arrival time, the checked me in and weighed me. Next the took me to a short stay room where they had me change, use the restroom if I needed to, wash my hands up to my elbow and get into the bed. By this time it was probably around 7:20. Just so you know I hate needles and well they poked me twice! Ones to get my morning lab done and another to put the IV in. Next they took my Vidal’s asked me questions, had me sign my last consent form that was to confirm the surgery and put my compression cuffs on my calves to keep blood circulation going and to prevent blood clots. Then here was the waiting game, by this time it was probably 7:50am. At about 8:25/30 another nurse came in and gave me a chance to use the restroom before being rolled down to the surgery prep room/recovery room, there I met my anesthesiologists, my in surgery nurse, got prepped for surgery, signed consent form for anesthesia. And then I was just waiting for my surgeon to arrive, he was late 17 minutes which I heard was normal for him by one of the nurses waiting with about 4 of us to go in to surgery. When he arrived he asked me how I was doing and I had any last questions and then was told he will see me in the operating room. The last thing i remember was my anesthesiologists giving me something to “calm” me down in my IV as i was being rolled away going into the operating room. Next thing I wake up in recovery, being asked about pain which was high for me but I remember also being really nauseous so they didn’t want to give me much pain medicine because they didn’t want me to to get more nauseous. While still in the recovery room all I remember is them changing me to a different and more comfortable gown from being in this itchy paper one I was given in the beginning. They took off all the stickers off me and rolled me to my room where my mother had already been waiting for me. I probably slept most of the day Monday. By the time I was in my room it was already 11:45am/12pm. My mom stayed with all day till about 5:30 and my sister visited me for about 2 1/2 hours and left at the same time as my mom. Which I appreciate them keeping me company even when I was knocked out (but I did feel bad) _______ Now I was told everything went well with surgery BUT once I started to wake up more during the night I did have quite a bit emotions going through my head. Like what did I just do? I want to cry. All because all I wanted to do was drink water/my liquids in normal speed (they brought me Water at around 4pm but my tray of liquids at 6 for dinner with medicine cups) but i knew I couldn’t and that i had to take sips because i didn’t want to hurt myself. I had a hard time with that! Tuesday came and I was brought my breakfast and it took me a long time to drink even one thing because I had no appetite and my mother had to remind me to drink one medicine cup every 15 minutes like I was told to by my nurse. I had a little pain but was able to get it under control. My surgeon came and checked on me at 11:45 and I asked him if having pressure in my chest when I drink normal and he said yes it is but it will go away after today or a day more. He told me surgery went well and that I even look good being as awake and aware as i was the day after surgery. He saw I was keeping my liquids down and didn’t vomit once so he requested the discharge nurse to start my discharge paperwork. Meanwhile that was happening I was seen by my dietician, even though I had the papers at home she gave me another copy but gave it to my mom since she will be taking care of my groceries, she also gave me my medical card to keep in my wallet just Incase of anything which is also a card that gives me permission to pay for half a meal half price later on if I was to go to a restaurant. I got discharged at 1:30pm and let me tell you from all the bumps and turns (the little that we did have) got me REALLY car sick that I had to close my eyes in the car and even when I got home at 2 I still had a little nausea for about an hour so I napped because I couldn’t find my little mint thing they gave me to smell when nauseous (I told my mom to put it with my stuff but I couldn’t find it unless she put it in her purse and forgot). Dinner came around and I had brought home my Protein drink from the hospital I didn’t finish at lunch and I had a hard time drinking it, i just didn’t have no appetite. Anyways that’s how surgery went! How are my AUGUST 19th 2019 surgery siblings doing? It is 3:27am Wednesday morning (wide awake as I type this in bed, was woken up by my mother checking up on me at 2:40 asking me if I have to use the restroom so she can help me out of bed since my bed is high, we checked my incisions and one of my incisions started to leak a little which I was told if it did to just put gauze or a bandaids on where it’s leaking. Got back to bed but started to have pain so I had some medicine and then decided to type this out and now here I am lol. _____ Pictures bellow are from when I was in the hospital. The two in the dark was Monday night after dinner time (they left my tray because they wanted me to work on it throughout the night when I was awake because I kept falling asleep) and the one I’m in with my tray was taken by my mother to send to family who wanted an update on me and on how I was doing on Tuesday at breakfast. 

You are pretty much assured that you will lose some muscle mass as you go through this. While we work to minimize that loss by virtue of our Protein intake and the recommended resistance exercise, that only goes so far. Consider that our legs are being stimulated/exercised by all the excess weight that we are carrying around, and they are going to atrophy some as we lose that weight - a couple hours a week doing some resistance training at the gym isn't going to compensate for that extra 100+ lb (or whatever) that we are carrying around all day, every day. I, too, set my goal based upon body composition (mid teens BF%, to be on the lean side of "normal" for guys), making adjustments to the scale weight goal as I lost and got closer to "normal". With a moderate amount of weight training along the way, I wound up losing about 10 lb of lean mass out of the 100ish total that I lost.