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I too am able to eat anything, it is really affecting my weight loss. I am getting discouraged. I know the surgery is a tool, but I have not made strides much at all in the right direction. But I don't feel much restriction at all!

Ok, so he probably needed to. I'll be two weeks post surgery Wednesday. Since I've been home I have weighed twice a day. I'd have a little loss in the morning, then weigh more than before in the afternoon. Of course, naturally I'd get upset. I haven't had a lot of weight loss since the surgery, so it's already disheartening. Then to see the scale jump 4 pounds and all you've done is drink water and eat one cup of yogurt hurts. So I guess he did the right thing. Once a week will suffice.

i can totally relate...i'm in a 12...probably could get in2 a 10/11...but i'm not at goal...i have been at 179 pounds for close to 3 weeks now...i had a awesome ride with my band...when i look at myself i'm all :thumbup:....when i look at the scale i'm :ohmy:...i posted a thread once asking if people think u lose more inches...not pounds ...inches when u have weight loss surgery vs. conventinal diets and everyone jumped down my throat...telling me a pound is a pound...when again i said inches...what do u think????????????

Hi i have been having pcos for about 20 years. So i have struggled for that long its been so hard.im hoping having lapband will help . I m hoping to be able to have control of access hair and ovary pain its so nice to know other women with same problem.. good luck to yall

Hello All, I was banded last Mondy and I have been recooping all week and doing pretty well. I go back to my Doctor for a follow up on Monday, June 30. I have dropped about 12 lbs so far since I started. I am hoping to have a nice steady and healthy weight loss. Just wanted to say hello--Thanks, Disney

I had to have an ekg, lab work, psych consult, sleep study, and nutrition classes. And in south Jersey, the doctor and hosp. have a program called new beginnings, and we have to join the program prior to paperwork being submitted to the ins. co. If your insurance requires a 3-6mon diet, this program will assist you with that and report back to ins. co how you are doing. It also provides support groups for you as well. I enjoy the program very much. I have completed all but one class, which I take on Sat. and then my file will be sent to the ins. co. I also needed to get a history of previous attempts at wt loss in the last 5yrs. Hopefully, I will know something by Dec. I would love to get it done in Jan. My highest wt was 260, I am currently 235.4. When I met the surgeon I was 247 and he req. me to lose 10lbs. I have met that goal. I am 5'4. Bmi is around 40.? I would love to be around 150. So, hopefully all works out well.

Hey loser, nice to see someone else similar to me. I have a 14cc band, currently at 9 and this fill was the first time I felt restriction. I am down 40, but I too have taken it slow because of my fear of PBing/vomiting. I have only had the "stuck" feeling once (on my last fill) because I was eating too fast. I have never gotten sick, but as you said, progress is slow but I am okay with that. I am hoping my next fill in 2 weeks will be a sweet spot for me and I will start to see some weight loss again. Good luck to everyone!

I had my surgury on 3/16 which I think puts us at similar dates? I lost 9 lbs the first week and only maybe 1 or 2 since then. I feel the same way you do about the weigt loss--frustrated. I don't have any advice but just wanted to let you know that I'm in the same boat.

The weigh loss sounds about normal, men loose more then women , good luck and keep in touch

so i'm officially 3 weeks post-op! i feel so much better, i've already lost 24lbs! yay! it's so exciting! what i'd like to know is how many of you are super strict with the low carbs? i have drasticly reduced my carbs, but i still go over the 30g recomended. right now i'm still eating mushy/soft foods....but in the future i'd like to be able to have apples, vegetables, maybe a cracker or two with my tofu egg salad. will i sabotage my weight loss if i keep a low calorie count with a slightly elevated carb (maybe 40-60g/day) intake?

It will slow down. I'm not sure what you weighed at surgery or what you weigh now, on my phone so I'm not sure if your goal is realistic or not. But a lot of people end up plateauing sometime during the first six weeks due to healing. I plateaued weeks 2-5, my weight loss average right now is like 1 lb per week. I've increased my activity so once my body gets used to it, I hope it will pick up. But realistically the average persons weight loss is 1-2 lb per week. If you think about it sometimes slower is better because it can give your skin time to adjust

Hey everyone, it has been ages since I have been on here! I haven't been on here since I lost my Lap-Band. I'm at my highest weight EVER! Ever since I had my son a year ago, I've been thinking STRONGLY about Gastric Bypass surgery. I was too scared to move forward and make an appointment to see my surgeon. These bigger weight loss surgeries scare me so much, but I feel it will be a great decision for me because it will be permanent for one. I'm so sick of yo-yoing. I want to be healthy, unfortunately I just need the tool to help me. I'm so scared due to the fact that my organs will be cut and rearranged. I fear dying on that operating table. I fear dying sometime after surgery (eventhough I know I can just drop dead anytime). I will forever know that my organs aren't the same as the person next to me. (I know it's not important. My mind is weird lol) I'm just so nervous and scare and I havent even made an appointment yet. I guess I just want some positive feedback and support.

In addition to the issues of basic healing time, the prospect of transfer addiction, and "cheap drunk" tolerance changes the other biggie that tickles some docs more than others is liver health - as WLS patients, our livers usually aren't in the best of shape due to our obesity (hence the number of surgeons who put their patients through those "liver shrinking" pre-op diets,) and the extra load that the liver takes in metabolizing that fat that we are burning off doesn't leave it much margin for handling the added load of metabolizing the alcohol, which after all, is a liver toxin (that's not a moral judgement, it's just biology - there are plenty of things that we consume in small quantities that are toxic in larger amounts,) My doc is a bit more anal about this than most as he also does liver transplants in his spare time and doesn't want to see his bariatric patients coming back on his transplant table. His rule (which we sign up to when signing up with him) is no alky while in the weight loss phase; after that, moderation is fine once the liver has regained the ability to do its' job (though in his view, ideally never...) Those are the issues, we are all adults, take if for what you will.

I cut mine a few weeks ago but alas, no change on the scale from that. I am losing my hair now though. I'm 13 weeks post op with a band. I have super thick hair so I'm hoping it won't be a big deal. I'm only on a daily multivitamin.

This is excellent advice! I too was too embarrassed and just didn't want to face the inches of my body. I did not start measuring until 6 weeks out too when I had a stall. But I still don't have a full pic of how many inches I truly loss. So please take measurements when you start your journey if for nothing else, a starting point.

Here is the email I sent out following my surgery to family and friends. Well I finally was released from the hospital on Sunday, Sept 14. I had some issues swallowing the liquid vicodin (way too sweet and thick). I had to wait to come home until I could swallow pills since the liquid wasn't hitting me very well. First of all I have to say that the staff at Blodgett Hospital (in Grand Rapids) on the Bariatric Floor and Dr.'s Foote and Kemmeter (from MMPC Weight Loss Specialists) were awesome!!! The staff on the 4C were amazing. They were helpful in any way they could. They were encouraging and never once made you feel like you were taking the easy way out. Requests for assistance were promptly responded to. I saw Dr. Foote and Kemmeter in the hospital as well and they were also great for support and answering questions. While Dr. Foote was my surgeon, Dr. Kemmeter ended up in the OR with him as well because of some minor issues that came up. The morning of the surgery was a little tense, but I think I was just anxious about getting shots and the full meaning of this surgery. I broke down a little bit in "pre-op" holding because the woman next to me had her blood thinner shot before I did and completely freaked out over it!! Like screaming in agony freaked out...needless to say when the nurse arrived to give me my shot, I was very nervous and broke out in tears. Needles freak me out and after having two kids, I have gotten use to shots, but after hearing her response, I was not looking forward to that particular shot. The nurse was very reassuring and informed that it was a small sting and the sting continued for a slight time after the shot. I calmed down enough and she gave me the shot. I had to stop myself from laughing too loud, because it was a piece of cake. Thankfully it didn't hurt because I had to have the shot twice a day while I was in the hospital. The anestigiolost came in and asked a few questions and then got me ready to take back to the OR about 10:05. My surgery was scheduled for 10:15. I vaguely remember giving Tim and my mom a kiss and then the trip back to OR starting. I don't know if anything else was said, but my doctor's office gives a med in the IV that causes you to "forget" what happens going into OR. I woke up in the recovery room around 4 pm. I dont remember much about that, except that it sounded like they were trying very hard wake me up. They also kept saying "everything is fine..." and I heard a few murmurings about how "she has been through a lot, but she is doing well." They took me up to my room and I talked briefly with Tim and my mom. Tim stayed for a while, but my mom had to leave to go get my kids some dinner. Tim told me a little bit about the surgery including the fact that I ended up with a "Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy" instead of a Duodenal Switch. I knew this was a possibility and I was okay with that. I took my first walk around the floor around 8:30 and then repeated it every 4 hours. The nursing staff did a great job of trying to time their vital checks so they were right before my walking time. The next morning Dr. Foote came in and explained a little bit more about what happened. It appears that I did need to have my gallbladder out. It was in bad shape and he felt that it would help with my recovery. Then they did the sleeve portion of the surgery, which involved removing a portion of my stomach. They also removed my appendix which is sometimes done in preparation for the Duodenal Switch. After removing the appendix, Dr. Foote noticed that I had something that is sometimes referred to as a "2nd appendix". It really isn't an appendix, but it needed to be removed. After doing this, he measured my intestines to make sure there was enough to perform the "switch". He was a little concerned about the intestines being too tight. While doing the measurements, he found a small mass on the outside of my upper intestine and the bottom of my stomach. At this point, I believe he called Dr. Kemmeter in to the OR for a second opinion. Because of the location of the mass and not knowing the nature, they determined that completing the Switch would not be in my best interest. If I had already had the switch done and then the mass needed to be removed, it may have caused some issues. They decided to just complete the first portion and give me the sleeve only. Because of all of the things they ended up doing, I did end up with a small drain in while I was at the hospital. They did do a biopsy of the mass and sent it to pathology to be tested. On Friday morning, Dr. Foote informed that the mass was benign. He still wants me to see a specialist to monitor it, but he felt confident that it would not need to be removed. I did great with getting around at the hospital. By sunday morning, I really felt like by the time I got home, I would be able to do without the pain meds. However, when they removed the drain tube, I realized that the pain meds would def be a necessity. Unfortunately I have to take 2 to lay down, but when I take 2, I have a harder time sleeping.

Any ladies around my age (43) trigger peri-menopause with this surgery & dramatic weight loss? Yeah - I think it happened to me. Doc is putting me on birth control to try to regulate my cycle & stave off the night sweats. We'll see how it goes.

A little update: I haven't made a video update yet, but I thought I'd stop in and let you all know a bit about what's been going on. So, on Tuesday I attended my 2nd class for the month for my medically supervised weight loss. I am supposed to attend 1 class a week, every week, for 3 months. This would be great and all, except for the fact I have to pay 30-45$ every week in order to go. And I work during that time, so I have to wrangle those days off somehow. So it's been a bit stressful. I'm just doing my best and trying to get through these next 3 months without fail. Then hopefully I can send in my paperwork for approval from insurance. <3

Hello All I had my lapband surgery on March 1st of 2010 and have had a loss of almost 120 pounds. I wouldn't say that I have had hair loss but I have had major breakage. I was reading something online about Hair Essentials. Has anyone heard of this. They are with the BBB. Please let me know I am trying anything. Thank you.

Welcom Becca. If you click on one of my tickers at the bottom you can go to the sight and make your own. At the end, after it is created, there will be some codes at the bottom. You need to copy the first code for forums. Then, go to your edit signature under the quick links at the top of this screen. There you can paste this in the box where you type your info. Hit preview and it should show up, hopefully. Good luck. Congratulations on your weight loss so far. You may want to find the main thread for the october 08 bandsters and post there to introduce yourself as well.

I had my band placed last year on Oct. 28th, 2010. I have lost 56 lbs since surgery. I started experienceing some hair issues, loss and breakage about 45 days ago. I take Biotin 6000mcg per day and have been for the past 3 weeks. My hair and nails are looking much better. I am taking bebeautiful a GNC chewable product. I did a lot of research before choosing a product and most of the reasearch says in order for Biotin to be effective for rapid weight loss you need to take at least 6000mcgs per day. These chewable squares are 3 mg each or 300mcgs so I take two daily, along with 1000 mg of CA and my Multivitamins. I know they say that lap bands may not need as much Vitamins as Gastric Bypass and Sleeve patients but my experience has been that if we do not get all our protien in on a daily basis we have the same issues as other rapid weightloss surgeries. Hope this helps you, Good Luck. and great job on your weight loss to date.

This is normal, your first week or so you are on liquids and it is very hard to get the necessary calories that way, once you start back on food your weight loss levels out, just keep following the program and it will start again but will be slower. If you are not using an online food journal I recommend that it counts your calories, protien and so on and gives you a good idea of what is working and not... Good luck, I hope to be on food soon too, I was just banded the 28th.

I'm 42 haven't gotten my friend since surgery on March 11th. Been put on hormone pills, I think I'm going through menopause but not sure. Haven't gotten any night sweats or heat flashes but, why not getting my period? My weight was 234 and now I'm 187.7. Maybe it's the weight loss or just old age? Who knows at least we r losing.

my weight loss stopped on its own. i was going down 3 pounds a month like clock work then one day weighed in at 143 pounds and 2 days later was 145 then 147 a week later. now i cycle back and forth from 147 to 150. i didn't do anything different of change up anything. i just bounced off the 143 and settled in at my now "normal" weight. this was almost 5 months ago and i feel good and i am adjusting to the mind set that i am all done with the weight loss and moving on with my life.

It’s probably going to vary plan by plan and practice by practice. That being said, if you’d been seen by my surgeon, you would’ve had to have been on a pre-surgery liquid diet for a longer period of time than someone with a lower BMI, and might have had to go in for blood work while you were on the pre-surgery diet. All plans and practices seem to require some form of supervised medical weight loss program and a psych evaluation, as well as a screening for sleep apnea if you haven’t already had one. Also, though I haven’t heard it mentioned here, my surgeon requires that patients get their A1C below 7 before surgery.