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I finally decided to join and make my first post. I hope I'm doing this correctly, using this site is kind of tricky. Anyhow I have been on here "listening" in since June. I didn't want to join until I was further along in the process. Well that 6 months has flown by and I have a surgery date. I'm excited and want my band in place like yesterday! My doctor is putting me on Optifast :thumbup:, I'm afraid I will do someone bodily harm for a piece of chicken by the end of my first day:lol:. But I know it is for my own good, too much belly fat. Speaking of fat, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was wondering about back fat (rolls). Has anyone that has lost a bit of weight experienced sagging back rolls, or do they melt away. I know this is a strange question, but I have been dying to know. While I'm waiting for surgery, I'm trying to decide if I want the Lap Band or the Realize Band. Well, I guess that is enough for now. Bye!

also they might be weeding out any people that might want to have the band done because they think its an easy way to loose weight so they are making sure you are commited to this. i have some larger friends that say to me good on you for losing weight but its only because you cheated by having lapbanding, yeah right.:smile2:

Hello everyone. I just wanted to relate my surgery success. I'll start off by stating that I am not the norm when it comes to surgery. Results vary with everyone. I have many relationship es and friends that range from 2yrs to 5yrs post op. They're all amazed at my transformation. I'd like to think it's due to the extreme motivation I've had. My sister passed away at the age of 42. I was turning 42 in February of 2014. I weighed in at 397lbs. I consulted with a surgeon that month and was instructed to lose 20lbs prior to surgery. I lost 51lbs prior to my surgery date on 4-25-14. To say I was motivated is understating it. I was scared I was going to die like my sister did. She was overweight and had a massive cardiac episode during her sleep. I didn't want to leave my wife and children. I am truly blessed. I had the surgery and started walking the hospital halls non stop 3hrs after recovery. The nurses thought I would wear a path in the floors. I didn't sleep well and I had an issue with my blood pressure dropping too low. I was taken off my BP med while still in the hospital and never went back to them. My BP was around 98/50. It has stabilized now. Normally around 108/64 or so. I was released after 2 days and went home to start my new life. I was and am very strict about my diet. I followed everything my doctors and nutritionist told me. The surgeon stated that I would lose 100lbs in a 100 days. I thought, sure buddy. Well the pounds just started melting off. I was exercising religiously. I started by walking 6 minutes twice a day for the first week. I quickly realized that I could do more. I started increasing my time every walk I took. By the end of the first month I was walking 45 minutes twice a day. The length of the walk was lnt the only thing increasing. My rate was too. I started walking faster and faster. I then started to enjoy yard work. I used to hate to mow the lawn even on my riding mower. I went out and purchased a simple walking mower with manual controls. No self propelled wheels or anything. The rider sat abandoned in my yard. What used to take me a half hour on the rider took me 45 minutes walking but it was great exercise. Every week that time went down until it only took me 23 minutes to cut my lawn. Well that's no work out I thought so I brought it over to my parents house and started cutting their huge yard too. So now I was upto 2hrs of lawn cutting and I was itching for more. I st at yed doing all kinds of landscaping jobs in my yard and theirs. Still not enough. I would pack up my mower and drive it a half hour down the highway to do my younger sisters yard. She needed more than mowing too. I did field clearing in her yard as a full acre was covered in brush. By July all of this was easy. I was down the 100lbs my surgeon said I would. At 245lbs or so all things became easier. Especially breathing! That's when I decided to ask my surgeon if I could go to the gym. I got clearance from him and I was off. I started a little shy because I was still that fat guy in my head. I quickly got over myself. I set goals. One goal was to be able to run a 5k this spring. I started on the treadmill but just walking at a 3.5mph clip. I increased that speed to 4.0 by the end of my first week there and went for 3 miles. Then I st at Ted really challenging myself. I started to increase my walks 1 mile a day over the next week. I kid you not, by the end of the week I got on the treadmill and walked 10 miles. It took me just over 2hrs but I did it. I had the bleeding nipple to prove it. I learned my lesson there. Always protect the nipple. Lol. I then started running at a 5mph clip every other day. 1 mile then 2 then 3. Of course I was elated to have hit my 5k goal so soon. I have increase the distance over the winter to a 10 mile run so yes I will be running a 10k next month instead. Now I have cut back on the running as I've developed a major addiction to weight lifting. The last day I took off from the gym was Christmas morning and that was only at the kids request. I only work out with low weight exercises as I'm not looking to bulk up. I've been bulked up all my life. The gym is my second home now though. I do know my limits though. I've been studying the science of exercise and am using the OPT techniques. I also know when to say when. Some days are easy days and some days I flat out get after it. I listen to my body. I am now working towards my certification to become a personal trainer. NASM certification was my choice. I have multiple job offers already on the table and I'm deciding which to take. My ultimate goal is to work with post op patients or people that were in the same situat I n I was in. Ok, I'm sure you're wondering about my stats. If you've taken the time to read this long winded diatribe then you deserve to know. This is no B.S. either. I started my journey at 397 lbs on 2-6-14 at my first weigh in at the surgeons office. I was 346 on 4-26-14 at the St Elizabeth's Hospital on surgery date. It's now 3-28-15. 11 months later and my weight is 186. I went from wearing 52x30 pants to wearing 30x30 and they are a little loose in the waist. I was wearing 4xl shirts and now wearing mediums and smalls in some cuts. Here are some pictures of my journey. IT CAN BE DONE! Be healthy, your life may depend on it. Mine did.

I love my fit bit. It is such a motivator. I earn " badges " as I complete certain levels. It updates my data via wifi to give me weekly stats on my computer. I also have my fitbit scale tied to this program. It is tracking my weight losses each time I weigh myself. Got my first 10# loss badge today! It presents a visual scale for steps, weight, etc. I don't track food cuz I am so limited right now having just had my surgery. I may update and activate that section later on.

So, my RNY was August 8th of this year. I started seeing the dietician and had my first health check visit 12/15/15, so almost 1 year ago. I started at 496 pounds. Yesterday I had an appointment and weighed in at 353. I'm 143 pounds down over about a year since I started my journey. I'd like to go about another 75 pounds. If I hit that mark, I'll be the weight I was as a junior in high school. I'm currently 42. I hope everyone else is having success with their journeys as well!!

Sometimes I can't get over how fast men lose weight. So unfair!

Hi Joy, Sorry to hear about the difficulty you've had in the past. But your son is the best surprise that could have happened. I haven't had the surgery yet, I'm waiting to find out the results of endo, the polpys are actually in my stomach not my colon so I am hoping hear from someone with the same situation so I could get an idea if my surgery would need to be delayed. I would have the doctors measure your height again without your heels so they can document your correct height. From what've read on the message boards the 5 history is pretty important. The best advice I can give you is to call the insurance company and ask about their criteria and have them mail you a copy of it. If your height has been off by two inches all along then your bmi would be way off all along too. Your doctors would be the ones to determine if the c-section would affect the lap-band and how soon after you've had a baby you can have lap band. The process for me started almost two years ago. I went to a seminar and then decided to keep trying on my own for about a year then I finally made the decision that this was the right thing for me. From that point it took six months for approval because I had to do the supervised diet. The surgeon's office would not submit anything to the ins. company until all of the insurance criteria had been met. Once everything was together and submitted it took only week to be approved. My surgery date is next week but I hope it does not get delayed. My gut feeling is that it will go as planned. I really hope eveything goes well for you. The waiting process is tough but I've been over weight for most of my life so a little more waiting is not all bad.

Hi, I wanted to tell that one of the teachers had polyps in her colon. She had them removed and she is doing great. It wasn't a big deal. The main thing was to have them removed before they tearned into something else. I have always been over weight ;but not always morbidly obesse. I'm going through True Results in Houston. There are four doctors with this company. I'm worried about the 5 year history. My BMI is forty althoug many people say I don't look it. Back in 03 my BMI was only thirty. It started to go up over the years. I had a baby on Valentines Day FEB 14th. 2007. I had a c-section so I hope that does not effect me. I was 205 pounds before the baby. The funny part is that I'm only 5'3 at 237 pounds. In the past I would tell people that I was 5'5. I think my doctors may have 5'5 on the records. My grandfather argued with me and told me that I was shorter than 5'5. I was short but didn't realize it because I always wore shoes with high heels. He measured my height with his tape measure and I was in shock. I cried! I cant' believe I weigh that much at 5'3. I do not have any co-morbities but I have struggled with weight all of my life. I have researched and read the book Lapband for Life three times. I'm ready to use this as a tool and start a new beginning. I'm currently sperated from my husband and it's still going downhill. I think it's for the best. Anyway I'm ready!!! The center True Results does everything for you. They will also do the 6 month supervised diet. Questions 1. Do you think that I have a good chance of being approved? 2. Do you have to be morbid obesse for all five years? 3. Do you think having the baby will affect me? I forgot to tell you that my beautiful son Dillon was a suprise. I was actually trying to loose weight with taking the b-12 shot and diet pills. They were putting something in the shot; some fertility stuff to help you loose inches. I got pregnant fast. I don't regret it I love my son very much! 4. How long did the process take? 5. Did they cover all of the expenses for your surgery? Let me know how things turn out with you Joy

I would agree with Fendo . Get that stuff done on your own if not for.peace of mind. My doc actually did have some concern over my EKG so she sent me to a cardiologist. The cardiologist told me my heart was fine but just didnt read accurately because of all the fat! He ended the appointment with telling me I should lose some weight. Go figure! Well I have all my testing results ready to take with me to Mexico. So if u can try to get pre-op tests through your PCP. Good luck on your journey!

:sick I went for my 4th (blind) fill last Wednesday. I already had 7 cc in my 11 cc band, which lasted me for about 9 months. I hadn't lost any weight in a few months so I thought it was time to get back on track. The doctor said he was going to put in 2 cc, which I thought was kind of extreme, but he's the doctor right? I drank some Water and it gurgled but went down. As I'm driving home, I started feeling like I had swallowed a grapefruit and then I got the hiccups. Then I started feeling really nauseated. Of course by then the office was closed. Pretty soon I figured out that my saliva wasn't going down and started spitting it into a bottle (I'm still driving and getting a little freaked out). I figured I should just get home to my husband and then he can drive me back if need be. The nausea passed but came back. I called the emergency number and the nurse on call said she would get ahold of the doctor. In the meantime, I vomited up a bunch of foam. Then I felt fine, so I figured as long as I kept spitting into my bottle I would be ok until I saw the doctor. He finally called and had me go into the ER. He was going to take out all 2 cc, but I was really disappointed that I would be back to where I started. So he left in 1/2 cc. I feel good now and lost 5 pounds the first day! However now I can't eat any solid foods until afternoon - sometimes evening. Could my stomach be swollen after 5 days yet? I'm not complaining, I am losing weight. Just wondering why this is so different from how I've felt before when I was restricted.

how fun.... I too am married and someone at the gym come up to me to ask how I keep losing all the weight. Then he asked if we could work out together. What a nice treat.... especially since I am old.

Hi, everyone. I am in month two of a six month weight loss program to prepare me for lap-band surgery and the life afterwards. I am currently trying to lose some weight before hand to show the doctors my commitment to life change and was on www.caloriecounter.com when someone mentioned to check out this site for any information on lap band. I have yet to browse and see all the benefits of this site, but my expectations are high. I have heard a lot of good and bad things about lap-band and want to make sure that I know what I am getting myself into. I have come to the site to learn as much as I can and find the good, the bad, and the ugly... So please feel free to educate me!

Thanks for replies. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis almost two years after getting banded. There is no evidence or reason to believe that this was from the band or the surgery, even though "experts" in my life suggest otherwise. After I got the unfill I was able to eat large meals and gained back a nice chunk of weight. As this was happening the colitis symptoms got worse with little improvement. Now that I'm starting to feel better after the latest fill, I'm thinking that at least some of the problems I was having were from the band. I'm glad I am starting to feel better but it's difficult not having answers.

hello! I found these books to be very helpful! weight Loss Surgery Cookbook for Dummies Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery The Sleeved Life By, Pennie Nicola Successful Weight Loss with the Gastric Sleeve I hope they help!

4 weeks ago I suffered a slight slip in my band and had all my fill removed. That's a lap bands patients worst nightmare! So since 4 weeks ago I've managed to gain 7lbs! I'm depressed and just all around feel fat and bloated. Sounds ridiculous while I'm writing this but I know how hard I've worked over the last year going from 286lbs to 171lbs! Plus 7 more now... Loser! I do go back to the doc on Thursday in hopes my band corrected itself and get filled. If not ... Then I'm not sure what ... Anyone else go through anything like this? I'm completely deflated!

I was on a pre op diet, which I followed religiously... and gained on. My surgeon said it was ok, that the diet was meant to shrink my liver, not specifically for loss.

That is so good to hear that the surgery has helped your neck and back problems. I am basically living on pain meds and muscle relaxers. I had back surgery in 2001 and have since had 6 epidurals- nothing seems to help. It has been so difficult to keep weight off when you can't do much because of the pain. Everyone says "build your core", but that has been easier said then done. I want this surgery, if only to get the weight off for my back. I know that it would help many other things as well. Good to hear from a fellow back sufferer.

Hi Shasta, Congratulations and best wishes on your surgery next week! Go to Graphical Tickers and Trackers: Weight Loss, Trying To Conceive, Pregnancy... and go through the steps. Afterwards it will give you code to copy and paste..you will go to your user cp here and click on edit signature on the left hand side. Paste that code there.

No, I was close to the lower end of the cutoff weight for being approved, so I just had to do two weeks of staying the same weight. I had however given them proof that I had done many diets in the past without lasting success. Best of luck!

Welcome to LapBandTalk! That's around my goal weight too. I'm almost there but I think the last 20 lb. is going to come off pretty slowly.

Many of you have been very supportive of me during my bad times lately. Since losing my job I haven't been doing very well and have stopped losing weight. But not anymore:) :) I was made an offer today from a wonderful company. It is the job of my dreams and I will be starting on April 9th. Thank you for your support, kindness and prayers.:biggrin1:

I think menopause is delayed for me now because I'm healthier. I have skipped cycles and thought I was done done, but no. The beat goes on...... I did want to lose the weight prior to menopause because I think it's more difficult after, but now I'm more relaxed with all that. The weight is coming off regardless. Speaking of hormones, though, the benefits of increased sexual energy are pretty amazing. Loving that.... The heavy periods, not so much.

I know just how you feel. I have an aunt who is very negative about wls as well and she herself is very overweight. I have to hear things like "I've never seen work for anyone. They always gain the weight back." She's completely ignorant on the subject so I completely dismiss her comments.

I really don't like most protein shakes. After my surgery, my taste buds changed. The only protein drink I like is, gatorade recover3 orange/tropical. I haven't found a powder I like yet. And I goofed, I had surgery April 9th, not may 9th. I lost 61 lbs, then this week I have gained 2 lbs! I am walking everyday, probably more than I every have. What is up with that?

Hello, my name is Chava, I live in Tacoma, Wa. My surgery is scheduled for 2-13-09 in Tijuana Mexico with Dr. Ortiz. Just have 4# left to lose before surgery. People ask me if I'm "excited?" I tell them I don't know how to answer that, I don't know a thinner me. I know that much will change once I start losing weight, but this time I should be much more successful than before, as I've dieted and lost, then regained, you know how that goes. I realize that lap-band is a powerful TOOL and I need to cooperate and stay with my dietary guidelines. I have #150 pounds to lose, I am hopeful and need the support of others who have gone down the road I am soon to travel. GIVE ME THE BEST ADVICE ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU...I appreciate your help & participation in my recovery...Chava:thumbup: