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I've lost 27 post op. I'm proud but it's a drop in the bucket. My high weight was 325 ( probably higher but that's the high documented weight). You can tell in my face and belly. Some are noticing. It makes me uncomfortable when they ask about goals or sizes. I'm not sure how I'm gonna handle the "you should stop now" comments. I do know that (in the US) there are EOC rules/laws that prevent harassment (unwanted comments) about race, gender, disabilities, etc. in my opinion, this can be stretched to include people talking about someone's weight (high or low). I'm in management and if someone came to me (and they have) stating that others were talking about race, I have a duty to tell them to stop. My employees are pretty comfortable with me. It'll be interesting to see if I have to go to HR to tell my employees to quit talking about me! Lol. I'm dreading being under the microscope. I think I'll say (about goal) - "I will know I'm at goal when I can do _____ (insert some item from my bucket list). That way, I don't have to answer about pounds. People are strangely jealous. It's such a weird journey. It makes me cherish the few who are cheerleaders for happiness and health - without any judgment.

I have called my insurance company and was told they do cover the lap band surgery and that I do qualify as far as weight ( BMI 38 ). I have my appointment for the seminar at the bariatric clinic and will be getting my referral from my PCP on the 25th. They did mention somthing about requiring that I have tried a 4 month weight loss program through my physician but would look at my last years history with him and possibly accept teh weight loss I have already had being monitored by my Dr. Ayway, I am excited to get things going and have realy learned a lot from all of you out there. Looking forward to chatting with you all and looking for support. Thanks :wink_smile:

I have gotten that from a few folks too. I know I carry a lot of my weight in my lower body, but evidently it hides pretty well in clothes. LOL Though I'm thrilled with a size 12, I know I still have at least 30# to go. Seems like a lot to someone who thinks needing to lose 5# is a chore. I think clothing size isn't a true indicator of success. I will never get below a 10 (and that is pushing it) I'm just not proportioned for it. I usually avoid specific "pounds to go" answers for most people. Its no one's business, but people get nosey. I take it that they care about me, and their "careful" comments are meant to assure me I'm good where I'm at. I assure anyone that is overly concerned that my doctor and I are in sync. But thanks for the unsolicited input. :-)

Why do men feel insecure when all we want to do is make ourselves feel better and sexier for them as well as for us? I was engaged for 4 years prior to my surgery and got my surgery the year before we finally got married. My soon to be ex-husband was extreamly supportive or so I thought up untill I started to drop the weight. Needless to say we were married for 6 months and then he left. I was devestated but later realized that he was the one with the insecurity problems and was never really happy for me. Well the end of my story is wonderful, I lost over 130 pounds and I am now between a size 5-7 (I was a size 22) I have met the real love of my life that has showed me support in everything I do in life. So I am a firm believer that God is preparing us for what we are going to go thru in our lives at all times and I thank him for this everyday!

Hi all, just thought i would start a new thread. I have been researching lap bands on the internet for a week now. I am 23 and i have always suffered with my weight. I have done weight watchers,been sent to some women from the nhs who i had classes with about food and exercise, (I know it all but i just cant put it in to theory), i have tried reductil, xcenicol, none of them have ever made much difference. Im fed up of being the girl with pretty face, oh and big boobs, lol. they are a plus to my size, the only one mind. Anyway after physchin meself up i finally went the doctors today, and she agreed i have to have some tests over me periods being so irregular as in not had one for 5 months and then i have to go back to my doc and she is going to refer me, IM MADE UP. My boyf said yesterday what makes you think you will get one??? So when she agreed to get the ball rolling, i coulda kissed her!! maybe not but im made up. As far as im concerned life can only get better. sorry for so much chatting just wanted to tell some one, anyone !!! natty13 xx:biggrin::eek::mad::tongue::biggrin:

Hey guys I'm new im just starting my With my process tomorrow it's my weight management class appointment im nervous i don't know what to expect will I be weight in front of people? I think I'm suppose to receive papers to get blood work done and other test and maybe a diet I'm not sure.

Hi, I am 5 months post op from my gastric sleeve surgery! I weigh myself every Saturday morning once a week. Since the Gastric Sleeve surgery I had lost 59 lbs. Got on the scale and it said I gaine 3.7 lbs. in 1 week since last weigh in...anyone have did happen? I did not deviate from my diet seems odd. Out of 22 weeks I have gained weight in only 4 weeks usually lose between .5 - 2 lbs per week! thanks, Rob

Thanks...I already am moving more than I was before surgery.....I am keeping track of the little successes....like the first week home I walked three of the 7 days. This week I have managed to walk 6 of them, AND have spent two days in a row doing laundry all day AND have packed two rooms for our move. ALL of which was more than I could even begin to do the week before surgery. Today, even tho I didn't get a chance to walk, I did spend about 40 minutes playing with my weights here at home--both my upper body and lower body. Before my RA dx, I was very active....exercise has never been my enemy till the past few years. However, my weight has been a problem all my life......I am just happy to be able to move more than I have for the past few years. Just trying to get past my mom's comments AGAIN.

I haven't had anything to post as of late. I am still stuck in the 184 range - since the beginning of January. I went for my 6 month check up and my surgeon seemed happy with the loss and said that I am at 47% loss of excess weight. She said I may only end up losing 50-60% in total. I am not happy with that and while I am determined to prove her wrong the scale seems to be agreeing with her right now. I am still walking & exercising but haven't done as much in the last two weeks as I did in Jan & Feb. I go through periods of extreme frustration at the scale and then times when it doesn't bother me as much. I have tried all kinds of things - more exercise, less carbs, more & less calories. Not sure what to do at this point....

I'd never be one to try and talk someone into having surgery. But I'd also never try to talk someone out of it, if it was something they felt would help them. Sometimes people just need to come to terms with their own reality. To the OP, all I can suggest is you take a step back and look at your life up to this point. How long have you been overweight? Are you morbidly obese? Do you have any comorbidities? Is your weight affecting your quality of life? Do you want it to be different? What exactly are you doing to change that? Every person on these forums has been down the "I promise I'll do better" road a thousand times. We're experts at fooling ourselves into thinking "This time it'll be different!" But it never is. We diet and diet and diet till we can recite the popular-diet-dujour litany verbatim, yet when the fuss is over, we're still standing there fat as ever (or MORE fat than ever) with nothing to show for the effort but less money in our pockets, lower self esteem, and another diet failure to feel badly about. When will you have had enough of that kind of failure to finally make a REAL difference in your life? As to your fears, face them: A sleep apnea test is nothing more than sleeping in a hospital bed while wearing a series of wires that monitor how good or bad your sleep is. It's painless. And it could save your life. Being "cut into, as in the operation" is almost a non-event. Most lap band surgeries leave five or six small puncture-type scars, and one about two inches long. There are even lap band procedures that go in through a single incision near the belly button, for those who don't want multiple incision sites. The days of wide-open zipper-scar surgeries are long gone. Things are done laparascopically now. You're "having a hard time writing down" what you eat. A food journal is easy to maintain, unless you're embarrassed to have a written record of your food intake. Using a phone app is fine, but there are limits, as you've seen. Websites like caloriecounter.com or livestrong.com can help you find the caloric amounts in restaurant foods, and even let you calculate your own recipes, so you can get a pretty good idea of what you're eating. If the "surgery only cuts down on food intake" and you can do that yourself, why haven't you? If dieting that results in long-term weight loss is SO easy, why isn't everyone skinny? Simple: Because as soon as the diet is over, or the person goes off that diet, the weight comes flooding right back. As for a "new technology that makes lap band obsolete," what's stopping you? Lap band surgery is removable and reversible. If something new and better comes along, you can have the band removed. But chances are you'll be pleased enough with it that you wouldn't want to, even if something else came along. And BTW, diet and exercise ARE the technologies that will make a lap band obsolete. If you get off your couch and exercise, then eat properly, you'll lose weight. But you haven't done that very well so far, or you wouldn't be here. Not judging, just saying. If you don't want anything inside you, all I can tell you is the band doesn't have a pulse, it doesn't weigh anything, and only rarely do I feel it. If anything, I feel the port, which is where they add or remove saline to adjust the band. But the band being there isn't being felt. I don't know your gender, but if you happen to be female, and if you have menstrual cycles and use tampons or birth control devices, I'd wager you've had something a lot more troublesome inside you. The band is a non-issue. My bottom line: After decades of fooling myself into thinking "This time it'll be different," I finally stood up to myself and made the decision to have surgery. I'm losing an easy average of about ten pounds a month so far. And I feel awesome. I look and feel years younger, I have tons of energy, I sleep better, I'm better at my job, and I'm delighted to feel this way after all these years. My only regret is that I wasted all those years lying to myself. I wish I had done this years ago. So those are my comments. I don't mean any of them to sound mean, only to give you some food for thought. Keep reading, keep researching whether banding is the right answer for you, and I sincerely hope you come to the decision that's right for you. There are other weight loss options, all of which require cutting and removing body parts. Banding is by far the least invasive. Wishing you the best of luck with your decision. Dave

Really having a hard time of it right now. Yesterday I went to see my parents who have been sick since the weekend before my surgery. I had my two weeks and one day ago. Since beginning my journey in February I have already gone down 5 pants sizes (from barely squeezing into my 26's to easily zipping and having room in my 18's now). I have lost 30+ lbs--15 of which were in the last two weeks. I am barely getting in 400 calories a day and choking down my Protein drinks......and my mom asked "are you sure this is going to work?" Mind you this is the woman who has been after me to have this surgery for the past 10 years. Now that I have actually done it and can't go back she is like "are you sure you aren't eating too much?" "are you sure this is going to work"........ I went from feeling great about myself and my progress, to feeling like a complete and total failure once again. I can't avoid her as she and my dad are very sick and need us three kids to step up and care for them. It has been bad enough that I can't be there to help her in and out of bed since I have had surgery and can't lift more than 5 lbs. I guess I am just looking for someone to reassure me that Yes this does work. That yes, if I follow my dr's rules and move more and eat less I will lose weight. That my mom is just being her usual critical self and it isn't about this surgery--that the surgery is just the most recent thing for her to pick about. You would think that by the time I am nearly 45 I would be over her nit-picking......but I"m not..........

Hello all. I'm new to the group. I stumbled across this site via a google search and knew this is just what I needed. I've thought about WLS for the past couple years but always let others talk me out of it (people who have no weight issues and certainly couldn't understand what I go through). Well I'm tired of being tired and tired of being unhappy and feeling like I have no control over my life. I'm scheduled for my 1st seminar this Saturday and hope all goes well because I am super excited to get back to me. I live in the Chicago, IL area and have Cigna insurance. So if anyone out there has any tips, suggestions, etc. I can sure use it. I have read so many encouraging remarks and stories on this site and I know this is where I need to be. Looking forward to future posts

First of all CONGRATS!! It's exciting! Allow yourself to he happy about this! I have 3 pieces of advice for anyone undergoing this surgery: 1. Be fiercely protective of yourself. Don’t let ANYONE stand in your way. We become overweight because we’ve put others needs before our own. Get selfish if you have to! What you’re doing is for YOU and you should be proud of that 2. Follow Doctors orders to the letter. Protein, fluids, exercise, dietary restrictions – do exactly as he says. And take advance of the first 6 months! It’s when weight loss is most rapid. Celebrate the little accomplishments. (I cried when my BMI was “obese” instead of “morbidly obese.” Haha!) 3. Enjoy the journey. YOU GO GIRL! You've earned this!

I am 4 months out from sleeve surgery. Am I still supposed to be in ketosis? Do I stay in ketosis until I reach my goal weight? Thanks

The first thing that goes is water weight and some of us carry A LOT of it..esp obese people. I had to do two week liquid diet prior to surgery and after the first couple days it really wasn't that bad and by the 2nd week i wasn't even hungry. Good luck!

Yesterday I went to my first Weight Loss Support group and I absolutley loved it. It's great to get support from fellow weight loss surgery patients and it's great to speak face to face about their experiences. Methodist Health System has several weight loss support groups in Dallas, Richardson and Mansfield. USMD has meetings in Arlington. I don't work for the hospital nor am I affiliated with them, I just thought this information was too good not to share with my fellow bandsters. Check out the links for more info: Classes & Events USMD - Your Physician Owned Hospital Serving Arlington, Texas and the surrounding area

Well, I have to say that I was trimming my yard with a light weedeater (less than 7 lbs) and now my rib cage hurts even worse. I didn't even get 5 minutes in. I definitely have to call the surgeon tomorrow because I'm worried. To me, I shouldn't be hurting. I can't even think about exercising because of the pain. I also stopped losing weight. I lost 10 lbs in the first week and have stopped all together. UGH!

I am having a really hard time and just wanted to express how I was feeling to people that understand. I'm almost 6 weeks pregnant and couldn't be happier, except for the weight gain thing. I haven't finished losing my weight and right now I'm terrified. I had to get completely unfilled, no morning sickness, but it's as if the moment I conceived my band became too tight. I was getting stuck with EVERYTHING I ate. I have already gained 4 pounds. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm freaking out. I have been so hungry, I wake up needing to eat something. his morning I had an anxiety attack and I can't do this, it's not healthy for me (or the baby)to be so stressed about my weight. I'm trying to relax and calm down.... How did you guys accept this, or did you? :smile2:

You're not alone! It's hard, even when you KNOW that it's healthy to gain some weight. I'm at 27 weeks and have managed to keep my weight gain to about 13 pounds so far. That said, my doc's visit yesterday was the first where I saw a big jump-- 5 pounds in a month. It was hard. I'm also looming up on 250, which is another mental block. I started at 322, so I KNOW I'm still WAY thinner than I was. For me, it helped to continue to plan meals and menus and workout as my body allows (starting to run into limitations there.) I don't obsessively count calories, though I check periodically to see that I'm not WAY off base. I've stuck to a moderately bandster friendly diet and have intentionally enjoyed some non-bandster favorites that don't work when my band is tight. HOWEVER, I'm eating more things like big leafy salads (light on the dressing) and raw veggies that I have trouble with otherwise. I'm enjoying a few more whole grain breads and other HEALTHY options that would otherwise give me trouble. My latest obsession is a broccoli coleslaw recipe from an online blog--I eat it by the bowl, sometimes as lunch itself. By enjoying the healthy stuff that doesn't work with the band, I feel like I'm getting a treat in exchange for the weight gain. The sugary/fatty stuff doesn't make me feel good, so I avoid it. It's hard. And depressing. And crazy-making. You're not at ALL unreasonable for finding the prospect of weight gain terrifying. But you DID THE RIGHT THING by getting the unfill! Don't forget that a good 20-25 pounds of pregnancy weight gain is baby-related, NOT counting maternal fat gain! That doesn't mean you'll be 20 pounds lighter the day after babe is born, but you'll be on your way. AND you have your band. It WILL work after baby is here! Good luck to you. There are lots of successful bandsters who have had babies, lost the weight, and gone on to reach goals. You can be one too!

I had major complications in the past 8 months, port revision, total unfill and then slippage and taken out July 8. How long does it take for my stomach to return to normal? I am afraid to eat since I have been barfing for 8 months. I lost 30 lbs and want to keep it off. May look into weight watchers.

Has there been any changes, stress, lack of sleep, etc? These things can hinder weight loss. Not staying properly hydrated? Even not eating enough? <--- Contrary to belief, yes, you can gain/stall not eating enough. But that's another topic (unless you want to go there, let me know). Is there too much sodium in your diet? that'll cause water retention. About to start that time????? Also, doesn't help.

Thanks! My cycle is going to happen in 3wks, and as for the sodium, I'm not a fan of salt so that will be minimal. I weighted myself again today and the scale kept going up, then down, then up again. I'm planning on just having a shake for breakfast, dinner and a light lunch and see if anything budges. I'm just sad since I have my pre op consult tomorrow and wanted to be writhing 5lbs of my goal. I usually drink between 90 to 140 oz of water daily. Soooo I dnt know what could be it! But I'll def. look into your recommendations!

I don't necessarily have any tips for you but I'm in the exact same boat. I'm supposed to lose a certain amount before my pre op appointment May 12 and I've been doing everything right yet I've remained stuck right around the same weight for over a week. I guess under regular circumstances that would be a fairly normal weight loss plateau but I'm on a deadline here. These last five pounds are killing me. It's so stressful and frustrating!

I have 4 Bariatric fusion Soft Chews Vitamins and one bottle of Iron with Vitamin C Cherry Chews. 2 of the soft chew vitamins are mixed berry and 2 are tropical flavor. These sell for over $20 on different websites. I am only asking $75 ($15 each) The packages were purchased just last month. Info from website: Vitamin chews Balanced blend of 19 bioavailable vitamins and minerals Contains 280mcg of Vitamin B12 50% or more DV of other B-Complex Vitamins Easy to digest soft chews Great berry or tropical flavor Individually wrapped for your convenience Pleasant Cherry Flavor Iron and Vitamin C Cherry Chews Easier To Take Than Bulky Tablets or Capsules 45 mg Elemental Iron per Chew 60 mg of Vitamin C to aid absorption One Chew per Day provides 250% DV of Iron Trans Fat Free sugar free I live in Houston, but I am willing to ship if buyer pays the shipping email: franklins1@peoplepc.com

Drinking with meals is one of many general things you will have to learn for yourself....like crushing pills, some can some can't...or carbonated drinks... The band is adjustable and each individual responds differently.... early on, I was told to start to get used to not drinking with meals....to drink right up to a meal, then nothing during or 30-40 minutes after....I asked why, and like many "Rules" was basically told I will find out as I get closer to the Green Zone...that these "rules" will make sense sooner or later..... Sure enough, I did find out why....bottom line, it is not a question whether I am told I could or could not, it is that the way my band has been adjusted for the last 3+ years, I CANNOT drink while eating....it is IMPOSSIBLE without dire circumstances.... food is in my pouch, slowly passing through the band...there is just so much my pouch will/can hold.....IF I introduce Water, it will instantly increase the volume of what is there....it will have no where to go but right back up and out! Not to mention the pain....I would assume dilating-stretching my pouch.... As far as drinking after eating, I have to wait, and take small sips from time to time...until I can tell when it is safe to drink again....I have had food come back up 20 minutes after eating because I drank too soon.... Having said that...I do not have to crush my meds/pills, and I can drink carbonated beverages (carefully)...others cannot....so you see everyone has different tolerances to different things, and it will only be after time (mnths/years?) that you learn a lifestyle that best suits you and your weight loss..... But in the beginning, your best option is follow your Dr.'s guidelines, until you have those "A-Ha" moments...even then I tell my Dr. what I discovered....