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I'm doing everything as the surgeon and dietician reccomends, I'm not getting as much water as I should, sometimes eating less calories than I should per day, I lost 5.5 kilos on my 10 days pre diet

What was it like? I am concerned because I signed up 10 days ago for one in Dallas tomorrow (May 19) at 10 am. They sent me confirmation email and I have been really excited about. Well, they called and left a reminder voicemail message today and sent a reminder email (around 5:00 pm) reminding me of my seminar in HOUSTON tomorrow!!!! Houston is like 5 hours from here. I'm not going to Houston. So, I called Lap Band Solutions and, of course, since it is after hours on a Friday, it was their answering service. They took an urgent message for someone to call me but I have not heard from anyone. Dallas is an hour and a half from here and I don't want to drive all the way down there in the morning if they are just going to tell me I can't stay. Did you have to be on the roster to get in? I have printed my initial confirmation email showing that it is in Dallas. Do you think that will be enough for them to let me stay? Do they have a limited number of seats usually? Thanks!

Wow, you're doing great! Congratulations. I've only lost 10 lbs in 4 1/2 weeks including the 2 weeks pre-op. Come over to the A11 thread and tell us how the fill went. Keep up the good work. Blessings, GG

Hi, I should have joined a support group a long time ago. I'm 22 years old and was banded in Jan, 2009. I come from a family of overweight people. Both my parents plus my uncle have had the lap band surgery with success. It was an easy decision for me to get the lap band at a young age because I didn't want to grow up obese like my parents who had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks, etc.....Although I only started at around 190 lbs before surgery, on my small 5'1" frame it was a disaster. My BMI was high and physically I was an overweight mess. Emotionally I was upset that I would never get to play sports or enjoy life! After being banded I lost about 30 lbs in the first year. I don't remember exactly now, but I got a fill sometime in the first year. Since then I have had about 3 or 4 fills with about 7.5cc in a 9cc swedish band. I have since gained back almost 20 lbs. I am getting a fill tomorrow from a new doctor that I have never seen before that will give me the support I need. I have not received a fill in almost a year so I KNOW that is why I have gained a lot of weight back. Also my current boyfriend is amazing and never criticizes me when I am eating a carton of ice cream or bags of popcorn that go down so easy. I guess all I am looking for is someone to help enourage me to lose the weight again and get back on track. Every bander knows it can be tough. I feel like it has been tougher for me because I don't have 100 lbs to lose. I would like to lose about 40 lbs to get to my goal weight. It doesn't seem like much but it is so hard. Also, besides my boyfriend and immediate family, no one knows I had gotten the surgery. Since I was only 19 it was hard for me to face the fact that I was getting a life changing weight loss surgery. I had tried every diet imaginable since I was about 9 and it was all "temporary" weight loss. I am just looking for support and people in my situation.

I was 59 when I had my surgery 10 months ago. I am now at goal and have lost over 100lbs. Yes saggy skin, yes wrinkles but no fibromyalgia, no aching knees and little chance of developing the diabetes that both of my parents had. My husband still loves me, saggy skin and all ! I feel great and have more energy and better health. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Go for it and best of luck!

Hi everyone, just wanted to say hi to all on the forum. I am from England, just outside of London and have not been banded yet. I have my consultation 27th Oct and hopefully surgery sometime in November. I am very exicted about this as have been overweight for a very long time now (BMI 36). I just wanted to say that this forum is fantastic and I have been reading many of your comments and it has given me that extra push to go ahead and do this. You are all so positive about this procedure and have done so well with your weight loss. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a failure that I havent been able to do this with just diet and exercise, particularly as my husband is a personal fitness trainer, but after 10 years of being overweight enough is enough! Thanks Gillian

Wonderful for you! I am 19 days out from surgery and have lost 25 lbs. I found some clothes in my closet that I never wore because I bought them and then quit smoking so gained weight and they were too tight. Now they fit beautifully! My hairdresser noticed yesterday I've lost weight. Others are commenting they can see it! I just know I feel better. And I haven't taken my diabetes medication in over a week! My fasting blood sugars are within normal range! We are well on our way! If it seems slow going just remember the slow weight loss is usually the permanent weight loss!

I had surgery on Monday 8/30. Since then I have had 1 of my 6 incision site continuously been extremely painful. It's the only site that's bruised, steri-strip is bloody and it hurts soooo much. When ever I move or have to engage that part of my core (sitting up, going to the bathroom, laying in bed, even just standing up) it hurts. It's like a burning, sharp ripping feeling and it legit makes me see stars and lose my breath. I called and sent a photo to my doctor and they said it was normal. They gave me a stronger pain medication but it only makes me high and doesn't tough the pain when I move. Could they have stitched me up a little off? Anyone else experience this? I need it to be tolerable by Monday so I can go to my work office for 1 hour. I feel alone and absolutely hate doing anything right now because of this. Sent from my SM-G981U using BariatricPal mobile app

I reached a 50 pound weight loss. I am so proud. It is the little things that make me smile like - I can zip my coat, stomach not touching the steering wheel LOL, pants fitting loose and now having to wear a belt etc. I am loving this sleeve!!!

I was banded on July 10 and haven't started exercising yet. My Grandmother passed away last week and I was out of town during that time. Just dealing with being around all that food was trying enough! On my surgery day, my doctor told me about a woman he saw the previous day. She was banded on Dec. 13, weighing 340 and on July 9 she was down 90 pounds! I asked "wasn't that too fast and wouldn't she have a lot of loose skin?" He said "not if you are exercising". That lady had been doing water aerobics 3 or 4 times a week. As soon as I got home, I started looking for a local place that I could take water aerobic classes. My doctor told me not to start until I see him for my post op next week, but as soon as he gives me the ok, I'm starting!

Let me start with saying the band is the MOST invasive surgery, not the least because the complication rate is so high (around 50%) that you could require more surgeries...that is my definition of pretty invasive. I can can post a link to a whole host of those studies if you would like, I had to have my band removed and revised to rny. I chose rny because it is the gold standard been around for decades and proven to work. Sleeve hasn't been around for 10 years yet, so after my mistake of using the band when it was still new...wasn't gonna do that again. Also I developed acid reflux from the band and I knew the sleeve could make it worse and rny often cures it. Also I liked the extra insurance with malabsorption...most sleevers don't dump, the majority of rnyers do with the rny. I liked that it was insurance should I make bad food choice. I don't ever plan have another bariatric surgery. Both sleeve and rny require additional Vitamins. I like the Patches..easy to use and don't know they are there. Having said all this the sleeve is getting close to the 10 year mark and looking like a good alternative to rny. It was my backup if the band had done too much damage and an rny couldn't be done.

I am one week post op as of tomorrow. I had to do 10 days of a high Protein liquid only pre-op diet. It was very difficult the first 3-4 days, but it did get a little bit easier after that. It wasn't ever a walk in the park, but what kept me on the "straight & narrow" was the fact that I had heard/read that some surgeons won't do the surgery if they get in there and realize you didn't do the pre-op diet. That would really stink to go through the getting on the operating table and waking up in recovery only to find out they couldn't do it. The reason I was told they want people to do the pre-op diet is to shrink up the fat around your organs so it is a much smoother operation and recovery. I know not all surgeons seem to require a pre-op diet, but a lot of them do. Hang in there! It will be worth it! In the bigger picture of life, this will be such a small part of it, you probably won't even remember just how bad it sucks right now.

From what I've heard from others, getting to the point post-op of "feeling great, full of energy" takes varying amounts of time for people -- depending on their starting health level, age, beginning weight, nutrition, exercise level, issues with depression and other mental health challenges, work/job stresses, etc. I felt noticeably better by the end of Month One, and my energy levels have just kept rising ever since. Interestingly, my goal weight was 150, which I reached about 8.5 months post-op. Over the last 5.5 months I've slowly lost another 10 pounds. I can't tell you how much difference this last 10 pounds has made in raising my energy level even more. It's been quite interesting.

I'm 2 weeks out today. I lost the IV fluid weight in week one but for the last 10 days I've remained the same weight as I was preop. Spoke to the nutritionist and surgeon and they both said not to worry. But I have the same feelings as you... Sent from my SM-G928I using BariatricPal mobile app

Well, I think mine was a combo of the fluids + pms/period. Of course that started about 10 days after surgery, period ended yesterday and I weighed this morning and was already down 1lb, so hopefully now that's all out of the way I will see more progress

old navy clearance has been a lifesaver for me. i found jeans at thrift stores like savers and the goodwill for $5-$10 usually. sweatpants are great too, but i'm lucky because i'm allowed to wear them at work. make sure you're donation your old clothes! i happened to come into contact with another bariatric patient who's a few sizes bigger than me, so i've been giving her all of my old stuff.

I felt that way a week before my surgery... the morning of I was questioning my sanity and my choice. I started self doubting. Could I really be successful? What if it doesn't work for me? Today I am 19 days post-op and I feel really good. I am learning to listen to my stomach and not my brain. Well and the fact that you can truly only eat so much...getting that actual "full feeling" is something I've never really experienced. It's still a bit scary but I know in my wart this was the right choice.

It's pretty normal, I had the surgery 10 days ago, and I didn't sleep that well in the nights leading up to the surgery. I'm pretty sure I was still thinking about backing out even as I changed into my hospital gown. It's fine, the first 24 hours suck, the second 24 hours aren't great, and then things improve really quickly.

I went to the doc 10 days ago because my calf was bright red, swollen and hurting. Turns out I have a staph infection and am on 2 antibiotics. Well, I have another appointment this morning because it has gotten better but is not 100% gone. Now I have a rash on my leg and in my trunk area, a yeast infection and diarreha from the meds along with a constant headache from one of the meds. One of the worse things is that I'm eating more than usual because I get naseated if I don't have food in my tummy from the meds and I've gained 6 lbs since my visit with the surgeon a week ago. I'm also trying to eat 4 oz of yogurt 4x a day to help with the yeast. Grrr... I just hope this gets cleared so I can have my surgery in 3 weeks. I guess I should start a blog so I can rant on there...:embaressed_smile:

I went to have a consultation with the doctor yesterday. Well, what can I say, I am kind of disappointed in him. I know he is top surgeon in TN but he did not take time to answer my questions at all. I felt rush and if he does not take time answering my questions, what will happen in the surgery room? For example, first he asked me what I want done. I’ve told him arms, legs and tummy. He said he thinks I only need arms and tummy done and if my legs still bothering me in the future, he will be glad to do it for me. Then he took my pictures and said the accountant is going to talk to me about the price and stuff. I said I do have questions to ask you. He said well, we use drains, we use pain pumps, I am board certified and blah blah blah. I’ve said well, I am going to ask you about down time because I have 3 little ones at home and I don’t have family around; however, my mom is going to fly in to help me out. Also I am going to ask if you ever done this to a lap band patients. I want to talk about my scars too since I healed slow and tend to get keloids, I just want to know how to prevent it. Well, he quickly said, I don’t have to pull your muscles in if you wanna heal quickly. I said No..you do the best you can and I will find a way to arrange someone to watch my kids. Then the next question he said yeah I did a lot on weight loss surgery patient. Then he said ok, let me know when you at goal, so we can set the date. This all happen in less than 20 mins and I paid him $150. I have still has a lot of questions unanswered, so I was disappointed. I think he overbooked though since they are at least 10 patients in the waiting room. Oh well, I have another consults on Feb 1st, we’ll see how that one does. BTW, the total price for arms and tummy is $10,000 (outpatient, no overnight in the hospital). If I want my legs done later it will be $4,500. If I want all 3 done at the same time, I have to stay overnight at the hospital and it will cost me a lot more.

Hi Mandyrae. Thanks so much for your advice. I didn't know Carnation Instant Breakfast caused so much gas. Yes, I am excited that I'll be banded in just 1 and 1/2 weeks after a really really long wait. But you'll be banded a week before me - 9/10! Let me know how it goes. Best of luck with your surgery!

Yikes! I am behind. I am going to have to taper way back, from the 25th (today) to the 29th I'd like to pledge 10 points (twenty minutes of exercise daily.) Thank you so much for keeping this going Bookleen! What are you doing for your exercise and how is it working for you? I ordered a couple dvd's and have a big living room that we never use so I'm going to take it over as my gym!

Between my surgery date and 1 month post op appt I lost about 10 pounds. I was just starting to eat regular foods. On my one month bandiversary we went to an amusement park and ate a raw carrot. I didnt chew well and slimed like crazy. I have not eaten a raw carrot since, even though i know my lack of chewing caused it. Lol. I was just starting to get my energy level back. J Banded 9/22

Hi BeBopp. If you aren't SURE, you probably should keep thinking about this. The band is wonderful, fabulous and incredible - however, it will only work if you are committed to working with it. For instance - the band keeps me from wolfing my food - but so far it hasn't stopped me from eating any particular food. Some folks can't eat bread, or french fries - but I can still eat it all. Can I eat a LOT of anything? You know, if I eat slowly enough and really concentrate, I CAN actually eat a pretty good amount of food. But notice that I have to concentrate and work at eating too much. Who the heck does that? Plus - after over 10 mos of eating much less - my idea of what A LOT means has changed significantly. A LOT of pizza used to mean 4-5 slices of pan/deep dish pie. Now, A LOT of pizza means 2 slices of thin crust. When I am good, the band helps me be VERY VERY good. When I am bad, the band keeps me from being Horrid. I live a pretty normal life, and eat pretty normal foods. When I do that, I don't lose much and I don't lose fast... but I do actually keep losing. When I focus on eating better, when I drag myself into the gym, I lose faster. So, I get to live a VERY normal life. I don't have to obsess every moment of every day to lose the weight. (Been there, done that!) I don't have to eat only parsley & pine nuts for 3 meals a day. I don't have to buy tasteless pre-packaged foods that I hate. I don't have to go to meetings everyweek and get harrangued if I haven't lost weight. All I have to do is eat Protein first, then veggies, then carbs if there is room... Drink as much Water as I can stand... and chew my food REALLY well. That's it. Nobody even notices that I am on any particular plan. I get to join in on company lunches and parties. If I want a cookie - I CAN have one without dire physical consequences. And still, I lose a few pounds a month. More if I am eating right and exercising. What more could anyone ask? As to Why you need to be SURE - The band won't stop chocolate. I have to consciously choose not to bathe in the stuff every day. Cause then I really wouldn't lose any weight. The band cannot stop Starbucks. God, I love those Carmel Macchiatos - but 400-500 calories at a whack does NOT help the weightloss process. I still have to choose when and if I will eat real ice cream, pudding or candy. I know that if I eat those things all the time, I will be right back where I was before. So, I choose to work with my band every time I eat lean chicken instead of chips and Queso. Be SURE before you get this done. It is surgery, there is healing involved and the pre-op and post-op liquid diet stuff sucks. If you can handle all of the above - if you are really ready to lose the weight and keep it off - then I think the band can work for you... or for anybody. Good luck in your deliberating.