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There was this chinese restaurant in Boulder Co that had some kind of special where if you bring in 8 or more people, order this house special, they would start bringing out platters of food. Each platter was different. They would keep bringing different platters out until we didn't finish one. Then the party was over. I just recall eating from 7-10 different platters plus a mound of rice and Soup. OMG, it was so good but I remember going home and could hardly breath. And I was thin at that time. Probably close to my goal weight now. Oh, the good ole days. tmf

My insecurities may seem a little silly but I've never had surgery before and I just don't know what to expect. What happens the moment you arrive and until the moment you leave? Am I the only one embarrassed about my weight and afraid to get be nude in front of a group of strangers? Your input would greatly be appreciated.

I was sleeved on march 4th and lost 11 pounds 1 week post surgery. Since then I have only lost 3lbs. I follow my diet and get as much water as I can. The only thing is that I am NOT getting the 70 80 grams of protein that I should be getting a day. The only protein I'm getting is from my food I am NOT taking any protein drinks because they seem to make me very sick and I'm not sure if this is contributing to the lack of weight loss. Has anyone else had any of these types of problems?

By 'call the doctor' do you mean to schedule another fill? I think most wait about 3 wks between fills in the beginning. If you mean call him because you are hungry, there's nothing he can do about that....only you can handle that. This is the hardest time for a bandster.....the time between surgery and the time the restriction begins....which may take 2-3 fills...the first one rarely does anything for you but it's necessary to work up gradually. So in the meantime you have to be in charge of your life and your body and your future and eat right. By eating right I mean 1) getting in enough Protein (80-100 gr/day)....I hope you are using a good quality supplement that you like. 2)eating your protein food first ....beans, meat, eggs, etc 3) eliminating all white carbs (pasta, potatoes, corn, rice, bread)....this will keep your blood sugar on an even keel and keep the 'starving' feeling from haunting you 4) drinking at least 64 oz of liquids a day. Those eating guidelines will help control your hunger and will start the weight loss process while you are waiting for the 'band' to go to work. And if you will stay with those guidelines afterward you'll lose much faster. Best wishes and stay strong!!!

Saturday I walked down the aisle at my son's wedding in a dress that made me feel FABULOUS--one I never dreamed I'd be able to wear. I never even made it to the buffet--couldn't tell you what was on it because I was too busy dancing.....for four and a half hours to be exact. Six years ago I would have made a beeline to the food and pretty much camped out near that table. The caterer allowed me to take my meal from the rehearsal dinner home with me in spite of it being a buffet, since I knew the stress of hostessing the party would probably keep me from being able to get much through the band. I assured her that I would fill my plate only once with a reasonable amount of food.....I got THREE meals off of it! Six years ago I would have eaten every bite and gone back for more. I am constantly amazed at how much food I was able to consume in one meal before the band compared to the actually nutritional needs of my body. Yesterday I celebrated my 55th birthday and because of the gift that Dr. Michael King gave to me in the Lap Band, I felt like it could have been my 21rst! I was banded in April of 2007. I remember feeling so fearful that, like so many things I had already tried, it was not going to work, I was simply destined to be obese for the rest of what would be a very shortened life due to the extra weight and the effect it was having on my body. My weight loss has been VERY slow and steady, but because of that, I have not had the issues of sagging skin and sunken eyes and it has truly become a change in my attitude towards food instead of simply a "diet" to lose the weight. I have gone from almost a size 26 to an 18. It is a really awesome problem to have to buy new clothes because you can't find yourself in the old ones anymore! This last shopping trip actually found me in the "regular" sized clothes for the first time in...well, since I can remember. I have exercised since before the lapband and because of the weight loss I am now able to walk 4 miles 2-3 times a week. I do a circuit workout with weights at a local wellness center 1-2 times a week. Before the weight loss, I struggled to walk a mile. Now, I look forward to the walking and the workouts because they make me feel so good. When I began walking 4 miles instead of doing the stairmaster for an hour, the inches began to fall off. Not sure what the difference is, but for me the walking has been much more effective. I had to ask myself....how badly do you REALLY want this? Bad enough to make the exercise a new habit? Bad enough to get off the couch; put down the potato chips and Cookies and get moving, even if it means waking up a bit earlier or getting out and walking after a long day? My answer, a resounding "YES". I have found that keeping my hands busy is one of the ways I have learned to overcome the temptation to graze in the kitchen. Reading a book, which is an activity I enjoy, is not effective since I can still hold the book and manage to hold whatever food is the binge-of-the-day. I do needlework, sew, knit, crochet, work a jigsaw puzzle, do a scrapbook page or a number of other activities when I am tempted to mindlessly eat. Some days I have to just put on my tennis shoes and take a walk to put as much distance between me and the kitchen as possible. I hope this encourages you. The lapband has not been a magic fix, rather a tool that has helped me in re-learning how to nourish my body the way it was meant to be. I still have days when I find myself falling into the behavior that caused me to become obese in the first place. It is very easy to sabotage my own efforts and "outeat" the band, but now that I have come this far and have experienced the "high" of feeling normal again, I am able to use that as my motivation to stop the mindless eating. I pray that you will find that "high" as well.

Exactly.....don't be so hard on yourself. Look how far you have lost!! And everything you've overcome. You know why you gained the weight, you know how to change it. Don't let it get any further, get it under control now. So proud of you!!!

I always thought I wouldn't either until the band became useless in my body and I had to pull out plan B. I know none of the bandsters who eroded were happy to have their stomachs cut through. Most of us who are obese have a stomach that is incredibly stretched out. When they removed part of it (which I'd rather have than have a blind stomach (RNY) hanging out there that anything can happen to, and can't be scoped) all they really did was make it a normal skinny person size. (Not trying to convince you or the like, just something for anyone who feels this way to think about). I don't know much about ounces, but I know I can eat a lunch size lean cuisine, or a whole pb&J, or about a 4 inch sub, more than when I was banded, and I feel genuinely full. In the end, I'm happy, and thats what really matters to each of us. It is wonderful to have choices, especially when your first when didn't work out. I'd venture to say that the plastic surgery issue isn't the whole reason you choose banding over bypass...and honestly when I had lost 105 pounds with the band I had the same amount of loose skin as I have now, with a 105 lb bypass loss. Experts still fight over if slow vs. fast weight loss has anything to do with it. Back to the original topic.....Sorry for the HIJACK!

I was banded march 2012. I am down almost 90 lbs. I had a fill in January that put me in the red zone. They removed the fill. I was ok at my February appointment and didn't need or want a fill. Last month, I felt I needed an adjustment (since ice been on a plateau since January). They gave me .2, I can't tolerate anything more than that. Anything more takes me right in the red. Anyways,,,, I've always been tight in the morning, coffee is my morning beverage of choice always. I have trouble with tiny tiny sips for about the first 2 hours in awake. About 4 hours after I'm awake, I can comfortable eat oatmeal and nothing else. Breakfast is usually about 10 am. lunch comes at noon and usually I can eat my lunchtime meal. After lunch my band is really open and I'm totally in the yellow zone and constantly hungry till about 6 pm. About that time, I'm in that wonderful green zone. I tighten up almost immediately as soon as I lay down. My first and second meal have to stay on schedule... If I don't have my lunch on time, it's Soup the rest of the day or I have to start over with oatmeal. If I go more than a few hours without eating... I close up. I've never had symptoms of being too tight. Besides the over restricted, nothing is getting through this baby bandster hell. No night cough, reflux, weight gain... Nothing. At my last appointment last week, they did a swallow, due to my appointment, I skipped my noon meal and of course I was over restricted. The barium was sitting right on top of my band. I had a tiny bit of dilation but not enough to warrant a complete unfill or even a partial unfill which shocked me. She put me on the 2/2 as if I had a fill and said to come back if I had anymore problems. Before being banded, I had really bad reflux. Once I was banded it completely disappeared. There was NO hiatal hernia repair either. There are times I feel burning around my band, but nothing like the reflux I experienced post-banding. I'm finally losing again, being 4 lbs the last month! Not much, but so glad I'm on the losers bench again. Has anyone ever experienced this kind of fluctuation between zones? What have your experiences been? Mine are: No more than .2 at a fill 2-4 weeks before I'm adjusted to the fill Extreme morning restriction If I lay down more than 5 minutes, I'm super tight. After 30 minutes... It's as if I'm at my morning tightness. I have to eat on schedule Any recommendations? It's really hard to keep a newborn eating schedule and I live in constant fear of eating! As long as I stick to my schedule, the PBing is maybe 4-6 times a week. Thanks for any input!

I'm a newbie, but have to say that it seems to me you are doing exactly what you should be. You are losing weight and keeping fluids down. The only issue in my mind is the PBing. But it sounds like you are already aware of the dangers there. Hope you get some replies to this. Very interesting post. That amount of fluctuation does sound extreme compared to other posts in this forum... But, it seems like anatomies can vary significantly.

I have only had mine for 6 months but I am very happy with mine. I have gone from a size 20 to a size 4. But I only had 80lbs to lose. From what I'm told if you have 100 or more to lose you should go with the VSG. The main thing you have to remember every WLS is only as good as you take care of it. There are ways to eat more than 3 oz if you really want to with the super sleeve and vsg. I wish I hadn't read how ppl do it so I'm not going to share but I'm still losing weight even though I'm not doing a strict diet anymore. I lost my weight faster than most since I gav up bread and pasta for five months. I knew I needed protien so used my space to eat meat instead of carbs.

I am scheduled to have the surgery on the 15th of February with Dr. Ortiz and I am just wondering if anyone has any regrets after having this surgery. It seems there are some people on here who aren't losing the weight with it and that concerns me some. I am curious how much weight loss people are experiencing 6-12 months out.

Olivia, I just wanted to let you know that if you go onto Dr. Ortiz's website he has some links to the Brazilian studies that were done with the plication. I believe there are also some Greek and Iranian studies done. In addition the plication is being performed now in the U.S. under clinical trials by Dr. Ponce in Georgia. Personal stories are important too and I hope some people will share their own experiences. Here is some information from one of the studies: Results: TGVP was performed in 100 cases (mean age, 32; standard error of the mean = 2.1); mostly female (F/M = 76/24) and with average body mass index of 47 (36–58). The mean weight loss in our patients was 21.4% of excessive weight loss (EWL) 1 month after the operation, 54% after 6 months (72 cases), 61% after 12 months (56 cases), 60% after 24 months (50 cases), and 57% after 36 months (11 cases). The average time of follow-up was 18 months. The mean time of operation was 98 (70–152) minutes and all of the patients were discharged from the hospital after an average of 1.3 days (range, 1–4). The volume of the stomach in this condition was 100 cc, but just one half of it was effective. Conclusions: The percentage of excessive weight loss (EWL) in this technique is comparable to other restrictive methods, but EWL appears more rapidly. Early postoperative complications of this method are minimal, without any important late complications. This technique needs more expertise and is more time consuming. A long-term follow-up is advised.

Am I reading these stats correctly? Does this mean that at 36 months people were gaining weight since the percentage is going down? I have to admit these numbers aren't as great as I would like them to be

I used this website http://web4health.info/el/ed-dia-weight-ideal.htm and the fact that i have been 140-150 ump-teen years ago and felt healthy at that weight..

Long story short, I have a doc appointment today with my general doc (my lap band surgeon is in Louisville, KY, we are Army, I am in Watertown, NY) to see if she can give me a referral for my band. I had a baby 2 years ago and had my band completely unfilled when I got preggo. I had the baby :cool2: and the Army moved us to NY. 2 years later, I am having major chest pains, major restriction (remember, my band is empty), I am getting food stuck all the time now :blushing: Being that there is no local lap band doc, nor bariatric surgeons, I am looking at travelling 2 hours just to get in to see someone qualified to see what my problems are?! eeek:( The fact that I am unfilled and am getting stuck tells me there is something wrong! I don't know who to go to, who to ask to be referred to, ar anything! Anyone know who the next best surgeon would be to do an endoscopy or something?! Anyone know of an upstate, NY doc? Does this sound like a slip, or something else? I have been losing weight on my own- would that be causing the band to move around in there? Help, please Thanks in advance, karly

I have been thinking about having this done for quite some time and am now REALLY wanting to get on with it. I attend my first seminar on October 19th and then will be anxious to hear what my insurance (Aetna) will do. I have my doctor's full support, as I am dealing with many issues including Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and the usual. I've been overweight since childhood, parents putting me on medications by age of 10, and then done every diet known to woman, and then some. I've done many of the diets more than once, losing, only to gain back more than I lost. It's is so wonderful to come to this place and hear your wonderful success stories, hear your concerns and get the support, and have you ask the same questions as many of us have - and have them answered. Thank you to all of you who put in your time and effort to support and encourage me, us! Success and health to everyone on your venture and endeavor!

Oh man Darcey, I know if it was me, I would get the new band. Even with all my whinning and crying, pissing and moaning about how I'm not losing any weight, I would still get a new band. I would just know I was a slow loser.

Hello all, Most of you know my story, but for those who don't. Last year I refinanced my house to pay off bills and have money to pay for my lapband. I was banded December 21, 2004. Was thrilled with it, but had a little trouble because I seemed to be too tight a lot of the time. Then caught a nasty stomach virus that had me throwing up violently and it shoved my band down around the middle of my stomach. Had to make a trip to my wonderful doctor in Mexico and he ended up having to remove it (port and all). He said if I wish to get rebanded I would have to wait about 6 months. Well...that was 3 months ago and I miss my band terribly. Anyway, I am planning to be rebanded hopefully at the end of January 2006. I've even taken out another loan and am stashing it away in preparation. Going more in debt scares me and I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. But then again...my band was the one thing I've done for myself ever. It gave me control, hope and I felt good about the direction I was going. Now, I find myself out of control (eating and weight gain) and feeling panicky. But I'm also afraid I'll have problems again although my plan is to take fills very cautiously and slow. Thoughts and suggestions anyone? Thank you!

My sister sent me this website FitDay.com to look at. It tracks your food, activity, goals, etc. You can also purchase the software for $20 which is more indepth. Just wondering if anyone has used it and does it work good for you?

Think of it as a blessing is disguise. scales are probably one of our worst enemies. When I use mine, I have to weigh 3 times, disregard the first number, and average the last two. The first time will always weigh me about 8 lbs over, or 8 lbs under. I guess it needs to warm up first or something. The next two weights are normally within 2 lbs of each other, and usually get me within 2 lbs of the doctor's scale.

Yes I gained at each stage but I quickly adjusted within about a week and started losing again

Hey everyone! I'm new to this board, but I have a feeling I'll be around for a while! It has been fun (as well as educational) reading all of your posts! I can't wait until I can have my own BMI/Weight Loss thermometer!!! I have my first appointment with my surgeon on Monday! I'm so excited I can barely stand it! I have already gone through the required seminar, and the pre-screening for my insurance. I'm just ready to get this done!!! Congrats to all of those that have lost, good luck to all of those that are beginning their journey! Looking forward to sharing my adventures with you!!

Since I discovered what I weigh (at the time of my surgery) I weigh daily. It's my reality check. I have never gained more than 3# or so and I credit that to weighing daily. If I am gaining I stop and think about my food choices, are they salty, am I retaining water, or did I just eat too much of what I shouldn't. It kept me on track and still does.

It's like a kid at Christmas....just a peek. I weigh the same time every morning, in the same spot, wearing my same pj's...I do wash them. I'm in the KNOW of what's going on with me and I like that. Others don't need the scale...and that's fine for them. Wish I could do that...but being 136 just 2 years ago, I stopped weighing myself every day. So when I week or so would go by and I gained a pound... "oh, it's just a pound"... well, a year went by of that and I was over 200 again! scales are my friend, my reality check. (oh, didn't notice clothing size changing as I was on a tropical island wearing skirts and tshirts every day... that elastic can fool you!)

:angry_smile:not happy that the weight is going back on I was down to 90kg and now back up to 137kg. Have had lots of tests done and they showed all ok now 3months later I went back for another fill as there was no restriction and my port was empty. Seeing surgeon on Friday and have already booked a theatre date for the 28th Feb will let you know how things go