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I am so happy finally the day has come. I started the journey February of this year. My insurance require a 6 month medical supervised weight loss program with my PCP. July 10 was my last month. I only had to so 5 because I first went about my weight was October 2013. My PCP office faxed everything to the surgeon office on Tuesday July 16. I was told that it would take about 2-3 wks before I knew it got approved from the insurance. Well I got a called Tuesday July 22 to tell me that it is approve my pre-op is schedule for July 30 and my surgery date is August 11. I have been waiting for this day it kinda a bitter sweet I'm excited and nervous at the same time. All I can say is Wow.

It's frustrating to have problems with hair loss. My hair started thinning drastically when I was around 19 years old, and it has remained very thin. My oldest daughter (26) has hair that is so thin that her scalp is very visible. We've never had any clear explanation. It has been suggested that ours is male pattern baldness associated with PCOS. There is also a very strong family tendency toward baldness--my younger brother was completely bald by the time he was 20. I hope your doctor will be able to help you find a solution. The surgery may exacerbate the problem, but it sounds like there are other underlying causes too. Hope you get to feeling better soon!

Katt, No i was not Protein deficient prior to surgery. Yes i was consuming large amounts of broccoli, but that was far from the only thing i ate. I consumed 10- yes ten- carbmaster yougurts (high protein, low carb) daily, which gave me 120 grams of protein, and i also ate almost 2000 calories in other food. Close to about 3000 calories a day and i had at least 200 grams of protein daily, so i know that i was not deficient in protein or any other nutrient. The hair loss started a few months ago i believe due to a loss of my period (gone since September), and which they could not find a cause for. I was far from nutritionally deprived, and had a BMI too high to cause absence of periods. I did see a OB-GYN and had tests performed, and they were still unable to determine the cause of it, or my hair loss. To this day it is still a mystery, and to this day i am still losing hair.

I'm 19 that is what my home scale says though I go to the doctor tomorrow and I'm for the first time going to look at my weight to know exactly what I weigh. Everyone tells me that, I just feel like I can't and I've tried which I know makes me sound like I'm giving up or lazy... I just don't know what else to do.

Hmmm... 10 lbs/month is 120 lbs in a year. I would say that you're doing very well. From what I researched, the first month many lose 20-30 lbs but after that it's 8 to 12 lbs per month. Of course it depends on a lot of things such as BMI, activity, what you eat... etc. You seem to be right on target.

My suggestion would be try to do a little each day. Maybe just 10 minuets a day. Work your way up to an hour a day. That seems like a lot in the beginning, but really, once you get into it, it isn't!!! I look forward to my workout everyday now and could not imagine saying that 6 months ago. I HATED EXERCISE!!! Once I put those shoes on and walk out the door, I am so glad that I did!!! The more you do, the more you want to do! It is so amazing when you really see how much you can do! And when you see the benefits you get from it, you WILL want to do more. Start with a 10 minute walk today and tomorrow and try to do more next week! One day at a time! Good luck! Kelly

OMG! Yo are AMAZING!! Do you have any before and after pics? You are such an inspiration! And I am sooo glad to see that you did it at the ripe ol age of 53! I'm 63. You are 10 years smarter than me. But it is never too late. Your life must be so totally different. Do you have your story somewhere? Supe congrats!! And thanks so much for being such an inspiration! Keep up the amazing work! You sound so casual-- was it a relatively "easy" journey for you? It has been for me so far-- but I still have a long way to go.

Hey Girl, Organic Peanut Butter. Its just ground up peanuts. Where I shop @ Winco Foods they have it reasonable in the bulk section. Lotsa Protein & no sugar. Carnation "sugar free" Instant Breakfast. Get the variety box which has vanilla, strawberry, malt chocolate and dark chocolate. Body Fortress whey Protein. It has 30 grams of protein per scoop. Type in the search box @ Walmart.com. You can purchase individual flavors, a 3 tub or 5 tub bundle. It is reasonable. And you can call the company and have coupns mailed to you. Also Instant or regular cream of wheat. They also come in flavors and meet the nutritional requirements for stage 2, 3, and 4. The Body Fortress whey protein powders are good and can be used with so many things. Make your own sugar free Jello and puddings. Sugar free Jello brand in the small boxes taste great. Make it with supermilk. Supermilk is 4 cups NF/Skim milk & one & 1/3 cups dry NF milk combined. These two combined bumps your milk protein up higher and can be added to lots of things like soups, puddings, jello, cream of wheat, cream of rice ect. The pre-made jello and pudding cups don't have the protein you need and are a waste of money compared to making your own with the supermilk recipe I gave you. I am 10 days post-op so I understand. Where I had my procedure done they are very good with nutritional education. I also did a lot of research prior and had purchased all my stage 2 groceries a couple of days before surgery. I really hope this helps. If you have any questions or do not understand anything message me. I don't mind helping you. God Bless, Lisa

Unless your at the max CC for your band you have not stretched it you just need a tune up aka adjustment. Your stomach gets used to the fill and your pouch also gets used to the amount so sometimes you can get it stretched but by tightening up your tool will make a difference on how you feel when you start to put the food in and it sits on top of the band......OUCH believe me the pain is what reminds me to slow down or just stop. You have really made a huge achomplishment by getting down to a 8-10 so 7 pounds is controlable and just hit the exercise and start your food journal and counting calories. I need to do the same as I am reaching my 2 year mark and still have 25 pounds to reach my goal. I too am frustrated about not making my goal yet but I have slacked off since the end of summer about going to the gym and getting my exercise in. It is very important not just lowering calories but working the calories off threw out the day. Hang in there because I know exactly how you feel. I need to go back to how I was when I first got my band and stop snacking and overeating now I know what my band can handle. I don't so much feel I need to be tighter just strictor with my food intake and get back to the gym!!!!!! Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys! I am waiting on my approval and will hopefully get in on April 21. I got my unjury stuff today so at least I'm prepared for my 10 day preop. How do you mix the chicken soup with water and cream of chicken. Equal parts?any way to jazz it up w/o the cream soup?

I thought I better start writing about this journey now so I don't forget. I had lap band surgery November 3, 2007. I actually lost about 60 pounds with the lapband at one point but gained most of the weight back. For the first four years of the lap band I was in constant flux. I dieted more in that four years than in the rest of my life. In December 2011 I was back up to 255 pounds. At that point I realized the lap band had failed me and I needed to consider other options. Through a long drawn out process I was accepted by my insurance company to get a revision to the Sleeve. On December 27 I decided to make a radical change in my lifestyle and eating. After confirming with my bariatric surgeon that I qualified for the revision I decided to become a raw foodist for the next five months. It was a very positive experience and I learned a great deal about health and nutrition. I have to say I read everything I could get my hands on regarding raw foodism, veganism, and the like. I finally understood what it is to make a very real lifestyle change. Understanding that eating processed, boxed, bagged food was not the answer, it finally dawned on me that what I was missing was the live enzymes of fresh fruits and vegetables that no one seems to think are important, or simply don't know that they're absolutely necessary and needed in the body. I watched quite a few documentaries and I'd like to recommend that you also consider watching these few. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead was the first documentary I watched; that became life-changing. Foodmatters, Food Inc., The Gerson Miracle, Burzynski, Forks over Knives, and The Beautiful Truth. Sorry more than I thought... Anyway I guess what I'm trying to elude to is that we've all had an eating problem to the point where we've had to have surgery once or twice and for some of us it is still escaping us as to how we can actually make a real change that will ultimately save us. So many times I have heard people say I could never give up sugar, coffee, meat, wheat, bacon, soda, etc... When I hear this I think then a lifestyle change for you is probably not something that is going to happen for you. How much do you truly want good health? Maybe it's time to start pushing yourself in new and different directions, maybe there is new and exciting information to be gleaned that will help you to a better and healthier you. For me being a 80-10-10 raw foodist wasn't for me. But I did adopt eating a high fresh fruit and raw vegetable diet into my new lifestyle. I have decided to include cold blooded sea creatures in my diet as well as cooked Beans and rice in moderation, but also to maintain a balanced healthful diet for me. Please understand I am writing this as much to myself for my own remembrance as I am sharing my experience with you. The day of surgery I weighed 204 lbs. Two days after surgery I weighed 213 lbs. that was disappointing but the Water weight gain from th IV was to be expected. Today is 7/1/2012 and I am at 202. So from December 27th 2011 to June 25th 2012 I lost 56 lbs. I am so excited about where I am going... God bless us and keep us! Mardee

I'm 10 days post op. As for me, this happened to me as well. I would say give it time. Mine went away within a week post op. Hope it helps.

Hello everyone my name is Jessica and I am sure that my story can relate to many others. I've been having my entire life coming from a family that is also very overweight and I wanted to make a difference in my life. I love being active and working out and trying to do different weightlifting and things like that but I found that because of my weight I would get injured often. I ended up getting a tear in my meniscus which sent me to physical therapy for an extended period of time and then occasionally it would still hurt when trying to work out on it. I realize that I really needed something to help me with the eating aspect of dieting and becoming healthier so that I could be able to work out and really be as active as I want to be! I actually looked into getting gastric bypass in the past and my insurance didn't cover it and at the time I do not have the funds to pay for it, So When it came to my attention that I would be able to get a surgery for weight loss and have it be covered by my insurance it was a breath of fresh air! I am also a preschool teacher and being so overweight I feel as if I am almost a bad role model for those students. It makes me sad to think that they look up to me so much and I should get healthy role model to them! I got married in April 2013 and one day we want to have children. I feel if I were to get pregnant now at a weight of 369 pounds that I would have complications with my pregnancy and it could not only hurt myself but also my future child! At first I decided on the sleeve procedure and then I went to a support group and I realize that a lot of the patients that had gotten the sleeve then went on to get the gastric bypass years later. I realized that perhaps just going straight for the gold and getting the bypass was the best option for me! I called my doctor the next day after researching it with my husband and I actually switched my procedure to gastric bypass weeks before my actual procedure! I have battled with weight gain and loss and self-esteem issues my entire life, and now I feel that I finally have a tool that can really help me to lose the weight and to keep it off and to be healthy and live a long, long life! When I started this journey with the preoperation diet on December 10 I weighed 368 pounds. On the day of surgery I weigh 347 pounds. At my doctors appointment after the surgery on December 26 I weighed 334 pounds! So I am down 34 pounds 10 days post-op and I'm feeling great! I am definitely looking forward to being cleared to exercise to help with the weight loss! I feel so great to a found a forum in which you can actually talk about all of the different things that you're going through during the process of weight loss surgery! So I'm very excited to get to know everyone and be able to answer any questions that I can personally answer ( although I am kind of a newbie at this point) but also to be able to ask those questions of you guys who have experienced what I am experiencing!!!!

Hey all, 9.5 days post op and fealing prety good. 19 lbs lost already! Here is my question for all of you; I started to introduce mushy foods today i.e. mashed potatos, pureed scrambled eggs, thinned out oatmeal ect. I am supposed to be on a liquid diet for three weeks but i sure am enjoying the mushies. What diets did your doctors have you guys on? when did you start eating pureed and mushy foods? When did you start eating solid foods? Looking forward to hearing from you.

ROFL ROFL ROFL what a subject!!! I can honestly say that the first week post-op I was Def NOT in the mood. I was bruised, sore, and I felt cut up!!! Now I am 10 post op and of coarse once you do """" then you will get back in the groove again. Whats weird is when your significant other see's a big weight loss. Its kind of nice to hear "wow honey your butt is getting smaller" :confused:

I was on gabapentin a couple of years ago and I would find myself eating large amounts of chocolate, like 10 to 20 Hershey kisses several times per day. As soon as I quit the drug this eating stopped. I also cried a lot on gabapentin (not usual for me at all). I think there are a lot of possible side effects with it. I'm 100% sure weight gain is one! Sent from my SM-N910T using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey everyone, I'm researching the Lap Band procedure and any info is appreciated. I do not have insurance, however, I have access to the fees it will take to get the procedure done, so anyone out there who also did not have insurance and you have any info, also appreciated!!! Please share with me your thoughts, your progress, your feelings...... I am 48 years old, and I am emotionally and physically drained. I can't go on at this weight I carry around. I isolate and avoid social situations, and of course this is why I have not enjoyed a relationship with a man for the last 10 years. I know this sounds silly, but I don't want to die alone. I have no children, the sense of loss and feelings of regret and time lost haunts me every day, and I need to, well, "get a life." I look forward to sharing with you....

Hi, I had my surgery on 5/22. I had to do clear liquids for the first week. I am now on the second week and I can have full liquids. Next week I can have soft foods for 1 week and then the next week I can eat whatever I want. I am eating a lot of the same foods as you and I feel fine as long as I don't eat too fast. I think you should be ok. Congrats on the 19 pounds!!

For those of you who drink a Protein shake in the am, how long does it hold you? Since my last fill I am tight and in the mornings I don't really feel like eating something solid, so I decided to give the Protein shakes another try. For the last two days I have drank the Slim Fast High Protein, it has 180 calories, 20 g of protein, 2g of carbs, 2 g of Fiber. The shake taste pretty good and it doesn't give me indigestion like other protein shakes have done so a plus plus. However, about 2 hours after I drink it I am hungry. I drink it around 7 am so by 9 I am starved, but I don't want to eat my snack (greek yogurt) until 10 so that will last until my lunch at 12:30-1. How do the shakes work for you?

I just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone....I just joined ! A little about me... I've always had a weight problem, but not as bad as the past 10-15 years. i had to always "watch" what I ate, or I would pack on the weight. I did have a "thin" period... Not a very long one.. but I was thin for a while... Then came a divorce and I had to care for my mother the past 15 years... I started really putting on the weight.. and then it felt so futile to even TRY to diet... Excercise?? What was that?? I felt work was all the excercise I needed.... I became so stationary... come home, get on the couch and that was it. I had been looking into weight loss the past 3 years, and I tried to file with my insurance each year thinking that they would improve, but no luck. then in Oct. of '08 I had to have a total knee replacement and I KNEW I had to do something. The surgery was a success.... but my weight was overwelming. I had no stamina... I could hardley walk to the mailbox without being winded. I had already been to a few seminars... and I finnaly made up my mind to try again. I went, and I talked with the doctor afterwards and asked how soon he could get me in being a "self pay", I explained I was already on a leave of absence and coudn't afford to lose any more time, he told me to call the office in the morning and tell them he said to schedule as soon as possible. I called and thy got me in to see him in 3 days! I went and we talked for almost 2 hours... and I decided to go with the VSG, Best decision of my life! That was Jan. 12th.... I had surgery Feb. 9th! I am 5 months post op... I started this with a weight of 354 the day of surgery and today I am 223.. a loss of 131 pounds! I still have over 60 pounds to make "goal" but I am so glad that i had this surgery, and it has deffinitly improved my quality of life! I still have my struggles, as I will be posting them tooo... but i just wanted to share my story and a bit about me.... I hope to make some friends here and to have a support group here as well... I don't have one close to attend to in my area...

I was told 10 - 14 llbs means you drop a dress size, but I think it really depends on your body structure and fat deposits etc. Congratulations on reaching GW !! Kate ps: I have lost 103 llbs and gone down 6 dress sizes. I have just had plastics and my weight might not change but my dress size may. Heres hoping

40, Dr. stated that there were reduced leak rates with a 40. Recovery has been relatively easy. 9 days out, 10 pounds down and getting all my water in, and 50 gms or protein (need more but ok for now). Hopefully that will help with less hairloss!

My activities for Wednesday 7/23/08 I started another BFL challenge on Monday, it is 84 days and I'm hoping it will get me back in the grove of exercising. Today was the lower body workout, I went to the gym and gave it my all. My knee just wouldn't let me do some of the stuff, and when I felt pain, I had to stop because I didn't want to damage it further. I was afraid pushing myself/my knee/ would cause a set back, so I held off on some of the stuff I wanted to do Quads - leg presses Hamstrings - lying leg extentions, straight leg dead lifts Calfs - calf raises Abs - ab crunches with 10 lb weights, and inclined sit ups Menu bfast - cottage cheese mixed with yogurt snack - 3 strawberries lunch - whole wheat tortia, 3 oz chicken breast and hot pace picante sauce snack - necterine dinner - 3/4 cup of pinto beans wt - didn't weigh, trying not to focus on the scales for the next couple of weeks and really focus on feeling better and exercise.

I'm 10 days out and that normal as swelling goes down..............