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WOW I need to borrow some of your excitment. I lost mine along the way but I am looking for it. Kari sounds like she is a great drill sgt. I'm sure she is just as proud to have you as a trainee. You are doing GREAT!! Yes your parents will notice your weight loss because you are going to have all the energy and confidence. I know they will see it in your face and neck first.

I was banded on 8/13/07 and then re-banded on 8/17/07 due to slippage and herniation. I didn't have any complications after that except starting my fills later than most people do. Since about the end of this September (2008) I've been experiencing some vomiting after eating. This was attributed (by my dietitian and surgeon) to not chewing well enough and eating too fast. I took the advice to chew better and slow down. The vomiting was almost instant and the relief was as well. I'm sure that some of you know that feeling of relief when the food isn't stuck anymore. This past week, I had a BAD experience with lunch and was vomiting for almost an hour after only eating a couple of bites of my lunch. It hurt-I had pains in my stomach that I had never had before and I've never vomited more than once after eating a meal and this time it was 3 times. In between vomiting, I had these awful sharp pains that traveled from my stomach up my esophagus and then nothing happened, and I would get another one that started in my stomach and traveled up. I had never experienced this much pain from vomiting before. I was scared, because of my complications so early on-that I decided to contact my surgeon's office. They again said it was from not chewing well enough and/or eating too fast. (This was food that I had tolerated before and not had any problems before that day) They told me to do Clear liquids the rest of the day and if I couldn't keep anything else down or got the sharp pains in my stomach again, that I would need to go to the Emergency room of the hospital that she is in-which is 2 hours from where I live. Luckily, I was able to keep some Soup down for dinner and avoided exercising for the night, just to let my body settle down. The soup made me sick to my stomach, but I think my stomach was just sensitive from the vomiting earlier that day. So needless to say, I didn't have to make the 2 hour trip to the ER. Well, this past weekend, it happened again. I had dinner on Saturday night (leftovers from dinner on Friday night, that I had tolerated fine on Friday night) and this time I had the same thing happen- I felt sick for about 10 minutes before I finally threw it up, then still felt like I needed to vomit again. This time I vomited twice, and it hurt again. The pains in my stomach weren't nearly as bad as they had been during the week when I got sick, but I still felt like it hurt more than it should have. Now I am having pain/discomfort/pressure in my port area. Sometimes I experience discomfort just because it's there and sometimes it's when I'm exercising. I had a fill on 10/14/08 and now have 2.5ccs in a 4cc band. So I am a little over half full. I still don't feel like I am all that restricted, although I have lost quite a bit of weight since surgery (although I am discouraged by losing weight slowly and wish I could lose more) The prospect of needing an "unfill" has come up, but I feel like it's counterproductive to my weight loss. I have to drive 2 hours for everything and I don't want to drive up there again to get Fluid taken out of my band- it's discouraging to think that might be a possibility. Soooo, basically- I am kind of worried because I'm afraid that my band might slip again, or might be slipping, or eroding-or some other BAD thing. I don't think my surgeon would do another band on me, and the idea of having to have surgery again is UNTHINKABLE! I had such a hard time having it twice in one week, I don't think I could do it again. Has ANYONE out there experienced anything like this? To be vomiting at this stage in the game is frustrating because you think it's something would deal with in the beginning-not over a year out. And does anyone know if a band will slip suddenly, or can is slowly slip until it's completely slipped? I know what signs to look for-because I had a slip before and it was absolutely awful. It was right after surgery, so I thought the pain and stuff was normal, until I started to vomit blood-that's when I knew something was wrong. I haven't vomited blood this time, but I'm just paranoid about this. Does anyone have anything for me? Trying to be patient and positive about this...

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.

I got MyFitnessPal right after my surgery and hated it. I can't really remember why. I got it again after reading the post yesterday and find it helpful. I guess I want it to read my weight on the main page but that's not a big deal.

@@MattLAustin Dr.'s have their differences in where they place the port. I'm not sure why but maybe just preference. Mine is on the left side just under the rib. I can't measure between incision sites b/c as you lose weight and your body changes the site of your scar moves from where the port is sewn to the muscle under the skin. After surgery my port site was the most annoying pain, so if your not feeling it don't sweat it your Dr. will know where to find it Congrats on the surgery and welcome to Bandland!

I think you're on the right track! I can't say it never happens (how would I know?) but I have yet to read about people who follow their surgeon's plan to the letter and don't have success with this procedure. In my own past experience, I lost a great deal of weight and became over confident that I was "fixed" and could eat the things my naturally thin friends were eating. Foods crept back into, and it became harder and harder to stick with the diet that had allowed me to drop the weight in the first place. Foods crept back in, and weight crept back on and before long, I was back to square 1. I keep reminding myself that I will never be metabolically "normal", no matter how much weight I lose. I will always have to avoid starches and sweets to keep my weight down, sleeve or no sleeve. The difference (I'm hoping) is that the restriction in my sleeve will keep any transgressions to a minimum and 1 meal will not sabotage a week of religious adherence to my diet. Best of luck to you!

Hello all. my name is morgan (obviously). I'm 29 years old. Diabetic, PCOS, high blood pressure.. Everything fun of course. I have Kaiser and did the 12weeks Options class over the summer and ended at the end of September. Last Tuesday, October 28th I had my consult appt with my surgeon, and he surprisingly had a cancellation and was able to fit me in on November 4th. Talk about nerveracking . soo quick. I started at 256 at the beginning of my options classes, did Protein shakes for a week to drop weight and ended up being 242 by the end of the classes. I made my appt for last Tuesday on the previous Friday and wanted to make sure I was still 242 a because if he saw in gained weight, I'm sure he wouldn't have been okay with soing the surgery. I ends up being exactly 242 on my consult say, and then 239/240 on my surgery day. I went into the hospital at 8:30, surgery WS at 10:40am and I was in recovery by 12. I was so out of it I slept most of the day/night. I stopped taking any morphine because it made me so drowsy by 5. I barely used any which everyone was impressed with. I toughened it out for sure. I woke up at 4 this morning and decided to walk around like they want you to do. Did a few laps around the floor then rested a bit until my mom got there. Did some more laps. My doctor came and checked on me at around 830/9 and said I looked fantastic but he didn't want to send me home with my blood sugars so high. They were @ 188 when I came in, 330 (the highest it has ever been) at 10pm on Tuesday night then 303 at 130 am on Wednesday, after they pumped me full of insulin to lower. The surgeon then decided the only way I'd be able to leave was to get my sugars down, they then changed my IV to saline (the one had glucose in it), by noon it was 165 and by 1 the Dr came in and was pleased and had me discharged. All in all, my blood sugar gone down as well as my blood pressure, its in the normal zone. It boggles my mind. Ice tried so hard using diet exercise and medication and still no real change. I'm so happy I went through with this. I never realized how much I use my stomach muscles though. I'm in a bit of pain. Getting in and out of bed is no pleasant time, same with coughing (due to the tube down my throat) or even laughing. Tmi. But i have been super gassy since the surgery and am wondering if thats where most of my pain and discomfort is coming from. But I'm happy though I was only at the hospital for a little over 24 hrs, esp when I thought I'd at least be sleeping there for another day at least. My mom had lapband then removed it, waited a year and got the sleeve. She told me not to be surprised about gaining weight while in the hospital due to all the liquids and what not. Luckily, as soon as I got home, I peed and then weighed myself. Super surprised that I still weigh 239. So here is to my new journey, of hopefully no longer being diabetic, having hypertension, no longer having PCOS, hopefully being able to have children! And living a much longer and fulfilling life. Good luck to everyone that is starting this journey and people that continue on. Morgan

@@tamg26k thanks so much! I find myself hoppin onto the scale at least every other day. What I've noticed is that most people from what I've read have gained weight from surgery by the time they were discharged. Probably because of all the IV fluids and whet not. I actually lost a pound, so I haven't minded looking on the scale. I was super nervous getting on it as soon as I got home, but obviously pleasantly surprised. Luckily it's a bit difficult for me to bend over right now because of the pain, so I haven't been addicted to the scale. Lol

@@MBM1Forever I live in southern California. Did the 12 weeks options class, called then right after n was like I'm done with everything! Had to lose weight, bring my blood sugar down under 8, and lower my blood pressure. Then they referred me, my consult was going to be November 28 unless there was a cancellation, the surgery ppl called me at the end of the day the Friday before my consult and said there was a cancellation, so my consult was on oct. 28..then the Dr told me there was a cancellation in his books n November 4th was it. It came so fast! I think it was meant to be, because if it wasn't that, then it would have been in December.

Are you well enough to start exercise? That should help. I gained 8 pounds from surgery alone...That was a unwelcome sight. But I guess through all the stages our body must adjust to the changes too. I'm sure your 1.5 pounds will drop off plus some as long as you stay within your calorie range and slowly increse activity and excersise. Keep on Truckin...

Yep, you gotta do both, for sure. As far as doing cardio or lifting first...there are many schools of thought...none of which are any more compelling (to me) than the other. Do what you prefer so that you always get through both. Personally, I don't do them in the same session. But when I used to, I always did cardio last, because if I did it first I would never make it to the weight room!

I take a nexium before bed. Also recently started taking 1 tbsp of organic apple cider in a large glass of Water, first thing in the morning with all my meds and supplements. The organic apple cider (has to be organic with the "mother" little floaties in it) helps replenish the good flora and fauna in your gut. It's an old-fashioned remedy but it has definitely helped calm down my reflux issues. pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4; 12 weeks post-op 274; 4 month post-op 266.2

I worked really hard to change my eating before the surgery. I am scheduled for October 14th. I started the process in April and there are many requirements with my doctor including losing 10% of your body weight before surgery. For me that was 28 pounds. As of now, I have lost 30. So I have been eating more fruits and veggies, less snacks. I have also cut out soda as you cannot have that after surgery. That was most difficult for me as I love diet pepsi. The first week was hard, I actually had headaches from the cafeine withdrawl but it has gotten better. When I started the process, I had to attend an orientation session and they stated "Live your life today as if you have had the surgery". I found that to be a very powerful statement and have tried to follow it. I have hit bumps along the way but I feel that I am prepared and ready for my surgery.

I'm six weeks post op and have been at a weight stall for almost two weeks. I'm getting my proton and water intake but my calories per day have been low. Exercising is hard because I get weak So I'm unable to do as much as I did pre surgery. how can I get this stall over and done with? Help

You've lost weight really fast! How have you been doing it?

I did this neat graph to show my surgeon when I went for my 4-month post-op appointment yesterday. It's interesting to see how my weight bounced around between my surgery date of Mar 20th and the date of my first fill (May 15th) at which point it starts a consistent descent. Not sure what happened on June 24th (there's a small peak at that point) but otherwise, I'm pleased. I'm getting a second fill next month and I'm sure the line will keep moving downward, perhaps even faster!

Lois, those two hot guys were my wonderful sons, the old bald headed geezer is my hubby. It was a surprise 40th anniversary party for me. It was a wonderful night, funny thing is, had I not lost the weight, I probably wouldn't have left the house. I love my band :wink2:

I will share what I have heard on other LBTalk threads about hair loss. Several have said their docs attribute hair loss to not eating enough Protein. Another said her hairdresser believes it is because you may not be getting enough fat in your diet. Try adding protein, and be sure you are getting healthy fats - like olive oil, canola oil - in your daily diet. It does not take a lot, but you need some fat. Avocados and nuts are a good source of healthy fat, plus the avocado has Fiber, and nuts have both fiber and protein, along with the healthy fats. Keep the nuts to around an ounce or so. I usually have a few every evening as a snack, but you could also add chopped nuts to yogurt or fruit. I was banded in December and have not yet had a hair loss issue (may be a little early for that). Try not to worry about the speed at which you lose weight. Easier said than done! I keep reminding myself this band is not going anywhere, I am on a downward path, and if it takes a little longer than I like - it's still going toward the goal of a lighter and healthier me. Eat lots of protein (slow losers who have been successful recommend that), eat healthy and exercise. You will make it to goal... Carol - try tracking your food intake in a journal or on fitday.com or dailyplate.com. If you are not getting enough to eat your body believes you are starving and becomes extremely efficient at saving every fat cell you have ever owned to prevent starvation. Ask your doctor, but I believe you should be getting at least 800-1100 calories a day, mostly protein, then vegies/fruit, and "white" carbs like potatoes or rice seldom. This is what my doctor recommends - check to see what your doctor says... Good luck!

i just got home from the hospital, i was banded on May 26 2009 at Tucson Medical Center by Dr. Monte Schwartz. at my preop oriantaion i weighted in at 410 pounds, i have not weighted my self since then, but i have notice quite a change already, i will be receiving my first fill on Monday June 1, any suggestions or support is really appreciated, thanks everyone.

I've had very good luck with the band, having lost 100 pounds. Had a revision 18 months ago. Band slipped. I think the PA over filled it. This band has given more trouble than first, nausea, vomiting. Never heartburn, though. Nevertheless, tests indicate Barretts esophagus. Doctor prescribed a proton pump inhibitor, which helps a lot. Have learned that I have a structure l(auto correct won't let me type s t r I c t u r e, insisting that it is structure) at bottom of esophagus. Won't know more until G I guy returns from vacation in Feb. Fear he'll say band must come out and I'll gain 110 pounds.

Welcome Kim and Kelkie, glad to see you joined us and more glad to hear you have changed your mind from the band to the sleeve. . . you'll really be glad you did, once you get used to it. . . it's a strange little thing, but sure does work well. . . I've lost 53 lbs (more now i'm sure) in 7 weeks, and am going on 9 weeks post op. . .i don't weigh myself at all except for at the doctor appt's. . . the reason is that i hear about all these "stalls" I don't want to get upset, depressed or obssessed with my weight loss, so i just threw away my scale the day i came home from surgery and make due with the doctor visits and the clothes changes. . . i've come from 4X uniforms to 2X uniforms which are now becoming loose as well. . . but good luck to you with your surgery and the best with your journey!:confused1:

GOOD LUCK! I'll be thinking about ya tomorrow, I go on Jan 16th. I've sure learned something on this 10-day LowCarb liquid diet, seems like the weight is melting off of me. I'm barely taking any medicine for diabetes because my bloodsugar is almost normal, haven't seen that for years. Jan 16th will be banded by Dr. Cook at Frye Medical in North Carolina

Looks as thought your post got doubled...here is my response from the other: Thank you for having the courage to post here. It must have been hard to do so. YOU are not a failure. You have been through some things. It is time to make yourself a priority again. You did NOT gain all the weight back, that is GREAT. I am sorry to read of the loss of your baby. Depression is a horrible disease, but there is help for it. Seek out medical attention for it. That can help you with your band jorney as well. Then get to your band surgeon and get it all checked out. Get a fill if needed. Go back to band rules eating. Best wishes to you.

Are you able to get to your Protein goals given your change in diet? 1 gram of protein for every inch you are tall minimum. If you are getting protein and your Water requirements you are simply moving to the toughest part. Weight loss does in fact slow way down for most of us. I can tell you after I hit month 6, I was maybe losing between 7 and 10lbs per month. Now, 21 lbs from goal I am losing about 5 lbs per month. You may not be getting enough calories at this point. I know that I had to increase my intake to 1000 calories at about 7 months and then I started to lose again. You definately do not want to eat less, that doesn't help and in fact weight loss can stall. Your body becomes too used to that lower calorie count. Have you talked to your nut? They might also tell you to add an additional 100 or 200 protein rich, carb light food.

I haven't tried the K20, but if you are looking for a real bang for your protein buck, Worldwide Protein Shakes are great. They have 35g of protein, 1g sugar, 3g carbs, 1g fat (0.5g sat/fat)and 160 to 170 calories. It comes in Chocolate Cream, Vanilla Cream, Strawberry Cream, Banana Cream, and Cookies 'n Cream (tastes like Oreos). They are sold in Vitamin Shoppe for $2.75 individually and $27.99 for a 12 pack which is about $2.33 each. Worldwide calls it a protein supplement, and says not for use in weight reduction, but I have been drinking them for over a year (I saw a link here once to Brigham Womens Hospital Bariatric Program, and these shakes were on their list of protein drinks for patients). They also come in 29g drinks but I have only seen them at Trader Joe in Vanilla and Chocolate. They were $1.69, and the Vanilla and Chocolate 35's were $2.29. GNC has the 35s in Vanilla and Chocolate but they are $2.99 a can. Vitamin Shoppe (and GNC) also sell them online and sometimes you can get a free shipping deal depending on how much you buy. I really like them.