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Well I made it through the surgery and now wait to see when I can go home today . Initially the pain post-op was bad. It felt like someone was laying on my chest and kicked my side. After drugs and walking and a nap I started to feel better. I slept very little 2 to 4 hours at a time , hospitals are loud and bright! My throat was sore and my mouth was dry like the desert . I read the boards for support and review before and after pics to keep me inspired. I have a lot of weight to lose to reach goal and seeing that other sleevers have done it successfully makes me believe I can do it too, thank you!

Blualert-thank you for the support and good luck on your journey as well. I am 32 years old 5ft8in 285lbs. Because i'm tall everyone is like"you're not that big" I have hid it well for to long. I told my friend think of all the pregnancy related weight issues you have like not being able to put on socks or walk from the parking garage to work without getting winded. Sitting in the seats at disney on ice and they hurt you because you are so big. Having to take breaks shaving your legs because it is to hard. I look forward to being done with all of that. I am done being enslaved by this fat body.

I go to the gym 3 to 5 days a week, right now I am just on cardio, the eliptical but will be moving to weights this week.

I think it's important to note that, during the immediate postop phase when eating is so, so restricted, it is very common to feel obsessed with foods you cannot eat. With time, advancing diet, and restriction, this usually fades. I think it's wise to consider what you will do if it persists. A good therapist can be worth his/her weight in gold. But don't rush to judgment; your response is pretty typical for someone who has been placed on a very restricted diet.

Hi all. I am so happy to hear that others have had some weight gain immediately after surgery. I too was surprised to find I gained 6 pounds when I was only consumming about 500 calories each day in the form of clear liquids. I can see the swelling in my tummy so it must be there. I was banded on July 22, 08. I has been a fairly easy process so far. Good luck to all.

You'd think so... but you don't want to lose mobility while gaining muscle mass. You can end up losing mobility if you work out too much and don't stretch, since muscle building happens due to damage to the muscle (micro tears) you can actually reduce your mobility if you continue to build and not stretch. Stretching without building *might* cause the slack issue to increase, overall you just don't want to end up "too tight".

Goooood morning all. I was so scared prior to starting the pre-op diet (which I've started 2 weeks early) that there was no way I was going to be able to survive that phase without massive cheating from the start. I'm an all or nothing girl - I either don't cheat at all or I cheat big time. The last 10 years or so I have not been able to survive more than about half a day of any diet without cheating and I was terrified this would be true with this pre-op thing. This time I, with Lisa's help, applied the "Yes, I can" attitude and guess what - Despite my seriously jonesin' for some seriously bad food (especially the first three days), I'm on the fifth day of the pre-op diet and I'm I have not had one single bit of food that one would not classify as a healthy choice!! Not only am I surviving but I am feeling great. It is so much easier when you think this is the last time you're going to have to do this and you can see the finish line is just a few weeks away. I can't wait for the next official weigh in (never thought I'd say those words!!). I've decided my Thursday morning weight is going to be my official weight. I tend to weigh myself constantly (which I know is really not a good thing to do). The first two days were hell on earth - I was so hungry that I could eat a horse and then chase after the jockey! Also, I had shocking sugar withdrawal headaches that didn't go away despite me drinking litres of water and taking Panadol (Tylendol for US readers). Then, there's the crankiness - no one else was gonna have any fun if I wasn't having any!! I think having both Lise and I going through the same thing made it easier for both of us - one could help the other through their humps and provide encouragement to keep going. Also, as we're both fiercely competitive, one couldn't let herself lapse if the other one wasn't lapsing too. There were moments where each of us tried to cajole the other into giving into temptation but, fortunately for both of us, the two of us didn't feel the same way at the same time and one could always help steer the other toward the healthier choice. The only exception was last night where we both thought we should swap a shake for a very small serving of lamb (from a spit) and salads. Neither of us see this as a cheat. The calories are no worse than the shake and its a swap of protein for protein. Are we kidding ourselves?? If you've got an opinion, please let us know. To distract ourselves, we're going out a lot - we went to the movies on Thursday night, we took our gorgeous two-year old nephew to the park on Sat arvo and then we played poker at the fabulous poker room at Melbourne's Crown Casino on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (which ended up a profitable exercise to boot)!! For anyone out there that was in my boat about wondering if they could survive the few days of the pre-op diet, I'm living proof that "YES, YOU CAN". Just do it. The first few days are horrid but they can be survived and it is true that it gets easier after those initial few days. The other thing that has been on my mind over the last few days have been thoughts about how I ever got to my current weight. I feel my biggest mistake was thinking I was fat when I was about 14 and then going on my first diet (I weighed 62kg [about 135#] and was 5'6" tall - not fat but not rake thin). Wish I had someone say to me back then what our surgeon said to us when we first saw him - fierce dieting is a sure fire way of putting on weight in the longer term. It is a fact of life that some of us have a genetic propensity for storing calories as fat. We would have been the survivors in the stone age when sources of food were scarce (our fat stores would provide energy to go looking for food when food was in short supply while the skinny runts would all die as they would have no energy stores to rely on if they missed out on eating for too long etc) - its just too bad we live in a time of relative feast and not famine!! Maybe I would have felt a lot more comfortable with myself and would never have started the yo-yo dieting thing. Last night I was talking to one of the rake-thin women at poker. Lisa and I were discussing what to do for dinner. I explained to the woman that Lisa and I were dieting and both starving. She said she never feels really hungry and fills up as soon as she eats anything. I soooo hope the lap band is going to do this for us - help us not feel so hungry almost all the time. I hope it's the tool to help me avoid slipping back to bad habits. However, I know that weight is still only lost by exercising more and eating less (more calories out and less in). I'm prepared to do this - I just wanting eating less to be easier than it has been!

Had to post here, because I'm just so proud of myself. Yesterday was my longest training run for my full marathon. 20 miles! I know I will have another six to go on race day, but I'm counting on adrenaline and no need to "save" anything to carry me the extra distance. On training runs you have to hold back a little to avoid injury and to make sure you can recover. On race day, I am putting it all out there and if I have to crawl across the finish line, so be it! Less than three weeks to go! Fun Fact: I weighed myself before and after the run. Despite drinking 80 ounces of Water and G2 on the run, I still lost 4 pounds. That means I sweated out 9 pounds! Yikes! Don't worry, though. I rehydrated the whole rest of the day yesterday and was back to my normal-ish weight by this morning.

I hopped on the scale one week post op. And it showed the exact same weight as surgery day. I called the NUT and she said that is normal. They were pumping me full of liquids through the IV in the hospital and it takes a while for all that to clear out. She was right. Don't worry, you will be fine! (and stay off the scale for a few weeks)

Please do not even stress the protein yet!!! You'll get to it, for now, just worry about the water. Sip sip sip all day long. Your stomach will adjust then you can focus on protein. I know they try and tell you to work it in for that first week, but it's so much more important to worry about your water intake. You will begin to start fitting in some protein after the first week I am sure, so don't worry. But if you are feeling nauseous anyway, then the protein just might make it worst and the last thing you want is to get dehydrated from throwing up and not drinking enough water! I really didn't start on any protein until at least 5-7 days after getting sleeved. And I started very slow, maybe got 25 to 55 a day depending how hard I tried. You're gonna get there, but for now, just worry about the water! It really won't hurt your weight loss by not getting in the protein, but you will probably just be extra tired. So take it easy and one day and one ounce of water at a time!

I just had my sleeve surgery done on Tuesday January 26th it's only been 3 days and I haven't lost much but I'm guessing the real weight loss begins later on. I still have a little bit of pain on my chest and back. I hope to be able to lose as much as weight as you have in 2 months!!! the best of luck to you and the rest! We can do this guys!

To be honest, I don't think it's ever really permanent. Even once you achieve a more lasting restriction, you have to return, periodically, for a "tune-up." As we lose weight, the stomach around which the band is seated becomes smaller, necessitating adjustment in fill. And this can continue for as long as weight loss continues. Beyond that, periodically having a fraction of a cc added here and there is pretty common, too. For whatever reason, Fluid finds its way out of even the closed system making up the band, its tubing, and the port. Or, our bodies shift just a little, and need a tad bit more. But if you're asking what I think you're asking, you're wondering whether this will be the fill that gets you to the sweet spot that allows you to go a good long time before another is needed. I hope it is! It's different for everyone, but this might just be the one that "sticks." Good luck!

You kind of adapt but I still get cold faster than anyone else in my office...and once I'm cold, I'm freezing and miserable, there's no 'just a little chilly' for me. HW 312, pre-op (RNY) 255, current weight 202.4

So I have had my psch eval, my weight records sent to my surgeon, and an appt with the nutritionist. My ins requires a 3 month doctor monitored weight loss program, which I am now undergoing- so far it is at my surgeon's office, and they are having me start to make small changes in preparation for the surgery (getting off carbonated beverages, more walking, etc). If all goes wellI shouldbe sleeved some time in April. But I am nervous... I have failed on soooo many diets before, and we are paying about 11K out of pocket for this... what if it does not work? Or what if it works then I gain it all back? Hubby waxes hot and cold about the surgery. On one hand, he loves me and supports me on doing what it takes to have a healthier, longer life. On the other hand, he has told me he is afraid I wont be able to stick with it and lose the weight... I can't blame him, we have been married for 18 years so he is well aware olf my history. But before this, i was feeling so confident and excited, now doubts are creeping in. Has anyone else been in my shoes and went ahead and did the surgery? Were you successful? Did you have any regrets? Thanks so much for your help, I am glad to have found these forums- people here seem to be incredibly supportive! Beth

Congrats! What a blessing! Ivy, I did have to have 1.5cc's taken out of my band. My band tightened up with my pregnancy and I lost more than 12 pounds in a month and a half without the help of morning sickness. Since having a slight release, I have been able to eat again and start to gain the proper weight with my pregnancy.

Losethemess, I became pregnant exactly one year from my lap-band surg. My husband and I were not exactly trying but feel very blessed at our new addition. I had lost 115 lbs. and still had 70 to lose. I too with my first baby gained a tremendous amount of weight and of course did not lose any of it plus gained an additional 40 on top of that after being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2007 and had to endure chemo and radiation treatments and was told that the chemo may make me infertile. I did have injections of lupron to shut my ovaries down during that time to hopefully preserve my ovaries. My doctor did give me a weight gain limit of 15 lbs. because I am still overweight and I am glad she did I did not want to gain a whole lot of weight with this one.The Lap-band made it very easy to control myself during my pregnancy and my baby is doing great! Thanks blaze for the congrats. I am on my way to losing the rest of the weight I began to lose almost 2 yrs ago.

:cool: Wow where do I start? I just need to let people know how the lapband has changed my life. I started 3 years ago weighing in at 350lbs. Now my weight is right at 200lbs. I still have about 40-50lbs to go. But I feel like even if I dont loose any more weight I have done something with the band that most people dont accomplish. I just want people to know that the lapband really does work. It just takes time. Yeah I know that it is not as fast as the gastric but I felt it was much safer for me. :cool2: Just wanting to know if anyone else felt the same thing. :thumbup:

:cool: Wow where do I start? I just need to let people know how the lapband has changed my life. I started 3 years ago weighing in at 350lbs. Now my weight is right at 200lbs. I still have about 40-50lbs to go. But I feel like even if I dont loose any more weight I have done something with the band that most people dont accomplish. I just want people to know that the lapband really does work. It just takes time. Yeah I know that it is not as fast as the gastric but I felt it was much safer for me. Just wanting to know if anyone else felt the same thing. :thumbup:

wow! that's alot but it will be worth it especially if you can find a happy medium where you won't keep needin fills..my doc does a special for his patients which is unbelieveable i am a self pay with no insurance we have three months free post ops covered for fills but anything after three months we only pay $15 that's crazy! He could charge alot more but wants to assure we can et in there. To be honest i wouldnt care i would pay anythin if i could just to lose this weight

I can feel my port. You can even see the outline of it through my abdomen. Its between my chest about 3-4 inches below. Its easily felt as well. Iam not a stomach sleeper but I can say if I was I could prob sleep on it. Its a bit sore but I think its b/c Iam only 3 wks post op. Iam sure the sensitivity will go away. Right after surgery it bothered me to wear my bra b/c it put pressure on my port. That has subsided. I wasn't able to sleep on my sides for about 2 nights after surgery. It was a bit painful to get on my sides but it was bearable and comfortable once I was still. Like I said Iam now 3 wks out and everything is fine now!! Don't freak out. Think of it as a great tool that WILL help you lose weight. I do wish my port was further down where there's more padding but its not, so Iam ok with it. GOOD LUCK!!

how many fills did it take u before u had good restriction n the weight started coming off? I had my 1st fill dec 21st n it has been very confusing. right after the fill i felt restricted but as the days went bk the restriction was less n less. usually n the morning im full n tight nt hungry but at nite it feel like my band is wide open n the restriction is on vacation. What should I do? Has anyone else experienced this?

My first fill appointment was 6 weeks post op and after that every 4 weeks. So far, I have only had 1 fill (at the 3 month point) and I am doing so well that I now only go back every 8 weeks with the understanding that if I think I need a fill then I can make an appointment sooner. Each time I go in, I get weighed and then talk to the PA about my weight loss, portion sizes and hunger level before we determine if I am getting a fill - the reason I said "we" determine whether or not to do a fill is because they always ask my opinion (which I love because it means I have the final say as to what happens.

You could only really see my weight loss in my face and saddlebag area (no more saddlebags!!) until the second week of November. That was when my abdominal area really started shrinking. It has only been this past week that people have stated commenting on my weight loss. Don't get discouraged if you don't lose all over at first - everyone is different but eventually it will come off!