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Impressive weight loss! And in such a short amount of time. I am amazed. I hope i can do this. when I filled out the psych paperwork they asked 1-10, how successful do you think you'll be. I rated myself a 7. Only because I have done it so many times in my life and I get to that 35 pound mark and slide backwards. I want this to be different.

Thanks. Zofran is what they gave me. If it's no better by 10 I have to go to the ER

I had surgery 1/22/18, so I’m almost 12 weeks out. I eat 3 meals a day (no snacks) per my surgeon. I manage to get my Protein in most days, but that said it’s a struggle. I actually get goosebumps often because whatever I’m eating is just so unappealing. I’d prefer to not eat at all, but I usually end up with about 500 calories. I think this is just such a drastic mental change from before surgery, it throws me for a loop. The normal reaction is, enjoy it while it lasts (and I will). The one thing that I enjoy right now are raw veggies. I’ve been adding 2 oz. of chicken to a salad. I cut out dairy which has really helped the weight loss, but it does limit my choices at times. HW: 356 CW: 274 GW: 180 RNY 01/22/18

I have been sleeved for over 10 months. It has not been easy! The sleeve is just a tool. I have to work every day to be healthy. it's a personal choice to be sleeved. Easy is doing the same all thing and getting the same results. Doing nothing and remaining fat is easy. I personally have no regrets except for I wish I could've done it years ago. This process does not guarantee weight-loss. You can still be fat if you want to! I choose to work at being healthy! It's your choice make it and live with it.

I am 5 weeks post op today. And I feel so hungry all the time. Not sure why... And since the swelling is gone, I noticed that I can eat a whole can of tuna and still have room for Water. The beginning of the 4th week I was allowed to start on the solids. And it took me forever to finish an egg. Now it doesn't even get me full. And the weird thing is 10 minutes after I eat, I get hungry right away... I am thinking maybe I am not having enough Protein but that's all I eat. So I am starting to get worried as well... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

It is a hard question to answer because everyone is so different. Some people feel restriction without even needing a fill and some people don't get restriction 'til they've had 5 or 6 fills. It also depends on how much fluid they put in. My doctor was quite conservative - my first 3 fills were 1.5 ccs each and it took FOREVER for me to feel any difference. I really didn't have restriction until my 5th fill (7.5 ccs in a 10 cc band) As you begin eating again after this fill, just be aware. It may be that, like me, you feel exactly the same as before you were banded. Or you may have some restriction, in which case you just need to make sure you are eating carefully - chew well and eat slowly. Your body will tell you what you need to do! Good luck!

Well I left work yesterday like a walking zombie. The pain I was having was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. I would come and go - but it was horrible. I thought it was strange considering I'm over a week out of surgery. It was my first time with the shoulder pain - I've felt it with other surgeries but never that bad. I tried walking, walking, walking, but it didn't help...I finally layed down at home and didn't move - till this morning. I feel better so far - I just hope it lasts. I weighed - 236 - I lost 3 lbs overnight! I realize I shouldn't be doing the scale every day - but it makes this pain worth it when every day almost the number is smaller!! I'm looking forward to being able to really excercise. There is nothing worse than losing weight without being able to "shape" the loss. I feel like a bag of oats...Not very sexy. I made a protien shake last night - water, soy protien, bananna, and an egg with splenda. Blended very well. It was pretty tasty - so much so that I had one for breakfast too with a splash of vanilla. I know I need the protien and right now I think that is the best way to get it in.

Mary. My dtr said to try mashed potatoes and French fries. A nurse from the Cancer ward told her this is what they feed the kids that can't keep anything down. If you can tolerate cheese or cream cheese to add. Also ask your Doc for a Scopolamine patch. It helps with the nausea. My dtr has been very ill and in and out of the hospital either vomiting or with dehydration 10 times since her VSG in August 2012.

Need advice, I got a fill on Wednesday it was just a small fill .10 cc but it took the nurse over 5 minutes to find my port and ended up jabbing me multiple times. Since then I don't know if I am swollen from stress from the fill or starting my period but I am having difficult swallowing my pills, I have only eaten mushies. Don't know how long I should wait to see if I should get an unfill or have patience???

nancy drew mysteries comics 10 for a dollar fair rides 10 for a dollar 25 cents for a gallon of gas a lg drink was 16 oz fishing with a cane pole playing in the rain tea-berry gum vaccinations enmass in the school gym, girls in slips or panties and t's, boys in briefs...how humiliating was that? just as bad...the one piece gym suit!!

Hey Everyone! I decided after reading my pre-op packet that i should start a good pre-op diet. All Of my surgeons lap band pts. have to lose 10 lbs before surgery....im hoping i can do it ! Im gonna try real hard! I started this morning a new somewhat liquid diet. Isopure Dutch chocolate shakes for moring and lunch , and will do chicken and veggies for dinner. Anyone else try this approach? Did it work for you? Thanks for your imput, Jennifer

Hello, I also have severe left shoulder pain. The pain comes and goes and is so bad that it stops me in my tracks and could bring me to my knees.( I know that sounds dramatic but it is true) I move around, use a heaing pad, moist heat, cold, you name it. I was banded on 12/19 and have had several conversations about this with my doctor. I am very upset about this pain. It seems the only thing I can do is learn some way to manage it. I feel like this is never going to go away. I'm sorry for your pain, but I am comforted in the fact that I am not the only one. Keep us posted on your progress and If anyone has any more advice on how to manage this I would also appreciate it.

Hi Lisa, My surgery date is also March 10, so I know what you're going through. I start my liquid diet on Tues. and I'm worried that I won't be able to stick with it. You should join the March 2009 group here, so you can talk to others who are about to start this adventure. Keep your hopes up--I know we can make this work! Good Luck! Laura S. Kalamazoo MI

I've always said, I will not listen to anyone giving me advice who hasn't been through the same journey. I hope that my story will add some credibility to my posts and inspire someone considered WLS. I'm on a quest to find the woman I lost years ago. She's somewhere in this body, I know that, I just haven't seen here in almost a decade. I'm almost 300 pounds on a 5 foot 7 frame. My family medical history is like Wal-Mart, you name it someone has it. I want to break the cycle of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. . I can't get back the years I've already lost, but I can make the years I have left that much better. I have a carb addiction, disillusion about the amount of food I should be eating, and an emotional eating habit. I was taught as a child to clean my plate, I remember at 8 years old looking forward to going to my grandma's because she always had pound cake made, and dinner consisted of meat, a few veggies, heaping mounds of carbs (rice/potatos) and rolls. 20 Years I've been addicted to carbs. My mom and I could go to a restaurant and finish an entire basket of rolls before our food came and still eat everything on our plate, plus another basket of rolls. Needless to say, I've never had a good example when it came to eating. Fast forward through middle school, when at 5"7 and 130 lbs I was the tallest girl in my entire school. Talk about a complex. At 9 I thought I was fat. Junior high, I'm still tall and muscular but everyone else is catching up. Rumors start that I'm taking steroids. Hence another complex about being "thick" and muscular. High School, the Revolution Years. I rebelled against EVERYTHING! Stress at home= emotional eating. I remember coming home from school and eating half a loaf of bread, toasted with butter and jelly because it made me feel better. Nutrition? What's that? It wasn't taught at our school. Lunch for 4 years, FOUR YEARS, consisted of chili cheese fries with extra cheese and sweet and sour dipping sauce, juice or soda, and some other high carb or fried food. FOUR. YEARS. I do remember a salad but it was far and few in-between. I think back on this and I cringe. What the heck are we doing to our kids??? My saving grace was band. The amount of practice we did counteracted some of the weight gain. I stayed around 180-200 lbs. College, the fittest years of my life. I decided to major in Nutrition, the one thing I had no knowledge of. Freedom to come and go as I pleased means more time in the gym. HBCU band practice consisted of intense PT at 5 am and intense practice from 3-7. I was at my fittest ever. I wouldn't believe it myself if I didn't have pics to prove it. Grad school I continued my good gym habits, but even a nutrition degree can't combat the psychological condition of emotional eating. I started gaining weight. Then I got pregnant. My weight shot up to 230 with the first pregnancy and miscarriage and I gained 20 more from the stress. Pregnant again at 260 with the help of pills. I went up to 285. Lost 20 and have been stuck at 270 for 3 years. This brings us to today. 10 days from VSG surgery and positive about where my life is heading. I'm not one for sharing a lot of personal information, but I will try to keep this "blog" updated as I progress through. I need to learn how to let people in and break down this brick wall that I've built.

No need to worry, just pulling myself out of the fog..... My surgery was Monday, 10/3 with Dr. Aceves. Since my surgery was the 2nd of the day, I was given a sedative to relax. The rest of the day is a blur. I remember people coming in to get me....blur........I remember looking up at the ceiling as I was being wheeled to surgery......blur.........I remember someone telling me to turn on my side and bend my knees for the spinal block....blur.....and OUT. I don't remember recovery at all. The next thing I remember is being back in my room, thinking it must be over and then falling back asleep again. I was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night, knowing that nurses came in and out, taking my temp and blood pressure, but not really ever becoming fully alert. Sometime early Tuesday morning, I told one of the nurses I needed to use the bathroom. Although I stumbled a bit, I made the trip successfully and immediately fell back asleep. Later that morning, they brought me those infamous 4 little cups of blue "apple juice." They weren't good, but they were tolerable. I sipped and slept, sipped and slept, sipped and slept for hours. Several times that day, Dr. Aceves, Dr. Campos and the nurses came in and told me to try to get up and walk. I'd answer "Sure, ok." with every good intention of doing it, but I'd always fall back asleep. I really had a tough time coming out of all that med-induced sleepiness. By late afternoon Tuesday, I finally got up and walked the halls. I was completely pain-free (yes, really.....it must have been the spinal block), but I felt unsteady on my feet and climbed back into bed about 5 minutes later. Tuesday night was pretty much the same as Monday night, but I woke up Wednesday morning feeling alert and energetic. I took a shower and even put on a little make-up! Wednesday, I walked several times, visited my neighbors, sipped tea and finally got a bowl of that wonderful chicken broth everybody raves about. Yes, it IS that good. By the time I left on Thursday morning, I felt pretty good - minimal pain and absolutely no nausea. It may have been this sense of well-being that caused me to completely overdo it on Friday. BIG Mistake! I met up with a friend Friday afternoon to do a "little" shopping that turned into a 5-hour shopping spree. I thought I was listening to my body.......I sipped Isopure all day........I took sitting breaks pretty often, but by the time I got home, I felt awful. My abdomen was completely swollen with Fluid and gas. I looked 9 months pregnant and felt equally uncomfortable. That was the first time all week I broke down emotionally. I remembered reading somewhere that Day 4 after surgery was the worst..........and that was definitely true for me! So, I sobbed myself to sleep Friday night and woke up Saturday with renewed energy and renewed resolve. I really took it easy that day. I stayed in all morning, sipping Protein and napping. By 3:00 pm, I felt good enough to take my son to a birthday party. It was a huge event, and EVERY single person there must have told me to eat......twice! But I politely told them I had eaten before I came and continued to sip on my bottled Water. The party lasted about two hours and I was definitely ready to come home by then. I went to bed about 7:30 pm, slept pretty soundly, and here I am at 5:00 am on Sunday, finally getting on the Internet for the first time since surgery. To sum up, I've really had a fairly easy recovery. Considering the mess my Band had made of my stomach and liver (Dr. Aceves told me it was NOT and easy revision) I've had very little pain except for the incision sights. I've experienced none of the shoulder "gas" pain I had with the Band surgery. I've had no nausea or stomach pain......just a lot of gas and gurgling. No doubt about it, those first four days kicked my butt, however, I think I'm over the "hump" now. I have one more week of recovery before I have to go back to work and I'm sooooo glad I didn't try to rush it and go back any sooner. I hope all my fellow October sleevers are well, whether you are just home from surgery or about to have it. Take it easy and follow the rules........you'll do great!

Well I kind of figured the pre-op class would be a waste of time, but I did learn that I have to drink this stuff the night before to clean me out - oh yippee. The class was mostly geared for gastric bypass patients but occasionally they would say something that was for lapband people. There were only 2 of us out of the 10 in the room having lapband. Man, I hope I"m making the right decision. I really feel that I am. So far on the liquid protein diet - day 7 today - I"m down to 270 on my scale. Thats down 10 pds since the beginning of March, and 6 since the beginning of the protein diet. Its really not as bad as I thought it would be. I am not hungry, not craving foods, etc. I do miss the enjoyment of foods though - but not that much. I still haven't figured out what I"m going to do after surgery - Larry's party is the first week post -op - :confused: Will cross that bridge when I get there I guess. First things first! First - pre-op physical tomorrow! Tonight - work on the new room and get stuff ready for the weekend!! Friday - (tomorrow) leave to go camping for the weekend. Home Sunday - get groceries for the week and work on the room some more. I was really hoping we would get the room done before surgery but it doess't look too promising. But I"m not giving up! We have free evenings next week M-W and so hopefully we'll make some progress. One more week - I can't believe its finally almost here!!

Not those ones --yet-- I'm thinking I got collar bone implants at some point. I didn't know I had them! Sleeves 10-23 down 49lbs since preop!

Sleeved 10/8 I get so excited when I close my fist. I have knuckles

So I'm somewhat consumed with the possibility of hair loss after banding. I already have some thinning and take Biotin 1000mcg each day along with other supplements. Due to the hair thinning, I have had a variety of lab test that have all been negative. My GP says that it's just hereditary and to keep taking Vitamins. I have had weight problems most of my life. I have been losing the same 25 to 30 lbs for the last 10 years. I have been trying to do some research while waiting on insurance approval for Lap-band® Surgery. I am 42, female with a BMI of 35 and I have high blood pressure. I would appreciate any recommendations. Also, does anyone know the percentage of those that have hair loss after banding? Thanks

A poop thread! Surgery was 10/25 and I had loose stools pre op and a fast the day before... it (poop) happened today . I'm a nurse married to a doctor so we have seen and hear about plenty of poops over the years. My premier post sleeve poop sounded like I was dropping rockets into the bowl and looked like Progresso Italian wedding Soup with extra meatballs. I feel SO SO SO much better now! Thanks for letting me share!

Does anyone have any experience with BCBS TN? I'm so annoyed after meeting all their requirements, my surgeons office faxed in the paperwork last Thursday. Well they have a new form, so nothing was accepted : ( surgeons office resubmitted! Now just waiting!! I was hoping to have surgery Thursday (because of scheduling) but they say 10 to 15 business days : ( I'm hoping it doesn't take that long for approval!!!! If the psych didn't take 3 weeks to do report I would have been on time for Thursday!! Soo frustrated!!!!!

I also in Bandster Hell I believe. I am looking forward to Monday when I get my first fill. I have people that know I had the surgery asking all the time how much weight I have lost and it is so embarrassing to say 30 then gained back 10....UGH

Actually, that's about the best thing that can be said about it. Collagen/gellatin is about the most common protein there is, it's an incomplete protein that has a poor amino acid profile. Basically all of the amino acids that are at a surplus in your body already. The only difference between the expensive collagen protein powders and Jell-O (aside from flavors) is that the proteins have been processed further to break them down into smaller particles. Oh, and collagen won't gel. Nutritionally speaking, same thing. If you look on a box of Jell-O, it states that the FDA does not consider it a significant source of protein because of the low quality of the protein. However, since collagen is being sold as a supplement, it does not get regulated by the FDA. I know, I was upset too after buy turmeric bone broth powder to use in cooking. That stuff wasn't cheap! Tasted good though. Be aware that all of these benefits are so new they are mostly marketing speak. There was a time that cigarettes were toted as healthy! https://www.healthcare-administration-degree.net/10-evil-vintage-cigarette-ads-promising-better-health/