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it's super glad you are here and posting to everyone. The thing that rings most in my ears from what everyone says here is..... It gets better! Maybe you are still having the effect of being put under? Those drugs are heavy and effect people in different ways! Take it slow friend!! Rest sip walk repeat. The nurse told me that flexing and pointing my feet 10 times in a row will be important those days after surgery. And if anything- I'm going to need your cheering on for me next week when I am where you are! Hold fast!

My name is Lindsey. I am 26 years old. I was banded in August 2009. My starting weight was 300 lbs at surgery. My current weight is 192 lbs. I have lost a total of 108 lbs. I am 13 weeks pregnant and due on April 1st, 2011. I have 2 amazing little boys at home. We have also had two stillborn daughters and lost a third daughter during pregnancy. I also have a history of genetic X female abnormalities and pre-term labor. I am considered high risk for many reasons and the lap-band is just the icing on the cake. I have lost 20 lbs since finding out I was pregnant. My doctors are not wanting to remove any Fluid at all. I have 5 1/2 cc's in right now. My OB said he would not even begin to worry until I have lost 10% of my pre-pregnancy bodyweight. That is only 1 lb away now. I am not hungry. I am trying to force food down, but I feel even more restricted being pregnant than I did pre-pregnancy. I am pretty much living on Ensure and salad :rolleyes2: My pants are no longer able to be buttoned despite the 20 lb weight loss, so I know I am getting bigger just losing weight. After all of my previous losses, this entire situation is just making me nervous. I am so glad that I just found this website as nobody on my other pregnancy message boards truly understands what I am going through and the complications that I am facing.

I'm a plain Water girl, but DH loves Vitamin Water - specifically a flavor called "XXX" which is a mix of acai, blueberry and pomegranate. Target had it 10 for $10, and get a $5 gift card. He bought 100 bottles. He drinks about 3 a day. He says they have a light flavor (most mixes or flavored water are way too overpowering for me), and aren't very sweet. Have you tried any of the newer crystal light flavors? They're based on popular alcoholic drinks. Margarita, mojito, appletini... there may be others. The girls at work drink them all the time. Do you like tea? You can brew some tea and add any extract or syrup to it. Rasperry tea, peach tea, blackberry tea, etc. Do you like peppermint? Brew tea 1:1 black tea bag to peppermint tea bag. Then add in some lemon, or frozen lemonade concentrate. That's a "must have" summer drink in my house. (I don't like it but everyone else does). Do you like chai? You can make chai (water) or chai latte (milk). I make my own chai mix so that I can do it way less sweet than what you get in the stores. When my band was slipped, I lived on it with skim milk. And the milk has good Protein, too. (Doubley since there's powdered milk in the mix.) I can get you started with a base recipe, and then you just tweak the spices to your preference. There's a newer flavored water product called HINT. It's kind of hard to find, but it's not to sweet and calorie free. Our Whole Foods carries it, and I've seen it at Sbux. http://www.drinkhint.com/products/ Hope you can figure out something that works for you.

I lost VERY slowly in the beginning. Now I stall for weeks and suddenly lose like 10-15 pounds in the span of a few days. PCOS is a monster that can never be killed, only subdued. However, even losing slowly and having all these stalls, I'm still 101 pounds down in 5.5 months. It will all even out for you in the end, just stick to your plan, take good care of yourself, and be patient with your body. It's a little traumatized right now, but it will get better.

Today was my first day back at work after a month off due to my LB and hernia surgery. All went well, went to lunch with friends and was not tempted, came home and had my turkey burger, but I must admit I was a little hungry when I got home, more head hunger than actual hunger. So I will have to come up with a plan for that, I think it is because I had my first protein shake at 5am, just made it seem later. Also, I am tired so I will be going to bed as soon as Big Bang Theory is over. Back to the grindstone. The positive note is everyone could tell I had lost weight even those who did not know I had surgery. I thought about my goals for weight loss, so I am hoping for at least 10 pounds a month till I get this baggage off me. Hope everyone else is doing well. Oh I should mention the shirts I usually wear to work were TOO big so, I wore a shirt I have not wore in a few years :w00t:

Prayers for both of you having surgery today. It's not selfish to want to be healthy and around for your kids. I lost my mom last Dec and that was my get healthy wake up catalyst that boosted my journey. Had surgery 10/3. You will do fine Sent from my 5054N using the BariatricPal App

I was just sleeved last Monday. Definitely stock up on Protein Shakes- I like premier brand 30+ grams of protein in an 11oz container. They have 5 flavors. The problem is though is I NEVER would have imagined how hard it is to drink after surgery. At 1 Week, I STILL can't manage 64 oz of liquid day- I barely get 50 they tell you to sip sip sip, and I understand why. They say you can only drink an ounce or 2 at a time, they are NOT joking! I can drink about 75% the size of a bathroom Dixie cup- beyond hat, I feel pain- like a heartburn. That's when I know I have to wait. I was on clear diet for 2 days- I got isopure drinks from GNC - they are 40g protein in a 20 oz. bottle. I could only finish 1-1.5 in a day. They are very sweet ( do not get coconut)- they leave your tongue feeling gritty - strange I know..... but high protein. my doc called and asked how I was doing- I said I have problems meeting the water quota- they said for first few weeks that is Normal, just try for as much as possible. Today is 8 days post op- the 11 oz premier protein container takes me about 5 hours to finish!!!! Granted I do sip water in between. my biggest suggestion- get all CHEWABLE pills. I have a combination of both. The problem is some of the pills are large- so I drink some water to swallow. The pill and the water pretty much take up 1/2 of my pouch!!!! So when I need refills going to get all chewables. On the full liquid, I am allowed blended soups.... if we go out, I dip my spoon and lick it to prolong/slow my eating somewhat. After about 10-15 dips, I am full! 1 bowl of soup = 4 meals for me. Take it home and put the remaining in an ice cube tray. WHen ready to drink, pop 1-2 cubes in a small cup and in 1 minute my soup is done! the pre-op diet was the hardest part. good luck to you

Well......its been 2 months since i started to go crazy about my hair loss, started at month 3. i THINK it has started to get better..... Its still falling but, it started at 10 being really really bad at month 3, month 4 is now an 8. Less air when i shower and little less hair during the day. Im taking 5000mg a day of Biotin 400ml of a Protein shake a day for a month now Using nioxin for about 3 wks And my dr just gave zentrium Vitamins yesterday to help. Lets hope we all get great new back along with our great new shape !! Ale

Hello Suzanne My name is Alisa and I am 33 years old.. I felt the exact same way you do. I was not always overwieght but since having kids I have been and cant lose.. So I have been now for 12 years.. I got to where I was ashamed the way I looked so therefore starting not caring how I dressed because I just felt "ugly" even though my husband kept telling me I was beautiful and he didnt care.. I do and I wanted to be healthy I have absolutely NO will power to do it on my own.. I dont think the lap band is a cop out.. some people need the EXTRA push.. I know I do.. I just got banded on the 9 of Jan 2011.. I have already lost 10 pounds.. So I am not at all a pro at it yet but I believe it was the best solution for me.. Because I definatly cannot say no to choclate cake and candy.. But going thruogh the surgery and the pain has helped me.. I am on a liquid diet for the next 4 weeks but so far it has not been so bad.. I lost some wieght and thats my incentive.. I have no regrets!!! I hope you decide to do it..Its not as easy to lose it on your own as everyone else seems to think.....

I'm home!.. And again thank you all for your prayers and support. It all went very well, except I had some moderate pain afterwards. Nothing that the pain and anti-spasm medicines couldn't deal with. The biggest issue was that I could not urinate, so they put in a Foley catheter. I still have it in (6 days post-op) until I see my urologist this week. So I'm not sure why my bladder was affected? I was urinating just fine before surgery. My surgeon said that it can be a side-effect from the anesthesia and things should be fine in a few days. Nevertheless, I am following-up with my urologist. Other than that, it has been great!... No desire for food at all!.. Amazing!.. Even when I am around it and can smell it. I have lost 9 pounds in 6 days since my surgery on 12/22/09. 19# since I started the 2 week pre-op diet. And it's amazing that I don't care about food anymore. It was right up there with God for me!.. It feels like the "Idol" has been broken!...:thumbup:

I had to lose 10% of my body weight in the first year and then show I could maintain it for a year before I was approved for my sleeve. (I'm in Scotland though do things are different here)

Mine is exactly the same as Sandra. 6 months nut for 45 min or so, and dr. Supposed to be on 1200 calories, walking 5 days a week, but can only lose 10-12 lbs in the 6 mos. this is all to get the insurance approval. If I stuck exactly to 1200 cal every day and walked 5 days a week for 30 min, I would not need the surgery. I only have pre diabetes, no sleep apnea, or anything else and they don't want my BMI under 40. It seems like a game for the insurance company

You caught me just after I've finished having a tantrum! My husband. Good lord, he is SUCH an accountant. It drives me insane. I account for every single bleeding cent I spend, right down to a newspaper. It all gets computed, entered on the spreadsheet, he's forecast 10 years ahead exactly how much money we'll have etc. I dont buy a coffee without him knowing about it. He's a control freak. Its good because without him I'd be broke. I'm terrible, I dont plan, I just spend when I feel like it and he's reigned me right in and I'm a lot more responsible now. But we need to move house, we need a bigger house and we need to live in a more convenient area. We've needed to do this for about five years now. But he overanalysies it, he does it all on Excel, he works out every possible permutation and the end picture of taking on a huge mortgage (Melbourne is a very very expenisve city) looks too scary when you see it all broken down to the nth degree. He works out that if we stay in this house we'll have say $300,000 more in 10 years time. He works out whether it would be better to rent, keep both cars, sell one car and use public transport blah blah blah. He works out the cost over our entire lifetime of paying for private education for our kids and then considers it in that light. We never flipping well do anything because he's worked out exactly how much its going to cost extrapolated over 20 years. He knows that if I go and buy an ice cream today for $3.00 it will actually end up costing us $145 over the next five years. It is insane. We've just again had another HUGE fight over housing because I insist that its got every much to do with needs, wants and our kids education (not good options for secondary school in this area), he thinks its all about dollars. I think if we can afford it week to week and its what we need, I dont care to know that we'll pay an extra $400,000 in interest over the next 20 years, to me that's the cost of moving to a bigger house in a better area. And he totally neglectst the fact that while we live in this house, we have no mortgage as we own it outright, we spend our money on lifestyle factors - nice cars, holidays, etc. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

The pain meds make me sleepy.:notagree So if I take the pain meds then I don't even feel like getting out of my chair. I just took 2 Gas-X's, prior to today I could only manage 1, as I had such a full feeling. I wasn't able to eat or should I say drink much. I just sipped all day and did the best that I could. Today, my tinkle was really yellow, so I know I need to get the Water into me and soon. Good thing I can drink better today. So the goal is to get the water down and see if I can get my Protein drink in too. I have managed to eat 10 oz of cream of chicken soup and about 8oz of water. Just opened up a new water. Cheers!:mad: How are you coping/doing with your band?

I am 10 days post op and have lost 1lb. Full liquid about 500 calories a day Elaine

My mother-in-law is making me her potato soup for Christmas, since I'm getting sleeved on 12/19. I hope that's far enough out for me to be able to have a bite or 2

Hi Julia, Dr De Bruyne did my surgery on the 14 Jan 2008, When you have your consultation you will be given dates to choose from there and they are not too long to wait either. It was ver successful the hospital in Belguim will blow you away and he visits with you to check your after care. He is a very professional man - He is very clam and will be firm if he does not think the procedure is suitable for you he will say. Dr De Bruyne is my life saver but you know when I went for my consultation, my mum came to she developed type 2 diabetes when she was 36 and had hell with it ever since - Her health was stable when we went to se Dr De Bruyne . He asked all the questions for her and advised that she was not suitable for the surgery further more he advised that 'if it was my mother I would not let her consider this operation' . He knew that there are surgeons out there that would have done this operation on her. Another reason I reccomend Dr De Bruyne is because he worked in other fields of surgery - Heart . Finally his history with no mortality rate thus far is amazing. I cannot reccomend this surgeon enough and I wish you the very best in your new exciting journey. I have just started my own personal web journey and although it has only been up and running two weeks when other Dr De Bruyne patients hear of it they will sign the book . Who Knows it could be you signing my success book.. The bands used to be 10 years life span but the newer ones are more durable and if Dr Says 15 years I would trust him, His rep is a good one he would not go around messing up is future career I am sure. Bye Julia <<<<<< Big Hugs >>>>>>>>

I am wearing my 10 year old slacks today, I couldnt stand to get rid of them when I gained weight so they just hung in the closet and now I can wear them again! (My husband says I am a hoarder, lol.) They had been hanging so long that there was a layer of dust on the leg that was folded over the hanger. I am thinking resale shops....

hey guys!!!! so here are the details so far of day 1. grab some Water & get ready. (not popcorn lol). ok so, surgery was set for 8am today. i had to be here at 6am. i was like 4 minutes late so the desk lady was calling me! geez im on the elevator! lol. anyway, she takes me into this room & gives me a bag, a robe & a pair of socks & tells me to get undressed & change. i do so. she comes back & tells me to lay down in bed. she starts asking mequestions about medical history & stuff like that. then she started me on IVs and had me laying there. she also gave me a bloood thinner shot in my tummy. i thought it would hurt but didnt. then she had me sign a paper stating that im giving consent for my surgeon to do laproscopic gastrectomy sleeve, "possible open gastrectomy sleeve." i protested. i told them no open surgery! so i was told to speak to my surgeon. cool. shortly after, a guy named lou cane and got me. he wheeled me to the elevator where my mom came. once off the elevator, we walked a little until we stopped and my mom couldnt go any farther so she kissed me goodbye! after that is when i got really nervous. lou kept asking me how i feel & kept telling him REALLYYY nervous. then he stopped in the hall way where i closed my eyes & kept praying. a few nurses introduced themselves & put a shower lookin cap on me. my anesthesiologist came to me & asked questions and i mentioned that my acid reflux was acting up. he gave me some meds to drink that helped it! finally my surgeon came and i told him about the possibly open & he explained that in case of emergency i might needa be opened up, so ok cool. they wheeled me back & got me prepped. i asked for the time & they said 8:05 so im assuming i was knocked out by 8:10. i woke up in recoverry and was groaning. they kept telling me i did great. they left me in recovery til like 3pm because the previous patient that was in my room refused to leave. finally, they told me i was going i was on my way to my room and mommy was already there waiting for me. so i get there & im exhausted & couldnt keep my eyes open. the right side of my upper & bottom lip were busted. my mouth is sooooo dry! they gave me these sponge thingies to wet my mouth. they are LIFE SAVERS! i been burping. i have very little pain. they removed the catheter. my throat is sore. im waiting for them to take me to my leak test so that i can start sippin!!!

I was having a lot of pain at 10 days out. Could not take deep breaths and severe pain in upper abdomen. Went to the ER. They ruled out a PE and any leaks. Surgery wise everything looked good but had some fluid in lungs and inflammation of the lining of my lungs. I am definitely walking more and using my IS and pain is somewhat better. I think the fluid in my lungs is better but still very painful to breathe deep and can't lay on side because of pain. I researched a bit and assuming what I have is a bilateral pleural effusion. I am supposed to make an appt for one more week with my surgeon but am concerned the effusion won't get better without intervention. It is still extremely painful. Anybody else have this? I can't find anywhere that this is normal and I am still painful. It has been 3 days since my trip to the ER. Thanks, Sue

October 28th will be my 6 month visit. My surgeon did request foe me to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month. I am a big rice eater and i can't believe i stoped for one week so far. My biggest thing now is the juice, lord know i love juice. And using my treadmill a little also. Linda305

Hello all! My lunch date went great. Very cool Parents, I kept my meal simple and had a quiche with Soup... Before I started my liquid diet I was around 275... This morning I was 268.8. Sugar cravings still hit. I ate 10 smarties (Canadian) worth 50 calories today . I am only human! At least it wasn't an entire box right? I'm still feeling pretty tired... Hoping this passes soon and energy starts increasing again. How's everyone else doing this week?

Yowzer, good luck. I also have surgery tomorrow at 10. Make sure you have your charger and maybe an extension cord just in case the plug is not close. Good luck, see you on the losers bench

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 weighed in at 377 lbs on June of 2019 Had the sleeve done June 18 - OK forgot one thing I am a alpha Male so i had a goal to weigh in in Cuba On December 27 2019 That was my goal So I was not addicted to the scale So i can not tell you the stages percentage but I lost 155 pound when i weighed in on Dec 27 i was 208