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Figured it out....I didn't scroll over to profile duh....but got it thanks...will be posting a full body this is me at 319lbs March 6th 2013..Sleeve date March 19, 2013....yay

Drinking is meh for me as a post op. I like the quick buzz that occurs on very little (1/2 glass), but most of the time it wears off in about 10 minutes. Definitely stick to 1 las because 2 does nothing extra sceptic add calories. If you are still in the losing part of your journey, do be a little careful about how much you drink, even if you can drink it. drinks will not help you lose weight and often times causes stalls or gains. That said, 1-2 a month should be ok if hat is what you want. Some drink more often while others do not drink at all. It is definitely a matter of personal choice. I have been averaging about 1 a month and I has to be a good reason. My favorite is an expensive Chardonnay or a very well blended mix of spirits ( a least a Long Island). It is not worth my time or calories to wasted lesser drinks! Good luck.

Very weird for me... Being predominantly Irish I had always had an extremely high tolerance and could drink nearly anyone (except my 90lb Irish grandmother) under the table. That said i was a very infrequent drinker, and drank a lot less as I got older. Now it's a whole different ballgame. Only have had a couple drinks (7 months post op). Each time it was the same. Drunk and loopy nearly instantly and from very little. Over with nearly as fast. So instead of a long build, a nice mellow buzz for a while and a slow slide to sober. It's now drink a few sips, count to 10, totally buzzed in a very intense way, wait 5 minutes and it's over. Really quite different and not any fun. If we are out for Mexican food and my wife orders a Margarita, I'll sip a tiny bit but otherwise it's not worth it for me.

I lived in Jersey for 10 yrs and even though on your form for medical leave you need to disclose your info to HR you do not have to go into detail to your direct boss on why you are leaving. You can tell HR to keep that info private. Its their job to provide you with that type of service but it is illegal to lie about why you are taking the medical leave. If you have an after surgery injury while on the job it is something about their liability... I can't quite remember but you can tell HR and not your boss or co workers for that matter..

Good afternoon everyone! It's Katrina. Bad news I went on vacation last week and I gained 2 pounds! I see my nurse practitioner this Friday.... I feel like I failed..... I'm scared!! My surgery date is September 12th so I have about a month to lose 10 pounds. ANY POINTERS?! Thank you! I love this app. People are so nice and supportive. <33 SW-305 CW-283 GW-150 H-5'8

Great job! Keep it up! Congrats! SW 350 (11/15) BSW 260 (10/17/17) CW 217.6 (1/22/18) RGW 199 GW 175

Did you have diabetes for 10 or more years before your surgery? The way it was explained to us is that the surgery has something like a 96% chance of curing type 2 diabetes, but only if you've had it for less than 10 years. I don't really know how much truth there is in that, but that's what they told us in the class when discussing the pro's and con's of the different surgeries... If you did have it less than 10 years then just maybe you happen to be one of those rare 4%, which yes, sucks very much so. I hope the doc can explain what's going on with it and hopefully figure it out.

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 am trying to work my way through a slight unfill and then a 10 lb. weight gain. So, it's nice to know that someone else started gaining afte a slight unfill as well. I am going back to the doctor on the 26th to have Fluid put back in my band, and I am hoping that this will get me back on track as well. I too was too thin and that was shy I decided to have the slight unfill. Now all of pants are a little bit more snug than usual and I feel so defeated. All I can do is try not to gain anymore until I can get back to the doctor. I hope that everything is back in line for you and that you're back to exercising and being comfortable once again. Have you lost the 12 lbs. that you gained?

It's April 26, 2012. In 18 days, my life will change forever, and I can't wait! Let me start by telling you about myself. (Apologies if this is long-winded, but I think it will give a more rounded picture of how I ended up here!) I am 42 years old. I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with my husband (my soulmate...I waited until 40 to marry, and he's my forever love!), and our 2 cats, Rosie and Maize. I was born October 20, 1969, a very very small (1.9 lbs!) and 8 weeks premature. My mother has smoked during her pregnancy and I think it impacted my growth. Back in those days, they didn't have neonatal intensive care units and ventilators etc. for preemies. I was just lucky to survive! Believe it or not, I think that is where my problems with my weight began! I used to drink 2 or 3 times the amount of formula my mother's Obstetrician has prescribed for me. It was as if my tiny little body was demanding more and more food to make up for the lack of size and development during the pregnancy! During my early childhood, I was actually average size and played a lot of sports. But food was starting to be more and more of a focus. I would have eating contests with my Dad. Food was a reward when something good happened, and a comfort when something bad happened. By the time I was 12, I was universally known as "chubby" amongst my family, friends, schoolmates. Despite all this, I continued to play many sports, and excel in all of them! High school brought fresh pain and more weight. I was shunned by the boys (more of a tomboy anyways, they saw me as "one of the guys"). Girls didn't want to be associated with me...I wasn't the right "clique" material. The only thing that made high school bearable was sports (I was both admired and mocked for my athleticism....a weird combination!) and music. I was captain of almost every team I played on (volleyball, softball, soccer, field hockey), but when we went to "away" games, I would hear people in the crowd openly call me names and laugh at me. It was very painful and even if we won and I was the star of the game, I would invariably end of crying on the way home. What would make me feel better? Food! McDonalds, Dairy Queen.....the more calories, the better! Of course, I went though ups and downs. I would try a diet, find some success, lose some weight.....then invariably, gain it all back plus. In my Junior year, a group of my friends and teachers I was very close with chipped in to buy me a birthday gift. Looking back now, it was incredibly generous, kindhearted and really demonstrated how much they loved me. But at the time, I was mortified (though I put on a brave face). They had bought me 10 sessions with a Nutritionist, so I could lose weight. OMG! Even the people I loved thought I was unacceptable the way I was. It put me in a depression and left an indelible mark on my psyche for a long time. I went to the sessions and tried to lose weight and keep it off. Of course, I failed (I didn't really want to succeed and prove them right, unconsciously of course). In the end, I graduated and went on to University and then the real floodgates of weight gain started. I was 198 lbs when I started University. I couldn't afford to go to school without a full time job (at the same time!) so I gave up competitive sports (I had enough talent to make Varsity....but no time to dedicate to it!). I was working full time hours from 4 pm to midnight most weekdays, and every other weekend. No time for regular meals (I would sleep late, skip Breakfast, grab a lunch to go that I could eat in class, then rush off to work). Often eating dinner from the vending machine at work, or grabbing fast good on quick 15 min breaks. My freshman "15" was more like "50". I continued my education after University, and became a Respiratory Therapist, but developed an anaphylactic allergy to latex. At the time, this was still quite rare, and most hospital equipment, etc. was still made using latex (especially gloves!). I had to quit my profession before it even really began! Backup plan was to turn to something I already loved as a hobby. Computers. The internet was starting to really grow (1997) and I taught myself HTML and online design/publishing. The rest (as they say) is history. I am now an E-Communications Analyst with our Provincial Government (yes, a public servant!). Needless to say, this is a very sedentary job. It's contributed to my weight gain. I've gone through numerous diets and was very successful in 2006 (lost 100 lbs!) with a strict 1200 calorie diet and ALOT of exercise. In 2007 my brother (who lived on the West Coast, on Vancouver Island) was getting very ill. He had been diagnosed with Brain Cancer 6 years earlier and was really a miracle case to still be alive! His health was deteriorating and I flew out to help him set up homecare and prepare for when he would need hospice. The stress was intense, and I started to regain my weight. Later in 2007, my mother unexpectedly passed away. She simply went to bed one night and never woke up! At 73, it was very very unexpected and I was suddenly thrust into caring for my father (79 yrs old at the time) who had many health problems and dementia. 5 months later, my brother passed away. The stress of all of this loss, sudden responsibility (caring for Dad, executor for Mom and my brother's estates, etc.) sent me over the edge. I regained most of the weight that I had lost. I did manage to lose 35 lbs for my wedding in Sept. 2010, but it has crept back on and I am now at 318 lbs and miserable. My asthma gets worse with each additional pound (when I lost the 100 lbs, I went off ALL my asthma meds and I was exercising like a fiend with no shortness of breath!). I am desperate to get back to a weight where I can exercise without feeling like I'm going to die from fatigue or lack of oxygen! I'm getting my VSG on May 14, 2012 from Dr. Ramos Kelly in Tijuana, Mexico. It's self-pay and it's the best money I'll even spend on anything (especially myself!). I am psyched!

I was sweating bullets because I knew I had gained a few pounds over the Thanksgiving Holidays after my approval. Between the holiday and a couple of "Last Meals" I had put back on about 5 pounds but I had lost 20 in my 3 month weight loss period. He came in and started off by pointing out the weight gain and asked what was up. I told him and he was cool with it and said I would lose those 5 and several more after my 2 week clear liquids pre-op phase so it wasn't a huge deal to him. Btw, I not only lost those 5 but an additional 10!

So do you think it will get better? how long have you had your lap band? is this normal ? will the port be okay? i have my first fill on 9/19/11.... thanks for the comments!

i agree with you betsy. pureed Pasta just isn't gonna be the same. however, there are some great canned Soups i love and want to be able to eat but they have rice or noodles in them and wanted to see if that would go over as long as it were pureed first. i'm not big on spaghettios and ravioli outta the can but it's good to know they worked well being blended and you got what you wanted outta them lisain. today we went to a easter thing for the kids (early, i know) and they all ate while we were there. but by the time we left i was starving. so hubby picked me up some chili's chicken enchilada Soup on the way home. i put it in my hamilton beach personal blender (my first time taking it outta the box i must admit) and that thing pureed that soup up til it literally was a liquid! and it tasted just as good as usual. i even added in half a packet of my unjury unflavored Protein for 10 more grams of protein. it was awesome. now i'm super excited about the abilities of my personal blender to make things into liquids that i can have. i'm totally full and happy now and ready for a nap. only problem now is that i'm having trouble figuring out when i'm full..... hmmmm.....

I am in Calgary too... Scheduled for surgery on November 10 through OCC in Tijuana. Nervous and would love to meet other sleevers!

Hope I be like that as well. I take insulin. Had gestation diabetes 3 time and now I have type 2 for 10 month now...so I pray having the sleeve helps with my diabetes

I remember I was on Meformin 1000 MG twice a day, Glipi-Zide 10 MG twice a day, Januvia 100 MG twice a day, Invokana 200 MG, Gemfibrozil 600 MG twice a day, Valsartan/HCTX 320-25 MG, Lantus solostar, and insulin. Plus I have done Byetta & Victosa $100's of dollars in co-pays for doctor's visits and medication plus supplements.

Hi, I'm from Sydney Australia and I chose this forum because it looked to be the best. I am 33yrs old and I weigh 100kg, my BMI 38. I've decided to change my life and have Lap Band Surgery. Some support me and some don't. My best friend said to me that this is a drastic decision. I think getting to 40yrs old and weighing in at 120kg with more aches and pains than I have now is drastic. There a few things I know about myself and some really difficult truths. I'm lazy and do not like exercise, I love my food and don't need to be hungry to eat, usually at the end of a meal I'm thinking of the next. Love Mc Donalds and there is alot that I won't do, my weight does holds me back. My little girl likes the beach, not a chance! Last summer my other half took her and I stayed at home. Sex life? not much of one due to not being comfortable in my own skin. Really the list goes on. A woman that I know had it done twelve months ago and has dropped 32kg now in a size 10, had a tummy tuck and let me tell you she is looking hot! I spent alot of time on forums reading and rang a few clinics in Sydney that do the procedure. I am booked in for my operation on the 1st of October. At the moment I am doing Optifast and have dropped a little in a few days. It's funny when you make such a decision to change your life that you are in a different head space almost instantly. What I won't to achieve from this decision is change in eating habits, change in the way I view food this means no more calorie counting and yo yo dieting. Oh and I want a new wardrobe!!! I wont to be sexy, feel sexy and successful. It's a shame that one of my closest friends can not see this, this is the friend I mentioned earlier. She rang me last night after having dinner with a friend who had lap band done 8yrs ago. Apparently this woman is constantly throwing up, her teeth have gone rotten and she can not eat anything except for bags of chips and lemonade. This woman states that she has not learned anything about eating habits. Has anyone heard of such a horror story? Wow I've said alot, Just needed to get it out and talk to those who can relate. Thanks for reading and I hope to be as successful on this journey as some of you. Cakes

Its been 7 weeks since my life has changed and I'm happy. I turned 57 years old on July 27 - Yea Me!!! So far, I have lost 37 lbs and gone from a size 26 to a size 22: These are the things I have noticed since my RNY surgery July 16. 1) Menopausal hot flashes have stopped!!!! Thank you Jesus!!!! 2) No more arthritic pain in my lower back. I can walk distances now. No longer need to ride the buggy in Walmart! 3) Bowling balls do not fit my hand anymore. Had to get the finger inserts changed to a smaller size!!!! 4) I'm a "cheap date" now. Husband doesnt have to spend much money on me when we go out to dinner! 5) Everyone is noticing my weight loss and complimenting and encouraging me to continue. 6) I have "fallen out of love" with fried foods. 7) I have "fallen out of love" with Pepsi, Coca Cola and RC sodas. 8) I am no longer taking blood pressure medication 9) The entire surgical experience was pleasant (only had 3-4 days of surgical gas discomfort). Incisions were closed with a "crazy glue" type of substance that fell off as the incisions healed. 10) Finally have learned the consequences behind overeating and eating too fast and not chewing food properly (I ended up in the bed, in a fetal position calling for my mama!!!!!) I'm so happy with the way things are going. Looks like I'm losing on an average of 5 lbs per week, trying to lose 150 lbs. My biggest problem: Laziness is still a problem when it comes to exercising though. I just can't seem to go to the gym. In the meantime, I'm walking places every chance I get. Just trying to keep moving.

Hi Meggie, I didn't count carbs. I've been scared off from that a bit since I did Atkins for 10 days and gained 7lbs - and I stuck to the diet 100%!! I'm just happy doing low carb rather than super low (plus I get constipated if I go too low).

amen! i went to fashion bug last sunday. they are going out of business here and have everything marked down. they carry big sizes of everything. i bought 2 pair of fashion jeans that fit now....size 16! and then i bought 6 other pairs of jeans sizes 14 down to size 10.....get this, all of the jeans that are normally 50-60 dollars were only 6 dollars each! i couldnt help myself. not only did i buy jeans but they also had nice capri pants that were only 2 dollars each, and sexy lacy underwear that were 1-2 dollars each. i spent 80 dollars and walked out of there with 450 dollars worth of clothes. it felt great. the lady at the check out had a weird look on her face as to why i bought all of those different sizes, but i explained that i have lost 70 pounds and plan on losing a lot more and if i can get them at this price why not buy it now! plus having them in my closet just waiting for me to fit into them is an inspiration all on its own. they also had all of their jewelry marked down as well and for the first time since i was a teenager i was able to buy a couple of those 3 layered necklaces that used to be either to small for my fat neck and ended up being chokers, or just didnt plain reach around my fat neck at all. i too those home and tried them all on and no problem. i love it! get stuff that makes you feel good now! it is a wonderful thing! im glad you posted on this raine

I am really really glad I found a post to share my lap-band surgery experience. I thought about creating a personal blog, but felt it would lack the support from other lap-band patients. So here goes everything: I had my surgery on 10/31/2011. Halloween. Barely had time to grab halloween costumes for my boys-who have been super supportive of mommies post surgery needs-as supportive as 7 and 9 years olds can be:) Surgery went great, post 3-4 days was as painful as abdominal surgery is expcted to be and by day 6-7, I was feeling much much better. I took a three week leave from work which was great to get rest, adjust to the eating routine and just be stress-free to truly focus on recovering. I hated being on the liquid diet for what...4 weeks? That was hard as hell. But by my 3 week appt I had dropped 11 pounds. I started at 256lbs. Im currently at 239 which is a little frustrating for me. But I defintely notice what many weightloss surgery folks notice....my clothes are all big. I was wearing an 18-20 pre surgery and purchased my first size 14 pants a couple of weeks ago. All of my old pants, whether jeans or dress pants, are big on me. I'm wearing my old bra's and buying size large sweats versus extra large. So I'm not too concerned about the scale, but it's frustrating and that's maybe because 256 and even at 239, it's the heaviest I have ever been. I've had one fill and can't recall how many cc's I received, but I have another fill coming on 4/25/2012-which will be 4 months after my last fill. I can certainly feel the restriction. But I do get hungry in between. Now I have a hard time eating the following foods (which is not a bad thing): rice, bread, eggs, pasta, and grilled chicken unless it's extremely tender. Can't eat fast even if I want too! It will come right back up and keeps me in constant control of how I eat which is fantastic. I buy less groceries, I order less when I go out. If I do eat too fast, the pain is a good reminder to not do it again. I was advised during my last nutrion visit to not count calories. They want to know how I do and how I feel just by eating and go about my daily routine. So that's what I've been doing. One constant that I still deal with? Finding time to exercise! The size of my stomach changed (the little band anyway), but my normal every day schedule has not! I'm determined to make this work for me and again, I can physically see that results are possible so I'm not giving up my fight to use this tool I've been given. Especially since the post surgery pain is still fresh in my mind:)

Whoo hoo! That is awesome!!! :drool: Eat a lot of lean chicken and turkey. I eat a lot of the Sara Lee deli turkey - you can buy it at the grocery. It's like 50 calories for four slices and 10 grams of Protein. Plus, you could do Turkey Bacon (watch the sodium) and you could have chicken in a low-carb tortilla. :smile: I also drink a TON of muscle milk. Very low carb ad 15 grams of protein. It was good for breakfast and I still drink it. Also - watch your sugars when you're looking at everything to eat. Those are hidden carbs sometimes. Good luck - you'll LOVE your band! Trust me!

I honestly don't think I'll have that problem. I'm studying the human body in school and have researched nutrition since I got the internet. I know eating under 1200 calories is unhealthy. I strived to get to 1200 as soon as I could. It took a good 6-7 months but I made it. Now I eat 1300-1500 calories a day and work out 5-6 days a week. I'm losing at a healthy rate usually 10 pounds a month sometimes less. Saturday I'll be 9 months out and I've lost 92 pounds. It's important to fuel your body and give it the nutrition it needs. I only take a Multivitamin a day and my bloodwork is perfect. I have a few friends who've had the sleeve and only one is struggling with losing too much weight. She's always tired, doesn't work out, and still at two years post op only eats 800-1000 calories a day. My skin is the healthiest its ever been and my did fall out but was growing back at the same rate. It never got thin. Keep yourself healthy! Calorie restriction is only one factor of many to live a healthy lifestyle.

Finding research on this issue is very hard and most of what I have found is very vague. I found this a few minutes ago but it doesn't explain why. I am going to keep looking. I seen something yesterday that said black women have more of a Type B fat cell than other's (not more fat but more of a certain type of fat) studies show that we actually have 10% less fat than our counterparts when we go in for surgery. I am assuming with this Type of fat it may be better to do a malabsorptive type of procedure instead of the band? My theory so don't quote me on it. Comparison of outcomes after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in African-Americans and whites Parikh, Manish; Lo, Helen; Chang, Christopher; Collings, Dinee; Fielding, George; Ren, Christine 2006 Nov-Dec;2(6):607-10; discussion 610-2, Surgery for Obesity & Related Diseases BACKGROUND: Race may affect outcomes after bariatric surgery. This study compares outcomes in terms of weight loss and comorbidity resolution between African-Americans and whites after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). METHODS: Data from 959 patients undergoing LAGB between July 2001 and July 2004 were prospectively collected and entered into an electronic registry. Propensity score matching analysis was used to match whites to African-Americans on the basis of age, gender, and preoperative body mass index (BMI). Preoperative comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia) were also compared. Operative time (OR), length of stay (LOS), comorbidity resolution, and percent excess weight loss (%EWL) at 1, 2, and 3 years were analyzed. All data were updated through May 2006. RESULTS: A total of 65 white LAGB patients were matched to 58 African-American LAGB patients on the basis of age, gender, and preoperative BMI. The preoperative mean age and BMI were 37 +/- 19 years and 47 +/- 7 kg/m2, respectively. A total of 55% of the white group and 64% of the African-American group had one or more comorbidities (P = NS). Median OR time and LOS were similar in both groups: 50 minutes and 23 hours, respectively. The majority of patients in both groups had major improvement or resolution of one or more comorbidities (61% whites vs 77% African-Americans, P = NS). There was, however, a significant difference in %EWL between whites and African-Americans at each time interval (49% vs 39% at 1 year; 55% vs 44% at 2 years; 52% vs 41% at 3 years; P < .05 for all values.). CONCLUSION: Despite the disparity in weight loss with the LAGB in African-Americans and whites, both patient populations experienced a similar improvement/resolution of obesity-related comorbidities id: J0125081, year: 2006, vol: 2, page: 607, stat: Journal Article,

Try to hang in there. The 16th is just around the corner. Make sure you are getting enough protein in your liquid diet, as the protein helps make you feel full longer. I have been doing a liquid pre-op since 3/10 and am averaging around 120g of protein a day... For what it's worth, I have not been hungry at all... I guess all of us respond differently. Good luck!