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Hello, I can sympathize with your pain and worries. I had the lap band surgery done Nov. 7, 2007. In the beginning you lose weight because of the initial restriction of the empty band. For me Week's 8-12 were really slow and i also gain a few pounds. That's when I went back to my surgeon for my first "fill" or adjustment. The first fill lasted about six weeks and then I had it adjusted again. I haven't been adjusted since February 2008. So stay positive, the first 4 - 6 months is the toughest. Then it's a breeze. It might take a couple times to get the band filled to where it is needed, but it's all worth it. I still experience pain around my port and in my left shoulder after I've done heavy lifting and excersize, or if I've ate something that didn't agree with me. It's been a common thing for me and I've had to learn to cope with it. They say the shoulder pain is caused from pressure on your diaphram and it sends refered pain to the left shoulder. That's about the only answer I have for that pain. Good Luck:thumbup:

16 weeks? Unless your doctor has ordered you not to exercise, I'd say go for it. I was exercising by week 2 and back to water aerobics by week 3. I've done a little of everything since.

@Apple203 LOL. Nice! Funny, it's now solidly 70/30! Soooooo folks, it will be interesting! I saw the surgeon yesterday. I'm definitely going to have the RNY! Woot! And I was 40.4 BMI Let me tell you, you canNOT out-engineer the scale. LOL. I knew I was under threshold at 232.6 and 5'4" (nekkid that morning, after peeing and pooping). So I wore my heaviest clothes (pants, very thick long sleeved shirt, jacket), had a full bladder (pounded down a 20fl oz water) and had a jacket on. On my scale I weighed in at 235.6lbs. I was thinking, "OK, I got this. Cool. I'd weighed 236.2lbs on her scale the last time." Well, drumroll please...I'm such a fool! I was thinking the BMI would be higher because the scale weight is higher...and remember, the insurance goes by BMI. Bahahahahahaha! Ridiculous. I weighed 237.2lbs on her scale. I was like, "Well, crap!! Lemme peel my jacket off!" Then I was down to 235.1lbs. At least I showed a loss from the last visit. I was this close to asking if I could go pee like a racehorse--but I didn't. *snic* And damn if the scale doesn't show up the 235.1 with? You guessed it...a BMI of 40.2 or 40.1 or 40.4--something like that. So yeah. There's that. But, she said that she wanted to go ahead and submit me for insurance approval. She's pretty sure they'll give the ok based on 35BMI, but would feel better about me still being at 40BMI at submission. So now. We wait. If I were a betting girl, and I think I am...I'm betting that I will be having surgery sometime like the week after Thanksgiving or first week of December. She wants me to go ahead and get the party started sooner rather than later. My BP was like 159/96 in her office--even on 3 BP meds. Oh, and this morning? I'm 232.8lbs...nekkid, after peeing (ham on the side )

Have u been back to surgeon and nut? If not get back there they should have advise. If u have been back and they have not helped get to a different wl Center. I would agree that long of a stall is not acceptable for initial surgery loss. I assume u are following the plan. Protien first low carbs not drinking during meals. Portion size no chips candy sweets etc?

This has been a topic of misunderstanding in other posts. When I say "burn 2500 calories a day", I'm talking about what my fitness tracker reports. I think I burn 1800 by just being alive. I do cycle 5-6 days a week for and hour to an hour and a half. I average 90,000 steps a week.

I am a little over 3 weeks post op and I am dying for a HOT bath. Does anyone know when it is safe to soak in water. Stitches are doing well, and the smaller incisions are pretty much healed, but the larger incisions are not quite healed yet.

I am new here just wanted to say hi. I was banded on 11/06/08 by Dr. Schwartz in Tucson and have really had no problems. I have lost 18 lbs which feels great! I am still having trouble figuring out my meals ( what I can and can't eat versus getting all my nutrients ). I am working out 4 to 5 times a week and it's working great. So far I feel I made the best decision of my life!!! :wink:

I'm 4 weeks post op today and overall feeling really good. My main complaint is feeling very bloated...anyone have suggestions or a similar experience?

Good news is that I am not that far from my BMI ideal weight. It is only 40 lbs away and I have already lost 121 lb in 5 months. So it got me thinking abut what really is my target weight and when should I achieve it? Given that 10 lb a month is pretty standard, an easy calculations reveals that I wold hit BMI ideal weight in about 4 months, give or take a couple weeks depending on how slow or fast the scale weight moves. That is fine with me and places my target of 180 lb in the middle of feb. 2013. The question is whether BMI is a good goal to shoot for. My doctor, NUT and supporting staff have not talked to me explicitly about a target yet and I always assumed it would be BMI for my height of 5 ' 11 ". However, feb 2013 is the 9 month mark for me which statistically places me 1/2 way through my golden period of sleeve effectiveness. Should I stop there? What happens if I reach goal at new year instead because I have been getting pretty serious about exercise and weight lifting in the last month? My wife and mother in law have told me on numerous occasions that they think I might look unhealthy at BMI because my bone mass is medium to large and I have muscle on me. They might be saying these things with some self motivation. for example, my mother in law is constantly on a diet losing and gaining the same 10 lb. my wife is a candidate for sleeve, so may not quite understand the whole less is better attitude. not sure. I certainly feel good now and think 20 lbs more lbs would put me into a solid state of health, even if 20 lb over the BMI for my height. The last thing I want is to develop some kind of need to lose weight into the unhealthy zone, below BMI. Not saying this would be from anorexic tendencies because I am not starving myself in my diet nor am I doing crazy exercises ( max 1 hour a day, most of the time 45 min). However, I do see that I need to be careful to not lose too much and get unhealthy. I will continue to be active in my exercises, not just in my home gym but also running 5ks, hiking and other things. These will all contribute to my metabolism burning, burning and burning calories. I look pretty healthy in the mirror with and without clothes on. Not a lot of lose skin and am shaping up like a swimmer ( broad shoulders and narrow waist). My caloric intake is currently around 600-900 and consists mostly of Protein for 6 meals a day. I feel ok with this eating, am not hungry except to refuel and have a lot of energy from this eating, from exercise and also from coffee. Can I continue to eat like this? Not sure. I think I would like to eat more fruit and veggies at some point, eat more like a wholesome and natural Mediterranean style diet. That is a goal of mine for when I stop losing scale weight. It is going to take me a few weeks of transition time to moderate my eating patterns from high protein to Mediterranean style. Have not crossed that bridge yet, but know it is soon arriving on my journey. Appreciate the thoughts from others, especially mature sleevers that have "been there, done that."

Isn't it exciting!! I was approved two weeks ago and am still floating on a cloud. Here's to new beginnings!!

I have a slight pain too that kind of rolls, but like you said it only lasts a couple of seconds and is gone. I'm assuming it's air when I drink or eat getting down into my stomach. I'm 4 weeks post-op and I'm still getting it.

I went to Dr. Daoud at the begining of Oct. I ad my request for psych evaluation and the nutritional evaluation a week later, they both have been approved and submitted for approval to see the surgeon. The doc office told me that would take about 5 to 7 days and to call back next week. What happens next? Do I see the surgeon and schedule a date or are their more evaluations and tests that need to be passed and then those have to be submitted to insurance??? I keep getting a few different answers from Dr Daoud's office and Dr. Oliak's office. HELP!

I lost my first son at 20 weeks....I just kept repeating to myself "we were going to have a baby but we had an angel instead" ... The pain hurts ... Allow yourself up grieve.... Hug your little girl and go through the grieving process...

Tomorrow will be a week post and I woke up today with slightly burred vision. Is this a side effect of dehydration?

Dehydration can cause dry eyes which, yes, can cause blurred vision. But likely you would have other symptoms as well....dry mouth, dry wrinkly skin, dark yellow urine, possibly cramps (I get them in my calves at night). If your eyes are watery, then it's possibly something else. But at one week post op, it can never hurt to drink more Water, if you can.

My port flipped in a similiar way. I did have pain but I had the liquid pain medication they gave me from surgery. I was 4 weeks post op. I had it fixed within a week of my doctor discovering that it had flipped but I am self pay & my doctor covered the cost. They procedure to fix it wasn't bad at all. I went to work the next day.

Hello. I am 4 months post op. Everything WAS going great! I had my first fill in Feburary. My doctor poked around on me for a good 15 minutes before decideing to wait a few days and do the fill under a portable x-ray machine. I went in, layed on the table, they positioned the x-ray where it needed to be, my doctor came in, numbed me, then found the spot right away. After my first fill was done, everything went fine. I went in March and decided I needed my 2nd fill. This time I had a doctor working under my doctor. He poked around for a half hour and couldn't find the spot he needed and it hurt. My doctor decided to do it, yet again, under a portable x-ray. This time, however, it wasn't so normal. When the x-ray was turned on, he asked the x-ray tech to do a lateral view. As soon as it turned on again, he knew it was upside down. Three or four of the stitches that are holding my port to my muscle broke. About 3 days after they discovered this, the last one broke. This was 3 weeks ago. I am waiting for my insurance company to ok the surgery to reflip the port. I am in a lot of pain right now. It feels like someone in jabbing me in the side and stomach with a knife from the inside. Has anybody had this happen? Does anybody know anything to take to help ease the pain?

I plan on having kids also. My gun and decided to do implanon. Its an implant in your arm but it is just progesterone unlike the more popular implant Norplant which is estrogen and progesterone. Its been shown to be very effective and can work up to 3 years but can also be removed at any time and you can get pregnant right away. Can't get it til next month cuz I'm only 2 weeks out. Check it out it seemed like the best option for less hormones effective absorption after surgery and never having a kid before.

haha I had this conversation with one of my workmates last week as I have noticed the cuffs of a pair of jeans now get caught in the back of my shoes when I walk! I thought I was shrinking also...which isn't good when you are barely over 5ft!

Why can't you play volley ball? SOme people do not start loosing till they start eating regular foods, others loose a ton. Some people loose it fast others loose it slowly. All seem to stall for a while. The things I always tell people to check...... (and I need to recommitt to!) 1) are you gettingin all your Protein ? 2) are you drinking enough Water / liquids? 3) is your Fiber enough? (I have to take the special K fiber water.....it has 40 % and that always makes it go better for me) 4) are you getting 20-30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week? remember that stalls are normal and physics says eventually you will start to loose.......less in and more energy out means it will come off....just sometimes very slowly! (and we all hate that!) I wish you the best of luck and try to begin your knew life with the positive attitude, that your family is negative.....try to ignore that and go on and live your life!

The first week after my surgery my hormones were all over the place! I would cry if I couldn't get my whole cup of water down in the allotted time! Just remember its worth it, and surround yourself with supportive people! The emotions will go away eventually!

Hang with it! The first 2 or 3 weeks will be the hardest. Once you get over the mental desire, you'll do great!

My surgery was 8 days ago and I feel pretty good now. The first 4 days were bad.. I'm not going to lie... Day 5 and 6 I noticed alot of improvement from the first 4 days.. My throat did not hurt at all. I did not have any nausea either. I just had my one week appt with my dr and he said I'm doing GREAT!! I've lost 8.5 pounds in 8 days!! My right side does hurt and I can not sleep very comfortably but that is getting better also.. I have not been thristy because I have eaten popsicles non stop.. Stock up on them, you will want and need them.. Plus they are pretty tasty Hang in there - you made a wonderful decision that is going to change your life for the better!!

Does your insurance require a supervised diet pre-op? That's the only thing I can think of that would account for such a long delay. My surgery date was scheduled immediately following approval - no wait. My insurance required three months of a documented failed weight-loss attempt. I met that requirement already because BCBSRI paid for all my co-pays when I did Optifast four years ago.

I was on liquids for 3 weeks, 2 weeks of clear liquids and 1 week of full liquids...you need to folllow your Dr.s post op instructions, every Dr. has a different post op plan. Follow the rules , do not deviate from his instructions, there is a reason he gave them to you. You need to heal, eating too soon before your Dr. allows it could jeopardize things with your band. I know it is hard but there is light at the end of the tunnel, hang in there Drink Protein drinks to get in your protein, it helps curb hunger and may help with the nausea