Search the Community

Hello, I am 5"1, my highest weight 256lbs, currently 220 lbs, have been fighting diabetes and up/down weight for over 10 years . I was able to get off insulin 5yrs ago, but still take these big horse diabetic pills daily.. and still have a problem with eating right, which I can feel the after effects of eating too much sugar/carbs. I am still on the fence as to gastric bypass or sleeve, because the bypass has high success rate 90 percent to put diabetes in remission, but it also in the most dangerous ..This Tuesday 5/20/14 I go for my surgeon visit ,psych eval. and nutrition visit total of 3 hours. If I am considered a good candidate they will give me a surgery date. I am really nervous about the surgery. I have been lucking enough to have had a lot of hospital stays in my 43yr old life. But, I will keep you posted on how it goes and my journey, thanks a lot for the post. It is good to know that someone else is can understand my journey.

How about "rainbow"suspenders "? I dont know your age but I will say losing almost 60 lbs took 10 years off my face !!!!!!!!! I promised myself when I lost the weight that I would wear attractive, pretty clothes that were age appropriate, and I would dress my body for what it is, not what it was' nt. So, Im a well dressed 56 yr old woman who has a reputation for being a stylish dresser ! ( And no, I don't mind the looks from men !)

Monday and Tuesday night was ruff. Puking up anything and everything that went in my body. Got to come home yesterday, had slept most of those three days. Today has been better. My right side is so sore!!! I got up and walked around the house for about 10 laps and didn't feel any difference in walking or not. I have tried to stay off all meds to try and stay awake today. Worked except I still took a nap. Getting a little more fluids in everyday. Hope all are doing well!!

first pre op visit after lap band surgery. The doctor gave me the OK exercise on the treadmill and I can ride a stationary bike. I'm so excited that means I get to go to spin class. He said I could advance my diet and start having protein shake and yogurt and fruit yay me so excited. I lost 19 pounds

Hi girls, Glad to see everyone is doing good! With the exception of Eileen and her yucky virus! Hope your family feels better soon!! BEtty, glad your Dr. gave you a good report. Mine did me as well, he thinks my itching may be a combination of reaction to the adhesive, and stress. My recent banking issues did not help the stress level!! Otherwise I am healing well, and have been released to eat as I please, I had a salad yesterday---yummmmm. We had a 75th birthday party for my Dad yesterday, more of a get together than a party---but it was lots of fun, lots of family and friends. I just wanted to acknowledge his 75 years----he has had a lot of heart issues, and it is an amazing thing he made it this far, and is healthy!!! He walks 6 miles a day, and can work circles around me!!! Thinking I might try to play at the game tomorrow night. Tomorrow when I am in the yard with Kinsey I am going to try running, and see how it feels, base my decision on that. Then again our season is almost over, I might be best off just letting it end without me, and heal, and try again next year. I know without a doubt that is what my DH would prefer! He is scared for me to so much as roll over in bed that my intestine is going to twist again.....he is a worry wart big time! But I feel good---------finally feel like I am recovering normally. Today I went and sold some gold!!! Wierd, we have bought it for years, on some advice from my Uncle. Each year when we get our tax refund we buy a CD and some gold, how much just depends on the cost that year. Today my friend at the coin shop that we buy it from called me and told me it was selling up 200% from yesterday, and if I was interested in making a tidy profit.....so we did sell some to bump our bank account until we hear what is going to happen from my debit card issue. We are going to Albuquerque the first of next week to the Balloon Fiesta. They have well over 600 hot air balloons this year, which is down from years past, but the cost of fuel to get here has affected it. They have a huge balloon park (like 75+ acres-----something like the size of 56 football fields), and you can walk down in and around as they air up and lift off. It is such an amazing thing to see, and Kinsey is in awe of hot air balloons. Last year during the fiesta, we had to take my Dad to the cardiologist in ABQ. and even though it was an afternoon appointment, there were lots in the air, and she is still talking about the hot air balloons in Albaturkey. So we are taking her down, getting a motel room for a night, and going to take her to the balloons in the morning. I don't know who is more excited her or Papa!!! I have no idea or memory of how much it took to change sizes, I know the first thing I changed size wise was my rings! They got too big very quickly. I am about ready to go have them resized finally. I have a cheapo set I am wearing---my original set has a lattice work design on the top, so sizing it this much is going to be a job, and to do it more than once would mess with the integrity of the setting he said. It is going to go from a size 10 to a size 6.5, so there is a lot going, which will bring the lattice further around the band---so I get one shot at sizing it.....want to be sure that is the size I want it to be! Well I am going to go finish watching the game with my honey---talk to you all soon!!! Sherry---I keep meaning to tell you how much your PM's meant to me when I was facing the loss of my band. Girls we have a special friend here......Love ya lots Sherry!!! Take care of yourselves!!! Kat

Banded on 03/28/07. No complications. I felt almost completely healed at two weeks out. My Doctor wanted me to remain on Clear Liquids and Protein Shakes for two ADDITIONAL weeks (until one month after surgery). He said this was for weight loss as well as to let adhesions develop around the band. I could lie and say I was following his rules, but at the two-week mark I started on full liquids, then mushies. Never felt a twinge from the band on any of it. Couple days later, I was on solids again, chewing well and feeling great. I've got a valid excuse in that the Protein shakes were making me gag- literally. Seven different brands of powder and can, all nasty. Plus, the only clear liquids that tasted good to drink were sugary fruit juices- I am not a broth/soup person at all. I was genuinely worried that I would "sugar" myself out of losing any weight. I wasn't getting enough protein, felt weak and tired. Now, my doctor and I had already discussed me doing Atkins on the band until I'm done losing. He also put me on Phentermine (appetite suppressant) to speed this whole process and help me through bandster hell. Anyway, I've been doing Atkins with only a couple minor cheating incidents. I get my protein from real meat. I avoid sugar. I feel FREAKING AWESOME. Today is exactly one month out and I'm down almost 50 pounds. I know, I know, should have followed doctor's orders... I know, I know, could have lost more already w/out the food. And yes, I have been exercising a little bit and taking my Vitamins. My portions went from tiny to almost-normal as my body got used to food again, so that I can just about finish a chicken breast, burger patty or can of tuna and I feel very satisfied with that. But even in supposed bandster hell with no fill, I just am not that hungry. I have to force myself to eat, most days. Some of that is the Phentermine working (you can feel it when you're on it), but even without the pills my hunger just isn't like it was. Don't doubt, I already pushed myself once, trying to eat the old way: I overdid it on on chinese spicy beef and the band let me know about it! Just ate too much, felt like I was bloated and it was pressing up UNDER the band? Wierd, but it went away when I took a gas-x tab. Regardless, I am so glad I had this surgery done. I plan on going under 300 pounds next month. I can't wait to get a fill (on 05/10/07)and watch my portion size drop back down again. Oh, one last dark little confession because I am a bad man: In order to avoid stressing the band, I've been drinking with meals to keep it flushed. I don't have restriction ANYWAY, but I wanted to let the adhesions form like the doctor talked about. He said food sitting in the band would push it down, that was the reason for the long liquids period- I tried to get around it my own dunder-headed way. So, it's time to buckle down and stop drinking with my meals. Thanks for reading this novella, please berate me for being pigheaded and breaking the rules. I know I deserve it. *ducks and covers*

Good Luck Jennifer. We will be thinking of you and your family. You will do great...Please don't feel left out..we may be expereince the same thing but we all have the same struggle. Our weight!!! So please don't leave us...you will just be skinny before the rest of is. :mad: So you will be able to tell us how Thin feels. haha.. Good Luck if you can have your hubby call someone to let us know you did ok. Don't forget I am 10 mins away from you if you need anything!!! If you family needs dinner I can bring it to them.

Out of food jail, not on a diet, able to make good choices and override brain chatter (chatter that isn't even that present anymore). Oh, and I love my size 10 jeans.

First post for me here. I've been lurking and reading randomly, including the entire "Why are YOU Fat?" thread, which had me sobbing -- I could relate to quite a bit of it. I've been overweight pretty much my whole life and downright fat for almost ten years. (I'm 5'4", 235 lbs, so roughly 100 lbs overweight and 40 BMI.) My mother was a health-food nut who didn't allow white sugar, white flour and many other "junk" foods in our household. She was extremely controlling about our food intake. Naturally junk food became the forbidden fruit and all of my adult life I have struggled with binging on certain foods (crackers, Cookies, ice cream). The thought of eating one Cheez-It and stopping is almost unthinkable. I'm likely to eat half a box. So I try not to keep such items in the house. Usually I eat a very healthy diet -- but too much of it. I eat almost no junk food or fast food because I know it's unhealthy and also I don't want to start a binge. But I consistently overeat "good" foods. There are many obese people in my family, including a beloved grandmother who helped me through a very tough childhood. I love to cook and eat. My very wonderful husband loves to cook and eat. Almost his entire family is obese. They are all fantastic cooks and their lifestyle revolves around food. I have gained 65 pounds in the 10 years I've been with my husband. (I would love to blame his family's evil influence, but no one was forcing all that delicious food down my throat!) My sister-in-law was banded about 2 years ago and despite being the most totally noncompliant patient imaginable (she lives on a 100% junk food diet, knows exactly how to get around her band and does so deliberately) she has lost 65-75 lbs, down from 300. Quite frankly this gives me hope! I'm fortunate in having no diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc, but I do have very bad knees that impact my life a great deal. We travel a lot and I'm always in pain because of the additional walking that entails. I've been told I will have to have total knee replacement in both knees eventually. I'm about 95% convinced that I need to get banded, but the decision is really wreaking havoc on me emotionally. I told my husband I wanted to do it, and he's very supportive. But since I decided, I've been crying non-stop. I'm just racked with a mishmash of emotions and thoughts: - denial (hey, I'm not THAT fat, am I?), but this is fading fast now that my BMI is 40 - wondering if I've "tried hard enough" yet, even though I've been dieting for more than 25 years (Weight Watchers, low-carb, low-fat) and always lose a little, gain a lot more back - self-hatred for allowing things to get to the point that I have to seek surgery - fear that it won't work (and just plain fear of surgery, pain, etc) - stress over trying to find the right surgeon and aftercare - probably some residual emotional crap to do with my bad childhood and its relationship with my obesity, which I really don't want to deal with I'm sure I'm not the only one who has gone through this. Please tell me I'm not! :nervous Thanks for "listening." It feels good to get it all out there. Mary

Hi teacher girl. It sounds too me Lyk your band may be too tight at the moment. Especially if you can only get down ssoups and liquids before 2. Be very careful though u may initially lose weight this way eventually u will start to gain weight again (this happened to me). Your band has to be in the right zone, too loose or too tight can cause major concern. Try removing a small amount to start with. You should be able to eat a healthy chicken salad and be satisfied afterwards in the right zone. I advise doing this asap as it sounds to me that you aren't in the zone. But if you do wait the 6 week mark is usually when morning sickness will begin and it's very important to be able to get some nutrients to you and your baby during this time as eating can become very difficult at this stage. Good luck and keep us informed. P.s I'm 10 weeks pregnant and I have a sustainable amount in my band where I can still eat enough for baby and me but I don't overeat.

I lost 13 lbs on my 10 pre-op diet. I didn't cheat - was too afraid my liver wouldn't shrink enough! I stuck with protein shakes, cottage cheese, and broths

Hi Marchers! I was able to find the calendar on the home page, but can't figure out how to put my date in? Has anyone done this yet? I am set for March 19, and saw someones idea for everyone to put their dates up.. I think it's a wonderful idea, however I just can't figure it out.. Or remember where I read the idea.. lol.. Thanks for the help!:thumbup: ~Kerri

Sufina - welcome. I have found it very helpful to be tied into the local lapband patients in my area so I went under USA Local support groups thread, to my Ohio thread, and then we have all kinds of various groups by the major cities and areas in Ohio and as a result of chatting in that area, we actually formed a local support group that meets at a mall once a month and involves only lapband patients since we found each of our surgery centers had about 90% Gastric Bypass and 10% lapband patients (or about that split) and we wanted to just have lapband support specifically so it has worked out great for us. The second group on the website I've found great support through is once you have a band surgery date, mine was March 17, I found tremendous support from the people having surgery at the same time as me, going through the same fears and cheers about going to the hospital, initial diet post op, etc. So that is under Band surgery dates and then it splits by Year and then by Month of surgery. Third group I've found some support through is whether you have alot to lose or just a certain amount to lose, there are groups for those by weight loss categories so if you have alot to lose, you'll need support from those who understand you're in it for the long haul because its not going to come off in just 6 months or even a year if your BMI is over 40 or 50. Hope this helps.

The pill worked for me while I could take it. I haven't been able to take it in 8 - 10 years probably. Most surgeons do recommend a minimum of one year, and several are now starting to go upwards of 2 - 3 years. The BCP works with a failure rate, just like any other BC. I will move this to a better forum for you since it's a question about BC rather than surgery.

So tuesday I had my surgery I got to the hospital a little earlier than they told me cause I had nothing to do that day so I figured I just go ahead and check in. Well I ended up having the surgery 30 min earlier than scheduled. My mom took a few pictures of me in my gown as before pictures. So Igot out of surgery and was feeling okay just a bit groggy and a little pain not too much. I did the swallow test which was disgusting....I laid back down and upstairs I went. They gave me some Iv Fluids a little medicine cup of ice water and some Jello and broth. I didn;t feel to hungry but I ate the popsicle they gave me. WEll at least half of it. So I was like when do I leave or am I staying overnight because my respirations were dropping to like 10 and 8, They said well once everything is stable and your blood pressure is okay and you go pee you can leave. So everything was stable and then they said well you haven't peed yet. We need you to before you can leave. Since I had a catheter placed in me at surgery time I guess they wanted to make sure I was flowing properly. So After about 7 hrs of waiting to pee I did it. So I got to go home yesterday morning at 3am. So I get home and I'm sore but not extremely hurting. I can't lay down though cause it hurts when I try to. SO I kind of sit laying on my bed all morning long. Well when I try to go to sleep again last night after being in agonizing pain during the late day I mean like every time I breathe it feels like someone is stabbing me. It hurts so bad. I tried to lay down but I couldn't breathe and I tried to sit/laying on the bed and couldn't breathe so I slept in a big chair all night long. I was still hurting but it was better than the bed. SO this morning I wake up and walk a little and got short of breath so I stopped. I tried to call my Doctor and left a message with his nurse but no return call yet.....SO now I am just waiting it is about 900am and there office is open but it keeps going to voice-mail. This sucks right now I need some stronger pain medicine or something. I have this numbing medicine that isn't numbing anything cause I feel it all. Other than that I have hydrocodone and Gas-X strips which neither is doing anything for me at this point.. It hurt mostly around my lung area and where the port is but now it hurts there and my shoulder area. I know a lot of people say that is gas pain but I think mine is more of swelling pain. So check out my before pictures along with my scar pictures I'll be posting them in about 10minutes. Ans thanks for reading.....:thumbup:

@@Olivia12215 I can understand your frustration. I started at a higher BMI. I thought I would be down 50lb by now. I am not losing as fast as I hoped. Still I am losing, and more than that, I am not gaining. I don't feel deprived, I am not living with constant hunger and I lost in 6 weeks what you have taken me 4-6 months in the past. Currently I am sitting at a weight I haven't been able to get below in 10 years of trying off and on. I am just hovering in this area for 2 weeks. Right now I feel like if I don't get below this point soon, the whole thing is a failure. Even though I know mentally that isn't realistic, that is how I feel. That doesn't really help you, but I just want to say I understand being frustrated.

I'm on day 10 of my all liquid pre op 1000 calories and I'm so exhausted at the end of the day after school I almost can't drive home...anything I can do? We only have two days left!!

Congratulations on your decision and your progress. I was sleeved on10/10/16 and feel I am a really slow loser. And it is uncanny how closely we track. HW - 242 SW - 233 CW - 206 So, I've been really disappointed at how slowly I'm losing. But as you said I am at leasts losing. I'm diabetic and my doctor said we lose slower and less that others. I have had several stalls, once lasting 2-1/2 weeks right after surgery. For the last few weeks I have been losing and just had my biggest loss of 6 lbs, yeah! I do stick to my plan faithfully, but still have trouble getting in the Water. I am doing better with it. And although I am suppossed to cut out the Protein shakes now, I still can't eat enough protein to get in my 50 gms per day. So I supplement half of it. Keep up the good work, we'll get ot our goal sooner than later

Well on tuesday is my weigh in day.. I am nervous about not being down.. I have been hungry.. With being on liquids my surgeon said that i am not to focus on losing weight that this is a time to heal, but I feel like I need to be down some weight. I don't want to be stressing over this but I can't help it.. I have been keeping my calories to around 1100-1200. This has not been to hard i feel satisfied with this number but sometimes feel like I am eating to much.. How crazy is that.... Onto another topic I have a discharge anyone else have that like 10 days post op. It is a clear bright yellow... I have no fever, not a lot of pain but had night sweats last night and mild chills tonight.. I am waiting to call my clinic tomorrow morning. I am hoping it is nothing.. It is coming from the port site.. Anyways time for bed. PS does anyone in canada know where to find this greek yogurt everyone is talking about??? Thanks for any feedback...

Update! My surgeon and primary physician went to "peer review" with Aetna's medical director and won! The secretary in the office told me that Aetna denies some 40% of patients. Keep your head up! I am sheduled wed Oct 10.

I'm a 22 year old female and I've been considering WLS for about 8 months. I went through a lot of the initial consultations and then I decided to "give it another shot on my own" - I think mainly I was scared. My mum has had a Lapband for approximately the last 10 years so I can ask her a lot of my questions however I'm hoping everyone on here could tell me a bit more - the things they don't tell you, will it effect my general life in any way you can think of that you wish you had been told ? Can you no longer lie down after eating? I don't know I can't think of any examples, but please share anything that you think might be of interest! I'm trying to prepare myself for everything so when I go back I can commit Thank you!

i recommend the yoplay whipped yogurt that worked really well for me...and as far as the weight loss...dont worry once you get your adjustment when its time it will all melt off...i was stuck at 25 pounds lost which was all pre surgery until just before my first adjustment...i actually gained1-2 pounds back....since then i have lost 10 more pounds...just focus on healing and feeling healthy....good luck!

Thanks Krysty Ssilian I have 3 cats, 2 are like 12 the other is like 10. They are all crazy in their own little ways, haha.

Hi, Please pay attention when they are warning you that he is not a safe Doctor. There is a reason the price is so low. The surgery is done in a Clinic--NOT a fully equipped hospital. You are sent to a recovery house and they are not staffed with medically trained staff. Here is something I want you to consider when it comes to your life and good health. I have been thinking about some of the things that many of us have talked about on this board. We have talked about price shopping and I have said “this is not the time to price shop” This is about your health and what is best for you. I had a lovely lady write and tell me that $5,000 was about all she could scrap together to have the surgery and she was going to take her “chances” and go to one of the doctors who charges less. She was single, had children, and was sick and tired of her back hurting and just didn’t want to spend another day being fat. Believe me I heard everything she said and honestly knew right where she was. I had a time in my life where I was a single parent and was trying to make it on my own, I do know how hard money was to come by. I have been there working 3 jobs at one time and had very little time for me and had to do what I could only afford. This is what I can say about my choice to go to Dr. Aceves. When I made my choice, I was 63 years old; I didn’t have any serious medical problems –only high blood pressure. I wanted to become healthy so that I could enjoy the rest of my life. My back hurt most of the time, and I had an awful pain in my leg. I had already experienced one bad experience in the USA hospital and that was when I went in for one procedure and came home and a 3 days later had to return to the hospital because I had a serve infection that I got at the hospital—they told me that when you go to the hospital you run the risk of an infection. Well, I was one who got the infection from the hospital. So when I was doing my research I learned that many people do get infections while having surgery in a US hospital. Infections were one of the things I was looking at when I was making my choice. Almater Hospital utilizes state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. They have less of an infection rate than any US hospital. Well, that caught my attention. I can tell you while I was there they were cleaning everything in this hospital including the sidewalk out in front of the hospital 24-7. They cleaned my bathroom 3 times a day. My rooms 3 times a day, the halls and anything people were touching in the hospital. Almater Hospital has state of the art equipment and technology -Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Complete X ray Unit capable of performing CAT Scans, Ultrasound, Fluoroscopy, and other X-ray tests. Almater Hospital strives to keep updated with equipment of latest generation available. They have Hemodynamic surgical room -where they perform open heart surgery and catheterizations surgical suites (with recovery room). So many of the doctors who charge less just do not have all these things. They are using a clinic to do the surgery, they are not fully staffed and I am worried about where they send you to recover. This is how they can afford to charge less for their surgery. I also wanted a HIGHLY qualified doctor who had an enormous amount of knowledge when it came to “sleeve surgery.” I checked on the number of surgeries that Dr. Aceves had done, and he was rated as a highly qualified doctor who had only one patient who had developed a leak. I also understand that the “one” patient who did develop the leak was because she did NOT follow the directions given to her about what she should be eating the first month. There are many qualified doctors who do “sleeve surgery.” And I can’t speak about any experience other than what I had. I wanted more than just a qualified doctor. I wanted a HIGHLY qualified doctor who had a team of highly qualified doctors and nurses on his staff who would be taking care of me. That is just what I found in Dr. Aceves and Almater Hospital. I also know that I had the highest quality of staples and surgical materials used in my surgery along with have a staff of nurses 24-7 there during my recovery. I know that many doctors are charging less for “sleeve surgery” and if you only have a certain amount of money to work with that is why you are looking at these other doctors. Give this some thought; you can get loans for the balance of the money. You know we never stop and think twice about making a car payment when we need a new car. Well, how about making a new “body payment?” You are worth it. This is ALL about you and no one else. I have sat here on these boards for 3 ½ years watching and listening to all of this. I can only say what was best for me. I know that there are other doctors who do this surgery and they are OK. I wanted more than just OK. I want you to be very successful at your WLS and your journey to a new and better life along with great health. I wish you all the success in the world. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask away. Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds

I had my band from 2007 - 2011 (it worked for me until it eroded and had to be removed). I am looking at converting to a sleeve now as well. Obviously I can't give you any insight to the sleeve yet but I can tell you that the first year I had my band, I didn't lose that much weight either. However year 2 was when the weight really came off of me. How many adjustments/fills have you had so far? I had a 4cc band and I didn't start to really lose weight until my band was at least 1/2 full and felt real restriction. My program was really conservative and I must have had 5-10 fills before I reached that point. But once I got to the point where I could only get in about 800-1000 calories a day (liquids, soft foods), the weight came off my rapidly. The band loosens as you lose weight and lose fat around your stomach, so eventually you can eat more and need to get another fill to keep that restriction. I went every 1-2 months for a fill. I lost about 50% of the weight I needed to lose with the band alone and light exercise (walking a few times a week). The rest of the weight melted off of me once I started working out more regularly and heavily (I started running instead of walking 5 x week, added yoga and pilates into the mix). I plateaued with the band when I had the last 20 pounds to lose. I am 5'3" and was 220 lbs (size 18-20) when I was first banded and the lowest I ever got was 2.5 years out at 145 lbs (size 6-8). As well as the Lap band worked for me (until it didn't), going through erosion was hell. My body just did not want a foreign object inside of me and rejected the band. Unfortunately VSG was not an option yet when I was banded, but if given the choice I would have opted for the sleeve over the band for sure.