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If you were banded in the US, there is only one company whose bands are currently FDA approved (Inamed -- though several other companies have bands in trials and may very well be approved soon), thus you have one of three sizes, as Inamed only has 3 bands actively on the market (there are at least 2 others in development). The "standard" band would probably be the 9.75 cm band that holds 4 cc's. There is also a 10.0 cm band that holds 4 cc's. Then, generally for a patient with larger anatomy (whether because it's a bigger person or because the person has a higher BMI and, thus, a bigger stomach due to surrounding tissue), there is an 11 cm band tht holds 11+ cc's. The 11 cm band is called the "VG" or "Vanguard" band. If you're not in the US, there are numerous other companies apart from Inamed (owned by Allergan) that provide options and different sizes of bands.

I get this stubborn mucus as well mucinex does not help me. It's like the mucus just won't leave. I have done some alternative medicine during these times like acupuncture or foot massage. It helps every time. Those darn post nasal drips can go on for weeks for me and I hack and hack. Good luck. You also may try a Neti pot or hot water with peppermint oil and out a towel over your head.

I lost 1 pound 3 inches...... I got up and took vitimans and drank my protein and it all went well.....My surgery day weight was 211.4 now I'm 179 today.......32.4 loss..... Surgery date was 2/22/12 with Dr Garcia

You are losing more than normal. My dietician said to plan on 1 to 2 pounds a week. You are doing much more than that. This is a marathon not a sprint. How much would you be losing without the surgery?

Sounds like a week or a little more. that is great. wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be out for a month or so!!!

Hey All, Many different factors in deciding my best route. One concern/question I have is the time it takes to recover from surgery and get back to work. Please tell me what surgery you had and how long it took for you to get "back to normal" in regards to work. Also your level of activity at work. My job is about 50% desk 50% active movement/standing. I guess I could always get a note from Dr. putting me on light duty for a few weeks. thanks for the info.

I had almost 3 weeks to recover and needed it. I was not in pain, but very, very fatigued. It was a full month before I started feeling like me again.

On the 2 week liquid diet I lost 23 pounds ... since surgery 8/4/15 I have lost another 67 pounds

I'm 8 weeks out from surgery and having trouble introducing new foods. Apparently in now lactose intolerant. I can handle cheese but not yogurt or milk. Also meats don't sit very well with me either. Fruits and veggies hurt my pouch and shakes make me gag now. I've been eating mostly eggs, beans, and cheese every day and getting so sick of it! Any suggestions? Also we eat almost every meal away from home... So grab and go is the best for us!

I felt compelled to write this testimonial after returning from Mexico where I received my lapband from Dr. Joya. I am a nurse from the USA, who has been dealing with weight loss issues for years. I tried many weight loss tactics which all resulted in failure, (lose 10 pounds, gain 15). I didn't have time for exercise, ( 2 jobs, kids, etc). and a million excuses for not being able to. Besides, with being overweight, I didn't have the energy and I lacked self-esteem, so there was no motivation for exercise. (I did try the gym for a short time, but that didn't seem to give me results. I seemed to eat more, since I was burning calories. Besides, I wasn't committed for the above reasons). So, in desperation, I realized I wanted to do something about my weight. I didn't want gastric bypass. That is too permanent, I am not sure about long term consequences and I need to be able to reverse what I am doing for my weight loss, just in case , down the road, they find harmful side effects. And that is where the lapband seemed the best alternative. I spoke with nutritionists who have said the key to weight loss is small, frequent meals. My problem is portion control. When I really like something, I don't control my portion size. It is difficult, since I am considered an "emotional eater" or "stress eater" too. I find satisfaction and comfort in GOOD food. So, the lapband appears that it will fix my greatest downfall, and that is portion control. Now, I had to decide how to go about getting the lapband done. Insurance wouldn't cover it. So, I had to pay cash. In the USA, cheapest was $11,000. In Mexico, it was $8,000. Now, my decision was, should I chance going to Mexico. I am dealing with a surgery and putting my life into the hands of someone in a country, that I am not familiar with. You know, you hear the stories, "substandard care, cockroaches, etc". Well, let me tell you. All of my fears were unnecessary. When I researched online MD's in Mexico, there didn't appear to be any negative comments on Dr. Joya. There is a lapband site not affiliated with Dr. Joya that adds comments on all lapband doctors and Dr. Joya was spoken of with all positive comments. So, let me tell you of my experience. After two years of deliberating. When I decided I wanting to get the lapband, I called Dr. Joya and was able to schedule my surgery within 2 weeks. I paid the $8,000 and that included everything ( no hidden costs). They paid and arranged the airfare, transportation (except back to the airport from the hotel, that cost $5), and all surgical related expenses. Nothing else came out of my pocket. Now here is my story of my journey. I arrived Mexico on Tuesday, (by myself). The prearranged taxi, by Dr. Joya was waiting for me. They brought me to the Cornerstone Hospital (nice, clean hospital, NO signs of filth. JCHACO, Department of Health would not have any environmental issues). They performed tests on me. They got my blood work and IV with one needle stick. After 4 hours and meeting key players dealing with my healthcare, I went to the OR. I was awake as I was transferred to the OR table and they applied monitoring equipment on me. I was thinking OK, where is anesthesia, I am ready for the good stuff that will knock me out. I was thinking, OK, I saw enough of the OR, when are they going to knock me out. And, before you know it, I am opening my eyes and the procedure is over. It only lasted 30 minutes. Pain was minimal, the staff was great at giving pain medicine in the IV. Don't refuse it, just keep asking for it. There is no need to be uncomfortable. I was able to walk to the bathroom that night, without any problems. I slept on and off through the night. Not because of pain, but because I couldn't believe I did it. The next morning I showered and packed for the Hotel. I didn't have any problems with any valuables missing. The key people spoke English. (the only thing I would suggest is bring a small translation book for Spanish when you speak to ancillary help). Just in case there is something you want. I wanted chicken broth, but the dietary staff didn't understand. So then they transferred me to the Hotel. It was a beach front hotel and under other circumstances, I would have had a blast at that hotel. But, since I just had surgery, I wasn't exactly up to "partying it up". I felt good, but not that good. I recovered that 2nd night in the hotel, taking my pain meds and antibiotics that Dr. Joya provided. The next day, Thursday, I was on my way home. I went to the shops next to the hotel for mementos, but found Puerto Varlet to be commercialized with Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Outback’s, etc. Hey, I thought I was in Mexico, but, I almost felt like I was back home. Except in Mexico, it was 79 degrees, not 20. There was a beautiful ocean, it was nice. So, I took a taxi back to the airport (10 minutes away) and I was on my way home. I got in Philly at 2am and drove straight to work at 5am. Yes, I felt that okay, that I went to work. I wouldn't advise you to do that, you should pamper yourself for a day or two. But, for me, it was unavoidable. Bottom line though, is that I was actually okay enough to do it. So, for anyone that is skeptical and wants to know if they should do it. I say go for it. You will not be disappointed. I received care that was comparable to care that you would receive in the USA. I was safe. The price was awesome and there were no extra expenses. I definitely would recommend Dr. Joya. He is professional. He has staff like Natalie, that "hold your hand" and walk you through the whole experience. And once you return to the United States, there are Doctors in your area that will monitor and fill your band as needed so that you don't have to travel back to Mexico. Not that I wouldn't love to travel back there, because I definitely would have Dr. Joya follow up with me. But, because of the cost of travel, it makes it difficult. I hope this information helps anyone considerin

I remember the stalls. It felt like they would go on forever, and my weight loss was done. Your weight loss now will have more stalls, more patience is required, and you will have a better time of it if you find other things to focus on. Just forget the scales. Join a gym or start a new class, stay with protein/high fat foods and your body will slowly (very slowly) release it. Don't try to wake your body up or shock it with diet changes. Just stay the course and it will stop being stubborn and release the last of it's fat. Most people do not slide into home base reaching their goal weight in 2 weeks. We will gently glide into our goal weight after months. 99% of us go into stall after stall the second year of the surgery. It's going to take as much time to get the last 20 or 30 lbs off as it did to get the first tonage of weight off. Frustrating, but reality. As I said, find something else to think about. It's hard cause my DS and weight was all I thought about for 2 years. But the more I tried to get the last 20 lbs off, the more stubbornly my body hung onto it. Drove me crazy.

Walking does help and by day 3-4 much better but walk as much as you can tolerate to prevent clots and helps prevent gas wishing you all the best

i weighed myself everyday before surgery and still do after. i've had a stall didn't bug me it's just something i do weigh myself lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Cool! Thanks for the suggestions! I currently use just the elliptical for 40 minutes a day and have noticed the most results in my butt, outer thighs, and calves. Thankfully this week I will be entering my 8th week post-op so I can incorporate some strength training into the mix. I feel like I'm definitely losing inches, but I want to make sure that the ones left behind are as toned as possible! As it stands now, everything just seems loose and deflated, especially the extra skin on the upper part of my inner right thigh (so gross!). Chickie, I've seen your pics and you look frickin' phenomenal! It doesn't look like you have any saggy skin! What specific exercise regime have you followed?

Hi, You can work the muscles in the quads and get tighter. I like to do Sumo Squats. Place your feet a bit wider than hip distance apart. Hold one dumbbell from the bigger side with the other side pointing down to the floor. I use about 25-35 lbs, but I've been doing this for a long time. Then, with your back straight, bend knees into a squat position. The weight will lower, but make sure your are not leaning forward or sliding your arms down (purposely reaching to the floor), then squeeze the legs and glutes and up to straight position. Do about 3 sets of 10-15 of these and you will feel it. When it gets too easy, add more weight.

I try for 5 days a week. I am doing great if I can do that. I am just trying to lose the weight I dont care where it comes from I figure eventualy it will all come off. lol My legs are huge though...they always have been. Cant wait for those to get smaller too. lol I love the idea of dog pose thing. I just hope I can get off the floor once I am down there. lol

Today was my first day back on real food. For lunch I had a Chick-fil-a sandwich (no pickles) and a small order of fries. I ate very slowly and tried to concentrate on chewing very well. It took me about 45 minutes to finish and now I feel FULL. This is awesome!!!! Before my band, I would go to Chick-fil-a and get a sandwich, large fries and a 12 pack of nuggets. The nuggets I would eat in the car on the way home. When I got home I'd inhale the rest in about 5 minutes. This is so much better. Since my fill isn't until Sept.20, I'm really worried that I'll have to make my ticker go to the left. I'll be happy if it just stays right where it is until my fill. Of course I wouldn't mind if it continued on its merry way to the right. I have come up with a strategy to combat the fact that I can now eat real food. This past week I have been faithfully walking every evening. I go around my neighborhood and the distance is roughly (measured with my car) 1.2 miles. I walk this in 33 minutes on average. Tonight AND FROM NOW ON I am going to extend my route. My neighborhood is vaguely shaped like a E. I live in the middle of the top. I go down the vertical, along the bottom, turn around, go along the middle both ways and then back up and over to my house. Tonight I'm going to do all that, except when I get to my house I'm going to keep going. I'll walk outside the E from the top all the way to the bottom and then walk the E again. That should make my route (for those of you who aren't lost yet) roughly 2.5 miles. I'm hoping that will keep me from gaining before my fill. Teresita, thanks for the reassurance. Although I gotta wonder why the icon is running away?:rolleyes

So my experience was that the shoulder pain and the belching are different types of gas. The shoulder pain is from the inert gas they introduced into your torso during surgery to expand the area so they could see what they were doing. I read that when you sit up/stand up it creates upward pressure which is expressed as shoulder pain. Gas-X strips will not help this pain. Only walking seems to dissipate it, and it should be gone by about 10 days or so. Belching, on the other hand, for me was a symptom of uncontrolled gastric acid, which started about 10 days out, when I started taking full fluids. Took me several days to figure it out - the Nexium my doctor recommended wasn't doing a thing for me, and EVERYTHING I put in my stomach produced belching so bad (like large belches every few seconds) that I couldn't continue to eat, or talk, or do anything. It would go on like that for 30 minutes at a time. I was scheduled to go back to the office after 2 weeks, and was concerned about whether I would be able to go back, if it continued. Before I had to deal with that, though, I finally realized what it was, and changed to Prevacid, along with a Zantac here and there when I felt like I needed it. Problem solved! So a question, at least about the belching - are you on a PPI?

I had an appointment with my internist today. He was VERY supportive of me having the sleeve procedure. He listed all the ways I would benefit. Don't know why, but it really made it seem real to me that I am going to do this and that I'm definitely doing the right thing. I have all my pre-op appointments scheduled over the next 2 weeks - seems like things are starting to move along very quickly. I have gone from indecision, to trepidation and now all I feel is excited.

If you like it for the boost of vitamin C, etc., there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take it. I just went through a whole tube of it this week when I felt a cold coming on. If carbonation bothers you, you can let it sit for a few extra minutes to let the effervescence calm down before drinking but it should go down pretty smooth.

In my first month I went from 300 to 250lbs. Once I finally made it past the three week (everything makes me sick phase)… I actilually began eating a little later than recommended because I couldn’t keep anything down. I’m now 1 1/2 months post op… I’ve finally gained my energy back and am working out but I not only stalled but gained 3 lbs my mom feels like I shouldn’t get down about it or obsess about it but has this happened to anyone else?

I had one 10 years ago and was diagnosed with insomnia and delayed phase sleep dysphasia. They had me get one for surgery and it wasn't fun. I did get up 3 times to go to the bathroom and that was annoying. The worse part was the floor of the sleep center had this chevron pattern that triggered my vertigo. By the time I walked down the hallway I had to sit down because the world was spinning. The center recommended cpap but I was suspicious because the resident said I had mild sleep apnea. A few days later the attending called and said I was up too much during the night and they didn't get enough info. I explained I sleep on my stomach, have only 1 functioning nostril due to trigeminal neuralgia from facial shingles a few years back and can't wear a face mask because of the neuralgia. She wanted to redo the test. Insurance wouldn't pay for it so she then tried to set me up with a CPAP machine. It wasn't covered by my insurance so I never got it. Anyway I had my surgery and everything worked out fine.

Hi there We aren’t far apart - I started at 234, and am now 135-137 - nice and stable now for 9 months. I hit my goal, which was 154ish, in 6 months. I did work the thing pretty hard and seldom strayed from the eating plan, and honestly my loss was no slower than anyone else’s. I had previously had a gastric band which broke and I had slowly regained about 7-10lbs a year and was approachingbpre-band weight so had a bypass. I knew this was my last shot, so went for it! Totally reshaped my eating and started exercising. Started with an electric bicycle and, once some weight was off, started the Couch 2 5k app to start running. I run 3x a week now, cycle 3x a week, and gym 3-4 times a week. I love having lovely curves muscles now! You can do it - pick up sheer bloody-minded determination to bust a gut for 6 months over this (not literally of course!) and you’ll not be far off being able to try on every outfit in every shop!

I started walking two days post op, albeit short distances. After about 2 weeks, I was walking and biking for 30-40 minutes a day. Added swimming as soon as the wounds healed (think it was at 8 weeks or so, can't remember). Wasn't cleared for weights until about 16 weeks and then it was moderate, nothing too strenuous. At 20 weeks, I started hitting the weights aggressively and haven't looked back!