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Juat a quick post to ask when does this horrible gas pain go, i am 10 days post of and am still suffering with the neck/shoulder pain and its gettin the better of me, starting to get pissed off with it now, i feel like i cant get on with my life! do you just wake up one morning and its gone??? or can it take weeks?

Hey there all I am happy to announce the I now am also an August Bander, 8/28/03 I weighed myself yesterday 9/2/03 and have already lost 10 LBS YAHOOOOO. Boy some of what you guys had to go through was a little crazy. I went down to Mexico on 8/24/03 to party and vacation for a few days before my surgery. I got to the hospital which was beautiful at 7:00 am, I was in pre-op at 7:50am, then the OR at 8:15, I looked up at the clock at 8:30am and they told me they were putting me under. I woke up at about 10:30 am and was in recovery, then at about 12:00pm I was in my suite. I was up and walking around 4:30 pm and was drinking chicken broth, Apple juice , Water and Tea at about 6:00pm. I was released the next moringing at about 10:00am. I hung out in Mexico until 8/31/03 and am now home and drinking my fluids and taking nibbles of yogurt and pudding. Can you beleive it 10 LBS Well I will talk to you all later. Congradulations on all of your successes, it is great that we can all count on eachother for support!!!! Keep up the awsome work. All my love, Nicole:banana

Hello fellow bandsters, How is everyone doing? I am doing GREAT!!!! I have lost a total of 142lbs in the last year. Well it actually took me 10 months to lose this, but I got pregnant the middle of June so I am now just maintaining my weight and bouncing back and forth from 260lbs to 265lbs. I have lost most of my friends and family. i.e. my sister only weighs 115lbs ect... How is everyone else doing? Has anyone else gotten pregnant? My doc says that everything should go great but I am still a little bt scared!!! If anyone has any advise let me know. I send all my love:)

Hello All! I am over a year post op and just got restriction! What a mess! So the last time I went in I had to be honest with them I was able to eat just about anything.. I was worried that my band wasnt working! Well I was wrong what happened was one of the times I got a fill it must not have went in the band.. going in I thought I had 13.8 cc in a 14 band Thats why I was worried but no they one got out a little over 6 cc.. So they filled me to 10 cc and now I have had to be careful. so my question is how do you know if I need another fill. I can eat and seem to have restriction but alot of things get stuck. I think at first I was eating to fast.. now things dont get as stuck! any advice?

Everyone is different and every person will tell a different story!! I've been reading threads and thinking " oh god what of I do that!!" Its a learning curve and we all learn and experience at different rates! I can say I feel better now then I ever have. ! I know my band swells in the morning as I feel bloated but not to the extent of pain or uncomfortable ! To be honest 5 weeks in I'm in no pain I'm eating small healthy meals I've lost 19 lbs. I'm working with my wonderfull band not against it , and everyday it teaches me a new way with food and my new life! It's been easier then I thought it would be . Good luck .

Quest bars are high in protein, low in sugars and carbs. But they are also pretty high in fiber. I didn't have the wrapper with me to ask my NUT about this. I'm not sure how much fiber you can eat after you have the sleeve. Here's the nutrition label from a chocolate brownie quest bar. (you can also top it with peanut butter for extra protein) 1 Bar Calories 170 Calories from fat 50 Total fat 6 gm Total Carbohydrates 24 gm Dietary fiber 19 gm Sugars 1 gm Protein 20 gm Other Ingredients: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Isolate), Isomalto-Oligosaccharides (100% Natural Prebiotic Fiber), Almonds, Cocoa, Water, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Lo Han Guo, Sucralose. Hope this helps. It's not been easy for me to find a protein bar that is low in sugars and carbs.

I just made a pretty good Protein shake. Here's the recipe... 2/3 cup crushed ice 1/2 sliced banana 1 seving sugar free butterscotch pudding 1 pcket vanilla Alba 77 (it had 19% of the d 1/4 cup Water Blend for a minute or so. Its VERY thick and very filling.

WOOT WOOT!!!!! what a milestone! rock that sleeve. sleeved12-19-11 hw 362 sw 354 cw 316

I went through the same sort of things only with my daughters. I got very cold feet about 10 days before my surgery. But I pushed through. I have to say all is well! I did lose 176 pounds prior to surgery. But felt this would be the tool that takes me to my goal. It wo. uld be hard if I had a husband not supporting me, I was widowed nearly 3 years ago, his problems were all weight related. At 58 I have too much to live for. I have a very supportive guy friend who is my best friend and he supported me all the way though, thank the good Lord for that! In the end it's really up to you, and you need to tell your hubby you just need his love and support. That's what I told my daughters. Best wishes to you no matter what direction you take.

Hi all! I just found out yesterday that my insurance has approved my sleeve gastrectomy for this November 19. I wanted to share my excitement and readiness. I am a RN at the hospital that I will be having surgery at, which made this decision easier for me. I trust and respect my surgeon because I've worked with him countless times to take care of his post-op patients on my floor. We don't care for his immediate post-op bariatric patients on my floor, but ive cared for many of his other surgery cases. Its very comforting to know the hospital staff that will be taking care of me post-operatively. Basically, I CAN'T WAIT!! I wish everyone the best of luck

Hi, I am schedule for lapband with plication surgery on 9/19 and I totally understand the whole 2nd thought and backing out....I almost did because of some very negative posts here....so, I made a list of ALL of my questions from what I read here as well as my own questions from researching it myself and I took my husband and MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH MY SURGEON. He answered all of my questions, crazy or not, and helped both myself and my husband understand EVERYTHING. You must, must, MUST trust your surgeon and in the end you MUST trust yourself. I also have 2 small children, as you can see from my profile pic, and I would NEVER EVER do anything to jeopardize their mommy not being here...but if I dont do something about my weight AND get healthy I really wont be here for them in the very near future anyway. Am I scared, YUP. Do I worry, YUP. Could there be complications, YUP Could everything go without a hitch, YUP Can I continue on the path I am, NOPE! I am lucky to have my husband 150% behind me and a surgeon with an excellent reputation and a complete aftercare program in place at his office. I am in good hands and I WANT this and am willing to WORK....so in my mind....I will be a SUCCESS.... hope that helps in some way....

Hello everyone I am now 10 days post-op and things do get better and better everyday. A nurse from the hospital has been calling me to check on me on during the last call on Tuesday (8days post-op) I told her that I felt ready to try puréed foods and she said that if I felt ready to go ahead and try it ( my dr. Is on vacation that's why I asked her). Since then I have been eating puréed foods and I feel much better. My body needed some real food in its system. These are my stats so far : Height 5' 7" Starting weight 221.5 Surgery date (after 2 weeks pre-op diet) 208 Current weight (10 days post op) 198.5 Good luck to everyone and I forgot to mention I'm still unable to drink my Protein shakes they just taste so nasty to me and I am still struggling to get enough liquid in. I just have to be more diligent about the Water.

I'm thinking after a fill things could be completely different for me. I take nothing that is time release and have been swallowing them with a lot of Water with no problem. I just wondered if there was a specific reason for crushing them I didn't know about. I will continue taking them as I am, but I will be aware after my first fill I may not be able to do so. I also wonder as I read on here why some doctors put in fill at the time of surgery and others do not. My surgeon puts no fill in at the time of surgery and I have a 10 cc Vanguard band. I guess I have little restriction right now, but know that things could change. Thanks for the answer.

Congratulations, Do not forget that you need to be up and walking every hour for 10 minutes. Do not be lazy about this. It doesn't hurt. The only thing that "hurts" is the gas pressure and some people don't even have that. The more you walk the less gas pain you will have. The first 48 hours are the toughest and each hour after you are in recovery it gets better and better. Do not set yourself up for disappointment or failure. Your body will do what it needs to do on its own, Don't force anything. Measure yourself and take photos weekly, When you come back and complain you are in a "stall" your actually not in a stall. You are probably losing inches or your body is shifting. A stall is nothing lost at all weight or inches in over 30 days. You are going to do amazing. I can't wait to see your journey. Sarah

I had my band and port removed on 8/10 and ever since then, I am FREEZING cold!!!! I have no earthly clue as to why! I walk around the house in a heavy fleece bathrobe, house slippers, with the thermostat set on 75!!!! I turned off all of the fans and enjoy going outside in the hot humid 89 degree weather....in my fleece bathrobe because my body thinks it nice outside! I can tell you, that is not me. Usually I am turning the thermostat to 70, tuning ceiling fans and room fans on to stay cool. What in the world is wrong with me? My husband and son are suffering because I am so cold. I often have to get in a hot shower to get warm! Anyone else experience this after any surgery?

with my insurance which was cdphp and in ny.. it took a total of 4 weeks once everything was in order and i had all my appointments with the doctors and bloodwork all done.. then have to get clearance from your primary.. usually they have like a 10% weightloss to do before surgery. some insurances are very strict..some are more flexible. mine was i almost reached my 10% and they did surgery anyway..I started my seminar in Oct and was banded in Jan.

Mine is sugar free fat free pudding, any pureed soup--I made some black bean soup and pureed it--potato soup thinned down/pureed. Yogurt--I eat Voskos, it's a greek yogurt and has approx. 10 grams of protein in a 5 oz cup. And then there's runny cream of wheat or oatmeal. Protein drinks made with soy milk or fat free milk with a tsp. of peanut butter thrown in. That's basically what I've been eating all week. Everything seems to go down fine and it all satisfies my hunger. And water which I have not been drinking enough of.

I was also banded on May 13. The first day wasn't so bad but the second day was terrible. Each day since has been getting better as far as the pain and weakness. I also am not able to get in all the fluids. Everything I take in, comes right back out. Anyone else with this problem? I am running to the bathroom like 10 times a day.:thumbup: Tomorrow I start full liquids. Anyone else? I am looking forward to some cream of wheat. Hopefully things will improve when I start taking something in with some substance. Take care and best wishes!

My surgery was on Thursday 8/20/15. I was in so much pain and so nauseated and dry heaved so many times in the hospital I lost count. They had to order zofran, reglan, and the scopolamine patch for me to get it under control. It finally helped. I stayed 2 nights in the hospital and was so miserable, but, as soon as I was able to go home, I started feeling better. I'm 5 days post-op or 6 if you count surgery day I suppose, and I'm down 10 pounds already. I was really in regret mode the first 3 days but it's getting better day by day. I have more energy today than any other post op day so far and I expect it to get better and better. I hope you start feeling better and hang in there. I think it will get better. I do miss the thought of many foods but then I remember that my uncontrollable love of food is what got me on the operating table in the first place. Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

n2theswim, I'm so sorry I didn't see this sooner! First off, there is NO "only" in weight loss. 28 pounds in 3 months is fantastic!! How much would you have lost without surgery? I know that all you can see is how much you have left to lose, but you didn't gain it all in one pass and you won't lose it all in one pass. I've had several stalls on this journey, but I've managed to work my way past them. I've also discovered that during stalls I lose sizes rather than pounds. It's like the body takes a break from dropping pounds in order to shape shift. Take your measurements now, if you didn't do it pre-op, and then use them as a guideline to show you that you are still losing, even if the scale isn't moving. I've been shapeshifting for the last 3 months and lost 3 sizes, but barely dropped 10 pounds in that same time frame. Are you exercising? Exercise is key to keeping the weight loss steady and to helping insure that we don't end up with lots of loose skin when we're done losing. Exercise also produces endorphins that help keep us positive and help balance out the crazy hormones that seem to be released for men and women when the fat cells start shrinking. Please don't give up on yourself. This journey is SO worth it and YOU are worth every bit of effort you put into yourself!

Hi I took a 10 day course after an asthma attack. I knew it was going to have an impact. I just decided I had to roll with it. Let it do its job to get you well then focus on removing any weight gain. You know it will come off. It may just slow you down a week or so. Good luck!

I had a lap band placed in 2011. On the 9th of this month, I had it removed, a hiatal hernia repaired, and a sleeve done. I have so many mixed feelings about this whole thing. 10 days post op and wishing I had just had the band removed. Anyone else super emotional and not sure they made the right choice?

Hi again all. I have a surgery date of 7 April (which is my dad's birthday - the first one since he passed away last year - ironic in ways!) which is a month before I expected but still a little later than I wanted (hahaha). I am on the waiting list just in case of a cancellation, but the only date that it could occur is 25 Feb, in which case I would need to know before 15 Feb to do the 10 days Optifast diet. So I will know for sure in about 2 weeks time! Anyway, I am excited and nervous which is normal. I spoke with both the surgeon and the dietician today and I now know all I need to up to 6 weeks after the surgery when I go back to see the dietician! I hope to lose 30kg and get down to 70kg but my surgeon suspects I will probably feel sick at this weight. He sees me losing at least 20kg, but he did say that he can see me doing better than that. He couldn't tell me why but he suspects because I play sport and excercise that I will do pretty well. I am pumped. I just can't wait.

Hi all I have been waiting over a month to get to my appointments and am only half way there! I saw the pysician on the team on Tuesday and was filled with much joy! Due to my good health etc. I will be cleared for surgery if the surgeon agrees! I am to see the surgeon and dietician tomorrow and I hope to convince the surgeon to give me a date then and there. The nurse told me on Tuesday that the earliest appointment at this stage for the surgery is early May :smile: :cool: :eek:! I nearly flipped out! May, I can't wait that long. :tongue: I asked about cancellations and if the date could be brought forward, so they will keep that in mind. I don't hold out any hope for an earlier date though. Regardless, it will be my 40th birthday present to myself. :wink2: The joy was also that the cost of everything (surgery, fills, subsequent appointments etc) was $3500 upfront.:tt1: This was good news as I was expecting much more. The other info I got was: - 10 day strict Optifast diet before surgery - 28 days mushie stage after surgery - the surgeon puts 3 stitches in a flap of stomach near the band which will keep the band in place to alleviate any slippage (is this normal anyone?) - Before surgery they will put my legs in pressure bandages to reduce the incidence of DVT (again is this normal anyone?) - Hospital stay one night with the day after surgery having a swallow test and xray to see if the band has been positioned correctly and that there's no leakages and there's no restriction - The surgeon does three surgeries every Monday fortnight (darn it!) Then there's Easter and Labour day inbetween so an earlier appointment is looking grim! That's all I can remember from the first of my three visits. This week is odd as I had my two girls return to school yesterday, then my son starting prep today, with my appointments either side of those days. This week has been one roller coaster of emotions and I will be happy to see the end of it! Hugs to you all Kylie Melb

I went to today for my 3rd weigh in/fill and was down another 10 pounds! Wooooo-hooooo! Every time I zip up a size 18, I still can’t believe it! It’s strange that I can pretty much predict down to the pound how much I’m going to loose every month…and yes, I only weight once a month. My mom asked me if I’d lost as much as I was hoping for, and I told her, “yes,” because even though I was hoping to loose 12-15 lbs, I knew that was unrealistic, and I knew going in that I was going to be down about 10 lbs. And really, when you think about it, what difference is two more pounds going to make? It’s not. It’s not like people won’t notice that you’ve lost 38 pounds, but they WILL notice 40? A steady loss of 2 lbs. a week is fine with me, hell, it’s more than fine; it’s GREAT! So, here’s what’s weird…and this is sooooo difficult to explain to people who haven’t been banded. At my last fill, I actually felt real restriction, so for the first time in my life, I don’t obsess over food. I don’t binge. I don’t eat and eat and eat and then eat some more. Food has become a non-issue. When anyone asks where I want to eat, I tell them I don’t care; because I really don’t. It’s just not a big deal. So, what’s the problem? Here’s the problem: For almost my entire life I’ve been an addict. My eating disorder had as much of a hold on me as heroin would have on a junkie, or booze would have on an alcoholic. Now, when I’m not hungry, or I’m satisfied…when I’m not “using” food, I associate that feeling with “binging”. Does that make sense? It’s just that it’s been that way for SO long, that my mind has trouble accepting that I’m satisfied and not hungry, and it’s NOT because I’ve eaten everything in sight…it’s because I’m banded. So, I’ve walked around these past 5 weeks thinking, “Shit! I can’t believe I did that! How could I have eaten all that food? How could I go back to “using?” Then, I have to actively remind myself that I haven’t gone back to my old ways; I haven’t binged. It’s just strange…a good strange, but very unsettling all the same. And, get this; I go in and tell my nurse that I don’t think I need a fill, but I’m not sure. She hooks me up and has me drink the “stuff,” and she says, “Oh yeah, you need a fill.” I ask her how she can tell, and she says that she can tell by how easily the liquid is going down. So, as I’m getting ready to leave, she reminds me that I won’t be back for three months, but if I need a fill I need to let them know. My thing is this; I won’t know if I need a fill. I didn’t know this time! I tell her this and she says, “Well if you find yourself getting hungry, then you know you need a fill.” O.K…I didn’t get hungry this time. And I won’t get hungry next time. I guess what I do, is just push it out of my head and ignore it. I joke around that I’m really good at being hungry, but I guess, it’s not a joke. It’s kind of pathetic in a way; I’m so used to being hungry that it’s normal now. Ah well, I guess that’s a concept only a former fat kid can grasp. At any rate, I will close saying this: My life is so GREAT that I can’t believe it’s MINE!