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HI all- Was banded 10/15. So far with pre-op and post op I'm at 34lbs lost. YAYYY!! Getting my second fill Nov 30. I have no restriction and have absolutely no problems. I have lost 6 lbs the last 2 weeks since fill 1 but that was all will power. I usually feel I satisfied after Breakfast and lunch but by the time dinner rolls around... I could eat a horse. I do have an issue getting 64 oz of Water in. I don't know way. Some days I can some I cant. Good job everyone!! Here's to a productive December.

<FONT color=#00bfff size=3 face=Georgia>Hey! Well, I was banded 10/25/2010. I have no restriction, but I am trying to make good choices. Sometimes I fail at that miserably.

All good things for all the October 3rd Sleevers! This is the big day for the beginning of your new life, and since the day is already in full swing, you will probably not see this message until a couple of days out. But know that we are here for you when you do check in. My surgery is scheudled for 10/17, but you are now the first of my Official October heros!!! Please let us know how you are doing, Peace and love, Phyllis, aka Hopeful Spirit

Thanks for the feedback. My doctor did a VERY thorough blood work up (thyroid was okay; no vitamin deficiencies) The vitamins I take are Bariatric Advantage (chewable) Multi Vitamin / Vitamin D / and Calcium Chews (daily) I teach school so I am awake each morning at 5:45 a.m. I am NOT a coffee drink and avoid caffeine for other health reasons. My normal bed time is 10:00 p.m. Thanks for the responses Yes, LEE my triglyceride levels are a tad high and I do have sleep apnea. This was an issue before surgery and I am not sure when it will get better ?

Hope everything went well for the other Jan 10 sleevers. I just got back from a walk around the Med/surg floor. Like everyone says, walk, walk, walk! It really helps with gas pains. I've been burping a lot and have some incisional pain but it's tolerable. Taking in 50 mls each hour I'm away, Protein and Water. I hope my surgeon releases me today! I'm ready for my own bed and environment. I'd love to hear how you're all feeling. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I totally agree with u....... I didn't do so good on preop.... I cheated a lot................. It was hard for me............. Girl just breath cause in the end u will look great..... I've lost 10 pounds so far..........

You may not want to stock up on post-op foods just yet. I remember my taste buds being out of whack for a few weeks and things I liked pre-op just didn't taste the same. Pre-op, I bought a case of chicken Soup - 6 months later, I gave it away. I never want to see chicken soup again! :-p You will also be surprised at how little you are going to eat post-op. I had to keep reminding myself of that when I was planning for post-op eating. My 1st 10 days, post-op meals consisted of sugar free popsicles, sugar free Jello and Crystal Light. If I were to do it over again, I'd buy a few bottles of my favorite Protein shakes, sugar free jello, and sugar free popsicles and maybe some chicken broth.

Went for my consultation and basically went like a seminar about how and what surgery is he didn't really mention if I was or wasn't a candidate BMI is at 39.4 I have Gold Coast health plan more like medi-cal the rules are the same to qualify I know but he is asking for 10% weightloss by next appt and an appt with psych and dietician which are scheduled after my weight update does that mean I am in the process of surgery? So confused, how was ur experience?

I've lost just over ten pounds. If I were only 10-20 pounds overweight, I'd be jumping up and down. But since I'm 120 pounds overweight, ten is no big deal. I figure it'll be at least 50 pounds before I can really tell a difference. For those who've lost gobs of weight already - how far along were you when you began to see the difference in your mirror?

I'll be having surgery in 8 days!!! I'm 6 days into my pre-op diet and I've lost 10 pounds. I feel really good about that, because I've been sticking to the diet really well. Four protein shakes during the day and one healthy choice dinner. Add veggie or healthy choice dessert if I'm still hungry but no more than 1100-1200 calories per day. Some of the 10 pounds is probably water weight and I'm counting from weight that I just gained from having "last meals". The first two days are pure hell, but after that, I have gotten used to drinking my meals instead of eating them. I really haven't been hungry much at all. My boss took me to lunch on Friday, and he knows I'm having surgery, but I didn't tell him what for. I ate 1/3 of a grilled chicken sandwich really slowly and he didn't seem to notice. Then, I just drank a protein drink for dinner. I've been meaning to get to the gym but it is COLD. I mean really COLD for Florida. It's been in freezing temperatures the past few days. When I get off work it's dark and cold and I just want to stay inside and be warm and not go back out. I will definitely start going to the gym after my surgery. I think I can do cardio fairly soon after and weights after 6 weeks or so. I'm really looking forward to losing this weight and starting the new year off right!! I've only told two people at work that I'm doing it and only a few friends and my family. I actually am going to have a month off work counting the Christmas vacation I already scheduled, so I hope to come back to work much lighter. Let the rumors begin!!!

ok, so I had my surgery with Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver because my insurance would not pay for the surgery and I had to pay cash. I wanted someone with experience but not someone who was out to rob me blind. So... Dr. K was both and about $15K cheaper than anyone else I could find with his experience. One thing I found at my first fill was that he wasn't so good at after care. He didn't know how to tell me to know that I was filled correctly...so frustrated and water logged, I left with only 1.5 ccs in a 10cc band. That was 10/31/08. ON 11/07, I decided to call Fill Centers to find out what doctor they had available in Las Vegas for fills. They set me up with Dr Ricciardi a "Bariatric Physician", not to be confused with a "Bariatric Surgeon". I chose the annual plan with the promise that if I didn't like him that I could go to anyone else in the Fill Center network. Cool. Appt set for 11/20 at 9am. I was very impressed by his staff and by him. Turns out he is experienced and young and he trains other doctors across the country to be "aftercare" providers for bariatric surgery. How Cool! He listened, talked for about 30 minutes about what I've been trying and told me that I come to his office now for all aftercare. Awesome! So, he fills it 1.5 cc's and is amazed that I can chug a full water bottle with 3.0 ccs after only 8 weeks. I personally felt like he should put more but thought I should trust him and see how it goes. Next day all is well and I am eating around 1/4 - 1/2 cup depending on how much water I've had that day already. I think I need a little more so I'll set up an appt to go back in another week. Let's see how much I can lose this week without much restriction. I see many others who had surgery the same time as me are at 3.5 or 4.0 and have good restriction so I don't want to waste too much more time waiting for something to work... I'll give it til after Thanksgiving to see and then I'll make an appt. All in all, I was very pleased with my fill center experience. They gave me a lifestyle guide, access to recipes and other things on their website and called me for a follow up to see how everything went. I am pretty impressed.

You know I am in a complete different mindset now that my weight is dropping with my LB. I use to plan which restaurants I would hit, what food I would cook, and what grocery's I would consume on the weekend. Now I plan on what I can get done, where I am going to walk, and who I will visit. I have made amens with many, including my Dad that I have not spoken to in about 10 years. I think I carried so much guilt on my shoulders with my weight that I had forgot who I was, I have to say again the LB is life changing. Hope everyone gets the same results.

I have finally reached my first mini goal of getting out of the 200s and into the 100s. I am 5'8, 22 years old. Starting weight was 235 and today I weigh 197!!!! I'm very excited to finally be back in the 100s! My bra size has gone down from a 40D to a 38C. Pant size from a 14-16 to a 10! Overall I am loving my sleeve! I have been lucky to not have any complications or pain. I am able to eat normally and nothing really irritates or upsets my stomach. I'm not sure if at 10 weeks and having lost 38lbs is a good pace or not...how is everyone else?

I had my band in 01/07/05 and my tubal 08/06 and my band was no pain at all but my tubal I was out for 2 weeks, my doctor would'nt do it through my belly button because she didnt understand how the band was done so she went through my pubic line with a 3-4 inch incision, it is just like having a c-section but with no baby.

Well, Welcome home May 6 bandsters.. As I read through everyone's stories, I am feeling maybe I shouldn't tell mine. But maybe it will help someone. I got to the Hospital at 5:25 for check in by 6 am I was called and went and got weighted. I was at 315 so I had lost 14 pounds in 10 days from the pre-op diet. they took me to the prep-room and took all my blood work and then started my IV. They were slow at first but OR came to get me and they were running around with there heads chopped off. They then gave me a heprin shot in my arm (and that one hurt.. it stung like a bee). Then the OR came and got me at about 7:30 and then I spoke to the OR nurse and Anesthesiologists. I have a few allergies so they explained what precautions they would be taking. He then gave me some meds in my IV and rolled me into the OR. I slid over to the OR bed and they started prep me and I was out before I knew it. I then woke up about 9:15 in recovery and I felt pretty good. They said that I should be able to go home later in the afternoon. They sent me to my room where my husband was waiting for me. They got me some Water and gave me a pain med shot. Over all I felt pretty good pain was manageable. mostly felt like bad cramps. After I was in my room for about an hour I needed to go tot he bathroom so I got up and went to the bathroom. While I was going to the bathroom I stood up and felt really dizzy and I walked to the sink and noticed that there was blood on the front of my gown and I called my husband, he came in and pulled my gown away and my port incision had broke open and was gushing blood he grabbed a towel and pulled the emergancy tag. I had 4 nurses in the room in less then 2 min's and they got me back into bed and cleaned up my incision and sealed it back up. I was also having a problem with my breathing. even with oxygen I was still only at 90 % so they brought in lung therapist and I had to start doing breathing exercises. Well, I was doing pretty good I could drink water and keep in down and I did have a couple sips of broth and Jello but I was full and couldn't eat anything else. But because of my bleeding episode and my breathing issues they made me stay over night. and I got home today around 11:30 am. This morning O got up and was able to walk down the long hall and back to my room. I am doing better today.. not as dizzy and my incision has not bled either. I still have a bit of a pain when I swallow still, but I think it will go away soon. I am moving really slow and trying to make sure I don't bust open again. anyway. so far so good, but as you can read my stay was abit longer and a bit more drama... Leave it to me to have drama.

Rev1379, With my work schedule I eat 5 times a day. On average I take in between 600 to 700 calaries a day. I go to the gym 6 days a week and mostly walk for about 75 minutes at a speed of 3.5 miles an hour and an incline between 10 and 12. This helps me burn between 1300 and 1400 calaries a day. Once I hit 100 pounds I plan to start adding some weight training so I can tone up and I've read that the more muscle you have the more calaries your body burns while resting. Hope this helps.

Holy Cats !!!! Thats wonderful!!! Yes, PLEASE - tell us what you eat and what sort of exercise you do ... i was banded 10/14/08 and am down 36. Not bad, but if i can do better , that would be super :-) Keep up the great work!

As you can see by my stats below in the last 5 months I have really done pretty well. I am NOT complaining about my progress at all. My concern is that although I usually don't eat any more than 1 1/2 cups of food I am worried about having a stretched pouch. I have in the past month or so eaten pizza twice and I am shocked by how much I can eat. I know I shouldn't eat it and I usually do VERY WELL by today I ate about half of a red barron thin crust pizza. That shouldn't happen. I can feel that I ate too much, but not like I felt in the begining. No pain. Just a full feeling. I don't get hungry too often. Every 4-5 hours. I eat 3 meals a day and rarely have a snack. My biggest problem has been constipation, but being able to eat this much without much fight from my band worries me. I thought I just needed a fill to help me get full faster, but after eating so much I am wondering if that isn't the problem. I have heard that a liquid diet for a week or so can shrink a slightly stretched pouch. I'm thinking about trying this for the next 4 days or so. I know you may think I should run to my doctor. I have a fill in 3 weeks and I thought I really needed it. Keep in mind I live 7 hours away from my doctor. Please give me your feedback. __________________ High/Surgery/Current/Goal 285.5/ 271 / 207.0/ 142 Banded - 10/29/08 Three fills - 4.1cc in 10cc band April 1st Challenge

So I've had a really bad cold for the past week, so I haven't been to the gym and I've also been really hungry lately. I don't have much restriction so I've been eating pretty badly. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either and I have yet to see 269 on the scale. I have another doctor appointment on Tuesday and I'm going to ask him if it's possible that I have a leak. I just don't get how I could barely eat any food at all three weeks ago and now I can eat anything (almost). It's also going to be one of the slower months for weight loss. I'm going to try and step it up this last week, but going from eating nothing to eating alot and not working out has not resulted in a large weight loss for the month. I'll be lucky to have lost 10 pounds, and I say lucky because it may be less. I'm going to count my blessings though and get back on it this week. I also am going to try for more restriction at the next appointment. The guy I've been dating for the past month may know all my secrets including all the gory details of my lapband. My hard drive crashed and he helped me out by putting in the new one, but a few days later he "mentioned" that he was able to save my old hard drive--onto his computer!!! He said he didn't look through it, but I don't know that i believe him. It had before and after pictures, the letter I wrote to the insurance company to get the surgery, and a Video blog I took before I started this whole thing. It's not that I don't plan on telling him eventually if this works out, it's just that my computer had really personal stuff on it and I'm embarrassed by the fact that he may know it all now. But hindsight is 20/20 and I can't do anything about it now, so I'm going to try and not stress over it. If he did read it all, he's still talking to me but wow, I look really bad in some of those "before" pictures. I also would like to explain it in my own time rather than have someone reading through my personal journals, that are more personal than this journal by far! I'm trying not to stress over this! I'm hoping he didn't read through my hard drive! I'm going out of town this weekend for my cousin's shower, so I'll be unable to go to the gym at my parent's house and of course they love to push food at me, but I'm determined to lose some more weight before the appointment on Tuesday. I'll keep updates on how it goes.

hey guys,i was banded on aug24th, so far its goin alright,but now i am starting to think more about food,last week was easy except for trapped air in my chest and shoulder,thank goodness it resolved itself,as for the walking,its very hard i'm exhausted after only 10 min. and feel like i walked 1 mile,like i ever did that lol, i try to get 48 ounces of liquid a day,i keep track of it for now,i'm at home don't go back to work for another week and a half,but i'm so bored!! lost 8lbs so far, i c the doc on friday c what he says, well thats it for now goodluck everyone later

Just wanted to say I am glad to be getting a second chance. Was supposed to be baned in the begining os September. That didnt work out because they discovered I had a-fib during the pre admission testing. So after getting cleared by the cardiologist last week I am now scheduled for 1/20/10. Was tough and kinda depressing for the last 4 months but I held my own. Am still down from alltime high but havent lost anything in the last few months. Am looking forward to my new life with the band.

2-10-09 Did I really just do that? Did I really just buy a size 16? Does it matter they are stretchy? Does it matter they are from Wal-mart? Does it matter that they are a little snug? Does it matter that I feel like I will be able to wear these forever? I can’t imagine ever growing out of (or shrinking out of) these. I started out a size 24. I dug out my old size 18 and that was the smallest jeans I’ve had. I wore a size 16 about 9 years ago for just a little bit. I haven’t worn anything smaller than that since high school. I want to do a happy dance, but I’m still saving that for onederland! I love my band! :thumbup:

Okay, so now my focus is back on my weight loss, full throttle. I've been losing consistently, but I think I can do better. 10 pounds a month is okay, but I'd like to jump start it. I know what I need to do. Some days I am the paragon of virtue--Lots of protein, low carbs, low fat. I get off the wagon most on days when i don't work. Structure seems to work well for me. I am so good on work days. Now it's just a matter of getting used to eating like that every day. My short term goal is to eat healthy with no fatty food etc for 6 days out of the week. I'm already doing great on my portion sizes--which in the past were my biggest problem. I've been good with the gym, but I'm going to do better. I can step it up a notch. My goal is to lose 15 pounds this month. Wish me luck! oh and by the way, the guy I was dating sent me an email stating he was confused and not sure what he wanted. I replied that I think it would be better if we were just friends. He has been calling and emailing me like mad ever since saying he wants to see me but I haven't replied. Why is it that guys only want you when you don't want them? Sheesh, I'm not losing any sleep over this one...

You need a fill. That will get you back on track. Don't worry too much about being overfilled. You will know when it is time to stop. You can take that 10-15 lbs off in no time. Good luck.

I thought I would start a thread to see how everyone is doing, whether you have had surgery yet or not. What are your feelings since you have been banded? Are you happy? Adjusting well? How are you healing? How is eating/drinking going at your current stage? Social events? I'll start... I am on the pre-op diet of mostly liquid Protein, but I can have some yogurt and cottage cheese, strawberries/blueberries in my shakes. Egg Drop Soup has helped too. I find if I keep myself satiated I do fine. When I get hungry I get REAL hungry and I have to have something or else I feel like falling off the wagon. Today is day 7.. 4 more days to go on the diet, surgery is on Wednesday. I am ready to go!! I have been reading everyone's experiences who have had surgery before me and appreciate all the information gained. I have lost 10 lbs in this past week a good jump start but I am sure it is a lot of Water. :sneaky: Who is next? :biggrin: