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Several months back I posted a thread about my DH, and some of his band journy. I cannot for the life of me find that thread, I searched and searched. Searches only go back to mid-sept, so I'm wondering if the archives didn't get moved along too.... Anyway, My husband has been banded for almost 2 years and has lost almost 200 pounds so far and needs to go at least 100 more. That will put him at 300 pounds. I know, do the math. When he started, he weighted 596 officially. He had a BMI of over 82%, and was Super, Super Obese. That's two stages beyond MO folks. He was so fat he couldn't walk through a doorway, he would have to turn sideways and squees into the room. He took up almost the entire Queen sized bed on his own, I'd be left with just a little bit on the side and I would literally have to sleep hugging the side of the mattress, half on, half off the bed. He was actually in a movie called "Do you Know the Muffin-Man" a "mocumentry" http://www.muffinmanthemovie.com/Intro.htm Here's a shot from the film's website... To give you an idea of how big he is, the woman he's standing next too weighs over 300 pounds ... The O2 tank was just a prop (but at the time this was filmed, I was the one on O2...) When I spoke with him last night, he told me that he was wearing size 3X sweat pants. In this photo he's wearing a size 6X shirt. The pants were custom made, so there is no size available. When he comes to visit me later in the month I'll take some "now" pix for you.

See??? its not always about the numbers on the scale. This is a major NSV for AGB - not just your hubby. This is one that needs to get documented in Penni's lap-band book!

What a fabulous NSV!! Well done to your DH - that's spectacular Oh .. and all the questions Anwyn asked, because I've been wondering for a while too, but was scared to ask lol.

Well - this is my first posting and first blog so here goes! I feel lately I have had a lot of firsts....first major surgery, first time putting myself first, first time owning my health, etc I have to say that it definitely is hard to choose yourself first. Anyone with children, a spouse, family, etc knows what I mean. You feel as if you are cheating them out of being there. It has taken me many years to come to understand that what I thought as putting them first was actually an excuse for me to continue to be unhealthy. How was I putting them first if I wasn't taking the best care of myself? This is a VERY hard lesson to learn. As I look around at my family members and family history of chronic weight related issues I put my foot down. There was a voice deep down saying "me, me...did you forget that I am here?" This time I chose to listen. I have not always been overweight...alright "morbidly obese". This is something that has been rolling along pretty much for the past 15 years. You know the story....get married (get comfortable), have children (more comfortable with a few pounds) and before you know it you are a shell of the person you once were. Years go by and you lose a little and gain more and back and forth. Many of us have the same story. My weight loss surgery journey originally began two and a half years ago, Dec 2009 with a seminar for the lap band. I went and listened and then said I will give it another try of doing it myself and bailed on following through. Two years later I found myself at the seminar again with a firm grip on my nerves and actually listened with more conviction about choosing me first. After going through the 3 months of NUT, psych appointment, surgeon visits and pre-op testing...I took a leap of faith with myself and God . I had clear liquids 24 hrs before surgery and was officially sleeved on 7/17 at 10am. I am currently 10 days post-op and completely intrenched in the full liquid diet. What can you say about liquids? Not a whole lot . Anyway, I am just passing time until Tues when I get to start the greatly anticipated puree stage. Never thought I would be so excited about eating food the consistency of baby food. But here I am and readily counting the hours. This past 2 weeks has given me time to do a lot of thinking!! Sometimes I wonder if the liquid stage is just as much for learning to listen to your body and conquering some of your food obsession as it is about letting your body heal. I have found that everyday that voice is getting a little stronger and I can't wait to begin to have NSVs and see the weight come off. I will take each day of passing time to consider the gift I have been given of my life, living longer, spending more time with family and friends. I am 38 years old and have a lifetime ahead of me and plan to make it the best I can!!

My favorite pair of sliver jeans are too big. I got a 31 about two months ago and now even with a belt they are falling down. It doesn't help that I have no hips or butt. But I love these jeans... Guess I'll have to wait a while before I get new ones. :-(

@@Sophie74656 what an "uplifting" NSV keep UP the good job LOL kathy congrats

Hi denise - my 2 week preop was liquids soo be happy you get to chew food! =) My Dh and I went on vacation in the begining of Oct and being a pajama junkie i bought new pjs for the trip. well first night i put them on and the pants were SSOOOO tight! i mean tight tight barely up to the tuckuss-crack tight. And i didnt pack a back up of Pjs! I was so embarrased esp sicen we were at a B&B and i didt want to have to get up in the middle of the night to P and risk being seen in these pants!! Anyway I sarted my 2 week liquid preop the day after we got home. Now these are my favorite pajama pants! 4 months later and i am swimming in them! I LOVE Them! thats my NSV

My biggest NSV to date is needing to buy new jeans and realizing that I had dropped several sizes! I knew I needed new ones but I was amazed at how much smaller they were. Another, how nice it is to be able to stand for long periods of time and not be tired. What a nice feeling!

An odd, but interesting NSV for me-- GYN appointments, as we ladies know, involve a lot of pressing and probing by the doctor. This year's visit, with my 52 lb loss, went faster and easier than I ever recall. My doctor said my half-filled/deflated breasts and tummy make his job of feeling for lumps and bumps much easier. Wonder how the annual mammogram will go.

NSVs for me... A mere 28lbs gone and I'm already in smaller pants! I can also get my socks and shoes on now without huffing and puffing. Gotta love that!

wendy's chili is my main stay--cheap/good/goes down/stays down!! have lost 100lbs--and was in Florida all winter!! am so amazed...never been on vacation and lost weight(30lbs) nsv's--had to mov the car seat up in order to push in the clutch/bought smaller sized shoes/bought summer clothes at the goodwill! OMG soooooo happy!! another 70lbs to goal!! thank god for chili!!

10/2/05 Ok, dont know if im pmsing or what but today and yesterday has not been a good day for this bandster. So much seems to be going on that im not focusing on what i should be doing. Am 8 weeks post op, had first fill 9/8 but dont feel too much restriction. Know I have lost, im down 3 sizes, my rings are really, really loose, others notice but I feel like im sliding down to bad habit land. Shoot today I had 3 med size slices of pizza and yesterday I had some cake and ice cream (father in laws birthday). Thought I have been eating the right things but some of it didnt feel right so when I went to a number of band sights for food Ive found I havent. I think my calories and volume is too much. Dont know what is the right fomula anymore. Have been recovering from a crudy cold for over a week which zaps my energy so havent exercized either. When I do eat I dont feel much of a restriction. Confused on whether I should get another fill. Theres a part of me that really thinks the 1.5 ccs wasnt enough. Sort of felt that way since I had it done. And my schedule on when to eat is off too. Ive been so on the positive and now I feel somewhat down. Hormones maybe? I just dont know. Boy what can I do to resolve some of these issues?? Where should I start? Is this normal when the newness of the band wears off? Ive had what i consider great NSV's but I so afraid Im gonna blow it!!!!!! Micki

Hi there! I had my surgery on August 15th and so far I have had a complication free, speedy and very lucky recovery. I have lost 47 pounds including a one week pre-op which I am pretty excited for! Well I have an interesting story (I'll make it short, I promise) that I want to share with you. [below talks about lots of junk food - don't read if you are sensitive to that kinda thing, heh] Before getting the gastric sleeve I was an emotional eater. I binged multiple times a week and the only person who knows is my mom and a good friend of mine. Food was my best friend. I used to eat huge quantities, well over 10,000 calories at a time and end my day with a big thing of ice-cream. I still get disgusted thinking about eating everything that I did. And I did this multiple times a week for years. Anyway~ Besides deep fried cheesy foods, sweets was my number one go-to food. You know those, "Oops, we baked too much!" 50% off carts they have at super markets? Yeah, I attacked that. Sometimes getting two dozen donuts, 24 count Cookies, etc that would sit in my stomach after a day and a half (not including all the chips, Pasta, cheese sticks, hot pockets, etc I would eat prior) I was a wreck. [end junk food] Anyway, now that I had the sleeve I have had no cravings other than fresh fruit. I am allowed SF/FF pudding (I got dark chocolate, my favorite) and I took one bite and it was far too rich! It went down smoothly and I had no problems but it was just disgusting. Pre-surgery the richer the better! But no, I just can't tolerate it now. I tried again a week later (the other day) and took one small spoon. Nope, not happening. I just don't want it and I gave it to my mother and said she can eat them. ISN'T IT CRAZY HOW MUCH YOU CAN CHANGE AFTER SURGERY? This super-super-sweet girl doesn't like sweets! I get great satisfaction by adding a strawberry to my crystal lite lemonade or eating two small blackberries but nothing more. I think this is a big fat NSV!!!!!!!! Does anyone have a story similar to mine?

the hardest part is getting my Water in each day, and also trying to keep my Vitamins in check. I seem to have something different low each visit. For example my Iron was low in my first set of labs, then without adding iron to my supplements it was fine the next time. But my b1/thiamin was low, and even with taking 2 super b tablets a day, it was still low. I am now taking 2 super b tablets and 2 b1/thiamin tablets a day and I just had labs drawn this week, and will have results next week. I am almost never hungry, and I can't stand sweets anymore. When they remove the bulk of your stomach they also remove the area that produces the hunger hormone, and the part that makes you crave sweets. I can't even do the kids chewable vitamins, they are too sweet and make me gag. So I take regular tablets, and they go down just fine. I take a handful of vitamins a day, and I'm healthy, happy and have more energy than I have ever had. I just posted a huge thread about my very emotional NSV tonight. My surgeon that is normally very composed, and not very friendly just very to the point, told me how proud he was of me, and corrected my mom when she said I had lost too much, and called me perfect and compared me to a Barbie. I joked that I gained 20 pounds just from my head swelling. I was banded in 2005 and started at 244 I lost a grand total of 40 pounds with my band. Then when I had my revision I was 206 the morning of surgery last May. So I have lost a total of 129 pounds total, but 91 of those were with my sleeve. I actually lost the 91 pounds in 7 months. I have been at goal since before Christmas.

This is going to be short and sweet. Everyone keeps on saying how they have NSV (non scale victories) and can feel their clothes getting looser or falling off completely and while those are fabulous victories, I'm a numbers girl. So here I am baring it all - the weight was pretty hard to disclose to begin with but now I'm going to share my measurements. My hopes are to be able to document how steadily I lose these inches (hopefully many and quickly). I did take "before" pictures last night but have not had an opportunity to upload them yet, those will come later. So on to the public mortification All in Inches Left Side Right Side Bicep 18.5 17.5 Fore Arm 13.5 12.75 Thigh 35.5 34 Calf 22.5 21.5 All around Hips 60 Waist 47.5 Chest 44.5 Boobs 49.5 Neck 14 Sizes 22 pants (snug but 24 are very loose) 18/20 top & XXL 40/42 DDD This is where I start, I'm not proud of it but I look forward to seeing the numbers come down.

Two weeks ago I had a good NSV by fitting into a 18 size skinny jeans thinking they wouldnt fit and did. This week a new middle number has been recorded. On my way to a 60 pound lost. Feeling better that I can ever remember when I weighed this much over 20 years ago. I'm so motivated right now and can only pray this continues. Have a good week all!!!

How wonderful!!!! Your body likes your weight loss, huh? Think you could be off meds altogether as you lose more? In other words, is your diabetes from childhood or is it weight related? I think those are great NSV's. Yay your band!!!!

My diabetes is type II - weight related with a familial history. I know that by exercising and loosing the weight it won't be long before I am of insulin altogether, so be looking for more NSV's from me!!! Thanks for the words of encouragement!!! Cindy

Wow! I think you just had the best kind of NSV! Here's to getting healthy! Congrats!

Hey welcome. If your shoes are untied, one of the nsv will be that you are able to do it yourself. nsv means non scale victory. When I got the surgery my hubby was so supportive. He also lost 30 lbs.along with me..So will your wife...best of luck.

You seem to really read my mind! I notice that, when I am not with a group of people even for a day, they always ask how I'm doing. If I say too much I get the "eyes glazing over" situation as well. I'm going to try to follow your lead. Congrats on your NSVs! I know it might be hard for you to see, but you aren't fat anymore! At all!!!

So I'm totally pumped, the sun is shining, it's 86 degrees here today and just absolutely beautiful (too bad I'm at work;)). While I was getting ready this morning it almost felt like a special day you know a day that you've been waiting for, anticipating for some time because something good is planned or special is going on, so I was thinking humm what is so special about today? It's not my Birthday, it's not Mother's Day, there's no work parties, it's not the weekend........ IT'S LIFE AND LIFE IS GREAAAT!! I hope it's ok but I want to share some NSV's with everyone that really didn't occur to me until this morning. I got in the car today and for the first time realized how much room there was between me and the steering wheel. Yep before I had this surgery when I was driving the steering wheel would actually rub against my stomach when I turned now there's a good 18-24 inches between my stomach and the steering wheel. I spent hours, and I mean hours doing hard manual yard work on Saturday and Sunday, fully expecting to be completely imobile come Monday, with much to my suprise I woke up and nothing, no pain, no stifness, no feeling like I'd been runover by an 18-wheeler. It felt awesome, my yard doesn't look half bad either:-)!!!! Summer. Yes, I said it summer, swimsuits, pools, lakes, tubing you name it anything to do with Water activities I'm in and I can't wait. Even when I was large I still participated, not gracefully or unembarrased but I still did them. This year I'm so excited because there is NO hestitaton NO feeling self concious; looking around before I do something to make sure no one is watching in case I make a fool out of myself ( I will still make a fool of myself because I'll never be graceful:)) but now I won't give two SH****!!! I've already purchased 2 swimsuits and I'm all ready to gooooo!! I was telling my husband I can't remember the last time I was a normal weight during the summer time. It's such a stress lifted and I feel like now I can finally FULLY enjoy every ounce of summer fun, my favorite time of the year and I just can't wait! Everyday I wake up and I'm just so thankful for the decision I made to have this band! Life has always been good, I've been blessed with many things in my life, a wonderful husband and two beautiful children, first and foremost but now I just have this whole new perception of life. I wake up and everyday is almost like a new adventure. I 'm still finding things out about myself and my surroundings that I never noticed before, so exciting! So yes, this is all for my sunshine and roses speech for today but I would like for everyone who reads this to post something(s) that maybe you just noticed about yourself that has changed or you're looking forward to now that you have a new leash on life:-) I can't wait to hear everyone's!!!!!

LOVE THIS. i'm not sure i'll have what you're experiencing this summer, but come next summer, watch out! i'm so ready for this!! love reading these nsvs!

Ahh, you brought tears to my eyes. So sweet and what a great NSV!!

And still the over-all quality of your life has gotten better and that is an NSV in itself!