Need Lap Band Buddy / Mentor Surgery in 3 months

[Tally23 0]

Hello All,

I am in the process of getting done all my surgery pre-reqs. I have about 3 more months to go and Im having a hard time. I really would like someone to talk to who has been through the surgery. :scared2:

Thank you!

[Astrasmom 1]

Hello All,

I am in the process of getting done all my surgery pre-reqs. I have about 3 more months to go and Im having a hard time. I really would like someone to talk to who has been through the surgery.

Thank you!

Congratulations. The time will arrive faster then you could imagine. I would be happy to help you. I was banded on 10-23-09. You can email me at cc-dmtermini@comcast.net if you like or write here. My name is Dawn.

[ms.rhonda 4]

I am having surgery in 3 months also. Maybe we can help each other. I am also looking for any advice I can get and looking forward to making friends that understand what I am going through.

[Tally23 0]

Hi Dawn and Mrs. Rhonda

I would love to get in contact with both of you. I havent been doing well lately. I just got out of the hospital after staying there for 5 days for acute pancreatitis- Not fun. The only good thing about it is now I need to be on a low fat diet for the rest of my life and no alcohol... so I guess that gives me a head start on things..lol

[Astrasmom 1]

Hi Dawn and Mrs. Rhonda

I would love to get in contact with both of you. I havent been doing well lately. I just got out of the hospital after staying there for 5 days for acute pancreatitis- Not fun. The only good thing about it is now I need to be on a low fat diet for the rest of my life and no alcohol... so I guess that gives me a head start on things..lol

Wow sorry to hear that you were in the hospital but glad that you are feeling better. You should have it alot easier after you have your surgery. Your tastes change after surgery. I used to love that fatty food. But now I've kind of trimmed things down a bit.

Please feel free to email me if you like.

[ms.rhonda 4]

Tally,

I am sorry you have been in the hospital. Have you started following the low-fat diet? If so are you also journaling food intake?

[ms.rhonda 4]

Dawn,

I have heard other people say that your taste changes. I have also heard people refer to the lapband as a tool. I think that is what I am trying to keep my mind set as, it is a life changing tool. Is it hard, once you have the surgery, to come to the realization that this is it, you finally have a chance to lose the weight? How has it been for you?

[Astrasmom 1]

Dawn,

I have heard other people say that your taste changes. I have also heard people refer to the LAP-BAND® as a tool. I think that is what I am trying to keep my mind set as, it is a life changing tool. Is it hard, once you have the surgery, to come to the realization that this is it, you finally have a chance to lose the weight? How has it been for you?

I will not lie to you. It isn't an easy road that you have ahead of you. You still have to work at it. Having the lapband though makes it easier for you to lose the weight and to keep it off. You do have to work though. You can't just sit there and expect the band to perform a miracle on you. You have to count your calories you have to measure your food. But if you make up your mind that this is the last straw and you are going to do everything humanly possible to lose the weight, you will. If you follow the plan that the doctor gives to you, and if you don't feel bad that you have to call your doctor when you are having a hard time, you will make it.

You can overeat if you allow yourself to do it. The hardest obstacle is deciphering between real hunger and head hunger. Once you have figured that out, you are fine because you can then try and work on your 'triggers' and figure out what you can do in place of picking up that cookie or that snack that you don't really need.

I also find it very helpful to attend a local support group as well as using this site for support. When you actually have people infront of you that you can see (Not just through words on the screen and pictures on the screen) it makes you feel really good about yourself. So I would recommend that if you have the ability to attend a local support group meeting, do so now.

If you are anything like me, your self esteem is probably very low. Like me I tried every diet there is out there. I would lose the weight, and then gain it all back and then some. And it wasn't because I was lazy, it was because food controlled me. Since the surgery and losing the weight that I have my self esteem is no longer in the crapper. I am feeling better about myself. I have my days where I want certain things. Last week I craved Cookies so I had ONE Keebler M&M cookie and I was fine. Just that one cookie satisfied me. The point is you can't deprive yourself of the better things in life or you will wind up failing again. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION is what my support group instills in our minds. This is a lifestyle change. It's not a give up your life and never have anymore fun change.

This tool that I have inside of me has taught me how to control what I eat, how much I eat, and because I am following the plan that the doctor has given me, I am successful and seeing awesome results. And to be honest, even though I have about 87 more pounds to lose, I have superseded all of the other 'diets' that I have been on in terms of my weight loss. And this isn't even a 'diet'.

So to sum things up. I'm not claiming to be a know it all. And naturally you can not take everything that I say and say that it will be the same for everyone because everyone is different. There are others that have a hard time. There are others that gain weight. There are others that don't lose weight for long periods of time. There are those of us that lose what we are supposed to lose. All bodies are different. It all depends on how badly you want your life back and how hard you work at it. And not letting food control you.

[chrisdirects 0]

Even though I'm just newly banded myself (2/26), I'd be happy to talk with anyone who just needs someone to share their journey, and give what advice/support I can.

I went to my first seminar about bariatric surgery last June, so this has been a long road, mostly due to my insurance requirements. I was glad in a way, because my surgeon requires a pretty comprehensive list of preoperative workups to be done, so the wait gave me time to get that all accomplished. I also spent a fair amount of time in research about what I was planning to do- I'm really a detail person, so I needed to know as much as possible prior to having the surgery. I can surely identify what it's like to be hanging on the edge, waiting for the start of a new life as a bandster!

I was on my preop prep diet (Medifast) from 23 January until I had the surgery, so I jump started my weight loss a bit. It was so encouraging to see the scale moving downward!

My email is chrisdirects@comcast.net. If I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Hugs, Christine