Things you wished you knew prior to Surgery or Wish Doctor told you?

[BetsyB 9]

I was very fortunate. What my doctor did not tell me, I learned on my own. I have not had any postop surprises.

[LapNYC 3]

No surprises other than the hellish nature of bandster hell. From the day after surgery until I achieved decent restriction I was famished. Even having read about it, I'm not sure I was totally prepared.

Other than that, this thing has been amazing. I'm so grateful for this piece of plastic! I look forward to eating as much as I always did even though I eat so little. Kind of like my (naturally) skinny sisters. It's amazing!

[bjbbh53195 0]

This is gross but i wish someone would have told me that "throwing up" meant a big pile of mucus goo.

[rocketray 0]

There really weren't any surprises for me since my brother had it done a year ago so he kind of paved the way for me. That said, there are two things that I can't get used to (yet) and they are not being able to drink during a meal and eating slowly. It's so hard for me to slow down. Otherwise I'd say this forum does a good job of preparing you for the best and worst to come.

[Isa Bella 0]

My shrink talked to me a lot pre-op about the emotional things - and the lifestyle things (my husband is a chef for the love of God). But I have to say for me, so far (and its only 2 weeks), the emotional and pyschological things have been like revelations - AH-HA moments - that give me some joy and happiness. Like I finally understand something or have clarity about why I couldn't do it by myself.... things like that. I have moments of feeling the enormity of my decision and commitment - but in general I am so happy - and get up in the morning excited to see what the day will be like (and I never felt that before...).

I have a great shrink and I see him about 3/mth. We have been discussing Lap-band issues for about 10 mths. My emotional journey since getting banded on July 19th has also been more like revelations. I was at the market yesterday and found myself getting very emotional. It wasnt bcuz I felt I couldnt eat this or that anymore but I had a sense of control. I felt powerful over food (if that makes sense) I CHOSE not to buy something and not bcuz I couldnt have it but I didnt want to. I get my 1st fill on Aug 31st. Dont get me wrong, I dont have any restriction and I do get hungry but I feel sooooo lucky to have been able to get the lap-band. I waited for so long and I think all the prep work I did on my own, with my shrink. & with the help of everybody on this site helped me immensly. I take it day by day and enjoy each new day & the surprise of what can I do today that I have not been able to do in a long time due to my weight. Wishing everyone a beautiful and successful day:smile2:

[adagray 1]

No real surprises here. I was very well informed from my doctor, my mom (also banded), and info on here.

One thing my mom told me before getting banded is that there's no 'going off your diet' once you have the band. The band is always there whether you want it or not. Even though I understood this going in, that is the one thing that has taken some getting used to. I was always one that would be 'good' or 'bad' w/my 'diet' depending on how I felt about it in the moment. And, always found reasons to splurge or treat myself.

Well, I just went to Hawaii for a week (typically would be a splurge time), but my band kept me from over-indulging. Of course, I'm delighted that I came back from the trip without gaining a bunch of weight (like I would have pre-band), but there were many moments while there when I was a little bummed that I could not splurge and eat as much as I want.

[abingdongirl 0]

I would say I wish I had listened more to my doctor about getting fills in a good interval, I was banded in August and I didn't hit my sweet spot till my last fill in June that is 10 months too long... As a result I am just learning you can't eat and drink at the same time, and why my surgeon doesn't like straws. My doctor was really good at preparing me for the surgery but after 10 months of skipping a few points here and there, now I have eat right or be tired, and have low energy for the days I don't. The surgery went according to plan, the discomfort was exactly 10 days and so far the ride smooth with no complications. But I wish I had returned every two to three weeks for my fills and I would have reach this point sooner..

[Lap2Fab 3]

This is gross but i wish someone would have told me that "throwing up" meant a big pile of mucus goo.

Thank you for sharing that! Now I will be prepared if it happens...not gross...just honest! Thanks for the info!

[redone 0]

Hello evryone,

You guys are right on the ball. I felt the emotional part. That was a shock. I'm glad people are talking about this it will certinly help someone just strating the journey.

[Tally23 0]

1-that 2 weeks out I'd be starving...I knew it took "a bit" to find restriction...I didn't realize I'd feel like I was starving to death before I got there.

2-that I was losing what I thought was my best friend (food) and would have a mourning period where I felt lost...it wasn't terrible, just very, very unexpected.

3-how freaking good it would feel to start having clothes fall off and not be avoiding mirrors any longer.

I have NO regrets (except maybe not doing it sooner). And nothing has been terrible by any means. Recovery was a piece of cake and I a thrilled with where I am at this point.

Since I have been on my pre-op diet which is the vanilla bariatric advanatage 4 shakes a day plus 2 cups of certain veggies. Towards the end ( 3 days till day of surgery) I have not ate any of my allowed food. I just dont want to. I drink and drink but I have not had any solids in a few days. Before then the food was my best friend, my comforter, my companion etc and realizing it will no longer be there really hit me hard. I hope that things will be easier after surgery but I know I will still miss it...

[Mangofish 1]

Since I have been on my pre-op diet which is the vanilla bariatric advanatage 4 shakes a day plus 2 cups of certain veggies. Towards the end ( 3 days till day of surgery) I have not ate any of my allowed food. I just dont want to. I drink and drink but I have not had any solids in a few days. Before then the food was my best friend, my comforter, my companion etc and realizing it will no longer be there really hit me hard. I hope that things will be easier after surgery but I know I will still miss it...

I was at a bday party this weekend and it so sucked not being able to eat pizza. I ate the cheese and toppings but man the crust looked so good! I still miss eating but for me the pain if I eat it will outweigh any food lust. Too much info but food never exactly tastes the same when I am sliming up food with some stomach juice mixed up.

Oh and since you haven't had surgery yet - please take the time to heal and not freak out before your first fill if you haven't lost X amount of weight. This is a journey (cliched but for real) and it may get bumpy but I wouldn't trade my plastic band for anything. Good luck!

[Froggie D 1]

Like several others, I was surprised by the blue periods in the first month or so after my surgery, but my biggest surprise was that the band truly makes me not hungry and I find myself not thinking about food all the time.

I really thought that the band would make me unable, physically, to eat a lot. I thought I would try to and want to eat more, but would not be able to. I expected it to be sort of a behavior modification thing where I would eat too much and be punished by my band. Sure, there have been a few times I have pushed it and had some discomfort and it has come back up, but that is a minor part of what I have experienced.

The band has really changed my constant obsession about food. For me it started right away after surgery. I have had several time periods when I got looser and my craving/obsessing returned until I got a fill. As soon as I got a fill, I was not obsessing any more.

I do not think I am at my sweet spot yet, but my cravings are so diminished it is amazing. I can go from lunch to dinner without thinking about food. I truly do not think about it. It is a shock to get home and realize I have not been planning for 5 hours what I will eat.

I love my band!

[2beskinny 4]

I feel like I have been a text-book case so far. I pretty much have anticipated a lot of how I was going to eat right after surgery, etc., and for the most part, it has been way easier than I expected. The surgery itself has been a little facisnating to me. I am actually amazed by the healing powers of my body and the surgery was so easy when you weigh the benefits of the outcome. The shoulder pain was the worst thing and I only feel that once or twice a day now (does not wake me up anymore). My biggest fear at this point is the crashing of my optimistic attitude. I wake up everyday thinking so much more positive about life. If anything, the damn scale is a bit discouraging because I feel so good and then I'm briefly reminded of how far I have to go I have begun to think that the band has a wonderful placebo effect on me. I know there's no saline in it yet, I know I have a long way to go, but taking such a positive step in the right direction has already been so amazing for me. I have not regretted my decision for one moment. I made up my mind before having the surgery that if I stayed positive, that would be half my battle. I read everything on here, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. The last two are simply not options for me. So far, taking my own advice has been great for me!

[stefaniwg 172]

I am almost 3 weeks post op(I'm hungry!!!) and there were some things that I wish I was told or knew prior to having the surgery. I feel blessed that I didn't have to have a psyc evaluation or stress test or any of that prior to being approved by my insurance. I have read almost everything about the lap-band® over the past year and thought I was prepared, boy was I wrong. My doctor seems nice but he doesn't do one on one consultations, only in a group and I didn't like that. I felt alone and clueless about what was going on with my body after surgery. The surgery went well even though I found out that I had H-Pylori moments before surgery(had to take 8 pills a day for 2 weeks) and that I had hital hernia after surgery(which was repaired). After 3 days I was feeling great and got moving around really well. After week 1 I realized that I was emotional eater. I never knew that! I was having some serious emotional problems along with psycological ones. I lost 10 lbs that week and gained 2 the next week. The scale made my problems escalate. I am feeling better this week and am not stressing so much about my weight and know that I am still in bandster hell. None of this was discussed with me prior to surgery and I really wish that it was. I am getting my first fill next week and cant wait to not be so hungry anymore. I thank GOD for this website! Good luck to everyone!

[lauragshsu 6]

I haven't had many surprises, just two.

I wish I had known that your band can become way too tight, even months after a fill, and you could require and emergency unfill.

I wish I had known my incision could pop back open (I only have a single incision), and that it would take for-friggin-ever to close back up again (still slightly open almost 5 months post op).