tell me you love your band!

[Vinella 0]

I was just banded on the 18th. I woke up the first morning home and thought, "OMG, the pain, what have I done?" I'm day 3 post op now and since the pre op diet I'm down 9 lbs. I know that's only a drop in the bucket compared to most, but they're my 9 lbs I've lost! 9 lbs I've not been able to get rid of easily until now. I too had cold feet a few days before my surgery. Honestly I tried to reschedule but when I called they said the next available surgery date wouldn't be til the end of Feb. Having to go through the pre op stuff again, I just decided to go ahead with it. While they were prepping me for surgery I broke down and just started bawling after getting an IV started. I think it was a culmination of my nerves and the unknown. I just keep coming back to the big picture.....my family. I am "morbidly obese", which means if I don't change something this will end my life prematurely. I have 4 yr old girls and a wonderful husband. They're my inspiration. My momma died young at 52. My grandma was only 47 when she passed away so my mom was without her mother as well. I don't want to leave that legacy to my daughters. I want to live the healthiest life I can with the time I have left. Each day is a gift and if this is the tool that will let me experience one more day with the ones I love here on earth then I'm falling in love with my band.

Good luck to you and your journey. It helps to have a bigger picture and keep it posted somewhere where it gives you the inspiration you need to pull your cold feet outta the rut and get moving.

[reverie 49]

I definitely love my band and don't regret the surgery one bit. I never imagined being 100lbs lighter, let alone losing 100lbs in just 8 months! My journey has been smooth as ever; no fills, only a handful of PB sessions, and yeah, I'm grateful for it!

[size10again 11]

I don't love my band, but I really really really like it.

I've had a wonderful journey with just a few learning episodes (getting stuck, etc.). About 100lbs gone in my first 7 months.. 180 lbs at 22 months out. It would be cool if I could be at minus 200 by my 2 year anni, but that might be pushing things a bit too hard.

Very normal to be nervous and have cold feet. You might enjoy/appreciate this list.

SUBJECT: Stages of Banding by Jessie H. Ahroni, RN, PhD

Discovering the Band

Wondering if this is for me

Investigation

Doing serious research

Joining a support group

Getting hopeful

Finding a doctor

Shock at the price

Deciding to do it

Making the arrangements

Wondering if you made the right decision

Getting nervous

Going ahead with it

Waking up and wondering what the hell you did to yourself

Post-op discomfort

Month of liquids- not being able to strictly adhere

Wondering if you've been scammed again

Seeing a little success

Getting your first fill

Changing your eating habits

Seeing more success

Getting second fill

Really losing

Seriously changing your eating habits

Being totally euphoric about your weight loss

Changing your thinking about eating

Wanting to tell every fat person you meet about the band

Realizing you really can't eat

Worrying about nutrition

Learning to eat healthy and wise

Finding other ways to meet your emotional needs

Realizing it takes a long time to lose 100lbs

Trudging along

My clothes are too big

Buying new clothes

Oops, I bought too much too soon...now these are too big

Buying more clothes

Getting near goal

Enjoying all the compliments

Feeling successful

Getting aggressive

Not taking crap from anybody

Realizing you can be assertive without steam rolling everybody

Finding balance

Wondering what comes next

**There are other stages and everybody does not go through them in

the same order or even go through all the stages. Some people might have

stages to add....and there is some looping back and forth. But these are

common stages that most Bandsters go through.

I love the stages and will look for a copy. Is it from a book?

I felt the same way as you before my surgery. Even in preop a part of me wanted to get up and run for home! LOL I am thrilled and so thankful that I have been banded! I feel great. I was banded 12/2/2010 and have had one fill. I am definetly working at my weight loss and overall health improvement. I journal, eat adequate Protein, fruits and veggies, workout most days, drink only calorie free drinks and control my junk food inatke. All the things taht we know we have to do but it is easier with the band.

Best wishes to you on YOUR journey, whatever you decide to do,

Joan

[LapNYC 3]

I love love love my band. I've lost a ton of weight in a year with only a little willpower and a bunch of time in the gym. It's miraculous and I'm so upset that I didn't do it the day the thing was invented. Different people have different experiences, but for this formerly 286 pound person now wearing a size 8, it was miraculous.

[Sperry 1]

I was banded Jan. 5th 2011, and all is well ... I never would walk now i am walking ... watching what I eat, and feeling good about myself. Pray and believe you will succeed................... This is help from God.................Praying for you

[Msbandtastic 1]

I DO love my band! Probably not for the reasons you might think. Before I got my band I thought that it was much like GB only less invasive. Turns out .... not so much. I have never worked harder to lose weight in my life; I have never been more challenged to be patient; and I have never learned more about myself and my relationship with food. Oh, and I have never been more determined to exercise. I hate exercise ... or at least I did before my band. I won't say I am madly in love with it now, but I DO look forward to getting up at 5:30 a.m. M-F to walk 2 miles at the track before going to work. And, I am looking forward to adding a quarter mile this coming Monday, even though I have been struggling this week because I am exhausted (i.e., busy workday, busy evenings). I love my band because restriction means that when I feel overwhelmed about the process of losing weight (or anything else for that matter) I don't have to start from square one again because I messed up my diet -- for a month, or two. With the band I am unable to go overboard. I have time to think, write, and use the tools my therapist (an obesity specialist) taught be about dealing with emotional/head hunger. I don't know exactly how much weight I have lost because I stopped weighing myself after I had lost 50 lbs. I was becoming obsessed with the scale and it was ruling my life. But, I do know that when I started this journey on June 15, 2009 I was wearing a size 26 and today I wear a size 14/16 -- and still losing.

I love this post. Thank your for sharing and I agree with everything you said.

There are many who have had a much smoother journey, and still others with more difficult journeys. Remember this, each person has an individual journey that is is unique. I MUST add a disclaimer because lately there has been quite a bit of vitriolic discourse about the band: The band is not the right WLS for everyone, it does not work for everyone. As for myself, I think if I truly understood the band before I had the surgery, I would not have believed it was for me. But, once it was in, and the truth about the band was made clear to me (mostly through this forum), I decided to work with what I had and so far ... so good. I DO love my band!

All the best to you on your journey.

~Fran

[Msbandtastic 1]

I DO love my band! Probably not for the reasons you might think. Before I got my band I thought that it was much like GB only less invasive. Turns out .... not so much. I have never worked harder to lose weight in my life; I have never been more challenged to be patient; and I have never learned more about myself and my relationship with food. Oh, and I have never been more determined to exercise. I hate exercise ... or at least I did before my band. I won't say I am madly in love with it now, but I DO look forward to getting up at 5:30 a.m. M-F to walk 2 miles at the track before going to work. And, I am looking forward to adding a quarter mile this coming Monday, even though I have been struggling this week because I am exhausted (i.e., busy workday, busy evenings). I love my band because restriction means that when I feel overwhelmed about the process of losing weight (or anything else for that matter) I don't have to start from square one again because I messed up my diet -- for a month, or two. With the band I am unable to go overboard. I have time to think, write, and use the tools my therapist (an obesity specialist) taught be about dealing with emotional/head hunger. I don't know exactly how much weight I have lost because I stopped weighing myself after I had lost 50 lbs. I was becoming obsessed with the scale and it was ruling my life. But, I do know that when I started this journey on June 15, 2009 I was wearing a size 26 and today I wear a size 14/16 -- and still losing.

I love this post. Thank your for sharing and I agree with everything you said.

There are many who have had a much smoother journey, and still others with more difficult journeys. Remember this, each person has an individual journey that is is unique. I MUST add a disclaimer because lately there has been quite a bit of vitriolic discourse about the band: The band is not the right WLS for everyone, it does not work for everyone. As for myself, I think if I truly understood the band before I had the surgery, I would not have believed it was for me. But, once it was in, and the truth about the band was made clear to me (mostly through this forum), I decided to work with what I had and so far ... so good. I DO love my band!

All the best to you on your journey.

~Fran

[Msbandtastic 1]

It's getting close and I'm getting cold feet. Having doubts. I've wanted this for 5 years and now its here. Kind of scary! Tell me how much you love your band so I know it will be worth it!

I LOVE MY BAND! I am only 13 weeks out and have lost 51 pounds so far. Having the lap band is a lot of work but I am finding that I love the work. I am learning so much about myself and am gaining more and more confidence each day. I know the lap band was the right decision for me. I also started the search for the right weight loss surgery five years ago. Originally, I had chosen RNY but I kept cancelling my appointments with the surgeon ( I couldn't get the visual image of myself dying on the operating table out of my head) so after five years I accepted I was never going to be comfortable with RNY and impulsively chose the band. I am ashamed to say I didn't do any research on it until after I had the surgery. Thank God I have come to realize that this was the perfect surgery for me and my needs. I WILL reach my goal and am willing to commit to whatever I need to do to get there. This means following the lap band rules!

[CheckYes 46]

I definitely love my band and don't regret the surgery one bit. I never imagined being 100lbs lighter, let alone losing 100lbs in just 8 months! My journey has been smooth as ever; no fills, only a handful of PB sessions, and yeah, I'm grateful for it!

So awesome!

[2beskinny 4]

I do love my band! I don't regret my decision to take control of my life again. I do, however, regret needing it. I wish I didn't have to resort to such a drastic measure to control something that others seem to have no problem with (i.e., SKINNY people), but I finally stopped living in denial and faced that I couldn't do it alone. I am 5 months into my new life and have pretty smooth sailing as compared to some others on here. I've been a text book case so far. Easy surgery, easy recovery (it was my first surgery and I was petrified), and lots of fills to get me to the holy grail...restriction. The number one advice I have for anyone considering this surgery is PATIENCE. So easy to say, so hard to practice. I am still learning it. When you have this surgery, you want the weight gone NOW. No matter how much they tell us that "you will have to work your band" there is a part in all of us who secretly wish that the band will do all the work and the weight will just fall off effortlessly. Oh the bliss and joy if that were only true I exercise 4-5 times per week (am currently training for a half marathon - have my 5 mile run tomorrow!) I try to be good on my diet most days, but there are MANY, MANY days that I am not. I ate pretty much what I wanted over the holidays and did not gain any weight (didn't lose any either, but I was OK with that). I ate carbs, sweets, but for me, the band ABSOLUTELY controls my portions. I simply CANNOT eat large volumes of food anymore. So even on the days where I feel like I've been "bad," the net effect is OK. My weight loss pattern has been drop to a new low weight (like I did today, 189...yay!) go back up a pound or two (sometimes 3) then go back down and settle at the new low weight. Then the cycle starts again. I probably wouldn't "bounce" around so much if I was a more disciplined dieter, but it was important that this was a lifestyle for me, not a diet. I don't track my food (I did in the beginning, but have always hated journaling - even with the cool phone app I have). Like I said - I could probably be about 10 pounds lighter by now if I was more regimented...but I'm confident I'll get there in time. I have to remind myself that I know this method will stop working if I stop exercising. But that's how I picture a healthy, normal life...regular exercise and enjoying a variety of foods without worrying too much about what I eat. When the band forces me to put down my fork even though I still fee like eating, I'm grateful for that.

[stagegirl 1]

WOW! I loved reading all your post....what an inspiration.....I am down 85 pounds since April 13, 2010 and I would say I love my band. It is like every other relationship.....you have to work at it....every single day. Like all good relationships, it is worth the effort. I know if I had not got the band 9 months ago I would still weigh aroud 278 pounds where my LP journey started and would still be starting my diet this next monday. I started my weightloss journey on January 1, 2000 shortly after my mom passed away. She was blind, in a wheel chair , had heart problems and had diabetis. I knew I did not want to end up like that. On the morning of January 1, 2000 I weighed 357 pounds and I pledged to loose the weight and get healtheir no matter how long it took. It took me 10 years and 3 and a half months to loose 79 pounds. Most weeks I had to start over every Monday morning. If I add up all the informercial stuff, the WW meetings, the pre-packaged foods I bought, etc....etc.... The band was the economical choice for me and I have no regrets. Now I use the money to shop!!!!! I still rememer the day that I got to buy something for the first time in Dillards in a size 24...I started in a 5X or a size 32... It was just a sweet (maybe even sweeter because there are more choices) to get to shop in the misses section a couple of weeks ago for a size 14.

Thank you all for keeping me inspired with your posts.

Stagegirl :bananapowerslide:

35 Lbs to go and I can say I have lost a total of 200 lbs.

[amberakamom 13]

Thank you, you guys are amazing!

[Bella Luna 1]

"And in the end

The love you take

Is equal to the love

You make"

Lennon/McCartney