Introduction - from an April 2013 lap bander

[cat whisperer 127]

Hello everyone - I am happy to have found these forums thanks to the suggestion of my BFF

Where to start? Well, the first 20 years of my life, I was skinny. Not just slim, but skinny... I graduated from high school at 115lb which was pretty small for 5"4'. I had no understanding of overweight people, and was probably unitentionally judgmental of those who were bigger. Then, I began to change... the weight slowly began to creep on - there are various reasons for this which I am aware of. By age 21 I was 200lbs... and I have not seen a "1" in front of my weight since (other than for an extremely brief period). I got married, had two children and have done several major moves, as well as lots of education... I'm nearing completion of my third degree. I am now 41. My heaviest weight ever was 260 in 2007. I managed to lose about 55lbs on my own, through simple food journaling and exercise. Even though I wasn't thin, I was fit, and ran a 5K. Unfortunately there have been a few serious traumas that have occurred since then, and I am back up somewhere in the 220s - my scale says about 225 but the doctor's scale says 230.

I hit rock bottom this January. I am getting older and the aches and pains are hard to take. My hips hurt at night, I have high blood pressure, and I have asthma which is getting worse as well as a few other issues. I finally decided to consider weight loss surgery as a "helping hand". I know this is not a magical cure and that it will be difficult. Losing weight was incredibly hard, and the thought of basically starting over from scratch was just so overwhelming I didn't feel I could do it alone. Last week I had a consultation with a surgeon, and have pretty much decided to go ahead with the lap band surgery towards the end of April when I will be able to take some time off.

I am very scared and nervous... this is a big move to make, and I feel as if I would like to get as much information as possible, which is why I am here.

thank you very much if you have taken the time to read this, and I look forward to being a part of the community.

[Instyle98 240]

Welcome! It sounds like you are in a good place for your upcoming journey. It's not as scary as you think and for me, even though I am early in my journey, it has given me back a sense of control that I thought I had lost forever.

[Maddysgram 6,159]

Welcome to the forum!

Your story sounds like most of ours, struggling with diets most of our lives, health issues, getting older.

We also went through the nervousness and fear wondering if this was the right thing to do.

I'm pleased that you're educating yourself about the band, before hand. You stick around here and you'll learn everything you need to know, meet inspiring ppl and get the support that is so important with WLS.

If you need a question answered, just ask.

We're here for each other and happy to have you join us.

Good luck on your journey to better health.

[JARS517 54]

Welcome! I am newly banded with plication(about 3 weeks post-op) but I feel this was the best decision for me. It won't be easy but it will be worth it! Surgery was easier than I expected (for me) and I was back to work within a week (I'm a teacher.) The 4 weeks of liquids was the hardest part. Now that I'm allowed to have pureed foods, it's great! Best of luck to you!

[dylanmiles23 2,198]

​Like everyone before me, Welcome. This is the greatest site for finding out everything you want to know and ask all the questions you want. I noticed you said you have asthma, is this something recent? I was told I had it then COPD and after many tests it was a hernia that was repaired with the Lap Band. My stomach was also in the wrong place and that was also fixed. I took 6 pills a day to eat without 24/7 of coughing. Now I take 0 pills for eating.

I am sure you will do well. Just remember, chew, chew, chew.

[2muchfun 8,927]

I was never afraid of the surgery(although it sucked more than I thought it would). I was afraid I would have to give up the foods I had become addicted to. They're different for all of us. For me, fast food, bread with butter and cheese, fried chicken, mashed potatoes smothered in fatty gravy and so on. But I don't miss it and I still sometimes have those foods. But, they don't taste as good as they did before so the cravings left immediately after surgery.

Unknown forum member quote:

" In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old b***h layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!"

I think change is difficult for many of us. Especially when it comes to our binky(food). Sounds like you have your head screwed on just right so good luck.

tmf

[2muchfun 8,927]

BTW- I like your handle(name). Can you come to my house and make peace between my 13 yr old female siamese and 2 year old male siamese. He just wants to play but she's not into it at all.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread

[cat whisperer 127]

Hello again - thank you for your replies everyone It is nice to hear your encouraging words. Dylanmiles, the asthma is not new, actually - I have had it since I was a teenager - but it was always pretty easy to control until now. Not being able to breathe properly is a horrible feeling, and my dad had asthma all his life and was recently diagnosed with COPD as you mention.

2much fun, yes - I have worries about never being able to enjoy food anymore... and there is certainly emotional attachment there. I definitely have a tendency to "reward" myself during troubled times, hence my gaining back the weight. I do very much want to change this. I can very much relate to the "turtle shell" metaphor. My security foods are quite varied, some quite strange (such as sour candies and gum) When I am wanting these things, I try to remind myself how sad it is not to be able to fully participate in my daughters' lives because I am not physically able to skate, or run around or do various other activities without great difficulty rather than how sad it is not to have the treats.... easier said than done at times.

(LOL regarding the cats... I could probably work things out between them if I could see them in person I have an affinity for cats and have four of my own. I used to petsit for Siamese cats, and one of mine is part Siamese. They definitely have different traits than your average cat - I know I sound very much like a crazy cat lady (I'm ok with that, too, haha) but I do understand cat behaviour better than most. I have "tamed" feral cats and can usually resolve problem behaviours... perhaps I should start a business... or reality tv show!!

[2muchfun 8,927]

We have 4 too. Bred many in the past but no longer. The female is just a b***h I think. She loves me and she's definitely my cat but she's camped out in my office for 1 1/2 years now and won't come out. They got along fine for 8 months then Beau got too big for her and she's not into playing like he does.

Sorry folks for the cat dialogue. I'll go now.

tmf

[cat whisperer 127]

Hi again... just thought I would post an update. I have now booked my surgery for May 14. I kind of wish I could do it sooner, but by that point I will be finished classes (I'm currently a full time student). Anyway, I'm sure I will be around these boards with questions.