Any September bandsters out there???

[Vikki 2]

I like 9 is devine...........my birthday is this month so Sept is one of my favorite months. Plus my daughter was born in Sept. I was reading this thread and remembering the excitment of getting the band. Now that I am almost at a year the honeymoon is wearing off. Don't get me wrong I still love the band but at first you drop quick and then hit platau after platau. It can get frustrating but it is all worth it. So my advice for you guys looking to have surgery is to make sure you walk a lot right after you wake up. It helps move the gas bubble out because that can be painful. You will start to feel good but take it easy. I would last a couple of hours then start feeling like I need a nap to recoop. You don't feel try restriction until you get the fill so once you are healed up after a couple of weeks you will be able to get more down. Everyone is different so you just have to listen to everyone's advice then by trial and error you will figure out what works for your body to be a weight loss machine. Exercise is key but just make sure you are getting enough nutrients :hungry:and LOTS OF WATER!!! GOOD LUCK YOU SEPTEMBER>>>>>Bandsters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :whoo:I am so excited for you!!!!

[poohlvr 0]

Thanks Vikki for the advice! I know I can use all I can get!!! Did you use any gas x or mylicon for the gas?

[poohlvr 0]

Ok September 6th bandsters! Tomorrow is your day!!!

Good luck to: Missy, Chelsea62, LoserwannaB, and gmccon!!! Let us know how you are feeling just as soon as you can!

[missy 0]

Hey all! I can't believe it, tommarrow is the big day! Yeah! I am very excited! I lost 20 pounds on my pre-op diet! Yeah!!! I am here in TJ and wanted to tell everyone scheduled for surgery good luck!!! We can do this!:clap2: I will let you know how my surgery goes ASAP!!!

[gurlygirl 0]

I am so excited to get this journey going. I wish I didn't have to wait another week and a bit. :cry

:gluck:

I would like to wish the Sept 6th Bandsters good luck!! : Missy, Chelsea62, LoserwannaB, and gmccon!!!

My fav for the group name is "to the nines". :rockon:

Or another possible name could be "the whole nine yards"

[labella 0]

WOW!

You are all so awsome, and brave Good Luck to all of you,

Misssy good luck tomarrow, I'll say my prayers for you.

Please let everyone know how things are going for all you new bandsters,

This is so exciting for me my first time being part of someones journey

from the start, i so look forward to sharing this journey with you all.:gluck:

I get my band next thursday Sep 13, it's my big B-DAY!

[PCracker 0]

I was banded on the 4th to How are you feeling. Mine went very well. I am feeling pretty good, my belly is tight & swollen still but all in all I am thrilled at how well things are going. I am not a bit hungry yet. My husband keeps making me drink broth, I am good at sipping, so I still do kow how the banding itself is working, to soon to tell. Let me know how you are doing?

[labella 0]

PC, Congratulations!

your a bandster, Keep up the positivity, we are all right here for you,

I just cant beleave you can have surgery one day and be chating with friends the next that is so awsome!!!!!!!!!!

I never knew this kind of support sytem was ever out there. I guess that tells you how often I get on the computer, I've had the internet for just over seven years and never been to a forum or a chat room befor and now next week I am getting a lap band and I have all of you to share it with, a little more info then you probably wanted to know,

Thank you all for being here and this is going to be a great ride!!!:whoo:

[NM Sunshine 1]

PCracker

I've been on my pre-op diet for 4 days and lost one pound.

Hunger gets to me on this diet. So I can expect to not be hungry after my banding?

sept/11 band date

[poohlvr 0]

Labella - We are so glad to have you here to join with us too! Isn't so informative and friendly? I have made so many friends on here! We are all here for each other and try to help them in any way possible! Good luck with your journey!

[Vikki 2]

Thanks Vikki for the advice! I know I can use all I can get!!! Did you use any gas x or mylicon for the gas?

YesI used the small quick dissolve gas x when needed. I actually had really bad shoulder pain from the surgery. Not everyone has this sensation but I have heard from others that they had it and still get it when they are too full. Good Luck to all you getting banded this month.

To you that keep saying you can't wait until you are not hungry anymore. I still get hungry but I get a satisfied feeling after a few bites and sometimes the tightness feeling you will experience which tells your body to stop or you will feel pain. When you eat something too fast or do not chew it well enough you will be in pain until you throw it up or it finally goes down. Just take it slow and remember to read your body because the tool might not stop the hunger but it stops you from the overeating that we got in habit of doing. It is amazing the little our body can be healthy on when we are used to consuming a lot every day. You will start to be amazed how much people eat every day and how little you will be living off of but loosing weight and feeling great!!!

It is all worth it but you have to look at it as baby steps. It is a long journey. Good luck to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hays580 0]

Schedule date of 09-12-07 if i can shake this cold first. :sick

Dr Spivak, Houston

[NM Sunshine 1]

VIKKI

Thanks for that info on post band hunger. I find that it takes a good amount of food to get that satisfied feeling. I take a prescription called Seroquil and everyone gains weight on it because it takes away that feeling of satiation. But when I get the band, I'm hoping it will counteract the Seroquil. That is what I will love 'getting that satisfied feeling after a few bites of food".

[stacy73 2]

I was banded yesterday and came home today. All in all everything went very well. I also only have pain in my abdomen especially where the port is located. I did not need any morphine, just been taking loratab. I have this tight feeling in my stomach but I do not know if that is gas or just the normal pain associated with the surgery. I too do not have much of any appetite. I was on the liquid diet for 16 days prior to surgery and lost 19 lbs.It is weird because I expected to have a feeling that the band is inside me, but I do not feel any different besdies the minimal pain.Good luck to everyone else that has been banded and will be banded tis month.

Stacy

277/258/150

[Vikki 2]

I copied this off of the May bandsters site because it is great info for you newbies. It explains in detail a couple of things you guys might not have heard about the fills and why you have to wait after surgery to have a fill.

Great band fill info for Newbies

Thanks again to Wendell for posting this elsewhere. It deserves its own thread. Great information to educate us...

This may help you in understanding the restrictive mechanism of a Lap-Band. The INAMED protocol for Lap-Band fills calls for a six-week delay after surgery, prior to any fills. The purpose for the six-week delay is for the patient’s stomach to heal from the surgery, as well as allowing time for the Lap-Band to “Seat” or “Nestle” into the fat pad between the stomach wall and the interior wall of the Lap-Band. Prior to receiving an EFFECTIVE fill, it is VERY uncommon to have any restriction from a Lap-Band. Some patients will NOT lose weight, or may even GAIN weight until they have received an effective fill in their Lap-Band. Normal weight loss with a properly restricted Lap-Band is between 1 and 2 pounds per week.

The normal cycle of fills, restriction and weight loss is as follows:

1. The patient's Lap-Band constricts when the patient receives a fill. Swelling for a few days after receiving a fill is very common. Many doctors require a patient to go on a liquid diet for a day or two after receiving a fill. A fill may have a “Delayed Action” of up to two weeks. A “Delayed-Action” means that the fill may not become effective for up to two weeks after the fill. That is why the INAMED protocol states that fills should not be performed on patients who will not have access to medical care for at least two weeks after a fill.

2. The patient's stomach capacity is lessened as a result of the restriction caused by the Lap-Band.

3. The patient loses weight because they cannot eat as much food.

4. The residual fat-pad between the inside of the Lap-Band and the outside of the patient's stomach reduces in size because of the overall weight loss in the patient.

5. The reduction of the residual fat-pad causes the Lap-Band to become loose again.

6. At that point, the patient needs another fill, because the Lap-Band is loose, and the patient has a loss of restriction, which allows the patient to eat larger amounts of food.

7. The patient receives another fill and the process starts all over again.

Most Lap-Band patients receive several fills to adjust the Lap-Band as their weight loss progresses, and there is less and less residual fat-pad between the inside of the Lap-Band and the exterior of the stomach wall. Once a patient has lost all of their residual fat-pad, fills become less common. As the Lap-Band patient progresses in their weight loss, the effect of very tiny fills (Less than .2ccs) becomes greater and greater. It is not uncommon for a late-stage Lap-Band patient to experience a significant difference in restriction with as little as .05cc of fill.