I Want My Band Removed Now!!!!!

[toqu 0]

I say you are just hungry so if you are hungry then you should eat what you can handle. The runs are more than likely due to the liquid diet. I tried to follow it but it didn't really last for more than three days. Everyone is different so you may be able to handle some soft foods and it will help you regain your sanity.

[Taina009 0]

am sorry to hear things did not go as you wanted. But I am sure you will find a way to change your life like you have wanted. Good luck Taina009

[Taina009 0]

Hi Yaz I hope all is well I know you want the band removed. I hope you think about this before do it. I have known of some people who have changed there mind. Then gain the weight back and feel that they should not have turned back but we all know what is best for us. Just make sure you think about how long was you unhappy heavy and how long unhappy with the lap band. I am going to get my band on April 13, 2009 and I know am a punk. I'm a cry and be afraid but it will get better and thats what am going in thinking. Because my weight is more hell! for me, then a band that will stop, the hell I have been fighting for so long. So with that being said. Good luck. and remember if you could have done it before without the band you would have.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Taina009

[phenry 0]

It seems that people have all sorts of reactions to getting the band. I am being banded June 12th. I have had and will have plenty of moments where I have to ask myself...is this really necessary....I have to be honest and say...yes. I have gone over in my mind why I am doing this and I keep getting the same answer. Because I am fat...and I don't want to be fat and I can't get it off myself. If I stay fat...my health is going to keep going downhill. So...by reasoning it out, I know I need this band. Scary as it seems...I need something to help me. Funny thing about being upset about things is it can change over night. I didn't need anyone to convince me of anything, I just went in the bathrooom and looked at my naked body in the mirror. No words needed.

[blklab70 1]

Phenry you are so right in your thinking. I was banded on 10 Feb 2009 and although I had times before my surgery that I wondered if this was the right move, I know it was and would not have done anything different except I wish I had done this before. It is a hard decision but we all have traveled this same road. Please keep us posted on how you are doing. It is not easy but it is worth it!

[phenry 0]

It's nice to hear the stories from people who have taken the plunge and now have no regrets! That is great support for anyone like me who is still "unbanded" and waiting.

[scout47 1]

I'm going to copy/paste my blog from another forum (it doesn't fit on this forum). I think it might answer some of the thoughts going through your mind. It was actually an email response I wrote to someone else but much of it fits you to a "T".

on February 3, 2008 4:51 pm

People have been after me for a long time to add a profile. I didn't really journal my experiences during the weight loss phase, but I think I am going to write down information for newbies. I'm going to copy/paste/edit info I have written before in hopes that it will ease some fears and concerns we ALL have before and during weight loss. Much editing needs to be done on this so understand, this is a work in progress. I'm not done, there are typos, etc.

My first thought is for newbies that just had surgery. If you haven't reached the point of regretting the fact that you had surgery, just know you will. If you are a normal, typical, average WLS patient you will very likely go through a phase where you regret having the surgery. You ask yourself what the heck you just did to your body!

Just know, this is common. It WILL pass! Give yourself time. Most of us feel that way, it usually happens right after surgery and might last for a few months. But it will pass. Give it time.

The following is something I wrote to a person struggling with weight loss and are my own random thoughts:

There are a lot of head games that go with weight loss surgery. We are accustomed to large quantities of food, and the type of food that does not work well for weight loss. I was the fast food queen, ate it twice daily every single day. Burgers, onion rings, tons of diet soda, the works. I ate so much fast food that my band will pay for itself in fast food savings and soda savings in 1.5 years. Isn't that horrible? I'm talking $7800 for the cost of my band!

You know those reformed smokers? They smoked like a chimney for years and when they quit the rest of the world must quit? They suddenly claim to be "allergic" to smoke? They are rude, insulting, obnoxious, and believe they are doing a good thing? That's the way I am about fast food. I am a reformed fast food junkie. I don't think many had a diet as horrible as mine before banding. One can be obese and malnourished at the same time and that is probably a good way to explain my own pre-band eating habits. It was that bad.

I explain this so you know I fully understand food issues. BTDT a million times over.

Some people seem to struggle with white carbs such as bread and Pasta (me) and others seem to struggle with sugar and sweets. Those are the big ones. Some struggle with alcohol but I'm not sure that is primarily a WLS issue but more an alcohol issue that gets in the way of weight loss. Some claim to eat mostly veggies and they just don't know why they are obese. Is there a better example of denial than that? ;o)

Having WLS does take much of the joy out of eating. I don't think it matters which procedure you have, much of the joy is taken out of food. The non stop chewing, small quantities, food limitations, the works. In many ways I think that is a good thing. It's the joy of eating that got us fat. We can't imagine a time when we would ever prefer not to eat because it is unfathomable to comprehend that food might not be as fun someday. We can't comprehend that it might not fill a need somewhere. The need to inhale food - large quantities of food. We like the taste, the texture, the full feeling... we like it all. We eat until we experience extreme discomfort from eating so much yet we want to continue doing it. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? Another obese person would understand this but a thin person would think we are crazy. I don't know, maybe we are crazy but you know what? It is what it is.

When you have any weight loss surgery (bypass, band, sleeve, whatever) it takes much of the joy out, what we are used to. We are used to inhaling anything we want. We are used to that chocolate cake calling our name and we have to wait until we can stuff another bite down before we can inhale that too. We are like a food vacuum cleaner, we suck it ALL up.

After surgery you realize you can't do that anymore and it's frustrating. You see and you want to eat it but you know there isn't a chance in the world it is going to go down. Think about it, when you were pre-surgery and dieting when you grew sick of the diet you could cheat. WLS doesn't permit you to cheat in the same way and with the same quantity of foods and it gets old in a hurry. This is the time to continue reminding yourself that this is a lifestyle change. This is it, we are here, living it, choices have been taken from us. We intentionally took our own choices away from ourselves because we couldn't achieve goals without it. Food choices, our choice in eating habits, it's gone. Never to return. That's one if the biggest head issues we have to deal with. There is no turning back.

I think it's kinda typical to start eating around the surgery during these times so you feel as though you have control over the procedure vs. the feeling that the surgical procedure has control over you. You have to get to a point that you accept it isn't a control issue but a tool that you need to lose weight. You can fight it, but it isn't going to work. But you know what? We try anyway. Then comes more frustration. I think this is the point that we need to give ourselves a reality check. We all have to accept that this is it, do it or don't. Most accept it and move on with weight loss and a small minority do not. My best friend is a prime example. She eats her 800 calories a day in good food and a whopping 3000 calories a day in Chocolate.

If you are not losing weight I suspect you are going through a phase where you are sick of dealing with weight loss, you are sick of chewing chicken to a liquid, you are sick of it all and I think those phases are normal. Let's face it, it's a great deal more fun to maintain weight vs. losing weight. That's why I wanted it over with in a hurry and kept calories at 600 daily and busted my butt doing hard cardio daily. And no, Dr. Aceves did not approve of my caloric methods but I wanted the fat chapter closed once and for all. I was sick of a battle all the time of losing weight. I felt like I was fighting the world and in reality, I wasn't. I was fighting the lifestyle change. When I accepted that this is my new world, my new reality... I was able to move on and get it done.

Have you noticed that your world revolved around food a lot more pre-surgery than it does now? Now you have days where you put off consuming food because it is a chore. Did you ever put off consuming food pre-surgery? I don't think this is a bad thing. Pre-surgery we can't comprehend the thought that food will not rule our lives. Our world revolves around food. We eat Breakfast and while we are eating it we wonder what we'll have for lunch. When we eat lunch we think about what is in the freezer for dinner. When someone mentions the name of a restaurant we immediately have a vision of the menu and know full well what we will order and it will be the largest portion sizes on the menu in all likelihood.

Have you ever been asked to go to dinner with someone and you didn't want to eat your usual portions in front of others so you eat before you leave the house so you can pretend to eat small portions while dining in front of others? Ever go to a fast food restaurant and pretend you are ordering for more than one person? In reality, it's all for you. Food ruled our lives pre-surgery. Post-surgery we wonder what we should be doing with all the extra time where we are no longer consumed with food issues.

Not sure if any of that resonates with you, but I think bits and pieces might.

Wine... I think you'll find many experienced WLS folks say that if they drink alcohol it will stall weight loss a great deal. It shouldn't, the calories are incorporated in your daily count but it still stalls weight loss. At least it does for me. I don't drink much now that I'm at goal. It hits me too hard, too fast, and even with just one glass of wine I'm not at my best the next day. But that's me, not everyone is the same. But again, I think you'll find many experienced WLS folks saying alcohol stalls weight loss every single time. And let's be frank here, if you are in the weight loss mode you do not need or require a couple of glasses of wine a few times a week. We are only permitted limited calories daily. If you drink a couple of glasses of wine you either are going over in calories or you are not getting good foods in. Either way it simply isn't good.

Are you eating soft foods? Liquid calories? Cottage cheese and creamed Soups? Congrats to you for getting Protein in, but it's the wrong kind of protein for your surgery type. I know it is easier to get cream of chicken Soup down vs. solid chicken, but you know what? This is the game we signed up for. This is the lifestyle we paid a lot of money to obtain. So change from soft foods and liquid calories and get back on track. A half cup of roasted chicken is going to have fewer calories than the two cups of cream of chicken soup you are consuming now.

Are you cooking your own chicken? Are you cooking it so long it is dry and hard to eat? Or is chicken just not workable with your band? Try going to the grocery store and buy a roasted chicken. Eat a small piece and see if it goes down better than what you make. If it does it might be that you are overcooking your chicken and it's simply too dry. Canned chicken soup has some of the most overcooked meat around and even cream of chicken has pieces of solids in it. If you can get that down, you can get roasted chicken down.

If you are eating the right foods and have appropriate restriction you really shouldn't need Snacks. That quickly become habit and if you snack too much you mess with your 800 calories (or whatever your doc suggests) daily that you are allowed. Then you don't get the appropriate quantity of food necessary for meals and you will be hungry sooner.

Ice cream... hello? Need I go further with that one? ;o)

How are your teeth? Are they in good condition? It's a serious question and quite important. One thing I don't think many realize is that if your teeth are not in super great condition you may not be able to chew the bandster/sleeve/bypass way. If your teeth need work, get it done.

Are you tracking calories? Many times it's easy to put off tracking calories if you are eating ice cream and wine. Seriously, we don't always want to know the number of calories we are consuming. Then we'd have to be honest with ourselves and that can easily be a hard pill to swallow. If someone is losing well and feeling good there is little reason to track protein and calories. But if weight loss stalls it's time to take a long hard look at what is going in our mouths. A few ways to do that are to run anything you are not absolutely positive of through:

Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

It will give you a very complete food label for any food item or total recipe.

Then track that information on:

Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate

or...

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

or...

Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople

See what is actually going in your mouth on a daily basis. Be honest, nobody will see it but you.

So cut out the wine, ice cream, and candy bars. Make this new lifestyle a habit you prefer and amazingly, that really does happen over time. Your tastes change and you prefer the good stuff. You look at ice cream and think that sounds so good. Today after almost 15 months of banding I think the SAME thing about a salad. Crazy... I know. But it does happen. Bump up your exercise. We have biological and emotional reasons for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. None.

Change the liquid calories and soft foods to solid Proteins. When the scale starts moving like crazy you will find all kinds MORE motivation. Buy new clothes that actually fit vs. hanging off your body. That is very motivating as well. You can do this, but you have to do your part. No more excuses. Accept this is your lifestyle and use it to your advantage.

Good luck!

Dear Bubble,

Although your post was over a year ago I hope you are still out there. I want to thank you for this post, it really motivated me. I was banded 4/1/09, immediately lost 40 lbs and then stalled. You have given me so many things to think about and implement. I just found this thread and have stared at the beginning to read all the posts.

[summer69 0]

Hi, I hear you! You are going through a stage. They come and go. I was there i know. I have had my lap band for two years now and let me tell you i eat anything that will allow me to eat. Breads don't go down to well. I drink a pop if i want it basically anything i want. It is just smaller portions. The first month is the hardest and the scariest because it is a life change to you. My family wanted me to take mine out when i first got it because of my mood swings and i was choking all the time. But i had to train myself and that is all you have to do. Believe in your self and if you want to be thinner which you do or you wouldn't of done the surgery give it time it does get better. You get to enjoy your life in the long run. I eat everything i use too and yes i could loose more if i ate all the sugar free stuff but i too missed my regular food and figured if i am going to eat less than what i use too i will loose. I have lost 80 pounds in two years with the lap band. The first year did not work because the band did not fill right so i lost 30 lbs by my self than in Sept. they did a fill under x-ray and it worked and has ever since. Good luck to you it does get better just like everything it takes time.

[karook54 0]

Hang in there. The begining can be very frustrating because you haven't had the fills you need and your body is still healing. I went through the same thing and I began to wonder if I made the right decision, but within a few months, a few fills, and learning how to eat with my band (they tell you to chew well, take small bites,etc. but you don't really know until you figure out how your band works:smile:)and realizing that it is ok to lose slowly, I finally understood why I made this decision and that it was the right one. I've lost 61 lbs. since Oct.08 and I know if I didn't have my band I would have gained that amount so I fell truly blessed to be banded. Be patient and remember that when you find that "right place" things will get better. Best of luck!

[bearbandit 0]

I suggest giving it some time... once your eating solids things will be back to normal. Also thinking you will not ever be able to eat or drink certain things is totally incorrect. I can eat and drink everything I used to but in smaller quanities. Hang in there and once you get some calories in you things will look and feel better. Good luck.

[scout47 1]

I suggest giving it some time... once your eating solids things will be back to normal. Also thinking you will not ever be able to eat or drink certain things is totally incorrect. I can eat and drink everything I used to but in smaller quanities. Hang in there and once you get some calories in you things will look and feel better. Good luck.

Thanks to Bear and the rest of you guys. Nobody ever said that someday you can eat your favorite foods--only in small portions. Probably don't mean to, but they make you feel like this is the best it's gonna get. But when I read your post and look at the amount of weight you all have lost, I feel hopeful. I'm still having a problem with my food coming back up :thumbup:, so I've been eating way too many slider foods. Think I need to chew, chew, chew more.Thanks for all the ideas.

[CALIFGIRL 0]

did you have to do a pysch eval?

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Dear Bubble,

Although your post was over a year ago I hope you are still out there. I want to thank you for this post, it really motivated me. I was banded 4/1/09, immediately lost 40 lbs and then stalled. You have given me so many things to think about and implement. I just found this thread and have stared at the beginning to read all the posts.

Thanks for writing this.

The biggest lesson I learned about weight loss came after it was done and over. Looking back and seeing the behaviors, the changes, the way I used to think vs. the way I think today. Had I known then what I know now I think weight loss would have been a lot easier.

Losing weight is liking going to school, you learn sooo much about yourself and the way you think. Alex, the owner of this forum refers to WLS as taking away your license to eat and it's so true. When your license to eat is taken away it's shocking to watch ourselves as we react to it. That's where the head stuff comes in as well as the realization of how we got fat to begin with.

Good luck on your journey!

[kborchert 0]

First, take a deeeep breath!

I too am sorry you're having a difficult time.

However, I'm not sure a psych exam would have prevented you from getting this surgery. And I'm not sure it would have been able to determain how you would have reacted once the band was put in. I think we react differently when things are in real time happening to us as opposed to what we daydream will happen. I'm sure you had high hopes before going in. And never thought this reaction would happen. (I know I sure didn't see it coming for me)

I am only 5 weeks into this whole thing and I also wanted to rip mine out thinking I had made the worst decision of my life. I even had a panick attack from the stress. Right now I have a loss of appetite because I'm still really scared about my decision. But I'm now on medicine (anti-anxiety) to help settle my mind and soul and to help me keep things in perspective. This anxiety is not something you have to deal with yourself. I've never been on med's for depression, but I wasn't able to overcome the fear and anxiety so I finally called for help (gulp)!!

Here's what I'm learning about this band being in my body....

It's about you, it's about life coping skills, it's about making life choices and taking responsibility for it, it's about getting rid of the guilt and shame that's hung onto us for so long that makes us think we're not worthy of making such big (healthy) choices for ourselves and mostly it's about loving and respecting yourself and your body.

I don't think (just like me) that we will be completely at peace with our decision unless we are at peace with ourselves. Again, this is where therapy comes into play.

Trust me....it's takin' months of therapy and I still have a VERY long way to go.

I think for some of us this surgery comes very naturally and for some of us we have to struggle, control & question our decision. Again, these are issues within yourself that you need to work on and figure out your fears.

Change is a very real and scary thing. But sometimes (when we look back) change can also be very positive!

There was a quote at my church that was very profound and hit VERY close to home with me. I wrote it in my Bible..... "Step out of your comfort zone and you will grow in your knowledge as a person!"

Wow! Just think about that statement for awhile. Our comfort zones are hard to leave, but trust me most times it better to leave them behind and never look back.

Good luck to you. I will keep you in my prayers.

K. Borch

[SUEB55 0]

I know this is an old post, but if you are still around, I'd love to hear how you are doing. I'm having my band removed after only 5 weeks. I HATE IT!!! I want my life back!