Introductions.

[Froggi 4]

Hi my name is Bertha my starting BMI was 76 I have lost 31 LBS since May 15th. Getting banded on Aug 19th 2008. My BMI is now 72 I have lost 3 inches on my waist and 1 on my hips. I started weighing 456 I now weigh 426. I am on a liquid diet since July 25th and leaving on vacation Mon-Friday with my 7yr old son and my husband and mom & dad and I have to stay on liquids thats going to be hard.

I wish you luck with your liquid diet. and Congrats on getting banded soon!!! Also congrats on the awesome weighloss already!! You are going to do fantastic!

[pinkposey 0]

Ann - You were so right about the medication in the hospital making my knees feel great! I had no problem getting up and walking around on them after my surgery! I am very hopeful that as I lose more weight I will be able to walk farther, and stand longer!

Bertha - welcome and good luck to you! Just think of the payoff down the road when you feel better, and maybe that will help you with the liquid diet. Being "super-sized" we have a long road ahead of us, but at this point - it's gonna be all downhill!

-Rose Ann

[Wishes4444 2]

Hey Rose Ann how are you doing? I am glad the meds worked for your knees like it did for mine. Keep in touch and let us know how your doing.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Hi All! My starting BMI was 67.someodd, at 5'5" and a weight of 405.1

I got down to 390.5, had surgery on 8/11 but my liver was still too fatty so I'm back at home on a (religiously followed this time!) preop diet till 8/29 when we try again.

It's nice to find this spot with us larger people being banded. At our WL seminar the doc said that in Australia, results 3 years out were similar for WLS and banding, but in the USA we bandsters fall short of that figure. I hope to be one to help get our averages up to more "Australian"...80% of excess lost instead of 50%!

I think with support and fortitude the band will be a wonderful tool for all of us!

[Wishes4444 2]

Hi Monkey!

Sorry you were not able to be banded yet, but WTG on sticking to the diet and getting ready for 8/29!! Sounds like you are ready! I LOVE my band, now I just wish I could love exercise lol. I know if I could get myself to do it I would lose more then this pound a week I am doing now. Last week I was bad and ate way too many carbs and bad stuff and the scale showed it to me! So I am back on track and maybe soon I will get into exercising!

What kind of a diet are you on...liquids? Good Luck and I will keep my fingers crossed for you on the 29th! Please keep in touch, this thread has gotten way to quiet!

Best Wishes

[Froggi 4]

Hearing posts about the liver thing makes me worry. But I've been eating pretty healthy since February and have lost 23 lbs. Hopefully I lose at least another 10 more before my preop diet...then lose even more on that. Being so huge at the beginning 419 lbs and still huge now 396...I'm worried my liver will be too fatty -sigh-

[BeverlyJane 0]

Hi Froggi,

I wouldn't worry about your liver. I started my preop diet at 385 and my liver was just fine. You are close so you should be okay as long as you are doing a couple of weeks of liquid diet before surgery. Take care...bev

[Froggi 4]

Not liquid. When i get to my pre op diet I will be doing a Protein shake for Breakfast a Protein Shake for lunch and lean meat and veggies for dinner.

think I'll be okay? I mean I have gone from 419 to 396...and I plan on being close to 380 before November (hopeso)

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Hey Froggi! That's the same diet my surgeon had me on. I did not follow it to the letter (ie I had low fat cheese, lite butter, I ate pizza one night) and my liver didn't shrink but this time I am doing exactly what he told me. Follow the instructions and you should be fine!

I weighed 399.6 Tues evening (1st day post op for my non-lap band surgery) and this am am down to 384! Some/most Water of course but when you are only eating 600 cal a day, some of it must be fat!

So do what your surgeon says and you will be fine!

[Froggi 4]

I sure hope so. I worry about it a lot. thanks for the encouraging words

[mindwing 15]

Hi,

I have a BMI of 68.3. I weigh 408 and I am 5'5''. So I fit into this forum. It is nice to be able to talk to others who understand some of what I go through.

I also have CFIDS/Fibro, sleep apnea, advanced COPD, and High Blood Pressure. Which translates to mean I sleep with a machine and have an oxygen line attached to me all day (my leash). I also have no stamina and spend most of my time either in bed or on my chair. I look a lot like Jabba the Hut with a neck and legs.

I am not banded yet. I decided I wanted the band a month ago and have been researching it. I found the only place in our area that takes Medcare, and next month I should have all the paperwork ready for mailing to them. Then it will be about 8 months before they give me a date.:tt1:

For years I wasn't interested in bariatric surgery. I knew it took effort and exercise to make it work, and I wasn't able to do either. I was very sick and had a hard time even getting up. Every time I started an exercise program, I had a flare. The oxygen didn't make it so I could exercise, and neither did the sleep machine. They did make me feel better, and I was up more and making a few meals.:thumbup:

In Feb my docor put me on Lyrica. I am one of the lucky ones that it works on. Within a week I started doing gentle stretches. Then I started with five-pound weights. After a few months I started on leg exercises.

My doctor's scale says I lost twenty five pounds so far.:biggrin: Now I am trying to eat like a bandster while increasing my exercises. I can't walk or do any aerobic exercises, but I will work with weights. I eat six small meals a day, and avoid soda, caffeine, starches and sweets. Most of my food is Protein shakes, meat, and goodies from our garden.

I'm getting a motorized chair in a few weeks, and that should make my life easier. The I can leave the house and go out to the garden, or maybe even go to church.

Now the main thing now is to get the paperwork done right and make sure every line is filled out and every t is crossed and every i is dotted.:tt1: I figure I will get banded sometime next year- maybe early summer.

I look forward to getting to know all of you during that time, and learning more about the banded life. Thanks Froggy for starting this group.

Mindwing:shades_smile:

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Welcome mindwing! You are I are similar in our start weights and heights...I'm 5'5" and started at 405. I do not have your comorbidities and other issues, however. My PCM, on 7/3, told me "You've been lucky for a long time but looking at your blood work I can tell you it's all about to go to hell for you. Once you start that slide, I don't think I can stop it. You need to do something ASAP. I suggest the band". Because I'd wanted one since 2001 when it was first approved in the USA, I was on board immediately. My husband and I had decided to pay for it when literally 2 days before the seminar I found out my insurance DID cover it (I'd called twice this year and been told NO NO WAY do we cover the band) I got my band 8/29 and although I'm still in mushies I am excited and know it was the right decision for me. I'm down 41 pounds and feel like a different woman. I can barely wait until I get my fill and can eat lean meats (not pureed! LOL) again.

I hope that something happens and you can have the surgery sooner if you want it. Good luck!

[mindwing 15]

Hi restless Monkey,

I was really healthy up until ten years ago. I was fit and my muscles were tight.The I caught what seemid like a flu that refused to go away. I tried so hard to grit my teeth and work through it. But I just kept getting sicker until I was practically bedridden. I spent months in bed thinking if I could only get rested I could get up and look fopr another job. Finally I admitted to myself that this wasn't just being tired, that I really wa sick, and I applied for disability.

Even then I wasn't too bad in general health. The CFIDS/Fibro made life difficult, but I seemed okay. Three years ago I caught MRSA in one of my legs, and spent three months unable to walk at all. It was the beginning of the end. I lost so much muscle tone that I had trouble breatheing, and things got worse. It wasn't until I got on the Lyrica that I saw any improvement.

I can't imagine having to pay for the surgery myself. I'd just have to go without if that happened.

Congratulations on getting your band. I hope you have great success with it.

I don't mind waiting as long as I keep building muscles. I figure the more muscles I have when I get the surgery, the more weight I will lose.

mindwing

[Wishes4444 2]

Hi Mindwing,

Welcome! I can tell you, you will be very happy with your band! It's not an instant fix, I have been losing about a pound a week. The best part is it stops me from eating more then I should. When I feel hungry and think I am going to eat like I used to after the first 2-3 bites I'm full. For me it was just what I needed. I do need to work on my exercise though. That is one area where I know I am lacking very bad! I have bad knees so really the only exercise that works is wlaking in a pool. I was going 2 times a week but then summer came and I got out of the habit. I am trying to get back into it.

I wish you all the luck! Please let me know how you're doing!

Hi restless Monkey,

I was really healthy up until ten years ago. I was fit and my muscles were tight.The I caught what seemid like a flu that refused to go away. I tried so hard to grit my teeth and work through it. But I just kept getting sicker until I was practically bedridden. I spent months in bed thinking if I could only get rested I could get up and look fopr another job. Finally I admitted to myself that this wasn't just being tired, that I really wa sick, and I applied for disability.

Even then I wasn't too bad in general health. The CFIDS/Fibro made life difficult, but I seemed okay. Three years ago I caught MRSA in one of my legs, and spent three months unable to walk at all. It was the beginning of the end. I lost so much muscle tone that I had trouble breatheing, and things got worse. It wasn't until I got on the Lyrica that I saw any improvement.

I can't imagine having to pay for the surgery myself. I'd just have to go without if that happened.

Congratulations on getting your band. I hope you have great success with it.

I don't mind waiting as long as I keep building muscles. I figure the more muscles I have when I get the surgery, the more weight I will lose.

mindwing

[Wishes4444 2]

HEY congrats on your surgery! I was wondering if you were able to have it on the 29th! WTG on your weight loss! 41 ponds thats fantastic! It took me a while before I could eat meat, the first few times I tired pork it didn't work. Everything just takes time. Some days are better then others. Mornings I always seema bit tight. Even now when I need a fill the mornings are tight.

So glad you are doing well, keep in touch!

Welcome mindwing! You are I are similar in our start weights and heights...I'm 5'5" and started at 405. I do not have your comorbidities and other issues, however. My PCM, on 7/3, told me "You've been lucky for a long time but looking at your blood work I can tell you it's all about to go to hell for you. Once you start that slide, I don't think I can stop it. You need to do something ASAP. I suggest the band". Because I'd wanted one since 2001 when it was first approved in the USA, I was on board immediately. My husband and I had decided to pay for it when literally 2 days before the seminar I found out my insurance DID cover it (I'd called twice this year and been told NO NO WAY do we cover the band) I got my band 8/29 and although I'm still in mushies I am excited and know it was the right decision for me. I'm down 41 pounds and feel like a different woman. I can barely wait until I get my fill and can eat lean meats (not pureed! LOL) again.

I hope that something happens and you can have the surgery sooner if you want it. Good luck!