I'm new and a bit afraid of what I'm about to do to myself

[mercedes 0]

Help me get over being scared. I'm going to get banded 8/5/05 in TJ by Dr. Ortiz.

Tell me how I'm going to eat and how this band will make me feel when it comes to eating?

How has your life been forced to change?

Do you still go out to eat now and then with family?

Do you have to be prepared to barf at any moment when food gets stuck or is there time to let it come back up when you are ready/prepared?

I am not planning on telling anybody except my husband and one of my sisters that I'm even doing this.

Will people know that something weird is going on with me?

During the first 3 weeks of liquid dieting, am I going to just wish to die from hunger? Or am I going to feel bad enough from surgery that I won't mind it too bad....you know.....like when you are sick and don't feel like eating? :paranoid

[TexasBlueyes 1]

mercedes

Hi I am 3 mos with my band. I felt the same way right before. Which is good you have researched and know what to expect.

I best thing about the band is that I do not think about food 24/7 like I used to. Now I just think of how much Protein I am getting from that food choice. Wow that is great.

I still go out but I eat very small amounts. Maybe a salad with meat. I really eat more at home cause I can control my intake better. Just chew chew and eat small bites. You will feel when you need to stop.

I did not tell everyone and they do not seem to notice that I eat different. Except that I do chew more and I don't talk as much when I am eating.

The liquid really went fast. Just keep things around that you like. And try to eat a tablespoon then wait. sugar free fruit ice is good. I use a bullet mixer, which is great.

Walk, Water, sip, chew and walk, Water, sip, chew!!!!!

Good luck you will do fine.

[coyotegirl 3]

Mercedes, Wow your date is just around the corner. I can't tell you not to be scared because I WAS!!!! I have heard from many on this board that Dr. Ortiz is wonderful!

My life has changed since being banded. FOR THE BETTER!!! I have more energy. I'm healther. I still have a long ways to go but I would not change a thing that I have done!

I eat pretty much the same foods I ate pre Band Just smaller portions. some find there are foods they can no longer eat. It's trial and error.

Yes I still go out to eat now and then. I just get a to go box and instead of 1 meal I have 2 or 3 meals out of it!!

I have not barfed at all! I a'm very careful and I chew my food very well and take very small bites and STOP WHEN I'M FULL! (That's the hard part. Learning to STOP!) I have come close but never crossed over. There are some that have BP'ed. (productive burp) and there are some who haven't. Everyone is different.

As for telling people about your surgery, That is totaly up to you. some have told no one and others like me have told everyone. (big mouth me would tell the world if I could!) Again everyone is different and you just have to decide what is best for YOU!

I don't think anyone world think something weird is going on with you they will just think you have found that SOMETHING that WORKS for you!

I was hungry on my post op liquid diet but it's not as bad as you think it will be. I was on a pre surgery liquid diet for 14 days Clear liquids only and some milk thrown in. Now that was tough!!!!!!!!!!!

I was up and around 4 days after surgery and didn't feel bad at all. AGAIN EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!

Hang in there, everything will work out fine. Just think of the new you!

((((HUGS))))

[Joyce in VA 0]

Mercedes,

I too have not told too many friends and only a couple of family members. Those I am with all the time. I don't think most will notice any difference in what you eat and if they do just say I am trying to eat smaller portions. They won't say anything else because like most of us we have tried everything else. My surgery was 3 weeks ago and I am amazed what small amounts satisfy me. I try to quit before I get full. I don't want to PB. So far it has been easy. Will it always be easy? I doubt it but I will work it out. Hang in there and in one week you too will be glad it's over and you will be on your journey to a healthier life. That is what we all want. Good luck to ya.

[mercedes 0]

Hi Joyce, I hope I'm like you...a smooth sailor.

I live sort of near you. Who did you have do your surgery? Have you had any fills yet?

Did having the band put on make a difference by itself w/out fills? How?

I am one of these people who wouldn't be allowed a lap band in the US because I'm not 100lbs overweight and I am in too good of health otherwise. I'm hoping that my good health helps me be one of those who is able to avoid the major problems???

BUT I'm still fat and sloppy and can't lose this any way that I have tried... and I hAVE tried everything.

I have 50 to lose and hopefully keep off and my BMI is about 30-32. I have hope that this is the extra help that I have needed.

[debri85 1]

Hi Mercedes,

Perfectly natural to be concerned...

I am 3 months+ and am doing great...just came off of a 5 week vacation and only gained 6 pounds which I KNOW was from all the Appletini's and wine..and I've lost 4 of those six pounds already.

Going for my first fill next week.

After your initial recouperation, you will be able to go out to eat...the way I handled it on vacation was that I ordered a small appetiser and salad and then ate off my husbands plate....sometimes, I would ask for the appetiser to be served with the others Entrees...I started out ordering regular meals but got tired of trying to explain that there wasn't anything wrong with the meal to the staff....

Personally, I think a large part of the whole process is the mind set...if you can accept that things are going to be different and not mourn for what you might feel you are "giving up" it will help immensely.

I went in to this wanting and needing things to be different because it was my last hope of ever being a normal weight again...I decided this was an adventure and tried to embrace all the changes I knew would be necessary for me to succeed. Actually, my husband was more worried about going out to dinner the first time after the surgery than I was....of course he hasn't been living a life of denial so he wasn't as comfortable as I was with it....I mean we've all been there...some new diet we're trying and so on....I was always trying something so going out to dinner and not ordering a bunch of food wasn't new to me.

I've told EVERYONE what I did...and they have all been great. I'm lucky I guess, we are a very supportive non-judgemental bunch here...maybe because we chose to live and work were we do...we all know there's something off about us all....

Anyway, good luck and chin up, it's not a bad or difficult way at all...pretty easy once you get the hang of it....

D

[Joyce in VA 0]

Mercedes,

I had Dr. Robert Sass in Lebanon, Va do my surgery. I did not have a fill. So far the band itself has made a difference in the amount I eat. I guess the fact that it took the stomach up has just made me not eat as much. I am making an effort not to over eat. I am trying not to rely solely on the band. I hope it lasts a long time. He said I could have a fill when ever I felt like I needed it. I too need to lose 50 to 60 lbs but I hope to get off 75 or 80. I am not having any problems with any food so far but I am taking it easy. It's been 3 weeks and I feel great.

[Joyce in VA 0]

Never thought of it that way Jack. You should have been there when I had my surgery so you could have told me.

[swilliams2312 0]

Hello to all of you. I'm fairly new and I too got banded on July 12, in Monterrey, Mexico. So today I am on the mushie phase. I had cottage cheese with apple butter. I didn't finish it because I was afraid of not knowing when I would be full.

[vinesqueen 2]

wow, cottage cheese with apple butter, that sounds oddly yummy. don't worry, you will know when you are full. Oh yes you will. (quit laughin' back there!)

You are about to do something really wonderful for yourself. You are about to regain control of your life, even if you didn't think it was out of control.

You are about to enter the happy land of "no thank you, I've had enough," also known as Bandlandia. The happy land of "let's walk, it's only 8 blocks," again, the happy land known as Bandlandia.

[vinesqueen 2]

Tell me how I'm going to eat and how this band will make me feel when it comes to eating? --- you are going to eat slowly for maybe the first time in a long time. You are going to learn what you actually like to eat, and you are going to chew the hell out of everything. Only you can know what it will make your feel like.

How has your life been forced to change? --- Forced to change? What an odd concept. I have not been foced into anything. This is something that I have willingly and happily done. Now, perhap, I've been forced to give up my asthma inhalers and my CPAP machine because I don't need them hardly at all.

Do you still go out to eat now and then with family? --- I still go out to eat with my family. The only diffference now is that my DH and I share a dinner and we leave food left. No appitisers, no desert (generally too full).

Do you have to be prepared to barf at any moment when food gets stuck or is there time to let it come back up when you are ready/prepared? --- the band is NOT surgical buliema. If you are PBing that often, you are too tight and must have some of the fill removed.

I am not planning on telling anybody except my husband and one of my sisters that I'm even doing this.

Will people know that something weird is going on with me? --- I think if you are secretive, people will know that something weird is going on, but I don't think they will know you've been banded. Just about everybody knows I've been banded. I wasn't going to tell everybody, but my sister told the rest of my family, and one of my co-workers told everybody at work... So there you go.

During the first 3 weeks of liquid dieting, am I going to just wish to die from hunger? Or am I going to feel bad enough from surgery that I won't mind it too bad....you know.....like when you are sick and don't feel like eating? :paranoid --- I garentee that if you need the band, you will not die from hunger. I could probably still live for 6 months or longer off my stored fat. Some people feel really rotten after the surgery, some people have a bad time with the anethetic. I personally was shopping the next morning, and I'm not alone.

You can look at your liquid diet as a time of hardship and deprivation, or you can view it as a new adventure. I rediscovered how much I absolutely love Soup. Do you have any idea how many kinds of Soups there are???? Of course you don't, no one does because you can always invent a new Soup. You can always invent a new flavor of smoothie. if you must have something to chew, you can chew gum.

Welcome to the rest of your glorious life.

[2aslimmerme 0]

Thanks Vinesqueen. You have such a GREAT way with the words to express what we need to hear.

I have read many of yours and love them. Keep it up.

[swilliams2312 0]

Hello everyone, I just want to let you know how my progress is going as you know I got banded on July 12, 2005 and before sgy I weigh 240 lbs two weeks later I lost 30 lbs and still losing. I can't believe it. know I weigh this week 210 maybe less than that. I know on day 2 for the mushies phase. I love reading everybody replys and hope to hear from you all. God Bless

[mercedes 0]

Thank you sooo much everyone!!!

Vinesqueen, You wrote this:

"You are about to regain control of your life, even if you didn't think it was out of control."

This is exactly what I'm hoping for...except, I do/did know it is/was out of control : )

The reasons why I'm not telling anybody are, first, I have a friend who will be insanely jealous and probably even angry. She is in the 250lb range.

And second, I don't really want to hear the advice of people smaller than me (and the weight trainer I go to at the gym) who will say,

" You just need to eat less and exercise more." Like I'm an idiot and didn't know that ever before.

Or the people who weigh more than me who will say, "Why would you do that? You look fine the way you are."

I am not very good at keeping any secrets though : )

[vinesqueen 2]

Wow Mercedes, if she is insanely jealous and will get angry, is she really your friend? Real friends support you, no matter what. Sure, we may give you our unsolicited advice from time to time, and we really might not like your new honey, but we will hold our tounges, but be there to help pick up the pieces. ... One of my great good friends is having the RNY. I sooo disagree with his choice (obviously, my choice is the only good and approprate choice, right???), but I will never, ever tell him he made a mistake, or that I think he made a mistake. I will always stand by him.

I used to have "friends" who were only available when they wanted/needed something. I decided to let them go when I started on my journey. A fast way to loose 200 pounds though!

I think people make those sorts of comments because they just want to be helpful. People, by our very nature, are very helpful. Even if we don't have any real information, we are always right there with a good suggestion.

the Cardio doc my DH had to see pre-band said "have you just considered cutting out sweets?" good advice, but how far will that go for a 600 pound fat man???