New to the site...my story

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Hi Everyone,

This is THE BIGGEST LOSER427, and I gave myself that username because I intend on losing big should I embark upon the lapband surgery journey.:tt2:

I am very close to 47 years old, I am five feet tall and weigh 260 lbs. (Very bottom heavy) My BMI is 53.:thumbup:. I have severe sleep apnea, chronic back pain, difficulty walking up more than one flight of steps at a time, and not to mention walking up a hill... It feels like cement is on my chest. I also have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)which is a syndrome of symptoms that causes infertility or difficulty conceiving, hairiness (facial and body), and more importantly, difficulty losing weight. I am sick and tired of carrying all of this weight. Needless to say I have tried numerous diets, fasting and joined many gyms..to no real avail. So when I learned about the minimally invasive lapband surgery I began to get hopeful. My real concerns are side effects, having a port in my body for the rest of my life, and developing a sense of normalcy in my eating. I hold a professional position and more often than not have to attend dinner meetings and/or luncheons. I don't want to embarass myself or the collaborators by not being able to eat or worst yet developing excruciating pain in the middle of a meal. Can someone give me the REAL DEAL on the worst and best of having lap band surgery.

Thanks for reading my story and I look forward to hearing from you.

Take Care,

THEBIGGESTLOSER427

[Brandy~ 2]

Here is the real deal.

Your health is #1. Your career is 2nd.

The deal is that you're making a move towards a healthy you. I won't sugar coat it. You will have to undergo what is a minimally invasive surgery. You will have recovery time and will be very sore. Most people on average are off work from 3-7 days. I personally was off work for 3 days.

You will have to most likely undergo a preop diet that is NO FUN.. You normally only get liquids for 2-6 weeks depending on the doctor. I was very lucky and didn't have to do this with my surgeon. After surgery you will have a few weeks of more liquids, a few weeks of soft foods, then on to real food.

In the weeks to follow they call this Bandster hell. This is when you're head is telling you that you're starving because you are having so many liquids and your body is craving all the shitty foods you used to eat. Your body may be physically hungery as well but you will be fine. You have to follow what your surgeon says or you risk your band slipping later on.

Probably about 6 weeks after surgery you will go in and have a fill.. which are usually pain free for me... like getting a shot. Some will notice restriction right away and begin eating much less... Some will take 5+ fills to get restriction. I haven't had a fill in 7 months and I have great restriction so it took 4 fills for me to achieve what I have.

You will have to learn to cut things very small and chew chew chew. You will pay the consequences with PB/sliming if you don't

You have to have patience and for me that's been the hardest part.

As far as having work dinner. In situations where I am concerned about my reactions to food... I order Soups or something very light and pick at it. I always just say I am not that hungry or I had a big lunch/breakfast etc. Tons of ways around it.

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Brandy,

Thanks so much for the quick response. You are right; at this point my health is priority and I love the way you politely addressed the dinner/luncheon meetings. Thank you also for giving me all the details. This is important to me as I need to psychologically prepare myself for the "worst." As long as I know what to expect I am O.K.---not good with surprises. So my concern of having a port is relatively unwarranted would you say? I don't want to know that it is there...and I don't want to feel the pain of having the saline injected... Just want to live as normal life as possible. So how much weight have yous lost and how long has it been since you've had your surgery?

THEBIGGESTLOSER427

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

I haven't got any "worst" to offer. It's an excuse that you are afraid to not be able to eat at a business dinner. You're just scared AND ALL OF US have experienced some level of fear...."what if I'm the one this doesn't work for" "what if I have problems" .... and you can what-if yourself right on up to 300 pounds or more. It's a fact of life. 60% of America is overweight. And a lot of them are trying by one means or another to not be a part of that statistic. I haven't been to a restaurant yet that didn't have something I could eat and enjoy eating. Fish, steak, meat loaf, roasted chicken, coq au vin, salads, Soups. As long as you chew your food thoroughly and take your time eating, you won't have any problems. Read where people PB'd. Everyone of them will say they ate too fast or didn't chew their food well or ate something (like soft bread) that they knew they shouldn't have eaten.

You can't even feel your own port. Most people go for their first fill and are surprised to find it's not where they thought it was!

The best? Going to one of those meetings and seeing someone you haven't seen in a couple of months and know that they see the weight loss (and may even comment on it if they aren't afraid of offending you by noticing). Going to your closet and realizing stuff fits that you have been "holding onto just in case you magically lose some weight". And even better yet, being able to do things you haven't been able to do in years. I've seen so many people excited because they didn't have to ask for a seat belt extender on an airplane. Or they could ride the roller coaster with their kids for the first time in forever.

Having the band and port "forever" isn't a big deal. Why worry about having something that is proven safe that will help you not gain the weight back.

Yes, it's scary to embark on this journey, but when you begin to reap the rewards, I'm sure that like the rest of us you will be happy that you took the first step.

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

OOPS, disregard the weight loss question....I sent this prior to reading your tracking picture

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Fills don't hurt. Some doctors will numb the area with lidocaine first, but I've had a fill both ways and it is nothing more than a small stick...and the whole procedure takes less than 2 minutes.

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Hi Cathy,

Wow! You go straight to the point. I am glad to know that you are in my neck of the woods as I live in Decatur, Georgia. My next step is to begin searching for Bariatric Centers..but I want a provider outside of Emory University.

O.K. I don't understand the "PB" term. I see that it is used a lot...do you mind explaining to me what that means? Also, my fear in and of itself, truthfully is not about having the surgery...it really is about having a "normal" life after surgery. I want to eat normally, safely, and feel like I'm still enjoying life. My whole purpose for pursuing this is about me having a life of normalcy...yeah, like being able to get on a roller coaster with my five year old...and fitting comfortably in an airplane...to be free of pain and the CPAP machine...and not fearing embarrassment at a dinner meeting...

Thank you so much for "keeping it real" and I am depending on you all to help me embark upon and get through this life changing journey.

[Brandy~ 2]

The fill really only feels like a shot to me. You feel the puncture of the needle and that is it. the saline runs through a tube so it's not like you feel it shooting all over inside of you.

I do not notice the port or the tube unless I am intentionally trying to find the port. You will have a tiny spot about 1.5" wide where the port is that is hard when you press on it. This is the injection site of the port. That is all. For everyday activities you will not notice it.

I recommend reading all that you can here on LBT because being informed is the right way to go.

Of course there are complications and there are issues that arise but the complications and the negatives for me were very tiny in comparison to losing 90lbs and gaining massive amounts of health benefits.

Believe me you dont' lose your social/career life over it and you will live better because of it. I have much more of a social life and the band doesn't slow me down. I have quite the opposite...I go out of my way to go places, do things, and socialize. tonight I am going to a brewery with about 10 coworkers to have drinks, nibble on Snacks, and just hang out.

I wouldnt have done that before. It's truely the best thing I have done.

[2Flyguys 13]

the pros out weight the cons...u will lose weight become healthier..look better...feel better...everything has just been sooooo much better!!!!!!!!! if u r really ready to lose weight...ur will to do it...should out weight all ur worries...go for it!!!!!!!!! take it from a big loser...thats not so big anymore...its totally worth it..ur worth it!!!!!!

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Oh, my gosh!!! I just checked out your pics and you look fabulous!!! 10 years younger in less than a year! You go girl! Thanks again. I'm losing some of my inhibitions now...enjoy yourself...you deserve it.

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Dear 2Fly Guys,

Your story was the first story I read on this site and it was your transformation that got me to register in the first place. Already a natural beauty, your weight loss has totally transformed you...so much that I could not believe you were the same person. Thank you for posting your story because your story led me to the go a step closer to becoming THEBIGGESTLOSER, in the most positive sense of the phrase.

Take Care.

[2Flyguys 13]

thank u for all the compliments...i look forward to seeing ur transformation...:thumbup:

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

BL427 .. If you want to email me back channel, please do. parr0thd51@aol.com

I will highly recommend my doctor. Christopher J. Hart. He helped found the bariatric center at Emory, but he is in private practice. Has an office at Johns Creek, but also works through True Results (I went through this group) and through the Realize program.

PB -- Productive Burp. If you eat too fast or don't chew your food well, it is likely to get stuck going down. Not very comfortable. Sometimes, it does finally move on its own. But other times, you will start to salivate heavily (people often call that "sliming") and the stuck food will come back forcibly. Not vomiting, just regurgitated. Someone on one of the forums I visit thought they had experienced projectile vomiting but there really isn't any stomach acid involved. just saliva and the food that got stuck. Completely avoidable if you eat smaller bites and chew your food completely. A lot of us overweight people have a bad habit of eating our food so quickly that we don't chew it well. The band will make that an absolute necessity. I PBd once....from eating entirely too fast and not chewing my food good enough. My fault completely. And I know better, now more than ever since it's happened to me.

[marie715 0]

Hi Everyone,

This is THE BIGGEST LOSER427, and I gave myself that username because I intend on losing big should I embark upon the lapband surgery journey.:laugh:

I am very close to 47 years old, I am five feet tall and weigh 260 lbs. (Very bottom heavy) My BMI is 53.:drool:. I have severe sleep apnea, chronic back pain, difficulty walking up more than one flight of steps at a time, and not to mention walking up a hill... It feels like cement is on my chest. I also have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)which is a syndrome of symptoms that causes infertility or difficulty conceiving, hairiness (facial and body), and more importantly, difficulty losing weight. I am sick and tired of carrying all of this weight. Needless to say I have tried numerous diets, fasting and joined many gyms..to no real avail. So when I learned about the minimally invasive lapband surgery I began to get hopeful. My real concerns are side effects, having a port in my body for the rest of my life, and developing a sense of normalcy in my eating. I hold a professional position and more often than not have to attend dinner meetings and/or luncheons. I don't want to embarass myself or the collaborators by not being able to eat or worst yet developing excruciating pain in the middle of a meal. Can someone give me the REAL DEAL on the worst and best of having lap band surgery.

Thanks for reading my story and I look forward to hearing from you.

Take Care,

THEBIGGESTLOSER427

Boy, our stories could not be more similar. I'm a little bit shorter than you. Before I was banded, I weighed a little bit less than you but my BMI was about 53, like you. The rest of your story is me, totally and completely.

The real story is that even with all we have stacked against us, I was able to lose 65 pounds in 7 months and it has honestly been relatively painless. Don't even give a 2nd thought to any difficulties when eating out with others. No one at your luncheons or dinners is going to care how little you eat. Do you care how little anyone else eats at these luncheons or dinners? Of course not.

I can honestly say that the lap band is NOT for everyone but I encourage every one to check it out and learn as much as they can through the internet and support groups. You won't regret making an informed decision. When I was doing my research, I just figured that if it was meant to be then everything would line up as it should and I would feel comfortable having the surgery. If it was not meant to be, then there would be some obstacle presented to me that would give me a clear indication that the lap band was not meant for me.

Keep reading the posts on this site and keep asking your questions. I've always had prompt and excellent replies to any question I asked on this forum.

Most of all.. . GOOD LUCK!! Go get 'em!

[THEBIGGESTLOSER427 0]

Hey Cathy,

Thanks and I'll check in with your aol account. I'd like to know more about your do and TRUE RESULTS.

Thanks.