Weight Loss Surgery

Half_of_Bri

Has anyone here had weight loss surgery (specifically banding) to help aid you in your journey?

Was the road extremely difficult?

What made it worthwhile?

Would you do it again if you knew what you know now?

I have a consultation on Monday with a weight loss surgeon..I'm looking into the Realize band...though advice from any type of weight loss surgery is welcomed! Anything else you think I should know before making this decision??

Thanks in advance!

Kelly_Wilson1990

I had gastric bypass on February 7th, 2011. I have been doing great. You have to be willing to totally change your life style. It has been worth it to me.

Half_of_Bri

I had gastric bypass on February 7th, 2011. I have been doing great. You have to be willing to totally change your life style. It has been worth it to me.

I'm finding that my biggest fear is the surgery its self and the recovery. Was that part extremely tough? I've never had anesthesia before so I'm afraid of complications.

I'm ready to change my life, and have thought long and hard about this decision for about a year. I know it's not a cure all or a magic pill, and there is work involved...I'm just...scared? Of what I'm not sure..failure maybe?

mimidear

Hi There
I struggled with the choice of weightloss surgery - and finally decided on the Sleeve. I decided on the sleeve because of the following reasons:
1. I didn't want to keep going back to have the lapband adjusted.
2. There are a number of reports about lapbands slipping and other difificulties associated with ongoing maintenance of a band.
3. I have struggled with my weight FOREVER - and I was just totoally SICK of thinking about what I could and could not eat. I just wanted to eat like any normal person - just not in the quantity that I was eating!
4. Frequent reports about people with lap bands not being able to eat steak and bread put me off - love my steak!
5. I decided on the Sleeve surgery because it is a permanent solution. Yes - if I over do it I may stretch my stomach and the weight will come back on - but it is a kind of set and forget solution - and as I said - I was just sick of having to think about what went into my mouth!

I was 154.6kg at my heaviest and after almost 10 weeks post surgery, I have lost 19kg I seem to have settled into a regular rate of loss at about 1kg a week, sometimes a little more.

I am very happy at the weight loss - my skin is adapting really well to the shrinking flesh, and I am absolutely a new person. I could loose weight much faster if I excercised more - but I hate excercise! I am, however increasingly active (without forcing it) and this all helps. I am cheap as chips as a dinner partner, and I am making my own choices about what previously forbidden food - I will treat myself to.

The downside? I sort of miss the feasts my partner and I used to have - huge plates of spagetti and garlic bread and bottles of wine.... But I still have it in small amounts. I can eat anything I want - just cannot eat much of it! I am still getting used to the amounts - probably the most difference is that I MUST eat slowly - before I would wolf down huge amounts of food.

Would I do it again - in a heartbeat - but I would have done it 20 years ago. Good Luck!

JoleenHitsPlay

I DID, I DID!!! I had LAP Band surgery on 3/31/11 and it was the best decision for weight loss that I have ever made. It is a TOOL and it was a very personal decision! I did tell people on here and got lots of support you will find support on here also. I got a couple negative remarks but quickly realized these were people that were mean and un-educated!!!

I have lost over 40 lbs since my consultation date. I have lost a little over 17 lbs. since my surgery date. I just started exercising regularly a couple of weeks ago. This website really helps! I would suggest to stay on this website, join a gym (and get a personal trainer for a couple of sessions) if you haven't all ready done so, and just get really committed to your weight loss!

You have to have patience with the band and understand that it doesn't stop you from eating completely and foods that are bad for you are usually well tolerated!!! For instance, Milk shakes, ice cream, potato chips, candy, mashed potatoes, are known as "slider" foods and go right down and if you are not careful and continue to eat those foods frequently you will not loose weight! It also takes time until you have restriction, this time is know as "bandster hell", you can read more about this and other issues on a great forum called" lapbandforum.com

Good Luck and if I can help in any way please don't hesitate to ask,

Joleen

Half_of_Bri

I DID, I DID!!! I had LAP Band surgery on 3/31/11 and it was the best decision for weight loss that I have ever made. It is a TOOL and it was a very personal decision! I did tell people on here and got lots of support you will find support on here also. I got a couple negative remarks but quickly realized these were people that were mean and un-educated!!!

I have lost over 40 lbs since my consultation date. I have lost a little over 17 lbs. since my surgery date. I just started exercising regularly a couple of weeks ago. This website really helps! I would suggest to stay on this website, join a gym (and get a personal trainer for a couple of sessions) if you haven't all ready done so, and just get really committed to your weight loss!

You have to have patience with the band and understand that it doesn't stop you from eating completely and foods that are bad for you are usually well tolerated!!! For instance, Milk shakes, ice cream, potato chips, candy, mashed potatoes, are known as "slider" foods and go right down and if you are not careful and continue to eat those foods frequently you will not loose weight! It also takes time until you have restriction, this time is know as "bandster hell", you can read more about this and other issues on a great forum called" lapbandforum.com

Good Luck and if I can help in any way please don't hesitate to ask,

Joleen

Thanks, Joleen You have helped, a lot!

Half_of_Bri

Thanks for being so detailed! It's so much easier to feel at ease when I'm hearing from people who have ACTUALLY been there

Kelly_Wilson1990

The recovery was very easy. I had the Q-Ball for pain relief and did not even have to take pain medication. I highly recommend it if your surgeon uses it. I think that my recovery was so easy did not have to take pain medication. I was back up and around in a day or two. I was back exercising with in a month.

http://www.iflo.com/prod_onq_classic.php

pinknsassyemt

I was banded 6/13/2011 and it was the best decision of my life. I recovered quick, to say it was easy would be a lie but to say it was hard would be a lie also. The biggest mistake I made was freaking out post op that I wasn't losing weight.. Duh.. you just underwent major surgery... I am 6 weeks post op, and down 24 lbs. I recieved 4cc of fluid in my band at the time of surgery and have great restriction and haven't had a fill yet. Feel free to add me, or message me with any additional questions you might have. Remember this, with the band it is not a quick fix. You have to change, it is simply a tool. My eating habits have changed 100%. Weight comes off MUCH slower than roux n y, or the sleeve. It gets frustrating sometimes, but the long term weight loss and the benefits of slower weight loss is why I picked the band. Plus if I want to have sugar I can... I just have control over how much.

anilyze

Rny on 5/11 here and down 55lb so far.

I went with rny because I have a family history of diabetes and it cures diabetes (99% cure rate). I was healthy still (almost 30) and I didn't want to wait for weight related comorbidities. I'd lost 40-50 lb a few times before, but it was really hard to stay on lengthy diets. I had to do 1 hr exercise 5x a week and eat 800-1000 calories a week to see a 1-2 lb a week loss. As I dieted, I would feel more and more and more hungry and I just wanted to get out of that. I needed to overcome my own issues with feeling like WLS would be admitting failure. It's really not the easy way out, but it's a way that has a staggeringly higher success rate than traditional dieting.

With rny, I have no appetite whatsoever (hormone that triggers hunger plummets for about a year). If you can get a hold of your head hunger and work the rny, it's a tremendous tool.

I had never had surgery or been under anesthesia before and I was terrified. I had an excellent surgeon who answered every question I had with patience and compassion. He set my mind at ease, as did the anesthesiologist; between the two of them, I think I confirmed 3x that they'd be using a BIS monitor to make sure I'm out. =P

I woke up in recovery with crazy crazy nausea and it was NOT fun. For a while I was wishing I hadn't woken up at all. But I'm sensitive and get nauseous a lot (don't know if that's relevant in this case), but I'm confident, if I have to go under again in the future, they'll be able to make the experience better knowing upfront that I'm sensitive in this respect.
I was very bloated and uncomfortable with that (they blow a lot of air into you to see during lap surgery), but I deflated (3-4 days) I felt great. Other than soreness in the abdominal muscles, I didn't really feel like I'd had surgery at all. About 2 or 3 weeks out that soreness was gone too.

The hardest part was probably being on liquids for 4 weeks (surgeon's plans vary), but I found that I wasn't terribly excited about solid foods either. :-) It's a challenge to learn how to eat post-op: how slow you should eat, how much you need to chew, etc.

All in all, I think it was the best thing I've done for myself and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Lobster1987

Don't go by what people on here tell you. Do your research. Go to obesityhelp.com and research all of the WLS options. This is a major decision that will greatly impact your life. Make sure you make the right surgery decision for you.

anewme2day

Hello,
I had gastric banding with plication done on june 30 , 2011, and it was hell for me at first!! but its worth while I've lost 33 lbs so far and I'm so happy . I just wish that I would have been mentally prepared for the emotional stuff that you go through with not eating at first, i've had to deal with the real reasons I eat and it hasnt always been easy. but i'm happy I did it and I think you will too.