bariatric surgery

Hi Jason!

Good luck to you.

I had the lap band in January of 2008 and had a lot of success that first year. I became very motivated to lose 100 lbs by my year anniversary and I did it! I started out at 265 and I have mananged (for the most part) to keep off the 100 lbs. The last year or so has been a lot of plateauing and yo-yoing. 10-20 lbs kept coming and going mainly because I am a stress/emotional eater. I'm getting back on track so I can confidantly say "I've KEPT OFF 100 lbs!"

I do work out. I was working out at LEAST 60 minutes a day 5-6 times a week in that first year. Then I met my boyfriend, fell in love, and we moved in together. I work full time and he goes to law school so our time together is very limited. He is very supportive and encouraging, but I get sucked into feeling guilty for needing "ME" time at the gym.

I have YET to consistently get 5 days a week of workouts (since my incredibly driven 1st year post band) but for the most part get in 4 days a week. I mix things up, sometimes work out in the mornings before work, go to group exercise classes after work, I was jogging outside at least 2x a week and then it started hitting the high 90s & triple digit weather. It's all a work in progress.

Having the lap band has been the best decision of my life. While the results are a little slower than gastric, I was never into rearranging my insides (my mom and sister have had gastric because that was their only option and it's worked well for them). You do have to realize that the surgery is a weight loss TOOL and not the end all, be all solution to your weight loss. YOU still have to follow the dietary guidelines, YOU have to be accountable to your doctor and yourself, and YOU CAN be successful. Do start thinking about how you will fit in exercise when you are able to after surgery. Walking might be the only thing you'll be able to do for awhile but MAKE the time to be active.

Keep us posted!

Lisa

Hi,

Yes, you are right about the dumping syndrome - it is to do with the 'short gut' created by the bypass and you shouldn't get that with a band. You may eperience vomiting or unusual bowel symptoms while you get used to the band but I'm sure you've already been told about that and it should pass.

Best of luck to you!

I had the band in January. It's definitely a longer process but for me I was willing to be patient to have a less invasive procedure.

I love it. I'm just now feeling good restriction. Not ideal. I think I have another fill or two to go. But it definitely reminds me that it's there.

One thing that they didn't stress to me....just how LONG it would be before I actually felt restriction. I'm now 6 months post-op and it was only at my last fill that I really felt it kick in. So just be prepared to rely on alot of your own strengths and willpower during this first part of the journey. Now that I'm starting to feel what restriction feels like, I know that when I do get to my sweet spot then it will all be worth it.

Good luck!! For me, the surgery was a piece of cake!!!

I had Lapband surgery on March 30th 2009! I can pretty much eat anything but bread. Hard work is still involved with the lapband it is a TOOL and nothing else! its there to help you. I have pretty much lost the same as a bypass paitent has in time but with the lapband becuase I also was determined to get this weight OFF and as fast as possible with the least invasive surgery. I Love my band and I would do it again in a heartbeat! with the band you can get stuck with not following the rules like CHEWING TO NO END, and Eating to fast! if meats are to dry Its somtimes hard for me to eat but normally I can eat pretty much anything except bread.

adjustments (or Fills as they are often called) are a piece of cake. A needle goes into the port in your tummy and they inject it with saline solution which goes up the tube to your band. A 2 second pin prick and you're good to go!!

As far as how fast you feel restriction, what foods you'll tolerate, etc....it's VERY personal and varies with each individual. Some people feel good restriction after their first fill and some people it takes many more. My NP said she has one patient who it took 11 fills (although that's uncommon). My NP told me the average is 3-5 fills to feel decent restriction for her patients. I noticed decent restriction after fill #4. Some surgeons are more aggressive with their fill amounts so they can get you restriction faster and some will only put in a little each time to give more gradual restriction and avoid being too tight too fast.

For food, I can totally eat bread with no problem. I know other band patients who won't touch it because it gets stuck. For me, that's rice. I won't go near it! I know it's a guaranteed problem if I do. It's a learning process. What one person can eat, you may not be able to. But you'll figure it all out along the way.

Hope this helps!

For me, I lost about 15 lbs during the post op phase. That was during the first 3 weeks. I didn't lose or gain during weeks 4 -5 when the solids are introduced back in but I expected that with my body adjusting back to real food. (my hospital has a 5 week post-op diet but that varies from surgeon to surgeon). My weight loss is steady but I know it could be faster if I were to incorporate more exercise. I do awesome with the eating but exercise is NOT my friend. LOL. I've recently started to incorporate more and I'm definitely seeing the scale move again.

Fills are easy peasy...it took me 4 fills to feel restriction and then as I lost more weight I lost the restriction (because you are losing the fat around you stomach) and needed more. Ive been to tight 3 times now but its very easy to get to tight when you are so close to your sweet spot you need to just listen to your band. EXERSIZE IS KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The reason I have been so sucessful is because as soon as the doctor said get up and walk I got up and walked until I was exausted! then at 6weeks postop they said i could exersize I was exersizing I knew I wanted to get this 150lbs off of me and Ive pretty much done it in about a year and 3months when they told me it would take about 2-3years with a lapband paitent. LOL they didnt believe how motivated I was.

I had lap band revision 9/18/09. I have so far lost 70 lbs. Please add me as your friend.