Weight Loss Surgery

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  • MsScorpio67
    MsScorpio67 Posts: 91 Member
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    I have been banded for 3 years in June. When I went in for surgery I was 300lbs. Currently I am 197 and have been as low as 179. I love my band. I love that I can get adjusted when I feel that my appettite is too strong. Or as my mother would say, you need to get some air in that tire, hahahahaha. I have really good after care. My doctors are close and my co-payment is 15 dollars. So I don't have some of the issues that other lapbanders do. But no matter what surgery a person decides to have, the surgery is not in your head. Your still going to crave the stuff you always craved unless you change your thinking. It's not easy, hell nothing is, but I was very serious about losing the weight and I needed help. One of my jobs is very physical and I needed to be in better shape. My only health issue besides having a high BMI was that I was borderline diabetic. As for choosing from the different surgeries, I choose the lapband cause, in my opinon, RNY are for heavy sweet eaters or when your weight is really high. I'm not a sweet eater as much as I was a quantity eater. There was no such thing in my vocabulary as portion size. I could eat as much as a man and then some. The band put a stop to all of that. Now my focus is to get in better shape and lose my last 37lbs and put on some muscle. And this site has been wonderful. Now the funny thing is I never tell anyone that I have had surgery. I feel like it's a personal thing. But when this discussion came up I felt the need to speak. It is up to the individual on how much help a person needs to lose the weight. If it's surgery, or the "Natural" way, the point is LOSING THE WEIGHT. And it may not be everyone's cup of tea to have Weight loss surgery, but please respect the person's right to choose. If having to do it over, I would have had the surgery long time ago. I haven't reached my coal yet, but I'm so happy at my accomplishment thus far.
  • fcrisswell
    fcrisswell Posts: 235 Member
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    "I have been banded for 3 years in June. When I went in for surgery I was 300lbs. Currently I am 197 and have been as low as 179. I love my band. I love that I can get adjusted when I feel that my appettite is too strong. Or as my mother would say, you need to get some air in that tire, hahahahaha. I have really good after care. My doctors are close and my co-payment is 15 dollars. So I don't have some of the issues that other lapbanders do. But no matter what surgery a person decides to have, the surgery is not in your head. Your still going to crave the stuff you always craved unless you change your thinking. It's not easy, hell nothing is, but I was very serious about losing the weight and I needed help. One of my jobs is very physical and I needed to be in better shape. My only health issue besides having a high BMI was that I was borderline diabetic. As for choosing from the different surgeries, I choose the lapband cause, in my opinon, RNY are for heavy sweet eaters or when your weight is really high. I'm not a sweet eater as much as I was a quantity eater. There was no such thing in my vocabulary as portion size. I could eat as much as a man and then some. The band put a stop to all of that. Now my focus is to get in better shape and lose my last 37lbs and put on some muscle. And this site has been wonderful. Now the funny thing is I never tell anyone that I have had surgery. I feel like it's a personal thing. But when this discussion came up I felt the need to speak. It is up to the individual on how much help a person needs to lose the weight. If it's surgery, or the "Natural" way, the point is LOSING THE WEIGHT. And it may not be everyone's cup of tea to have Weight loss surgery, but please respect the person's right to choose. If having to do it over, I would have had the surgery long time ago. I haven't reached my coal yet, but I'm so happy at my accomplishment thus far. "


    BIG THUMBS UP!
  • Nburch223
    Nburch223 Posts: 5
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    I totaly would do it if my insurance would pay. I know your feeling of living in a fat suit that is what I feel like .
  • Nburch223
    Nburch223 Posts: 5
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    Thanks for sharing your story it helps to hear everyones point.
  • vickyd205
    vickyd205 Posts: 29 Member
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    I was banded this past December and in that time I have lost 56 lbs (I started at 325). I am one of the lucky ones in that I felt restriction from the very beginning and have only had one fill since surgery (and that was 2 weeks ago). I'm lucky that my insurance covered the surgery and the fills (they did not cover the sleeve) and that my surgeon's office has excellent follow up care. That said, MsScorpio67 was right...it is hard work! The band won't make you stop wanting the wrong foods...you need to be committed to making a full lifestyle change in both eating and exercise in order for it to work.

    I am a member of a site devoted to Lap Band patients and you would be surprised at the number of people who thought they could continue to eat the same foods they were eating, they would only eat 1/2 of it and the weight would fall off...well, 1/2 a Big Mac Extra Value Meal is still WAY more calories than you should be eating and the weight doesn't just fall off with the Lap Band. It is a much more gradual weight loss and anyone considering it needs to be willing to accept that.

    For me, the band has given me something I have never had before...self control. I make better food choices and don't miss the foods I'm no longer eating, I eat appropriate quantities of food (3-4 oz protein and 1/2 cup veggies) instead of the massive quantities I used to eat, I exercise 4-5 days a week and can walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like I need oxygen. This surgery is absolutely the best thing I have ever done for myself and I don't regret it for a second!
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
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    I agree. The surgery recovery is choice. Losing weight, accepting responsibility, and staying devoted and motivated to lose weight naturally is much more commendable.

    Wow, that's great - I lost about three times more weight before I got surgery...and kept on gaining it back. But I lost it naturally so thanks for giving me a commendable thumbs up on my failure. I should have stuck to that failing path, right? You're a nurse? Should I have stuck with what doesn't work, in your medical opinion, until I was afflicted with a disease because of it?

    X-D
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
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    For the life of me I will never understand why smart people can look success right in the eyes and call it shameful. But, if you get surgery, it's something you'll have to face. :-)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I'm torn about the whole gastric surgery thing. My cousin had lap band surgery about the same time I started my weight loss journey using Weight Watchers last January (2010). We've both lost the same amount of weight to date. So in my mind, even if some of you do see it as condescending, I can't help but think - if she'd just been more careful with her portions and made more healthy food choices and exercised, she wouldn't have had to put herself through the side effects (especially the vomiting).

    The other thing I had to respond to was the post about Jennifer Hudson - I can't seem to find any specific information but I'm pretty sure it took her more like 8 months to a year to lose that weight. And you have to remember that she's got big bucks, she can afford to have someone cooking for her and a personal trainer to help her work-out 4 hours a day or whatever so you can't compare her success story to that of the average person...

    Edited to add - the only timeline I've found for JHud's weight loss is that she said she started working on it after the birth of her now 2 year old son...
  • Megume
    Megume Posts: 74
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    If people are able to work out that much, be dedicated and are ACTUALLY able to maintain that kind of weightloss naturally.. then hats off to ya. That is awesome. I, however, cannot afford to go onto the biggest loser, or work out for hours a day because of my hospital job. I'm on call a lot - my life has to revolve around this place for what I do.

    I feel the sleeve will be the best tool/ gift I can give myself. I'm only 26, and I would like to live the rest of my life happy and healthy :D
  • fcrisswell
    fcrisswell Posts: 235 Member
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    I don't find what you say condescending in the least (un-like a few other replies)...just honest.

    I was sooo far against surgery after losing my mother in 2001. But when I reached my all-time low (as well as my HIGHEST weight ever at nearly 400 pounds) in 2006 that was IT. I had had it.

    What "IT" is...is different for everyone. Food is an addiction for me. And like an addict I had to reach my lowest low before I could change. With surgery the addction is still there (just like any other addiction, alcoholics, drug-addicts), but, I now have the tool to control it. Un-like an alcoholic that can avoid alcohol/bars/etc., I cannot avoid food. It is part of LIFE. My TOOL helps me control it. I cannot gorge on cheesecake...hell I can hardly tolerate a few bites before the sugar content makes me feel crappy. That is what I needed to re-gain my life.

    Just like every other person here. What calorie level is right for one is not for the other. What exercise regimine is right for one is not the other. some can just make THAT decision and stick to it. Others cannot and have to choose a different path. In the end we all make our decisions based on life-experiences and the information we have at the time. It may or may not work out in the end. If not you find another path. (And, yes I know surgery patients that have gained ALL their weight back as well as non-surgery people that lost it and gained it back.) WE are all human and we all make mistakes, learn from them, and move to the next. I wish everyone luck no matter what path they choos...but pleae respect someone else's decision even i you may not wholely agree with it.
  • ocsbabydoll
    ocsbabydoll Posts: 9
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    Right i am just trying to get a feel for everyone and how they are succeeding -- you know what they say -- the key is a well rounded great support group :happy:
  • ocsbabydoll
    ocsbabydoll Posts: 9
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    So i am pretty sure i am sticking with the Sleeve - from what you lovely people are saying and from all the videos i have watched - there doesnt seem to be a difference in the speed in which you lose really --and the sleeve is not malabsorbative or have dumping syndrome which i have to say looks and sound horrid.

    Thank you everyone for you input and i look forward to hearing more of your stories and thoughts... This is life changing and i could not be more excited!!!!!

    P.S I am so sorry to hear about your mom passing but congrats on the tiny humans :heart:
  • theresasbaby
    theresasbaby Posts: 7
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    Hi Megume,
    I had the sleeve on March 15th this year. I have no regrets at all. I do have heartburn if I eat to fast which is easy to do if your eating with others and your part of a conversation at lunch or dinner...it's easy to forget, but the discomfort after is enough to snap you out of it. So it's 10 weeks tomorrow and I've dropped 50 lbs, and I have followed Dr orders to the tee. I am no longer feeling the effects of diabetes (off meds immediatley) and off blood pressure meds. SW 227 and I just reached 177! My only regret is that I wish I had done it 30 years ago. I am capeable of losing a hundred lbs on my own and have done it several times...only for it to creep back on and feel helpless while it does. Not sure what is missing tht makes that happen for some of us but I truly think this time I have a good chance of keeping it off! and the NO HUNGER is a plus! just watch out for what your head says to you. I wish you the best. Linda
  • theresasbaby
    theresasbaby Posts: 7
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    I know I said it in my last post Megume....my only regret is that I didn't have the sleeve in my 20's!!!! It isn't an easy thing to do but it can be so worth it! At 26 I'd already been a champion dieter and failure for 14 years, I think I will be ok now.I pray I can post with sucess 10 years from now without any gains! Best of luck to you. Linda

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