Hi Cindi. I am about two weeks away from lap band surgery and my husband is about a month past his. The port is under his ribcage about mid torso on the left side and you cant tell he has one. He cant feel it unless he touches it. The surgery is a life long comitment and you should go into it knowing that. It can come out if needed. I start my 10 days of liquid this coming sunday and im nervous, but my husband said that as long as you keep it full of the proper liquids it keeps you full. I dont know if i will feel the same way!!! His post sergury is going well and he only complains that he wants tacos (his favorite food) but its coming up for him a week from Friday. You should go into this thinking that you will have this the rest of your life, but were finding out that healthy food and getting up and moving has helped us loose weight prior to surgery.

We found that our support group was a great help for us to get answers and hear their stories. Every we have talked to has never regreted their decision to have it.

Hope my answers helped and feel free to ask me more!

Sherry

I am 5 months post op. It is absolutely the best decision I have ever made. But it does take discipline and a lifetime commitment. The different stages of diets can be frustrating. Right after surgery the full liquid diet can get old and you want to eat real food. I would advise to stay on the full liquid as long as you can. I choose to do a liquid every now and then. I cannot see my port but I can feel it. That is the only time I notice it. Recovery time is quicker versus other forms of weight loss surgery. Just remember if you are not willing to make a lifetime commitment, the lapband is not for you. It is a tool and not a solution.

"It is a tool and not a solution."

Please understand this. 11 years post-op with RNY, took me 8 to full understand this concept. :-/

Hi there! I had LapBand surgery on Sept 26, 2011 so as of tomorrow I am 15 weeks post-op. I am 30 years old, 6 foot tall and my highest weight was 303lbs. I did a lot of research and comparison between the LapBand surgery and the Gastric Bypass surgery to decide what was best for me. I decided to choose this one because I didn't want the higher risk of complications, the probable malnutrition, or the thought of changing my inner anatomy.(Don't get me wrong, losts of gastric bypass peeps are sucessful and avoid these problems, it just wasn't for me.) The drawback is that the weight comes off slower and you have to see your surgeon monthly, at least for the first year after, for fills if they are needed. On the day of surgery I weighed 292lbs and as of this morning I am at 270.4lbs.

So the port thing is a little weird, I can feel it under my skin and if I lay on my stomach. You can't see it right now but I have hear from others with the band that once the weight is lost, some people do have a visible lump.

You are meant to have the band for the rest of your life, and it's built to last. Removal usually only happens if there's some sort of complication.

Each person with a band is different as far as what they can eat or drink after the band is placed. I can tell you that the few days after my surgery were the worst, I was able to take down liquids but it was slow. The weeks after got better, and now I am able to eat most things without a problem as long as I CHEW. Learn to chew foods thoroughly because if you don't, they will get stuck, and it's not a fun feeling.

Choosing LapBand surgery is a lifelong choice. You need to modify your entire outlook on food. It's something I still struggle with and probably will for a long time. Food has to become fuel, because you can only put so much of it in your body at one time, you need to consider what every bite will do for you.

Overall, I think it's the best choice I ever made for myself. It's not easy, there are still days when I don't eat the right things, still haven't mustered up the gusto to exercise like I should (and if I did I'm sure I'd be losing more weight, more quickly), I do get discouraged, but there are a few sites I've discovered that help me on my bad days along with this one:

www.obesityhelp.com
www.wlsfa.org
www.lapband.us
www.youtube.com

YouTube has been the greatest help for me because there is a huge community of WLSers who post video blogs of their journey on a regular basis, they help each other out. I hope this helps you out too! Have a great day

Beth

I had my lap band 1/11/11. I was originally 236lbs prior to surgery. I lost 50 lbs by 2/25/11, I had a horrible year in 2011 my mom passed away, my marriage almost fell apart, etc. Well I am a stress eater and I as of right now gained all of it back and added 3 lbs. So I am starting over with the new year. The Lap Band surgery itself was worth it, but if you have emotional eating issues get that resolved prior to the surgery. As for the port I dont even see it.

Good morning all,

My surgery took place on 12/13/11. This morning I had my first fill...yes, I was extremely nervous. However, I am 20 pounds lighter and 20 pounds closer to my end goal. So far I have not experienced any discomfort, vomiting or nausea. Was given the green light approximately two weeks ago to begin working out and I must say, Turbo Jam and I are now very close and intimate friends...I am excited to finally find a group of people who are DILIGENTLY working towards success and I look forward to getting to know each one of you better!

I'm schedule for my lap band surgery Feb 2nd.
I"ve been doing pre-op liquid diet since last Thursday,so far so good,tried a couple different shakes,but I really liked the Unjury brand.

I am almost 7 years post-RNY. Your body will tell you if you have to give up your favorite foods and drinking socially. I can still have my favorite foods, just not a huge serving. I'm now filled up when my dinner plate is a saucer versus a plate. I can still drink socially but I limit myself to one or two "sipping" drinks verus shots or drinking to excess. It doesn't last for me anyway so its really silly for me to drink excessively - 1) I'll be sick from the sugar in the alcohol, and 2) I'll be sober in an hour LOL (I'm always DD now). At the holidays I have a small sliver of my favorite pie versus the whole pie. I eat one taco versus three. (And it took me about a year before I could eat tortillas).

Point being: every body is different. I have a friend who can't eat anything dairy and I eat dairy everyday. But you should definitely go into the surgery knowing that it is a TOOL not a magic pill. If you respect your TOOL and use it correctly the weight will drop off. If you go in thinking "oh, I can still eat XYZ" then it won't work for you. Your body is going to reset its likes and dislikes (I couldn't drink iced tea for 6 years and used to drink it by the gallon). You'll eat something you used to eat and think "Gross!!". But you know what? In the end, its so worth it. I don't regret it for a second.