Suzie

I ate, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicyles, cottage cheese, cream of potato soup with velveeta cheese added for a protein, V-8 juice, scrambled eggs, baked potato, mashed potato, broccoli cheese soup, light grape juice, cream of chicken soup, and I drank one slim fast as I felt I needed the minerals and vitamins.

have you tried some soft foods like cottage cheese, hamburger because you can mash it into little pieces, lunch meat rolled up with cheese in it and eating small bites? Baked potato, chili, I will think some more.

Brenny, I have been thinking of you on and off all day yesterday. Now it is the 2nd and I am wondering how you are.I hope you are on your way to one of the best experiences of your life.

Judy, I enjoyed your response to me about feeling you could of wrote the email. Sometimes we feel we are the only one feeling the way we do. 41 lbs. WOW I cannot wait until I can say that. How has your journey been? If you would like email me at Kellco@conwaycorp.net I would love to hear from you. Suzie

I forgot to add I have not been hungry once OR it has been so long since I felt hunger that I do not know what it feels like anymore. I eat three times a day because I want to. I still look forward to meals but each time I sit down to eat I cannot eat it all. Something happens about 10 minutes into the meal. I look at the food and I think well I guess I am done. I get a to go container if I am at a restaurant and think I will eat it later. That has worked wonderful. I have eaten half of what I ate before and I have not had a fill yet. That comes next week.

Judy. I too have had gas and bloating also. I keep Milk of Magnesia handy. The first time I felt like I was very gassy I took 3 swigs and then spent the rest of the evening with diarreia. It did solve the problem though. It was not a bad experience just had to stay close to the bathroom. I had drank a route 44 diet cherry limeade from Sonic. I also had had a root beer float. Now I still drink a diet coke occasionally but not two in one day or a route 44.

JUDY I was self pay also as my insurance had the same clause. I am diabetic, high blood pressure and diabetes was not in control yet they still would not pay. Now that I have had it done and know how I feel I would go to be bank and borrow twice the amount I spent to have it done again. I would do just about anything to have it done. It has given me back my life. I did not realize how bad I felt before. I think I was on my way out of this world. I think my family knew and they encouraged me to go have it done. I did not care enough about myself to go do it I guess. I was afraid of being put to sleep also. Anyway, see it as a car payment, house payment, anything to go have it done. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself,

Brenny, energy has not been a problem for me. In fact, I had more energy. I was tired and weak for about 4-5 days. Returned to work 6 days later and was fine. I did make things like potato soup with cheese to get a protein and a cab. I also drank Slim Fast one time to get vitamins and minerals. A protein shake once.

I am so sorry if I sounded like I thought a lap band in Mexico was not as good as US. I sure did not mean it that way. I found this site accidently and did not realize it was connected to Dr. Oritz. I kept seeing his name and wondered about that so that is why I wrote it seems like most of you had your band done in Mexico. I did not know about Mexico as my friend had it done here and I followed her progress. I went to the same doctor as she did because I did not even think to look elsewhere. I was so cosumed with should I do it, will I wake up from surgery, will it work for me that I guess all my thoughts centered around that topic. I did back out once simply because I was scared. Now I am 5 weeks out and feeling good and wondering why I did not hear about this sooner and check into sooner. If it wasn't for my friend I still would be struggling with my weight and health issues.

Hello Shanny, I did not realize this web site came from Dr. Oriz. I am glad I found one though. As you said it does not matter where it was done. I did not even know about Dr. Oriz. My friend had it done in Little Rock and I watched her progress and that is why I went there. I was also self pay as my insurance would not cover it either. I am 5 weeks post op and go for my first support group session today. It was supposed to be 2 weeks after surgery but I had to reschedule. I am very excited about meeting other lap band patients. This has been a wonderful experience for me. I have lost 22 lbs. and feel so much better than before surgery.

I would highly recommend the surgery. Let me tell you why. Before surgery I was 222 lbs. 5 foot 5 inches, 55 years of age, diabetic for 10 years, high blood pressure for 16 years, high cholesterol for 5 years, depressed and on so much medication I was ready to give up. I did not have a weight problem as a young adult but gradually gained weight over the year. The last two years I put on 40 lbs. due to insulin. I was taking huge amounts of insulin, 150 units of 70/30 at night, 60 short acting with each meal and the weight kept coming on. My A1C was never good and I felt I was in a horrible battle that I could not win. I loved food, it ws the high point of my day. It was my best friend. It was the only thing that made me feel good for awhile and not matter how bad I felt i always managed to get to the food. Could I give it up? For me there was no choice. Either take this chance or die soon. I was sleeping all the time. I would go to work and collapse when I got home. I wanted to sleep all the time on the weekends and never wanted to do anything, except eat, never wanted to go anywhere anymore. The saddest thing of all is I was so content to just stay at home on the weekends and sleep. I guess I had given up on anything better. I had scheduled the surgery and then backed out because I was scared and the cost was going to come out of our pocket. My husband came to me shortly after I cancelled and told me he just watched a news report on lap band surgery and diabetics. One groiup of diabetic had the band, the other group did not. The death rate for the group that did not was 93% higher. He said I want you to do it. I did and it gave me back my life and I am only 5 weeks post op. Already I have seen such a difference. My energy level has doubled. I feel so good. I do not sleep all the time now. I want to go to the store now. I want to shop. I can only imagine what the next several months hold for me. I hope this helps someone.

I had mine done Sept. 25. Insurance would not pay. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Advantage. Does anyone know if you can fight them if they have a clause saying they will not cover any weight loss surgeries.

I am 5 weeks post op. Would do it again in a heartbeat. My insurance did not pay one dime. Now, I would of paid twice the amount to feel like this again. It is worth it as far as I am concerned. I have lost 22 lbs. so far and no fill yet.

MY ANSWER IS YES, YES, AND GO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I wish I had done it sooner. It has been the best thing I have ever done. Get your life back. It helps you control eating like nothing else ever will. Go for it while you are young. I am a diabetic and that is no fun.

Hello. I had my surgery on Sept 25 also. I have lost 22 so far. First fill is in one week. My friend had it done in June and has lost 70 lbs. so far. Do not get discouraged. This is the beginning of a new life for you. It will work but we are in the beginning of this journey. I gained two lbs. back at one point but lost it again. Now I am trying to maintain until the first fill. Let me know how you are doing.

Dear Brenny, Heres your hug. I am afraid you will not get it now until after your surgery. It is after 6 here so you may be on your way. I am going to pray you have a safe surgery and all goes well for you. Suzie

I so understand how the gain makes you feel. I have a friend that had this done in June so she helped me understand that is normal. As soon as you get your fill you will start to lose again. I gained two back after a 22 lb. loss but I cut back and have lost the two again. I go for first fill in one week.

I am 5 weeks out from surgery. I want to tell all of you that I have had a wonderful experience with the lap band procedure and that it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I would love to talk with anyone that is going to have this done. I had mine done in the US. I am 55, diabetic with high blood pressure so I felt I was taking a big risk by having surgery. I was scared too. Cancelled one time because of fear. Now I am so glad I did it. I have lost 22 lbs. so far and have not had a fill yet. I had such a hard time losing any weight so 22 lbs. for me was a miracle. I too loved food. My regular doctor even ask me if I was ready to give it up because for some people it was my best friend. I am also a sceptic so I was doubtful this would work for me. Well, it has changed so much. I still look forward to eating, I still want to eat, but for some reason now after I eat part of the meal I just stop. Cannot believe that. That is not the way I use to be. Would love to talk to some of you. My home email is Kellco@conwaycorp.net if any of you want to talk.

Hello Brenny, I am just learning how to use this site and have had some trouble finding the posts I have written so I was glad to get your email to me. I am very excited for you and hope you get this email before you go tomorrow. I too was very scared, so scared in fact I cancelled my first surgery which was schedule for July 17. I will tell you more about why I decided to go ahead with the surgery on Sept. 25 later. When I did decide I was ready and willing to face anything. Now I can tell you it is the best thing I have ever done in my life for myself. I am 5 weeks out. I have lost 22 lbs. I go for my first fill in one week. Today I go for my first support group. Now let me tell you about my journey. I had my surgery at 7:10. They gave me something in my IV that relaxed me so much I do not remember anything after that. I woke up with the nurse telling me to keep the mask on my face to give me extra oxygen. I think she asked if I could sit up next and I did with no problem and told her I needed to go to bathroom. I was sore but nothing like my C section with my daughter. Next they had me sit in a recliner and I asked if I could go home. They told me my blood sugar was high and they needed to get it down. My family came in and talked to me but all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. When I did get to go home at about noon that same day I slept all the way home. (30 min) When I got home I ate some chicken broth and sugar free popcicles. Be sure to have those on hand. They told me not to lay down because of the gas in the stomach and that it will rise to the shoulders so I sat in the recliner which I never can sleep in but sure did this time. I was asleep instantly and slept quite awhile. That is pretty much how it went for the rest of the day. Second day, I stayed awake more, but did not have any trouble with drinking clear liquids as that is all you will want. (I too, loved to eat and was having such a problem with food. I was also a diabetic and sugar was running high before surgery which made me want to eat even more.) I discovered I loved the chicken broth, beef broth, popcicles, ligh grape juice the first two days. Third day I made potato soup with velvetta cheese. I felt I needed protein and carbs. It was very good and went down easy. I ate creamed soups too and then I started blending things. If I wanted something that sounded really good to me I blended it with the blender so that it was very soft and runny. Something that would go down the esophagus easily. That was the way it went for the first 2-3 weeks. I am eating regular foods now and the weight is not coming off like it was but I am still losing and still eating half of what I ate before. That is the miracle to me. My energy level has doubled, I feel so much better and I love having the band. I love having something to control my eating. It has been so amazing to me that I want to load up every over weight person and take them to Dr. Wellborn myself. Please write me as soon as you feel up to it. I would love to talk to you about your journey. My email address is Kellco@conwaycorp.net Please feel free to email me as soon as you like. Good luck. You are about to start living again.

I have written about 4 post and cannot find any of them. What do I need to do to get a post on the board.

I was banded on Sept. 25. I did not have gas at first enough to bother me. 3rd week, gas and bloated started. I called nurse (had mine done in Little Rock, Arkansas.) She said stop all milk and carbonated products. I also drank three swigs of Milk of Magnesia. They told me to take this after I had had the surgery the first few days to help with gas so......if it helped then I thought maybe it will help now. IT DID. I spent the evening running to the bathroom but gas was gone by morning. Now I am being very careful what I eat. I looked up foods that cause gas on internet. I was eating more food this last week.

What is VG band?

I am reading where many of you had lap band done in Mexico. I guess it must of been a lot cheaper. I had mine done in Little Rock, Arkansas by Dr. Wellborn. Cost 14,200. I did not feel I had a choice in the surgery as I was diabetic, high blood pressure.

Hello, I am post op almost 4 weeks and wanted to share my experience with others. I was scared of the surgery and had cancelled once. I went through with the surgery on Sept. 25. My experience was good. I was 222 5 foot 5 inches so I had the surgery done as an out patient. Went in at 6. Had surgery at about 7, My blood sugar rose to 416 during surgery so they kept me until 12:oo, My husband drove me home and I slept the whole way. got home and drank some clear soup, sat in recliner and slept again. I was so sleepy. Pain was very managable concerning lap band. Gas in shoulders bothered me the most for about a week. I was weak the first 4 days. I finally drank a protein drink to give me some energy and it helped. Went back to work on Monday, surgery was Tues. and was fine. I lost 13 lbs. the first week, 18 by two weeks, and 22 by 4th week. I feel I can eat anything right now so I am ready for a fill at 6 weeks. It has been an excellent experience for me.

Hello Hello. I am 4 weeks post op this coming Tuesday (Oct. 23. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I have lost 22 lbs. Lost 13 the first week. I started at a weight of 222,, 5 foot 5 inches tall. I am 55, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I felt like I was on my way out of this world. Could not control my eating and was gaining steadily. I cannot tell you how much better I feel already and how much energy I have. I am having a problem with gas these last few days. Anyone know why?