BrooklynIrish59

Let's see....beginning with January 2000, my future husband relocated 700 miles to be with me.(we met online in 1997) My mom (my best friend) died suddenly in April 2000. Got married in October 2000 and gained two wonderful stepsons. Daughter got married in May 2001. Wtinessed the collapse of the World Trade Center while sitting on the highway with no where to go. Became a grandma in 2002. Moved from NY to midwest in 2003. Bought a beautiful house with my new husband. Daughter had baby #2 Both stepsons got married and added 4 more grandchildren, making a total of 6. Gained several wonderful friends in my new home town. Had a total hysterectomy (best thing I ever did) Two months later went to Mexico for lapband surgery. Lost over 100 lbs in less than 18 months. Had cancer scare - remove parotid gland. Ran/walked my first 5k race and FINISHED!

You can just ask the attendant when you get on the plane. Good luck with your surgery. You won't regret it.

I set a goal for myself to have lost 100 lbs by my one year anniversary and I made it! I only set the goal back in February when I managed to lose about 88 lbs by my 50th birthday. These last 12 lbs were killers. I still want to lose about 20 more. But I did it AND I'm doing a mini-marathon in a couple of months. =D> I don't know what happened all of a sudden..it's weird...my last fill was in February and for the longest time I didn't have good restriction even with now having 3.4 cc in a 4 cc band. Since then I'd have really tight days and then other days where I could eat a personal pizza and go back for more, but didn't. I even scheduled another fill back in March and then cancelled it because I didn't feel like I needed it when the day arrived. This last week, I've had a hell of a time keeping food down. I don't feel sick, but I have thrown up practically every solid food meal starting with Saturday. I had a small piece of rib eye steak and spinach. I don't know if it was the steak (I'm starting to think I truly cannot tolerate any kind of steak) or if it was the frozen spinach. After bringing up the steak and spinach, I continued to bring up slime for a few hours. It got to the point that my throat was actually burning I guess from the acid. Tonight was no different, one tiny piece of meat and a scrambled egg and guess what...it made a return appearance. I couldn't even get down any veggies. I've had a fill scheduled for this Thursday for the last 2 weeks...but I'm thinking I don't need it. It feels like after one solid year, I finally have hit the sweet spot I read about. I don't post much, I love to read about everyone else's journey, but I just had to post my news. I'm so excited!

Hi Shiney, Congratulations on your upcoming band date. Of course you're nervous and thinking, "what the hell am I doing?" Guess what, most of us have been there. It's surgery after all, and just because we go down to Mexico, doesn't make it any less invasive. However, My 1 year anniversary date is 4/21 and like many people who have gone before us, the only regret was not having it done sooner. And when I think back on my visit to the OCC, it stll seems surreal! You've made a very wise, educated and fully informed decision to make a life long life style change. You will WANT to be a conscientious participant with your new band. And that means being mindful of how you eat. Start practicing now taking small bites and chewing it 30 times. Obviously the food will go down with no problem but at least you'll get into the habit of eating differently. When you do drink (1 hour after eating) take small sips instead of chugging. Everyone's body is different, after banding many people have no problem with the texture of food, just the amount they eat, while despite how small of a bite I take of hamburger patty, that food is a no-no for me. By eating smaller bites, you'll also know what you can tolerate. You can do this, you've come this far not to succeed. As for getting a fill, Dr. Ren at NYU performs fill and I believe it is done under fluoro, which is a plus. I don't know of anyone else out in Long Island and I'm not sure if Fill Centers are anywhere near you. You should start calling around now, especially to make sure they would take a patient they didn't do surgery on. The doctor I use for my fills put a stop on taking on anymore Mexico banded patients not long after he accepted me. Good for me otherwise I would have had to go to Chicago for my fills. As for the gas, I wouldn't say it was painful, just uncomfortable. I tried gas strips, but I don't think it made much of a difference. Walking is what helped the most and I made sure I did alot of it during the first week, even if it was just around my house on bad weather days. By the end of the first week, I was fine. Keep reading the posts, keep asking your questions and maybe we will help alleviate some of the fears. One year ago today I was in your shoes, but I was oh so excited too! Good Luck bj

Hey Kim...I was wondering when you would be back to share your TT with everyone. Good job! You and your belly look fantastic! Barb

As you know everyone is different. My friend and I would get our fills done at the same time, we are both up to 6 fills. She would feel instant tightness, especially in her throat. Me....I would have to say that 5 out of the 6 times, my fill wouldn't kick in for at least a week or more. Since this is your first fill and you don't know how your band is going to react, be patient. You definitely don't want to be in a situation where you are uncomfortable and unable to do anything about it. Good Luck!

Hi all....I work in healthcare and deal with many insurance carriers, including the Blue Cross plans. I can tell you if your policy does not cover something, it isn't entirely the big bad insurance carrier. Your employer is the one who decides what they will include in your benefit coverage. My employer does not cover weight loss surgery of ANY kind with the current policy we have. Three years ago, under a different carrier, they did, but only bypass AND with a monetary cap. So if you developed a complication down the road that could be tied to having had WLS, you were screwed if you already used up your allowed coverage. With the new policy, they made the decision not to pay the higher rates for this benefit because THEY didn't feel it was safe. My co-worker and lap band partner and I had surgery 9 months and are doing great! Happy, Healthy and thinner. We haven't lost a day of work since having the surgery. Knowing you have to start with your employer to make insurance policy changes, we have tried several times to change their minds and allow future coverage for anyone else thinking of the lap band, but have been unsuccessful. Barb

I just love NSVs...mine came about over the weekend. I attended a party for my step-daughter in law. My husband's ex-wife was there. We aren't busom buddies (she's flat chested and I'm not....LOL) but we get along. When my 11 year old step grandson, who I hadn't seen in about 2 weeks saw me, he made a point of saying quite loudly AND within earshot of the ex-wife....."WOW, I didn't recognize you. You can really see how much weight you lost AND you look younger too".....oh my, out of the mouths of babe! Buy that child a new Wii game. There is nothing better than looking thinner and younger than an ex.

The one thing I wish I had thought to buy at the Pharmacy in Mexico was Mederma ointment. It was about $11 USD there while here it about $19-$23 here. I know many bandsters have used it for their scars, although I have to tell you my scars from the lapband surgery I had in April are almost gone. It's still good to have for other scars. Good luck Stormy.... The whole trip for me is still surreal. I can remember reading everyone's description of the OCC and also seeing some pictures before hand...once I was there actually getting ready for my surgery, it felt like a dream. You will do fine, they take exceptionally good care of you at the OCC. Have your husband take some pictures so you can remember what you missed while you were groggy. Ya know, it's sort of like a wedding. You spend months and months planning for everything to be perfect and just like a wedding, you just can't please everyone with your choice of where you have it. Then the big day comes...you're excited, you're nervous, you get to wear new (blue paper) panties for your special day. Then before you know it, it's over in a flash, and the best part....you still leave with a ring! So happy wedding day! Barb

I still haven't told any family or co-workers about my band. As of today, I am down 69 pounds and at 5'1" it shows. Yes people at work have commented and congratulated me...some people say absolutely nothing! Before even thinking about the lapband I had started doing a liquid diet with some co-workers. They couldn't hack it, stopped and gain back even more weight than before. These are the ones who say nothing to me. Others want to do what I'm doing...which they think is protein shakes. I advised them about portion control and higher intake of protein, leaving carbs to last. I even directed them to the sparkspeople.com website to track their food. I drag them along on my lunch time walks. I feel a little guilty...like I'm giving them false hope. I know I couldn't do it before without the band! But at the very least, if they change their eating habits and have more discipline than I did, they will see a change. Barb

Congratulations Kathy....losing even 1 lb is wonderful, but to hit that 50 lb mark....pure heaven! You look wonderful in your picture! bj

I was so hoping someone would ask about the latest NSV....I had one last evening. Normally I take showers, but after my work out at the gym, I decided I needed to take a relaxing bubble bath. In the past, my ass was so wide it would dam up the water behind me, but not last night! I even let the water drain out completely before I got out of the tub so just I could enjoy the moment. Now, not only are my clothes too big...I gotta get a smaller tub! Thanks for letting me share.... Barb

OK...I need some input from everyone about how they are doing with the excess skin that comes with the weight loss. I am 5'1" and started out at 268. As of today, my 4 month anniversary, I weight 201. I just love to see how much narrower my body has become, but when the clothes come off and I stop holding my stomach in, I feel like I don't look any different..and unfortunately that's due to the nasty apron of skin around the belly. I even notice that the inside of my thighs have started to look like drapes. Not a pretty picture, huh? At 49 years of age, I know the skin isn't going to bounce back like a 20 year old, but what have you all been doing to help your skin "catch up" with your weight loss? Is it possible to exercise enough so that your body gets toned? Unless I win the lottery, a tummy tuck or any other tuck is out of the question. I have a gym membership and basically I'm doing the treadmill, the bike and sit ups. I believe a younger bandster will have an easier time of toning the body, but what about us older bandsters? I would love to just relax my body, instead of feeling like I always have to pull my gut in. So what kind of toning moves are you doing and do you think it makes a difference? Thanks Barb

Hi Shasha...so sorry for what you're going through right now. I've not had any problems at all. I'm assuming you are not down at the OCC. I am 4 months post op today from the OCC and the doctors were pretty consistent with wanting their patients to lose weight prior to surgery. One of the reason was to reduce the amount of fat around the area where they would be doing the procedure. They recommended shakes and/or lean cuisine meals depending upon how much the patient's BMI was. Who did your surgery? I read in your blog that you were suppose to be starting a new job right about now. What will happen now? I know the recovery time for the open procedure is significantly longer than it is with the lap band. You'll get a lot of support from the people on this forum. Check back in and let us know how you're doing. Good luck. Barb

I am only 4 months out as of tomorrow and I can honestly say I don't feel depressed over any food I've had to give up. My absolute favorite is pizza, I could eat it morning, noon and night...but I know what it will do to me if I over indulge...or rather TRY to over indulge. The band keeps me in check. I can still eat pizza, 1 slice and slowly. But it's still not a healthy choice for me. You will find that as you lose your weight, you start to feel powerful in choices. You start to feel in control. Yes, there are some things you might still want, but you make the decision not to have them. AND that feeling is awesome. Occasionally I miss a fountain diet soda... maybe it's the fizz, but there are so many other healthy, delicious choices out there, I don't dwell on what I can't have. Sorry to hear about your mom. There is nothing in this world like a mom. I lost mine 8 years ago, just months before my wedding. She would be proud of you taking control of your life and no doubt would support your efforts. Be happy! Good luck Barb

(The weird thing is knowing when I've had enough to eat. I'm not ever hungry so I don't notice the hunger going away. The only sign I get is when I start feeling like the food is about to come back up. It doesn't take much food for this to happen. I realized today that I'm still trying to eat normal portions and I simply can't. If I stop early, I feel fine. I still want the food. It is good and I've only had a few bites. But that too full feeling is a great deterrant. YUCK. I've PB'd 3 or 4 times before figuring this out.) Wow...this could have been me writing this. My friend and I were banded at the same time. She is at the stage where she gets the stuck feeling in her throat, so she stops eating. She isn't hungry until lunchtime. I can't say that I am crazy with hunger, I just want the food. I don't get the full feeling either until dinner is getting ready to make a repeat performance and even then when I know I have to puke...I still want to eat more. There are days that I can eat bread with no problem and other days, one bite gets stuck. Thank goodness I don't get the munchies at night. As long as I have dinner by a reasonable time, like before 6, I'm good for the night...just protein water. I have found that I definitely need to ALWAYS measure out my food and not eyeball portion size. It makes a difference to just eat the recommended 4 oz of protein, 1/2 cup veggies, etc. I still don't get the full feeling, but at least I'm not bringing it back up and I don't have to feel the stuck feeling. Barb

Yep...water is the way to go! Sometimes I can drink quite a bit of plain old water, but other times, I need a little flavor. The protein waters don't have very much protein in them, so I bought unflavored protein powder from GNC. 1 scoop has 20 gr of protein. I usually add it to some sugar free powdered drink mix, like crystal light, along with crushed ice. I've mixed the orange flavored one with the unflavored protein powder, with ice in a blender and it's like having an orange creamsicle. Water and the extra protein have helped with my weight loss. Barb

I know what you mean about chocolate...I too, am a chocolate addict. As for the protein shakes, if you don't mind mixing your own...a friend of mine who had gastric bypass surgery in the past was put on the Lean Dessert Protein Powder shakes by BSN. They have Chocolate Fudge and a Chocolate Coconut Bar. They are truly awesome. I've gotten half my office using them. They have other flavors too. They have 20 gr of protein and are 130 calories if you mix it with water. I use skim milk and occasionally add some additional unflavored protein powder for a boost. If you put it in a blender with crushed ice, it thickens up and you'll feel like you are indulging in a milk shake. And just an FYI...I've started to buy several of the McCormick liquid extracts, like the vanilla extract. I've gotten banana and coconut. I can add some additional flavor with no additional calories. Vitadigest.com, BodyBuilder.com and Supplement Warehouse have the cheapest prices; less than $20 for a 1.39 lb container. Barb

WOW Amber....Congratulations to you! Nice Job. YOU are definitely an inspiration and the envy of the group.

My band date was 4/21/08 and I weighed 249 at time of surgery. Today I am 210. I guess that puts me at about 12 lbs lost per month.

Hey, is that the stuff that is very salty? The stuff that makes you want to gag? Sometimes I feel like I want to have a good cleaning out, but then I remember the stuff I had to drink prior to my hysterectomy....wow, just the thought makes me want to gag. Please tell me this is something different. bj

Hey Kim...did you ever decide if you were going to a different fill doctor or are you staying with the same one? I know how frustrated you were with the amount of fill you were getting. My fill doctor will only do .5cc each visit @ $270 a fill. I have no choice though, there is no one else in the area. Barb

Alana, I don't know what kind of company you work for, but my Healthcare company has strict HIPAA policies including its employees.... meaning if someone were to find out that I had lapband surgery and either told others or even discussed it with me without my approval, they are in violation of our company policy. That conversation your co-worker had with you borders on harrassment. It's obvious she isn't someone you feel remotely close enough to be a confidant. You took the high road and remained professional. You do realize you probably have enough to report her to H.R. What are the chances she is going to keep this to herself? You may hesitate saying anything to anyone in H.R., because then you have to make them aware, but I would nip this in the bud right now. Geez, it didn't even happen to me and I'm worked up over it. Must be my Irish temper! Revenge is sweet....you are a beautiful woman now and no doubt once you reach your goal, you will dazzle and I hope you can be that fly on the wall when she has to eat her words. Misery does NOT love company and that miserable person is probably just jealous. This is exactly one of the reason my band is my little secret.... Best of luck next time she approaches you, but think about talking to someone in H.R. Barb

The only people who know about my band are my husband, my work buddy because we were banded together and one other person at work. My band buddy is actually my supervisor and since I'm her right hand person, we needed to get clearance to be out at the same time from her supervisor. My band buddy told all her family, but no outsiders. She has lost over 60 lbs and looks fantastic! As most of you said, people would be judgemental OR worse yet feel like we took the easy way out. But I know we can all atest to the fact that if we allowed ourselves, we could still gain weight by eating around the band or by not getting fills and falling back into our old eating habits or deciding exercise just isn't for us. We still make the choice every single day to live healthier. When I first started my pre-op liquid diet, there was someone at work who also wanted to do liquids and thought she could handle it. I've done liquids before and you need determination to stick with it. After just a couple of weeks, this co-worker caved and eats whatever she wants. She gained back the 20 lbs she lost, plus more. I felt bad for her because I know how badly she wants to lose weight, but I got over that when I overheard her say how crazy I was for staying on liquid. She even made a point of boasting how SHE could eat all the foods she loved, while I couldn't. Occasionally she will wave some high cholesterol, high calorie, fat filled food under my nose to tempt me. I am eating at this stage...I'd better be or my fill doctor would be pissed. NOPE, I've decided, this thing I did for myself is my little secret. My husband had no issues with the way I was before, but I can tell he's liking what he sees now! Barb

OK... I've hit a plateau. I go up 2 lbs, down 2 lbs. I'm not eating like I use to and yes I'm drinking lots of water. I go to the gym about 2-3 times per week. I've read from some folks that a plateau is bound to happen, so I'm not surprised, but I also read where some people say to increase your calories (some days I know I don't hit 1200) and try to increase your protein. I stopped at GNC tonight to see about getting a higher protein drink. Isopure has 50 g of protein per serving. They were ridiculously expensive for the 3 lb container. However I found a Whey protein single serving packet that is the equivalent of 3 scoops for that single serving, is 330 calories w/water and has 60 g of protein. The guy who came to assist me tried to tell me that when he uses this particular brand, he only uses about 1-2 scoops simply because our bodies cannot handle or absorb the full 60 g of protein, and that 30 g is more realistic. I'd like to think the health stores have people working in there who know their stuff. Can this be true? I know TOO much protein is not good for the kidneys, but he made it sound like it wouldn't matter how much protein I take in, the body is only going to "acknowledge" so much of it. I'm trying to up my protein in the hopes it will help speed up the weight loss and 4 oz of chicken or fish just doesn't have enough. I'm having my second fill this Thursday and can't wait. Some days if I allow myself I can eat alot. Other days a few pieces of chicken breast will have me PBing. Barb