kym828

So it has been a year since i was banded by dr ortiz in TJ. First, this was the best decision i have ever made for myself and i am so much healthier than i have been in at least 20 yrs. i have gone from a women's size 20-22 to a size 12-14 (12's are very tight but i can still get them on) i now shop in the regular misses department and no long visit the fat shops. my goal was to lose 50 lbs the first year and i actually lost 56 lbs. i have 44 lbs to go over the next year and i have no doubt that i will hit that goal. this is all the positive part... now i want to tell you the down side as a single person....if you are single you will get this - otherwise you might think i am crazy and whiney but i would like to tell it all for those of you that are looking for the miracle answer. my self esteem is actually worse now than as a fat person... i am now very self contious when i walk into a room. for a woman who has hid behind layers of fat for 20 yrs this is terrifiying feeling... i wonder why are they looking - men and women alike.. am i dressed ok? do i have something on my face? etc... even though i am now classified as average size i still see myself as a size 20-22 when i look in the mirror. i dont see what others see and i dont understand when people come up and tell me i am beautiful... hello are they looking at me? the worst part of all is the male attention.. i dont know who is real and who wants to know me or who just wants a peice of a$$. i used to walk in a room and own it as a big girl... after all everyone likes the big girl, she has personality to make up for her size. now i have no confidence and i am shy and intimidated by attention. i know this is just the adjustment period and i will get used to it and learn how to handle it but for now it is depressing and scarey. this weekend i had planned on taking pictures and posting them but honestly i was too depressed to want to get in front of a camera. i will post pictures over the next couple of weeks because i know how insperational they are and motivating for everyone that is just wanting to lose wt and be healthy. again, i am so glad i made the decision to have the surgery and i love my band, but remember just because the outside starts to look healthy and normal doesnt mean that the inside will automatically follow.. it is alot of hard mental work to be healthy inside and out. kym

that is so funny you said that about the bloody marys! i have a couple bloody marys every sunday while watching football with friends and they always tease me about my comments of having to make sure i get all my veggies in. of course the real reason is they soothe my stomach after going to happy hour on thursday with the girls, happy hour with everyone on friday and then usually there is a party on saturday night some where and saturday is the night i let loose so by sunday i am sick of all alcohol and bloody marys seem healthier in my delusional mind. (yes i know i am not the perfect poster child bandster out there but i am loving my life right now and happier and healthier than i have ever been) kym

i know lots of bandsters that drink a glass of wine before dinner so one or two glasses should be fine. if you go with the rum and diet coke make sure it sits there awhile - i would hate for you to have a bad experience at a wedding - in fact you might want to try a drink of wine or rum/diet coke a couple days before the event to see which one your body handles better.

my advice would be to drag out eating your meals as long as possible... if you eat very very slowly it really does trick your brain after 20 to 30 mins and it will tell you to stop. also, when you feel your pouch getting full try and stop there dont take that one more bite... wait about 5 or 10 mins and see if you really do want that one more bite... that will help avoid alot of PBing. i know it is really hard to get the hang of this band and it took me about 8 months before i really got it right even though i had good restriction at 4months post op. i try to eat 3 meals a day and have about 300 to 400 calories at each meal. i always count my calories (because my family doctor makes me!) and he wants me to stay under 1200 a day. hope this helps some... kym

valerie, the thing you have to worry about the most is the empty calories. if you only drink a couple you should be ok, just drink very slowly and make them last. if i drink hard alcohol, i get diet coke and captain morgan or some other rum, but some people dont do well with the carbonation. i let the drink sit there for at least 10 minutes to get some of the fizz out and then i just sip it real slow and by the time its half way gone it is watered down quite abit and no fizz is left. hope that helps and have fun at the wedding. kym

i had to start counting calories like crazy and stay at 1200 or less a day to lose wt. monday thru friday i eat lean cusines or something along those lines as i have always had a hard time with meat unless it is dipped in gravy or potatoes. i get the casarole type frozen dinners because they seem to go down alot easier. on the weekends i eat whatever i want but very small amounts ie... i will eat maybe 3 chicken wings and thats it for a meal or 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich... sometimes i can eat 1/2 a burger if it is juicey and not dry... i can usually only eat dark meat chicken and only 1 leg and maybe a thigh at one sitting. 1 peice of pizza and i am done. if you eat very very slow you will probably get satisfied but not exactly full, honestly i dont eat until i am actually full, i eat until i get that feeling that i am almost full because i dont want to PB - which i used to eat until i PB'd at every meal and that is very dangerous. i lost very little wt eating soups and drinking my meals, but like you guys i felt i was starving and needed something. you will get the hang of this, it definitely takes lots of trial and error to get the band eating right. kym

i did not drink beer for the first 3 or 4 months but i did drink hard alcohol about 2 wks after the surgery. i now drink beer all the time but i am almost one year post op. i have to sip it and drink it very slow - definitely no beer drinking contests or races!! i am not the perfect poster child for the band and each person is different. personally i used to love diet coke and drank it constantly - now i crave water all the time and then drink beer when i am out with friends. kym

Greg, i too was worried about the insurance company finding out about the surgery outside and that they might drop me but so far they are still covering me thru my family doctor and havent said anything about it.... my BCBS of CA booklet clearly states that all obesity surgery is excluded so i really didnt expect a dime much less almost all of it paid. i even asked the BCBS rep last year when she was here if there were any exceptions and she said no they would not cover it at all... i dont know if i just got lucky or what but it is an answered prayer and it will pay off my loan of $225 a month that i had financed for years to come. kym

i owe you all a huge thank you!! i had my surgery on 11-02-06 and never even thought to file with insurance because it states everywhere that all bariatric surgery is excluded... well, i decided what the heck let me try anyways and it worked!! i just found out they are going to reimburse me $6800 of the $8500 i submitted!!! i am thrilled to say the least. i have BCBS of CA so anyone out there that had surgery in 2006 - its not too late... file anyways just to see what happens!! thanks you guys!! kym

i too would do it all over again in a heart beat! i love my band, i loved the experience and i love that i finally feel like a normal size person instead of the nice fun loving fat girl!!

Oh Teri, i am so sorry to hear that... i remember Kyle on the day of our surgeries and he seemed excited and ready for this challenge. The one positive is that when Kyle is ready the band will work for him. He will get there, we all get there eventually. Hang in there, I think you are doing the right thing by not pressuring him any longer, he will come to terms with this on his own. He is very blessed to have such a wonderful mom that has provided him with this tool when he is ready! Kim

Hi Donna, I too completely understand your frustration. I had only lost 30 lbs after 9 months post op. I am lucky that i have decent restriction most days but some days i could eat the whole house!! I was eating so much less than what i used to eat and couldnt understand why i wasnt losing (but i guess that was still too much food)... I went in for my 1 year physical and basically my family doctor chewed me a new one... he asked what i was eating, how much exercise etc... he was very disappointed that i had spent so much and lost so little. At the time i wasnt counting calories much and exercising about 3 days a week. He put me on a 1200 calorie a day diet and made me kick up the cardio workout to 5 days aweek. Since the beginning of August i have been faithfully counting my calories and staying under 1200 and working out like crazy. Its working.. i broke thru my plateau and have lost 14 lbs since then. I guess i never really understood that i would still have to diet and put in the exercise time. i figured if i just cut back on the food intake the band would eventually do the work for me. At first i was upset thinking i could have done this hard work without the band, but since i am a yoyo dieter and have gained and lost 100 lbs twice before i now feel very confident this will be the last time i have to diet like crazy to lose the 100 lbs and then the band will help me maintain. I hope you find good restriction soon, that is the first key to success, the rest is pure diet and exercise. Don't give up - this will work for you and the 37 lbs gone are gone for good. That is a great start!! Kim

i got lasik back in 2000 - that and the lapband are the best moves i have ever made... just make sure you go with a very experienced doc - as with everything the more lasiks performed the better chances of success... i have been 20/20 for 7 yrs and before i was so blind i couldnt see more than 3 ft in front of me.

you might try drinking a smoothy or something like that - try going low calorie though since the calories add up fast... i have found that when i have to go on liquids for a few days, cold things help with the swelling plus make my throat feel better... you might even try low cal ice cream bars... i like skinny cow products and they are usually 100 calories per ice cream bar. kim

Kevin, i am 9 months out and still dont get the band sometimes. i too am working out everyday but i havent noticed a clear pattern for being tighter from exercising. From what you described i am thinking that you irritated the stomach/band from the pb'ing experience and right now you are tight because you are still swollen from that pb'ing. i bet if you go on liquids for 2 days things will be back to normal. I pb'd yesterday at lunch but was able to eat a larger dinner than normal (2 soft tacos when i would normally only get one down). Still no rhyme or reason because sometimes i have to go to liquids after pb'ing and sometimes i dont... oh one more thing, i have the VG band too and i havent had a fill in many months. i will go a week or 2 with no restriction and think i need a fill and it seems as soon as i make that decision i suddenly have restriction again. i dont know if that is mental for not wanting to be too tight or what but i have been lucky with the VG band and have only had 3 fills by waiting and riding it out. sorry, i guess i am no help at all!! hehe!! kim

thanks for the response Tom and that does make sense. Its irritating when people say "wow, you sure have dropped alot of wt since the last time i saw you" and in turn i say 'no, i havent lost a pound!" i think from now on i will just say thank you and if they ask for a number - which they ALWAYS do, i will just respond with "i lost a couple pounds" (they dont need to know its the same two pounds i gain and lose every day!) i do have to admit the inches lost is much more noticeable for me, than the initial 20 or 30 lbs i lost after surgery.. finally people notice even though the scale stays the same. thanks again, kim

Hi Everyone, its been a while since i posted anything. basically i took the summer off from paying any attention to wt loss or the band and maintained the whole summer. the first of august i went on a strict 1200 a day calorie diet and started exercising 5 days a week... 40 min cardio and 20 min free weight training. well, i have only lost one pound for the whole month and i dont get it. i was extremely frusterated until i took my measurements and realized i have lost 3 inches off my hips this month and that is always my trouble area and last place to lose. my question, i am obviously still 68 lbs away from my goal wt and still obese - shouldnt the wt be coming off too along with the inches? i realize muscle weighs more than fat but come on - there is still alot of fat on my bod!! what do you think? thanks for your imput! kim

it is the best money i have ever spent. i saw some relatives this weekend that i have not seen since january and they couldnt stop saying how much it looked like i had lost. i had to laugh because my wt loss is so slow i still feel that i weigh the same as i did on my surgery date. i have gone from a size 20-22 to a size 16 but my mind hasnt processed that yet - i still see a size 20 or 22 in the mirror. i am down only 35 lbs but i know it is 35 lbs i will never see again. i am one of the lucky ones that can eat anything as long as i chew to goo. there are days though when nothing goes down and it just isnt worth trying to eat that day, but i have learned that things will get back to normal in a day or two and i will be able to eat again. the best part is feeling like i do have control over my portions now and i have slowed down on eating fast. you have to learn that or the Pb'ing will remind you very quickly. the band isnt for everyone, it is a tool only. you can find ways to cheat and eat around it especially with ice cream. however, i still think it is the best thing ever invented and i wish you luck on whatever you decide. kim

Wow Barb!! you have done wonderful with the band! what size band do you have? do you exercise like crazy or just dont eat much? i would love to hear what your secret to success has been! kim

Thank you Pammie so much for the wake up call and reminder. I sometimes forget and take way too big of a bite and PB immediately but i always think its ok since i have healed since my surgery last fall. Sandy's story is making me refocus on the basics and remind me a slip can happen at anytime to anyone! I hope she is doing better. Does she have any idea what she ate that actually caused the slip? kim

one of the reasons i chose OCC was because they dont do the "intubation". Noworry, did you ever find out why you had to have this done for your surgery? i would be curious to know the cause... my experience was also wonderful at OCC and the hotel too, but i also delivered my only child in a German hospital where no one but my doctor spoke English and he wasn't even on- call when i delivered my son. So maybe i have different expectations than others. Anyway, i am glad i chose OCC - i would do the surgery every day for the rest of my life if needed - thats how happy i am about it and my choice with OCC. Kim

This topic has been bothering me because i got to thinking everyone might be thinking i drink soda and beer everyday.... i wanted to clarify this.... i have been drinking these things since one month post op, but like others have posted - they just dont taste as good as before... when i drink soda it is not a full 12 oz. there is no way i could drink that much - usually it is just a few sips and then i lose all desire for it. as for beer, i try to avoid it but will have one once or twice a month and only one which takes a very long to time to drink. i much prefer alcoholic drinks like rum and punch or rum and crystal lite - which i have at happy hour every friday. It is hard to describe how something you once couldnt get enough of ( for me it was reeses cups where i could eat a whole big bag) and now just a normal size or maybe king size on a bad day during pms takes care of the reeses cravings. I have no desire to eat chocolate everyday and i use to have to have it. I try to keep things as normal as possible as before the surgery and just eat much less of everything. this is life changing and i want to love my band and be glad i did this. so far i couldnt be happier! kim

i think you did the right thing going to liquids for a day or two. the only way i know my pouch is full and its time to put fork down and walk away is by that back pain. some people feel in front and some in the back. who knows why the band is tight one day and not the next. stress and pms certainly affect mine. also traveling, i seem to be able to eat more at lower altitudes compared to the thin air here in colorado. just listen to the band and stop at the first sign of any pain and the liquids are always a good idea after pb'ing or any painful experience like that. kim

i love my vg band. i am at 6cc's and i think i have good restriction now... but i agree with the others here - some days are perfect, other days i cant eat at all and have trouble with water. on those days i just wait patiently until i can eat again - there is no explanation at all. it took 3 fills to get here but i think this one is going to last awhile. i really love my vg band even though it can be very troublesome in the beginning. kim

i have drank beer and diet coke since one month post-op. the diet coke is ok if i let it sit about 10 or 15 minutes first. beer goes down very easily for me if i sip - drinking contest days are way over!! i dont gulp or drink fast on anything but water and even that will sometimes gurgle around before it goes thru. i do believe for each person it will be trial and error - some people can never drink these things again. just go slow and sip and see what happens.