Hi everyone! Both my son Andrew and I had wls on 5/13/04. He is down from 356 to 211. I lost about 110 lbs. from 332 to 220. Although I am not at my goal I have not gained any weight and I feel wonderful. It is a lot easier to work and I am interviewing for a lot more jobs that I wouldn't go near before. At this rate I feel as though I can do anything I set my mind to and feel a lot more comfortable. There is a doctor in Atlanta who can put a band over your pouch to enable you to lose another 50lbs. or so but I do not want to do that at this point. I feel a lot more healthier and although I am not a my goal "the playing field is more even". The bonus to all of this has been watching my son Andrew change his life completely. He went from a homebody to Mr. Popular. Blessings to everyone *****ads this post.

The suggestion for denser protein is such a good one, Christie. A co-worker/friend who also had GBS put me on to that yesterday when I complained that I'm eating what I should be then I get hungry again right away. So, for lunch today i'm having cottage cheese and jerky instead of yogurt and cheese sticks.

Wow, amidst the chaos that is the end of the school year for a teacher, I realized that today is my 2 year anniversary of my surgery. Two years ago I had surgery with Dr. Tayiem in Achison, KS. The surgery itself was a breeze, but the first day I ran a bit of a fever and was groggy and bleh. That was the only time I said "Thank God for catheters!" LOL The next day, after my swallow test (nasty stuff!) I was allowed to start on full liquids. They brought me a tray with jello, custard, ice cream, and cream of wheat. I thought they were crazy because I'd heard so many people have to be on clear liquid for a couple weeks post op. I LOVED my post op restriction. It was so amazing to take a teensy bite of ice cream and "feel" it. After just a couple bites I felt full. Needless to say (or maybe very needful since I didnt' know before hand) the post op restriction got less as the swelling went down. By week four I was starting to feel hungry again more often and went for my first fill. My first few fills did the disappearing act. Just when we were going to check for a leak, one finally "stuck." That was just before Christmas, and I LOVED being able to nibble at Christmas snacks and feel satisfied and not deprived. I actually LOST weight over Christmas! I had started working out at Curves about 2 months before surgery. I must say that for me, exercise is a big key. I lose much quicker when I get my metabolism up that way. Sometime in maybe Feb I got a little greedy for restriction and got a little overfilled. NOT an experience you want to go through. I couldn't keep anything down... not even my own spit! That's when Dr. Tayiem referred me to Dr. VinZant in Wichita. He's a surgeon, but doesn't know anything about the band. Since I am a super sized woman, my dr. put my port right under the skin so it would be easy to find. The benefit has been that I've been able to go to the local surgeon for fills and unfills. Well, Round about April my band started tightening on it's own. So my perfect restriction got to be too much again. We were traveling for a family funeral, and I wasn't able to keep much down... maybe by forcing it and starting a PB cycle. On the way home, stopped by Atchison and got a little out. But in May it started the wierd tightening again. This time when I went up there he said he wanted to remove all my fluid and let my stomach rest. I actually said to him, "I think I'll be ok. I mean, I am actually thinking differently about food! It's amazing." That's when I learned how powerful a tool my band really was. I was down 90 pounds at that point from my starting weight. I had finally gotten to where I thought I was safe to give away my biggest clothes. The beginning of last summer was the beginning of a downward spiral for me mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically. My mother in law moved out just as I was getting out of school, so I had my house to myself and WANTED to reclaim it! Unfortunately, that also gave me time to get back into overeating during the day and not exercising. By the time school started again I was feeling depressed and starting to have some anxiety. Then, 3 days before school started they changed our schedule and basically all the planning I'd done over the summer was thrown out the window. We had a horrible beginning of the year, and it just kept getting worse with student and parent problems. I had gotten a fill, but it wasn't a big one. And I guess, I really haven't had good restriction all school year. By February I had regained 40-50 pounds! I also had a bit of a nervous breakdown. I had been having panic attacks that were giving me constant chest pain. One morning I woke up and the pain was going down my arm. I didn't think I was having a heart attack, but I didn't want to wait to find out. I took 4 weeks plus spring break off of work and went to "intensive outpatient therapy" 3x a week and finally got a psych to manage my meds. Now that I'm not having panic attacks and my depression has lifted, I'm finally starting to feel like I can try to get my focus back where it was when I was banded and having success. For me, I've found a lot of this battle is in my brain. I have restriction now, but eat candy, cookies, cereal, etc. that goes through pretty easy. We joined the Y but I haven't been yet. I need an accountability buddy... I do best that way. I've been thinking I need to go see dr. Tayiem since it's been a LONG time, and then maybe try to do the liquid diet for awhile to get my body and my head back in focus. I'm afraid I have stretched my pouch. There are times I can eat a LOT. I've still been going to counseling to try to deal with my eating issues, and was going to Overeaters Anonymous for awhile. That's what I am. The band is a tool I KNOW can work for me, but for the past year, I think I've been trying to prove that I'm a failure. I'm not happy being almost back where I started and having no clothes to wear with my feet, knees and back hurting. I WILL be successful with this. But I've had to do a lot of soul searching this past year. Wow, bet you didn't know what you were in for when you opened this message, eh? LOL I'm not known for being brief. So there you are. The last two years of my life. I'm not at goal like I wanted to be and I haven't had kids like I wanted to and I turned 37 last year. So I need my band to work for me and I need to work my band. I will reach my goal. Good luck to all who are banded and getting banded! It's a wonderful thing. Eryn 420/???/under 200

Hi there gals & guys... OK... well, it's almost 2 years for me... My anniversary date is May 27th!!!! AND... I just got some good news!!! I was approved for my first round of plastic surgery!!! They will be doing my tummy on October 18th!!!! I can't believe it!!!! Although I wish they were going to do my thighs... I'm VERY grateful and thankful that they are going to do my tummy!!!! NOW... here's my "thing"... I've lost 185 lbs. so far!!! I WANT to lose 15 more pounds BEFORE I have this plastic surgery... I had a personal goal of losing 200 lbs. when I started this journey... My doctors said that I would probably lose about 130 lbs... and well, I proved them wrong, didn't I???? I have started a "NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES" campaign for myself... I WILL lose this last 15 lbs... and I WILL do it BEFORE my October 18th date!!!! I have jump started my workouts again... getting up and going to the gym at 5:00 AM and doing my cardio... then going to the gym on alternate days after work and doing my weights and toning... and doing 300-400 crunches with every workout... AND, I'm finally starting to walk away from munching all the time!!!! OK... the other thing I started doing was I started taking Xenadrine... Has anyone taken this stuff???? Does anyone have any info for me on it... like is it OK for us Gastric Bypass patients to take??? I did a lot of research on it, and it seems to be OK... NO, I have not talked to my doctor... and I will... but I thought I would check on here... since truly WE are the ones who know our bodies and about what we have and haven't tried, right??? I have only been taking it for 3 days... it seems to be helping my desire to munch... and I don't seem to be as hungry as I was before... is that psychological?? Perhaps... I don't know... That's why I thought I'd post a question to you guys... I talked to one of the fitness trainers at the gym... He's only heard good things about Xenadrine... (It is ephedrine free by the way)... So... perhaps this might be something to think about... Anyway... If anyone has any knowledge on the subject, I'd appreciate it... and I'd love to hear any "words of wisdom" on that last 15 lbs... which I am now more determined than ever to get rid of!! WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!!! Hugs, Loree

Thanks so much for your kind words, Yoli. The past two years really have been a roller coaster ride, up one minute and down the next. Thank God for my shrink, lol. I have been dealing with the crap on the inside for several months now. Just because I had the WLS doesnt mean all my troubles are going. Having the surgery has opened up some new problems that I never even thought about. Anyway I am taking one day at a time that's all we can do, Right? Congratulations on your up coming two anniversary you look fantastic. Good luck on your Bar exam I hope you pass with flying colors. Chris