Going to ask...

I had my band on the 18th of Dec....Im glad I did...but im realizing that there are struggles and issues tht I didnt really think about and sadly everyone I know that has had surgerys such as mine have had  RNY not band...I am seeking a willing soul to answer my sometimes dumb questions and offer any advice that might be helpful....

I am currently....lost.... I mean I thought I had looked up all i needed to know about the band but every day that passes I find myself sometimes less then satisfied with my choices  and wanting to improve my results, sadly one of the things that i am not overly happy with is my doctor so it makes it harder to go there for answers. I mean I do go if there is a problem or I think something is bad wrong...but just for answers....not so much...    If there is someone that has "been there done that" and might be able to help me on this journey...I would really appreciate it.   Hope your day is great, Christina :)

Hi Christina,

I was banded on August 12th.  I have lost 55 lbs and would do it again in a heartbeat!  Not saying that I have not second guessed myself a time or two.  Especially when I see a RNYer losing so much so fast, but I knew that going in and made my choice regardless due to other concerns that I had.  I just could not bring myself to do the RNY. 

I would be happy to help in any way that I can.  I will pm you my phone number.

Hugs,

Hi Christina,

I wish you lived closer so that you could join our LapBand Get Togethers, but since you don't I would suggest that you go to LapBand Forum where you will find a significant amount of understanding and comraderie. Most of us, go to our surgery forum as well as coming here for support. I hope that helps some.

BTW... Almost everyone, no matter their surgery type has a an OMG, what did I do to myself moment or two. I know I did.

Hey Christina~  I am sorry to hear you are not happy with Dr. K..  I loved him and thought that he was very helpful and over accomodating when it came to my questions.  I can email him anytime and he always responds with an answer.  BUT.. just FYI.. there is a monthly support group that meets in Monroe at CMC-Union on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.  There are several banders there.  It might be of your benefit to get in touch with Karen the group leader and get some names..  

HOWEVER, if this RNYer can ever help, just let me know.  I am just down the road from ya!  

I struggle with the inconsistancys in the office that are frustrating for me.  When I was preop and had the NUT appt she didtn answer any questions instead gave me philosophy...." a man that sets out to fail will"  Will I need these shakes when Im 85?  "Look at it this way if you dont have the surgery you could die from complications to obesity."   And when she asked me if that answered my question and I told her no she said ok ..lets move on...  so I stopped asking questions and did what i could to find out information on my own after that. 

The diet information in the binder they gave me is different from the print out information they gave me, is different from the information given verbally from doctor....  things having variations like how much to eat, how often and what to eat...drives me crazy..I mean  if the information all comes from the same office and the same group of people...should it not match?  Just frustrating. :)

Other things have happened but honestly Im not here to complain about what is wrong with the office....this is about me picking up where I can and going from here...I need help knowing that I am doing, wht i need to do, and the BEST that I can do for ME.  :)

I have this binder that the dr office gave me, it talks about the band in one section and about RNY in the other, I keep it along with every peice of paper that they have ever given me.   The diet that the NUT said varies from the one in the binder...and to be honest I am struggling to eat enough I know that.. and i work on that ...but other times ...especially for hte evening meal...I can eat alot more then i feel like I should be able to... worried I might ahve messed band up, and not sure how i would know taht I have... 

I need a plan to follow, some direction on what is best for me to do, exactly what SHOULD I be eatting  and how much, I mean I know no bread and starch stuff and the obvious about sweets, and I try to keep my protein lvl up but its mostly shakes in the day time, my issue is more about when i actually eat.....one says that if no restriction no problem eat smart but eat till ur full, another says alwasy only 1/2 cup at each sitting,  anohter says always a cup....   I think i have some restriction..i mean some times ....because i can eat very little and I have made an effort to be very aware of how fast  I am eatting  and all...friends laugh at me tell me Im gonna get cramps in my arm from laying the fork down so often.  ( Have learned the hard way what happens if i dont lol)  dont tend to get sick from eatting but if i eat to fast or to big it does happen...maybe...7 times since surgery? ( I try to be careful about this)

Would love some support on how people manage the food side of things, like what they ate at my stage and things to look out for....I already know brussel sprouts are no longer my friends atm lol :)

Today i did well  I put protein in my coffee   26g,  then had water, and ate about a cup of chicken fajita stuff (no bread) for lunch and then more lovely water, and will eat something like fish tonight or a lovely grilled chicken breast.

Are there things about the band that you remember going through that you wish someone had told you....somethign that mgiht help....for example... I wish someoen would have told me to stop and think about the fact that my favorite cloths would no longer fit me...ok I know that soudns dumb..but it nevr dawned on my that my favorite pants would be falling off...  lol I have come to grips with that and its all good now but I bet there are more things like that.

I am going to be looking into support group to go to, I went to a couple meetings pre op but think it might be a good thing now as well.

Im sorry this is so long, and I do appoligize if i sound like a whiner, i assure you that is not my intent. I thank you for reading and hope you have a great day :)

Sounds like you dont like the NUT.  Which one are you seeing?  I have always seen Jody or Sally and have been really happy with both of them. 

I have found some inconsistancies between what the NUT says and what Dr. K would like to see you eat.  

I certainly think you would benefit from being in contact with some banders.. They are different from RNY.  I hope you feel better about the whole process soon.

We will be planning a Charlotte area get together soon!  Come join us!

The NUT was Kristin  ( Think I spelled correctly, could have been Kristen)  I did go and talk to Renee who is the other one, but that was a month post op.   I dont know Jody or Sally, I thought Kristin and Renee were only ones there. Ya, probably would feel better if knew other banders, and I should work on that.   Tiny bit frustrated and all, it will get better and hopefully I wont mess everything up too much. :)  Let me know when the get together is would enjoy meeting you.

 For me the first couple of months were the roughest. I am an RNYer but I think we all share one thing in common the little pouch that can ouch now and then. If you read enough on this forum on common thing we wind up with as a group is trying to find the food that works really good. I am still amazed that stuff I would not touch tastes a great deal better since the surgery and stays down well too. We all go through the experimental phase of post surgery even though we get some guidelines some of it will most definately apply but other things will just gladly fall through the floor or out the door. I really get tired of eating chicken for instance but most beef will make me want to turn inside out most of the time. As you instigate more and varied foods just be willing to accept the things that work and reject the things that dont work so well. Be proud your doing the right thing for you because in the long run you are the product of yourself. Negative crap from other people is nothing more than folks being nosey so if the NUT (and I mean NUT) that gave you all the failure speech should wear your shoes for a little while then make an informed decision rather than spew her opinions on the patients that are working in a positive way to make their lives better and are helping to pay her for her work ( or non work which ever it is). 

I appriciate your kind words :)