Im Scared!

I am scheduled for lap band surg. on May 14th - today I am having panic attacks and I am chickening out.  these are the things that I am afraid of:  I am not very educated on the proceedure, just signed up got approved and scheduled it. Also I am afraid I wont be able to afford to buy the types of foods/vitamins needed to be successful because I live on a very limited income, I am afraid that even if I can afford those foods I wont know what those foods are!  I am strarting to chicken out.  My current heighth s 5'5" and weight is 209.  Any advise would be greatly apreciated!

Stacy

Hey Stacy...
Ok, the 14th is coming up soon, but the first thing you need to do is if you are not educated on the procedure, GET educated ASAP.  You absolutely HAVE to be informed of all you need to do or you might just set yourself up for failure.  You HAVE to take the vitamins EVERY SINGLE DAY!  That is a MUST!  No option there.  WalMart has vitamins that are inexpensive and can work just fine.  Granted, may not be as good as some of the others, but they work.  Does your doc have a nutritionist that works with his patients?  If so, you need to get with him/her and find out NOW what foods they want you to eat and on what schedule you need to start them at.  Every doc is different as far as what they want you to do post-op.  Next, if you are not part of a support group, find one in your area and make sure you attend.  They will be your absolute BEST FRIENDS in the world, ESPECIALLY right after surgery.  There are a lot of resources out there so just do some reading now before your surgery.  The surgery is only a tool so it is what YOU do with it which determines how well the weight loss occurs. 

Good luck and get on that reading!!!

Stacy
Jill gave you very good advice.  The only thing that I can addis that lots of people feel anxious before they have surgery and want to change their mind....The more you know about what to expect, the easier it will be to follow through on it.

Good luck!

Kat

HI JACK..
Kat
YIPPEE... I can see you.. You look GREAT.. Love Love Love the pix...

Im sure i read your post incorrectly.  YOu are scheduled for lap band surgery in 11 days and you basically know NOTHING about it? why are you having the surgery? i must tell you, this is a life changing surgery, not something to be taken lightly. Get educated NOW! Start researching, google lap band, and read, no one can do this for you.
Liz

Well, I THOUGHT I knew all that I needed to know.  I went to te seminar and I have a list of the diet, I am taking the vitamins already, have started the protein shakes and have lost about 10lbs.  But the closer I get the more people are sharing their advise with me.  I have a friend who has had RNY and she has been emailing me unsuccessful stories about lap band.  Frankly, I am scared to death after reading them all. 

To top it all off, my boyfriend of 7 years moved out this past weekend so now I am left supporting the household and finanancing my last year of college all alone.  ( I am 41 but I am a full time student earning a bachelors degree in accounting and I am almost realizing that dream come true!)   To be honest, I suffer from panic attacks and quiet possibly it was more this situation that the lap band fears getting to me yesturday.  i got a good nights sleep and feel somewhat better today. 

There will ALWAYS have to be a NEGATIVE NANCY in every aspect of our life.  It is how we take it in what really counts.  We can choose to fixtate on the NEGATIVE or we can CHOOSE to say WE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL at anything we set our minds to.  There are some people here who even cut n paste "stats" and talk about how better their surgery is blah blah blah...Well u know what?

I had lapband back in Nov. 07 and to this date I have lost over 126lbs!  I only  have 80 more to go!! NEVER, NEVER in a million years did I ever think I would be THIS successful.  Would I have prefered RNY...of course...BUT my surgery was a gift so I had to make the BEST of it.  And I KNOW I have!! 

NO ONE will EVER take that away from me.  Yes, there are BAD stats with EVERY SURGERY BUT, i choose to beleive I will be successful and I dont let negativity live RENT FREE in my head.
In my case, With the lapband you can pretty much eat anything.  We will NEVER have malabsorbption issues like other surgeries.  To this day, I can't eat tortillas or bread, but that is a good thing. lol 

I have been losing weight steadily at 1-2 lbs a week for over a year now.  (when I CHOOSE to eat healthy) So...Isnt' that what MD's want for people to lose realistically?  You will do fine.  I believe you will!

I will stress YOU MUST TAKE UR VITAMINS! WE ALL SHOULD TAKE THEM REGARDLESS OF SURGERY OR NOT. Its just the right thing to do.

If you have anymore questions and NEED POSITIVE INFO PM me.

Take care
Monica
a SUCCESSFUL BANDSTER!

Thank you for your encouragement.  I still do not know what I will do for sure.  I agree with everything you said but wanted to clarify, in case I left the wrong impression earlier about my friend, she is really just trying to help me and wants me to be educated about the successes as well as the failures.  She just wants what is best for me.  

Once again, thanks for your encouragement and advice.  I am sure I will "lean" on you in the future.  Conratulations on your success!

Stacy 

Thank u for your kind words and  Im sure your friend means well. But I guess Im BIASED because I LOVE MY surgery and tend to get defensive because well, its MY type of surgery. lol

But I would look at ALL pro's and cons from ALL surgeries...

Its very  normal to feel nervous before upcoming surgery.  I truly wish you well in what ever you decide.  You won't regret WLS.  It WILL change ur life.

Take care,
Monica

ETA removed the snarkiness I was feeling...lol

May I ask what DO you eat if not dry meat?