Recently got approved and have a surgery date of March 1 - wooo hooo!!!

Hi everyone! I am so happy! after fighting for this surgery for almost a year I finally received my approval and have my lapband surgery scheduled for March 1, 2011 - I am going through so many emotions I cant even describe but I am sure all of you on here have been through the same.

For someone like me who is 4"11 -203 pounds and have been short and plump my whole life, the possibility of being thin, healthy and pain free (serious back problems which require surgery, hence the lap band option) this is an exciting time for me. 

I have been a smoker for 20 years never going more than a few hours (like when im on an airplane flying cross country) without a cigarette.  I promised that once I had my surgery date, I would quit smoking and im proud to say that I am officially 1 week smoke free (chantix works AMAZING!!!!!)

I do have a few questions I was hoping my fellow banders can answer.  Here goes!

1.  My Doctor (Dr John Meihlan, Chief Bariatric Surgeon - Temple University Hospital, Phila) asked me whether I was interested in having the lapband (Allergen) or the Realize Band.  Do any of you know the difference?

2. Has anyone quit smoking prior to surgery only to start back up once they are healed? how does smoking impact you if you forewarn your anesthesiologist about your smoking history PRIOR to surgery?

3. How much weight have some of you who are closest to my weight and height lost and within how much time?

4. Since I have pretty ok eating habits now, I was hoping some of you can tell me what I am in for when it comes to actually having the surgery and getting past the post-op diet in terms of foods, i keep hearing about counting calories can someone help me understand why this is important?

5. And Lastly, exercise.  I have never been an exercise person and my main reason for electing to go and try to get the lap band is because i have been told by my orthopedist that I have to have back surgery in order to alleviate my back problems because nothing else has worked.  Since all of my weight has always been carried in my middle area to the point where i have been asked in the past the worst question ever ("wow, congrats! how many months are you along?")  i think the lap band will be ideal in helping me not only shed the weight, but avoid surgery altogether.  The problem with the exercise is the aggravation on my back, treadmills are out because my leg goes numb and my muscle spasms are severe, as is the elyptical machine. I do walk to and from the train for work though, approximately 1 hour a day total.  Is this enough or do i need to incorporate something more?

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!!

-Yanna
 

Welcome! Time will fly by. As far as differences in the bands I'm not sure. Seems like doc said something about how the port is placed or something small like that. I have the Lap band. As far as smoking goes I quit before surgery by using Chantix, and never started back. Please don't look at it as just quitting for the surgery once you quit stay quit. I work in a hospital and see soooo many reasons to not smoke. As far as my eating I try to follow a low fat high protein, low carb plan.I really don't count my calories and never really have. I eat what I would see as a cup to cup and half of food with each meal . Yes I still have issues with food. I have to watch or I will eat more meals just out of habit still to this day. Whatever you do try to follow your surgeons rules the best you can, and don't get too down on yourself when you make mistakes. I come to this board about 5 days a week and weigh everyday to help keep myself honest.

Congrats!
Bet your major excited, right?

I really feel like I should be honest with you. I'm not at all trying to detour from your choice of weight loss, let me get that out in the open right now. But, you have a lot of research you need to do. You have printed a lot of misconception & ignorance in your post.
Please do a lot (A LOT) of research about the difference in the bands. Don't just take people's words.. go to the company's websites. Go to professional product review sites. Research a lot why you shouldn't smoke after having weight loss surgery. You need to know that you will need to have some forms of exercising other then walking to the train. If you don't then you are looking at a low weight loss return on your band investment. Sure it's practical to reason that you'll need to loose some weight before you can exercise w/o pain & discomfort but don't get in the habitual thinking process that you'll never ever never have to exercise, because you will if you mean to be successful at loosing weight & feeling healthy. Just do a lot of research then just here on OH.com. Google (or whatever search engine you use) lots and lots of information about the band, band & smoking, different bands, and anything you can think of related to banding & your situation. Read & reread everything you can get your hands on. Just don't take people's words from message boards. There's a lot of information out there that could be beneficial for you to know.

Good luck! and Congrats~
And if by chance I stepped on your toes (or anyone else's) and upset you I'm sincerely sorry. I'm just being honest so that you don't go into this blindly nor non-knowledgeable. I really sincerely wish you good luck!

 To Jo:

Thank you for your post. I think you misunderstood my post completely.  I have done every amount of research on WLS and specifically the Banding Surgery that you could do.  My Doctor is the one who asked me which one I preferred.  This was the first time that I had heard that I would have an option of which one to choose.  I was simply posting to get other peoples' experiences on what banding they have and maybe some of the different downsides to each one.

As for smoking, please understand that although I DID quit smoking to have this surgery, I have no intention on going back.  I certainly didn't mean to imply that I don't intend on exercising after the surgery other than walking to the train, I simply stated the machines I simply CANNOT use due to my back issues.  Now machines are one thing, other exercises such as yoga, pilates, etc. are another.  I simply wanted to get some idea as to what different peoples' experience has been with the amount that is required so that I can begin now. 

No offense taken just wanted to clarify some of the things that might have been kind of screwy on my post.

Thanks.

Well that clarifies a lot for the both of us. LOL! 

I wish I could offer advice on the band differences. But I was banded so long ago that there wasn't options. Actually I don't think I could produce a reasonable thinking process to rationalize & decide which one I would choose if I was to have my surgery in this day and age. It really does become to much at some point doesn't it? I still think professional product review sites other then just people's opinions here will offer good advice too. 

As for the exercising dilemma ... well I can concede to frustration on that note. I suffer from an incurable disease called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). It's VERY painful. VERY debilitating. The medication alternatives are horrific because the majority of the side effects are significant weight gain. I do yoga. I do resistance bands IN MY BED (on days that I literally hurt so bad or my feet are so swollen & painful I can't get out of bed). I have a mini trampoline that I use on good days (it also keeps my 3 yr old entertained, so... that's multitasking right? LOL). I had a physical therapist give me exercises that I could do in the comfort of my bed. I would google (on sleepless nights) "exercising in bed"... I even found a few youtube videos that had legitimate exercise routine that where for the bed. 

I still stand firm on researching A LOT. You'll be surprised at the amount of information you can find for your situation based on how you word your googled search words. 

Sincere good luck!

Yannabee,

Congrats on your surgery date, it is a very exciting and nerve racking time, and the wait can seem like forever!!! I'm going to try at take a shot at your questions and hope that you will find them helpful.

1.  My Doctor (Dr John Meihlan, Chief Bariatric Surgeon - Temple University Hospital, Phila) asked me whether I was interested in having the lapband (Allergen) or the Realize Band.  Do any of you know the difference?
I don't really know what the difference is between the both, my surgeon made the decision for me based on my own anatomy. I have the smallest lap-band as far as cc. I have a 7cc with a fill of 6.75cc.

2. Has anyone quit smoking prior to surgery only to start back up once they are healed? how does smoking impact you if you forewarn your anesthesiologist about your smoking history PRIOR to surgery?
I used Chantix to quit before surgery, I am surprised that your surgeon has not demanded that you quit before scheduling you for surgery. My surgeon refused to do mine until I had been nicotine free for 2 weeks and even sent me to be tested prior to setting my surgery date. The good thing about chantix is that even after you stop taking it the cig cravings (for me at least) never returned. Once you quit stay quited!!
3. How much weight have some of you who are closest to my weight and height lost and within how much time?
I was 298 and 5'3 so I really cant answer that question but you should expect to lose 1-2 lbs a week and that is when you follow the band rules to the T.

4. Since I have pretty ok eating habits now, I was hoping some of you can tell me what I am in for when it comes to actually having the surgery and getting past the post-op diet in terms of foods, i keep hearing about counting calories can someone help me understand why this is important?
I stopped counting calories, I was doing that for awhile and was driving myself crazy. I didn't have the lap-band so I can keep doing what I was doing before. Once you get restriction, and stay on the band rules you will be fine. Each surgeon is different with the post-op diet so you should get that information from you surgeon.

5. And Lastly, exercise.  I have never been an exercise person and my main reason for electing to go and try to get the lap band is because i have been told by my orthopedist that I have to have back surgery in order to alleviate my back problems because nothing else has worked.  Since all of my weight has always been carried in my middle area to the point where i have been asked in the past the worst question ever ("wow, congrats! how many months are you along?")  i think the lap band will be ideal in helping me not only shed the weight, but avoid surgery altogether.  The problem with the exercise is the aggravation on my back, treadmills are out because my leg goes numb and my muscle spasms are severe, as is the elyptical machine. I do walk to and from the train for work though, approximately 1 hour a day total.  Is this enough or do i need to incorporate something more?
30 minutes of walking daily is a good start, you will find that after you lose some of the weight that exercising is easier and you can do more. I can run now and there is no way that would have been possible in the first few months of being banded. Exercise however is a must with all weight-loss surgeries.

I hope that I have helped ease your mind a little. You are starting a new life, and a new lifestyle. It takes a lot of determination to work the band correctly, and it is a learning experience and you will have a lot of those.

Jen

You said that you have the smallest lapband as far as cc.... is that between the option of those two brands??? 

I only ask because as you can see from my signature I have a 4 cc band and I don't even have it half filled. I'm curious if those two brands only go that small because if so & lots of people are getting either of those to brands it seems like there would be a large area of sweet spots being unfulfilled (IMO). 

Found some great info about the AP Band (I have) & the other two bands all one one page. Including cc differences, actual size differences of the apparatuses & gobs of info we & others could use. Read & see what you think...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable_gastric_band

I actually found the EXACT information you were asking for in your question about the two bands.... here ya go

The info below was posted by Dr. Brad Watkins from Synchrony Health, Cincinnati, OH on lapbandtalk.com on 12/12/07. Dr. Watkins is also a member of the Advisory Board for ObesityHelp.com.


Differences between REALIZE and ALLERGAN bands:
Clinical outcomes (slip rate, erosion rate, weight loss, etc) are very similar between the two bands. The Allergan band is the original band (Allergan bought the Inamed band company which bought Bioenterics company - these are the old names of the same band)
Surgically, there are subtle differences such as:
The Allergan band comes in many sizes, REALIZE band is one size.
Allergan has two port sizes; REALIZE is one port size.
Allergan ports are stitched to the muscle fascia (the tough white stuff on the outside of the muscle); REALIZE port has neat technology that attaches itself to the muscle fascia and may have slightly less port pain the first few days after surgery. The REALIZE ports have a neat tool that places the port and secures it with a handheld instrument making it really easy on the surgeon. (Don't tell anyone but they could teach monkeys to do this stuff.)
Allergan band tubing has little arrows printed on it pointing the surgeon to the tab end of the tubing which is a nice feature in the operating room.
Allergan ports are smaller around (circumference) and taller - perhaps easier to palpate for fills.
REALIZE ports are bigger around and less prominent. Think small stack of silver dollars versus taller stack of quarters to create the mental image.
Allergan tubing is closer to the septum (the area that you aim for with the needle for adjustments/fills) and perhaps more susceptible to needle sticks requiring port replacement.
REALIZE ports have the septum farther away from the tubing - the tubing is a little more protected.
Both bands are now easier to unbuckle in the event a surgeon has to reposition the band.
The REALIZE band comes with a neat instrument that helps to pass the band around the upper stomach.
The Allergan AP bands have "pillows" in the inflatable portion of the inner balloon that prevents balloon-to-balloon contact. The REALIZE band does have balloon-to-balloon contact. Some people think that this contact may cause issues years later but long-term studies have not shown this to be the case.

The Band sizes are as follows:
Realize Band (Swedish Band) Fill up to 9cc
Realize Band -C (Swedish Band VC) Fill up to 11cc
LapBand APS Fill up to 10cc
LapBand APL Fill up to 14cc

And then here is an CHART Showing LapBand Vs Realize Band and all the information with in those two also. Great info. Hope it helps you out.

I'll stop bothering ya now.

Good Luck!

Firstly, I want to say to Jen -  - THANK YOU!!! you were so on point in answering my questions, I couldn't ask for anything more -- your answers were perfect!!!! 


to Jo - I also want to say thank you so much for thinking of me enough to search this and post it for me!!!! you guys are amazing on here and I am so happy and thankful to be able to have a forum to have my questions answered not to mention the feeling of a "support" system!!!!!

-Yanna