Is Anyone Happy?

Yes!!! Yes, I am happy with my band.  I was banded on May 25, 2010 and I'm down 85 pounds.  Could it have been more, yes, but I know where I went off track and I got right back on and things are going great.  I've learned portion control and I've learned to eat the foods that my body needs.

It's been a learning process and I'm very happy with what I've learned and the changes I've made.  There were times when it wasn't easy, but it was sure worth it!  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here are just a few of the reasons that I'm so happy I did this and these are just things that have come up recently.

1. Being able to fasten the seatbelt on a plane and have belt leftover.
2. Going on vacation and being able to buy souvenir t-shirts that fit (not sure if that was a good thing or not - now my luggage is overweight.)
3. Going to formal night on a cruise feeling gorgeous in my gown.
4. Going on day long shore excursions without spending the second half of the day waiting on the bus.
5. Taking a shower without getting up close and personal with the curtain
6. Being able to work in my sewing room all day without taking a break
7. Being able to walk around my sewing room without turning sideways and holding my breath (trust me the room is packed!)
8. Getting asked for additional ID when boarding the ship because I don't look like my passport photo any more.
9. Not having to ask for an armless chair in a restaurant
10. Buying clothes I like, not just what fits

WOW, Wendy, Love your NSV's!!!

love your list, especially #5. :-) know what you mean.
Thanks so much,
Joanna

I'm very happy with my band, my weight loss, and the countless improvements in my health and wellbeing.

I was primarily a volume eater, so a purely "restrictive" procedure like the band was the best choice for me. When I first considered WLS, I was afraid of the malabsorption feature of gastric bypass (and I knew nothing about the duodenal switch), but recently I've been reading that RNY is mainly a restrictive procedure with mild to moderate malabsorption depending on how much is bypassed. In view of that, I'd choose the band all over again because the surgical mortality rate with bypass is higher than with the band.

Good luck with your decision!

Jean

Couldn't be happier with my band. Its doing exactly what its meant to do, with some help from me in making healthy food choices.

You might want to consider that some people are not very happy, period. Weight loss is does not make a person happy...You gotta have a good attitude in life, then if you look at it in a half full sorta way, it make everything easier... Are you under the impression that everybody who got a different WLS is happy??


IMHO It is like beauty..im the eye of the beholder

Petra

so funny, I know what you mean. you can't make everyone happy.  
Thanks,
Joanna

I'm extremely happy!  I lost 104 lbs in 9 months and have lost a total of 115, (I'm 2 years post op).  The band was definately the right tool for me.  Like Jean M. I was primarily a volume eater with not stopping mechanism.  That band is the tool that helped me control how much I eat AND proved to me that 1/2 cup of food per meal is enough to keep me going and generally satisfied.  Who would have thought?

Changing the quality of food I eat was also a big change that helped with my WL success.  I rarely eat fast food and gave up diet Coke so I know that anything is possible!

Good luck to you on your journey!
Lisa O.

yeah we rarely eat fast food either,and I don't drink soda unles I have a party. and even then I rarely drink it. Thanks so much
Joanna

I am very pleased with my choice and the results.   While I'm still a ways from goal, I'm down 200lbs in 2 years..

I now can run/walk 5K's and could barely walk a few blocks before.  

I too was afraid of malabsorption.  The band does take work, and it's slower for most people than the RNY, but it's very doable.