with the band, results vary

There are a few around here who accuse me of having an overly sunny outlook on the band. I like to think I just have a fairly balanced outlook, partly because I very much get to see how different two band experiences can be - I live it. Inspired by how well I did, my mom was banded a couple of years after me. I've maintained a 70+poound loss (keep in mind, in this pic I'm about 32 weeks pregnant and up about 20 lbs over my baseline). Over the last 4 years or so, I think she has lost maybe 10-20 pounds. Now, clearly, my mom has some physical challenges. She has COPD (with only about 30% lung function, O2 dependent), high blood pressure, diabetes, congestive heart failure, arthitis, and she's over 65. Her physical activity is pretty limited. However, I think the biggest thing that has made a difference in our results is that anxiety has kept her from actually getting fills and reaching a point where she has any real restriction. She still managed to pb once in a while (I suspect due to eating too fast and/or not chewing well enough), but when we have meals together she is easily eats 3X what I eat. She probably hasn't had a fill in 2 years. On the plus side, she has had no problems at all with her band. I think she would have done a lot better with a bypass, but she was terrified of having one and truthfully, even though her surgery happened prior to the onset of her COPD, I was pretty scared of her having it with all her health issues.
Now, I will say, I think she looks bigger than she actually is in this picture because she's sitting down and she keeps persisting in wearing shirts that are way too big for her.


Also, can anyone tell me what to do with my hair? I'm trying to grow it out and it's making me crazy, all it does is flip up at the ends no matter what I do.  I though hair was supposed to grow faster when you're pregnant, but seems like it isn't growing at all!!

Congratulations!  You look good & keep up the good work!  Good for your mom, too!

Hair?  *sighs*  can't live with it--can't live without it!!

CONGRATS ON THE SUCCESS!!!

As for hair advice ... errr .. you're asking a BALD MAN!! So do you really want MY ADVICE?!?!??!?!!

Yeah, you can just ignore that part!

Haha Tom. My hubby is bald and is always cracking jokes too. I love it when you baldies have an awesome sense of humor.

Dev

Congrads to both of you on weight loss and to you on the new baby,
I like your hair. Maybe just trim the ends and let it flip. Try Enjoy shampoo and conditioner it makes your hair really pretty. My niece is a stylist and she told me about it. Also your hair grows faster in the summer. Good luck.
Karen

Dev... your hair is at the length where it i****ting the shoulders just right and will flip. In another half inch or so it should behave. Although I think it looks cute!

Dev, agree. Your hair is at the flip stage. Stick with it a little longer and you will be fine!

It looks good the way it is. Sometimes I play around with the color while it is in weird stages, but you would have to watch the kind of chemicals while you are pregnant!

Dev,
You are so right that results vary. I have some physical problems that keep me from exercising like I should, too. Tell your mom that if she can get her pcp to recommend some physical therapy for strengthening it helps a great deal to allow us to go further. I have gone that route a couple of times and while initially I have more pain by the time the therapy is done I am much stronger and able to do more. The other thing is that there are exercises designed for use while in a wheel chair, and some using 1lb. weights. A session with the exercise physiologist at her surgeons office could be helpful, too. They are used to helping people just like her.

As for the fill, well, it sure would be good if she got some. Any weight lost helps with the diabetes, pain issues, will make breathing easier, etc. I understand her hesitation about both issues but in the long run her quality of life could really improve. If she wants to be around to see your little one grow up things will have to change. I had to come to that point about my own grandchildren in order to convince myself to investigate wls. I want to live and I want to be in good enough shape to really enjoy life with them,

If she has questions feel free to get ahold of me.

You look fantastic, truly beautiful.
Sue

It's pretty hard to get her do things. She did do pulmonary rehab, but doesn't really keep up with the home exercises. She said that she is going to be able to access the PT gym at the hospital a couple of times a week and that she is going to start going, which I think would be good for her (and my dad, who is going to go as well). She has a lot of pain and she's very much stuck in that cycle of pain leads to reduced activity leads to more pain. Prior to the COPD diagnosis she used to go to water aerobics, which I think really helped and she really enjoyed, but her SOB is so bad it's hard to do that now and there's not much you can do in a pool when you're hooked up to a battery powered oxygen supply.
I don't see her getting a fill anytime soon. Her anxiety about it is so much higher than either of us thought it would be. She had her surgery done through the military (my dad is retired) and there doesn't seem to be as much available by way of support compared to private surgeons - or at least if there is, she isn't accessing it. Hidsight being what it is, she would likely have been a lot better off with an RNY, but she was terrified of a surgery that drastic.