So Happy to tell Everyone I choose the Lap-Band and my surgery is coming up!!

Welcome!
As with any WLS , there is always work to be done! I am 5 years post op. with my BAND and a lot of hard work and serious lifestyle changes.

The BAND is the one WLS that requires so much more patient compliance. We have to actually put into practise more Of the lifestyle habits earlier and consistently. More dedication required as our loss is slower than the other WLS. If you can accept this and are willing to do MORE of the work involved you will do fine.

Attend support group meetings now, hear for yourself from the patients, this will help you to be certain that your surgeon and follow up team are in tuned And proactive to their patient needs. Check and ask to speak to their veteran patients to see how they are doing. Of course it makes a difference to meet with others who are in the proper frame of mind.

Our BANDS are ONLY TOOLS! And again we require more matience and dedication to eating, exercise and receiving good support group information ( it is not enough to get support from our loved ones). WLS is a whole other mindset and a whole other world.

I have committed myself to exercising every day this is a huge priority, my band can't do it alone. I eat very CLEAN and I see a counselor who specializes in eating disorders( I came to the realization of having an eating disorder the last 10 pounds to my goal) it took me a whole year to lose my last 10 pounds! Use all the tools available to you . I lost the first 120 pounds in my first year, but I was exercising like a mad woman!!!!!

Again, Welcome, hope I didn't scare you, but I see so many in my personal life who have had WLS and got to goal by relying in their tools to stop them. Out of my co workers and friends I am one if the few with a Band. The others have had the sleeve and Rny , but have come short from getting to goal and are still considered obese. All WLS require dedication.

Good luck,
Prek3

Wow you are simply amazing! Great work!!! I look forward to talking with you more. I would love to hear more about your experiences.

Okay everyone let me clear up a few things that I keep seeing pop up...lol Please do not read this as snippidy or snotty this is written in a happy go lucky/emotional way.

#1 my new insurance does cover the WLS but They make you go through a year of a dietitians care with minimum of one visit a week (Which ofcourse my insurance doesn't cover so it comes out of pocket...haha) Where as my current insurance only requires 3 things to qualify plus my surgeon requires a Psych eval. Thats it.

#2 They will cover my fills. and my surgeon only recommends coming in every other week IF and only IF the fill is not correct. He stated I could call him anytime if there were any issues. Such as a tight fill that needs unfilled.

#3 He does not recommend that I lose more than 1-3 pounds a week but...if I am exercising my butt off and I happen to lose more than that he will not punish me by loosening my band like I have read on other forums and seen on youtube where their surgeon freaks out and takes out some of their fill even though they are putting in the hard work.

#4 I am prepared for the food changes. I have dieted before independently and lost over 50 pounds. Now you may ask Why are you here then? Well because I am hungry all the time...it sickens me to think that I can easily eat a quarter pounder and two large fries and a large soda and still want more! I try to diet on my own and my stomach just rumbles and then I get nauseous and dizzy and its just down hill from there. (No blood sugar problems its been checked medically)

#5 I don't hate you guys who are advising me...I don't want to sound like a b**** either lol read this in a peppy tone...haha I really do appreciate all of your help and wisdom and stories.

#6 I have 5 friends who have all had the lap band with this same surgeon and all but one are doing great...the one whose not doing well...shes a failure to the band not the other way around. She gets her fills but then she resorts to eating junk! She never changed her eating habits and thats why she has stayed the same. The doctor was not aware of what she was doing until she got sick. My other friends are doing great. I know there is a up side and a down side of each surgery.

#7 This surgery isn't a quick decision...I have wanted to have surgery since 2008 but due to finances I never did. Its only recently that I decided to get my stuff in gear because my grampa had a heart attack and my numbers on my blood work are starting to creep up for diabetes (My gramma was diagnosed a year ago with it and I don't know my black side of the families history) So this isnt a decision I am taking lightly. Something has got to change. I need to be successful in my dieting. I need a tool to help me. I am so motivated and I am working out. Dance class, yoga, and I have gotten myself a membership to the local gym and have two work out buddies already. My boyfriend is extremely supportive and eats like I will be eating already.  Plus with regular check ups with my doctor I have that accountability plus I have my mom who is a WLS patient. Shes amazing. Yes I went back and forth between the band and the RNY but  I chose the band because I plan to get pregnant hopefully in about 2 years or less and I want to be able to provide all the proper nutrients to my future baby. I know it is possible to have a healthy baby with the RNY but I want to give my future child every ounce of nutrition it can get. (Sounds kinda silly but for me this is serious business.) If I fail my band or my band has complications then at least I know its a possibility and it is my own responsibility to handle the consequences.

I hope that in reading all of this that you all see I have made up my mind and that I respect everything each and every one of you have told me. It was all helpful in my pursute of WLS. I will keep you posted on my success and I will hopefully continue to watch each of you shrink. Please feel free to follow my blog on Tumblr. at http://wshfullyshrnkng.tumblr.com/

That is where I will keep updated the most as to my success, my gains, my losses, my failures (as I am sure at some point I will slip up...but I am not going to try and slip up lol) Again none of this is a ba****s hard to portray context....I am happy...I looked at my reflection today and told myself...your going to be gone soon...not dead...just gone...and I could literally feel my healthy self smiling inside.

Excellent! I am very pro-band, my concern was that I read your post as saying you went in wanting RNY and a single presentation without research, led you to change your mind.

I now see it was not like that! 

The band is, much more than most surgeries, what you make of it. All it does is dim hunger and for many that is all they need. For me, it was the perfect solution. After 40 years of yo-yo dieting I have now been slim and extremely active for five and a half years, bsnded for seven. My band may spontaneously combust in the next couple of years but recent research over a fifteen year period suggest it is unlikely (Stroh and Manger 2012;  University of Monash, Melbourne 2013).

Yeah its been researched...not just a spontaneous decision...I just felt more comfortable taking my chances and It honestly made my mom feel better after hearing my decision (remember she has had the RNY) And with you and a few others there for me to talk to and find support I know I can push myself harder. I do well with exercising its the always hungry thing that has always gotten me. And thank you for coming to support the band even when others are so panicked...for me its A going to work or B I will fail it and regardless that will be my own problem...again thanks for your support. That is what I was hoping to see when I posted about my excitement. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I needed to see some support so I know who I can turn to when I have questions...I consider you one ;)

Feel free to ask.  Bette, Prek and I come here fairly regularly but most successful vets tend not to come here. Not because they don't exist! A whole lot of reasons, but most now post elsewhere.

He does not recommend that I lose more than 1-3 pounds a week but...

 

I lost 100 pounds in 6 months and 150 in a year. It CAN happen. I didn't deprive myself of anything, didn't keep my band too tight. I followed the rules (usually), ate right and exercised (not an insane amount but more than the ZERO days a week prior to my surgery.)

 

you are an inspiration!!! I consider you one of my new MUST FOLLOW people. Thank you for showing your support. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I needed to see who would be there for me if I needed to ask questions. Expect me to be messaging you if I get confused haha. I hope you dont explode in a few years...that would be tragic...lol

In reference to your #7. About hoping to become pregnant in about 2 years. I know that is a personal goal, not to be disrespectful, most doctors want you to be at goal for a little while before becoming pregnant. Be sure to speak to your doctor, utimately it is your decission. The concern being that you have your new lifestyle habits well in place, before being faced with more challenging situations. It would go with any WLS you where to have.

After reading your other responses, you certainly sound as if you have done your homework, and having friends who are successful certainly helps! : )
Prek3

 

Good luck.