3 1/2 months post op and 60 lbs down!

I lost 20 pounds before the surgery so I've lost 40 in the 3 1/2 after the surgery.  This is a huge milestone for me.  I'm now at the weight I was before my last weight gaining spurt.  I was 380 lbs before the surgery and I'm down to 320. 

I had another fill today, I'm up to 6.5 CCs. My scale has been weighing me about 1 pound heavier than the doctors scale so I've adjusted it to match.

For anyone that might be thinking "why am I not loosing that much?", I want you to know that much of the loss has happened after I got into the sweet spot with my band fills.  There was a period after the surgery when I didn't loose a thing.  Also I've had a few weeks where I just seemed to bounce up and down a couple of pounds.  Don't loose faith, it will come.

Have a wonderful day everyone!
-Scott

Scott, that is encouraging to hear.  I am now waiting to hear from insurance for approval for the band.  Good luck with the 6.5 ccs:)

Thanks, I hope your insurance comes through.  I had to pay for the surgery out of my own pocket. It is worth the trouble an effort.

Thanks for that, I have been worried the last few weeks because I havent lost anything really, I am down 17 lbs total from the date of my surgery but I havent lost but a lb in the last 2 weeks. I went in for my first fill today and i am hoping that kicks it all into gear.
 Congrats on the 60 lb loss, I cannot wait to get there!
-Jenn

Thanks for the post.  It helps to know that most of the weight doesn't come off until you get restriction.  I have just been "dieting" up until now and have fallen off the wagon more then once.    I get my first fill this afternoon, so hopefully I will get a little bit of restriction.  I'm curious to see what the surgeons scale says today....I have been trying to stay off my scale at home to keep from getting discouraged.

Scott,

     How many fills have you had in 3 1/2 months?  My first fill is scheduled for May 27th and I can't wait to get this show on the road!!!

Tina J.

Hi Tina,

I'm at 6 or 7 fills now.  6.5 CCs

Good luck with your first fill.  If it's like my experience it took a number of fills to get to the right restriction. :)

-Scott

Hey Scott,

This is like my 4th or 5th fill and I now have 6.5 ccs in my band but I still dont have any restriction.  I purposely stop eating after it looks like I have eaten too much but I can still swallow with no problems.  Do you have to cut your food into tiny, tiny bites like the size of the eraser?  Well I don't and I dont know if something is wrong.  What does restriction actually feel like seriously?

Hi Pam6464.

It's weird how much difference there is between people with the band.  Sounds like you need more fills than I did to feel the first restriction.

When I first started having restriction I had to cut my food up into little pieces only because I might not get it chewed up enough.  Now I'm very careful to chew everything up so I don't have to cut it up as much.  However cutting the food up and taking smaller bites will mean you eat slower and should fill full easier and thus eat less.

I find that food I would have woofed down before now takes a while to eat.  I think my average meal time is about 15 to 20 minutes. This is with much less food than I was eating before in just a few minutes.

One thing I've noticed is that "being full" now is NOT the same as "being full" was before the surgery.  That may be because before the surgery I was eating until I felt sick. 

You will know when the restriction hits the right zone.  For me when I first started to get restriction it felt like someone was hanging on my esophagus, swinging from it.  Luckily that didn't last, it sucked.  Now I don't notice the band anymore, instead I get the new feeling of fullness when I've had enough.  The other thing is you WILL have something get stuck, when this happens you are going to think the world is ending, it hurts and you will probably vomit.

It takes a while to get used to having the band at the "correct" tightness.    Also I constantly thought something had gone wrong with the band until I got used to it.  I was always worried that it slipped or I tore something, every little pain made me freak out.

Hang in there, you will get it.  I hope this helps a little.

-Scott

Thanks for that.  I was actually just feeling like, "Damn, I just got started and I already feel as if I'm slowing down."  I think I was kinda hoping that I would be one of those super losers like some people are lucky enough to be...losing like 40 pounds in the 1 month.  It's nice to hear that I'm actually normal.