This is just too spooky. This morning while I was weighing myself I thought "I should resurrect the lap band thread to get an update".

It's been 6 months today since I had mine done. The weight loss was quick at first but has slowed down a bit now. Overall down 22 kg and 4 dress sizes. Yesterday I put on a pair of shorts that fit me last summer and they fell off. I bought a beautiful dress for our office Christmas party in a size 16 and I'm thinking it may end up being too big once Christmas rolls around. I went to see the surgeon last week and he says he's really pleased with my progress. I've only got 5.5 ml in my band but he said since I was still losing I probably don't need a top-up just yet. I'm 1/2 way to goal six months in, so by April I expect to have lost the 45 kg I wanted rid of then it's time to save up for the tummy tuck.

I try to exercise every day but I've been having some health problems lately so exercise has been difficult. One of the techs in my department is a part time personal trainer so he's been helping me do stuff which won't be too hard for me to do.

NB, I bet you look amazing! Last time I saw you you looked like a totally different person with the new hair and all. We really do have to get together soon.

Good luck with yours Mandy. I can't wait to be in my 70's.

Tony, like northernbird says, if there's anything we can do to help just give us a shout. What is it about it that you regret? Are you not losing weight? Are you having difficulty with what you eat? If you don't want to talk on the public forum you can always PM me.

Had mine now for 2 years and although it has been a rollercoast of problems for me, i do not regret it. I have gone from 102kg to73kg at my lowest, I have settled at 76kg now. Its a long old story but basically I had 5.5 mls in my band and after 4 weeks of being fine I suddenly I couldnt keep food or fluid down, I had some out and fine again then the same thing, this pattern repeated itself until now I have only 2.7mls in the band. After feeling very dejected and pissed off, I read on a MS forum (I have MS) another lady with nearly the exact same issues, had her stomach tested under xray (or something) and they discovered that her osephagus wasnt pushing the food down properly and as soon as the hole got too small her muscle wasnt stong enough to cope probably due to the MS and muscle weakness that comes from it. I was plateaued at 73kg but due to a new daily injection I have to do, it has made my weight creep up a bit. I now find I cant really eat anything bar soup and yoghurt for lunch but can eat a nice evening meal with minced meat (all varities) or similar in it. Hubby has made me various meat balls and frozen them and when we make a cassarole or curry we pop 2 or 3 into the pot for me.

It still isnt the easy option and sometimes I would love to eat a nice crusty roll or a nice steak but you learn to adapt.

Northernbird - glad you are doing ok, I did PM you recently to see how you were going but never heard back, I am sure you get hundreds of PMs each day.

Jo

I had mine done and have probally lost 5kg in 18months.The more fill i had the more i was sick.I struggled to eat .I had a camera down a month ago to see if there was any problems and there wasn't.I'm gutted.

Well that sucks. Have you seen a dietitian about what you are eating? There are a few things I have trouble with like rice, bread, chicken breast; Basically anything white. I try to avoid those things or make sure they have loads of sauces on them if I do have them.

Are you thinking of having it removed then? Northernbird and I see the same surgeon in Joondalup who is great.

You have my sympathy, or rather understanding. I only have to eat too much (eyes bigger than my head) all week say on a course etc add a couple of pounds and I get the hump by the weekend. All of a sudden life becomes a burden.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be many, many kilos overweight, and have no muscular endurance no fitness. I've taken that for granted all my adult life.

I'm so frustrated

Have you got a support group near you who can help.
AS im so new to the lap band i feel lucky that it appears to be working for me.
Although i have had a few incidents when i thought i was dying when i got small piece of pork chop stuck. so now im avoiding eating pork.
Im finding i eat a lot of salads and fish and a little chicken at meal times as anything heavier and i feel ill.
Have you been able to exercise? Have you had your thyroid checked out?
I have hypothyroidism and due to that i had the weight problems. So it maybe worthwhile having that checked out. Im now on a lose dose of thyroxine which helps along with the band.
I hope you are able to get some help to ease your frustration.
Mandy

I have found that more or less all meat is a problem unless really tender or as I do now is to use mince in cassaroles, homemade burgers are great too. Hubby is making Thai Chicken burgers tonight yum. Dont have to be full of fat if you make them yourself and so easy too. I also eat a lot of verggie stuff now. I find salad sticks in me LOL, I have to take the skin off tomatos and capsicum and cucumber. For cassaroles just make the mince into balls and pop in with the other stuff.

Jo

Jo

I can eat just about any meat except baked chicken breast. Or maybe it's just when my husband cooks it because he makes sure it's not only cooked but really really cooked and then it's too dry. My problem is with things like rice and bread.

Mandy, when you feel like something is "stuck" try standing up and put your hands up over your head and stretch up as tall as you can. I find that works if I have the stuck feeling. The first time it happened I thought I was dying too - it hurts, eh?

Hi,
Ive had all the checks done.I'm going to have a little fill back in on the 11th Nov as I havn't got any in at the moment.
The doctor gave me duromine.

Just wanted to say well done to everyone for doing so well post surgery.
Keep up the good work and well done.

Gems

Hi all, hope you dont mind me joining your thread ive just had my appointment and have been booked in for March to have my lap band fitted, im really excited and scared at the same time, this will improve my quality of life no end so fingers crossed it works for me

Keep up the good work everyone,

Dawn x

Excellent! Is Mr Dolan doing it? He's a fantastic surgeon and once you get to know him a really nice guy. It really will be one of the best things you could ever do for yourself. If you need any help with it I'm just up the road from you.

Just another quick update. It's been 8 months now and I'm down 26 or 27 kg depending on the day. The weight loss has been slow, but I've been doing a lot of emotional eating this last couple of months so not sticking to the healthy eating plan very well. In the new year resolution thread I did say that 2010 was going to be the year of me, so back to healthy eating and getting the rest of the weight off so I can get that tummy tuck done. I would like to be at goal and surgery done before October next year since I'm hoping to travel to visit family then. It would be fantastic to go back 100 lbs lighter - and be able to fit comfortably in an economy class seat.

I did wear the dress I bought to the Christmas party but it was a little too big. How great is that when I think that last year at this time I was wearing a size 24 and now the size 16/18 dress was loose!?!

Ahh thank you thats really nice of you, ill let you know yes Mr Dolans doing it, actually met him for the first time last week and really liked him, ive heard he can be a bit stand-offish but i think most consultants are like that, their just focused on their work, however i was pleasantly surprised and thought he was really nice. Did you find the beginning hard? im a bit worried as do like my food and wine so will be a big change,,,,same for everyone I expect xx