Gastric Band, one year later

[Neen]

Hi all, I was on here for a while last year around the time of my operation and just thought I would pop back.

I have not done as well as I wanted to , I put it down to the first few fills not giving me nearly enough restriction. However, I did lose 5 stone in spite of eating rubbish.. one reason being the healthier foods would get stuck and come back up. (that didn't really help my resolve!)

At the moment I am on an upswing though, I have been on Slimfast from the beginning of July as part of calorie counting and have lost 10lbs so far this month doing that.
I tend to have between 1,200 and 1,400 calories a day and have been able to cope pretty well. I have ordered different flavour slimfast meal bars from the States via ebay to give variety and getting on the treadmill and wii fit as much as I can.

I still have about 11 stone to go but I am hoping that I won't need another fill with this new plan of action.

Scars are pretty much gone (the smaller ones) and the main scar over the port has faded very well.
I do still bring things up if I'm not careful, one thing the band teaches you is to eat slowly !!!
Can't get on very well with bread rolls and baked potatoes or pasta unfortunately. Basically any doughy or stodgy foods that bind together inside ..

I'm disappointed that I didnt put my foot down more about early fills, I understand the nurse was trying to err on the side of caution for my sake as well but in hindsight I wish I'd have badgered them more for extra fills!
At least it's going and staying away so far.
Hope everyone is doing well and if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
xx

 

[shelbell]

Hi Neen, that's a blast from the past! 5 stone is a fantastic loss, well done on acheiving it Hope the rest goes well for you.

 

[Neen]

Hiya Shel! Wow what can I say??? Double congratulations to you on your amazing weight loss and your baby! You look amazing , I hope very much your pregnancy is going well and you are managing OK food wise with all that happening!

 

[Mummyof2]

Aww congratulations keep it up!

Clare x

 

[archiesmum]

Fab weight loss. Well done.

 

[shelbell]

Thanks Neen, I'm managing ok, just having to eat high fat foods constantly! It's a hard life

 

[AA1234]

Hi, congratulation on your weight loss. Remember that this is for life. It will take time but once the weight has gone it is gone forever!!!

Can I just ask why you don't want another fill? This would mean you don't need to do slimfast.

Also, why was the fact that it took time for you to get restriction meant that you feel like this has stopped you loosing weight?

I am 3 months out and have had 2 fills. I still do not have restriction and can pretty much eat anything. It is pure will power at the moment so I am hoping for restriction soon.

 

[Red 42]

Hi Neen...very well done on losing 5st...that's brilliant

I hope you don't mind me asking... what made you go for the band over bypass (I noticed you mentioned you still had around 11st to lose)

best wishes xx

 

[thinkbethin]

Well done on the 5 stone Neen. How much fill do you have and how big is your band??

 

[Neen]

Hi all and thanks for reading, to try and cover the questions a bit...
I went for a band for a couple of reasons. Mainly money! My doc did not support me at all and I was tired of waiting and waiting and basically begging for help. We could not really stretch financially to the cost of a bypass. The other reason was that one of the advisors at the hopsital I went to had lost 14 stone in a year with a band so I figured it was possible for me as well.
I believe my band is 9 or 10 mil max capacity, I didn't realise there were different sizes!!

As far as the whole slimfast thing goes, for me personlly that is going well and it suits me. I was having loads of problems keeping anything down, toast, bread, cereal etc would come right back up. I had 7 mil in and I was too scared of eating too much to have any let out. I was losing about a pound a month after my initial post surgery loss. I felt very fed up . Sort of getting by on the odd biscuit and bowls of ice cream and the occasional home made curry minus the rice. Basically crazy eating.
I daresay I'm not the only Mum who puts herself last healthwise so I had just been plodding on with it.
Not been back to hospital since December last year due to life and chaos with kids in general.
At the beginning of last month I just decided to use the slimfast to make sure I have some decent nutrients till I can have the band loosened when I get to maintenance stage.

A typical day is usually :
shake at breakfast
100 cal snack at 11
shake or bar at Lunch
100 cal snack 3
weight watchers meal with tons of veg at tea (or any meal up to 400 cals)
treadmill for 40 minutes
snack at about 8pm-9pm between 100 and 200 cals if I want it.

I feel a lot better because the healthy stuff I am having stays down. Have not brought anything back up since I started this plan. Also I actually feel great and have lost a stone during July. So yeah, for me particularly this is going OK.
I am due back to the hospital on the 26th Aug and hopefully will not need a fill given that this is working at the mo.
I have around 1,100 to 1,300 cals a day with an upper limit of 1,500 a day if I need it. However, I havent wanted that many.
I feel this is about the first time I've felt I can do it for the duration.
We're all different , thats the thing. The shakes are solving the what to have problem for me at the present time. As and when I get near to goal I will review what I'm doing and speak to the nutritionist about what to have then.

 

[Red 42]

well done on finding a way that works for you....life with a band certainly is not an easy option.
I can't ever imagine being normal again and on occasion have wished that we could have afforded bypass only for the fact that even after my years aftercare is up, I still need to find somewhere to take over if only just for fills :sigh:

 

[Neen]

Hi Yvonne, I hope that you find somewhere for fills. I'm lucky in that way as my hospital does lifetime maintenance free. I think I would only pay for a fill if it was extra to scheduled appointments..if that makes sense.
I understand what you mean about going back to normal. I think what's helping me deal with it is admitting that if my relationship with food before the op was normal at all , I wouldnt have had 16stone extra weight to carry round for over 10 years.
I think viewing the maintenance stage as a whole new phase and finding whats really normal eating for my body to be fit and slim is how I am treating it.
It's actually a relief to not eat massive amounts like I used to. I think trying to reframe how we think about it and look at the positives is going to really help us beat this thing
Just keep thinking about the sassy Rocky Horror costume!!
I love Halloween as well and I'm looking forward to wearing a full outfit next year, not just decorating the extremities !!!!