Suzy's Journey

[SuzyWhoozy]

I have been searching and reading the posts on this forum, and get a lot of answers, but for every answer I find, I seem to have more questions

I'm completely new to the idea of gastric banding, but have tried every other diet under the sun over the past 20years or so, and each year I get fatter. Its thanks to Fern Britton, Vanessa Feltz and Tina Malone talking about gastric banding that I started researching it for myself.

Right now i'm feeling like I must be insane, most of you seem to have researched for months or years, I sort of looked at it for about two weeks, made an appointment to meet consultant and now I've booked surgery and paid my deposit. Its like i've jumped onto a high speed train, and I can't find the brakes, not sure if i want the brakes either. I'm so confused


I'd really appreciate any advice, we don't seem to have support groups to attend over here.

 

[Wendy1]

Hi Suzy I have booked in for band or bypass,my surgeon hasnt made up his mind yet, I dare not tell my family, they will think its a waste of money, and i should be able to do it on my own, but i cant. I will have to tell them when i go in tho, Good luck we will get tough some day.

 

[Neen]

Hi Suzy x Anything I can help you with, any specific questions you have etc, please feel free to ask & welcome to the forum x

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Hi Suzy I have booked in for band or bypass,my surgeon hasnt made up his mind yet, I dare not tell my family, they will think its a waste of money, and i should be able to do it on my own, but i cant. I will have to tell them when i go in tho, Good luck we will get tough some day.

Hi Wendy, thanks for responding, when and where are you booked in ?

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

....

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Wendy, I posted a reply to your response, but it was dragged off to be checked by a moderator first, yet my response to Neen got posted immediately.

I'm just saying in case you think I don't appreciate your responding to me

 

[Neen]

OK Suzy, first I am a bit worried about you!! I am concerned about you travelling so soon after being operated on. Honestly you need to go easy for the first week after surgery. I would certainly not advise you working for at least 3 weeks after surgery.
I would also say have someone travel with you and arrange to stay overnight at least before flying. You don't know how you are going to feel after, you will be in pain and everyone is affected by the general aneathetic (can't spell!) differently.
You need to allow for things like feeling really rough after etc within your plan. It is not open heart surgery I know but do not underestimate how much tlc you will need. The last thing we want is for you to be stuck miles from home and feeling very ill.
I totally understand about your desire to hurry up and get it done and also the wish to keep it as private as possible but do not do either of these things if you are compromising your safety.
The money for your op will still be there if you put it on hold to get everything in place first to ensure you are looked after throughout.

Onto the actual band experience
OK if you are a volume eater you will find the band suits you best. EG you don't snack all day and you don't have a particularly sweet tooth BUT you do like to have large portions at meal times.
The band will not usually be filled when you have it in, some surgeons do put in a little to start you off but not all.
Once the internal swelling has gone down and you are healed properly (about a month after the op) you can begin to eat denser foods ( you will be on liquids then soft mushy foods til that point)
You may not get any feeling of restriction at first and this can be really hard to cope with emotionally. In fact you may even put on weight and go into a panic.
You will have to start off by having just as much will power as before the op, best advice I can give based on my personal experience is to follow a calorie controlled diet/ weight watchers type thing to help keep you on track til your first fill.
This is something I wish I had done so I am just saying it for that reason in restrospect.
Your first few fills will also only offer a small amount of increased restriction so again, will power!
Once you reach the correct level of restriction you will be able to eat smaller portions..again you have to have the fills fine tuned now and again.
If you follow the eating guidelines that your team give you then you should find a steady weight loss and you will feel satisfied with much smaller amounts.
Unfortunately the band will allow choc, ice cream etc down no problem so you still need to change your eating habits and exercise.
I am not trying to put you off but as another person who went private and just dived in, I hope you can take on board some of this and benefit from my mistakes x

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Thanks again Neen, I was told by the co'ordinator to book my flights the next day following the surgery and sorry I should have said, the sister I've trusted is coming with me, so i won't be alone.

I really appreciate your advice, its giving me more to think about but thats good, I want to work with the band so will only eat what the diet sheets advise me. I've spent the last few years doing the cambridge diet, so I can restrict myself, but as soon as I come off the Cambridge plan, I move back onto Chinese Takeaways, Icecream, Chocolate and Crisps diet (all in the one evening sitting) Its like I just shove it all in, hardly taking time to taste or even breathe, then I'm left exhausted and stuffed.

If need be, I'll just call in sick to my job, might blame it on a stomach bug. It is worrying that they advised me to travel back next day, plus the news of the early discharge is worrying me

 

[Neen]

Well I am please you have someone with you lovey, I don't want to frighten you but I would feel irresponsible just saying "yeah go for it" without raising a few of those points first.
You are a lot lighter than I was so hopefully you will just be incomfortable rather than in serious pain.
That will pass.
Now about the foodie thing, as you said you are able to do a cambridge style diet but then put it back on. Luckily with a band you don't have to be as deprived and starving. You can stick to a healthy diet on proper food but with a band you feel satisfied on smaller amounts. In comparison to eating before, it will be easier because you can't eat the huge amounts and that is how weight loss occurs.
I have to be honest and say I can still eat plenty of ice cream and choc etc but now I allow it on one day only. You will find you need less to satisfy the need though which is also good.
The band gives you a chance to have moderation and some sort of choice ...I allow for a little something within my calorie allowance daily to keep me on an even keel (eg a little weight watchers pudding or something)
When you are at a good fill level you will find you can cope OK most of the time just sticking to good food choices with the occasional modest treat.
Let me know if you want to chat over the phone in the week x

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Wow, thanks Neen, just talking to you is helping me a lot, I think I'm just having a panic morning, I've wrecked my head over the years with constantly living my life around food, and letting it win over my happiness.

Gastric banding seems so scary but I don't know what else to try, cuz I've done most diets in the past, yet I always go back to pigging out and regaining all and more each time.

Just today I'm struggling to find anything decent to wear as I'm at my heaviest, heaviest, its so depressing.

 

[ladylite]

Hello there and welcome to the site.

I dont know about banding but just to let you know I did a similar rushed journey like you.

Once I made up my mind I paid my deposit and away it went and within a month I was done. Never ever regretted. Did most of my research afterwards, and did have a few hot sweats reading some of the posts.

Good luck hun and I hope all goes well, please keep us updated.

xxxx

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Hello there and welcome to the site.

I dont know about banding but just to let you know I did a similar rushed journey like you.

Once I made up my mind I paid my deposit and away it went and within a month I was done. Never ever regretted. Did most of my research afterwards, and did have a few hot sweats reading some of the posts.

Good luck hun and I hope all goes well, please keep us updated.

xxxx

LOL...thanks Mary, glad to know there are other rushers out there lol, I think if I delay it then I'll never go through with it. I totally understand the hot sweats reading the posts. Sometimes I find it brilliant and then other times I get panicked. Yesterday I actually watched a video of the surgery that somebody had posted, and it relaxed me, this morning I wake up all apprehensive and scared again

I must go off and find your diaries or posts, so I can learn from you's :553:

 

[Neen]

I think a lot of what has helped me has been takingaway a lot of the guilt around food. As soon as we ban ourselves from foods we are making it almost impossible for ourselves to avoid them...it's like they suddenly become all that matters. If you stop feeling guilty and change how you view those foods then you will find they have a lot less power over you.
The foods we use to try and make ourselves feel better are not in themselves evil or anything. All food can be enjoyed in moderation. Naturally slim people eat choc and ice cream and all that as well.
Difference being they enjoy it , eat til they are satisfied and leave what they don't want ...they are not using to cheer themselves up or distract themselves from feeling unhappy or disappointed or angry.
When you are eating to change how you feel inside , no amount of food is going to take the feeling away.
If you view what you eat as a choice ...at every point you have a choice whether to eat or not....you will find you are not gorging on huge amounts of "treat" food for fear you can never ever have it again.
Tell yourself that yes sometimes you will choose to have a treat..nothing is forbidden and yes it's OK to toss half a bar of choc away if you have satisfied your craving with a couple bites..then you can break that crazy bingeing pattern and feel a lot more comfortable around food and within yourself.

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Yeh Neen, thats gonna be hard battle for me, I've spent most of my life viewing food as good v's bad, allowed v's banned, I've wrecked my head.

Even this morning I struggled with eat cereal for breakfast or just go back onto Sole Sourcing for the three weeks prior to my surgery. I know I have to do one week of sole sourcing or milk/yogurt diet before my surgery, and two weeks after, so I've gone with the cereal route, but everything I put in my mouth either gets so much thought beforehand, or so much guilt after

I want the band to take this away, by portion controlling what I can and cant eat. I worry when you say I can eat chocolate and icecream, surely the quantities are minimal ?

 

[Neen]

Lovey as a food addict myself with those exact feelings about food I am telling you now..the band is not going to change anything from the stomach up. You will still have that head with those thoughts. The difference being if you eat past restriction at one sitting you will be in pain and throwing up disgusting loads of foamy phelm plus whatever you just tried to force down.
If you graze all day and nibble you will totally ruin the effects of the band because little nibbles will just slip down and not give you the benefits of the band at all.
By all means go ahead and have the band, it can only do a small part of the work for you. The majority is up to you.
If you go into this prepared to leave that old way of viewing food behind you , it will be great and you will lose and keep off the weight.
If you go into it thinking suddenly your addiction and fixations about food will automatically go, you will be wasting
your money and causing yourself a lot of heartache.
I'm going to send you a link to something that might help when you have done enough posts to receive Pms xxxx

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Yeh your right Neen, I know the band won't fix my thoughts, but I am planning on using it as a start from scratch, relearn what to eat, and in what quantities, I don't craze through the day, and I'm not planning on trying to work my old lifestyle around the band.

New band, new attitude :fingerscrossed: lol

 

[Neen]

Well any help I can give you I will. It is hard but worth it for the feeling of freedom. It's nice to relax around food and feel normal and we can do it!

 

[Leesh]

Hi there Suzy,

Welcome to the site. Im finding this very intresting. A lot of your thoughts are very similar to those I have had along my journey but I dont think I would of been honest enough to express them in case I got the wrong answer. I am booked in for my band next Tuesday and feel like I have done enough research to understand what I am getting myself into within reason. The thing that is keeping me focussed on having the op though is the fact that I am totally and utterly desperate. I can not face another year of being like this and I can not find another way out. I have tried everthing else. In some ways I dont feel like I have a choice which is easier for me.

I hope you find the answers you are looking for. The people on here are lovely and have helped me a lot.

 

[SuzyWhoozy]

Thanks Neen, I look forward to seeing that link your gonna send me, I can't figure out how to send you a private message with my contact number so I could give you a ring during the week like you offered earlier.

 

[Neen]

Hi Leesh, I was desparate too and felt that the band was the only way I had a hope in hell of moving ANY weight.
I think if you go into it fully aware of what the band can enable you to do and also well aware of what the bands limitations are and are accepting of the fact that most of the work is still down to you and your own determination to make it work for you..then you will be fine.
With a band you have to face the facts that it will be slower than a bypass..there is no honeymoon period of rapid weight loss and it may at some points feel like you have had nothing done.
BUT if you accept that it takes a longer time, and you go into it realistically , prepared to stick to healthy foods and exercise and really change the habits that made you overweight, then you will do great and likely keep off what you lose x