Getting Used to the Change: Lapband Transformation

Three Weeks Post Surgery and all is Fine?!!!!??

My newest challenge as a recently banded person is getting used to things:

• My clothes are getting loose (Not complaining, reporting)
• I miss bread (complaining)
• I'm cooking more than I'm used to (complaining)
• I'm still feeling weak and a bit down (complaining)
• Lost 17 pounds (Obviously, not complaining!)

There's a phenomenon you'd better get ready for if you plan on being banded: a big letdown. I'll explain. I worked so hard, for so long, to have the surgery done that I think it was a letdown when I actually had the operation and I still had the entire weight loss journey ahead of me. It reminds me of when I owned my film company. We'd work so long to get relationships going with clients it would always be a shock when we actually had to make the film. Sort of felt like I should get paid for gettting the job, not for doing the job. So seeing months of weight loss journey still ahead is daunting, I'm not gonna lie.

Another thing to prepare for: utter fascination from other people about your band. Not many people know me here. I moved up north, a lifetime southerner, and I've had a hard time making friends her in Jon and Kate plus 8 land. I've been here five years and I have exactly no friends. Me, who had dozens of friends in Atlanta, was highly social, enoyed going out and meeting more people. I've turned into a recluse. 

I'm not sure what it is about me and this town, but we don't seem to mesh. I talk to people in the grocery, they look around for security. I make an aside in line at the CVS and people redirect their gaze to the cash register. It's weird. So not too many people know or care that I've gotten the band. But my family does, and my husband's family, and they are beyond interested. They want details. "Do you throw up?" (No) "Are you hungry?" (No) "Do you miss any specific food?" (Bread, see above.) 

So you can't wear your feelings on your sleeve when you get a lap band. Get ready to talk about it and try not to begrudge it. Even people who don't have a weight problem deal with food issues and they want to know what you're going through. I'm trying to share info without giving in to any feeling of being examined or judged. A little tough on the ego, (Question: "How much do you need to lose?" Answer: "None of your damn business!") but I'm dealing. It's not like they never noticed I was overweight before. They just didn't feel they could talk about it. Now, if they know you are banding, they're gonna wanna talk. And they're going to say things that might smart a bit. So just get ready.

On the upside, even with just 17 pounds gone I'm feeling fitter, lighter, prettier and younger. Now that is a real benefit. I'm going to keep my eyes on the prize and let the idle comments fly right by me. I've got a long way to go, so I'm not going to sweat the small stuff. View blog reactions