Fair enough, I have had the same also with a few friends. One of my best friends gf had it, and the only reason I knew about it was because they felt confident enough to confide in me and wanted advice in general (because id lost so much weight already).
It still surprised me how uneducated my friend was though (not the gf). They were coming to dinner and i had to ask 'at what point is she at? can she eat meat yet etc?' he had no clue or idea lol. I hadnt known how far along she was (turns out she had been 2 months).
But yeah some people are really judgemental about it. But in the end, so long as you dont regain it and you do loose it, the job is done, doesnt matter how you go about it really (so long as you dont kill yourself and body in the mean time)

I was scheduled for the 29th but was changed to May 6 - so I'll be a week behind you. I'm ready though, I'd get it today if I could!

Balloon insertion date 10th April 2009
Loss 18 days later - 1 stone 8lb or 22lb

I am having trouble eating today ie nothing so far apart from a yogurt !!

I have found a soluble multi vit so am taking those to keep my recommended daily intake in the right region. Also having the odd protein shake.

Hope everyone else is doing ok. How is the weight loss is going and how your finding it?

5 weeks in and not to be a downer but I am one of the slow losers on this program i was quite ill for 2 weeks and once i started eating then that was it the weight loss slowed down I have only lost 14 pounds so I am trying to kick myself in the arse to get back on track its really mind over matter at the moment, the balloon does not reduce the appetite it just makes u feel fuller quicker and it is very uncomfortable when u over eat and sometimes I am very ill then, had my monthly follow up the other day and the nurse said it can take 4 months for the mind to catch up with the body so i am not being too hard on myself its all about breaking the bad habits of a life time.

I am so impressed by ur weight loss its awesome u are practically half way there well done, i enjoy following ur blog.

Well, my insertion date has once again been postponed... to May 27. I was aware of the possibility because of the back-order shipping them to Canada from Europe. This afternoon I thought about getting it done somewhere else, but that would involve at minimum a 6-hour flight to Toronto, so it probably makes more sense to wait a few more weeks and get it done in the comfort of my hometown, Vancouver.

I am just so anxious to get underway, especially when I am reading all of your success stories! Maybe I should make it a personal challenge to see how much weight I can lose on my own in the next month while I wait for May 27.

I know I shouldn't be feeling sorry myself, there certainly are greater challenges people have to face!

heh i hate waiting its shitty. Is there seriously nobody else in town that does it? or even within an hour or twos drive?

i have gallstones not good

The balloon is rather new in Canada so there's not a whole lot of doctors that do them. Most of the time I don't pay attention to how big this country really is, until I think that the next closest place is Toronto, halfway across the country from me, and even still that's 4300km away! I did consider flying there but the flight is 6 hours long and pretty expensive (I could fly to Hawaii for less...), and the balloon is $3000 more there anyway. Doh!

I'm so impatient normally so I guess this will be a good lesson in patience.

Oh no - so sorry to hear that! Do you need surgery? Can you keep the balloon? A friend of mine had gallstones years ago and a naturopath told him to drink 6 glasses of apple juice a day. He felt it helped give some relief for a few months. Hope things turn out all right. Hugs.

Well heres the story..Rather odd pain last night in my side and back got gradually worse overnight and this morning sick yuck,,,I went to the doctor this morning, she was surprisingly supportive about the balloon and congratulated me on the weight loss so far, she has diagnosed small gallstones and I have a hospital visit friday to have a further ultrasound and if they are not breaking down then they may try and use laser to break them up.

The most likey cause according to the dcr is rapid weight loss- reading up I have found its fairly common in lapband /gastric band patients. Apparently fatty breakdown collects in your gallbladder and in great amounts clogs together (can only imagine what it was doing to my arteries etc.

Its very painful but I have good pain meds, good news is I can keep the balloon , just need to treat the side effect of the weight loss!!

I better loss a couple of extra pounds for all this pain lol got to look on the bright side I guess.

Think it would help others, to write what happens after the ballon comes out as this is the time to apply the learning!

I had my ballon out by appt this Sat 25/4/09. 9am.

I needed it out before my holiday ( the clinic was adamant it could not stay in any longer than 6 months and my return date was 5th June) and the only date available that suited us both was so had it in for 5 months.
Iwas really wishing i could have had it the full six months in the end as it was great once it settled down which i admit took a good deal of time.

In total i lost 3 stone 3ibs in 21 wks ( i think) most of it was gone by February 8th when i went to Florida for 2 wks.

In the interim time i took up jogging 3 times a week self defence classes and a boxing class, and chi gong class.
So looking a lot more toned and trimmer and feeeeeell Goooood about
I think i would like to be another 6 ibs lighter, but taking it easy and trying to stay of carbs as these are the" pile on weights for me .

I made a decision not to have any local anasetic to have the ballon out,as i wanted to enjoy the rest of the day,which i did .
It was'nt pleasant but i tried to relax and breathe deeply,closed my eyes and did what they asked me to do.

Anyhow, really working the follow up program, will keep you posted not feeling hungry but also not filling full like i did when i had the ballon in.
Really got to love my smaller portions and will keep to those sizes where i can.

Good Luck to you all, Its defintly worth it to be a new exciting person in MY life,someone who looks good ,feels great, and is so much healther in 21 wks.

Way to go
Gloria

Good news Gloria-Sounds like you have made all the right lifestyle changes, I wish you lots of luck as I think post balloon is in someways the real challenge.

Can I ask did you feel sick after the balloon came out? ie any side effects like with balloon insertion?

Heh Guys, well feeling a little better than the last few days thank goodness.

Good news is 3 weeks in to the day and I have lost 25lb ( 1 stone 11lb) averaging just over 8lb a week better than any diet I have ever been on.

I am now 12 stone 3lb ....my target 12 stone then 11 1/2, my ultimate goal is somewhere around the 10 stone mark which I think might be a little ambitious in the period of 6 months but a girls gotta dream lol.

I was thinking about setting up a weight loss ticker but first I have to figure it out ..any help welcome lol

Take Care Guys Amyxxxxxxx

I attended a big bbq last night and I had a throughly miserable time

Normally I would have had a great time, but, perhaps because its all still so new I felt like I was missing out, not sure that makes any sense ??

I couldnt eat anything really- Had a chicken drumstick and a spoon of potato salad which I picked at, and everyone else was in full drinking mode. I tried on sip of wine and decided it was likely to make me feel sick.

I felt like a complete party pooper, and to make it worse I left at 11 and my partner stayed till the early hours, so I went home alone and really rather dejected.

Has anyone else had a family or friends event as yet? How did you cope with it?

I am sure it was just because it was the first 'event' since the op and I guess I need to realise that things just wont be the same as before, and I need toi enjoy it without the food and drink . It has been an important learning event for me as food and drink has always been a very social thing for me and the family , long lazy lunches, evenings with a glass of wine in the garden etc.

well thats me for now.

Take care guys

Amy

Hi Amy,

I had my 30th birthday 2 weeks into the procedure and I suppose cos I was so excited about my costume party I did not focus on the eating and drinking part, I like u picked at the cocktail sausages and chicken wings if I ate 2 of each the whole night that was a lot. I only drink light cider which if u were on weight watchers is 1 point a bottle and I only managed 3 bottles and a glass of champagne all night, I did suffer some umcomfortable trapped wind from the carobonated cider but that was all, i managed a slice of birthday cake the next day.

I felt bad afterwards thinking I had "broke" my diet and it set me to do some serious comfort eating the following week but now I am back on track and enjoying nights out and days out, I drink low calorie alcoholic drinks and pace myself cos if they are fizzy then the wind is uncomfortable and I have resigned myself to being able to eat a lot less than before and I try not to draw attention to my lack of nibbling and start the whole balloon debate. I have lost 1 pound a week the last 3 weeks which is not phenomenal but its going in the right direction and will all add up to a great loss at the end of the program.

My advice is to enjoy the special occasions that come up over the summer, eat only what feels good for you because i know u have been unwell on top of ur balloon symptoms and enjoy a few drinks too just make sensible choices like u would if you were following weight watchers or a similar diet plan.

I have a first holy communion party next saturday and I am going to eat if I am hungry and drink if I feel like it but I wont let it stop me enjoying myself because when the balloon is gone I will look back and regret that I wasted that special occasion upsetting myself over my lack of appetite and guilt over having a few drinks.

I hope u feel better soon hun, ur only human and doing so well so let ur fantastic loss to date cheer u up a bit.