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Surgeon Testimonial

Robert Cywes, M.D., Ph.D.
I am a person who values competence more than beside manner. If my surgeon has a nice bedside manner then it is icing on the cake, but if I don't feel confident in him as a surgeon then I won't be letting him/her cut on me! Dr. Cywes is very nice but he is also very matter of fact and serious about his job. He wants you to be serious about it as well and is good at motivating you to be a partner in your weight loss journey. He has done over 1,000 lap band surgeries. After surgery he gives you his cell phone number and encourages you to use it (how many physicians do that!). His staff is very nice for as busy and hectic as the office is. They have so many patients right now and are really swamped and seem to do as good a job as they can right now in tight quarters. I went for my pre-op appt this past week and had to wait two hours before they called me in. I feel they could do a little better in the area of scheduling (i.e. schedule two small groups at different times rather than one large group at one time and then calling in two groups at a time.) They are going to be moving to a larger facility in the next few months and are hiring more people. Hopefully that will help things considerably. I feel like with Dr. Cywes as my surgeon I can be extremely successful in my weight loss journey as long as I work with him and follow his instructions to the letter. I am two weeks out from my surgery so I will probably update this after my surgery to include my surgery experience and post-op care. But so far so good.
Member Interests
  • Cats - Two fluff balls!
  • Dogs - Annia - Rottweiler, Gracie - corgie mix
  • Movies - Most all kinds especially action movies
  • Singing - Sing 1st soprano in the church chancel choir
  • Astronomy - Have telescope and a dark sky!
  • Tattoo - Have eight, will get more
  • Football - Go Gators! Go Jags! Go Steelers!
  • Horses - Used to ride hunters/jumpers
  • Harley Davidson - Ride an 08 Fat Bob - see pics
  • Reading - Love historical fiction and nonfiction

Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by judyanne on 2/4/08 7:29 pm
    Thursday is your day! Just remember you are on the journey of a lifetime. Try to enjoy every minute. It may sound weird now, but know that you are cared for and prayed for here, and all too soon this will be but a memory and you will be an inspiration to someone else. I am waiting for you on the losers' bench! ~JudyAnne~
  • Comment by mskeeley on 1/23/08 10:04 pm
    Congrats on your up coming surgery you have a great doctor he is stearn but he is fair. He will provide you with the tool but most of all he is going to ensure that you do your part as well. Good luck look forward to seeing you on the looser's (winner's) bench. Pam
Click here for the surgery support page
JaxBandster's Blog
JaxBandster's Blog


Third Fill
on May 7, 2008 5:09 am
I can't believe that I'm already on my third fill.  I am definitely close if not at my sweet spot.  I am able to eat comfortably.  Can eat almost anything I want just much less of it.  I got my fill last Friday (May 3rd) and at that appt, according to my dr scales I was 217.  Today (Wednesday the 7th) I am 213.5.  I would have probably been lower but I had this run in with an old friend over the weekend (a 5" icing covered sugar cookie that my daughter made).  It had been four months since I had a full blown sugar binge and I decided to indulge the voracious craving I have had lately and get it out of my system.  I did so, it was wonderful and I got back on track immediately.

I'm getting to the point now where I enjoy watching the scale go down more than I enjoy the momentary satisfaction that a particular food might.  I now look at something and determine if it's really worth it.  Most of the time it isn't and I push it away.  (The cookie was definitely an exception!)  However, I know that if I do choose to indulge a particular craving that I have the ability and the tool to get back on program rapidly.  Such is the case this week as after I had that monstrous cookie I gained a pound, but immediately lost it and more.  It used to be the other way around! 

I love my band and I'm ready to work with it as far as it will take me.  According to my FitDay program I have 43.5 more lbs to goal.  I am 13.5 lbs from Onederland (that will be a great day) and on the track I'm on should get there in about a month.  I should be ten lbs from goal in about three months (end of July).  So I am definitely on track to make my goal of 170 by the end of the year with room to spare.

My next fill is set for June 3rd, we will see if I need it or not.  In the meantime we are going to the mountain on the bikes for Memorial Day weekend so that should be a good challenge for me as far as trying to stay on task.
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Realization
on April 22, 2008 8:07 pm
Tonight we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant (been doing that a lot lately!)  I ordered chicken parmesean which came with pasta (which I didn't eat) and a salad (which I had a little of with balsamic dressing).  The serving size of the chicken was quite large, probably two chicken breasts and I ate about three quarters of it!  The thing is, I began to get my full signs about 1/4 to half way through but it tasted so good I ignored them and kept eating.  I didn't PB or anything.  Just ate until I was "stuffed". I was able to eat quite a bit (obviously) as long as I chewed well.  My main sign that I'm full is I get the sniffles.  I really should have quit then but like I said, it just tasted too darn good to quit.  This has me worried that I'm going to be over eating and cause myself damage.  

My realization is that I need to understand that I can stop eating when I first begin to experience my soft stop signs, pack up my food and take it home to maybe have later or the next day and enjoy it again.  I don't have to try and finish it right then and there.  This is definitely one of the battles that I fought in the past with prior weight loss attempts and something that I need to come to terms with now if I'm going to be successful.  The other battle is complacency (being happy with my weight loss thus far and becoming lax), but that's another post for another day.  I just wanted to write this out in order to "verbalize" it to myself and to maybe get other's feedback and ideas as to how to deal with this particular hurdle.
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2nd fill!!!
on April 4, 2008 7:05 pm
Got my second fill today.  Dr. Cywes says he put 4cc's in for a total of 6.5.  He said I would be rather tight.  I feel a little difference but not a whole lot really.  Just had a protein shake and it went down quite easily.  The past month I have been doing very well.  I have lost a total of 52 lbs from my highest weight back in October and 45 lbs from my first appt with Dr. Cywes so I'm at about the halfway mark figuring from my highest weight.. I average 26 carbs a day and between 600-700 calories.  I get hungry but not horribly so and can usually curb my hunger with fluids.  I am actually feeling that this can work.  Oddly enough I'm almost nervous about getting down below 200 lbs.  It's been so long I can hardly remember being that size.  I'm excited though and the part of me that's excited is eager for the scale to keep going down.  I have more energy and am enjoying working out in the yard more.  My foot doesn't hurt quite as bad as it did before.  I am in a size 20 jeans and even they are starting to get loose.  Another 10 lbs and I should be in an 18.  That would also be the weight I got down to when I was on the Three Hour Diet.  I was looking good at that point but wanted to look better before I fell of the wagon.  This time I will get past that point.

So far so good!  Everything is going the way it should and I'm very happy with my band!
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First Fill!!
on March 11, 2008 3:56 pm
Got my first fill today!  Just 2cc's in my large AP Band (my dr says it will hold 14cc's).  I think he had me up to 3cc's but backed off a bit because the water just wasn't going down very well.  I was gurgling quite a bit! LOL  It didn't hurt in the least!  In fact, at one point he said, "okay this is going to hurt a lot!"  I was like, "WHAT????"  He laughed and said, "just kidding!"  UGH! LOL

He wants me back in three weeks!  He was extremely pleased with my progress, he reiterated how big my hiatal hernia was!  He seemed really impressed with it. LOL  No wonder it took so long to heal!  He said I may still feel pain in my left shoulder if I eat too much from the hernia repair.

I had to laugh at him today.  I confessed about eating too many carbs on Sunday during brunch and I told him that I didn't beat myself up too badly and just got back on track.  He looked at me at said, "No, that's my job!"  I love that though, I need someone who's going to keep me on track and he seems to be just the person to do it!
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Wow!!!
on March 10, 2008 5:09 am
Okay, things are definitely moving for me now!  This morning I am down to 235!!!  That's seven lbs in a week after not losing anything for two!  Thank you mother nature or whatever stimulated my body to start losing again!  I have begun to set mini goals.  My first mini goal is the 50 lbs lost which would mark my halfway point.  I would be 220 at that point and I am 15 lbs away from that right now.  I would love to reach that by the end of April.  My next mini goal would be onederland, so that would be another 20 lbs.  Maybe by end of June/July?  From that point I would have another 30 lbs to get to goal.  I wanted to be able to reach goal by the end of this year and right now I think that is entirely possible.  100 lbs in 11 months.  We will see!! 

I was really fretting the scale today because of how badly I ate yesterday.  We went to brunch at Village Inn and I ended up eating almost two eggs, half an order of hash browns, a small pancake with maple syrup and two strips of bacon.  Oh and I also picked at the chocolate icing that was on my son's piece of truffle pie!  After that the only thing I ate was a small order of Wendy's Chili and that was rather late at night.  It will probably show up tomorrow.  However, I am going in for my fill appt tomorrow and I definitely think I need one.  I don't think I should be able to eat that much.  Maybe along with the weight loss I have lost some fat around my stomach or something but I am definitely able to eat more than I should.

I'll check in tomorrow and let you know how it goes!!!!


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My Story

Well my journey is beginning.

Many years ago (30 to be exact), I was a model.  I did runway and photography work.  5'9, 125 lbs.  Man I looked good!

Then I had children and everything changed.  I'm not so sure I should blame it on my kids really.  They didn't cause me to start pigging out and eating things I wasn't supposed to.  All I know is that from that point on I have had a battle with my weight.

Like everyone else I have run the diet mill and I have lost!  90lbs on one, 60 on another, 30 on yet another and so on.  But inevitably I would always succumb to my cravings and begin to pound carbs and other foods.

I began considering Lap-Band a couple of years ago when I saw Ann Wilson from the rock group Heart on TV.  She too had always battled with her weight but in an extremely public way.  She talked about how the producers and managers in their videos would hide her behind things.  There were only head shots of her.  I don't know how she is doing now but I hope the band has continued to work for her.

Now I am hoping it will work for me.  I am married with a 16 year old daughter still at home and in high school.  My family is supportive.  I have read and researched and been to seminars and feel I am ready.  My surgery date is February 7th and I am excited and scared all at the same time.  I know this will be a major life changing event and those are always scary.  But I figure that I can only benefit from having the surgery and I made a list of the reasons why I am having this done.

1.               Don’t want to look pregnant

2.               Want to look good in jeans and leather

3.               Want to be able to get up from the couch without needing a crane

4.               Tired of GERD

5.               Want my feet to stop hurting

6.               Want to be able to fit into theater and airplane seats comfortably

7.               Don’t want to be fat Karen riding Fat Bob (my Harley)

8.               Don’t want to be embarrassed

9.               Want to be able to tie my shoes, shave my legs without effort

10.            Want to be able to shop in the regular size departments of stores

11.            Want to be able to exercise with Annia (my Rottweiler)

12.            Want to be healthy

13.            Don’t want to be a fat woman in a bathing suit

14.            Want to be able to get myself up off the floor

15.            Want to make a good impression on job interviews or business meetings

16.            Want to FEEL sexy

17.            Want to be able to sleep without having to be inclined

18.            Want to look in the mirror and think “hot” not “slug”

19.            Don’t want to be heavier than my husband

20.            Want to be able to have tummy tuck

So there you have it.  I'm on the way.  I'll be checking in frequently on my blog I'm sure.