Lap Band *Orphan Tells All

(*Isabell is currently an Ambassador for Texas-based Lap Band experts, iVital | Weight Loss, Life & You! - Weight Loss Surgery Programs, Health Care Service Provider, Weight Loss Center Texas. Why? Because her goal is to make sure what happened to her doesn’t happen to anyone else. She wishes there had been an “iVital” when she made her Lap Band decision.)


First in line at the elevator, I waited patiently on the ground floor. More hurried morning commuters joined me by the second. A middle-aged guy with no-name coffee. A young brunette in much-too-high heels. And a few young men, all in crisply ironed shirts and bold ties. Voila! The elevator doors parted. The men hesitated just long enough for a “ladies first” gesture allowing Ms. High Heels to get on. This IS Texas after all, where gentlemen are still gentlemen. Just as soon as the doors had opened, they were closed again, and the elevator made its way to floor 1, 2, 3… I stared in disbelief. I was still in the lobby. Having been pushed to the side and left behind.

This was my moment of truth. When had I become invisible?

It’s embarrassing to even write this, but people had always described me as pretty. And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to enjoying a certain amount of attention from men. That was my twenties…and even into my thirties. That was before the divorce, fleeing to France, and before a bout or two of the blues. Somewhere in there I put on an extra 30, 40, 70 pounds to my loveliness, and men stopped seeing me as lovely. More importantly, I wasn’t feelin’ it about myself either.

Food had become everything to me. I won’t bore you with the details. I have a feeling you’ve lived everything I would write anyway. Let’s just say I indulged in the intense pleasure and comfort food delivers (fast and without judgment). And the more I ate, the more I hated exercise.

Of course there was a wake-up call. Coming out of gall bladder surgery, my physician showed me the crystal-like cholesterol that had built-up inside of me causing so much agonizing pain. Well that was the end of that. I’ll show everyone I can lose this weight! You know what came next. The parade of diets: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Don’t make me list them ALL. Just know that I tried them…every one of them. Then went back again for a second round on a few. Each diet failed me and I was heavier than ever. Pretending to exercise didn’t help either.

Gastric Bypass. Oh, I had heard of it alright. But that was NOT something—no matter how fat I might be—that I was willing to do to my body. It was invasive and it was forever.

Eventually I found my way to the Lap Band. And I was an overnight success! Okay, not quite. Six months after a successful surgery, I was anything but successful. My weight HAD NOT budged. I was miserable. While I had chosen an EXCELLENT surgeon, I had long been “orphaned” by the center that coordinated my surgery.

If you don’t know what “orphaned” is, let me take a second to warn you. Being orphaned in Lap Band speak means that no one provides proper aftercare, check-ups or fills. I was left all on my own without any support. Orphaned is exactly the right term! The worst decision you can make is to pick a place that doesn’t offer months of excellent care before and after the surgery. Choosing on price or running off to Mexico is a huge Red Flag that you might end up orphaned. Do all your homework and don’t let what happened to me happen to you.

What did I do for six months post-banding? I ate nothing but butter, mashed potatoes and chocolate shakes. The Lap Band allowed me to do it. No one provided aftercare to prevent it. And quite frankly, it tasted delicious! Yet as much as I was indulging in treats, my body was STARVED for nutrition. As a Lap Band orphan, I had no idea what foods to eat, what foods to avoid, what sequence worked best, which liquid vitamins were best, where my fill “sweet spot” was, how much chewing was enough chewing not to vomit. I didn’t know ANYTHING.

More miserable than ever and desperate to make my Lap Band a success, I started researching like crazy. It took me a while to figure out exactly what worked best for me, but when I did, the weight started falling off. I don’t want to mislead you. I had to do the work of small meals, chewing like crazy and then chewing some more, making sensible decisions about food, and finally exercising for real. I went from that leisurely see-I’m-exercising-kind-of-walking to all-out jogging 4 or 5 miles. Seriously. And I didn’t hate it so much. I felt a jolt of confidence with every pound I lost and every mile I ran.

70 pounds later, I look and feel great. I’m allowed to say that about myself because I EARNED it! I know what it’s like for people to stop seeing you, even when you’re standing right there in front of them at the elevator. I know months of being an abandoned Lap Band orphan, I know the fear and embarrassment of PB-ing, and I certainly can list a few foods I miss. But I also can tell you that food isn’t the end-all be-all for me it used to be. Instead of ruling my life, it’s far more about deciding how to get the best nutrition I need. And never, NEVER again will I allow myself to become invisible.

Now that I’m so much thinner, people always ask if I’m going to have my Lap Band reversed. I wouldn’t DREAM of it. I know myself. And I know what food can do to me and would again. This proud Texas girl tells them all the same thing, “You can take my jewelry, but I’ll never give up my Lap Band! Never!”