Different rules for the same tool (lap band)

Different Rules For The Same Tool "the Lapband"

I have been banded for about 4 1/2 months now and I have read blogs, forums, internet searches and tons and tons of youtube videos and the different rules really baffle me? I hear all these rules of protien first, so many calories, low carbs, no drinking for 30 min, no drinking for 15 minutes, no drinkinhg for an hour. only 1/2 cup of food, only 3 meals a day and no snacks, so many ounces of protien, chew , chew, chew and chew some more and eat slowly and so on and so on, you get the picture. My surgeon had me do 1 week pre op and stated to me it was to shrink the liver, I was given no specific amount of calories, portion size or protien for after surgery, was just told to do liquids, then full liquids then mushies then solids, I went to my dr for my first fill and he gave me 3cc, i was steadily losing 1 lb a week after surgery, still no specific rules on calories but they do give me a paper every time I go that states, no liquids with meals, no liquids as meals, if you have to ask yourself is this a liquid then it is probably a liquid and dont eat it as a meal, take only 20 minutes to eat your food, if you are taking more than 20 minutes to eat your food then you are trying to out eat your band, weigh once a week and eat only 3 meals a day with 2 snacks if needed, wait 1 hour for drinking after meals. this is the only rules I have. so I go home after my first fill and still not much difference, continue to eat but make good choices but eating alot like 2 cups at a time of food, go back to the surgeon about 6 weeks later and still averaging about 1lb a week weight loss and at this time I am ready to get this thing tight so i can eat less and he looks at me and says well you are losing weight, a fill is probably not what you need right now. and I say well I am eating alot and he says well kristy, how much do you think you are suppose to be eating and I say a half a cup and he says NO, you are suppose to eat until you are full then stop. he says if a half of a cup fills you up then fine but if it takes a whole cup then eat a whole cup. and then he asks me what I had for dinner last night and I say chinese food, kung pao chicken and he says how much of that did you eat and I say all of the chicken and a few bites of the rice, and he says why did you not eat more of the rice and I say i heard to avoid rice, breads and past because they are bad for you and they can get stuck and he says NO that is not true, he says to me when you eat rice, bread and pasta it swells up and this will fill the pouch up so he tells me i need to be eating more bread, rice and pasta, so now I Iam really confused, and then he tells me I am losing 1lb a week without eating rice and bread so he gives me a very small fill and tells me to eat more bread, rice and pasta to fill the pouch up. so I leave the office and say okay. I notice no difference in my fill as I am able to eat everything I want and it goes down fine, so I attempt bread, rice and pasta and it goes down just fine so I eat it. I have to be back at surgeon in 8 weeks and this left me with no restriction over the holidays and him telling me to eat rice, bread and pasta. so, what do i do? I eat rice, bread and pasta over the holidays, i go back to the dr on jan. 10, 2012 and I had only lost 2 lbs and he was not pleased. he says what happened kristy? we are now going backwards. and I say well I did what you said and i ate bread, rice and pasta and he says well what did you eat for dinner last night and i say chicken and he says how much of that did you eat and i say all of it, and he says in a stearn voice, how did you eat it and im like ummmm i ate it, he goes you chewed chewed chewed and took 30 minutes to eat it didnt you and I was like NO i ate it, i chewed it normally and swallowed it then he says well what are you able to eat for breakfast and I said 2 scrambled eggs and a piece of toast and he throws his hands up and says "NO way in hell should you be able to eat 2 eggss and toast" and im like omg this dude is nutso because as you see earlier he told me to eat til i was full. so then he says Im going to give you a fill so you cant eat that much. and he gives me a fill of 1.5 cc for a total of 5.5cc in my 10 cc band and sends me on my way and he tells me to call him if i get heartburn at night. so now here in the present, I finally notice restriction and there is NO way in Hell i can eat 2 eggs right now as one egg barely goes down, i am having stuck episodes and I get full very fast. and i lost 4 lbs after this 3rd fill from last week. in essence though my dr says not to chew chew chew, he says when you do that it liquifies the food allowing you to eat more and that I should just eat normal and then swallow. he tells me i can eat whatever I want but smaller portions, he doesnt require a certain amount of protien or calories. but as I can tell, as long as you are losing weight with him he doesnt want to adjust you but then if you dont lose weight he gets on me for not losing. so I am still very confused. I am nervous about going to see him if i dont lose weight for fear of being "scolded" again and I am also fearful that when I need to be filled he will not fill me unless I am not making progress. anyone have thoughts on any of this? I would be greatlly appreciative for any insight with your rules and your experience with your surgeon.

KristyT

January 23, 2012

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Different rules for the same tool (lap band)

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