newlifekp

Not sure how far you are willing to drive, but Dr. Merz in Kearney, NE has started taking limited fill patients. Don't know what his limit is, but it is a possibility!

That is exaclty my understanding and instructions as well. If you spread it out, you eat more and don't get the 'satisfied' feeling. Not 'not hungry, but satisfied. I think there is a difference.

I just had my first fill this afternoon! It was good...no pain (like a quick shot, maybe) and he even had to dig a little bit, which I understand is pretty common. He did not numb me first, and I was really nervous about my first fill too although he kind of sprung this on me. I didn't really think he would want to do it at my 4 week appt - but I am so glad he did....no problems at all. Good luck...don't be nervous! It doesn't change anything that will happen, and may make it worse if you are tense. The surgery is the hard part, I think, as far as pain goes. And with my surgeon, even that wasn't bad at all! And autocorrect hates me too...it tries to fix things that I don't want it to, and doesn't recognize the stupid easy fixes!

I have my 4 week post op today. Don't expect a fill, since he didn't tell me liquids only yesterday. But I am not losing pounds (although I am losing inches). We will see this afternoon!

It is dehydration, as others have said. Believe me, you do not want to get worse. Force liquids down or call you doctor and he will likely get you in somewhere for IV fluids. Once you get dizziness and nausea, it is very difficult to catch up on your fluids and you will end up in the ER. This is experience talking....you don't want to hurt your band, because with dizzyness and nausea, you will start gagging and vomiting soon.

I suggest going to the library, ordering from Amazon and studying every forum or article you can get your hands on to help make this decision. Also, attend a seminar or get a consultation with one or two (depending on availability) bariatric surgeons. Only you can make this life-changing decision yourself, and everyone has your history or something similar. It took me 5 years to make my decision, and I just had surgery in December. I am quite happy, and the surgery was minor from a physical standpoint. The toughest part will be staying committed and understanding the life changes - which is why it took me 5 years!

I love, love, love the Vitamin Water Zero (naturally sweetened). They have quite a few flavors and it adds Vitamins (100% Vit C, for example). I have completly replaced my before-surgery daily Coke Zero (or 2 or 3) with a 20oz bottle of Vitamin Water Zero. I drink 2 a day, so I know that at a minimum, I am getting 40 oz of water. Most of the time, I will drink the bottle down to about 1/4 flavored water remaining, and fill the bottle up with plain water. It is economical, and still tasty! Be careful, though, of the Vitamin Water regular, it has up to 100 calories a bottle. The same thing with the SoBe water - my husband was sweet and brought home a bunch of the flavored waters (well, he really doesn't want a repeat performance of my dehydration ER visit 5 days post op!), but most of the ones he bought for variety were the regular calorie ones. So they still taste about the same, but go for the Zero version! Good luck!

Congratulations! I am happy for your success!! I am 3 weeks out this week, and I am down 25lbs, although some of that is pre-op. But still I had my first person that doesn't know about my surgery ask me last week if I am losing weight.

Also, I think that they may touch the diaghram during surgery, which just causes a temoprary bout of spasms. I am sure I read that somewhere else during my initial research. Good luck...I hate the hiccups!

B.B., I agree with your idea..it is more embarrassment than not wanting to talk about it. I do feel more comfortable now that I am 3 weeks post-op. Before surgery, I really struggled with not telling anyone except my husband, 2 best friends, my boss and my mom. Other than that, I only shared with 2 women at work that I knew has been banded a few years ago. For the most part, I plan on saying to anyone who comments about my weight loss (hopefully!) that I am just eating better and exercising. That is the turth, right. We don't own anyone an explanation or debate, for sure!

I recently watched a series on Youtube of a lapband surgery by a dr. in Kansas City. I am glad I watched this 2 weeks after my own procedure last month! But if you can stomach (no pun intended!) that video, you can see why they want us to lose as much weight as we can pre-op. It was crazy how much yellow fat was around the stomach and all the areas they need to access to place the band. For sure the 2-4 week liver diet is important. One of the books I read as research said if your doctor doesn't require it, you should question their complication rate. I don't know if that is true, but I can definately see the possibility.... I agree with honk above, I also thought of it as a test of my commitment for the rest of my life. I think my dr. did as well.

GOOD JOB!

Lorilovesflowers - I was also so worried about a snow storm. I had the added worry of having my surgery depend on a proctor (another experienced dr. watching my surgeon's first and second surgery. The proctor was flying in the day before from his Christmas ski vacation in Colorado. I live in a rural area and if he couldn't come in, my surgery was off. I also had a bad cold they were watching for pneumonia. But everything was blue sky and decent temperatures, and I passed my morning pre-op. I had an almost perfect surery - no pain, no complications, great dr, great nursing staff. I will hope you have the same! Good luck

I just got the go ahead this afternoon to start introducing real foods! Yea! If I never see broth (or pretty much any clear or creamy soup) I will be thrilled!!!! I am soooo excited...and nervous. I don't want to go overboard and start gaining!

Thanks for this advice! I am in Week 3 and haven't lost any lbs in the last 7 days (well, keep going up and down with the same 3 lbs). I am glad to know this isn't uncommon!

I have also been eating a few crackers with dip of some sort. I am worried about eating the crackers, but I had to have some texture a little bit! I drink a sip of water after a few well-chewed and mushed crackers, just to make sure they are liquid-y. Not enough water to wash it down, just soften it up (hopefully). I am 14 days out today!

I was banded on 12/27. The first 7-8 days, it was easy to keep to the liquid diet. This past week, I have added small amounts of cottage cheese, white bean chili and pureed spaghetti sauce with about 1 oz of meatball. I had to have some sort of 'texture', or I knew I would eat something totally off menu. I also learned a lesson at work on Firday, when I was caught in a meeting where lunch was served and they ordered pizza! I couldn't leave to get my lunch (working lunch), so I had a piece of thin crust cheese pizza and I added a sip of water with every small bite. I didn't get full obviously, but hopefully I didn't hurt my stomach either :-(

Congratulations! That must have felt wonderful!

LBT Addict - Do I understand that you are already eating solid foods? WOW! I am on a full liquid diet for 2-4 weeks and thought that was pretty standard. I can't believe that you are already eating chicken! Don't get me wrong...I would kill for a piece of chicken right now, lol!

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing. I am feeling good and going back to work tomorrow, finally! I was out running errands with the kids today (Wal-Mart, mall) as a test run and was really tired, but not too horrible. My surgery was 12/27 so I am exactly 1 week post op. I am finding that I am eating more than pure thin liquids (which I was supposed to be on for 2 weeks, then adding applesauce for Weeks 3, 4). I know my surgeon is being super cautious, since this is his first, but could't stand broth and Jello anymore. I tried some runny cottage cheese, baby food (bananas) and a 1 saltine mushed up in my tomato Soup. I am eating less than a 1/4 c of the thicker liquids so I don't stretch out my pouch. I did see a less-strict diet post-op diet in one of my books. Hopefully I can combine the two. I am looking for advice....anyone have any thoughts good or bad about this or ideas how to liven up the full liquid diet?

My best friend isn't overweight, but she was always trying to get me to follow some fad diet with her (which she never stuck too). I am sure that at work tomorrow she is just going to be like everything is normal...but I think I will play it closer to the vest from now on and keep my ups and downs to myself, my family or my support group (like all of you!).

Hi Everyone! I had LapBand surgery last Monday, December 27th. I was the first patient to have LapBand surgery done at the hospital in Kearney, NE, and I was also the first patient my surgeon, Dr. Merz, had performed. He was wonderful and everything with the surgery went perfectly. I highly recommend Dr. Merz to anyone in central Nebraska that is considering lap band surgery. Does anyone know how to get him added to the 'Nebraska' listing of physicians? One of the great things about having tgeh surgery done close to home (even though it was a little scary being the first all around) is that I know my fill compliance will be much better. Most of the other bandsters I know have to drive to at least 2-3 hours for appointments, and several are non-compliant. I look forward to learning from everyone! Thanks

I am doing well, thank you! I felt great after surgery - no pain, no issues at all and I was a very, very nervous patient!. I did get dehydrated New Year's Eve and had to go to the ER for fluids and meds, but that was completely my fault for not drinking enough - I knew I was not taking in enough and it just became bad really fast. But I felt good after a few hours. The hardest part of the surgery for me is staying on track with the liquid diet! I am so tired of broth, Carnation Breakfast, etc. I can't wait to eat something with some texture/flavor. But I know from the posts of others that it will happen soon enough. I odrered quite a few books from Amazon.com that helped me a lot make the decision to go forward. I also attend a informational meeting. At my suregon's first 'meet-n-greet', he had just decided to start the surgeries and I was almost done with my insurance requirements (6 months of record keeping), so we were a good match. I looked into this about 6 years ago when a co-worker had surgery, but I was not ready yet. I think you will know in your heart when you are ready, although you will have moments of panic and doubt through the whole process. I think it is mostly fear of the actual surgery and anesthesia. I wasn't really worried about the "after". I hope I can answer any questions you have....maybe it will help me stay focused and not feel sorry for myself!

Thanks Beckyrlnd! That is what I keep telling myself...I did this for myself, not anyone else (well, maybe my husband and kids some). While I could understand more easily the lack of support during actual weight loss, during the surgery process was a little hurtful.

Do what you can to get your Water in at least. I was banded on Monday the 27th and on New Year's Eve I was in the ER for dehydration...I couldn't stop retching, dizzy and felt like I was going to just pass out. The dehydration snuck up on me because I felt great up until that day, although I knew I wasn't drinking enough. Now I am afraid I caused my band to slip or something else to happen. You do not want that to happen - force those liquids! Good luck!