enterprise01

I understand exactly what you're talking about. I feel that way, too. I've had one fill and still don't have any restriction. Everything just passes right through. And the more I chew, the more quickly is passes through. I'm actually making an effort not to chew my food as well as I should in hopes that it will fill my pouch and give me that full feeling sooner. I'm probably going to regret that when I get another fill and have restriction, but I figure all of this is a learning process. And what works for one person does not work for another.

He didn't order any tests for me either. I'm a self-pay and have no co-morbidities except high cholesterol.

You may find that just a steriod injection will not completely relieve your pain. You may need repeated injections to manage the condition and steroids can cause unpleasant side effects. At some point, it's possible that you'll have to use both steriods and painkillers. I often take liquid Motrin and have no problems with that. My surgeon told me that although liquid Tylenol is preferable, as long as I use liquid, chewable, or crushed forms of NSAIDs, then it will not harm the band. The concern with NSAIDs is that a pill or capsule won't pass through the band and will sit in the small upper pouch. NSAIDs can be corrosive to the stomach, so you don't want them sitting in the upper pouch where they could damage the lining of the pouch, which could possibly lead to erosion in the future. You might want to talk with your surgeon again and see if he would be OK with liquid NSAIDs.

So far, I've been able to eat everything on your list without any difficulty. Granted, I've only had one fill so far, but the only time I've felt discomfort was when I ate too fast or too much. I ate too many green Beans one night and paid for it with an awful bout of nausea. I don't intend to give anything up except Coke, which is an addiction for me. I've been Coke-free for 40 days now. I'm like an alcoholic counting my days sober.

How about judgement? It seems that most people outside the legal industry don't know that there's only one "e" in judgment. It also irritates me that I can rarely read a news article on the internet without finding a grammatical error. It seems that everyone relies on their Spell Checker. Don't they have editors or proofreaders anymore?

I'm a self-pay, too. I called and they told me to come in to his office on Monday and they will check to make sure the first fill is still there. Sometimes the band absorbs the first fill. If the saline is gone, they will replace it. If the saline is still there, I have to wait 2 more weeks to get another fill.

What?!?!?! They told me I had to wait 3 weeks in between fills. I'm going to call his office this afternoon. I'm still very hungry and really need another fill.

I'm hungry every 2 hours unless I eat something higher in fat, like beef. With chicken or fish, my stomach is growling loudly and painfully within a couple of hours. Two more weeks until my next fill. Ugh. I wish it was two more days.

No. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for the Brits in this particular situation. Watch the video again and listen to what the woman at the gas station says. Of course you do. Don't confuse what's right and wrong with what's legal and illegal. Those are different issues. The Brits were acting within the law, but what they did was still wrong. What the Alabamans did was both wrong and illegal. Do you think those Brits would be right if they drove into Harlem with "I support the KKK" painted on their cars? Do think those Brits would be right if they drove into San Francisco and had "AIDS is God's punishment" painted on their cars? As far as I know, the Bill of Rights is still upheld in this country, but people need to take responsibility for their words and their actions. I repeat: The behavior of both parties in this instance was reprehensible.

Everyone seems to be missing an important point in that video. It wasn't really about NASCAR or Hilary Clinton or man love. Those locals knew they were being made fun of. That's what angered them. The behavior of both the Brits and the locals is reprehensible.

Shrimp goes down fine for me. I've probably eaten a couple of pounds of shrimp cocktail in the past few weeks.

I remember reading an article on about.com about lap-band surgery, and the author said that we could never have popcorn again or any beverages with caffeine. I don't think the author knew what she was talking about. Of course, I can't find that article now. Maybe they retracted it.

Yes, it can. I color my hair every 5 weeks. Just remember that it takes 3 months for it to work. By the end of the 3rd month, you will have stopped losing hair. By the end of the 4th month, you'll see a lot of new growth.

Who slaps you upside your head? You need to slap them back.

No odor, no oil. It comes in small containers and you're supposed to apply something like 1-2 milliliters to your entire scalp, which is impossible unless you're bald. So I take the small container and pour the Rogaine into a 12 oz. spray bottle and add distilled Water to it to fill the bottle. Then I spray the Rogaine on my part. I repeatedly part my hair in different places all over my scalp and continue to spray the Rogaine on until I've covered my entire scalp. In the morning, I spray it on right after my shower while my hair is still wet. I let it soak into my scalp while I'm putting on my make-up and then I use the blow dryer. At night, I do the same treatment right before bed. My hair is now as thick as it was when I was a teenager.

Maybe you need to be checked for a hiatal hernia or gallbladder problems.

Holy crap! How did you survive? Where you feeling any restriction during that time? I felt absolutely no restriction by the 4th day after surgery, so I cannot imagine waiting 6 months for a fill. What was your doctor's reasoning behind that?

I had my first fill on 2/15 and only had restriction for about 5-6 hours afterward. Sometimes the band kind of absorbs the first fill. I'm scheduled for a second fill in 2 weeks. It seems that most bandsters require at least more than 2 fills to find proper restriction.

All doctors have different guidelines, but my doctor will do a fill 4 weeks after surgery. I had my 1st fill exactly 4 weeks and 1 day post-op. He will do a 2nd fill 3 weeks after the 1st one.

Congratulations and please post all the details as you go through the process of healing. A good number of us bandsters are probably going to have plastic surgery, too, so it's always nice to hear about other people's experiences. You should check out Puddin's thread. She had a total lower body lift and now looks fabulous. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/lower-body-lift-t28009.html?t=28009

My doctor said to call him if the fever went over 101 or if it persisted for more than 3 days. A high fever or prolonged fever is a possible indication of infection.

I had a fever between 99 and 100.5 for the first 3 days after surgery. I've been told that your body releases anti-bodies in response to the invasiveness of surgery, and thus you get a fever.

What's your goal weight? Don't you just love Dr. Spivak? You know, he does consider fish to be a soft food, so you can try it when you're ready. This is from his website (http://www.lap-surgery.net/lapband/alldiet_set.htm): POST-OP DIET INSTRUCTIONS STAGE 2 (SOFT DIET FOR 4 WEEKS) Soft foods from the list below can now be added. SOFT DIET Soft fruit (banana, melon) Cooked vegetables and fish eggs Anything with the consistency of baby food

Don't blame you -- that sounds disgusting. If I had to gut and clean my fish, I certainly wouldn't want to eat it. It's odd, but salmon is the only food I've had trouble with. It seems to get stuck and then I have to drink some Water to push it down. It's ironic because salmon is one of the oiler fishes, especially compared to something like tilapia. And yet I haven't had any problems with any other type of fish or any other food for that matter.

The almond crusted tilapia at Central Market's take-away counter is delicious. I wrap it in foil and heat it in the toaster oven for about 10-15 minutes and it's wonderful. I also like the Shrimp Cakes from Omaha Steaks. One shrimp cake has 140 calories and 15 grams of Protein. Omaha Steaks also has a lot of other seafood items that are very good, like their Parmesan Crusted Trout, Tortilla Crusted Tilapia, and Stuffed Sole with Shrimp and Garlic. Take a look on their website and you'll find lots of tasty seafood items: www.omahasteaks.com