Donnaamarie

I see from your other post that you did end up with another .5cc's of fill. I hope this is going to work for you! I went for my first post-op yesterday and ended up not getting a fill. I can't eat more than 3-4 ounces of protein at a sitting so my surgeon decided to forgo it. I lost 30 pounds in 29 days, I'm guessing that I'm doing okay without the fill. I made an appointment for 3 weeks from yesterday as he suggested. I will see if anything changes during that time. He said I have a 14cc APL band and he was surprised that with no fill I was feeling full. That just goes to show you that everyone is different in this journey!

Why are you eating less than 300 calories a day? A good Protein shake 3 times a day will be more than that. Take a look at what you surgeon told you to eat. I think you might be short changing yourself. And as the other poster suggested, perhaps the exercise is a little too much that early out is a bit taxing on your healing body. Remember, we didn't gain our weight overnight, we won't lose it overnight. Relax and be gentle on your healing body. You will do great!

I am so glad everyone is doing so well! I am scared of getting stuck, so scared!! I am going to do everything to avoid it. Right now i find myself eating a little fast, even though I chew a lot! That is not going to fare well when I have a fill. I am a little tight still from the surgery I guess because stuff hurts sometimes going down even now. I haven't had a fill and I am supposed to go on Wednesday to get one. I'm not sure I need it. I am wondering if my doc is going to do it regardless. I was banded on March 29 and I have lost 30 pounds. I can only eat like 3 ounces of protein at a time, no more. I get a "soft stop" signal when I burp. Then I know it's time to stop! I haven't felt real hunger yet and I get in anywhere from 600-800 calories a day and at least 80 grams of protein. I'm also kinda afraid to move forward to ALL foods. Does anyone else have this same kind of fear???

Lost track of this post As of last Wednesday I was down to 319 from 338 on day of surgery. So 19 pounds down in 2 weeks.

I'm glad the doc isn't too worried about the stitch rip thing! I was worried for you! I am going for my first fill on 4/27. I am wondering whether my doc is one of those that wont fill if i am losing okay on my own? I don't know that this will last, the non-hungry feeling. I'm only 2 1/2 weeks out and I am really not feeling hunger. I am also down 19 pounds since the surgery on 3/29. I am eating at least 70 gms of protein a day, sometimes as much as 100 a day. Heck, I can "diet" with the best of them for a short time. it's after it starts slowing down that i lose my mojo. I guess i'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see! I have also been dealing with a seroma and have been on antibiotics for the past week. I'm hoping everything is cleared up and I'm ready to go for the fill on the 27th! It's great to see that all March Bandsters are doing well!!

I don't know that I could have ever done that pre-op diet. LOL I have done Medifast and did okay for like 6 weeks but somehow the idea of the pre-op diet would have been horrible to me. However, the day before my surgery I did my own liquid diet and by night time I was not a happy camper and I ate a cinnamon bun. oops! You are starting around the same weight as me. I started at 338 and now weigh 317. I had my surgery on 3/29/11. You will do great, just keep your eye on the prize! Good luck!!!! Donna

I have a seroma too! It's very annoying. My doc actually drained it when it became too painful to ignore. More tight then painful, truth be told. Of course it's already come back and yes the size of a tennis ball!!! I have some redness around the area but no leaking from the already closed incision. my doc gave me some antibiotics to make sure there is no infection. He said he definitely doesn't want infection near the port! I am also afraid to do too much in fear that I will increase the fluid in the seroma!! I'm going to see the doc on Wednesday and hope he clears it up as my first fill is scheduled for 4/27!

Jenn, I am laughing here, but definitely not at you. It's a running joke in my house. I can step on my scale and then get a certain weight, step off into the bathroom, come back after not doing anything in the bathroom, and "gain" 3 pounds. The other day my boyfriend finally replaced the battery because the scale actually said LO. He put the battery in and then put it down in the living room. I stepped on it and got one weight. We moved it to the bedroom and I stepped on and had again "gained" 3 pounds. I don't know what the real weight is!!! I am using my doctors numbers once a month. I figure that our bodies are changing so much that the scale doesn't even really know from minute to minute what it says!!! According to my scale I have lost 19 pounds since my pre-op bloodwork day on March 23. I find it gratifying that the scale is going down but I don't put that number in stone. Do what another poster said and check your doctors scale against yours. Heck, bring your scale to the doctor so you have some idea of what a "real" weight is! Good luck Donna

Hi Donna, I was banded on the same day as you. I doubt highly you stretched your pouch with 3 bites of spaghetti! Have you tried gas x strips for the gas? They work wonders for me. I was not prepared for the level of pain either, so I know how you are feeling. I know that the liquid stage is tedious but I keep reading that it's not that it stretches the pouch but that your stomach has to work hard to digest anything solid which places strain on the healing stitches, hence making it a possibility for the band to slip. That scares me more than the idea of stretching at this point! I do NOT want to go for another surgery to have my band repositioned. No way! Today I was not even very hungry. I'm savoring these moments, believe me. I know the hunger will eventualy come back with a vengeance and it's not something I am looking forward to. My doc made a follow up for my fill on 4/27, I thought that was a little soon as the guidelines are indeed 6 weeks. Good luck and the month will pass before we know it!! Donna

Hi Tammy, Your PCP gets more involved. Your clearance letter has to be within 2 weeks of the surgery. The cardiologist and blood work from your pre-op is sent to them before they can do the clearance letter. It gets confusing, it honestly does. When all the information goes to your surgeon they will tell you next steps. I just kept jumping through their hoops and then they gave me a surgery date!! I started my process on February 5 and then had the surgery on March 29. I also had more cardiologist stuff to go through after my EKG came back. I know all surgeons are different, above was my experience. Good luck!!! Donna

My son had to take a Phys Ed course for college as well. My son is about 6'3" and 340 pounds. He LOVED taking the Phys Ed class. Only class he got an A in. LOL He didn't care about his weight, just that he really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Also, remember, just because someone is skinny does NOT mean they are in shape. They could be heavy smokers or more sedentary than you believe you are! Have fun and even if it is paid for forced excercise, you are doing it!!

Thank you so much for the above. Your tastes and what you've eaten are very similar to what i would find myself eating in the future!! That is wonderful that you did so well. Your starting BMI was not outrageously high so you did better than I am sure you expected!!! Good for you and good luck with your maintenance. You seem like you have it all figured out! Donna

I think we were banded around the same time. By day 5 for me I thought I was going to die, that was yesterday. I was so hungry I imagined that my body was eating itself from the inside out. After reading many posts about how our stomachs have to heal, and if the stomach works too hard to digest solid foods the band would slip, I was petrified to eat anything!!!! I ended up puree'ing a half can of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup and adding a ton of low sodium organic vegetable broth. After about 3 ounces of that the hunger was gone, and furthermore it hasnt really come back!! I was sure today would be hell. I haven't had a problem at all but did have more of that pureed soup and it seems to do the trick. I also had about 1/2 of a container of Chobani which filled meup. Here's to no more days of excruciating hunger for either of us!!!!

Thanks fly i didn't want anyone worrying that I had died!! I also wanted to stop the complaining and let others know that there IS a corner to turn and it's not all as bubbles, stomach emptiness and whining!!!

I'm just updating as I saw the concern about the dizziness I was feeling yesterday. I had gone out to do some errands for the first time since the surgery on Tuesday. I didn't want Monday morning to be the first time I had ventured out into the world. It was brutal but I am glad that I did it. I just wanted to update and say that yesterday was like a turning point for me in this journey. I was feeling like I had made a mistake, wondering why I decided to put something inside of me that was making me feel like this. I was so hungry I was almost in tears. All the Protein shakes in the world weren't helping. I read a many page thread about all the creative things people were doing to get their clear and full liquids in. So I decided to take a 1/2 can of Progresso Italian wedding soup and puree it. Then i added a whole lot of low sodium organic vegetable broth and pureed it again. I made about 1 1/2 cups and was fully intent on eating the whole thing if I could. LOL But I started eating and was making myself conscious of how I felt, even over the gnawing emptiness in my gut. I ended up eating about 3 ounces of it over the course of 20 minutes while my boyfriend consumed a pound of shrimp in alfredo sauce with angel hair Pasta, and that didn't even bother me!! After eating that I was actually sated, the pains went away and when I woke up this morning I wasn't hungry or gassy. Yay!!!! I was worried that I would be going to work on Monday feeling pretty much like crap. I was wondering how long it would take me to feel normal again. I'm sure there will be a few more obstacles to over come, and my port site of my stomach is still swollen. But this feels a whole lot better than the last 4 days!!!

I had my surgery on 3/29. I also had the gas really badly directly following surgery and up until yesterday. I have been using the gas x strips. Definitely try those. Also use an over the counter medication like Tagament or something similar for that stuck feeling. It really helps to break up the gas. You really also need to be sipping Water, doing Protein drinks and the sugar free popsicles have been a godsend. Good luck!

Hi guy, I was banded on the 29th, a day after you. The first couple of days I felt so swollen that i wasn't hungry at all. Today I feel actually sick and dizzy and weak because of lack of food. I am drinking Protein shakes, Water, chicken broth and skinny water. I have also been allowed applesauce although it didn't go down so well. I am relying on my own will power not to eat. That and the fact that after surgery our stomachs are still tender and swollen and we need to be careful. I will be getting a fill on 4/27. From what I've read I'm not even really banking on the fact that it is going to give me the restriction I feel i need. That comes in time from what others who are further along have said. I am just taking it day by day and following the rules of the band. But I so know how you feel. Good luck!! We are both going to need it! Donna

HI Tyler and welcome to the forums! Try Gas X strips. They seem to work best for me and for most other people. I was only banded on the 29th of march and the gas for me was the most difficult thing to bear. It does break up and pass, believe me! make sure you get up and walk around a lot too. Good luck!

Name, real or screen~ Donna Age~ 46 Weight on April1st~ 324 Goal Weight for April 29th~ 310 Exercise Goal for April~ to start back up Dietary Goal for April~ to continue to learn how to work my band Personal Goal for April~ to survive Date Banded~ 3/29/11 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 12 lbs.

Hi Melissa, I am new here too but wanted to welcome you to the Lap Band forum. I was banded in Poughkeepsie, Ny on 3/29/11. I am on the clear liquid stage too. Wow, that's interesting that you were filled with 6ccs on the date of surgery. I dont think i could have gotten down Water if I was filled at all because my site was and is still so swollen. I look forward to seeing your progress here! Donna

I was banded on 3/29. I have been doing okay but the hunger set in last night and I was pretty unhappy. I have had a lot of gas issues so that has pretty much kept the hunger at bay. The pains are very minimal now but the hunger is back with a vengeance. I have found that 1/2 a cup of coffee is enough to fill me up and make me forget temporarily about the hunger. I have been drinking about 64 ounces of Water a day in addition to the chicken broth, Protein drinks and skinny water. I was told I could add apple sauce and sugar free Jello but they don't go down so well and hurt right at my breast bone. I have also been having diarrhea which is definitely not a lot of fun. I woke up this morning hungry and had a Protein shake. It didn't do much to ease the hunger. I also took a gas x strip and then drank some water. I had diarrhea right after the Protein Drink so I guess I am pretty empty again. Heading to the store this morning to look at some low fat cream Soups. The scale shows a loss of 15 pounds since preop testing on the 23rd. I'm not paying much attention to the scale at this point, its really irrelevant. I'm just concerned about the diarrhea and the dizziness and shakiness I am feeling right now. I can't imagine we can survive on the small amount of calories we are taking in. I have to wait until Monday to call the PA and she'll tell me I can progress to yogurt and I guess runny oatmeals and other mushies, not even pureed yet!! I don't regret this for one second. My boyfriend apologized for eating in front of me last night. I told him that I chose to have this surgery and it is up to me to make it work. Just thought I'd share with others in the same boat as me!!! Good luck to everyone!

Hi Ary, Googled this for you. What is a Band erosion? This is when the Band actually erodes into the stomach. It is a more serious problem, and generally requires removal of the Band. Band erosion is thought to be related to placing too many sutures (or too tight sutures) at the time of Band implantation. Surprisingly, Band erosion is often unnoticed. Occasionally the port will become infected if bacteria track along the catheter out to the port. Other times patients will stop losing weight. Diagnosis often requires an endoscopy. Hope it helps. Not sure that there aren't or couldn't be other reasons for it. I'm very new to this too!

Paula, Good luck with your procedure. It will be here before you know it!! I know that I will keep coming back here for much support. I will look for your update! Donna

My name is Donna and I was banded on 3/29/11. It's only been three days and I'm still dealing with a little bit of gas, pain in the sternum and some diarrhea. After reading many posts I see all of these things are normal. I have not been able to even swallow apple sauce so I think my stomach is a little more swollen then some others. I will be patient and wait until I can before trying anything else. I was told I could try some egg drop Soup by the PA at my surgeons office -- wouldn't have thought of that on my own. It went down somewhat well but no more than 2 ounces! Other than that it's been Protein shakes, low sodium broth and sugar free juices. Oh, and of course Water. I have also had a couple of sugar free ice pops but really haven't felt like having more than that. I have just poured 1/2 cup of coffee which I know is not a perfect choice but it feels good going down. I am not a coffee lover so this isn't something I am going to have a problem with. My first fill is on April 27 and I have no idea how much he is going to put in. I have been feeling some grumbling that I believe are hunger pangs but the idea of eating anything at this point is downright frightening!!! Thanks for all that have gone before me. I love reading your posts!!!!!! Donna