B-52

You say you had three fills, but fail to mention how much per fill and total current cc's. It's all about your Dr. and you finding that optimum setting for your band. Everyone is different. On one visit, I actually gained weight between fills!!! I was not scolded, Dr. calmly said we will get there sooner or later. After 7 months, I can say I am at that point. (sweet spot, green zone, etc)

This is normal for someone who has only recently been banded. I felt no restriction at all, and took me around 5 months to get to that "sweet Spot" I remember at the gym, downing full bottles of Water like it was nothing. Used to graze all day because I was always hungry. Now, I eat whatever I want, but my band won't let me eat too much. So since my intake is restricted, I choose the good foods first. My choice. Last night for dinner I had a steak off the grill, and some veggies. Cut small prices, and was only able to eat a fourth of the steak, and half the veggies, if that.

I was banded on a Monday. Had my final pre-op appointment with the Dr. on a Friday. Thought real hard on my final meal. Saturday I went to my favorite Chinese Buffet, all you can eat. Figured this was one place I will never visit again. Sunday, day before surgery, I pretty much fasted to get it out of my system before surgery Monday.

THAT IS GOOD NEWS. so, tell me, has your Dr. taken you off all medications??? How much weight did you loose and in what period of time?? I'm in the same boat as you. My numbers are normal now also, but he still has me on the meds. Just reduced all the dosages way down. Hopefully next visit he will start to DC them.

Everyday for Breakfast I make a smoothie in the blender using Muscle Milk Lite as a base with some added berries, etc. I also take a dose of liquid Protein such as Pro-stat or Proteinex (tastes like ****) That gives me 40 g to start my day, and it really gives me energy and no hunger for the full day! Then what I have for lunch, then dinner, will get me to, or close to, my daily goal of protein.

I always wait a few days before I react to having a fill. Things do even out after that for me. You do however, have to be able to get liquids (water) down, even if there is a slight gurgling sound/feeling. BTW, my band is always tight first thing in the morning, gets better as the day goes on.

Checked in Hospital at 7am, surgery at 10am, home by 7pm. Longest wait was hanging around in recovery for them to take me to x-ray. Once that was done, I was able to go home. That was a Monday. Went into the office for 2 hrs. on Thursday, and a few hours on Friday. Back to work full time following Monday. I did take the entire week off, but by day 3 I just had to get out and do something.

Same here. Only supplies used is 1 syringe, 1cc saline(maybe) 1 cup water, and the paper on the exam table. All of that for a $30 co-pay. So easy a Caveman can do it!

I am officially in One-derland !! I have been flirting around 200 lbs. for 3-4 days, and have been at 199 for the last 2 days straight. My First Goal reached! My 2nd goal is to loose an additional 10 lbs. This will put me in the "Over-Weight" class. Where else can someone get excited by being over-weight but here, having passed from "Morbidly Obese" to "Obese" to Over-weight ? My 3rd goal will be to get my BMI into the "Normal" range. The biggest compliment I have received thus far: I was at a business conference where I ran into people in the business I have not seen in over a year in some cases. One person exclaimed for all to hear "You're remarkable! The older you get, the younger and better looking you get! It's supposed to work the other way around" (I'm 60 years old)

My Wife and I cruise at least once a year. Just got back from a 9 night RCL cruise this June. My new habits now, are the same when on a ship. Simple fact is I'm not all that hungry. I approached dinner the same as I would going to a restaurant at home. Emphasize the Protein, skip the large appetizers (they will fill you up before you get at the entree) ans maybe a low fat dessert. I NEVER went to the buffet at all on the cruise. No reason to, except for Breakfast were I ordered a omelet, and could only eat 1/2 at best. No other sides. When things like Cookies etc were made available, I would grab one, nibble, then throw it away. You have a good opportunity to exercise. All ships have a fitness center which I did every morning. Also use the stairs instead of the elevators. There were many days I went without lunch. Especially when off the ship at a beach, etc. Alcohol was not a problem, has not been with me since being banded. Although I am not a heavy drinker, it's hard to avoid any on a ship. Had at least 2 -3 drinks a day. A lite beer or 2 by the pool or at the beach.

Gas-X has nothing to do with the post-op gas pain most people complain about. This pain is from the procedure of pumping air into your abdominal cavity to make it easier for the surgeon to work. After, they extract the air, but never get all of it. The air will accumulate and move upward, under you ribs and eventually accumulate in your left shoulder. My daughter is a Nurse Practitioner, critical care post-op. She informed me the ONLY treatment for this is to get up and start walking as soon as possible after surgery, as much as possible. It is a standing order for all post-op patients in Hospitals. People may experience different "gas" pains in their digestive tract due to radical changes in their diet. Gas-X will work for this.

About the same with me. My surgeon is split between 2 practices, plus I know he is doing surgery twice a week. But he does see me every time I have a office visit, and he does the fills. No fluoro either. Drink a cup of Water before I leave. Cell Phone??? Why would I want to call him???? I deal with patients and their families every day. The last thing I want is to have them have my cell #. There is always somebody in the office if I need help at least 2 PA's that I know about. I've gone to his other location when I was doing the pre-op thing.

I use MyNetDiary -Pro. Can input foods you eat. Has a very large database of available foods. Can scan the barcode on packaged items to load the nutritional values. You can also enter your daily exercises, manually or use the large data base for that too. Set goals, enter you weight, display charts and graphs for daily progress, etc, etc. etc.

As for myself, I do not weigh or measure what I eat. You have to "Respect" your band, and stop eating when you are full. The band will tell you.I've had to learn when the band is telling me that is enough. Do not force the issue. You can and that would stretch the pouch to where you could start eating more than you should.

Going fast is not the way to use a eliptical!!! It's about resistance. How hard you have to work. I use one everyday. If I wanted, I could go like crazy at the lowest setting, but it would not do anything except ROM, and probably pull a muscle or 2. Granted, you have to start somewhere, to get the rhythm. But then you need to start upping the resistance to get any cardio effect. I'm a 60 year old male. I do 30-45 minutes a day at a resistance setting of 15. I wear a heart rate monitor to ensure I am getting the right amount of work. When I finish, my shirt is soaking wet with sweat.

2 weeks post-op, I would not get too worried. I had to learn that the real process does not begin till after 4-6 weeks post-op. It took me 3 fills before I could say the band started doing what I expected it to do all along. Everyone is different. Do not compare (and compete) with other people. Another reason I keep the surgery to myself, and make it my own personal program.

Sorry, not my style of humor. I believe if people ask me a straight forward intelligent question, they deserve a straight forward intelligent answer.

I have been using a elliptical for about 3 years now. Can't stand the pounding (impact) when using a treadmill. Perhaps when I loose more weight. Anyhow, there are 3 different styles of elliptical machines at the gym I go to. I am only comfortable on one of them. Seems that on the other 2, I am standing very erect, almost feeling like I am leaning backward at times. The one I use I feel that my weight is leaning a little forward. This is the only one I am comfortable with, so when it came time to purchase one I bought the same brand. Ellipticals are more about resistance and time rather then speed. Set a goal, say 20-30 minutes for starting out, and set your resistance to "1". When you get comfortable, start increasing your resistance to 3, then 5, 7. When you can do 30 minutes at 7-10, then it's time to think about monitoring your heart rate and go fro the Cardio for 20-30 minutes. After that, you can start increasing your time.

But don't forget all the release forms you blindly sign when going through admissions. Those would probably protect the hospital from any lawsuits, and the hospital will discipline the employee. When I see new patients I need all the release forms signed just to be able to talk with the insurance companies.

First of all, this is why I chose not to tell anyone that I had the surgery. Second, I tell people I am on a diet and I watch what I eat and how much.

I'm not a heavy drinker, I can go months between drinks. But I do have a few from time to time on occasions. For instance: In June we were on vacation....a Caribbean cruise. I had at least 2 mixed drinks a day. Last week, the July 4th weekend, we went to a ballgame and I had 3 lite beers throughout the game. Whenever we go out to dinner I will have a pre-dinner cocktail. I don't drink anything else carbonated. Now I'm not saying it is OK to drink while being banded, or when dieting for that matter. I'm not saying carbonated drinks are Ok either. All I'm saying is what I have done, and have had no personal effects....other than the effects of drinking 3 beers at a ballgame.

Being filled yesterday, you should not be eating solid foods so soon. Having said that, I also have 8cc's in a 11cc band. The feeling you have right now, get used to it. It will not happen as often as it does right now, but it will happen more easily if you are not careful. Give it 2 weeks to make any determination. If still very tight, Dr. can take out a 1/2 cc or so. But it sounds like you are there where your fills will be "Fine Tuning" based on your weight loss. I go back in 2 weeks, and if my weight loss is not good, I may ask for 1/2 cc. Last visit things were fine, and did not get a fill.

Your Dr. is correct. You must remember for the first few weeks you are in the post-op healing stage. Some loose weight, some do not, some gain.

Not to rain on your parade, but you are only 1 week post-op and really haven't eaten anything. Those numbers, at least in my case, jumped all over the place for a week or 2.

I take 2 scoops Muscle Milk Light every morning. 1 scoop Vanilla-banana, and 1 scoop chocolate. It does not make me feel bloated, but I am satisfied with only that and other supplements for Breakfast. Funny about GNC. I buy my Muscle Milk online. Once when I was running low, I went to GNC and the guy did all he could to talk me out of it and purchase a GNC brand of shake mix.