Memzzie

I have no trouble with Sushi, if I can I'll bite a peice in half, but usually you can't do that without making a mess of yourself, so the whole peice goes in like it used to, I just make extra sure I chew chew chew before swallowing, I have no trouble. Last time I ordered it with less rice, that worked out well. Can't eat nearly as much as I used to, but that's ok, at least I can still eat it!

The biggest point to remember is that everyone is different - however EVERYONE is the same in that if you listen to your STOMACH, you will find what works for you - if you DON'T listen to your stomach, you'll struggle. Your stomach will tell you when it's time to eat, and when it's time to stop eating, your head will tell you the opposite of what your stomach says (to keep eating). Fight your head and only respond to your stomach, it will take time, but you WILL win the battle, and the head voice gets really weak after a bit. Also remember that alot of the great advise you'll get from these boards are from time tested bandsters, and while that advise is very valuable, you have to remember that it's going to take you a little time before you get to where their advise applies to you in full, most times that's not until you reach some decent restriction, so until then just do what feels right for you and listen to your body, it will tell you! When I was FIRST banded, and for a few months afterward, I needed Snacks between meals. At first life was more like "I'm on a diet" and WAY less like "I've had weight loss surgery". I could eat WAY less right after surgery, but after about a month I was healed, swelling was gone and I could eat a lot more than at first (that was dissapointing), at 6 weeks you get your first fill, but don't expect to feel much, for most people it takes time to get to that restriction level where you're experiencing the wonders of the band that you read about. For me, loosing weight at first was all me, will power and working out, I didn't feel the band's help until about my last fill. For me, banster hell wasn't the time between surgery and my first fill, it was the time between my first fill and my most recent fill, those 4-5 months in between surgery and true restriction were hard. I had to fight discouragement, fight the thoughts that "this didn't work for me", fight the urge to overeat, fight to urge to quit. And then I had another fill, started to feel some help, and it's all been WONDERFUL since! Just get through it, it'll happen, don't give up! I've been banded for 7 months, my last fill, 4 weeks ago, changed everything for me! I CAN'T WAIT for my next one to see how things change again, I think with my next fill I'll be at my sweet spot, I'm so close to it now. And where I'm at now compared to where I was even right before this fill is a night and day difference! So remember that, it's going to take some time to reach a good restriction level where your hunger is more controlled and it's not as difficult to keep portions small, until then it's A LOT of will power. The band WORKS, but you have to be patient to get to restriction, that's when life gets easier. NOW I can truly say that I "eat to live", instead of "living to eat". It was a process getting here, and I can say that I saw myself slowly but steadily move away from "living to eat" and step by step getting closer to "eating to live". But it didn't happen just because I had surgery, it was a product of using will power to stop eating once I felt satisfied (NOT full, but satisfied), eating healthy, and working out. All of those things contributed to my thoughts towards food changing. I don't allow myself to eat unless I'm hungry, if I'm hungry I have a snack. I count my calories and aim for 1,200 a day, now that I'm reaching decent restriction, I rarely eat all of those calories because I don't need them, if I stop when I'm satisfied and only eat when I'm hungry I don't use all the calories. At night sometimes, if I have enough calories leftover and I'm craving something sweet, I'll have a treat even if I"m not hungry, because sometimes you just need a treat, and it's not wrong to have something sweet. But honestly, most nights I don't even want it anymore, I'm not hungry and I have no urge to snack. You'll get there, but it takes time. So many people are against counting calories, but my HUGE recommendation is to make yourself count calories for long enough to learn the nutritional value in your food, how else will you know you're making healthy choices if you don't first learn what's in your food? Who would know that there's 100 calories in 1 tablespoon of butter and oil!? Good luck to you!

yes! I burp a lot now!! All day, everyday! I can control it, so only do it in private, but if I don't do it, I get all gassy and bloated inside, I'd rather get the burps out! I don't have indigestion though, it's just gass that doesn't seem to escape unless I force it to. I was banded in Feb of this year, so maybe it'll pass eventually, but I sort of think it's here to stay.

Hi Rebecca, I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for what you're going through! I have no advise or anything to offer except to say that I will pray for you! Draw near to God, He will help you through this! Melissa

Hi all, happy Friday!! I have an odd thing happening when I swallow, I'm wondering if it happends to any of you and what your Dr's say about it, mine is of no help. I had surgery in February, all of my anatomy pre-surgery tests came back perfect, surgery went perfectly, nothing was out of the ordinary. 5-6 weeks after surgery I went in for my first follow up appt and (hopefully) a fill... my Dr does fills using an x-ray, I stand in front of it, my band shows up, I swallow the barium Fluid and we watch it go down, pool up a little and then slowly flow through my band. It's pretty cool! Except here's the odd thing that happends - when I swallow, it doens't ALL go through the band, it will pool up, sit there for a few seconds, and then here and there the fluid will start to drain through the band. After watching for a few minutes it still doesn't ALL drain through, there is still a bit left handing out above the band, eventually it does all go through. So the first time we saw this (6 weeks post op) my Dr said he never saw it before and I must have some food stuck in there, or I must be too tight, he gave me a total unfill (I had fluid in there coming out of surgery, although he doesn't know how much, maybe 6cc's he said - but I TOTALLY don't believe him that I had 6cc's, I would put money on that, he made that number up, yes, my Dr lies to me and I can prove it). He said come back in a week. After a week, the same exact thing happend (remember I now have NO fill AND that day from first thing in the morning until my appt I didn't eat a thing, only drank) so this confirms that it isn't because of a stuck peice of food and it isn't because I'm too tight. He gave me a 2.5cc fill that day, told me to come back in a month. Went back Wednesday of this week, SAME THING happends still. He did not want to give me a fill, but he also isn't doing anything else to figure it all out and he's just wasting my time (SO many issues with my Dr). I told him that I can't keep waiting for this to change on it's own, it hasn't changed in the month and a week that we've been watching it, if we're not going to do some tests or something different then I want to ignore it for now and move on with my weight loss, please give me a fill and get me back to some restriction - PLEASE! So he did, I'm at good restriction now and hopefully will see some weight loss results. Anyone have anything similar happening? Dr is now calling it a "spasm" that happends in my throat when I swallow. Some facts that might be helpful to know: 1. I've never been stuck 2. I've never felt discomfort from it, never have felt like I was choking or couldn't get food down 3. Remember that it isn't because I was over full, because it happends when I have NO fill Thanks for your 2 cents!! Melissa

Thanks ThinSista, anyone else?

I didn't have one either, and was so glad since the last time I had one the area hurt afterwards, I don't think it's a gentle process! But the last time they waited until I was asleep to insert and remove. AND, for those who are worried about being naked in the OR, I wasn't! Maybe my Dr is different, but I know I wasn't because my Dr video tapes the surgery and gives us a copy, the only skin showing in my video is my belly, everything else was covered with blankets. I was so glad!! Good luck to you!!

Hi everyone!! I was banded on 2/17 also!! I did clear liquids for the day of surgery and the day after, couldn't and didn't want to eat/drink anything else. The third day I did all liquids but also ate some grilled fish for dinner, really soft and REALLY yummy after 3 weeks of liquids!!! (yes, I was on for 3 weeks!). Since then I've alternated soft solids with liquids, if I ate soft solids for lunch I usually wanted soup for dinner. But both yesterday and today I've eaten solids for B, L and dinner and I feel great. Being VERY careful to stop when I'm full and only eat soft things, I'm eating 1/2 as much as I used to eat and feel VERY satisfied. My Dr wanted 2 weeks of liquids, another 2 weeks of mushies and then on to solids. I just couldn't do it, I was so weak from doing liquids for so long, my body was craving some food, so I'm being very careful but am eating again. Good luck to you all!! Melissa

Is it still happening? If it is, it might be gas? More often than not, if I feel nauseous it's because my stomach is full of air, if I can get some burps up or take a GasX or Tums it helps SO much and the Neasea goes away. I'm a little more than 1 week post op and I know for the first 3-4 days I was VERY gassy!! Went through a whole box of GasX, but it really helped! I hope you feel better soon!!