Success in lapband

So long story REAL short. Initially you will have alot of painl; like a piece of ice caught in the middle of your chest, then you think you should take a sip of water but you don;t because the pain will intesify. You will get up and try to take deep breaths and open up your arms and you will lean over a sink or trash can and the saliva from your mouth will drip out and then slowly very slowly you will NOT THROW UP but just kinda like get whatever is caught in your stoma out, it does not gag you. There is nothing immediate about it, at least for me. I wish there was immediate because I would have been out of pain, but it all lasted about 30 minutes.

Skinnyjeans Maybe I am a gulper but don't know it. But I put crystal light into a water bottle and keep it at my desk and I just keep drinking from it all day. Crystal light makes all the difference in the world to me, but with drinking as much as I do I need to brush my teeth a couple times per day to keep the stains off of them from the red and tea flavors/dyes. I don't think I gulp but I certainly don't sip... But I also don't have a fill or any restriction.

Nikki More on the Muscle Milk. I like sweets and muscle milk is the sweetest drink I have ever tasted, I took 2 sips and read the label and poured it out. I will go on the search for isopure. However, my Dr. recommends NO MORE than 30 grms of protein at one meal.

Hotpink bubbles: So this is the good timing to form healthy habits; like going to the gym and working out and then kinda hanging out with people that like to work out and sustain a healthy lifestyle, go on walks (spring is here), men are going to start to notice you more when your weight starts coming off and they will know you as a skinny person verses that unhealthy fat person. Think of this as a diamond in the rough, a new beginning. A healthy start is to start from within at the gym and healthier eating. Make you happy from inside, when you are happy, you will surround yourself with other happy people. Do you live near Reno? I will go to the gym with you... I as well need to be around more healthy people.

My Dr. does not cath typically. But I have ben cath'd before and it does not hurt, just a little pressure like you have to pee. Not a big deal, you should not worry about that one, and I don't believe they would cath you unless you were already sedated.:notagree

You know, they did not cathiter me when I went for surgery, and apparently I "pee'd" when I woke up from surgery. I did not even understand what they were doing and why they were changing my sheets "because they were wet" until a couple hours after I woke up and was more clear. So apparently your bladder still works while under sedation. LOL!

I swear the intense pain in your shoulder will go away if you use a heating pad on it!! We all have gone through it and it will come and go for about 1 week, but if you use a heating pad it makes it go away faster!!!!

BabyGotBack! I have not read your posts in a couple weeks, and you are NOW more than 1/2 way there, so in other words you are more than 1/2 way to success road. Right on...... Good for you. Right on! You lost 2 more pounds!!! That is cool! Are you going to post new pics yet? What is the difference in your routine to have made you lost 2 pounds? Did you make it back to the gym? Share the secrets.... So how long ago were you this weight? Years?

Purple Monkey keep drinking.. Have you tried Cyrstal light in a water bottle? The best healing is lots of liquid, and it becomes easier once the swelling goes down a bit. Give it a couple more days..... AND you have lost 1 pound RIGHT ON!!

Just to begin with: I have learned that when I drink more water (64 oz) ( I swear on a bible to this) I will lose weight WITHOUT changing anything else I do. How healthy are the calories you are eating? Are they good calories or are they higher fat and higher carbs? Are you eating smaller meals or is it one big meal (you need to eat smaller meals all day long to help boost your metabolism) You really DO NOT want to go below 1000-1100 cal per day you WILL slow down your metabolism and will not lose weight. What kind of job do you have? Do you sit all day? Have you tried walking? 1st thing I would do is increase water (add Crystal light to bottled water) Take a 1-2 mile walk every night. Evaluate what you are eating and maybe try fitday.com to see how much fat you are getting in your daily diet. Let me know how it goes.....

Chris; I am back to eating "normal" preband style. As a matter of fact last night was the worst. I just could not stop "grazing". Dinner lasted from 530-930pm when I finally went to bed. I never felt "full". I think Dr. Ganser puts on a tighter band; for you to have even felt any restriction. I think Dr. K puts on a loose band. I ate totally "normal" but did not drink with meals, praying that I would feel "full" or restricted. NADA! It is discouraging at least, I am not giving up, just had prepared myself for a more immediate result per se', with alot less effort. I have gone to bed several nights (not last night) hungry, and I finally gave in last night, which I am sure means I am on a roll. I have no control or willpower that is why I opted for the band. I am going to try and see if they will get my fill appt sooner, but I know it will take more than 1 fill to get me restriction~I tell you if I was not posting to the world I would tell you how I KNOW I have no restriction. I have eaten "every wrong band food" known to man. Except beef.

From what I understand from my Dr. (AND every Dr. in our office is even different) if you are losing weight, he will not put in a fill~ butthole! If I am down weight from surgery when I can go for a fill I am going to put rolls of quarters in my pockets~no joking! The taste in your mouth~hmmmm I am very curious on this because a couple of us ended up with mouth issues post surgery. My tongue turned black (a reaction from a powerful antibiotic I was on). But it was interesting a few ppl reported similiar things with their tongue just a couple days post surgery. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Mine too was with a yucky taste, that is what made me look in my mouth.

Tomarrow hopefully will be an improved day for you and hopefully you can go to the hosp to be with your Dad. Maybe you can go even though you are miserable and say to them that you have a stomach virus, that would explain your suppressed appetite and you lack of energy and the hot water bottle etc. Maybe you could ask your DH to go with you so he could make sure you are "really" doing okay in such a stressful situation, and typically in this situation it is a bunch of sitting around waiting for test results to come back. I am sorry for such ugly news, but cancer caught early enough is curable, and just because it says cancer does not necessarily mean the end. Keep us posted...

Can I say something??? The worst part about getting banded is the time between after the welling goes down after being banded and your "fills" to be adjusted perfectly so you can enjoy food and feel satiated and eat a smaller portion of everything that you have ususally eaten before. Getting banded is not the end of the world. As a matter of fact it is the first day of the NEW you! The greatest thing is that (perfect example) is the alcoholic probably can never again take a drink at all, because from that drink on they can not drink in moderation because they are an alcoholic. (synical correct me if I am anywhere out of line) For us the band is our CONTROLLER. We can eat, the band will keep us "in check". The band keeps us in check by making us throw up when we eat too much, and when you eat too much you are in major pain, thus we don't like pain and it does not happen too often. But in between the time the surgery when band is placed and we get adjusted the the perfect adjustment; is just a tough time for us because we are on the honor system (bad place to stick fat hungry people~without an armed gaurd watching the refrigerator) So, in that period time (called bandster hell) we bitch moan and groan that most of us are hungrier than we want to be and are "trying" really hard to eat much less and lose weight and we are impatient. So with that being said, when you reach "the sweet spot" usually a couple months after banding life will be sweet and you will be eating much less and feel satiated and be losing weight and feeling incredible. I hope this helps! If you have questions post again and I will answer along with everybody else to help you as much as we can.

SO my first thought is.... Can you go eat the one meal that you have been craving and then start back on the liquid diet? he he he he Can you be put on the "on call" list in the event that someone cancels or do you really have to wait the entire 10 day prescription duration? Don't let it get you down, it really is only 10 days, and in the long run it really is not going to matter, and what the heck you "are" losing weight. And the most important thing is you will still be a March bandster!!!! We won't lose you to the April group. (not that they are not nice but, we like you here)

I was there last night and chatted with another bandster for over one hour. I was there again tonight and one bandster left just as I walked in.

Cheese pizza proves you are part of the wide open group. If you did not get stuck, you might as well enjoy it now. Were you "full" on 2 pieces of pizza? Or just comfortable?

mom gailann had hernia repair, contact her in march thread for her surgery recovery notes. They were very much different and slower than non hernia recovery.

So do you eat mushies??? Or what do you eat?

So Babygirl1234 Will you share with us that belong to the NO RESTRICTION "club" what you experience and try to describe the first fill and the second fill and the significant differences. Since you had no restriction just like us from the get go right after swelling went down, do you think you are experiencing a significant different eating pattern now that you have had two fills? Is is similiar to what we felt for the first 48 hours post surgery? Give us some insight please. The no restriction club is really just a term. I had restriction for maybe a day or two,maybe not even that. I am wide open and have -0- trouble with anything.

Travelgirl: Even tonight I was "hungry" and cooked WAY too much food, and recognized this after I put it on the small plate I use to try and assist with portion control. When can we flip the switch and tell our brain we are now eating like a skinny person and our stomach does not hold that much anymore. I really really really wanted to eat it all but I have never eaten until I was full and am afraid to. Isn't it interesting, I am not afraid to eat anything and everything, because of my incredible chewing, but I am afraid to eat too much. So the McDonald things are tasty? What kind of nutrition are they? Did you eat the tortilla too? If you think you ate too many calories, just go for a long walk to burn the calories, don't get bummed out.

Gail I would have never done the gastric bypass as a health andedote. If it were not for the band break through I would still be struggling with diet after diet after diet. I hope your friend gets better and hopefully never has anymore gastric bypass complication. Bummer! What cost will each one of us pay to be a size 7/8. We are desperate aren't we....

Gail; So did you puree it or just chew chew chew chew? How much do you eat at one time? You love beef don't you? I rarely rarely eat beef, I just don't like the flavor~it is from when I was a kid and ate some beef that went bad. Have you ever tried turkey or chicken? I don't really like pureed food, reminds me of something I don't want to think about. I think I have a stomach virus (maybe the water in San Diego), no fever or anything and I am not really concerned but can't leave the bathroom area. I have had two accidents without any warning, and just feeling really tired. I am drinking alot of water to keep my hydrated. It is not bad enough to take away my appetite. I ate some peanut butter and a couple bites of cottage cheese to help bind things up.

Tammy says 3/4 of a cup. (I like the 3/4 of a cup theory) I get sooooo confused (seriously~no joking) from reading the propaganda from dr's office and these threads.

Okay here is "MY" answer; don't know if it politically correct. This is how I am eating. I, 30 minutes before I eat drink 23 ounces of flavored water ( i live in a desert and drink alot of water). Then I sit to eat and I eat until I AM NOT HUNGRY ANYMORE, (not until I am full) so you really have to concentrate on what you are eating and what your satisfied feeling is. But I think I am 19 days post op suppose to be eating 1/2 cup every 3-4 hours or so. Then I wait as long as I can (1 hour is my personal goal) to drink again, and I usually can tell that there is still food in my pouch and at that point I know I am "washing it" through the band. I will go home tonight and if this answer is much different than what the doctors paperwork says I will repost. But! If I was hungry for chocolate I would take a candy bar and divide it in 1/8ths and eat 1 section per day, if that made me happy. I say this because in the whole life story (figuratively speaking) I can't imagine depriving myself of something I love for the rest of my life; thus moderation is the key to all healthy relationships, including chocolate. We all got the band so we could eat like a skinny / healthy person, so they eat chocolate, they just eat it in moderation. Tell me if you think I am that "off base".