nurse535

I've read that as little as 0.25cc of fluid can make the difference for someone between being in the green zone or being in the red zone. I'd advise talking with your surgeon and seeing if there is a minor adjustment that can be made.

The surgeon and nutritionist are there to help you, not shame you. If people could be shamed into weight loss none of us would need surgery to begin with! B-52 is right, with only 1cc in your band you have very little restriction so it's no wonder you haven't had success. The surgeon's job is not only to place the lap band - it is to adjust the lap band appropriately for each person. What your job is is to identify your food issues and then take the steps to correct them. The surgeon can't make the lap band successful all by himself, and you can't make the lap band successful all by yourself, either. Look at this appointment as an opportunity to become more educated about the process and good lap band eating habits. Chewing thoroughly and eating slowly really are VERY important to lap band success.

I talked about the surgery before I had it, and I've talked about it since then. I haven't gotten any negativity about it at all. One person said she wouldn't personally choose to have weight loss surgery but she wasn't judging me for my decision. I don't care what people think about what I eat - I never have been a perfect eater, I never will be, I will always enjoy certain foods and the band has done exactly what I wanted it to so far. A lot of people can lose weight, but the vast majority of those who lose can't maintain the weight loss. I wanted the band to help me lose but ultimately what I want the band to do is keep me from "re-fatting" lol. My view on things is that by being open about my surgery I am educating people on what "real-life bariatric surgery" is like. This way they can say "I read blah blah blah on the internet, but I know this one girl who lost ____ lbs with a lap band and has kept it off for ____ and she didn't have any complications." The reason people think weight loss surgery is a "quick fix" is because they haven't seen first hand what people who have surgery have to go through.

Honey, you probably WERE hungry all the time if you were at 125 lbs and your mom was monitoring your food intake! I'm sure he didn't mean the comment to be insulting or hurtful, but I understand why it upset you. Try not to let it get you down...keep moving forward towards your new self and don't beat yourself up for being who you are now.

It might be that when your stomach is full, it is causing the pressure on the port. I haven't personally experienced that but I'm sure it is different with each person because of our anatomy and differences in where the surgeon places the ports. Eating slowly really is important. I thought I ate slowly before, but it wasn't as slow as a lap bander needs to eat!

I have noticed that when I travel I am usually up a little and then after a few days at home there's a big drop again. I think my issues are not hydrating enough when on the road, and not eating enough protein when I'm away from home. So your 6 lbs may not be a "true" 6 lbs. I don't know how your dr will react but a responsible dr should take the time to talk with you and find out the possible reasons for the gain and provide you with information on getting back on track.

The pre-op diet was tough! I had a lot of sugar free popsicles and Jello along with my Protein shakes. I had a hard time finding a protein shake I could stand the taste of. I ended up trying some Body Fortress Protein powder from Walmart and it's tolerable. Both the chocolate and the vanilla are ok. Once you're post-op and can be back on full liquids, you can add a tablespoon of sugar free instant pudding mix to a shake for variety. I add banana pudding mix to the vanilla so it makes it a banana protein shake! Good luck...it's tough but it's worth it. I got a reprieve the last couple of days of my pre-op diet, because I went to see my surgeon 3 days before surgery for the pre-op checkup, and told him how hungry I was and that I was having headaches, and he said I could go ahead and eat! I still did liquids only the day before the surgery but it was nice having that little time in there where I could have regular food again.

I'm happy for you that you got to experience so many wonderful things on your birthday trip!

That's so exciting! Congrats!

I think you need to re-read what you just wrote. "I ate one piece of pizza, two chicken wings, and 10 m&ms." And don't forget that one bite of a donut! LOL...you have to enjoy life a little. How much would you have eaten pre-lapband? I know before my surgery, I could easily eat 3-4 slices of pizza, plus breadsticks, and still have had room for a King Size package of m&ms!

I have an appointment with the PA at my surgeon's office tomorrow. I'm 7 weeks post-op as of tomorrow as well. I do not have any fill at this point. I'm consistently losing (average of 2.25 lbs per week, not including the liquid diet phase). I can definitely eat more than I could immediately post-op but overall I am fairly satisfied with small amounts of food. For example, 2 eggs and half a slice of toast, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 4 saltines with Peanut Butter on them, 2 oz chicken breast and a few green Beans. It seems to me that the less Fluid in the band, the less complications people experience, so I would like to take a conservative route on fills. I know the PA agrees with that. I feel comfortable with not getting a fill tomorrow, but I'd like opinions from more experienced bandsters please. My overall weight loss since I began my pre-op diet (10 days prior to surgery) is 30.8 lbs in 8 weeks. Edited to add that sometimes I am hungry 2-3 hrs after eating but other times i can go 5 hrs or more. What I usually do is eat a small amount when I'm hungry 2-3 hrs after eating but after that I usually go a longer time without hunger so overall my daily intake averages out.

Thanks for the reply! I'll update tomorrow with the outcome of the appointment.

That's a great feeling...happy for you!

I went many years without having a scale at all. In 2008 I started doing Weight Watchers and bought a digital scale. I weighed every day for quite a while, although I only recorded and "counted" the weight on my official weigh-in day. For me, it was helpful to learn my "normals" because my weight can fluctuate 3-4 lbs in a day sometimes. If I had not known that, there would have been several official weigh-in days where I was disappointed. But because I knew my body's fluctuations, if my weight was not what I expected I didn't get super disappointed and give up. Since my surgery I've weighed almost daily. Most days it goes down but if it's up or stays the same I don't freak out about it. Again I have an official weigh in day, which is Thursday since my surgery was on a Thursday. I've read from various experts that it's good to weigh daily and that it's bad to weigh daily LOL. I think it's one of those things that people have to decide for themselves based on their personalities and how they use the information that daily weighing can give them. If it makes people too stressed out, then they shouldn't do it, but if it's helpful to keep people on the right track then it's very useful.

I arrived at the hospital at 6:15 am, surgery was around 7:30, and I left around 10:15. I was out pretty fast. They didn't even make me pee before I left

You can see you're not alone with these feelings! I have lost 30 lbs and I do notice a slight difference in my appearance, but since 2008 I've been yo-yo-ing with my weight and I've been in the 270s every summer since then, so while I'm 30 lbs lighter than I was, I am still the same as I have been for the past few summers! In 2008 I got down to 256.4 and I think once I'm in that general weight range again I will really start noticing a difference. "Before" pics are really good and do "progress" pics as well. I need to be taking pics of myself more regularly. As Roziecakes said, the health and mobility aspects are often easier to measure and even more rewarding than changes in appearance.

My surgeon's office was very professional and efficient. They had a case manager that was my main contact and she compiled all my pre-surgical requirements and would periodically update me on what she had on file and what else would be needed before she could submit to insurance. I am very appreciative of how efficient they were. I think you should at least check into your options, and hopefully the things you've already done that are required for insurance will be taken into consideration and you won't have to wait another 5 months.

I tried a chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast but I'm not sure if it was sugar free or not. I didn't care for it but fortunately my teenage son liked it and drank them! I bought a 4 pack. I haven't tried the Special K or Ensure versions mainly because I don't want to spend more money on protein drink. I would like to try the Special K protein water mix-ins at some point.

Oh, and also - I emailed Body Fortress to see if they had samples and they don't, but they sent me a coupon for $5 off.

I have had a really hard time finding shakes I like, as well. I tried samples from unjury, Bariatric fusion, Syntrax nectar, and at least two others. I kept researching online and finally saw a post recommending Body Fortress chocolate flavor, saying it tasted similar to chocolate Nesquik. It's available at Walmart for about $15 for a 2 lb container. I decided to give it a try, and it turned out to be tolerable. It's still got an aftertaste, and there's no mistaking it for an ice cream shake LOL. I've experimented with it to try and make it taste a little better. I mix it with 6 oz milk instead of 8 oz, because then there's less to drink (which is good since I don't love it...but if I loved it I'd make it with 8 oz milk). I tried adding a tablespoon of Hershey's cocoa to it and that did help improve the flavor. The most recent thing I tried was adding 1 tablespoon of sugar-free fat-free instant chocolate pudding mix to it and that actually helped quite a lot. It made it more chocolate-y tasting and did not have as much of an aftertaste. I purchased the vanilla flavor and I don't like it as much, but I'm going to try to add some instant pudding flavors to it and see how that works. I am six weeks post-op but I still need Protein shakes some days. Sometimes I have them for breakfast because they're fast, and some days I work 16 hrs but rarely get time to sit and have a meal so I drink one or two during the day to keep me going. I've tried freezing milk in ice cube trays and using about 4 cubes (they're about 1 oz each) and then 2-4 oz milk to make a smoothie style drink. It didn't improve the flavor any but it changes the texture so it might be worth a shot to help you drink them. Once you get past the pre-op and immediate post-op phase, you won't have to rely on Protein Shakes nearly as much. Most people can get their protein needs met by their food intake, but it's still good to find a Protein Shake you can tolerate to have available if you have an off day or for the day or so after a fill when you need to go back to liquids.

I did not decide to have this surgery to please others, so the only person I'm worried about disappointing is myself! I love seeing the number on the scale going down, but more than anything I want to have more energy and better overall health. Honestly there are probably some people who WANT us to fail, so you'd be pleasing those people and not disappointing them

My surgeon's recommendation is that it's ok to drink up until the beginning of a meal, then don't drink during the meal and for 20 minutes after. I follow this pretty well for meals but there has been a few times when I'm having a small bedtime snack and I drink a little milk with it. One thing I've wondered about is if you have to continue following the not drinking while eating rule after you've reached your goal and are at the maintaining stage. Anyone know?

I am six weeks post-op and my scars are beginning to lose the redness.

It must have been so disappointing to wake up from surgery to that news. I definitely think you need to keep trying. I agree with other posters about getting a 2nd opinion. Good luck to you.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I also have not had any issues with my band so far, thankfully. Hope your rug burn and bruise get better soon!