SageTracey

Tammy, if you are really worried, please contact your doctor. I doubt that you have actually caused your port to flip simply by straining, but it is more important that you have peace of mind.

that really depends on the food. If you read recipes you will note that they sometimes provide measurements in cups, teaspoons and sometimes in weights. If you are measuring to count your calories then you need to choose whichever method allows you to determine the calories most accurately. If you are doing it to manage your portion sizes, then a cup could be fine.

Not unless your surgeon has advised you to do so. Mine doesn't so I eat normally (for a bandster!) until fill time then go onto liquids/mushies for the next 24 - 48 hours. The fill won't affect what you have already eaten so I can't see why you need special dietary instructions before (but nothing I say here overrides instructions from your medical team!)

Wasn't me, but my surgeon postponed one of my fill appointments because he was called in to assist another surgeon operating on a patient whose liver was too large. My surgeon made the call and this patient's surgery was cancelled - after he had been put under and incisions made. In other words, the patient woke up with incisions, gas in the belly but no band.

Sorry to hear that you haven't been able to be successful with the band. As the poster above suggests, perhaps you could pursue other help for your eating issues and then address your weight with the band, remembering to follow all the rules. we all have reasons why we gained weight and need to address them.

Me either. Tere1985, do normally have breathing difficulties?

Sounds like you may need a slight unfill. Suggest you see your surgeon because you can't continue as you are. Take care.

A set of scales, like the scales of justice, or the horoscope symbol, to remind you to keep everything in balance.

Hang in there, folks. It does get better.

My brother-in-law had bad pain in his leg and it was a DVT. Not that I am one to argue when you have sought medical advice, just be aware and be assertive for your own health.

I lost 100lb in just under 12 months - but I was very big to start with. If you are smaller to start with, then it will take longer.

What she said!

Definitely wish I had taken pre-op measurements so I could see how far I have gone (other than the scale!)

Glad to hear you are seeing your dr. This doesn't sound like a band issue because of the way that it started - but I am NOT a dr. I would be thinking pulled muscle or something. Good luck. Hope all is ok.

1. How long have you been banded? 13 months 2. How much weight did want to lose? I didn't have a specific amount in mind. I just knew that I was morbidly obese and had to do something urgently and permanently. 3. How much weight have you lost? 62kg, approx 135lb 4. How happy are you that you have been banded: Scale of 1-10 (1 being regretful, 10 being elated) 12 Seriously, this has been the best think I have done for my health and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I needed to. Out cycling with friends this morning (yes, happily, willingly, voluntarily exercising), I told a friend that I had lost weight in the past but had always known that I would put it back on. The difference this time is that I know I will never regain that weight.

Has your dr given you diabetic-specific instructions? If so, I would recommend following them as closely as you can, rather than advice kindly offered with the best of intentions on here. Apart from that, however, your feelings at this stage are completely normal!

My knees are definitely grateful that I am losing all that weight. Now when I want to dance all night, they are quite fine with that idea, even if I take them out for a 50 - 60km bike ride the next day!

If you are worried, call your doctor, but unless you have pain, redness, swelling, discharge, then it's likely to be nothing to worry about.

You are perfectly normal not to feel restriction after your first fill. Some surgeons are quite aggressive and others are quite cautious with the amount per fill and that will make a difference to how long until you feel restriction as well. Congratulations on being banded, now you are in it for the long haul! Good luck.

I am okay with not eating and drinking provided I don't have a drink at the table with me, otherwise I will forget and pick up the drink. It is a learned behaviour and therefore one that we can change with patience and persistence.

Sounds like you are already a good water drinker so once you are healed from surgery, you will be fine.

For the band to succeed we must learn to listen to our body's again. We lose weight with the band by eating properly and listening (i.e. stopping eating) when we get that signal that we have eaten enough. The band causes that signal to be triggered on much smaller quantities of food. Therefore it is really important that you learn to recognise and respond to your body. This was a major learning process for me because I had ignored those messages for so long which is why I became morbidly obese!

Six weeks, but don't expect immediate results. That only happens for the very rare lucky ones after their first fill or two, or three, or four....

While I agree with LB re following instructions, it is also very confusing when we read on here that different surgeons have different rules for different stages of this process. I am not perfect and since being banded over a year ago, I have certainly eaten foods that I no longer want to eat or that my surgeon has said I should not eat. That's because I am human and prone to temptation. I have lost 61kg so consider that the band has been successful for me. However, I was not brave enough to break the rules of my surgeon pre or post-op nor post-fill. I see these as the most vulnerable points in the whole process and therefore the most important times to be following YOUR surgeon's instructions.

A roasted vegetable salad is easy and very tasty. Cube your favorite vegetables - sweet potato, beetroot, pumpkin, onion, garlic etc, toss in olive oil, roast til tender, add balsamic vinegar. Yummy!