donali

Info on reflux: I would do everything you can to avoid reflux - even occasional reflux will add up and result in damage. You probably know the reflux avoidance guidelines (in order of least to most aggressive): 1. Do not over eat. 2. Avoid acid producing foods/drinks, like caffeine, chocolate, peppermint, orange juice, spicy food. 3. Do not lie down after eating (I think they recommend a 3 hour wait?) 4. Do not eat or drink 3 hours before bedtime. 5. Take an OTC med to control reflux. 6. Elevate the head of the bed (helps keep the esophagus above the stomach so there's no backflow). 7. Get a slight unfill. Ways to avoid nighttime reflux - stop eating 3-4 hours before bedtime. Avoid acid promoting foods in the evening, like caffeine and chocolate and spicy foods.

Happy, happy day!!

The reflux is a big concern, Kelly. You don't want that damage to your esophogus. Are you following the "rules" about avoiding reflux? Also, are the liquids you're taking in the mornings hot? You do sound too tight, although potato always clogged me up...

I was so certain that it was a good idea BEFORE I had the surgery, and had done so much research, that I KNEW I was going to feel crappy for a couple of weeks and so I never second-guessed my decision. I am TERRIFIED of needles and medical procedures, and there was NEVER a doubt in my mind that I had done the absolutely, very best thing for myself, ever. Well, that and the 6 months of compulsive overeating therapy I'd had 6 months BEFORE that. So I think my mind was primed for the changes a lot more than many others. Plus I'd watched my sister go through the RnY, so I knew at least I wouldn't be feeling THAT bad...

Whoo hoo!!! Congrats!!!

Hi Karen - On the third day after your fill, you were able to eat tuna and a hard boiled egg with no problems - in the morning, no less! When most people can't eat solid foods until later in the day. That does not sound "too tight" to me - particularly since eggs are one of the common problem foods. Your big mistake was being complacent with the lentil soup - it got stuck, and now your stoma is irritated and swollen. Yes - it CAN stay that way for a long time, depending on what exactly happened. Unfortunately the problem was compounded with the cold liquids you drank. Cold liquids generally = greater restriction. If you don't get a slight unfill, this is my recommendation. STOP taking anything by mouth for at least 24 hours. After that time frame, sip very slowly only hot liquids for a day or two. Then branch into less hot liquids, and only when evening comes (assuming there has been no problems with the hot liquids), try something colder if you like. If it won't go down and stay down you probably need an unfill to let the swelling go down, whatever may still be stuck pass, and your stomach rest and get back into shape. Be particularly careful in the mornings, since most people do tend to be more restricted then. I always started with hot liquids to see how they went before eating anything, and generally stuck with mushies until lunch. YMMV. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Melissa, I would definitely be wary in your position - if your port wound has NEVER healed, I find the explanation given a little faulty - you couldn't possibly have lost enough weight in the first month to have caused that problem, at which point it should have been healed for at least a little while. I would hate to see you have to go through Lisa's ordeal - she had two Mexican doctors NOT culture the Fluid, and although their intentions were good, the end result was many surgeries and lots of money (and WORSE - lots of misinformation about WHY this was happening!), only to find that most of it could have been circumvented if the first corrective surgery had followed more precautions, and if anyone had bother to culture the fluid. Good luck, and be well.

Philip - There will be many living things growing in her honor... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=61290&posted=1#post61290

There will be a climbing jasmine along my fence in her name - the vines are blooming already, and the scent is heavenly....

Absoutely wonderful. Watch out, though - my dragon is loose again!!

I have heard of bands slipping due to extreme coughing. I wouldn't worry, but I'd definitely get the cough under control anyway.

Congrats, and welcome!!

Welcome back!! Just a heads up - please, please do NOT try and do too much too soon. That's the one thing I would have changed about my own recovery. I kept telling myself that it was no big deal, I should be able to get right back to it (I had gallbladder surgery as well), and this was NOT the same for me. I felt better each day, but had gone back to work right away, the Monday after my Thursday surgery, and that weekend I honestly felt like I was going to die. SO... Baby yourself for at least two weeks!! You are going to be shocked at how much sleep you're going to crave. SLEEP! That's when you body can REALLY focus on healing. So really, sleep as much as you can these next two weeks, and don't feel like it's weird.

Alexandra... Uh, YOU'RE not on soft foods...

Sending all my love and condolences to Philip and Blossom's family and loved ones. It is truly a shock to read this tragic news. Carolyn will truly be missed, and may her light continue to shine brightly in all the lives she has touched here on earth. Donali

LOL. You're so darn accommodating....

Trish - I hazard to guess that you DO, in fact, have A LOT of discipline. Start now choosing the habits you'll use to replace your food habit, and you're less likely to end up with a habit just as bad (or worse) than the one you were changing. You CAN do this!! :banana

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/safe-fish.cfm To be safest, however, The Green Guide and the Environmental Working Group recommend limiting moderate-mercury fish to one meal a month, and bypassing high-mercury fish completely. In addition, our list of high-mercury fish is longer than the FDA's, which includes only king mackerel, shark, swordfish, and tilefish (see fish lists below). POPs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) -- neurotoxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals banned in the U.S. since 1977 -- were found at levels seven times higher in farmed salmon than in wild ones, according to a study published in Science in January 2004. PCBs are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which accumulate in animal fats. Because most farmed salmon are raised on feed that includes ground-up fish -- and sometimes other animals, such as cattle -- their bodies collect POPs. PCBs are also found at high levels in fish from polluted Water bodies, varying from locale to locale; state health advisories list which fish should not be consumed by children, pregnant or nursing women, and women of childbearing age. Other POPs found in fish include the organochlorine pesticide dieldrin and dioxins, which result from chlorine paper bleaching and manufacturing and incineration of PVC plastic. Fish to Avoid High mercury: Atlantic halibut, king mackerel, oysters (Gulf Coast), pike, sea bass, shark, swordfish, tilefish (golden snapper), tuna (steaks and canned albacore). High POPs: Farmed salmon. Limit to once a month if pregnant/nursing. Check TheGreenGuide.com for updates on POPs in other farmed fish. Fish to Eat The gift of crab. Moderate mercury: Alaskan halibut, black cod, blue (Gulf Coast) crab, cod, dungeness crab, Eastern oysters, mahimahi, blue mussels, pollack, tuna (canned light). (Children and pregnant or nursing women are advised to eat no more than one from this list, once a month.) Low mercury: Anchovies, Arctic char, crawfish, Pacific flounder, herring, king crab, sanddabs, scallops, Pacific sole; tilapia, wild Alaska and Pacific salmon; farmed catfish, clams, striped bass, and sturgeon. (Children and pregnant or nursing women can safely eat two to three times a week.) Take note, though, that low-mercury but overfished or destructively harvested species -- such as Atlantic cod, Atlantic flounder, Atlantic sole, Chilean sea bass, monkfish, orange roughy, shrimp, and snapper -- should be avoided for the environment's sake. Low POPs: Wild Alaska and California salmon (fresh or canned). Check with your state's department of health for POP advisories before eating fish from local waters. The Final Word Limit fish consumption by category, not individual species. For example, both cod and mahimahi are moderate-mercury fish, and only one from this category should be eaten per month -- not one meal of cod and one of mahimahi. If you're in a high-risk group, don't eat the skin and fatty parts of fish, where POPs collect. Eat grilled, baked, and broiled rather than fried fish, to avoid fat.

Trish - This is a very real and valid concern. When I went into counseling that was a point that was discussed - whenever you give up one habit/addiction, it is always replaced by something else. We have to consciously choose what that is going to be, and not let it happen by default. An excercise I found valuable was this: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=434 It helps us identify and clarify what exactly is going on when we eat without physical hunger, and allows us to comtemplate constructive alternatives to that behaviour that will result in the same kind of soothing we would have received from food. Good luck, and congrats for being aware of this danger - you are more likely to be able to avoid falling into the trap if you're aware it exists.

People rarely want to hear the REAL truth... We like people to buy into our fantasies about ourselves. I don't know if this is specific to Americans, but I know that for me, anyway, it is very difficult to seperate criticism of ONE thing from judgment of myself as a whole. Not that there is only ONE thing about me to criticize - just using that as an example... I LOVE the thought of hearing anything "negative" about me, and feeling "Oh? Really? That is SO interesting." like the comment was about someone else, and didn't really have anything to do with me. Be able to HEAR it, evaluate it, take what is worthwhile and toss the rest. But alas... I have not yet become so evolved... Why should it matter if we look fat or not anyway? That doesn't have any bearing on WHO we are. But unfortunately for many of us, OTHERS' opinions of us are WHO we are - or so we think... Attitude is everything - we're only offended if we think of the comment as a negative, anyway. If we thought that looking fat was a GOOD thing, we'd be flattered. Some people are flattered when people think they are a B!TCH - some people are crushed. We have a lot more control over our perceptions of things than we realize. Mindset is everything. I believe that more and more everyday. ***** Oooops... That wasn't the question - I got distracted... LOL Good question!!! lol

Here's how Nykee did it: http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=55037&postcount=7

Corgi!! How'd it go?!?! Congrats!

Can't wait to hear from you! Hope all went great!!

Whoo hooo!! Congrats!

They're being banded like flies!!! Hmmm... doesn't quite translate from "dropping like flies" - lol Congrats!!