Alexandra

Carmen, your stomach knows better than your head, for now, so you should rejoice that the band is doing its work! Think about those calories that you didn't actually need to eat all at once. There's always another chance to eat a little later. Change that frownie to a smile! Your band is doing its job!!

The tests I had to have to be qualified for banding involved blood work, a full physical (which included an EKG), a psych evaluation, a meeting with a nutritionist, and the consult with the surgeon. A lot later, when my surgery date actually came around, I had to have more bloodwork since almost a year had passed. But everything else was still OK.

Wow, Gabby, you're doing great! I'm a little surprised your doctor agreed to fill you both so soon after surgery and while you're clearly losing weight at a rapid clip. Every doctor is different, I suppose. Good luck with the fill and congratulations on the great weight loss!! (OK...DUH! I just realized your band date was year ago. Now I'm going to ask why you waited so long to have a fill? Or was that a typo?)

Donali, thank you (and thank Mike!) for the great insight! Words to think about indeed. In general I'd suggest getting the poster's permission before passing along any tidbits. Unless there is a blanket OK that you know about it's always possible that someone might object to being quoted.

Hi Karen, Everyone heals differently, but I know for sure I wouldn't have been able to stand up for 3-5 hours three days after surgery! Of course, I'm not a hairdresser and standing that long even now would probably kill me. I think you might want to arrange to take the whole week off, unless it might be possible for you to work sitting down or take lots of breaks. I went back to work 5 days later and it was OK, but I have a desk job. Good luck!!

That's great news, maguilar! It's a different thing once you know your doctors are on your side and agree that the band is for you. You're on your way!!

I'm not prone to stomach upset, never have been. Vegetables are no problem for me, outside of their being hard to get down if they're fibrous. Broccoli, for example, I can only eat if it's really soft. I've been gravitating towards squashes and eggplant for the most part. I was also told to take calcium, since I'm a woman getting older, but haven't been doing it. I get a lot of calcium from dairy products, so I'm not worrying about it...yet.

There is no reason you should have any malnutrition after banding if you eat a balanced diet, and no supplements are required. I've been taking these three vitamins for years just for my own reasons, but it's not a habit you'll have to cultivate if you don't want to.

Lately I've been pretty much unable to eat a solid Breakfast. I know a lot of other people are tight in the morning, so what do y'all do? I can't stand a Protein drink daily; I could manage them two or three times a week, I guess. This morning I tried Cereal, no go. I've never been able to handle scrambled eggs; are hard-boiled any easier? Egg salad? What do you eat? I may just cave and have Soup for breakfast. Why not? :confused:

Good for you, Shana! It's very important to remember that our doctors should be working WITH us and not against us. Being direct without being confrontational is the best approach. Be honest and remember that YOU are the boss of your treatment. Go for it!

Hi Jennye, Yes, I'd say the saliva thing is a PB, or "sliming" may be a more accurate term. Whatever you call it, what's happening is that something you ate is getting stuck and your body is trying to help it through (or back up). It probably is a good idea to stick with soft or mushy foods at least through the next meal. It can be hard to manage solid foods while you're getting used to it. Are you sure you're really pulverizing foods into nothing in your mouth before swallowing? Try nibbling just a little tiny bit at a time. And, what seems to be most important for me, wait 10 or 20 seconds between each bite. If you're still having trouble with solids no matter what you try, you may be too tight. But assuming you can get liquids and mushy foods in, you might want to try to work with this level of fill for a while, since as you lose weight it's entirely likely the restriction will ease somewhat.

Wow, Sue, thank you for that great information! I had no idea antibiotics could be irritants. (Can you tell I've not had to take many in my life?) I am wondering about pill size, though. When I take my caplet-sized Vitamin, does it go through the stoma into the lower stomach? I wash them down with lots of Water. And does it matter? If they're in the pouch for any length of time dissolving before going on down, am I risking irritation? I take a multi-vitamin and 500mg of C, plus a gel-type E capsule.

When he does a fill does he use an x-ray machine? Or is he going by his sense of touch?

I'm another mom of small children, and I decided not to write letters because I didn't want them blaming me for making a bad choice if something went wrong. Besides, I knew nothing would go wrong. Good luck Dawnsunshine!! Please don't forget to come back and let us know how it went. Take care!!

Best wishes and good luck to both of you soon-to-be Bandsters!! Please come back and let us know how it went. Take it easy on yourselves and get lots of rest. Cheers!! :P

Hi Maguilar, I can totally relate to your fear and I know many others can too. My surgery was only the second time in my life under general anaesthesia, and the first time was 20 years ago. Everyone always says the biggest risk of this surgery is the anaesthesia, which is of course a risk in any surgery. That didn't make me feel better. It just made me want to avoid surgery altogether. But at my age and weight there was no getting around it--I was going to get heavier and sicker eventually without some serious help. Then I thought about all the gazillions of people who have surgery every day and come through it fine. And then there are all the people who are in accidents and whatnot, and have the necessary emergency procedures done to save their lives. I can't know when that might be me, and what am I going to say if that time ever comes: no thanks to the lifesaving surgery because I don't want a general? Thinking too much about the risks of anything can make us too scared to make a move. And that's what finally got me over my fear. General anaesthesia has risks, sure, but they were less than the risk I would be taking by doing nothing. And it's absolutely true that by getting banded you will NOT be risking the side effects and potential bad outcomes of bypass surgery. If things go wrong with your band there is always the option of having it removed, and there you'll be, whole and normal. I see absolutely no comparison between the two procedures. Welcome to LBT! I hope you'll ask lots of questions and let us help you as you think about this big decision.

Hi and welcome! I hope you feel free to post whatever questions occur to you, because there are plenty of people here at all stages of the banding process who will be happy to answer. Good luck with your research and decision!

Hey Bob, congratulations!! It's common for people to try to take the mask off; I did it too. Then the nurse was leaning over me yelling (it seemed) "breathe! breathe!" It was all quite alarming. Good luck with the postop diet, and let us know how you're doing!!

I haven't had to take any medicines since banding, but if it's pills you're worried about you may not have any problem. I take three Vitamins every day and they're actually fairly large pills. For a while I was breaking the large ones in half, but it turned out not to be necessary. You shouldn't have a problem with antibiotics assuming they are normal-sized tablets. Advil (ibuprofen) is not recommended because it can irritate your stomach. But I've taken it a couple of times for cramps and my doctor has said it's fine. I only take it about once every eight weeks or so, and that's extremely unlikely to cause a problem. If you have recurring pain that needs more intensive medication ask your doctor for something that is not a stomach irritant.

Hi Patty, Have you asked your doctor why you feel no restriction? Perhaps he's intending to 'sneak up' on the right amount, and at this point you're only partway there. Does he use fluoro for your fills and do you do a drink test when you're there? What was that like? It's also very possible that your fill will "kick in" after another week or so. That's a common occurrence, so many people suggest letting at least three or four weeks go by before concluding that you need another adjustment. But ask your doctor first if he expects that you should have restriction now, and if he says no you'll have your answer!

Shana, you have my sympathy. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure they are looking at your weight from your first visit, the consult, rather than your actual surgery date. My doctor's office does the same thing, even though the consult and surgery date were about 10 months apart. During that time I lost close to 20 lbs on my own. They don't look at the date on the chart so I'm always congratulated heartily on my weight loss when I go in for checkups. I have to point out the difference every freaking time. Anyway, I think if you really like your doctor that's saying a lot right there. You might tell him that you are his learning experience--not all bandsters have the same results. His challenge is to work with you to find the restriction that will let you work on eating less, not put you down along the way. I don't know whether he'll think 2 weeks between fills is not long enough. My thinking is that it isn't, but then again it sounds like the first fill was intended to be very small. Maybe he'll do it if you're not having any problems. It can't hurt to ask! Good luck with this. Let us know how it's going!

Allll RIGHT!!! Congratulations on the great news and the date! And yes, 40 lbs in 8 months is definitely a realistic goal. You can do it! :)

Lisa, I've been assured time and time again that the post-surgery (or post-childbirth) hairloss is both less dramatic than we think, and more temporary than we think. Especially for those blessed with thick hair, you can lose what seems like a hellacious number of hairs and no one will notice. I've lost a lot of hair so far--although less than I did post-childbirth--and just recently had several inches chopped off. It's just barely touching my shoulders, which is a pretty dramatic change. But I've had nothing but compliments, and it definitely looks thicker this way.

Nancy, that's terrific!! I had a checkup a couple of weeks ago too, and was thrilled to discover that my BP was down too. I don't know what my cholesterol is now--it was 201 last summer--but I was about to go on BP meds so I'm REALLY thrilled about this development. Here's to the really IMPORTANT non-scale victories!

It's incredible what a change 8 months can bring. Congratulations to you both! You're truly examples of VERY successful Bandsters!