faithmd

Gosh I'm glad I stumbled across this post. As you well know, I need sooooo much more than a kick in my rear, I need a grenade behind me to propel me forward. Reading your post helped. It really did. I was on my way to get groceries and dinner last night and was thinking about this journey. What a twisted and winding road it has been and will continue to be. I felt sooooo much better when I was exercising. I was really tired when I would go to bed, not just exhausted from the days' activities, but good and tired. I slept better when I was exercising. I felt more confident, my clothes were fitting looser and looser. Now that I haven't exercised a lick in about three months, I haven't lost a pound and I feel crappy. Winter is here so I really screwed myself out of those great fall walks and hikes, but now I can sled (and walk back up those hills) and shovel snow (will be doing a lot of that tonight and tomorrow morning) and maybe I'll start mall walking (gotta remember to leave my purse in the car, or better yet, at home!). If I can't get enough exercise with that, I'll break down and join a gym somewhere. I have to do SOMETHING. Thanks, Losing!

NOOOOO!!!! STOP! Do NOT eat those solids!!!! You may not notice a problem today, or tomorrow or next month. You may never have a problem, but you may. PLEASE stick to what your doctor wants for a post-op diet. There is a reason we are to have liquids post-op. It is to help the suture line heal and for scar tissue to form and hold the band in place. Liquids do not require much work for the stomach to digest and process. Solids (even chewed well) cause the stomach to work harder and churn more to digest, that slows the healing process around the band. It's only a few short weeks out of your life. Were you only fat for a few weeks? Nope. You've been fat for years, can't you stick to something for a few weeks that will likely change you life for the better? (Sorry for the strong words, but sometimes it takes tough love.)

Barix is banding again? Cool! They had lost their surgeon a while back and folks were having a hard time getting fills. Good to know they are banding again.

Rosalinda wrote above you: yes they removed all my fill. I am all open now and still cannot eat or drink. Rosalinda, I'm sorry you are having problems! I know sometimes folks are able to get it to go back into place with a complete unfill and going on a liquid only diet for a prolonged period of time. But often it seems another surgery is required. :scared:

How exciting! Can't wait to hear more as this progresses!

No worries, Steph. I didn't think you were disagreeing at all. I was just emphasizing the need to follow your own doc's advice. You made/make good points.

If your doc says to only be on clears for now, then you are to ONLY be on CLEARS (see through it) for now. It doesn't matter if someone else can have a Protein shake, if your doc wanted you to have them, he probably would have told you so. There are some clear drinks with protein in them. The protein isn't the best quality, but it will help with the feeling of fullness. They are the little bullets or the bottles of Isopure. You can get them at GNC or just about any place that sells sports nutrition supps. Rite Aid carries a line of things from GNC and I've seen the clear liquid Protein Drinks. Special K Protein Water is clear and has a *little* protein in it. That's better than nothing right now.

Please, please, please, PLEASE call your doctor's office! They understand that it's a lot of info to take in and they know that some folks will have questions. It is ESPECIALLY important to call to find out about your medication. Call tomorrow, I know it's Sunday, but there should be an answering service that can get in contact with the doc so that you know about your meds, at the very least. Did you get a folder or binder with nutritional info in it? Did your discharge instructions say anything on them about what you should be eating/drinking now? I know this is VERY confusing because so many folks have different plans for food after surgery, the MOST important thing is to follow YOUR doc's instructions. NOT ANYONE ELSE'S. Perhaps post who your doc is and someone out here will have had her/him and can help.

Excellent points, Donna and Pipp.

Julie, Wow, simply, wow! Thanks again for sharing your journey.

Mmmmmmm Malted Milk anything....MMMMMMMM!!!!!! Even though I haven't lost a SINGLE FREAKING POUND in three months, I find it VERY refreshing that I can't stand fast food anymore. My husband and I will be out doing things and only have time to perhaps run through a drive-thru and grab a bite and I can't think of a single thing I want. Nothing tastes good to me anymore. I can maybe have a broccoli cheese Soup from McDonald's or a broccoli soup from Tim Horton's but that's it. This coming from a woman who LOVED (and I mean LOVED) a Whopper from Burger King, heavy everything (no cheese), cut in half. That was my favorite, bar none. No more. I've had maybe one or two Whopper Jr.'s since banding, and they just didn't hold the same appeal for me. I would take couple bites and toss the rest. I hear ya, Lauren. Like you, my pigouts were usually a huge meal at a place like Outback or Damon's (I still love onion rings or bloomin onions or onion loafs), or I'd go to Elias Brother's Big Boy and get the spaghetti (comes with free seconds) and the soup-salad-and fruit bar and have two bowls of cabbage soup, a bowl of broccoli (with extra cheese on top), then two helpings of spaghetti and a salad, too. I went last week and was lucky to get most of my spaghetti down (one serving) and I had a cup (not a bowl) of broccoli and a cup of cabbage and ate only about 1/2 of each. I hurt so bad after that I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. But the one thing I cannot give up is sushi. (NOT raw stuff, vegetable or crab/shrimp only.) Even though the rice gets stuck and hurts. I know folks here say get sashimi, but it's not the same to me. I pull off most of the rice now, but I still need a bit of rice on it to soak up the soy sauce appropriately. I went to the chinese buffet last night by myself and I had a plate of sushi and a saucer sized plate with peanut chicken and walnut shrimp on it, I was stuffed, stuffed, stuffed. I came home and truly felt like I was going to toss my Cookies. So perhaps that's cured me of that binge (though probably not, it WAS sushi, after all...).

Here's a link to an article that discusses surgical technique with the LapBand system and also has some stats about the different methods of suturing into place. http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/assets/REN%202.pdf?RCD=J53039&NAME=Christine_J._Ren From what I understand the J&J band, and the LapBand are sutured. Don't know a lot about the MidBand and can't find a lot about it, either. But it makes sense with the size of it that it may always be sutured in place. The bands themselves aren't stitched, your stomach is pulled up and over them and sutured. There are pics in the article link I provided.

Jachut and Chickie both make excellent points. I'd think the closer to goal (or at goal) that you'd be, and the longer you are there, would maximize the results of the procedure. And as far was what Chickie said, we who have lost massive amounts of weight (or hope to in my case) should really be seeing plastic surgeons who specialize in RECONSTRUCTION. Not just any plastic surgeon. There is a special skill set involved in rejoining skin that has little elasticity, etc. Bariatric patients are a different breed.

I wanted to also ask if you are moving far from your surgeon? What I mean is are you moving a distance away so that you would need to see someone else for follow up? If so, then you really need to call and find a surgeon who will do your after care in the area you are moving to. That's the hardest thing to find, a surgeon who will take care of a band placed elsewhere. No matter if it's in the US or Mexico or wherever. I second the hernia thing. When folks happen to see my scars (I reach up and have a shorter shirt on or getting dressed at work, etc) I say I had a hernia repaired.

Check out this thread, Wendel does a nice job of explaining the "fat pad" and how it affects our restriction with weight loss: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/how-lap-band-actually-works-fills-refills-45563/

Not me, I haven't lost a thing in three months. I slacked off on my exercise and started eating bad stuff again. Though not nearly in the quantities I had been eating them. I'm frustrated. I know what I should be doing, I just can't seem to get my groove back and do it. I'll get there, eventually.

That's exactly what it is. You are correct, it isn't a huge amount, but remember in Wendel's thread he mentions how even a fill/unfill of 0.1-0.2 cc/mL can make a HUGE difference in restriction. That's that fat pad. As we lose, it shrinks, but it is different for everyone. Just as we all lose in our bodies differently, the rate at which we lose from inside our bodies is different, too. A tiny layer of fat can make a huge difference when you are talking fractions of a mL changing restriction level.

Sweethot: hope you get your Bugg soon! And glad to hear the hubby gets to stay put for at least a little longer. VA: I'm waiting with baited breath to hear about the interview. StephC: you look GREAT! BooBoo: Sorry I missed your call, I was in girl's deer camp myself until yesterday. Didn't see a thing, but one of us got a small doe. She's the one who has already taken two bucks this year, wench! I'm very glad to hear the DH is starting to wake up (hopefully he's sincere) and smell the Folgers brewing. I agree with you, this last attempt is worth it. If for nothing else but the girls. If it doesn't help, then you know you have tried EVERYTHING, if it turns things around, then WOOHOO! Happy early birthday! Tell Faith I'm sorry I missed her BDay and I hope it was a good one (from one Faith to another, ya know). Brandi: You are a Hottie McHottie, I know why those men flock to you! And for me the four guaranteed things wrong with a man I met were: Married, Gay, Too Old or Perverted. Once I actually had all four, I ran screaming! Haven't lost a pound in three months, kinda coincides with me stopping exercising. Life got REALLY hairy and busy as heck there for a while, and it still is. But I really noticed it at deer camp. The first day I had to stop three times to rest on my walk up the hill out of the woods. By the last time I came out, I could make it the whole way without resting, but I was huffing and puffing. I'm getting back in the game, TODAY.

This is a really good thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f109/omg-how-crazy-am-i-39650/

me either.

That was a GREAT post. WASaBB. I posted behind the other bandster in that thread you were referring to and posted Inamed's post-op guidelines. Which by the way still suggest WEEKS of liquids. Interesting how doc's diets change but the BAND MANUFACTURER still suggests being careful and protecting the band. I posted that once in another thread and was basically told that Inamed only says it because they are trying to avoid lawsuits. If someone sues because of a slip or erosion they can say, "See, we say it right here, four to six weeks for healing." I can see that side of it, but on the other hand...really, it doesn't take a freaking rocket scientist to know that things in a moist warm enviroment don't heal as well as a dry one, so inside your body where is it wet, it isn't going to heal as fast as outside your body. Hence, a suture line isn't going to heal and scar tissue isn't going to form as quickly around the stomach as a cut on your leg would. I think we should all be required to WATCH the video on or-live.com of the lapband placement. It clearly shows that while the band is stitched in place on the FRONT of the stomach, NOTHING holds it on the back. The surgeon has to basically ream out a little opening in there to slip it around and that needs to heal and scar to hold it in place. I read one post where someone said ther doc told them it WON'T slip because he stitched it so well. Sorry, not possible to say that. The video on or-live shows and explains why you can't suture on the backside of the stomach (too close to the spinal column, HUGE potential for nicking something). You get a papercut and keep bending your finger, it opens up, right? When you eat, you cause the stomach to churn and move (it is a MUSCLE) to move the food down into the digestive tract, isn't that a lot like flexing your finger? How can healing happen very quickly if you keep "flexing" your stomach? I will be watching the slippage stats with interest over the next few years. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we didn't get fat in six weeks, why in the FU*K can't we stick to a diet for six measly little weeks to give us the best chance possible at a new life? Hell, you (you in a general sense, I'm including myself in the "you") had SURGERY because you couldn't lose weight on your own, then you're going to risk the band and another SURGERY because you just HAD to have that bite of rice or whatever??? Sheesh! If this were a pregnancy and the doctor told you that you had to have liquids for six weeks to protect your fetus, you'd do it. you'd probably not eat a solid bit of food for months. Why on earth can't we protect our own lives with as much fervor? I get tired of reading the posts about the post-op diet period that say "If I could diet, I wouldn't be fat" or "If I had willpower I wouldn't need the band." You know what, you need to get your head straight now because the band doesn't do it all. It may HELP, but it can't do it for you. I know, I've been at the same stinking weight for three months. All my fault, but I'm not going to say that the band isn't working. Done with my rant, I'm off to shoot a deer.

Oooooo, someone's got a birthday, I wonder who? Someone's got a birthday and it's you (Alexandra!)! Happy happy!

I'm not going to flame you, but here's a copied and pasted bit of text direct from the Allergan/Inamed booklet: Eating and drinking after the operation After your surgery, you will need a new diet. You should discuss this in detail with your surgeon and/or dietitian. They can help you learn and get used to the changes in lifestyle and eating habits you need to make. Note: Your surgeon may give you specific instructions just for you. The following information is meant to be an overview. Be sure you know the instructions your doctor wants you to follow. It is very important to follow the eating and drinking instructions right from the start after the operation. That’s because you must allow the new stomach structure to heal completely and in the right position. It may take a month or more for this to happen. It is important, especially in the early weeks, not to stretch the small stomach pouch above the band. The first few days after the operation Right after the operation, you can have an occasional sip of Water or suck on an ice cube. You shouldn’t drink more than this. The day after the operation, you can take a little more Fluid. But you should take only a small amount at a time. Besides water, you should also choose liquids that have an adequate number of calories. To prevent nausea and vomiting, do not drink too much. The first one to four weeks These drinks and very soft foods are recommended for the first four weeks after the operation: • clear broth or Soup (with no vegetables or meat and not creamy) • low-fat yogurt • milk (preferably skim) • Jello • fruit juice or pureed soft fruit. As time goes on, you will slowly move to solid food based on your surgeon’s and/or dietitian’s advice. In the first four weeks, you will be able to eat foods that may not be allowed in your diet later. That’s because they may contain too many calories. In the first four to six weeks, though, you need to let your stomach adjust to the LAP-BAND System. That is more important than it is to lose weight. In general, you should follow the advice of your dietitian about these foods. 16

Try allnurses.com and then look in the Travel nurse forum or agency nurses forum (I think they have one), there's LOADS of good info there! Good Luck! I didn't tell a soul at work, I can't imagine the constant well-meaning questions about how much have I lost or what am I eating or should I be eating that.

I don't think it matters, the post was made in January of 2007 with no further posts. But it is a conundrum, Dr. Kuri or Dr. Curry?