faithmd

I had stalled for the past few weeks, bouncing between the same four pounds! Arrrrgghh! I was averaging 1000-1400 calories a day. I had been losing on about 1800 to 2200 a day pre-op. So I have gone back to the higher level for a few days now and bam! Six pounds gone. I'm pleased as heck!

Sorry, WasaBB, I missed the part about newbie and losing hair to please vote. Oops Yep, I'm convinced it is the weight loss that does it. I know anesthesia also contributes, so I'm sure Im going to get double whacked, but I suppose I can always buy wigs... I'm just starting to get sad about the hair, if I lose a lot more, I'll be hysterical. I've never colored my hair, it's waist length and deep auburn. Crowning glory as it were. (Definitely WAS, past tense!) Not only is it falling out, but what's left is scraggly and dry and horrible looking despite all my best efforts. Like you said, I'm just going to hope that we can eventually tell the new folks that it *will* come back because ours did.

Hello Serena, I'm doing okay, I plateaued for a couple of weeks and was getting frustrated but now after a few days of eating anywhere from 2000 to 2500 calories, I've lost about 6 lbs. Thank goodness!

I didn't vote because I haven't been banded six months, but I started losing about six months ago and that's probably what triggered it, the weight loss itself. Then I had the band placed and I'm sure added to my loss because of anesthesia...ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I have lost at least 25% at this point, and it's continuing to fall at a rapid rate....

Also, scroll down to the bottom of this page and you'll see a few threads about Port Huron. Good Luck!

Quite a few people have, use the search function look for Port Huron or Dr. Bhesania or Dr. Boutt. Check out the Michigan Threads and also the Doctors and Hospitals threads.

Yep, that's what happens. You can either then click to go advances, but you;ll have to remove the < and > stuff, or before you click on edit, you can right click and highlight and copy your post then click on edit and delete the smilies, then paste your text, edit and viola!

Thanks, Croatica! I'll do that tomorrow.

You are not alone, but you can also see how one bite snowballs into something more very quickly. You have to stop, NOW. Sure, you think you'll be fine, most folks say "I didn't notice anything and it went down okay, I've had no problems." Do folks think that as soon as we swallowed the chewed food that light would flash and alarms would ring, or that daggers of pain would pierce our stomachs? The damage probably wouldn't show up until down the road possibly a year or more in the form of a slipped band. So yes, while it's okay right now, later it might not be. Why not chew? The reason for the liquid diet is because the band gets "seated" on the stomach and held in place by scar tissue that forms during the weeks we are taking in liquids. The stomach is a muscle, and that muscle has to churn and undulate to digest and move food through. Liquid requires little stomach movement to process. When we start to chew something, that lets our digestive system know that food is coming down, fluids begin to be secreted to aid in digestion and the stomach starts moving in preparation to start the breakdown of food. The band is held in place on the front of the stomach by sutures in the stomach where it is pulled up and over the top of the band, then sutured to itself. There is nothing holding the back in place, the surgeon tunnels behind the stomach to pull the band around and then scar tissue forms to hold it. That scar tissue can't form properly or as well if the stomach is churning and moving to digest. Hope this explanation helps. I know that some docs let their patients eat earlier than others, and that's fine for them, but you need to follow your doc's advice. Good luck! Remember it's only a few weeks out of your life, how long have you been fat? I'm guessing a lot longer than a few weeks. You can make it through this!

It's in the FAQ forum, I think because it's a very good (albeit frequent) question. Here's the link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/post-op-checklists-things-have-before-surgery-14814/ I would second the advice for the Gas-X strips, and LOAD up on popsicles. Also, you can get an adult liquid Tylenol it's called Rapid Blast and it's pretty good. Stay away from the children's stuff, it's not concentrated enough, you'll be drinking a buttload of it. I hate the chewable tylenol tabs. I bought the heating pad but didn't end up needing it, though my roommate in the hospital was in terrible pain from the gas, so I was glad to have it just in case. I found I really like a lot of the babyfoods that I tried pre-op for the pureed stage. Stay away from anything labeled 1st stage, though. ICK! Good luck!

Hello nicknack, there is an entire forum devoted to plastic and reconsructive surgery here. There are a couple of threads about lower body lifts, and one is a very long and excellent thread from a lady named puddin. She is in her mid 20's and lost (I think) about 150lbs. Here's the link to the forum itself: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/

Kat's experience seems to be the same as mine. I started losing weight in Feburary and about three weeks ago it started falling out like crazy. I have red hair past my waist, and I'm DEVASTATED. I did everything I could think of for prevention, I take two chewable MVI's a day, I take biotin, I eat no less than an average of 80 grams of protein a day, I use a breakage defense shampoo, I massage my scalp gently to stimulate blood flow to the area, I do everything we're supposed to do and it is dropping as fast as I can pick it up. I've always been a shedder, but this is CRAZY. My labs are fine. I think some people have more of a tendency to lose it than others. I haven't majorly cut my hair in probably ten years, I'm sooooo sad but I'll probably have to after this. I know everyone says it will grow back, so I'm hopeful, but I dont think I want waistlength wisps of hair with short stubbies on my head when it grows back in. I just hope when I finally make the decision to cut it there is enough left to donate to locks of love.

Wow, no I didn't!!! Thanks, WasaBB! And you're almost all the way there! Woohoo!!!!

You should have gotten an information packet from your surgeon about your post-op diet. Every surgeon and nutritionist is different, but here's what I was told. 2-3oz of Protein and 1/2 cup of veggies as a side, and I could have two sides each meal. You will likely not have restriction until you have had at least a couple of fills. Remember the band is only a tool, you should not just eat what you want. You have to make good choices now about what foods to eat and avoid everything we have always known is bad for us. The band just helps us restrict how much we eat, not what we eat. I was also told to introduce new foods slowly, one every couple of days or so, that way if I have a problem with one of them, I know which one it was. Chew, chew, chew and do not drink with your meal or for at least (and every doc is different on this, too) 30 mins, or 45 mins or an hour, or 90 mins, depending on what your doc told you. Good luck!

Where are you located? And where will you have your surgery? In the US the only bands available to us are the Allergan LapBand system. Allergan has a few bands out, all are great. Check out the FAQ and references forum here for more of a description of the bands. There is now the AP or Advanced Platform band that was released in June of this year. It is similar to the VG band with "omniform" technology whre it has 360 degrees of inflation in the inner circle of the band and the inflation ring is baffled rather than a solid balloon type inflatable area. The baffles are somewhat ridged and the thought is that that will help it stay in place better. Also, the AP band is a bit wider that the other bands. It's just improvements made over the years to the technology. Certainly the original bands work well, there are plenty of folks here who have gotten to goal and lost 100, 150 and more pounds with the original band. Your doctor will decide which band and size to use once s/he gets in there. Some docs do choose to only use the VG bands or the AP bands, but then again, the size is determined by the thickness of your stomach walls and your internal anatomy. It's a good question to ask your doc, what bands do they use?

That is sooooooo awesome!!!! Practice banding can really work, for a while at least. It's the keeping it off that I was sure I wouldn't be able to do without the band. I had completely forgot about posting to this thread, so I posted almost the same thing again in the TwoTerville thread, sorry! Goodonya!!! I'd love to see Twoterville this month as well.

I think about it all the time now, too. Just have to get the DH interested again.

I included positive and negative posts to you to be honest. I don't think anything is 100%. You can eat through all of the surgeries, or they fail in the long run. But the band can be loosened and then retightened and you can start fresh. You've been through a restrictive procedure that worked for you once before, perhaps it will work again. And the nice thing is that it can be removed if something happens to it. If another surgery comes along that is better, you can remove the band without having had anything rerouted or cut inside. If they can eventually do a surgery despite your multiple abdominal surgeries, then the band can be taken out and the new surgery performed. I wish you all the luck in the world. If this is all you can do right now, then I say go for it. As I mentioned earlier, it looks like restriction helped you lose in the past, no reason it wouldn't help you again. You are older and wiser and know how to work the restriction.

iluvlongnecks, the only way to know for sure is to get your insurance card out and call and ask. Do it NOW. That way you won't have to live in suspense. After you find out, ask them to send you a copy of their requirements so you have them in writing. Good Luck

Good luck, girl! Did you shave the more important part along with those legs? I'm sorry to hear it is ovarian cysts! At least they can yank an appendix out. Well, they can yank ovaries out, too...but it's not as simple of a recovery in the long run. Take care, I'm up north, will you keep us informed, please? Thinking of you...and the hot doctor...but not together, of course

That's exactly what I did. I started my 12 month MD surpervised Insurance company required diet in March 2006 and then in Feb 2007 I began to eat like a US bandster. Proteins first, then veggies then carbs. I gave up all the white and refined carbs I could. I began reading labels and avoiding as many artificial sweeteners and things with high fructose corn syrup in them as possible. I started eating with baby or toddler utensils to practice the smaller bites. I began trying different protein drinks and stopping drinking with meals. I tried different baby foods and bought my blender and other things I saw on the pre-op checklist in the FAQ thread here. (I never used the heating pad, but I'll have it for any aches in the future-I got lucky with no gas pains.) I bought Gas-X strips and liquid Tylenol in abundance. I tried different vitamins and chewable calcium to find ones I liked. In the five months to my banding, I developed positive behaviors and I fully believe that "practising" was what has made the transition as relatively easy as it has been. I lost about 40 lbs between February and my band date. That was a big bonus. It has also helped because my co-workers and friends don't ask what I'm doing to lose weight anymore. They knew I was watching what I ate and changing my lifestyle so they just assume that's what is causing my continued loss. And really, it is. The band certainly isn't magic. I haven't had a fill yet and I'm planning to hold out for as long as I can before I start getting them. I figure as long as overall I continue to lose, I should be fine. But the second it gets feels like I'm starving myself, it gets really tough or I start steadily gaining again, I'm heading in to start my fills. I'm not silly enough to think I can really do this all alone. I got the band for a tool, I should learn how to use it to the best of it's ability.

I cannot reccommend any specific diets, I think we all have different tastes. What I think might be yummy, you might think is too sweet, etc. I have heard many folks really like the Matrix line of Protein drinks. They are the highest quality and are a litte more expensive, but it's worth it and you get what you pay for. Try tossing what you like in a blender. Make creative soups, you can do this. It's a month out of your life to save something you paid $$ for. In my liquid stage I liked popsicles, yogurt drinks, Campbell's Soup at Hand soups, Campbell's Gold Select soups, lots of soups that come in boxes (usually no chunks in those), tomato juice, V8, unflavored unjury Protein powder added to things, pureed stuff with liquids added to make then a soup.

Dressing up the pureed food with sauces like sour cream, salsa or BBQ sauce can cut down on the icky look of the blended stuff. Also I bought little tiny Rubbermaid/Tupperware type bowl containers and ate out of those. Something about seeing a plop of pureed stuff on a plate was gross, but a spoonful of it in a small bowl wasn't bad at all.

The newer baby foods are quite good, try the organic varieties, and stay away from 1st foods, you want at least stage 2 as they taste a lot better. I ended up tossing what I wanted to eat in the blender and eating that. It really helped. For example, on the 4th of July I tossed a grilled fat free hot dog and a small can of Beans with a little catsup and mustard and BBQ sauce to taste and whizzing it up. It was YUMMY! I also took watermelon and made a granita (like a watermelon ice) with it. Do a search for granita recipes on the net, you'd be amazed at what can be made into a granita. I found a tomato granita recipe. I wanted mexican, so I pureed some canned white breast chicken, some salsa, a bit of refried beans and some queso. I topped it all with some sour cream, heaven. Remember, anything you want that you can blenderize (so no Doritos) can be a pureed food. I bought loads of baby food and once I figured out I could blenderize real food, I didn't eat much of the baby food I bought. Though I really liked a lot of it. Needed salt, though.

Hello, welcome! I was banded June 21st and yes, the liquid diet pre-op was hard, but the post-op diet was tougher. Two weeks of liquids, two weeks of pureed, two weeks of soft foods and then real food. But it is soooooooo important not to cheat post-op because it can mess up your healing. The sutures have to heal and scar tissue needs to form around the band to hold it in place, when you eat, your stomach churns to digest and that motion can break forming scar tissue. Try not to focus on how difficult the liquid stages are, it's only a few weeks out of our lives. How many years have we been fat? I can handle six weeks of misery to start losing weight and being healthier.