Olive55

Congratulations to all of you on your decision work towards healthier and happier lives! I was banded a year ago in April. I went in for surgery at 9:30 and my mom went in at 11:30. We BOTH took Xanax before leaving the house due to the fact that we are both extremely anxious. She had had other surgeries in the past and was not nearly as, "crazy," as I was (it was my first surgery). Needless to say I was shaking and nauseous until just before they took me back and gave me their own, "happy," medicine. When they gave me that my anxiety was GONE. At that point I was ready to fall asleep, once they rolled me in the OR, they hooked me up to anesthesia and one of the nurses said, "have a nice na---," and I was out before she could finish her sentence and the next thing I knew I was waking up! To this day I swear it was the best sleep I have ever gotten lol. And quite honestly, the worst parts for me where getting my belly button cleaned for sterilization purposes (yuck!) and getting my IV put in (I hate needles)! Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck - you will be fine!

Hi! I had a weird spell just like this over the weekend! I was eating stuff I normally did and then had a spell where I couldn't even get water down and the last fill I received was in March. I got stuck pretty bad Saturday but was able to flush it down, however Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I couldn't eat or drink anything. Went to my surgeon's office yesterday and got 1cc removed and voila! I was better! The nurse who does my fills said that ANYTIME you get stuck no matter how bad, your stomach gets irritated and inflamed which is what probably was wrong with me. Did you have a bad episode with getting stuck and maybe your stomach is inflamed? If you did and don't want to go to your surgeon, my nurse, Joann, told me to switch to liquids for 24-48 hours and that would give me time to let the swelling go down. Good luck!

Congrats on one year! My, "sugiversary," was April 12th! Anyway, the last time I got a fill was in the middle of March and that put me at 6.5ccs in my 10cc band. Since March it has been a struggle to not get stuck, but I could do it if I took my time when eating, if not, it was all over but the crying. Anyway, over the weekend up until today I had this weird spell where I could not even get Water down - it was bad! I went to my surgeon's office today and the nurse that does my fills took 1cc out and I'm a new girl! She told me that ANYTIME you get stuck and have to puke, it will irritate your stomach, causing it to become inflamed which is probably what my problem was because I got stuck REALLY bad Saturday. The days you say you can't even keep water down, are those days where you were stuck the night before? Maybe that's what's wrong? My nurse, Joann just told me to be careful because 5.5ccs less may be a completely world from 6.5ccs and I may have to come back for a fill invade I have no restriction. So I would say if the not getting water down becomes chronic, contact your surgeon's office! One last thing, a little trick in my family (myself, my mother and two of my aunts are banded!) if possible, before anything else in the morning; pills, Breakfast, milk, etc. - drink something hot!!!!! Not sure if it's a placebo effect or if it really works or maybe only for us. But if I drink coffee (I'm assuming you could do tea or hot chocolate or something) first thing in the morning my band is good for the day! If I don't, I cannot eat anything until supper time! I hope this helps, good luck!

Well on Saturday I got stuck which was fine. I drank and the food that was stuck flushed down. Since then I have not been able to eat or drink anything without it getting stuck. Normally when I get stuck I have horrible pain in my back and by my breast bone, now however, I just feel pressure when I drink/eat. I'm concerned because people say if you puke too much when you get stuck you can make it slip. I'm hoping my stomach is just irritated but I'm very nervous...

I have a question for you guys! What were your symptoms that made you decide to see your surgeons? I have an appt tomorrow with mine because I'm afraid mine has slipped. Just curious to see if maybe I'm paranoid or if my nervousness is justifiable!

This is a tough question for me, but a great one nonetheless. Days like today, I want to rip it out myself but that is only because it's been giving me issues for a few days. Other days I'm head over heels in love with my band! For example; my stepdad will bring home a dozen doughnuts and my first instinct is to grab one and enjoy! But having the band I say to myself well yeah, I probably could eat this doughnut if I wanted to, but do I want to get stuck? No. So that paired with the fact that I obviously know doughnuts are not good for me, I make a healthier decision. Being 21 I do sometimes question whether or not I made the right decision because the majority of the time food is what brings me and my friends together. If we haven't seen each other for a while we'll get together for dinner and I do get frustrated watching my peers eat whatever they want and maintain a healthy wait. Not sure if that will make sense, sorry! But at the end of the day I wouldn't change a thing because I know in 10, 20 years I will be healthier, I will have taught myself self-control and I will love myself!

This happens to me quite often. Some days I can eat absolutely ANYTHING I want no matter how bad or good it is, how dense or lean it is, etc. Other days however, I have, "bad," band days where I cannot eat ANYTHING without getting it stuck. I will try to drink coffee first thing out of bed to try and loosen my band, but nothing, smoothies, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna - nothing even liquids are difficult. I'm writing to see if this happens to anyone else or just me? Right now I'm actually getting a bit concerned because I have not been able to eat anything since Saturday. I don't feel the pain I normally do when I'm stuck, just the pressure. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Things like chicken salad or tuna with maybe some low sodium crackers (if you can get them down) might be good! Cheese is great too! So maybe like string cheese or whatever you like best! My mom (who is banded) also eats Greek yogurt with peanut flour in it for lunch and it's keeps her full for a while. Some hummus with pita chips might work well for you too! Maybe a smoothie or something too! This was kind of all over the place but I'm just trying to think of a little bit of a variety! Hope this helps!

So glad to see this post, considering I was just going to make one similar! I've been considering purchasing one to be as precise as possible and I am very curious to see whether or not people utilize them and if so which ones!

I know this will sound silly considering I'm a year+ out of surgery, but does anyone have any suggestions about workout routines? I cannot afford a gym membership which is what I would ultimately like to get at one point. For now however I have to kind of come up with my own routine. What I would like is something to slowly build up my stamina so I could eventually run or when I can afford a membership be able to use the treadmill, elliptical, whatever have you for longer than I could now. We have a pretty decent sized pool, nice yard and nice neighborhood, so walking, jogging, swimming, etc. are all options. I've seen people on-line do routines of like 10 leg-lifts, 50 crunches, 50 push-ups, etc. have any of you tried something like that? Just curious to see what at-home workouts have worked well for you guys!

I just actually posted this on another thread, but one of my favorite snacks is taking a piece of American cheese, folding/ripping it into squares and then laying them out on a piece of parchment paper, putting them in the microwave for about 45 seconds or so and then voila! - homemade cheez-its!

These are sooo delicious! We buy them at Aldi by us! One of my favorite snacks is to break a slice of American cheese up into squares, put it on a piece of parchment paper in the microwave for 45 seconds or so and you get homemade cheez-its!

I plan on adding you guys as well, I need some inspiration! If I happen to miss anyone my username is: orbennett .

Wow! I cannot thank you all enough for your kind and supportive suggestions. My aunt always tells me, "my pace, my race," as you all did but it is very tough for me as I am so accustomed to putting myself down when I do not succeed at something. However, I am going to make a conscious effort to focus on me and only me. By, "drinks," I meant beverages. I will occasionally have a drink maybe one every two months, if that. I drink a lot of coffee mainly because I use it to loosen up my band first thing in the morning otherwise I get stuck. I love iced tea which now that you all mention it is probably what's messing me up. I will have to switch to unsweetened - I can't believe I didn't realize this. I will have to download that app, it sounds great and have heard other people suggest it. I am also going to continue swimming and watching my sodium, sugars and carbs. I'm also going to call right now to see if I can get an appointment with a nutritionist at my surgeon's office! Thank you all so much again!