motivatedlap

My first fill was 10ccs in an 11cc band. I felt NOTHING. It was tight for a couple of hours after the fill, but once that feeling went away, I felt the same as I did before the fill. I was also able to eat anything I wanted- Pasta, bread, rice, steak- all with no hint of sticking. I was freaked out because I was thinking- 'he can only get one more cc in this thing- what if I'm one of those people that the band just doesn't work for?'. Well, yesterday I went for fill #2. He put in 0.5ccs. I had to wait for 10 minutes in the office to make sure I wasn't uncomfortable. I felt a little like I had heartburn and felt burpy- there was a definite difference with that tiny amount. But I didn't really feel totally uncomfortable, so, I left and hoped on the subway. I got about 3 stops away and decided something was wrong. I had a sharp pain in the middle of my back and in my chest. I called the office and they said it was the sign of too much fill. They gave me the option of coming back and getting a little out or letting it settle for a couple of days. I decided to get some out, so I headed back and as soon as they took a little out, the pain went away. The moral of the story is don't give up! It just may take your band being almost full to get you the restriction you want. My doctor is pretty agreesive with the first fill and has me coming in every 2 weeks to check my progress. You're gonna get there, it just takes a little patience and a little more saline! (oh! the weight gain might just be muscle building from the exercise- use body measurements and how your clothes fit to help gauge your progress when the scale discourages you!)

Is the pain near your biggest incision? Maybe it's where your port is? Mine is on the lower left side, but every surgeon seems to put them in slightly different spots.

I've been lucky so far that I can eat anything and haven't been stuck. If you're worried about that, tofu, lentils and beans are a nice choice- they're easy to chew up well and provide protien. I also like to bake white meat chicken with some sort of sauce to keep it moist. Eggs are also good if you can eat them- I have them scrambled, boiled and fried. As far as veggies, cucumbers, bell peppers and carrots (diced really small) have been easy to eat.

True, eating solids "too soon" could be cheating based on your particular doctor's guidelines. I was on solids by week 3 though based on the guidelines provided by my doctor, so the OP's concern about damaging the band by cheating on mushies if it was eating something solid is probably not a big deal.

I have the same problem and some nights I have bad snacks too (but the York peppermint patties from the holidays are almost gone so I will stop soon!). I only eat about 1/2 cup at meals- that's all it takes before I get my satisfied feeling- and that just isn't enough calories. I try to get around 800 calories each day (my weight is low enough that it's an acceptable amount). I've had a big fill and I just don't feel hungry most of the time. I know that we're supposed to avoid liquid calories, but I sometimes have milk or hot cocoa to push my calorie count higher for the day if it's too low. Hot cocoa is a nice treat! I also will eat a snack like almonds because they're pretty calorie dense, but healthy.

This is really debatable...some people are on liquids for weeks after surgery then move to mushies, but others have one week of liquid, then move to 'soft foods' which are more substantial than mushies (this was my situation). As far as damage, if you didn't get stuck or vomit, then maybe there is no damage but ask your doctor if you're really concerned or have pain. As for getting the scale moving, I'm guess you're not too far out from surgery if your first post-op is Jan 9th. My experience was that I lost a lot in the liquids week, but then when I got to soft foods for a week, then regular foods after that, the loss really slowed. I also couldn't do any exercise other than walking for the first 6 weeks. I luckily didn't gain anything, but not losing was sort of a bummer. Hopefully after your first fill, you'll see the scale move again.

I read an article, can't remember where, that mentioned focusing on what you CAN eat rather than what you CAN'T eat- planning is really important. This is hard at first, but it gets easier. I find if I don't think about what I'm going to eat ahead of time and make sure it's available, I end up eating crap. I also weigh myself every day! I know a lot of people say don't do that because your weight fluctuates, it's depressing, etc, BUT it's not depressing if you're seeing the numbers go down every day. And if they're up a little, it makes me pay more attention to what I put in my mouth that day so that I can see a drop the next morning. If I'm not seeing a drop (or at least the same number) then I know I need to change something. Good luck on Friday!

hahaha!! congrats to you! this is awesome!!

good for you! isn't that such a great feeling!? i only did liquids for a week then it was on to soft foods for me as well the week after, per doctor's orders. by my third week i could have anything i could tolerate with the advice not to eat beef until a couple of weeks later.

i had a really good experience with my first fill despite that it was a VERY aggressive fill! it's probably different for everyone, but just try to relax and don't look at what they're doing! i am a huge baby when it comes to needles, so i didn't even look around the room! i knew where i had to lay, so i got there, closed my eyes and let my doctor do his thing and i didn't open my eyes until i had to sit up and put my shoes back on, again keeping my eyes averted so that i didn't accidentally see anything that might have been lying around, like big needles or something! before he put the needle in, he felt on my belly and told me where my port was- he had told me after surgery as well. i didn't get a numbing shot and i couldn't believe how painless the stick was. and the whole thing goes really fast! after my fill, i could tell exactly where my band is- it did feel tight in that spot. i also felt a bit of pressure in my chest/stomach area, but it went away in a couple of hours- i never felt nausea. i also had no trouble eating or drinking later that day and have not felt uncomfortable since then. one thing to think about with the fills is that yours may be really different compared to what others talk about- if your stomach has more/less fat around it, then your doctor will probably do it according to that. my first fill was 10ccs. i can still eat pasta, rice and meat with zero issues. i don't fill hungry a lot though and it's easy to stop after my 1/2 cup. good luck and keep your eyes closed!

that might be where your port is attached- that's where mine is. it's gonna hurt for a while, but it gets better each day- i'm a month and a half out and still get an uncomfortable feeling every now and again in that area. just after my surgery i found when i moved around very much to sort of 'hold' that spot and it made moving a little less painful. feel better!

I've seen quite a few folks mentioning it, but I didn't have to do one before my surgery.

I had surgery on Saturday, I went back to work on Monday (day 2 post op). I think this is probably not normal. I would only recommend this if you have a desk job and don't have to move around a lot because that was what really got me the first few days back.

not sure if this is the best category or if post-op might be bettter, but i'm curious for those of you who have dogs that you walk on a leash, how long after surgery was it before it felt ok? my guy is little (under 15lbs) but he does pull and i'm wondering how long i should wait after surgery to take him out. walking him around would be good for me to get the gas out and he would love the activity, but i'm worried that it might be painful. i've never thought too much about whether the pulling is mostly in my arm or if it's also in my abs. any experiences?

i think it will probably depend on your insurance. i'm a self-pay and my BMI is around 33, i have no other health issues and i'm going in tomorrow for surgery. it also may depend on your surgeon. i would lcheck with both.

hi everyone! so it seems many people on here like my fitness pal for tracking, but i've been playing around on the site and can't figure out how to adjust the fat/carb/protein numbers- only the calories seem adjustable. does anyone know how to do this? if that can't be adjusted, my backup plan is spark people. i also have an account there and i like how i can adjust all of the different nutritional values that i'm tracking. however, i like the iOS app for my fitness pal better. anyone know how to adjust the values? thanks!

i'm in the same boat- i have to choose the brand, but i guess my doctor will choose the size. there's a good thread on here that's pretty recent about this topic...maybe it's in the pre-surgery section? anyway, in case you can't find it, one thing mentioned by another poster in that thread is that with the bigger band (14cc vs 10cc), it may take more fills to get to your sweet spot. that was something i hadn't really thought of before...and something to consider if you also have a choice in size. personally, i think i'm going to choose the lapband (10cc if i have a choice). i get banded in a couple of days, so i'll let you know! update: here's a link to that discussion: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/137463-which-brand-to-choose/

hahaha!! i was wondering the same thing! my family had hunting dogs growing up.

thanks so much! this is very helpful advice!

i'm using one called nutrilite from amway (i live abroad, so i have almost no options for protein powders). it's a soy protein rather than whey. the description states that it has a 'neutral' flavor and i agree. it's slightly nutty but i mix it in chocolate milk and it makes it a little creamier/thicker but doesn't really alter the taste. i also tried dissolving it in hot Water and it blended in just fine with no clumping. i haven't put it in anything else- i get banded in 2 days though, so next week i'm sure i'll be adding it to more things, so i'll report back! i'm personally only going to do beverages as a meal if i am too tight to eat. i've seen so many people mention having trouble eating in the morning, so that's when i see me using this the most.

i'm using a soy protein, which has been show in some studies to speed up the metabolism of the thyroid which helps with weightloss, along with a lot of other good things. i don't know if this is true or not though. it's only 10g of protein per serving, but it's a tiny scoop, so if you were to use the same amount of it as one of the other brands' serving size, it think it would easily be 20g or more. it's called nutrilite and it's from amway, yeah another one of those multi-level marketing things, but i'm with kate82955- so what? i don't care who sells it as long as it's good for me and fills me up.

thanks for sharing! these recipes look great! i think these will be nice to take to upcoming holiday parties so that i know there will be something there that is a good portion size for me.

i'm totally with you OP on hating yogurt- i have tried it a TON of ways and i just can't take it...that funky, tart taste is just blech! what about having non-breakfast foods instead? something like hummus or lentils or tofu... you could mix in neutral/unflavored protein powder with one of these to up the protein even more. or if you want something more breakfast-like, maybe oatmeal with protein powder. i've been doing 8oz non-fat milk with nestle quick and a small scoop of neutral flavored protein (~20g protein total) and if i get hungry later, i snack on a soy joy or nuts or banana.

just to update, the nutrilite protein powder COMPLETELY dissolves in hot liquids. i poured some boiling water into a bowl and put a spoonful in and stirred a little and it made the water sort of thick and cloudy with almost no taste but the powder was gone. i think this is going to work well in oatmeal and soups for me!