Army's girl

Thanks SO much Joel, odors & all who gave such great advice. It is definitely hard & I'm definitely committed I just can't do such a stricken diet like you Joel lol. I don't have the will power or right job that allows me to drink water all day & actually eat meals lol. I work in surgery taking care of others, go figure. I will try to increase my calories & see. Oh as for the protein shake, I don't have one every day & when I do it's only about 4 ounces. Did I mention I'm hypoglycemic? Lol Joel, since I only go to the gym or exercise 2-3 times per week, what is a routine I a can do that will burn a lot of these calories & boost weight loss???

Thank you all very much. It's just interesting to me t How some people can lose so much weight so fast but me, nooooo I'm stuck on chubster! Lo don't get me wrong I'm very proud & happy for all of you that have lost so much, but I'm a tad jealous. Sorry. How exactly are you guys losing a pound a day???? Please just give me a typical day or two of your food & exercise routine....

So once you do get that dreaded stuck feeling where you struggle to swallow, feel everything come up & down in your esophagus & even sometimes feel chest pain, what do you do to get rid of that feeling?? Please give complete details of how you got unstuck and/or how you overcame that awful feeling.....

Lol I agree we need a utube demo of your chicken dance with the ugs lmao! But seriously thanks for allt the great advice. Yeah from the sounds of it I had a major stuck episode & did the whoever slime thing lol. Now I know what to do cuz what I ended up doing at the time was having one of my nurse coworkers do a temporary unfill of 2cc then once it passed put the 2cc back in. Yes I know that was crazy but I was at work in some major discomfort & pain. I told my hubby that I no longer have to worry because I have this great support system of friends here that can help me with ANYTHING band related & faster than my surgeon too. Lol thanks again

Thanks for the great info it does make sense. I have a 10cc band & have 5.75cc in it give or take a little. I just don't understand why I'm hitting a plateau so soon after surgery.

How do you know if your band or any part of the tube is infected?? What are the signs and symptoms? Anyone that has had to have their band replaced can you please share your story with me, Thank you

thanks for the responses.

well then I'm definitely NOT in the green zone, which sucks!! I think I may have a leak because I'm burpy, have good restriction & can feel my liquids going down right after a fill but by the following day I'm able to eat things I couldn't swallow the day before. Or is this normal??

Okay I work with Surgeons that do lapbands, realize band, plications, sleeves & bypass all day long & I asked them this very same question. The answer they gave me was rather simple & made alot of sense. Think of weightloss surgery as a hammer. The size of the hammer depends on how big the job is so if you only need to lose less than 100 pounds & can for the most part have some control & will power than the lapband (small hammer) is a great choice. If you are not a very disciplined type of person, lack will power & patience & need to lose more than 80-100 pounds then the sleeve (bigger hammer) or bypass (biggest hammer) is the procedure for you. Recovery time for lapband (depending on type of job you have) 4 -5 days you are back to work, sleeve (5-6 days), bypass (4 weeks). This is if you have an office job where you can sit or stand & take frequent breaks. As with any surgery, there can be complications but those are the risks we take when having ANY type of surgery. Thats why its crucial to research the surgeon you chose. I hope this was helpful. I'm a bandster &

TO: Playboreject & Joel I am jealous but in a good way lol, Im inspired now but I gotta ask you please be more detailed and tell me EXACTLY what your doing & eating and how often. I work in surgery on my feet ALL day (8-10 hours) so by the time Im off work I'm so exhausted the last thing I wanna do is be off my feet again. I do go to the gym on the weekends & sometimes I do P90x at home or a 30 minute workout on comcast. As far as eating, I eat about 600-800 calories a day, cant do liquids & Water during the day because I'm scrubbed in surgery & have no access plus I can't get people to come relieve me to pee every hour or so. I lost 10 pounds the first 7 days after surgery but thats it, I haven't lost any more weight despite I have almost 6cc's in my 10cc band. Please help give me some direction because I'm so blah & frustrated not seeing ANY results.

B-52 I have gotten stuck a couple of times & it sucks, its painful & causes anxiety for me. Once after a fill I was so hungry I tried to eat like a crocket ( which is small & not hard) but it wouldn't go down after the 2nd bite i could feel it not be able to pass & then it was an uo & down feeling in my esophogus. It was trippy & lasted for about 15 mins. My problem is that I do get hungry & the Protein shakes don't satisfy me at all!! I take2 scoops of the Synergistic Protein Complex High 5 which has 26g each scoop, 1g sugar, 1g carbs& only 118 calories. I've definitely platued but honestly I don't got to the gym every other day as I would like because I work in surgery long hours & I do so much physical activity that by the time im done at work I'm too rexhausted!! How can I control my hunger better?? I don't want to be so tight that I cant eat anything but liquids but at the same time I need to jump start my weightloss again. Also how do you get your ticker to change the weight & keep updated?

To b-52 & brenda62, What are you eating that has pushed your weightless into rocket speed?? I still don't know what foods I should eat. I mean of course I know fast food, junk food & all thats not good but what should I be eating specially now that I'm tight??? If you can give me a full days menu(sample of one of your days meal) that would help me. Thank you so much.

B-52 Thank u soooo much for describing what normal good restriction feels like. I've had the feeling but thought it wasn't normal & had them take ome out. I guess that's why I've only lost 10 pounds in 3 months, could eat anything & was always hungry!!! Well I got a fill as soon as I read ur post earlier today & now I'm "gurgling" like u lol. I just hoope I also don't feel hungry or want to eat all the time. When I first had surgery I felt no hunger not interested in food at all but after 7 days that went away. Good luck to all including myself.

Hi abphiipi, I totally understand your frustration but I must tell you that fills are definitely the way the majorityt of physicians do them & it is a trial & error type. The reason they do fills every 4 weeks is to give your pouch time to heal. Everyone is also different in the sense that I may require 2cc's to get to the green zone "where it may take you 5cc's. I guess my point is that everything takes time, have faith, and patience. Don't forget to be positive.

Well in Miami, fl fills are NOT included in the surgical price & every fill is $200!!!! So if you get fills the first year your ahead of the game, at least that's what we in Miami think.

Smoking slows down the healing process & everytime you get a fill your stomach has to heal again thats why your told to be on liquids for a day or two. I don't understand how alot of people can't see the corelation between band erosion & smoking. The majority of good doctors & surgeons that actually have a conscience and care won't perform surgery or fills on patients that smoke or refuse to quit smoking because they know & its said in the seminars that the band is just a tool but the patient has to be willing to make the changes necessary in order for the band ot be a success. Its not easy to do but either was paying for the band or going to surgery. I was a smoker & still crave every now & then cigarrettes but I tell myself that I need to be strong & focus on the goal which is to lose weight by making healthier choices so I can live longer to be there for my kids an family. Don't be too hard on yourself & don't get discouraged but go online and definitely do research so you can learn and understand the effects of everything we do to our bodies & how it affects us mentally & physically. Therapy is a great place to start. If you need assistance by taking medication then thats fine but start somewhere, baby steps. There are doctors or PA's that will fill you regardless of your smoking but hun love yourself enought o start making better choices with food, gambling & smoking oka. One at a time you can do this!! Getting the surgery & posting on here is a great start. Good luck, we are all here for you.

Okay so I got my 1st fill post-op yesterday of 1.8cc so now I have a total of 3.8 in my band. Honestly I didn't feel much of a difference & even though I was suppossed to be on liquids for the restof the day, I was so hungry I ate about 4oz of imperial rice which is soft runny yellow rice with chicken & cheese melted on it. I was at a kids bday party & was so hungry I had a headache!! Anyway the good thing is that I was full for the next 5 hours. However, I don't wanna feel that hungry because thats when i'll eat the fastest and everythng goes out the window. Anyone else feel the same?? Is this normal??

thanks KAT for replying to MY post instead of starting your own lol. I guess your right its just discouraging when you see yourself hitting a plateu so fast. Tomorrow I go for my first fill & I'm going to ask for as much as possible, as long as I can drink sips of Water ofcourse. I've actually gained 3 pounds back. In reality those 10 lbs really don't count as "true weightloss" but I was happy to see them go. Funny thing is I felt the same as you in thinking I had maybe stretched my band or was eating too much. Funny how we give ourselves guilt trips. Anyway, I hope your headaches have gone away & your feeling better. As for me, I'm super excited to get this fill tomorrow. Oh confession, I don't walk 30 mins a day because I work in surgery running around about 10-11 hours of the day & once I get home at 6:30p sometimes 7:30pm I check homework, feed dogs, sometimes cook & bythen its 9:30ish & I'm exhausted!!!! I walk the dogs honestly 10-15mins but weekends I do go to the gym & do 45mins on the treadmil or elipticle. I think the worst thing I ate this week was a chic fillet chicken sandwich for dinner, yes with the delicious fries! lol I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Question, will I feel that restriction & lack of hunger immediately after my fill????? I hope so.....

I was banded on 11/4/11 and loved the first week because I lost 10lbs and wasn't hungry at a. After those 5 days the weightless stopped and the hunger kicked in!!!!!! I told my surgeon I needed a fill but his office messed up because I was scheduled today but when I Coles to let them know I'd b 10mins late the doctor said "sorry too bad come back another day. (there was more to it) Anyway, I'm zoo disappointed because I can eat same amount as I did before getting banded. I spent all my savings for this "tool" and I'm praying this fill makes it work. All of what your feeling is close if nt ESA Ty what I feel. Hang in there & so will I. OMG I can't imagine

Everyone is different it seems bcuz some people feel the restriction immediately after & others feel it days later. Listen to your body, eat the good healthy food & exercise, the rest will come.

Excercise is a HUGE factor for us banders. I know its not easy & we don't always have the energy or time for excercising but we gotta remember the money, time & emotions that we have vested in this.I found that even walking my dogs help burn calories & was amazed that goping around the block burned 550 calories!!! Hang in there, good luck dear.

Sue I hope your feeling better today. I had the exact same feelinngs & even had spasms for about 7 days. This is all normal because the band is a foreign object so it needs time to accept it & settle in the tissue. The grumbling is actually air in your stomach & the acids that are complaining because theres no food in there for it to breakdown but its ok. I ended up taking a week off from work because my body told me to so listen to yours. All you should be doing is short walks at a moderate pace. I found when I drank my liquids I felt better taking sips every couple of seconds & chewing on gas-x & antacids after. I promise the grumbling & pain will go away after the first week but you need to take it very slow. I think that was extremely hard for me because I'm extremely hyper lol but its very important to do so. I hope all this helped you & I hope soon you'll feel better.

So last night I was able to eat real solid food! I don't feel ANY restriction now & my portions are getting bigger. This is not suppossed to be happening& I'm really frustrated. I'm going to gym on weekends bcuz lately I've been working long hours & I'm just too exhausted by the end of my shift to go to any gym. After cooking, feeding the dogs and going over homework its 8:45pm & I'm beat!! lol I'm really looking forward to getting this fill so I can finally get back to losing weight. Any suggestions in the meantime? The protein shakes don't hold me at all & neither do the puddings, yogurts, cheese & etc. I never feel nauseau or throw up either (I wish I would though so I'd be scared to eat). I'm kinda down of this.

Thank you for your replies. That was very informative. I'm post-op 15 days now & haven't lost ANY more weight other than the 10 lbs I lost the first 5 days. I'm hungry often and I can eat just about anything just a small amount of it. I'm not sure this is good or not but I sure wish I wasn't hungry all the time & thatthe weight would continue to come off. I've been going to the gym maybe 4 days outta the week. As for liquids & snacks, well I work in surgery so I don't really have time to eat or srink every 2 hours. I crave carbs incredibly. My first fill is dec 3rd. How much should I ask my doc to fill me with??