ElizabethAnne

I'm a little relieved to see I'm not the only one struggling, but you all seem to be doing so great!

 

This is the kind of stuff other people without the band don't think about. They think it's just get the surgery and poof you're skinny. LOL I overheard someone in a dressing room the other day saying to someone else that she had lost 70 pounds. The other person said "wow! How'd you do that?"...the first lady says "I had surgery". It was silent for a second and the other person goes "ohhhh". That was it...no questions, no congratulations on the hard work, no nothing. They don't realize how much this is about choices and will power and hard work. Congrats to all of you for keeping up the hard work!!!!

 

I was supposed to call the doctors office this week to set up my next appointment and I put it off, so now I have to wait until next week to call. Hopefully they can get me in soon so I'm not in trouble. LOL

It's great to read your update. Try to not get discouraged. Add your pre-op weight loss to your weight loss since you've been banded and you have done very well.

It sounds like you recognize what you need to do differently. Most of us didn't develop weight issues overnight, so we likely won't be able to get rid of that baggage overnight. I personally expect to always struggle with my weight, but at least with the band, I now have a tool to help me.

You're right about many other people not understanding. First, most of those people haven't truly struggled with obesity all of their lives. Without that experience, it's more difficult for them to understand. And secondly, they see people who have been successful with the band, and therefore, without having any details, they assume it is a quick fix. I myself thought this until I started researching weight loss surgery. I think others' lack of understanding is one of the reasons I am hesitant to tell about my being banded. That, and the fear of failure (i.e. eventually gaining all of my weight back like I usually do).

There will be struggles in our future and lots of hard work, but we CAN do it!

No fill needed today...YAY!

 

I do eat toasted bread now. There is a local bread called Natural Ovens made in Manitowoc WI. They have a carb conscious bread that I use. I also eat reduced fat triscuts, wheat thins and pretzels. I make sure I chew them well and have not had any problems with them.

It's great that you didn't need a fill!

I doubt if I can find the Natural Ovens bread since I don't live in WI, but the carb conscious type is definitely a good idea that I hadn't thought of. Reduced fat Triscuits and Wheat Thins sound wonderful! Of course, they both have contributed to my weight struggles over the years. I didn't dream I would be able to have those at some point.

I am going to try to stick to the diet that the dietician gave me on the day of my surgery. At least until I reach my goal. I am scared that I will get off-track if I start to deviate. In the past, I've been an all or nothing dieter...even one little bite of something not on the plan would de-rail me, then I seem to have trouble getting started again.

Thanks for posting what works for you---it helps so much!

my Dr said to stay away from bread posta and rice, I did try some bread didnt like the way it made me feel, had brown rice did ok with it, and mac and cheese didnt bother me either. Also think crust pizza didnt bother me.

I didnt get a fill this time either Dr said as lone as i was loosing weight and my apatite was under control ( not hungry between meals) that i didn't need a fill. I have only had 1 fill and he only put 2cc in it.

It's great to read that your band is working well for you with only one fill! I hope I will have the same experience.

My rules for Week 4 has a note saying bread, rice, popcorn, and Pasta are difficult to digest and often contain empty calories. Above the note, it says 100% whole grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice, and potatoes are allowed. I love pasta, too, but plan to buy only the whole grain type and to cook it only to the al dente stage. However, I haven't been craving pasta as much, so I am going to try to hold off on it. My only carb cravings have been popcorn, which I never plan to eat again, and bread, which I seldom craved before the band.

I went shopping earlier this week because I needed some new clothes. It was an all-day trip. I took Water with me and Protein Drinks for the entire day. By the time I should have been drinking the 3rd Protein supplement for dinner, I was nauseated at the thought, and decided to wait to eat until I arrived home, which was about 2 hrs away. I didn't make it. I ended up stopping at a Walmart about 40 miles from my house, and I purchased some deli turkey.

I started with crackers then did the toast. Now i can eat just any bread so far. Even had pizza and did ok.

Crackers sound great...almost as good as toast. Toast or bread isn't something I usually crave.

Didn't dream I'd be able to eat pizza. Figured I'd have to watch my family eat it without me.

Thanks for replying!

I just placed an order for PB2 and can hardly wait for it to arrive!

Thank you for the replies on where to find PB2. I can hardly wait to try it!

You have a wise plan. You CAN do it!

I love Peanut Butter but I hate the fat in it so I use PB2 it's crushed peanuts that have been pressed until all the oil is drained and your left with a powder all you do is add Water and u can make it as thin or thick as you want it only has 45 calories a serving!

Where do you purchase PB2? I've never seen it before.

I was banded on June 5. Peanut Butter is allowed on my diet when I reach Week 4.

You are doing great! Keep working hard!

I have eaten bread. I have found almost nothing that i can not eat. I have not tried steak though.. that scares me. For the first time this week i did not lose weight Seems to have stalled. I hope its not a long stall. As for the fills. My understanding is you get fills till you get into that zone then you should not need fills.

Did you start with a whole grain bread? Did you toast it?

Try not to be disappointed about your weight loss stall. I stall sometimes, too, but a few days later I will have a significant drop. Hang in there.

Let's talk about fills. I know I keep thinking the more restriction I have the faster the weight will drop. HOWEVER, what happens when your band is "full" and you need to lose? What do they do then? What if there is no room left in your band to play with? My goal is to lose the weight and maintain it for a life time. Too many fills could be a bad thing.

My surgeon must fill his patients slowly as he told me on the day of my surgery that I would likely need 6 fills to reach optimization. I don't expect my weight to drop more rapidly with a fill but am hopeful that when I get my first fill I won't be as hungry as I am now. As it is now, I am hungry about an hour after I eat.

Yay for you on your approval! I remember how I felt the day I received my approval.

I was banded 2+ weeks ago. Prior to surgery, I was simultaneously scared, excited, and confident that I had researched my options well. It's normal to feel a little apprehensive.

Good luck with your surgery!

I believe you can lose 100 pounds based on the research I've read and on the experiences of some of the individuals who post on LBT.

Congratulations to you!

I'm at 2+ weeks. I haven't had any port pain but rather irritation where my bra rubs the port scar when I am walking. That particular scar has healed into a hard, tiny round bump. I finally found a good supporting sports bra yesterday that fits well, and today when I walked, that area didn't get irritated.

I haven't read anything about this, but if it were an issue, I think medical professionals would likely caution us about it.

Thanks for describing what "stuck" feels like, Julie and momab50. I didn't vomit, so maybe it wasn't stuck. However, after that episode I haven't eaten any more Beans for Protein, and I am very careful to chew my shaved turkey and baked potatoes well. I can hardly wait to progress to Week 4 foods so I can try adding bread. I'm a little afraid but plan to toast it well. Do bread work for any of you?

I am hungry much of the time, except for about an hour after I eat. I am losing weight only because I'm walking 10 miles daily and limiting my calories just as I did before surgery. I desperately want to lose weight, but don't know how much longer I am going to be able to control my food cravings. And I definitely am not going to be able to continue devoting nearly 3 hours daily to exercise. I am so hopeful I will get a fill next Friday.

Thanks so much for describing your experiences. It really helps me (and probably some lurkers as well) to read about them.

anyboddy had any episodeds with food getting stuck? I have about 3 times now and it is so painful i dont want to repeet it, but i know it is a learnning process of what we can and cant eat, Now i know that chicken tenders from Charles is off my list of foods i will never try again.

I don't know if I have been stuck or not. Last week, I was super hungry before bed, and I ate a few bites of great northern Beans. Shortly after that, I had some sharp pains on my left side. I drank some sips of Water, which seemed to help eliminate the sharp pains, but I experienced discomfort for about an hour. Is that what it's like to be stuck?

Good luck with your fill tomorrow! I go for my post-op check-up on the 29th and am hopeful I will get a fill that day.

Thanks for the great idea about what to say, gottobe me! I CAN tell them that I'm being very careful about what I eat. I also appreciate your suggestion about keeping a drink with me at all times. That should definitely help, too.

I hope we all continue to keep each other updated as well; I feel like we have become friends through sharing our weight loss struggles and experiences, and I miss hearing from some of the others in our group.

You are doing awesome! I appreciate your update. Yay for you on on reaching an "Overweight" BMI! I recently dropped into "Overweight" as well. I'm scared, but hope I never see "Obese" again.

I am questioning whether I should have been banded. Life is much different now, and I simply haven't adjusted yet. I am losing weight since surgery but it's only because I am carefully counting every morsel I eat and this week, I started walking 10 miles daily. I can't tell that the band is depressing my hunger yet, except for the first two days after surgery.

We are having a cook-out with family and friends tomorrow at our house to Celebrate Father's Day, and I have been cooking all afternoon. I love cooking and baking, and while I was cooking this afternoon it really hit me hard that life isn't ever going to be the same. And that should be a good thing, right? Of course, I knew before surgery that I needed to make major lifestyle changes regarding my eating, but today it felt differently. I don't feel depressed; it's more like a true realization concerning how much our family life revolves around eating poorly. Sadly, I've promoted unhealthy eating for those I care about most by preparing high calorie meals, especially for special occasions, all of my adult life.

I'm not going to be able to eat a single thing I'm making since I am only on Week 2 of my post-op diet, and I'm a little stressed about how I am going to handle the "eating" part tomorrow since very few of the people who will be attending have any knowledge that I've been banded. I would never lie to anyone, but I still am agonizing about how to handle this. I've thought about saying I have an upset stomach, which is true, and that I am being very careful about what I eat, which is also true. However, I'd love to hear any suggestions you have.

Then Sunday, we have a family cook-out to attend, and no one there other than my husband and son will know about my WLS. I think I will just take off walking when it's time to eat and say I have already eaten all of my calories for the day. I haven't seen the majority of them since Christmas and have lost 40+ pounds since then, so they will likely think I am off on yet another diet tangent, which is fairly common for me. Almost everyone who will be there is overweight or obese, but they would never understand WLS as a treatment. If I can maintain a healthy weight with the band, I plan to tell them, but not until then.

Thanks for posting this topic. I appreciate your insight as well as Julie's and Deb's.

I am hoping to get my first fill when I go for my post-op check on June 29, but I don't know for sure. My surgeon only sees his post-op band patients once a month, so if I don't get it then, I will have to wait another month. On the day of my surgery, my surgeon said it will likely take 6 fills to reach "optimization," so I will likely have to wait 6 months longer. I am hoping I will be able to tell at least a tiny difference with the first fill.

We use zyzal Both my daughter and I. It is one of the newer ones and is working great for now. I use to be on allegra and it just one day stopped working.

Thanks for the tip. When I was at Walmart this morning, I thought about trying Claritin but decided I should wait until my body is healed before I make any changes. Is it Zyzal available over the counter?

I agree with the NP I know the drainage at times usually make me nausated. I have been lucky as of late though before surgery i was nausated every morning but not since surgery. I hope you feel better soon

Thanks, Deb! It helps to know about your experiences. I had never noticed the drainage causing this, but the NP said the smaller stomach pouch might be why I am noticing it. Since she pointed this out, I have also noticed that I have some coughing as well when I am walking outside. I am starting to feel like the Zyrtec is no longer effective.

Thanks, Julie and Jepegurl for your responses.

The NP called back and asked a lot of questions. She said she doesn't know for sure, but she wonders if it's related to nasal drainage. She suggested I take my Zyrtec at night instead of in the morning after I return from my walk. She also suggested that I drink a portion of my Protein supplement before I leave for my walk, so I plan to try both of her suggestions. I am very relieved...I was worried my body was rejecting my new band.

I'm ashamed to admit that I cheated. I was supposed to eat 1400 calories or less daily for the two week time period before surgery. I struggled terribly for a few days and went over my calorie limit with healthy foods. I did a lot of extra exercise then and with that considered, I was likely under my calorie limit, but I still felt guilty.

I ended up telling the nurse who called me a few days before surgery. She told me not to mention it unless it came up. However, I felt the need to be honest, so I told my surgeon the day of surgery. I could tell by his body language that he was not pleased. Prior to this, during our small group pre-op meeting, his NP had warned us about gaining weight before surgery, saying that our surgeon had cancelled surgeries that week due to weight gain. According to my scales, I had lost 40+ pounds since I last saw my surgeon in January, so I pointed out to him that I had been working really hard to lose weight since I last saw him and explained that I didn't know what had happened to me on those days of the pre-op diet. He listened to everything I said, then asked how much weight I had lost. (The nurse who prepared me for surgery that morning had told me that my weight was not required on the day of surgery, so he truly didn't know.) I answered him while he wrote notes in my file. He is a man of few words, so that was the extent of our conversation. The next thing I knew, he told me we would be headed to surgery as soon as they had me ready. Right then, I felt like a horrible failure; he didn't say or do anything to make me feel that way but rather I chose not to follow his instructions and felt ashamed.

Try your hardest not to cheat so that you can be proud of your pre-op diet efforts.