DELETE THIS ACCOUNT!

That's awesome!!! Congratulations!!!

The best thing to do is take a look at the things you can control and change in your life. -How many calories a day are you eating? -Are you getting in all your Protein? -Are you sticking to a cup or less of food per meal?

Oh I'm fine. Not even 3 weeks post op and I'm walking a couple miles a night again

I love unjury. It's the only Protein shake I actually like. I'm almost 8 months post op and I still have a chocolate Splendor shake for Breakfast every morning. Sometimes I put a 1/2 cup of skim milk and a scoop of the Chocolate Splendor in my coffee, it makes a yummy and healthy cafe mocha!

Some wise advice on this thread. Another interesting statistic- only about 8.6% of Lap Band patients have serious complications due to no fault of their own. The rest have made mistakes, either knowingly or unknowingly, causing the complications themselves. The problem is that most are very quick to profess "oh the band didn't work!" and blame the band but aren't mentioning the fact they learned to eat around it, or habitually over-ate, or walked around with a band way too tight for months, or were vomiting regularly, or drank soda multiple times a day. It's shocking to me how many people go into surgery for the Lap Band are truly ignorant to what the band is supposed to do. There is either a scary amount of doctors just pushing patients through without the necessary information to be successful, or there's a scary amount of patients who aren't listening to a thing their surgeon says. Either way, it makes me sad that so many are causing themselves so much avoidable grief . Don't let the negative posts scare you. Do your homework and do what you know to be right and you'll be just fine.

...and I just teared up reading that lol. Wow. Thank you so much for posting. So inspiring and heart warming.

I have some very severe damage to my abdominal wall do to a very botched delivery of my son almost 10 years ago. He was stuck, with me fully dilated and pushing, for over 8 hours before they finally did an emergency c-section. It essentially destroyed my abdominal wall. I've had 2 other hernia surgeries prior to this one. My surgeon and I knew I had more hernias and the plan was for him to fix them when he does a tummy tuck on me late this winter/early spring. It's everyone hope that without all the extra weight adding stress and mesh to hold it all together, I won't have anymore hernias. That all changed 3 weeks ago. Part of my intestines got caught in the hernia. I was in A LOT of pain and ended up in the ER in agony. At first they were afraid I'd lose part of my intestines but thank God that didn't happen. So, he fixed it and he even made the incision down lower and worked upward so when I have the tummy tuck, the scar from this surgery will be removed with the excess skin! I thought that was so cool of him So that's why I ended up with a strangulated hernia. It was NOT fun. The strangulated hernia was far more painful than the surgery to repair it. It's really bad.

I use fat free Hidden Valley Ranch, but I measure it and count it's calories into my daily total.

I can still eat anything I want so long as I take tiny bites and chew it until absolute mush. When I eat meat, I make sure it's moist because dry meat is much more difficult to get down.

I'm actually currently on Bactrim for an infection. Not for Lap Band surgery (that was almost 8 months ago), but for an emergency strangulated hernia surgery. I had redness around the drain coming out of my stomach so I went in to have it removed early the Sunday before last. They removed it but it remained very red and a little sore. Imagine my shock when a week later, on Saturday, the hospital calls me and says "You need to contact your doctor, your wound culture came back positive for a Staph infection". I panicked momentarily because I know Staph can be really nasty. When my doctor's office called he told me there's different types of Staph, that the kind I had wasn't horrible, and he was calling me in a prescription. I have been on the antibiotic for 6 days now. All the redness and soreness is completely gone and it's healing nicely. Good luck, I'm sure yours will clear right up too!

I suspect that is largely because you're only 3 days post op and your stomach is very swollen. Once you're fully healed, drinking shouldn't be an issue. I gulp water all the time without issue.

Once you're back on real food, you'll be fine.

My heart goes out to you. Like so many of us, we use food an emotional weapon against our body, stuffing our mouths because it's easier to eat than it is to deal with buried pain. It's another form of food addiction and just as real and debilitating as drug addiction. The fact you're in therapy is outstanding. I know you feel lost and defeated right now, but the mere fact you're seeking professional help gives you a much better chance at success. In the meantime, you said your band is empty, why not go in for a fill? The band can't stop us from eating but at least it can appease the physical hunger. You have this great tool in your body, I think it's time you start utilizing it to it's full potential. I know logging food when you've totally messed up is horrible to see the results right there in front of you, but I also think those are the days you need it most. It really does help keep you accountable when you see your calories creeping to 2000 or more a day and you can't rationalize it because it's right there in front of you in writing. I know the feelings of shame and guilt are awful, but those feelings also give us incentive to do whatever is necessary to avoid them. By logging your band food days right along with your good ones, you give yourself incentive to have more good than bad. Best wishes to you, I truly hope you find the emotional peace you need and deserve.

I'm not a doctor, but if I had to guess, you strained your abdominal muscles. Being as the port is sewn into those muscles it makes sense you'd have pain. Liquids is a good idea for sure. If it's resolved in 24-48 hours, I'd call your doc for their opinion.

Well, how many calories a day are you eating? Are you monitoring your Protein intake so you know you get it all in? Also, have you had a high sodium meal lately? Or possibly PMS?

You may went to increase to 1500-1600 calories a day since you're a male, especially since you're working out. Have you been to a nutritionist? If not, I would. They can help you decide the right amount of calories you need a day.

I didn't know this until I had emergency surgery (not band related) 2 1/2 weeks ago and they to empty my band for it, but apparently my surgeon put in 1cc during surgery. I had thought that whole time I had 4cc in my band but I actually had 5cc in it. I was told it was a "primer fill" and standard for their practice. I currently have 4cc back in and will definitely getting another 1cc next month. I was in the perfect Green Zone before surgery so I'm confidant 1cc more will put me back there again.

welcome ladies!

Excellent!! You will be so happy once you've quit. The quitting itself sucks, but oh my gosh, I love being a non-smoker. You don't realize how awful smokers smell until you quit. Now, I can't stand even standing near a smoker, let alone by someone actually smoking. I went out bought myself new perfume and Bath & Body Works goodies as rewards for quitting smoking. Plus, you'll feel better. You're getting the band now soon to be an ex smoker, just think how wonderfully healthy your body is going to be!!! It's exciting!!

Congratulations!

Once in awhile it's no big deal, but if you're drinking regularly, it's going to hinder your weight loss. Alcohol is nothing but useless, empty calories. It's no different than Hostess cupcakes. I love cupcakes but I know if I have one every time I'm in a social situation, it's going to result in not losing weight. My suggestion would be to learn to socialize without all the alcohol. It's not what you're eating or drinking but the company you're with. So, have a glass of Water and enjoy the company.

Are you male or female? If you are female, you may want to try lowering your calories to under 1200.