Toddy

Be prepared to pick up COBRA. I lost my insurance after my lapband surgery and because I had a lapband I couldn't get private insurance from ANYWHERE! Even if your surgeon includes a period of time for follow-ups, you'll still need insurance just in case of complications. COBRA is pretty expensive, but when my band slipped and I had to have surgery again, COBRA was A LOT cheaper than the ER visit, the tests to find out what was wrong and the ultimate second surgery!!

My gallbladder recovery was easier than my first lapband surgery but harder than my second lapband surgery. Everyone is different... Hopefully you'll breeze right through!

One month post-op and you're doing 52 reps of everything??? Hunnie, give your body a chance to heal. My surgeon was all for me beginning some light workouts shortly after surgery, but you did just have MAJOR surgery... as Lisa said, give yourself a little love;-)

Very normal. Now is the time you need to practice good band eating habits to get ready for when you do have restriction, which might take several fills actually.

I drink it a lot now that I don't drink carbonated drinks.

You're not the only one that needs these reminders! I'm refilling now and determined to do it right this time! The worst thing is letting myself get too hungry and then I eat too fast...

Just make sure you're getting enough Protein in every day or you will start experiencing hair loss and your nails will get weak. I only count calories when I'm not in the green zone, but when I am in the green zone I only count protein.

I only use it at buffets. I find that most of the kid's menus are full of fat, carbs and just general junk I wouldn't eat anyway. It has worked for me every time I've tried to use it. If it is ever refused at a buffet, I just won't eat -- no way I'm going to pay for a full buffet just to eat one cup of food or less...

I didn't have much pain from my incisions and the gas pains were manageable. What I found so hard to deal with post-surgery was the weakness and total lack of energy. This quickly went away once I started eating normally (for a bandster anyway) again! You definitely will improve though!

Definitely call your doctor's office. My band slipped after only vomiting twice. I knew something was wrong because both episodes of vomiting were followed by horrific pain that sent me to the ER. Apparently to have a slip so early on (eight months) and after only vomiting twice is definitely not the norm. My doctor, who had done over 3000 bands at the time, had never seen one slip so soon. I really don't thing he believed that I had only vomited twice...

Typically the first fill won't make much of a difference in your band. However, I would put it off just for your peace of mind. One week won't make any difference in the long run.

When I am getting close to the green zone, with each fill I find that I need to adjust my eating habits, not wait for the band to adjust to me. After a fill I usually have a few episodes of pb's, and then I set my goal to NOT pb today, which makes me very mindful of my eating. Has worked so far... it's me learning how to eat with the band, not the band adjusting to my eating.

I have been in the green zone several times, only to have things tighten up and then need to scale back. For me, the green zone is very elusive, but I'm not giving up...

I didn't feel any restriction whatsoever until the third fill, and then it was just a little. During this time I counted calories, fat grams, protein, etc. Some people continue to count all that stuff for a lifetime, but when I'm in the green zone I don't feel the need to count anything, but do make sure I get in enough protein.

I had my slip surgically repaired and added plication to help prevent further slips. I did reach the green zone again after several fills and was in the zone for about three blissful months. Started having some problems and had half a cc removed and all problems are gone, but I can also eat way too easy. I'm filling again at very, very small fills. All this to say, you can get restriction back. I think I just have a super finicky band and will constantly need adjustments! Oh, and for whatever reason, the second surgery recovery was SOOOO much easier than the first!

I can only eat fries if they're soft. On the rare occasions I have them, I pick through and only eat the soft mushy ones.

Certainly sounds like it could be a slip. You really need to get your upper GI appointment moved up. A few weeks is too long to live in that kind of misery and if you're having trouble keeping liquids down, you will dehydrate very quickly.

I read the posts about being in the green, only to fall back to the yellow again. The opposite happened to me. I was blissfully in the green zone for three months, then for no explainable reason, I started regurgitating occasionally, and then progressed to the point where I couldn't even comfortably eat soup. Went and had a 1/2 cc unfill and everything was fine -- except for the fact that I could eat everything as much as I wanted. I let things calm down for a month and went back in and had a 1/4 cc fill today. The whole band thing has been very frustrating for me... but I wouldn't go back and undo it for anything in the world!!

I've not had any trouble eating salad. I do have a friend that has the gastric sleeve and they have to eat much like a bandster, small bites, chew a lot... she had only had two problems eating and both times it was a salad. Just try it slowly and see how it goes...

Does sound like it could be a slip, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose the band. My surgeon was able to go in a restitch mine after it slipped, and he added plication, which will help avoid future slips. And your symptoms sound like mine when I'm too tight. I was having the same problems and had .5 cc removed and have been much better. Now that everything has calmed down, I'm going in for a very small fill next week. I also take a Zantac every night just as a preventative.

With all that going on, I'm assuming you've had a second or even a third opinion??

I come from a wine family, father was a vintner, wine was pretty much a staple at dinner. I didn't having any alcohol for the first two months post-op, then went back to my normal habit of wine with dinner. I rarely ever have more than two glasses because of the effects, and always count the empty calories...

Black, white, purple, pink or green -- I REALLY admire your bravery in posting the before pics. As someone who really needs the same surgeries, but for various reasons will have to put it off for a while, I'm looking forward to following your journey! I have a good friend that will be having some lifts in October. I hope you both do well and am anxious to hear about the after effects. You do sound like someone that is extremely prepared and I wish you the best!!

That's part of what makes it so easy for me to stop eating when I'm satisfied -- cold food is gross!

Losing weight is the easy part... keeping it off is the challenge!! I had lapband surgery because I wanted it to be a permanent loss this time around!