WASaBubbleButt

It's a recipe even *I* can manage! I do hope you enjoy it. BTW, if you make it without Beans and change anything, please post details. Thx.

Who is your doctor?

Good! You should have Water in your hand or close by at all times. Sip sip sip. 64oz daily, minimum.

I still don't see a reason to remove the band. I DO see a reason to open the band, just not to remove it.

Well, it all depends. Restriction takes getting used to and a lot of lessons. When (exactly) did you start eating solids after your fill and what are you PBing on? That's a good start for the questions. :eek:

I vote for what OH Juli wrote.

I was in the hospital for two nights after surgery so it wasn't a problem. I would suggest bringing your own broth. At Walgreens for a dollar you can buy a bottle of powder that you mix with hot (bottled) water and drink. If you buy food in Mexico do NOT go to vendors!!!! Only go to respectable restaurants. They have filtered water or bottled water only. Just DO NOT go to the street vendors for ANYTHING!!

Are your blood sugars fasting or after eating? If after eating, how long after you eat are your sugars high? Your BS is supposed to be higher after eating, thus my questions.

As frustrating as it is, try not to get too frustrated yet. This time frame (after surgery/before a fill) isn't even designed for weight loss anyway. This is the time for healing. You are working with an empty band, it's like driving on a flat tire. How far will it get you? Not far, right? An empty band doesn't make for much weight loss either. Consider this, it used to be the only band available was not adjustable. What you came out of surgery with is ALL the restriction you had. See how much better you have it? At least by the time you heal you'll be able to get a fill. Relax, heal, life will be good once again!

You are bending from the waist, you need to start practicing bending over like a normal size person... IOW, don't bend over, bend from the knees. You WILL have pain bending over. The knot you describe is likely from scar tissue. Most people swear up and down it is their port and if you try to explain to them it is scar tissue they will do anything to convince you THAT is their port. LOL They will even swear they called their doc and their doc said that is the port. Yet they are on LBT asking what that lump is. Point being, it's scar tissue. You'll find that in a few weeks it will go down and be forever gone.

Paula... The question isn't why CAN you eat so much but instead, why ARE you eating at all? You should likely be drinking at this point. Just because you CAN eat doesn't mean you SHOULD eat. Just because food goes through doesn't mean a darn thing. During surgery your doc sews the band into place. That is short term, it isn't going to be held by sutures forever. It's the scarring and adhesions that hold the band in place and if you are eating solid foods the scarring and adhesions will never be able to form. Remember, probably 75% or more of slips are the patient's fault, not the docs. It happens from eating food too soon and never giving your stomach an opportunity to form adhesions, over eating, being too tight and not doing anything about it, etc. Don't create problems for yourself before you even get your first fill.

Not sure why they say you can't have milk. You can, just in smaller quantities. Same with the majority of other foods. But there is one thing you need to think about. In order to lose weight there is a trade off. You can't expect to eat the foods you did before and in the same quantity and lose weight. There are some foods you'll have to ... not give up, but cut down on one whole heck of a lot. The band isn't something that sucks the calories out of food. It's really hard for banded people to accept the fact that they HAVE to change habits to lose weight. For example, bread. Most banded people I know can't eat bread. I mean EVER again. Do you want to eat bread or do you want to be thin? It is something only you can decide. There is no right or wrong answer. Just your answer.

If you have no restriction, why have you only had two fills in six months? If it is a cost issue then find a new fill doc. Also, are you exercising? Are you only eating until you are no longer hungry or are you trying to get full like a T-day turkey? As for your roommie, according to Dr. Ortiz 70% of people don't need a fill for six months. It's the luck of the draw on that one.

I did it once, right after being banded. I needed the texture. That was it, then I was over it.

It's not a problem. The only precaution you'll want to take is to make sure they give you something for nausea (due to the anesthetic) before you wake up so you aren't nauseated. **YOU** need to speak with the anesthesiologist before surgery. Don't bank on the surgeon to remember to tell him. You'll want to talk to your band doc to see if s/he wants you to have an unfill before the surgery. When you have this surgery you'll be swallowing a small bit of blood and mucous and that can clog your stoma.

Indiogirl... Funny you should come over here from OH... isn't that your stomping grounds? I'll give you credit, it took me a bit to figure it out, but now I know. You sign up today just to come over here and bash me. Funny how the timing works on that one. You should know, the drama and BS from OH don't work over here. But I have a hunch you'll discover this in no time.

Indiogirl just joined this month and has a grand total of four posts. She acts as though she has been here much longer. I suspect she has. :eek: I have a hunch this is an ID with an agenda.

I've been looking for those as well and can't find them.

I know of one person that died because of lap band surgery. She was a verrry complicated case. She had previously had a seriously botched gastric bypass. Due to the surgery she had extreme scarring and adhesions. She originally lost all her excess weight and promptly regained it back. She HAD to have the adhesions and scarring removed, it wasn't a choice. Had their been a choice I doubt the surgeon would have done the procedure. She had serious heart problems, a long history with various cardiologists (weight related), she saw just about every specialist that there is due to so many comorbidities. Since they had to operate anyway to fix the botched bypass all the docs (cardiologist) agreed that a band was in order. So the surgeon tried to fix everything that was wrong and added a band. Her heart just couldn't take it and she died a few days later. This was just a few weeks ago. Thing is, even without the band she would have died. So is this death technically considered a lap band death? Maybe on paper it is but I don't think it was band related. I think she had a botched bypass, regained 200lbs, had severe weight related comorbidities, and nothing could have taken care of it. My heart goes out to the lady. I didn't know her but she's from the same town I am. It's not fair, you know? She was doing all the right things, trying to get weight issues under control but sadly, it was out of everyone's control. My point is that even for the handful of deaths we do hear about there is usually a great deal more to the story.

I didn't know that. Wonder why?

It's not really great either. But when I want something crunchy at least it is better than Fritos. :eek:

What do control issues have to do with trashing an entire country because of one bad doctor? The original poster agreed, why don't you?

You really aren't looking for a "full" feeling anyway, but satisfied. We don't need to be full, we need to be not hungry. :eek:

Benefiber! Amazing stuff. You can mix two teaspoons with 8oz of Water and you can't see it or taste it and it does not turn into a gel. I have started adding it to anything I drink that is liquid including Protein shakes. It will take time for it to start working but just hang in there. Try to get a total of 4gms carbs per 100 calories. Edit to add... I meant 4gms fiber per 100 calories.

I just heard back from the company about the nutrition data on the Veggie Chips. Here it is: Nutrition Facts Serving Size 28g (~1 oz.) (Approx. 16.2 Servings/Pound) Amount Per Serving Calories 126 Calories From Fat 54 % Daily Value * Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Cholesterol 0mg 0% Sodium 75mg 3% Total Carbohydrate 17g 6% Dietary Fiber 3g 12% Sugars 5g Protein 1g Vitamin A 80% Calcium 2% Vitamin C 6% Iron 4% ** Contains less than 2 percent of the Daily Value of these nutrients. * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.