JackSpratsWife

I completely understand your frustraution. You are probable wondering if you did the right thing! I have been there! I lost 6 pounds the first two weeks after surgery, then GAINED three back! I then worked hard at losing them again. Then at six weeks I got my first fill and I lost 5 pounds the first week. I am just starting my seventh week and not expecting as much weight loss but I know I will lose something. In other words don't give up hope...You just started your weight loss journey

Hello everyone, Is there anyone out there like me not writing because of all the great success stories and you are not losing weight? That is me. I lost six pounds at first then I gained back three then lost them again. Still only a six pound lose. I want to be a loser! I had my first fill yesterday so I am feeling a little restriction. They put 1.6 in a 10 cc band. I learned on the website for my surgery office that they are recommended by the manufacturer to only put up to 4ml in the 10cc band. Has any one else heard that? It doesn't seem like that gives you a whole lot of fill space. Well congrats to all of you with the great weight loss! I a green with envy!

At first your stomach is swollen so you feel no hunger for about 5 days then it gets tougher. The liquid diet is hard but once you get to mushies you can eat a bit more normally. The first six weeks is the healing phase! So weight loss isn't the main goal although plenty of people lose a lot this time. I didn't but tomorrow is six weeks and I am going to get my first fill!!! Thank goodness. It is hard are the other options any easier?

rktown, Your post looks like it was written by me. I am also feeling no restriction and seeing no weight loss and wondering what have I done. I get my first fill on the 10th. I can hardly wait! From what I see I have the least amount of weight loss the first month from anybody I have seen on here. Anybody want to come to my pity party? :fish:

Hi Newmesoon, I had my surgery on 3-29-07 and have lost 6 pounds and gained 3 then lost one, etc..... In otherwords I can relate to what you are feeling. I see all these other people on the sights who have lost all this weightthe first month. It makes me sad and scared that I payed (self pay) for this surgery that isn't going to make a difference. I get a fill on the 10th and hopefully that makes a difference because right now I rarely feel any restriction whatsoever. That coupled with the guilt of spending what should have probably been saved for my childrens college fund is making me want to binge and/or eat things that I know will make me fat.

Hi Kyethra, I saw that you worked with, had a brother with, and are slightly autistic. That interested me because my four year old daughter is Autistic. Any insight you have that you would like to share would be greatly appriciated! Glad your gall bladder is taken care of, and it wasn't a hard proceedure! Kristen

Hi Tranam1955, I got a chest cold days after I had my surgery. My coughing made me tear a few stiches that were holding down my port to the stomach muscle. It did end up healing fine and everything seems to be better now (we will see when I get my first fill). My advice is to cough laying down or bent over something (in my case I bent over the arm of the chair) that seemed to ease the stress on the stomach muscles and made it much less painful! Hope you feel better!

TammyJ, Be glad that you have the smaller port, besides the obvious that your stomach wasn't that big to begin with, my doctor told me that there is a flater port that fits small one. So when you get skinnier you will be better off!

I was banded on March 29th so I am about two and a half weeks out. I have noticed that I have a regular ache on my left side. It feels like a slight side ache that you sometimes get when you run. My port is on the right side so it isn't related to that. Has anyone else had this and if so did it go away? I don't want to call the office if it is something that everyone experiences.. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks both of you for the advice. I took some Milk of Magnesia because I figured it couldn't hurt. It would clean me out and solve either of the two suggested causes... Syrah have you lost much weight? I have only lost 6 lbs. I have read all these people who have lost so much right away. I noticed that besides both having surgery the same day our BMI are about the same.

It could be gas pain but it is pretty much always there. I would think gas pain would go away after a few days and/or move to a new location. Maybe it is gas from the surgery but not in my digestive track. I just didn't feel it until about a week ago.

:omg: I will be two weeks post op tomorrow. I am supposed to be on liquids but I had been trying a few mushies, feeling hungry and everything else...so I did a bad thing.. I ate a restaurant takeout of fetticini and chicken with garlic bread. I ate it fast and it got down. I kinda wanted to see what PBing was like so I would feel motivated again. Well I never PB'd. It just caused a lot of pain (I would compare it to when you take too big of a bite of food and it hurts all the way down the esophagus except that this one stayed for awhile) i probably would have felt better if I had been throwing up. It has all been digested by now but I still feel the remnents of pain from what I would think was streching. It feels like it does after a bad bout of heartburn. Today I am just having liquids to help it heel. I wanted to tell my story so the any others that sometimes get a binge mentality like I do, know what to expect. Also one other question. Now that the inflammation is down around the port I notice that when I bend over I feel the port. It doesn't hurt but it does feel like it is moving around. Anybody else noticing this?

I had my post op appointment yesterday. I found out why my port was hurting so bad (worse then right after the surgery) I guess I blew some stiches coughing and bending. The Dr. Could tell because I had some new bruising, yellow bruises over the port. His suggestion try not to cough (yeah right) and ibuprofen to keep the inflamation down. Unfortunately he is a stickler on the liquid diet and didn't okay me to go to mushies. I am jealous of all you girls losing weight. I am only down four pounds!

Well it's been almost as week since the surgery. Everything was going great not a lot of pain or hunger...Then I got a cold in my lungs..... I have asthma and so this got really bad and everytime I cough I feel like I am ripping my port off of my muscle wall. Yesterday I bent down to pick something off the floor and I felt the ripping and it hurt worse than enything I have felt throught the whole surgery. Now today I have a big swollen lump around my port. Has anyone else had this who is further along? I have my post op appointment tomorrow so we will see what the dr says. Congrat's on everyones success!! You are all such great insprirations! I am reading and rooting for everybody every day!:clap2: I will be glad to go to the mushies I hope they let me go to it early. It is easy to find full liquids out and about that are sweet (smoothies, coffee drinks, juice etc) but I haven't discovered anything to have during the liquid stage that is portable and satisfies the salt craving. Any luck anyone? At least when you reach the mushies you can order some soups or mashed potatoes!

I was banded yesterday. So far I haven't really had any problems. Just a little soreness and of course the infamous gas! It amazes me reading this how different the post op instructions everybody had. My surgeon (the office only does lapband) put me on liquids the first two weeks but anything you can get up a straw. So no just having Clear Liquids the first few days! They also have on the post-op instructions that we can take ibuprofen or tylenol of we don't want to take the pain meds any longer.

Hi bubbles, I have had that song in my head for weeks! Quite fitting I thought. For those of you who didn't see it as the title "It's the end of the world as I know it, and I feel fine" by REM Sorry to hear your surgery got delayed. Nothing like having to postpone the rest of your life huh?

Hi everyone, I am new to this group. I have been meaning to post something and it seems like everytime I start one of my kids needs me. So here I go... I am getting my surgery tomorrow. I think it is finally hitting home. Today is the last day of drinking diet coke...possibly eating white bread, sticky rice, some pasta etc... I am not looking foward to the liquid stage. I have stocked up on everything recommended, hopefully I can keep myself satisfied. It is really hard to try to lose weight right before this. Thankfully my doctor only recommended I lose five pounds. I compare this part of it to asking an alcoholic to quit drinking for a few weeks before going to rehab! :heh: I am very excited that I am doing this for myself and my family. I am looking forward to being an active mom who is a good example for her kids!!! Kristen

Hello everybody! I have been checking out this sight for a while now. I find it the greatest resource I have found on the lap band. It gets down to the nitty gritty! I am having my surgery a week from today. March 29th. Whoohoo! I am doing this mostly for my kids (okay some of it is vanity) so far I haven't had the health problems related to obesity (but know they are coming) so I have been lucky. I have a 4 year old with Autism who is quite a handful sometimes and a 1 year old. I choose to have this surgery so that I could be more active and live longer. I am a bit older mom (almost 40 yikes!) and need to live as long and as active life as I can for both my kids but mostly for my daughter with Autism. I am hoping that I can meet some a nice support system on this sight. Since I am a stay at home mom I don't get out enough to always get the adult conversation I need. So if you are looking for a regular emailer buddy or have some of the same issues or if you live near Seattle (I live north of there) I would love to hear from you. Thanks, Kristen P.S. I am sorry about the lame account name. I am so jealous of all you people that have these cute and clever names. I was at a loss....:tired

Believe it or not my first consult was last week. Because I am a self payer and healthy I got in really soon! Originally the first appointment they could see me wasn't until the end of this month. I asked to be on their cancelation list for consultations since I live close by. If I remember correctly they ended up having an opening the very next day. I am glad I am getting it now. Last year I was on Jenny Craig around this time and was down 2 sizes from here (it didn't last go figure) but I have all these newer spring summer clothes that I was hoping to fit into again. Looks like I will!!!

I haven't been banded yet (getting banded a week from today) but I was overweight before both of my pregnancies. During both pregnancies I weighed more the day I discovered I was pregnant then a week after giving birth. I believe that because I was overweight that the lack of room in my stomach made me not have much of an appetite at all (also why I think the band will work really well for me). I have talked to other overweight pregnant women they said the same thing that they lost weight while they were pregnant. I think that you should get the band unfilled like they recommend and just enjoy your pregnancy. For me being pregnant was one of the few times in my adult life that I didn't feel guilty for eating. If you choose to breastfeed, that will help you lose the weight after you deliver. Then you can go back to getting the lap band filled and progressing on your weight loss journey. But for now your body has a new role and that is to develop a healthy baby! Good Luck and enjoy this time! Kristen

I am going to be banded just a few days after you, on Thursday the 29th. It seems so soon. I am a self pay so I got rushed past the whole insurance delay! My doctor is only asking me to lose 5 pounds before surgery. I am delaying that process for as long as possible. I so far having had any of the major effects of being overweight (a bit of gerd) so I can't relate to the whole diabetes thing but everything I have read says that you will probably be in remission after you lose the weight. That is if you are a type two diabetic.

Maybe your mom can pay Cobra at her last job until your proceedure is covered?

Hello, I haven't been banded yet. Getting ready to start the whole process rolling and have to say that this sight is a great tool! Now back to my question... I am a Diet Coke Addict. I was told at a seminar that carbonated beverages and the band are just not a good combination. That would mean I would be having to curb food and Diet Coke addictions when I get the surgery. Anybody else face this dilema and what happens when you drink carbonated beverages?

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I am very addicted to Diet Coke but it is just one more thing that I need to curb. Actually my husband is liking the idea of the surgery more now that he knows I won't be able to drink it. Besides the cost of buying it, I think he is sick of all the recycling that my Diet Coke habit causes (since he takes it out every week). Heck I will just have to start drinking coffee like everyone else in the Seattle area. Now what is this about giving up bread????? Does that mean no sandwiches and no hamburgers? Or just no bread that they serve you before a meal at some restaurants?