Iruthie20

I live in Springfield, ma! Banded oct 29th..plateau for over a month now..feeling very discouraged!!!

I got my first fill today. I feel more starving right now then I have since my surgery. I drank a protien shake two hrs ago so I don't understand why I'm so hungry. I don't think the fill had anything to do with it, I think because I've only drank protien shakes!

I use GNC lean shakes, for the holiday they have special flavors right now..pummpkin spice and mocha mint....you can also order online from GNC?com if you have that store local. gNC will let you taste sample them too to see if u like. Also,myou can bring back if you don't like or use. Best of luck!!

Looking great!!!!

I'm experiencing it right now. I'm going to see my doctor on weds and I want it addressed. All day I just want to cry thats how bad it hurts...I'm four weeks post op so I'm not sure if maybe that's why... But I have pain when I bend over really bad, and just walking or standing....

Aww I thought about having a pancake today. I'm scared to try a lot of foods I want because I hear others talk about getting stuck. This terrifies me. I haven't had a stuck episode yet, but probably because I'm not experimenting with foods yet. What happens when you try pancakes??

I completely understand what your going through. Two months before lap band I gained 62 pounds. I ate so much junk food, fast food preparing for this new life style. My family kept telling me I was sabatogizing myself and they were completely right. My advice is: each pound you gain before lap band surgery is only making you further from your ultimate goal. I am so incredibly mad at myself for gaining so much weight right before surgery. Start now!! They say with lap band we can expect one-two pounds per week of Weightloss. Each pound you gain preparing for surgery is adding a week to loose...I know my body can gain one pound per day and it did. If I only didn't do what I did I'd be almost 200 pounds today but instead I'm 275. Also, my surgeon explained to me that the weight we gain before surgery is belly fat that can cause complications during surgery. He said the fat all stays in belly first and makes the surgery harder to perform. That scared me, and I wish I knew this before gaining 62 pounds right before surgery. Also, be careful about weight gain because you can get denied if they weigh you, and a month later you've gained more. It shows insurance and surgeon unreadiness for life style change. Also, try going on a shake morning and lunch..and eat sensible dinner..I lost twelve pounds week before surgery drinking the two shakes and having dinner. Three weeks of liquids is a lot....and mentally if you know you don't have too, it makes it very difficult. Try one day of replacing breakfast and lunch with shake and see if you can manage that before going straight to all liquids.....

At least one week. I do a lot of sitting, however it hurt sooo much sitting..my back...and my port. I had to keep standing up, and re positioning myself in my seat. I was completely miserable my first week back to work. . Also, it hurt to drive. I was one of the banders who had a lot of post op pain. I was miserable for about nine days after.... It got better after but I had wished I took off a little more than a week! Also, sleeping for me was rough the first week so I got about half sleep a night as I normally did.

I agree

I had the same thing happen to me with ice cream!!! I thought to myself I will never touch ice cream again. My pain started about ten mins after consuming about five bites.... I thought I ate too fast because I wasn't paying attention due to talking at the same time.... Not sure what it could've been!

Maybe the choice of words did trigger me! To hear someone say "you just sabatoged yourself three weeks out" and " you just killed it from the pie alone" .... I'm sure no one wants to hear that! I felt so sad for the person who posted the orginal because those are not encouraging supportive words. We don't know her personal journey to subject her to such harsh words of feedback. Maybe because I'm a clinical therapist I took some of the posts so harshly. I thought our intentions are to help lap banders, support each other, not to discourage and point fingers at mistakes, or disclosing honest feelings. Minimi, the original poster said she had a small plate, and went for seconds..she stated she had no rolls, no crust, little stuffing ect.... ( very lap band concious, if you ask me), She didn't say she stuffed her self to a point where she was sick or throwing up.... She was being honest and saying she indulged a little bit more then she would on a normal day... Regardless, The only thing that could help her through or validate her honesty would be encouraging supportive words not harsh rude inconsiderate words that aren't going to do anything but maybe make her resistant to being honest and true in future posts. I'm sure everyone on here has made mistakes or had embarrassing moments they'd like to post that would be beneficial for others to read but sadly this is just an example of why so many might not.

Jg956, I completely understand where your coming from. Sometimes we just want people to validate our feelings or statements we make. I posted a week ago a similar statement and people jumped down my throat...I felt so terrible after reading the responses. It was like my moment of happiness and success was taken from me and left me feeling discouraged. I think people get the lap band for different reasons. I know one thing we all have in common is loosing weight, however, my reason was because I wanted to eat what I wanted but less of it. I felt a victory last week when I ate two donut holes. Prior to Lap band I ate 25 count in one sitting. To me, this was big!!!! I have always wanted to have control over the quantity of what I eat which has always been hard. I did three months in an eating disorder program to over come binge eating disorder. I still after three months could not control my quanity of donut holes. Seeing how people attack over what we eat vs how much is not fair. No one here got obese from eating a piece of pecan pie, maybe from eating the whole pie. If eating a piece of that pie allowed you to enjoy thanksgiving that occurs one time a year, good for you!!!!! You did not kill anything from eating that piece. Just because we have a lap band doesn't mean were banned from eating sweets or anything with high calories, it means we're not going to eat as much as we probably used too. Last year I lost 150 pounds from restricting quanity of food, I never once banned any food from my diet I just limited my quanity and how often I ate certain things. I'm really bothered by people making comments of what we can't and can eat. Three months in an inpatient eating disorder program taught me how to eat and never once did it encourage not eating certain foods , or restricting sweets on a holiday....I hope posting your true feelings didn't discourage you from posting because I really enjoy reading honest posts that come from our true real experiences. I honestly think some responses are of what people think they have to say. We have a doctor that can give us harsh realities, we need validation, support, active listening, and sensitive oriented opinions and responses. On the other side, I guess hearing harsh realities can also help us. I became emotional and discouraged after reading some feedback, and haven't touched a donut hole since because I replayed in my head the posts I read. Hang In there!!! We're both only three weeks post of so we have a lot to learn which is why I come on here and read so much !!!

Thanks Got a little nervous!

Can someone tell me if this is normal...I haven't seen any posts about staples....today while looking at my five incisions I noticed that two of them have a staple beginning to stick out in the corner of incision... Is this normal... I told my sister and she seems to think at my first fill the surgeon takes it out, however I've never heard anyone talking about staples .....any advice??

Love love these posts!! I prayed about getting my lap band for over three months, reading this. Post made me smile

There metal color and sharp.....stitches are metal color and sharp feeling like a staple? I've never had a surgery or stitches before so I have no idea what stitches are! Lol

I am a clinical therapist. I work with children and families. I absolutely love my job!!

I'm almost three weeks post op. I haven't had coffee for five weeks. Is anyone drinking caffeinated coffee? I thought we couldn't drink caffeinated while healing?? I'm ready to start drinking again if I can!!!! Also,One thing I notice a lot on here, I see so much of restrictions on limiting are self to past endulgements...such as not putting cream or sugar in are coffee anymore... What's wrong with putting cream in are coffee , or one sugar? I understand we are watching calories/ sugars ect but I didn't get obese from cream and one sugar in my coffee, I feel if I want cream in my coffee and that's how I enjoy it, then that's how I will drink it. I don't think twenty calories of cream is going to set me off from the day due to one cup of coffee.....I mean, am I wrong thinking like this? I got banded for a life style change, to obtain satiety after consuming smaller amounts, not to restrict myself from normal ways of eating /drinking such as having cream in my coffee like millions of others in the morning!!

I was in severe pain for about seven days. I thought there was something wrong with me because so many banders talked about such minimal pain after surgery. Medication didnt seem to even fix the pain..hang in there!! I started feeling better day seven.....

I think it's the chewable Vitamins & protien. I've noticed the same thing on me..however today right after chewing my vitamins I noticed the smell right away and determined it was the chewables that have a distinct nasty breath after taste!

I just started soft foods as well. What are you planning on eating?! I ate a donut hole today and it went down fine. I'm scared to eat meat or other soft foods people are talking about. I'm terrified of getting stuck....

I'm 16 days post off...lots of pain and uncomfortable at port site. Since day one my port has always hurt!! It hurts a lot while I'm walking, especially if I'm walking fast. I take Tylenol.

I hate the unjury non flavored. I agree you can taste and smell it. Makes me gag!! I've tried over six different brands of protien shakes and can't find one I like. I force myself to drink three a day due to being on liquids still and it's miserable.

Sushi, egg rolls, tons of candy, and pizza!! I had to go to three different places to get my last meal!!! Then I went home and pigged out, loved every second

You look awesome!!!