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My fist fill is scheduled for tomorrow. And I'm worried that I'm not healed enough. My stomach is still swollen and my incisions are not completely healed. I'm hungry but not starving and I still get full with about 1/2 C of food. I know some surgeons wait 6 weeks but mine fills at 3 weeks. I guess I'm worried that he will go ahead and fill and I'll struggle.

Does a fill under floroscope get you closer to the green zone? Anyone have any ideas about this?

This is exactly the kind of thing to ask the surgeon.

This is exactly the kind of thing to ask the surgeon.

Unjury is very good. I personally like the Atkins shakes. Pricy but easy to take to work. I only had to do liquids for a week and for 24 hours after each fill. Try the Unjury sampler. The chicken broth (vegetarian btw) is very good and a nice change from the sweet shakes.

I took 4 days if work off. Surgery on Tuesday, back on Monday. I'm a psychiatric nurse practitioner and my job is emotionally and mentally challenging but physically pretty easy. I went back too soon. Had to leave early on Wednesday due to pain and being an emotional mess. I should have stayed out at least 3 days more than i did. If your job is very challenging in any arena (mental physical or emotional) talking to you, RNs and social workers, take as much time as possible. It's probably easier to go back to work early than to stretch your time off. Good news is two weeks after surgery and I'm fine at work.

I set the timer for 1:00 chew for about :15 or :20 and just wait for it to buzz at me for the next bite.

I had surgery 2/5 and it went fairly well (other than the Really Big Hernia) and I was back home and resting that day. The trouble started on day 3. I lost my mind. Not really, but I became sooooo emotional that I was difficult to be around, all teary and snot-slinging. Any little thing would make me cry, or worse yet, sob. I knew something was really wrong when I started crying while watching an episode of iCarly. Really, I don't even like that show. Well, because I'm a frickin genius who always over-estimates my abilities, I scheduled myself to go back to work 6 days after surgery. Big, big mistake. I work in Mental Health and it was all I could do to keep it together at work. I would go to my co-worker's office and sit on her couch (she's a therapist) and just cry. For days it was like this. I honestly thought that I was getting burned out, that the job was becoming too difficult. Nah. It was a surgery side effect. My supervising physician came into my office and said, "You know this is normal, right?" So APPARENTLY physicians/surgeons know that surgery causes some people to lose their ****, so to speak. No one warned me about this. There's a little chatter on the boards about it, but I was full-on impaired by my emotions and I for sure wasn't expecting that. So. Anyone else get this? I have to wonder if there were other factors at play, like the hernia repair and the side effects of poor sleep and starvation (due to that damn liquid diet). What to you all think? Has anyone had comparable surgery (gall bladder, etc) and had a really emotional reaction? I truly think the lack of calories had to have played into it. Because I'm up to about 1000 daily now and I feel soooooo much better.

I use the free Eat Slower! and I like it a lot. I don't know what the .99 would buy you - it has everything you need.

I was banded yesterday 2/5. Everything went well but my surgeon told my husband that I had the WORST hiatal hernia he had ever seen. Ever. In 1350 lapband surgeries. Rather dubious distinction, heh. At first I was feeling pretty bad about it, like "what's wrong with me that I have th worst hernia ever?" But then I remembered that at 4'10" I had a 10lb baby, which could have been a big factor (pun intended). Still. Dr. said I would have had to have it repaired anyway, but I was asymptomatic. Has anyone else had a REALLY BAD hernia with no symptoms. I'm going to call him today to see if there are any special things I have to do to heal from that. Have any of you had to make changes due to a hiatal hernia?

4'10" 199 18 2X

Like.so many others have said: the band is a tool, not a magic wand. People get out of it what they put in. Just because others are still fat with the band doesn't mean that is how it has to be. Remember that pain makes everyone emotional and if you are taking pain pills they can make you feel down and sad. I got banded the 5th and on the 7th totally had emotional break down. It was the pain.

The two things could be related. If you take in too few calories, your body will "take" calories from your muscles, such as your heart by breaking down the muscles tissue. It is extremely important that you also talk to your surgeon and or NUT about your calories. Even though you still have 25 lb to lose, you have to take in a minimum amount of calories. Good luck and remember to drink your Water.

are you taking lortab? Or some other narcotic pain med? If so that could be the culprit. My doc gave me permission to just take liquid Tylenol/Motrin. It worked and I've had absolutely no nausea. In fact I'm starving and I was able to eat Soup today.

Congratulations! Day 2 sucks but after that it gets better. In my case, a lot better. I'm on day 3 post-op and feel pretty great. Not planning to run a marathon tomorrow but compared to yesterday today is great. Here's what made a big difference for me- I didn't use narcotic pain meds. Liquid Tylenol and Motrin only. It's the morphine that causes the nausea. After I left the hospital a few hours after surgery, I had zero nausea. Granted I may have had a little more discomfort, but it was a fair trade for nausea. I hate nausea. Good luck! It's gonna be great!

Ow! That sounds painful. But kind of funny.

I'm on my pre-op diet now, which is Atkins, not liquid. I've been on it for 11 of 14 days (surgery on the 5th) and I've lost 8lb. However, my starting weight was 198 , so that's about 4% so in all, not bad.

I'd kill my partner for that! Couldn't wait one more day, huh? At least tomorrow you could have blended it!

Ya. Epiglottitis is reaaaaal serious. Because it really can cut off your air. I'm glad you went to the er. Please keep us updated.

I'm on Atkin's pre-op, which I hate. I'm a vegetarian and I'm finding it 1) really difficult to find good low carb/high protein food options, and ineffective because I'm at a higher carb level, ketosis never sets in so I never get that really full feeling one gets with Atkins. I talked to the nutritionist today and she said that I was small enough (BMI 40) that I didn't really need a pre-op diet, but I think I'd rather have a healthy liver. So I'm thinking about going on a liquid diet for the next 7 days. I don't do well with diets (obviously) because of my monster appetite. Liquid diet is almost like a form of abstinence. Nutrition without eating. Have any of you actually gone on a liquid pre-op diet just because it felt right, rather than it being required? I'd appreciate any advice about this.

I'm February 5.

I'm still struggling with my pre-op diet. I'm on a low-carb diet (tough because I'm veg) and I cheated a little tonight. Although, I have it soooooooo much easier than the peeps on liquid diet. So I should quit my bitching!

The unjury samples can be found at the Unjury.com website. They cost about $20 for 2 samples of each flavor, or you can buy them individually for $1.99. I tried the chicken soup flavor (vegetarian, surprisingly) and the chocolate so far. I really like them.