Mellzbellz21

Hello! I was banded at UPMC Magee on Feb 20 by Dr. Courcolas. Live in Greensburg, which is about 40 minutes from there. Any fellow Greensburg or Courcolas bandsters out there?

Hello everyone! Was just curious to hear you guys weigh in on this. I have the Johnson & Johnson Realize Band, was placed on Feb 20 of this year. So far, I've lost 43 pounds. I have no restriction whatsoever in what I can eat, and I have never gotten "stuck." I have 7.6 cc right now in my 11 cc band. My in laws both have the Allergen Lap Band, placed 3 years ago. It seems that they lost their weight much quicker, but they are very restricted in what they can eat and are always getting stuck, even to this day. Are all of you having similar experiences with either the Realize or the Allergen? I'm wondering if the differences between my weight loss journey and theirs are attributed to individual differences, or differences in the bands.

I second that! Try to walk a little bit every day and listen to your body. If you feel good, try doing a little more. Stop when you get tired. Your body is healing, just be conscientious and listen to what your body tells you it is ready (or not ready!) for.

I do both. I've read that if you do your weight training before you do your cardio, you burn more calories. I must admit, if I do cardio AFTER lifting, I feel both physically and mentally more prepared to kill it on the treadmill. I did a 13 minute mile yesterday, jogging at about 4.5 mph. That's down from a 17 minute mile last month! And when I'm done, I really feel amazing.

7.6 cc in 11 cc band and I'm still not there yet. Ive had 3 fills since my surgery on feb 20, and so far only lost 43 pounds, very slowly. I hope we are getting close.

I have 7.6 cc in my 11 cc band and I still have no "stucks" and can eat anything. My doctor says that's really good, because the band is not to restrict what you eat, so much as it is to improve satiety; you get fuller faster and stay fuller longer. That is how the weight loss works. Welcome to the "no stucks" club. curious, which band do you have? I have the Realize. My in laws have the allergen lap band, and they are always getting stuck.

You're still in the healing stage, anything you lose right now is you doing it on your own. You will lose when you start getting fills. Take it easy and heal, I know you're excited to lose weight right away, but it will happen in time. it's better to lose slowly anyhow so that you don't have a bunch of extra skin.

My scars are still a little raised up and purple, had surgery the end of Feb. At first they were kind of puckered in, but with my weight loss they're now even with the rest of my stomach. My port site never really bothers me, but sometimes I get sharp pains on the other side, my doctor said it is just the muscles still healing because they had to do very deep stitches on that side. Totally normal at this point.

So far, the restaurants I've shown my card to are pretty understanding. I ask for child's or lighter portions, and explain & show my card. I'm always nervous though that they are going to, I dunno, be upset or weird with me. But, so far, so good.

I had horrible diarrhea for the first few days after my surgery. Combine that with the gas problem and it was a recipe for disaster! It sounds like what you're experiencing is probably normal, but it wouldn't hurt to call and talk to your doctor about it, just in case.

Hang in there, it just takes time to find the sweet spot. I am three fills in at 7.6 out of 11 cc and still don't feel restriction. I lost most of my weight the first two weeks after surgery. It's very frustrating that things are not happening as fast as I like, but it's better to get filled slowly than too quickly, because there's a fine line between sweet spot and absolutely miserable. Both of my in laws got the band 2 years ago and they got filled too quickly. They couldn't keep a thing down and ended up having to get unfilled and refilled under fluoroscopy. It took them some time to get to the green zone, but they both lost over 100 pounds and have kept it off.

First week post op I had NO appetite and lost 20 pounds. When I started on full liquids I got really discouraged because I gained 5 pounds. It just now at week 3 came back off, so if that happens don't let it get you down. My hunger kicked in around day 15 and I felt head hungry all the time! It's been a learning curve, now I'm not so hungry all the time because I mostly ignore the head hunger but also I eat regular meals so that I don't feel so hungry. If you don't do that, your body goes into starvation mode and u don't lose

I got my band Feb 20 and am also unrestricted. However, I never eat more than a cup at a time and have been following the post op diet progression (1 week of clear liquids, then full, then purée, then mechanical soft, then solids). I've lost 21 pounds so far. I don't get my first fill until April 11. The doctor told me that manufacturers don't allow them to put anything in the bands until at least 6 weeks post op. Remember that this is more of a healing period than a weight loss period, but still use your better judgment and pay attention to your body- stop when you feel SATISFIED before you get really full

I get my first fill Friday. I'm excited, and a little nervous. 1. I'm afraid they won't be able to find the port, and 2. I haven't been restricted or got stuck at all yet so I'm mentally preparing myself for what to do to continue to prevent this

I hear ya. I've been trying not be discouraged as well. I lost 17 lbs the first week after surgery. Now, in the second week, the scale hasn't budged. I know that this is a time for healing but I can't help but feel anxious and impatient. I get my first fill on Friday. I'm so nervous that they won't be able to find my port!

I've found that hugging a pillow to the port site, where all my pain is, and putting pressure there while I sneeze or cough helps. What's hardest for me is laughing- my husband does the funniest stuff to try to cheer me and lift my spirits, and I'm like "NOOOOOOOOOOO don't make me laugh!" It hurts so bad!

I'm 9 days post op, and my incisions are SO itchy! I try to scratch around them, or try to satisfy the itch by patting them. It's not working well. Lol.

Well I just completed my first day of full liquids. It seemed like every time I turned around, I was supposed to either be eating something or drinking a protein supplement, AND drink 16 oz of beverage in between! I felt gross all day, so very full. Hit my protein goal and stayed around 900 calories, but I don't like how I felt today, eating so much. Thoughts?

My surgeon makes the decision as to whether or not she's using the lap band or the realize during surgery, on an individual patient basis. She decided that, for me, the realize would be the best fit. Any other realizers here? I'm just nervous because I read that there was a realize recall in 2010. Not cool.

Elite Gourmet Milk Chocolate Protein powder. It tastes awesome with skim milk or over sugar free jello milk chocolate bliss pudding!

Thanks for your replies, that makes much more sense to me. After all part of my problem before was not paying attention to what my body was telling me and eating just to eat; I don't want to fall back into that trap again.