lisacaron

@ccjll your post was a bit harsh to people who are trying to support you in your question on this board. If you like facts, and only facts. Ask your doctor because the fact is that he/she is the only person who's advice you should be taking on your band and your health.

@@SlowJourney I think it's great that you are spending weekends with your daughter and granddaughter and I'm sad to hear that you aren't looking forward to them as much these days. I know the weekends are rough for me as well. There are days I want to throw caution to the wind and make it a free for all. Those days I am so grateful for my band! There are days during the week here at work I am also grateful for my band because there can be so many foods that I love here, and these days I have no interest in them most of the time! When I am going out to an event, I know there will be all my favorite foods. Most of the time I am in control and I don't go overboard and if it's something I have to have I have a small bit and I'm good. There are some times that I am just out of control and say I don't care I'm going to eat this and enjoy it! So I do and the band stops me from over doing it, but it was getting harder and harder and I was saying I don't care way too much! So now when I know I am going to be going out and there is always that chance that the I don't care mode will turn on and that spells calories for me. I will make sure that I eat something first. I will have a Protein bar and come nice coffee so it feels like I had a treat, or I'll make a Protein shake frozen smoothie. When I get to the event I'm not so hungry now, and those favorite foods are less desirable and I remember why I am there. To be with my loved ones or to do business and I can focus on that and not on trying to control myself around the food. If I feel that I must must must have a bite of something I do, and if it's playing a siren song in my head that begs me to eat more, I order a FF Cappuccino and enjoy sipping on that. I hope this helps you a little bit. Throw a Protein Bar in your bag to munch before going to lunch and you won't want to share your daughters appetizers and you'll eat your lunch and be satisfied.

I have read where there were those who had fills that missed their port, so it is possible. I have had the PA in my office just miss my port as well and have to try again. They always check to ensure they are in the port by pulling back to pull some Fluid out ensuring the needle is in the port before pressing forward. It can happen where they hit the side of the port as well and they need to position it again. I have had that happen as well. I didn't get a bruise or any markings from the miss, just a little needle pinch. If capillary were punctured during the fill I could see where you might have a bruise. Sometimes when hubby gets his fill he will have a little black and blue at the port site it's not from the muscle but from the dermis.

@@ccjll I understand what you are trying to accomplish with JC. There are some bandsters here who go back to weight watchers for the same reason. It's what they know. However what @@cheryl2586 said is true. It didn't work for you before and while it seems that it "could" work now and you could maintain the loss now, why would you want to do that and eat as you said out of a box when you can be eating fresh which is that much more nutritious and healthy for you? I know it's not easy to suddenly change your life style. I am a working mother of 5. I have a full time job and a 2 hour commute each day when I get home from work at the end of the day the last thing I want to think about is making dinner or preparing my lunch for the next day! When I was first banded I didn't do any of that. We didn't change our habits much we were still eating out and I was still grabbing on the go. I thought hey it's chicken and salad I'm eating the Protein first and salad is good for you! Yeah well, when I looked into it the salad was 500 calories adding the chicken made it 700 and that was with NO dressing! So it was time to modify some behaviors, now I go home and I cook dinner, I make enough of what ever healthy 15 min or less meal that I can pack a lunch for the next day as I'm plating out the food. My Breakfast I always keep simple it's usually a Protein Bar or shake as mornings are a little tighter for me and I'm not so hungry. Trust me there are sooo many meals you can make really quickly that are healthy for you. Even my kids will eat with us. If you feel that JC is going to help you it's not a bad thing for you to try, but I think you could do it much better, fresh and more nutritious on your own. Just my 2cents.

Your doing really well, and you got some pretty good advice here. It's not easy to change our lives over night. It took us a life time to get where we were, and it's going to take some time to unlearn all those things and ingrain some new life style habits and choices. Being banded you now have a tool to help you do just that. Head hunger is a very real thing, and it takes time to understand where those "I'm Hungry!!!" signals are coming from. Sometimes we are bored, so we turn to food, sometimes we are angry, frustrated, happy, sad, or a myriad of other emotions and we may have used food in the past to help medicate those feelings and often times we were not aware of it as we are now that we have had WLS. I like to have a little conversation with myself when I want to eat outside of my meal times. I do a kind of mental assessment of where I am and how I'm feeling. I don't talk out loud when I do this, at least not all the time I will ask myself, are you really hungry? Where is that hunger coming from? Is it a body need a below the neck I need to put fuel in the tank or is it coming from something else? Am I bored, or having some other emotion I'm looking to satisfy? Am I thirsty? My answer to thirsty is usually always no, so I drink some Water anyway before I turn to food. I have had a few friends tell me, well my belly is rumbling I must be hungry. I have learned that being banded a rumbly tummy is not always a sign of hunger at all. Sometimes it's just digestion or gas, it's rarely because I am hungry. You never want to be "full" when I am "full" it's too much and I feel sick. Now I won't lie there are times I have eaten past my signal because that food was just sooo good. I couldn't leave it on my plate! I always regretted that sick stuffed like it was Thanksgiving overload feeling. Not because I feel guilty about it but because I literally feel sick. So I watch for a sign that says enough, the band is now in action. Sometimes it's a hiccup, sometimes my nose runs or sniffles, or sometimes it's a sigh. The sign is subtle and if you miss it you can eat a bite or two but by three..I'm at the border of I'm gonna be sick ville. My best advice is to eat when your truly hungry, and if all questions answered are yes then eat something it's not wrong make it a good choice and eat something. If the answers are no, to any of your questions, wait a bit and have a beverage or a warm coffee or tea and then come back to it. Often times you move on and your good till the next meal. Eating is not your enemy, learning to make better choices, monitoring your volume of food, intake vs output and learning a new way of living is where the work comes in. You have a great tool to use, and we are all always learning. Your doing great!

For all of our negative and positive interpretations of this message...I wonder did any one think that perhaps this person was writing this letter to her/him self? I often times see people here and in life who put themselves down, beat themselves up for their perceived lack of success or in fear of failure. I'm sure you have looked in a mirror once or twice and thought some pretty negative things about the person you saw staring back at you. Perhaps the conversation in your mind started off negative as you tore that image in the mirror down, only to look deeper and realize that you had the power to change it and just as easily build yourself up. Picking up your head, facing your fear looking it in the eye and saying YOU ROCK! YOU GOT THIS!!

I have not even gotten close to this point yet, but I think about it all the time and I can totally understand your nervous feelings about it. I'll tell you a little story though and hopefully that will make you feel a bit better. I have a cousin who at a very young age was extremely overweight and borderline morbidly obese. She was about 12 years old when she sat on a glass coffee table and it shattered with her stuck in the frame. They had to call and ambulance and have her removed and taken to the hospital to remove the glass from a sensitive area. This was enough to wake her and my cousin (her mother) up. When she was all healed up she started taking weight loss seriously, she changed her life style and started eating right and working out. Over the years she lost all that excess weight she did not have WLS, but once all the weight was gone she had a full body lift. I was in major shock seeing this girl with all the stitches and drains etc. after the surgery, but in a couple of days the swelling went down and finally all the drains were out and today she is amazing, and I am so happy for her! When I think about it being my turn some day I think about that little girl and how she braved that at such a young age and it makes me feel better and confidant that I can do it too. I hope it gives the same confidence to you. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I think KJ's question needs to be answered by some who are sleeved, but I agree with Cheryl's statement that no matter how much you throw up you are not throwing it all back up. Some of it has been broken down and absorbed just by chewing and swallowing. I think it's probably impossible to know what the calorie content is for that, but I would keep track and then note that you threw up after so you can let your doctor know what's been going on. There is an issue with this from a nutritional standpoint. I understand where the sleeve is much different then the band, but if your throwing back up anything at all the same way you are not getting all the calories you are also not getting all the nutrition and being sleeved on top of that you are already getting less nutrition from the items you eat since the surgery starts off as malabsorptive by removing part of the stomach. This is something to have grave concern over as it can cause some serious health issues. Give your doc a call and I hope things become a bit easier for you as you move forward. Best of luck.

This is an excellent topic! It's one that my husband and I tackle every day. When I am at work or at home I have so many things around me that I just don't even desire. At work I enjoy watching others come by eating girl scout Cookies and sneaking candy out of the candy bowl I keep on the file cabinets well out of reach but openly inviting for others. The department just threw me a big birthday breakfast full of all kinds of things that my boss told them, "Lisa is not even going to eat any of that", and he is right. Bagels, donuts, danish, muffins, croissants, no longer my thing. I enjoyed the fresh brewed coffee and some fresh sliced fruit along with my daily Protein bar and I was happy to watch everyone enjoy the rest. I feel good about myself knowing that the food is right there and I am not afraid to have it there because I don't even want to eat it. It helps keep me in check. I don't avoid the foods I just make better choices for myself and my banded lifestyle.

Try brushing your teeth. I don't know why bit for some reason that helps a whole lot.

Congrats! Take it easy and rest when your feeling the need.

Your in the home stretch now, Friday will be here before you know it!! If you really must have something go for a tasty Soup. Your gonna do great! Stay strong your almost there!!!

Kyle, are you getting enough protein? Usually that is the culprit in hair loss. If your not getting enough start to up your protein content. I like the premiere protein powers and their ready to drink protein drinks they have a high content 20-30 per drink. They also make protein bars with the same amount of proteins for 200 calories. My husband and I both were taking extra biotin supplements about 5000 iu daily. He no longer takes them and just does the mulit vitamin but I still take them as I like to keep my hair and nails long and strong! He does not take any extra calcium but as a woman I take a supplement of chewable calcium tabs nightly. I also take the Alive for women daily and extra vitamin C, B12, D and Zinc daily but more because I have a low immune system. I hope this helps you.

If you are truly hungry eat something just try to make it a good choice and a healthy food for you. Bandster hell is the worst and I had it right out of surgery. Instantly hungry and no restriction or swelling. My Dr. also gave the fills slowly once a month and it has taken me 9 months to get to the "green" zone where I am not hungry and eating smaller portions. Everyone is different and there are some here who have never needed a fill and they are doing amazing and have great restriction right out of surgery. Don't be discouraged just do your best and know your going to get there, it's just going to take some time but slow and steady wins the race every time, so long as you stay the course and keep with it. If your hungry eat something break your meals into more mini meals through out the day so your keeping your hunger at bay. Don't wait to be ravenous before eating because that will lead you to want to over eat or make a bad choice of what to eat. Your going to do great!

I will be totally honest with you I was off for 10 days after my band surgery and I wish I had taken the full 2 weeks. I was pretty tired when I started back to full days of work. Go easy on the pain and meds and try to switch to tylenol, because you are only binding things up with vicodine and it's going to make passing gas and moving bowels that much harder. Best of luck to you all and know that soon this too shall pass

What I have noticed is that if my band is feeling a bit tighter milk and thick products like even ice cream though I don't eat much of either will take a bit longer to go through the band. They tend to give me a slimy feeling when they go down but I have always had an issue with dairy like that. I have bad allergies and the milky products tend to make more (gross factor here) mucus for me. The same I find true for some of the red/cherry flavors. I don't know why but even the additives to Water like Mio don't sit right with me. I pretty much stick to the Mio sweet tea, water, or coffee with a touch of creamer. Our bands can be fickle and what works one day might not the next.

So I found out this weekend that cake and I no longer get along. We were having a nice family celebration on Sat for my birthday which is this Tuesday. Hubby bought me a bakery cake nice canola filling. Normally I would love this, and I have had cake before since being banded, but I really wanted ice cream cake this year. The hubby thought that was kiddy cake and wouldn't my guest like a real bakery cake better, but you know my whole week prior had been packed full of stress and emotional roller coaster ride my band is feeling mighty tight. When I tense up under stress my band tends to tighten up along with the rest of me. So I had a couple of bites of what was a really amazing cake and guess what...yup it got stuck. I didn't want to get "sick" in front of everyone so I suffered with the pressure as it kept trying to pass by. I knew the only way that cake was going was back up and out in the most obnoxious way possible. UGH what a pain literally!! Thank goodness soon after the cake everyone departed and I made a beeline for the ladies room to evacuate the cake. I think that was enough cake for me for this year! If we have anything on Tuesday night it better be ice cream, cause I am NOT going through that adventure again. Who cares what others think or like I am a kid at heart anyway and it's MY birthday !!! I was thinking of having them take out a tiny bit of Fluid, but I think most of the time I am OK and when I am not tense and stressed out I'm feeling pretty good about my restriction.... What's your thoughts?

Awe, Thank you Bandista! I like the truffle idea!! I'm not into having anymore cake that is for sure!! We had planned to "escape" for the weekend after everyone left on Saturday but as some left more straggled in after so we had to cancel our get away plan. Maybe this coming weekend we can get away and hide just for a day or two

Hi Jennifer, If you are in terrible pain, my first suggestion is to give your doctor a call ASAP. Moving around is going to help move the gas that is used during the surgery. I know it's unflattering but passing it is what will ultimately bring relief. Here are some tips and tricks that will help break things up and also help sooth your stomach. Surgery is not nothing, and who ever told you that should be slapped. This was a major surgery to your organs and though you should heal well and quickly it's not nothing and you need the time, the rest and the TLC to allow your body to heal up correctly. Warm tea (decaf) no milk will help you to break up the gas. You can sweeten with sugar substitute of your choice but try to steer clear of the dairy in it. Lemon is great if you like it that way. A heating pad to put on your back and lie on will also help with the soothing and if you have a hot Water bottle you can put that on your tummy but not on the incisions. If the port is hurting and a bit swollen ice packs work awesome on that. You can take some gas ex and/or some beano, if your drinking lots of Protein shakes and or pudding with milk products try taking some lactaid that will help you to break up the milk protein which causes extra gas if your sensitive to it. You may not have been before surgery but after while you heal you may be more so. Get the chewable ones so you don't have to swallow pills. Ice pops (sugar free) are also helpful for internal swelling and healing and they taste pretty good too. Good luck and as I said in the first line if the pain is unbearable please call your doctor and check in with the office for advice. Feel better soon.

Hmmm Very interesting article. Thanks for posting that! I have always had issues with my stomach and digestion from the time I was born till today. I take pro-biotics and now they seem to be in everything and everywhere, which gives a little more validity to this articles point. The sad thing is that what should be "whole" food is anything but and the things that literally grow on tree's cost more then the junk that is manufactured today, it's no wonder people are so much more overweight then they were in the past.

The band requires lots of training for the doctors and the doctors staff to be able to operate the band and provide after care to surgical patients. Most doctors don't want to put that time and expense into it. We also live in a world where we want that quick fix, that instant result. You get that with the sleeve and bypass early on in the surgery. It's the long term maintenance that becomes the issue. Having to take special Vitamins every single day for the rest of your life without fail. Making sure to eat right which we all need to do but in the case of the sleeve and bypass once you stretch your organs there is no "fill" that can bring back the restriction for you. I chose the band because it was adjustable to my life and my needs, and I use it as the tool it is meant to be.

I have allergies to just about every darn thing! I take 2 allergy pills a day just so I can live in my house with the pets and the dust etc. So the answer to your questions is NO. Drainage does not block the band and does not stop it up. If your band is too tight you are going to have this type of issue, but that would also mean you are having trouble swallowing saliva and/or water. In the mornings I wake up much like you a bit stuffy and a bit of post nasal drip and my band is tighter. I don't eat anything first thing the morning. In fact I won't have any solid food until around 10 am. I usually wake up and have a cup of hot coffee and then when I get to work I have another cup of coffee while I warm up. By 10 I'm settled the stuffy feeling is gone and I'm ready for some solid food. During the day I'm pretty good even with a bad cold or allergy attack, so just keep an eye on your fill level if you have trouble drinking or eating mushy foods then your too tight, and a small unfill is needed to ensure you don't get stuck on allergy drainage.

Yes friend keep an eye on that, you do deserve it and more important you need it. That said, if it's affecting your life and your wallet is impacted rethink it before you buy it other wise enjoy it!!

OK I feel like a quitter. I like the warm coziness of my bed in the morning and I hate waking up when I don't get a good enough nights rest and it's dark outside. I spend too much of my day on my butt behind my computer flexing my mental muscle but that's about it. I try to keep motivated to get me to the gym and get a work out in, and sometimes I make it and sometimes nope it's just not happening. I know it's my own fault, I'd really like to get a nice solid routine going. Put everything on hold and just do it, it sounds good but when your not feeling it, it's dam hard to do. It's an area that for me needs some REAL focus....I wanna be a loser not a quitter!!

Verna, You just had major surgery. It's only 1 week post op and you should not be eating anything at all if your doctor has you on fluids only. Warm fluids are staying down and that's great. You probably have a lot of swelling and don't forget you had lots of fluids in the hospital as well. It can take up to 2-3 weeks for body to acclimate to all the changes going on. As Tina said don't be surprised if you even gain weight over the course of the month. Take it slow, let your body heal right now. This phase is all about healing. Soon enough your going to be running around and eating solid foods that will help you to lose the weight. Slow and steady, you already made it past the first hurdle congratulations! Now give yourself some TLC you deserve it.