Marimaru

Chicken only bugs me when it's too dry. And I can imagine that those little samples were way dry.

Almost all bread, and especially tortillas were 'permanently' off my list. I'm stubborn, and still try them every now and then, and have found recently that I am able to eat them. I am also losing weight, so I don't feel the need to get a fill. I have heard of other people who have things on thier list of nonos that are able to eat them again later down the line. I also have some trouble with eggs, but not always, and dry potatos. Yes, I eat potatos, lol. Um... other than that, anything 'dry'. Not like chips, but like dry chicken, or fish, or any other kind of dry meat that is not supposed to be dry. If it's really dry, even adding a sauce to it doesn't help. And while I do not usually have trouble with moist chicken, I thought I'd mention that I made some really moist cornish game hens for dinner last week and I am unable to eat more than 2 or 3 little bites of it at a time. I think the meat is too dense or something.

I am usually extra restricted for the majority of my cycle, and starting a couple of days before. So it could very well be your cycle, but it could also be your fill kicking in. I think if it were me, I would not want to go on vacation with the possibility that I would spend most of it or all of it too tight to enjoy anything but protien shakes and broth. You know?

Alexandra is always so much more eloquent than I am. :confused:

The 1/2500 mortality rate, I believe, comes from the risk of anesthesia itself, and the fact that the surgery is lap band surgery, doesn't add to that rate. It's really great that your daughter seems to be taking an interest in this for you. :confused:

There are a few folks who are at goal who participate, but generally, if someone hits goal, and isn't having any trouble staying there, they are off living their life!! As for complications, just try and keep in mind that people who aren't having complications, don't really need support, you know? That's a pretty generalized statement, and not entirely true, but I'm sure you get my drift. As for PB's and pain while eating, for the MOST part, that can be controlled by not being too tightly restricted, and make sure to not eat things that disagree with your band. The band can slip, and it can erode, and those can require further surgery. But you just kind of have to weigh that against the complications of the other available surgeries and decide which is best for you. :confused:

Toss the candy in the trash, an then do your grocery shopping online :confused:. I don't always do my shopping online, but it's convenient, and it makes it easy not to wonder your eyes to much if you have a list.

Flushing your pouch is when you drink a bunch of Water to make sure nothing is in there. It's recommended to flush your pouch because it's not really good to have food in there all night. For some people it causes reflux, and for other people, it makes them unable to eat much in the morning. Hope this helps :Banane13:

My sister started taking Trim Spa this month and says she's lost 10 to 15 lbs (and I just saw her a month ago for her wedding!!). I looked it up, and the main ingredient is hoodia, so I went to GNC and picked up a different (much cheaper) brand, called DietreX (I'm pretty sure, it's at least close, lol). The instructions say to take 2 doses a day for 5 days, and then 1 dose a day after that, which I like much better than a dose before each meal. I only started yesterday, but I have not had any jitters at all, and my desire to snack has been deminished noticably. How much I eat at any given meal has not really been the problem, but the inbetween snacking. Just thought I would share. :Banane13:

Sho, Have you considered any of the lazer procedures for scars? There are a number of people who've had pretty decent results from it, from what I hear. Obviously you'll need to wait for the most recent ones to heal a bit before you can get it done, but it might be something to think about. :Banane13:

Lol!!!!!!!!

Good luck, keep us posted!

It's pretty common that the first fill (even up to the first few fills) don't really make a restriction difference. My doc gave me a pretty big first fill, and I did feel a difference, but doctors these days try to 'sneak up' on a fill so that patients don't get too tight. It's frustrating to not be tight enough, but it's just not healthy to be too tight for very long, and it doesn't help with weight loss as much as one might think. Just keep telling your doctor you need more restriction, and keep getting more fills. You'll get there!

'Banquet' also has some pretty decent cheap meals. I try not to have TOO many frozen dinners, just because of the sodium, but sometimes easy just wins, lol.

Another thing to try is Benefiber every day. Or some form of fiber. It's supposed to help keep things regular.

I think if you go to another doctor, they will still tell you to lose weight. It may not be so much, but it sounds as though more and more are requiring at least some weight loss before surgery. Did your surgeon give you any ideas on how to lose this weight?

I hear alot about those mixed groups and how it's kind of a "my surgery is better than your surgery" mentality. I think there are benefits to having a support group at all, but that it would be more beneficial to have separate groups for the different surgery types.

Well, I agree with folks that you need to eat more. Ask your nutritionist how much she/he thinks you should be eating, and follow that for a while and see what happens. Other than that, I just wanted to say that I've been through the depression, and for me it did pass. I'm sure that you will feel better, but in the meantime, you should make sure your doctor knows how you feel. If the band isn't what you thought it would be, he needs to know that he didn't educate you correctly and that he needs to do that with future patients. *hugs*

Don't worry too much about that hamburger. I know you were just expiramenting, but it's highly likely that you could probably almost eat like you could before having the band if you arent' properly restricted (and it sounds like you aren't). On my most openist (is that a word?) of days, I can eat a half of a sandwich with bread. If it's not one of those days, I'm doomed if I take a bite of anything with bread. It gets down to about the middle of my breastbone and just sits there. It kind of catches at the braline in the back too. When I was first banded, I actually tried unbuckling my bra a few times to see if it would give me any relief (it doesn't). Restriction WITHOUT being stuck, is a little more pleasant. I don't think about food as much, and when I do eat, less is enough. I don't really think I have a 'sweet spot' like other people do, because some days I'm too tight and others I'm not tight enough, so it's kind of all over the place, but for the most part, I'm doing ok on 1200 to 1400 calories without feeling super deprived. I just have to make sure that I make good choices because 1 cup of one thing can be 100 calories and one cup of something else can be 400 calories, so even if I 'portion' my food (which I don't, other than to know how many calories it is), I could blow my diet if I eat the wrong things. Hope this helps.

Wow. I've never had a fishbone stuck, pre or post band. I can't even imagine. Jacqui, maybe if you tell your husband what you do with his fish, he'll learn how to filet them? It's not that hard to do, and fresh fish is so yummy. :Banane13:

I went through the same thing. Even so far as that I would eat, and then PB because the food couldn't go down because the air was trying to come up. I'd PB, and then have a big burp, and then be fine. To be honest, I don't know how I stopped eating so much air. I just tried to be a little more aware of it, and I also started drinking with straws. This isn't true for everyone, but I swallow less air when I drink with a straw, so unless your doctor strictly forbids it, you might give it a shot.

Yay!! That's awesome!!!

I haven't been filled to capacity, but I did some research on this before when someone else asked. If I remember correctly, the 4cc band can be filled safely up to 5cc's and the vaguard band can be filled safely to 13cc's. This was from the inamed handbook, and it said basically that it can be done, but should be done with the council of inamed. Hope this helps!

I've not tried that one, but I'm taking one who's main ingredient is Hoodia. My sister is taking trim spa and says she's lost 10 to 15 lbs in the last month (she's not banded). I looked up Trimspa online, and the main ingredient is Hoodia, so I picked up a cheaper brand. I just started taking it yesterday. I want some of the appetite suppressant effect, just so I don't have quite as much head hunger, but really I'm interested in the "fat burning" effect it claims to have, so we'll see. I know there are other folks who have used diet pills with the band. And I know there are doctors out there who prescribe them for the period of time between surgery and getting proper restriction.

That's great! Congrats!