Marimaru

I actually find the same thing. It's kind of bizarre. It's not unusual that you are able to eat more than you think you should right now. The band is just sitting there, and without restriction, many people are able to eat as much, or nearly as much as they did before surgery, which is incredibly frustrating. People choose to handle this different ways of course. The basic ways I've seen, are to a) eat however they want until they start getting fills, :confused: eat less even though they might want to eat more, c) diet. Any of those ways are fine, it all just depends on the person. I can't picture what a pound of food looks like. I don't weigh my food. For the most part, I go on serving sizes, and how many calories I want to eat for each meal. How many calories do you figure you are getting in per day?

lookingout; If I had to eat my whole meal in 10-15 minutes, I'd be starving! I've heard alot of doctors say about 30 minutes, which is pretty reasonable for the most part. If you try and scarf your meal in 15 minutes, I think you'll be causing your self some trouble. I'm not one to say to not listen to your doctor, but eating too fast and not chewing well is one of the big factors in causing a PB (Productive Burp, food comes back up). Also, many of us have what's called 'first bite syndrome' where basically you take the first couple of bites and it just kind of sits there for a bit before you are able to continue with your meal. I've had it sit there for an hour or more (in which case the meal is usually over with and I just have to try again later). If you post a new thread with this same question, you are bound to get a whole bunch more answers. :confused:

Well, I can't say for certain why that band was chosen for you specifically, but I know it's been used on lots of people of many different sizes. It should all based on the size of the stomach, and really nothing else, from what I understand. The other thing is, that folks with lower bmi's have a tendancy to lose slower, especially if you don't have correct restriction. As for the esophageal issues, I've heard of that around here too, and I'm not sure that has anything to do with the band size. Geezer Sue (can be found on the band removed forum), switched to DS, and it took quite a while for her esophagus to pick back up and start working correcting (if I'm remembering right). Again, it *could* be because of the size of band that was used on you, but I'm not sure about that... I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to share helpful information.. I am sorry that you are having to go through all this though.

If you haven't done much exersize since being banded, you probably stirred stuff up in there. I know that for a good long time, whenever I moved in a way I hadn't since surgery, I could feel it pull in my stomach, or near my port. I would take it easy for a couple days (liquids/mushies) and if it persists, or gets worse, then call your doc.

"I have a plan, but I'm taking a break first." There's a good amount of suggestions here. I can see why you don't want to talk about your surgery, and I can see how that would make your current situation so difficult. Good luck

It hasn't happened to me, but I've heard of this many times. It sucks, but it's not unheard of. *hugs*

Eating out will get easier. I'm sure that going to the places with TONS of food isn't as common as going to a place with normal portions right? And if you don't go out very often, and when you do go out, you eat a little more than you would at home, that's still ok. Half a kg a week, is still good!! Eating out, and eating less when other people eat more will get easier, and then you'll get to the point where you cannot BELIEVE how much others are eating!! I went out with my fiancee the other day for lunch, and got steak and eggs. I felt like I ate so much food, but there was about 3/4 of it left on my plate. It gets easier.

I have the first bite syndrome thing. It happens more often than not, but when it doesn't happen, I think I need a fill, lol. Sometimes my first few bites will seriously sit there for like an hour. When that happens I have to just give up on the meal and try again later. I have found that like you, mushies sometimes cause a bigger problem than solid food. It's the strangest thing. Anyway, just thought I'd share, lol

I'm not a parent, but as a person who was hounded as a preteen/teen about food, and put on many diets when I was young, I appreciate that you are trying to encourage your daughter to eat well, while not pressuring her. My dad went nuts on my weight, so I just bought carby stuff at school .

I didn't have the headache or fever, but my last shot had my arm stiff and sore for probably 2 weeks with a big old bump there too. Hope you feel better soon!

For the phone thing, I would recommend just having a cell phone. I don't know what kind of business it is, or what kind of calls you would be getting, but they can probably wire it so that you extension would just transfer to your cell phone at all times (in office, at home, wherever). There are lots of plans where incoming calls are free, etc. The only problem with that is that when people find out they can reach you at any time... they reach you at any time.

Wow. That does say alot.

Hey, I've been wondering about you! How you been? I agree with Elisabeth on the fill thing though. As long as she made sure to put back as much as you were supposed to have, you should be ok. You feeling better getting that unfill?

I can't say that I've had anything like this happen, but I would say at the very least to make sure you are munching on some antacids (while you wait to call your doctor... right??) Hope you feel better!

If you go to GNC, Isopure makes clear protien drinks. I haven't personally tried them, but they are the only clear protien that I am aware of. But also keep in mind that you had major surgery only a few days ago. Your body is still wearing off the affects of the anesthesia, pain killers, and doing the bulk of the healing. You could also call your doctor and see if he has any recommendations. It's possible he could move you to the full liquid stage sooner than next week if you talk to him. Some doctors are open about changing the rules on a patient by patient basis.

You are pretty much supposed to leave those on (steri-strips) until they fall off. If they are a little ragged on the edges, trim it up so it doesn't catch on something. I wasn't given any instructions regarding those other than that they'd come off in about a week, so after about a week, I used a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol on it and it came right off, but you might talk to your doctor first just to be sure.

Congrats!!!

Contratulations!!!

Dee Dee, I'm very sorry to hear of all your pain and trouble. I've never heard of anything like this before, but I would think that there should be some other surgery your doctors could code this as to get in there and fix your stomach. I mean, you don't need the whole RNY right?? They just need to get the dead part out? You might see if they'll approach it from that angle. I hope you get a resolution soon!!!

I like to believe that if I got to goal, and then lost my band, I'd be able to maintain. I've always believed that maintaining is easier than losing, and that's why I never go to goal before deciding on surgery; it was just too overwhelming to try and do it by myself. But the reality is, I'm pretty sure that if I lost my band, while I've learned alot and probably would not eat alot of the crap I used to eat preband, I would probably go up and up on my amounts and end up gaining. I suppose if I was at goal, and had been there for a little bit I MIGHT be able to hang on to it... I think there are people who are strong enough to keep going with the 'head start' that the band gives them, even if they lost it, but I'm probably not one of them. I did not consider other surgery types before being banded, but I think if I lost my band and was told I couldn't be rebanded for whatever reason, I would probably revise to something else. I just can't do it alone.

Good luck!! If you don't check the boards until after work, well, I hope you had a good day!!

You should make sure that you don't eat a good few hours before bed. Having food in the pouch at night can irritate your stomach/esophagus. Many people find that they are tighter in the morning if they went to bed shortly after eating. Sometimes it's going to happen, but it's a good idea to avoid it. Many doctors also say that dinner should be the lightest meal of the day, basically for the same reason I stated above, so there's nothing in the pouch at bedtime.

Here's a good medical reason I was told by my doctor: He had 2 patients who ate solid food shortly after surgery who busted stitches (the stitches holding the stomach and band together). One had to go in for surgery to fix the stitches, the other decided not to go in for surgery, and when she went back for her fill, she had what he called a "Pelican Pouch", where some of the stomach had slipped through while it was healing, and now was going to stay that way; basically her pouch was bigger than it should have been. In both cases, they caused themselves a decent amount of pain. I believe that this is a case where everyone heals differently, different doctors have different experiences with how long that takes, and one *could* test the waters and be fine, but if you aren't 'fine' you could truly hurt yourself. Hope this helps. Can you have yogurt n' stuff? I was allowed that on my liquid diet. And sugar free popsicles.

I did the same exact thing. chicken nuggets happy meal with iced tea. SAME RESULT. Fast food isn't bad every once in a while, but fast food fries just don't work out so well.

It's already been said, but you definately need more protien, and probably more calories. If you can only eat 2 or 3 bites of eggs and cheese for Breakfast, have a protien shake or something like that instead. You didn't have any protien in your lunch or dinner that you listed, and while I have done those sides for dinner, watch the fast food . If you are hungry all the time, your body is truly trying to tell you something. "I'm hungry all the time" is completely different than "I want to eat all the time".