kacee

I was really lucky in that my doctor said he didn't required his patients to do a pre-op diet...he said they probably wouldn't stick with it anyway....and well DUH....that's why we are all here in the first place. right? I just tried to keep it to a dull roar, but I did go out with a huge bang the day before surgery (why I will never know) and wound up writhing in pain all night before surgery with what felt like a bowling ball in my stomach from WAAAAAAAYYYYYY too much Chinese food. Stupid stupid stupid. One thing is if you can cut down your food intake before surgery then I would think the stomach shrinkage would be better for post surgery. Good luck to you. Know that this too shall pass....

I have lived in Lane Bryant "big shirts" for over two years (and I mean that is ALL I have worn...that and my fat jeans...I must have about 15 big shirts)...I haven't worn ONE since my banding in May. As a matter of fact, I really don't have that much I CAN wear. I'm going to have to break down and actually SHOP! I've been living in Size 18 denim leggings forever. I just went and got two size 16's which fit great. The 18's are going to go to charity...

I appear to be in the same boat. I got my third fill two weeks ago. I am getting stuck much more often but I am not feeling full very much. I think I am on the verge of being where I need to be. I think I am very close. I ate two low fat graham crackers (each is a sheet of four small crackers) last night and I was full to bursting by the end of the second one. That was a good sign. It doesn't seem to stay very long though. I'm close.....very close.

You are taking BATHS????? Are you just a few days out? I was told not to take ANY baths for a minimum of a week after surgery.

I have heard from everywhere that you do NOT want to use a straw because it lets in lots of air. You gotta suck up a lot of air to get the liquid up into your mouth. Apparently a lot goes down your gullet too.

Oh boy, I hope you have the ability to get some more help for you for the first week AT LEAST....

Whoa...you are being AWFULLY optimistic. First off, after surgery you are going to probably be exhausted very easily...and be that way for at least a week if not more. Surgery is a whalop to the system and takes a lot out of you. You are going to want to sleep a lot for the first day or so. I would get help asap for the kids. While the walking is a great idea, I'm not sure you will be up for that so soon. You better be safe than sorry. This is MAJOR surgery. Do not take your recuperative period lightly. You may regret it BIGTIME.

Folks...have PATIENCE. The first month to 6 weeks is "band hell" and you're gonna be going "What the hell have I done?" I was knawing my leg of by the end of the month. Your first fill may not do a THING. Mine didn't....and neither did a lot of other people's, so don't hang your hat on that definitively. I just got my third fill and am just now feeling like things are getting under control. It WILL improve. And of course, some of you will get your restriction with your first or second fills and be fine. It is totally a trial and error thing. Everyone is completely different. And it is true. The first 6 weeks is for HEALING, not losing. You have the rest of your life to lose....you didn't pack it all on in a month and it sure isn't going to fall off that way. You will hit plateaus (I've been thru two so far....but they always break eventually...and mine have been fairly "short" - 10 days or so) and they will come and go. This is a process..... And another thing........when you start eating LOG YOUR food INTAKE. It makes a HUGE difference. If you have a computer...subscribe to Sparkpeople or FitDay or something like that and get yourself set up to go on it every day. If you are computer illiterate, get a journal. This has made a HUGE difference for me. I do two things. I weight EVERY DAY (with a scale that has 10ths of a pound....I watch those tenths) and I log everything I eat and I can track and see where I am doing good, and where I am screwing up!!!!

Also....if you have pain meds...TAKE them. That is what they are there for! I took my pain meds relgiously for two weeks. There is NO reason for you to be "suffering" anymore than necessary and that's why the doctors give you those meds. Pain meds should be taken automatically at this time....don't wait until you hurt. The idea is to keep that hurt at bay...if you have a hard time taking pain meds (sensitive), take SMALL amounts of it and follow with liquids, soup, etc.

<p>You're getting towards time when things will lessen a bit. You HAVE to concentrate on getting some quality liquids down though. You should be taking liquids ALL DAY LONG constantly. TINY TINY TINY sips if necessary....if you don't, you will continue to feel like CRAP and continue to be nauseated. And WALK...I cannot stress that enough, and I am dead serious about this....you will feel EONS better if you walk and walk a lot. Walk in the house...I did "laps" around the house for days. Every time you get up to go to the bathroom or whatever, take a complete tour of your house....or if it's not big enough, walk outside to the end of the driveway or something like that. I found when I walked...got up, moved around...EVERYTHING felt better. You are still just HEALING. That vise-like grip in your chest will start to abate...but you HAVE to be very gentle with it. You need to try to get something with a little protein in it down. I have found Isopure DRINKS (the clear drinks, premade in a bottle) are GREAT. You can get them at a health food store or on line. (Not the stuff you mix up...it's like fruit drink, koolaid, etc.). They have about 8 flavors. You can water them down a little if it is too sweet, but I am NOT a sweet eater and they are not bad to me. The protein will give you strength and stop that nausea and the liquid will hydrate you.</p>

<p>What you guys were/are experiencing is absolutely normal. I don't think I drank much of anything for the first two days after surgery. You have a general feeling that there is a big glove surrounding your food canal and squeezing. That's your body going "WHOA! What's THIS!" to the band, and trying to heal. Everything feels tender after surgery, and this is no exception. About 2 weeks out you will really start to feel human again. A couple of things you will experience to a great extent probably for the first time though are (1) you will burp....a LOT....this is GREAT. You're getting rid of the air they pump into you for surgery...that's the gas you feel crawling around inside you and generally settling PAINFULLY up in your shoulder, neck, etc.... (2) you will....uh....fart....a LOT. Get used to ducking into other rooms or stepping outside of a building...by the way, I didn't notice much, if any smell at all (TMI, I know...but as long as we are getting things in the open....) (3) you will GROWL and I mean GROWL a LOT and LOUD. The growlies are amazing. Kindof feels like an earthquake in your tummy. Growlies will be a part of your life pretty much from now on (I call it my Beast....it tells me when it needs something put in to shut it up) and was something as a fat person I had never experienced (who waits long enough for your stomach to growl before feeding it....ha! Not ME!). The audible growlies seemed to have lessened after my first month or so, but I still growl about every three hours or so, just not so people across the room can hear anymore! HAHAHA!</p>

<p>I don't think you can feel "the band" per se. What you DO probably feel is the constriction now, and that kindof thick feeling will dissipate by the end of the first month. That's the healing process. The only time you will feel anything is in learning how to eat all over again. You and your digestive system (with your band quietly in control) will become intimate partners. You will introduce foreign substances into your mouth (i.e., food) and your band will say, "Hmmm. Shall we let this pass quickly or shall we just sit on it for a while and think about it?" and you will become the official monitor and partner to your gatekeeper. Quite a learning process. The only thinig you can probably feel is your port.</p>

Mine is about the size of a 50 cent piece in diameter, maybe a little smaller... mine is very easy to feel standing up or sitting or lying. That's probably because I have practically zero belly fat, unlike most people, and when I lost my initial 30 pounds it ALL came off my stomach (which is nearly flat now....still being about 35 pounds over goal....go figure) so there really isn't anyplace for my port to hide anymore. Doesn't bother me though. It just is a tactile reminder that I have the band.

I've lost just under half of what I have to lose and I can easily feel my port and when I lay on my back there is a slight hump just below and between my boobs. If I am telling my "band story" and want to gross someone out I will grab their hand and put it on my port. Funny thing tho...no one has been grossed out. They all kindof get wide-eyed and go "Wow!"

When I was in something like the 5th grade (and the 2nd heaviest kid in my grade SCHOOL), my Mom had the two of us join a gym called "Slenderbolic". The three things I remember there were (and I am showing my age here folks!) (1) the belt around your butt or waist that hooked on the machine and jiggled the hell out of you, (2) this cage kindof contraption that you climbed into and it hyad metal rollers that rolled up and down you from your knees to your armpits and (3) the roller machine thingys that had rows of rounded and nubby wooden and you sat on it or leaned your stomach against it (but it MUST be rolling TOWARDS the heart, now don't forget!). All any of them did was make you itch. I always liked those best because I didn't have to DO anything but stand there. Gee, I wonder why I didn't lose anything......

Just thought I'd post this for consideration... I never had scales in my house before banding, but they are my friend now. Some of you weigh only once a week but I have gotten into the habit of weighing every day. What helps me a lot is that I have digital scales that read 10ths of a pound. I get very "obsessive" about those 10ths, and chart them religiously. You get to the point where you celebrate the mini-goals of the 10ths becuase THOSE are the things you see move more often than the pound numbers (especially if you are a slow loser or are plateau-ing)and then when the scale drops by a POUND you get VERY excited. Consequently, I do a LOT of celebrating now. I can get very excited when I see the scale move one or two tenths of a pound and I have gotten the HAPPY DANCE down to a fine art! :whoo:

Another thing about having 10th of a pound on my scale....each 10th I lose is like a mini-goal for me and I celebrate. Then when the POUND number drops by even ONE I get VERY excited!!!! It makes me appreciate the POUND loss that much more!:whoo:

"i don't mind scales so much anymore!" I hear ya on that one! I didn't even OWN a scale before banding. I know a lot of people have said they only weigh once a week, but I weigh every morning as soon as I get up. My digital scale gives me tenths of a pound and I chart it religiously. I am very aware of 10ths of pounds and I think it helps me be more conscious of what I've been eating in the recent past. I also tend to "obsess" over the 10ths, which I think is a GOOD thing, because in the past I was like "Oh, I'm 195(200, 210, 220)...well, when I hit 200 (205, 215, 225...) I'll start worrying about it and DO something...." Now I am VERY aware of EXACTLY where I am and if I see those 10ths start to go up in any way I really buckle down.

My doctor asked me what I wanted to get to and I said 145. He shook his head and said 160 was more realistic. I am 5'3" and I think that is too much. I'm gonna shoot for 150. If I can get to that, I'll re-think and see if I can get into the 40's...

What do you mean "productive burps"? Do you mean burping as in BELCHING? Or do you mean it as in PB'ing? Burping and PB'ing are two completely different things in bandland..... and if you were just banded, you shouldn't be having PB's...

I have the same problem. I get food caught pretty easily, and am pretty tight in the mornings, but I can still get a lot of food down and don't feel full.....I think I am right on the edge.....

<p>Anna Banana---It's somewhere between discomfort and pain for me. Some people would say it's pretty painful. I liken it to someone putting a knuckle in my breastbone and pushing. When you eat, your stomach starts producing mucus to help push the food through. If you are stuck, you produce the mucus but it has nowhere to go so it backs up into your mouth. It's like spit but REALLY thick (I've blown bubbles before, trying to spit it out....I know, too much information...but you get my drift) and it just seems to fill your mouth and you gotta spit it out. Not to be done in public, because it's pretty gross looking coming out.And THAT, my dear, is why they call it SLIME!</p>

Another thing to consider is that doctors have to give you a picture of the potential complications and pitfalls of the procedure. Some doctors have a very difficult time walking the line of how much "potential bad news" to pass along with the benefits of the procedure and wind up scaring off their patients in an effort to educate them. All surgery is risky to some extent, and there are no guarantees that you will come out on the other end skinny as a rail and medication/medical issue free. I'd say in the long run, if you weigh (no pun intended) the pros and cons, it is a GIVEN that your current condition is not acceptable and could, and most probably will, worsen. Though the alternative has unknowns, it most certainly is a proactive choice in the right direction (at least for me, it was). Kindof a "nowhere to go but up" kindof thing....

You might tell your doctor about that. Somehow what comes to mind are adhesions. You could possibly have some. They can get pinched and cause real havoc. I had adhesions from my appendectomy that reared its head 3 years after my operation. Doctor thought they got pinched in with some intestine. I got a real bad stomach cramp and then before I knew it I had passed out. Happened twice in two years, but then nothing after that (and that was 36 years ago).

I just got my third fill last week. I haven't noticed myself getting particularly full with my meals, but I suddenly DID find something that fills me up immediately! I sliced up a tomato and put a little dressing on it and started eating...I was only able to take about 4 bites and I thought I was going to explode! Not stuck, mind you....just supremely FULL, the feeling I should be getting with my meals. This is great! The times I got upset were when I had head cravings and started picking at foods, but now I know when that hits I can sit down with some tomatoes and within a few minutes the thought of food completely leaves me!