Cocoabean

Always great to advise people to take it easy after a fill! There is a learning curve to what has changed. Angel hair Pasta seems to regroup once in the pouch. I have the same problem with lasagna. Regular noodles are fine for me. Also, once at a good fill level some foods will go down fine one day, but not so fine the next. My band is my fickle friend named Bandit because he steals meals from me. pineapple juice didn't work for me, but many say it does. Also you might try papaya enzyme chewables. You can get the in the supplement section. If you are going to carry something in your purse, they'd be easier. After a bad stuck episode, I take it very easy and do liquids for the rest of that day and most of the next, maybe more depending on how I am feeling.

Yeah!!!! Way to go!!!

Oh my goodness, even if you didn't make a number goal, look at where you are! Those # goals are hard to make once you set them! Our bodies sometimes just do not comply and we say we want to lose 10, but we only lose 9. Did we fail? Oh, I don't think so, we LOST 9 pounds!!! That's why I never set goal #s. Mine are more behavior based. You've done awesome!! Keep up the GREAT work!

I don't think so. You're down 40 lbs in 7 months? That's close to 1.5 lbs per week. Us bandsters can expect an average of 1-2 lbs per week. If it were me, I'd call that a success! I averaged 3/4 pound per week to a total of 70 pounds gone. I've been maintaining this weight easily for about a year and a half now. My blood pressure is normal without medication. My blood sugar is normal when I was pre-diabetic. My high cholesterol is now normal.

My losses never were consistent. I didn't lose much at all until after my second fill. But my losses came in fits and starts. I'd lose 1 lb one week, then 3, up 2, down 1, stay the same for 3 weeks, then down 1, up 2, down 3, same for 2 weeks, up 1. It was very erratic. But the finally tally was down 70, so I cannot complain! Once I realized that they overall trend was down, I was OK with it, but at first, it was terribly frustrating!

After a fill there is a learning curve for new eating habits. Was it breast meat? Breast meat is off my menu. I can eat dark meat, but white meat gets stuck consistently. After fills I go very easy on eating foods, taking teeny tiny bites, giving them a bit of time in between to settle down then proceed on. It's a dangerous thing to eat as you did previously to the fill.

As always, ask YOUR surgeon, but mine is OK if I take NSAIDs from time to time.

I thought I was the only one that got pain on the left side!!! Wow, 3 years out, what do ya know!!! I also go for satisfied, not full. Full hurts...OK, well sometimes I do full...yikes!

The ONLY reason I'd drink anything is to cause everything to come back up. If you are trying to wait it out, don't add anything at all, it's just bound to make things worse.

Onederland is below 200 pounds and above 99 pounds. When someone loses to One hundred nintey-nine pounds or less, we like to celebrate reaching "Onederland"...or Wonderland!

If your band is slipped, there's is nothing we, as patients, can do. It needs medical intervention. For stuck episodes: The book answer is don't get stuck...yeah, right. Second book answer, if stuck, call your surgeon who will decide if you report to the office or ER for an unfill. Again, yeah right. Sometimes slips are caused by retching. That's what we want to avoid if at all possible. No small task, I realize. Many bandsters will use paypaya enzyme pills which are in the vitamin/supplement section of your local store. They are chewable. They break down the food quicker to help it pass through the band. Similar to Shirley's meat tenderizer suggestion. I haven't tried it. Others swear by sipping pineapple juice. Didn't work for me. Sipping Water does nothing for me, if I am stuck, it has no where to go, except make me feel worse. Adding more liquid slowly just increases the pressure for me. I have been known to chug down about 4 oz of water, that will cause everything to eject from my pouch with very little trauma. I need to be near the sink or a toilet when I do it because it is an immediate reaction. I drink it down, get a wave of nausea and up it comes with a blurp! No heaving involved. Just sort of reverse gravity. Push come to shove, a finger down the throat to speed things along, rather than heaving for hours. In my opinion one quick retching session is better than hours of heaving. Like the 5 hour marathon I had the first time I was well and truly stuck on a tiny piece of hamburger. It was 9pm, there was no way I was going to the ER. I waited it out...book answer? No, life answer, yes. I recently spoke with an ER doc in a more social setting. He learned I had a band and was fascinated. He'd never encountered one. I told him all about it. Let him feel my port. Asked if he'd be comfortable doing an unfill if I showed up in his ER with something stuff....UH, well, wow...I don't know. I'd need to talk to a bariatric guy about it before proceeding. Pretty much the answer I expected. ER docs are GREAT, but they don't deal with this stuff. I think they'd be more likely to do an endoscope to try to remove the offending item. I hope your slip is good now and you are back on track as a healthy happy bandster!

I had bloodwork, EKG, "well woman" check up, that sort of thing, but no sleep study or endoscopy, or pulmonary stuff. I think much of it depends on your medical history.

Popeye's red Beans and rice...yum! And a skin off thigh...oh yeah. Wendy's chili is great. Goes down very easily. McDonald's has snack wraps with chicken or burger. That is assuming you can eat chicken or burger. If not, you can order w/o meat and extra cheese. At taco places I do bean burritos or quesadillas. Often I just eat the stuffing out of burritos, as they are generally pretty big. Subway--I eat the stuffing out of sandwiches, DH and I split a footlong. I just leave the bread behind. But you can also get wraps and salads there. pizza, I can do thin crust or eat the topping (not the healthiest choice, but I am maintaining now). Most fast food places have salads now. Nearly all of them with chicken are chicken breast, which gives me problems. When traveling, I stick with things I generally think will go down, even if higher in calories. I have a little 12 volt cooler that we take on road trips. I put cheese sticks, yogurt, Protein drinks, fruit, and things like that in it. I also carry almonds and protein bars for if a place just doesn't have something. But they generally do.

Well, this is an UN-fill you are talking about, not a fill. I understand what you are saying about wanting to be sure you've had enough removed to be sure you can eat. I can't remember what my rules were after my slight unfill. I just remember the relief when the Water he gave me didn't cause pain! I'd ask the doc before eating. If he removes all the fill to see how much you have, then puts it back in, less some there will be some trauma and possible swelling. So you might have the no solids for a while rule. If he just takes half a CC out, then perhaps not.

Way to go! Keep up the good work!!

Woohoo! That is soooooo awesome! Keep on losing!

I guess I am a bit of an odd-ball. I never set mini-goals. I didn't really set a big goal weight. When I had surgery, I chose not to journal my food. It was important to me to have a "normal" life if at all possible for me to lose weight and not track foods. So, I make good choices and eat until I am satisfied. My weight stabilized at a normal BMI and I decided that this would be an easy weight for me to maintain. I've been here for about a year and a half now and have been maintaining very easily. I found what works for me.

I am not big on pecans myself...but 1 oz pecans...195 calories, 20 g fat, 4 g carbs, and 3 g Protein. 1 oz almonds... 162 calories, 14 g fat, 6 g carbs, 6 g protein. Almonds a bit better in my opinion....which is of no value what-so-ever!

Oh my, I read that as "deli meat spread"! I am thinking...eeewww, that sounds nasty! Phran, can you do the lactaid pills to help you consume dairy for the time being? Almonds pack a good punch, especially if your blood sugar is dipping.

Just beware of sushi rice if you are well restricted. Can't count how many times I've been stuck on it, but love it so much I won't stop eating it. I don't do low carb, so rice is on my menu. But the sticky rice can be a big issue. As messy as it sounds (and is) I break the big rolls up and eat them in shreds. I don't get the full mix of flavors that way, but i don't get get stuck as often either!

For me when sliming, it is impossible to swallow it, there is just no way that it is going to go down. My favorite position is to hang over the kitchen sink and let it run. Cloth towels get too wet too quickly to keep absorbing it, paper towels are very rough on the lips. Some people put paper towels in a cup and spit. I've never tried that method myself.

Read the package of your Protein mix. Mine says the active cultures die after 10 minutes. So, mixing then and leaving them makes THAT part of them useless. But it depends on the ingredients and what you are trying to get out of the mix. For me, I desperately need the Probiotics, so I don't want to drink them once dead. maybe for you, it doesn't matter.

It took me a long time to realize that my mouth wanted to keep eating even when my stomach was done.It seems to me that our brains and mouths are programed for "this much" sensation and if we don't reach that amount, we keep eating until we are uncomfortable or in pain. It takes a lot of effort to overcome that desire to reach that level of satisfaction, but with work you can do it and realize that you ARE satisfied with less and will stay that way for a few to several hours. That, to me, is what being banded is all about.

We are only accountable to ourselves. It is how we respond to the negatives in life that show who we are. When I see a negative post, I try to find the positive side of it, or help the person see it in a different way. If a person says "I have only lost 30 lbs in 6 months. This sucks!" I like to break it down and remind them that that is 1 1/4 lbs per week. We expect 1-2 lbs per week. "I've been banded 3 days and want this out, it's too painful and I am not losing!".. Well, give yourself time to heal, make sure you are not having complications, use your pain meds, if needed. Weight loss comes in time when you have a band. It isn't immediate. Many people come here to vent. I only know one other banded person IRL. If I want to rant and rave, I should be able to do so here. I'd hope no one would respond with get off this board, that kind of talk doesn't belong here! But, I, personally, will not attack another poster. I might point out some other aspects they haven't considered (perhaps). Or, if I don't have anything good to say, I say nothing at all. But then again, part of my professional life is facilitation.

Thanks HB! Thought I tried that!