Cocoabean

As for it being the "easy way out." It isn't. It is a way out of obesity, yes. It is also a medically accepted treatment for a disease. What are you supposed to do? Continue to suffer when a possible solution is here? You'll still have to do your part, and it isn't all moonbeams and roses. If you needed a new kidney, but could live dialysis...and you did not need to wait until you were near death to get it, wouldn't you accept it? Why do we have to punish ourselves for years and years trying to lose weight when studies show that the majority of the time the lost weight and then some will return? Should you be miserable for a few more years before reaching out to medical science to help you? Or should you continue traveling down the path to diabetes and heart disease? I'd grab the chance to stop the disease process now and live longer and happier in the interim!

I just cannot chug immediately after a meal. If I do, everything is likely to come back up. Otherwise, I can drink normally at any temperature. The sip, sip, sip, is for immediately post-op when you don't want to be stressting a stomach that was just pushed and pulled and put through a trauma and could have swelling. After you've healed, liquids go through pretty quickly. Yesterday I drank a 24 oz. bottle of Water in about 20 minutes, if that helps. I am 2 1/2 years post-op.

I just cannot chug immediately after a meal. If I do, everything is likely to come back up. Otherwise, I can drink normally at any temperature. The sip, sip, sip, is for immediately post-op when you don't want to be stressting a stomach that was just pushed and pulled and put through a trauma and could have swelling. After you've healed, liquids go through pretty quickly. Yesterday I drank a 24 oz. bottle of Water in about 20 minutes, if that helps. I am 2 1/2 years post-op.

Oh Christie, Steve is a poopy head, no pun intended! Poor you. So I got on the scale last night and nearly pooped my pants, it was higher than it's been in ages! :huh2: Then I took off my fleecy sweatshirt and two pounds were gone, and I was back to normal! Such a dork! Oh, and I have updated my ticker. 145 is my goal weight. It seems to be where my body is happily hanging out. :huh2:

Maybe so, but I am not embarrassed or ashamed any longer! Look all you want. I used to always be self-conscious about food, whether in a store or restaurant. Even if I had healthy choices in front of me. I felt people were judging me. I have let go of those feelings.

Betsy, size 8???? You go girl!! Dang, I remember when you first showed up here at LBT! Wowser. Leigha, me too with the necklaces. I have a Tiffany heart necklace DH got me for Christmas a few years back. When I got it, the heart would stick straight out, it was so tight. I couldn't wear it. I was so disapointed! Now it falls below the little nook in my neck between my collar bones. Right where it should! Other little things... Wearing shorts and they don't ride up between my legs. Cheekbones. I still don't have much of a chin..genetics, drat! I discovered I actually have tiny wrists. I always thought I had big bones. Sitting in an airplane and realizing my thighs weren't touching both armrests. In a restaurant, I don't feel as though everyone is looking at my plate. In the grocery store, I don't feel as though everyone is looking at my cart. Even if I have a little bit of junk food in it.

Does K-Mart even have scales out on display for use? You could always go to Brookstone where they have the talking ones...yikes!!

Yes, yes! I meant to bring up that point as well! :blushing:

Melody and Crystl, way to go!!!! Yay! Now if y'all could just kick me in the butt? Thanks!

It isn't God as in the Christian God or any other established religion. It is a power greater than yourself. Which is whatever YOU determine it to be. It is a spiritual journey, but no one can tell you just what that power is for you. The third step states "as we understood Him." For the founders of AA, it may have been the Christian God, but that doesn't mean it has to be for you. Each person's journey through the steps is different. It can take someone years to work through the steps. You might attend meetings for years and do well on the program while still working on coming to terms with Step 2. "Came to believe a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Being too tight and vomiting can lead to a slip, which we don't want. Congrats on approaching the century mark! yay! I was overfilled once. It was a miserable exisitence. You run the risk of turning to high calorie/low nutrient sliders to get you through. Hopefully they'll just remove a little bit, and that will give you enough relief that you can eat right and still lose. Keep us posted how tomorrow goes!

Yeah, I read here on the forum there is a way to warm up Protein powder slowly for adding to soup. After that horrid experience I had, I never wanted to try it again! Blech!

Well, my surgeon said 1 oz every 15 minutes and not to chug. You also don't want to suck in bunches of air when you drink. Never thought that just drinking water would be so challenging, eh?

My opinion, for what it's worth, which is not a darn thing...I'd not hesitate to revise to another procedure. If I had already had two bands. It would tell me that bands weren't right for me. I understand you feel there were extenuating circumstances, and it does appear there were, as to why the bands failed, but fail they did, and I'd not want to risk another failed band at this point. I don't know much about the Vertical Sleeve, my insurance doesn't cover it. But I do know that for me, if I did not have some sort of surgical intervention, I'd put the weight back on, and back would come the problems that have been corrected with its loss. Best wishes to you! I am sure it is not an easy decision!

Ticker info: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/ Sorry I can't help with the rest, I was hungry from day 2.

Main thing is to keep yourself hydrated. Sip, sip, sip water. When you can't get water down, it's time to call the doctor.

The Special K would not be a Meal Replacement, I think it has about 5g of Protein. But when you are sipping your water post-op, it adds some flavor and a little bit of protein.

Interesting theory, Leigha, but what would make it back up into the esophagus? Just the fact that the upper pouch is so small? So it would take time for the food to find a spot inside? Again, all theorectical talk, as it appears even the scientists aren't very clear!

I'm 5'5" with an all time high of 217. Obesity is obesity. If you qualify for the surgery, you do. Many people said I didn't "look" like I needed WLS, or that WLS is only for "really fat people not you." While I appreciate their comments, it was my decision, and I am much healthier now. I was obese with a BMI over 35 and co-morbidities. I was heading for diabetes and have arthritis in my lower extremities. I also had high blood pressure which has now resolved. My high cholesterol is now normal. While the arthritis still bothers me, I am sure it is progressing at a slower rate now that 70 lbs are gone. Don't think you don't deserve this surgery. If you broke your leg and needed surgery to fix it, would you deserve that? If you needed heart surgery, would you deserve that? I think so!

Then there is orange soda and cream soda, and Radar O'Reily's Grape Nehi! I, too, was told the food stays in the pouch for a while. But my surgeon doesn't have the no drinking rule. He's OK with me having some liquids with my meals. Some--as in a few ounces, because there isn't much room for more, and if I chug, everything comes back up. I'd also like to see some research on it all. I've asked if anyone has seen any studies on the no liquid with meals with a band. It seems odd that some are told to chew foods to liquid before swallowing, but don't drink any with meals..? I was also told to not do Protein shakes, my surgeon wants me eating my calories, not drinking them. Others here have orders to do Protein Shakes. My orders were take small bites, chew well, then swallow. In my pea-brain (again wondering, not stating fact) if the food is mostly solid-ish in the pouch, where it is ground more before leaving the pouch, how would putting a small bit of liquid through it drain it faster? Wouldn't the liquid go through the food and drain out? Or perhaps gum up the works more? Or does it truly cause the chewed food to become a thinner liquid and empty faster? I often wonder if the rules aren't just the standards from the gastric bypass world where the pouch does not grind at all. I know for me, since I was given permission to have fluids with meals I have experimented, it makes no difference if I drink or don't with my meal. Following our doctor's orders is important, but we also need to balance that with what works for us. As Cleo'sMom has pointed out, doctors are all over the place on the rules...if I change doctors to one who forbids drinking with meals, should I then stop? I don't know.

You betcha!! :thumbup:

One thing the article mentions that has always made me curious is about the pouch emptying quickly. And this is truly just wondering, not a statement of FACT.... If the food stays in the pouch for a lengthy period, why is it we are told to wait between bites to "be sure they go down"--go down where? I can get stuck on any bite during a meal. How is that, if the food is just going into the pouch for further processing later? Generally speaking, if I am going to get stuck, it happens immediately, not an hour or two after a meal (it may take an hour or two to resolve, but that is different)...so, IS the pouch emptying while we eat?? Thoughts anyone?

Sometimes restriction doesn't kick in immediately. Your story sounds like something I would do. I was laughing with you, I hope! I think the reason for liquids post-fill is so that we don't cause any additional swelling. It sounds as though you are OK. It could be that you need a bit more to find proper restriction. With the 14cc bands, I understand it can be a longer process to find it, but it DOES happen.

Hey Betsy, how much dissipation are we talking about though? My surgeon said it would be very little. That I "might" need a slight touch up fill about once a year. The fills occurring 1-3 months apart are at the beginning of banded life until you find you proper restriction level. I went in for my first fill in a year in September, prior to that it was about 10 months or so. But as Betsy said the record keeping sometimes is not what they hope. I thought I had 5.5cc, my record said 4cc. I was having .25cc added. When the Nurse Practioner removed all she could with the .25cc already loaded, it was a total of 6cc. So, it would appear I hadn't lost anything..? My theory is that my surgeon was only tracking what he had added post-op, not what was in the band during the surgery. This was my first fill by his NP.

I thought the correct term was "soda pop." Maybe because I grew up east, west, and central USA? :sleep: I still struggle with passing by the junk food. But this artile flies in the face of the way I work my band, and the way my band works for me. Maybe I am misinterpreting what is going on internally and the way my surgeon explained it to me. But, either way, it IS working for me. For that, I am thankful. Cleo'sMom, when do you meet with your new doctor?