cope1951

Costco has a great protein drink with 30 gr of protein. It's tasty too. It's their store brand - Kirkland.

Hi Everyone, just had my first fill yesterday. 2cc's. I really don't feel much different. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. My next appt is in 4 weeks. Judybellyband, thanks for the info. I have the same band you do. I'm worried if I have to get 6-7cc's to feel the restriction it may take months to get there. My dr. said something interesting yesterday. He told me I am going through my "teenage phase." That really rang true for me. I am being very rebellious with my food. Also, at one of our support groups the nurse said sometimes it takes 2 years to lose the weight because the first year is fighting our old habits and then we finally surrender the second year. I sure hope that isn't what happens with me. I don't want to wait that long to get this weight off! Sure do appreciate all of your input. It is so nice to know I am not alone.

Thank you, thank you, thank you - ALL OF YOU! I was banded on Oct 3 and I thought I was the only one feeling this way. I went to my first support group meeting at my dr's office last night and when I told them I felt I had no restriction the nurse wrote MISCONCEPTIONS on the board and started talking about misconceptions....like she knows how I'm feeling? I can eat just about anything with minimal restriction. I mean sometimes if I don't chew enough I can feel it stall for a second but then it just goes down. I don't get a fill until 11-15 and I can't wait. There was a woman at our meeting who was banded in 2004 and didn't get a fill for a year! I thought there was something wrong with me. You guys are the best and I feel so much better now that I've read this. It's fabulous knowing I'm not alone. I've only lost 14lbs and it sure feels like it should be more. I am walking though, even if I don't want to, I've started to walk 30 minutes every day so that's really an accomplishment for me. Prior to this the only exercise I got was napping. Sorry for the long post. I'm just so relieved to have found this thread. xxoo, Gerri

I would love to do this. I'm feeling kind of "out there" right now.

Kacee - thank you so much for the POSITIVE input and for giving us newbies HOPE! Especially for those of us in the Over 50 club. xxoo, Gerri

My instructions say minimum of 40 grams of protein while having liquids only, then a minimum of 60 grams when on mushies and the same when I'm back on regular food (starting Oct 31st). I spoke to someone from the dr's office who has had the band quite awhile and she said I could go as high as I want on protein grams.

Hi Miss Kim, I got my band 10-3 and I am having the same issues. Really hungry. Haven't lost as much as you have but based on what I've read on this site it isn't about losing at this point, it's about healing. It's funny, my first Dr appt is also on 11-15. Not sure if I will be getting a fill then but I hope so as I feel no restriction whatsoever. I started mushies on 10-17 and I am having a very hard time getting my protein grams in so I'm supplementing with protein drinks. That seems to help.

Welcome Robin! It's an interesting, exciting, scary journey! Gerri

My resolve is back. I really scared myself yesterday. I am drinking lots of protein as that really does help. Also a lot of sf popsicles. From what I understand getting the fills helps with the hunger. My dr does not require a diet journal until you are done with mushies. That won't be until Oct 31st for me and my appt with him isn't until the 15th of Nov. May not be a bad idea to start now though. Thanks for your input.

I can imagine how disappointed you must be! Sending you a big hug! xxoo, Gerri

You have no idea how much I needed to find this thread so that I can feel hope again. I was already thinking this wasn't going to work for me. I can't wait for the day when I don't feel hungry or 7 bites of food fill me up. - "forcing myself to eat" "dreading to eat" "very rarely hungry" "eat just to eat" "eat when I'm hungry" - these are all music to my ears and I can't wait to get there! Thanks you guys. xxoo, Gerri

You have no idea how glad I am that I am not the only one in this situation. I feel embarrased (or it is humiliated) that I just went through this whole process and I'm already starting to mess it up. I have a strong resolve today and I hope I scared myself enough to keep it!

The thought of not being hungry is so beyond where I am now I can't even wrap my brain around it. Have all of you already had fills? How many?

Up until today I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. 40 gr of protein, 64 oz fluid. I was having 1 prepackaged protein drink in the morning, lots of water, sugar free popsicles, jello, broth, cream soups, protein shake in the afternoon made with protein powder and milk. My hunger was kept at bay until 2 days ago. Then I ate 2 slices of cheese. Today I ate anything I could and just had several bites of ice cream. Now I'm very worried I've ruined everything inside of me because I have no sensation of fullness at all.

I thought I was alone feeling hungry. At least it's been awhile for you guys. It's only been 1 wk & 2 days for me. I'm supposed to be on liquids only and I didn't just eat mushies, I ate solids today with no problems. Now it's like I'm pushing the envelope to see how much I can eat. Do you think I've ruined my new stomach? Or my band? I don't see my dr. until the 15th of Nov and I'm assuming I'll get my first fill then and I'm really scared I blew it.

Hey OregonHolly - so good to see you on so quickly after your surgery! I'm beginning to think my surgery was too easy and I have had no problem drinking anything, hope I'm not already stretching myself out :omg:. Surgery was Oct 3. No problem drinking once I was home on the 5th or anytime since then. Started driving on the 8th - short trips to take my daughter to school and back. Now I'm going to the mall and anywhere else I need to go. Been off pain meds for days. Had bad shoulder pain in the hospital, but no pain since. No port pain at all. Am I weird or what?:cool: Don't see the dr. until Nov 15th but according to my scale I'm down 9 lbs since surgery. Going back to work on Mon 15th but working from home for the week and not going to the office. :clap2: Hope this helps. Good luck to all of you who haven't been banded yet!

After just having read through many of the posts on here I realized a lot of you want details of the surgery so I'm going to do my best to tell you what's going on with me. Please keep in mind my experience may be far different than yours. Last June I had my gallbladder removed laporascopically and it was very painful so I expected the same pain - well, it just didn't happen that way for me. My surgery was scheduled at 7:30am, I went in at 7:40 (I don't remember going in - the nurse told me she gave me a Marguerita in my IV - that's the last thing I remember, must have been a strong "marguerita"!). Found out later my surgery was over at 8:22. Dr also fixed my hiatal hernia. I remember waking up in the recovery room around 10:30am. The nurse kept telling me to breathe deep so I did. She talked to me some and gave me some ice chips - they tasted so good. I remember needing to go to the restroom. Luckily I didn't have to be catheterized. I got to my hospital room around 11:45am and the first thing I did was get up and go to the restroom - on my own. I was amazed that I had minimal pain in my stomach and no pain where the port is. Figured it was because I was still pretty doped up, but I still have not had much stomach pain. When I told my dr's nurse the port wasn't hurting she said "don't worry, it will" but it still hasn't. The most uncomfortable part was the pressure I felt in my chest - like I needed to burp and it wouldn't come up. OH YEAH - and the pain in my shoulders from the gas they inject - that was no picnic. By the next day that had let up considerably. I stayed in the hospital for 2 nights. I was on IV fluids initially and had to use the restroom every hour the first day and night. That was a nuisance. I was not allowed anything other than ice chips and small sips of water. Then I had to stop that at 5am the second day because I was going to have my swallow test (kind of like the upper GI but you don't have to drink as much fluid). I had the upper GI at around 2 pm the second day. The first stuff they made me drink was the nastiest stuff I have ever tasted - 2 sips, then they gave me 2 sips of the barium - it was a treat after the other stuff. Got back to my room and threw up about an hour later. Not much fun. Once I passed the swallow test the nurse brought me jello and apple juice - it was the best juice I had ever tasted but I didn't really want much. Only took 2 bites of the jello. Shortly after that they brought me dinner, more jello, chicken broth, tea. The chicken broth was good but I couldn't eat the jello after that - too full. I've been home since Friday and I was out and about on Sunday. Went to the library, and did a little grocery shopping. I'm more tired than usual so I'm napping a lot. I've taken this week off of work and will work from home next week. Still no pain in the port area. I'm doing my protein drinks and my fluids. Today I was actually hungry for the first time. I hope this was helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions for me and I'll answer as best I can. I wish you all the best!! Gerri

Wow! Just realized I'm already on the list - how cool is that. My name is Gerri. Good luck to all those about to be banded. It's interesting to say the least! :-)

Hey Tenacious Tens - I was banded on Oct 3 and really want to be a part of this awesome group! Really looking forward to this new life! Thanks, Gerri

Hi everyone, I was banded 10-3 and am now home. It's all been very interesting. Thanks for your positive message carrot06. I'm on liquids for 2 weeks - until the 17th but I'm not hungry at all which is very foreign to me. It's such a relief to not feel hungry all the time. I have had minimal pain and my port site doesn't hurt at all however the nurse at my doctor's office assured me it will eventually. I can already feel a difference. I'm trying really hard not to be obsessed on the scale but I just had to weigh and I've already lost almost 10 lbs. I realize it's all water weight and I can definately tell because I don't feel swollen and bloated anymore. It feels strange in my chest - like there's pressure and I need to burp. I've been assured this is from the fact that my hiatal hernia was repaired so that's causing inflammation and my lap band is just below that. I am so looking forward to this journey and have been very inspired by what I'm seeing on this site. I wish you all well.

Hi, this is the first time I'm posting and I swear I could have written exactly what you wrote carrot06! My surgery is in 6 hrs and I can't sleep. Not sure what all you had to do for your pre-op, I had to do liquids for 2 days. First day was awful with a raging headache, second day not so bad. Now it's here and I can't believe it. I'm excited, nervous, very scared I won't be able to do what I'm supposed to do afterwards and everything else you described. I'm really glad I opened this up because I thought I was the only one feeling this way. I will be in the hospital until Friday and will post again as soon as I can. Thanks!