hungryforchange

Yes, they do. Meet NBC's The Biggest Loser and ABC's Extreme Makeover castmembers in LA I had to look that up because I was amazed that most of them looked like they did not have a lot of extra skin. I think they probably just looked great in clothes. they probably have the loose skin just like almost everyone else.

I did not have a lot of pain from gas, but I definitely had the gas. My abdomen was very distended and I have new stretch marks from it. Either they are new or I can see the ones from when I was pregnant more since my belly is stretched. I'm 3 weeks out and still have a distended abdomen (mostly upper area), and even though I have lost weight, I cannot fit into jeans that I wore before surgery because the waist is way too tight. I do occasionally burp more than I previously did (never really burped before), and passing gas is about the same (normal). I do hope that this distention goes away soon.

I was told 6 weeks. It's very hard on my 3 year old and he's always asking me to carry him. I have found though that really what he wants is to cuddle so we'll sit and cuddle for awhile and then he's good to go.

I am a stomach sleeper. I'm 3 weeks and 2 days out from surgery and I just got back into my bed part time yesterday. I only slept a couple of hours on my side and partly on my stomach. Pain wise, I could have done it sooner. It didn't really hurt. I slept in my recliner for all these weeks because I wonder sometimes if all of the port revisions and maybe even sometimes slips have to do with aggrivating your port and band by putting pressure there before it is fully healed. I thought that I would feel better knowing that I didn't sleep on it until the stitches were fully healed and the port and band were firmly in place. I know that I tend to switch sides a lot in my sleep and roll around and turn over a few times a night and I just felt better knowing that I was "comfortable" in my recliner with no pressure or stress on my port or band while in the healing phase.

I like being able to feel my port. I like knowing where it is and that it's where it's supposed to be!

I'm 2 weeks and 5 days since surgery (surgery date November 26th) and down 12 pounds since the day of surgery. I lost 4 pounds the week before surgery so I'm at a total of 16 pounds. Nice work everyone!!

Great job everyone! It's so great to hear how happy and excited everyone sounds. I was able to put my wedding ring back on. It became too tight when I was on my "farewell to food tour" prior to my surgery and it's comfortable again. I'm happy about that!

I am two weeks out as of yesterday and still have 2 more weeks of liquids. Last night I was dreaming all night that I would eat a cookie and in the middle of eating it remember that I'm not supposed to eat real food and panic. Then I would be sitting at a dinner table and be eating lots of food from a plate and again realize that I was not supposed to be eating it and try to figure out how I could spit out a huge mouthful without people around me noticing what I'm doing. Over and over I would get into these situations....all night long. How exhausting! The first night I was banded I had these same kind of dreams. Wow, food sure doesn't want to let go of its hold from me! Then again, 4 weeks on liquids is a long time. It's a sad thing when the highlight of my day eatingwise is when I get to have my chewable vitamin! Is anyone else having dreams like this?

I'm two weeks out and still on liquids so I'm not all that experienced. I only know what I have read. I am curious if you are working out and if you are getting proper amounts of Protein. Those two things seem to be key to continuing the weight loss and keeping away the hunger. I'm sorry that you're feeling sad, but I'm sure once you get a fill and your band starts working you'll drop the weight!

I'm on day 13 of liquids. I have 15 more days to go. I have not cheated.

The special K water is GOOD! It's way better than Crystal Light to me. I haven't had a flavor that I didn't like. The down side is that it does have 50 calories.

I would suggest 2 weeks off as well. I started to feel almost normal around day 12. My port didn't hurt so much. I could move around without pain and put on my own socks and shoes and no longer felt like I needed a nap in the middle of the day.

I think everyone is different, but I was hungry almost right away. I feel better now that I can get in more protein and I don't have that starving feeling that I had for a few days starting around day 5 or so.

I'm 13 days out and I'm the same way. I have no restriction with liquids whatsoever. In fact, if I get up in the middle of the night and get a cold drink of Water I can feel it going down and going straight into the larger portion of my stomach. I can drink a whole Protein shake in the same amount of time that I could before surgery. I'm not worried about stretching anything because I know it's going straight through. I'll be glad to be done with liquids so that I can get a sense of fullness.

I had clear liquids only for the first day after surgery and then full liquids for FOUR WEEKS. I have more than 2 weeks left and already wish it was over. Every doctor is different. I'm always surprised when people post that they don't know what they are supposed to be eating following surgery. I would think that you'd have some kind of class or nutritional appointment or at least some printed material of some kind.

Yep, all totally normal. Just get in as much as you can. Keep sipping whenever possible. You'll feel better soon.

I had a horrible cold the week before my surgery and they postponed the surgery because of it. Three weeks later I was fine and ooooh soooo glad that I was healthy for my surgery. The smallest little cough will cause a lot of pain so I can't even imagine if I had a cough from a cold or oh my gosh a sneeze. Ouch!!!

Awesome!! Congrats!!

That would be weird! You must not have very much fat.

Well what a difference a couple of days can make. I got my period yesterday and actually started to feel better throughout the day. I usually feel worse BEFORE my period and then better once it starts so that makes sense. Today I have a lot more energy, the gas is subsiding and I've been sleeping better. Incision pain is almost completely gone, but I can still feel only a twinge in my port site around the muscles. The glue is starting to peel from my incisions and they seem to be healing just fine. I was able to lay on the bed on my side this afternoon but I'll probably sleep in the recliner one more night. I'll be happy to be back in my bed. I'm also no longer constantly hungry. I originally thought that I had no restriction but now I know that I do. I cannot drink a full Protein shake and can only eat so much creamy type Soups and then I feel full and satisfied. As soon as 100% of this gas is gone and the little pains that I feel under my breastbone are gone, I think I'll be better than new. I did have my first down moment last night. I was looking at youtube videos about lap band and there are some really depressing lap band videos put out by a dr who does lap band revisions. I had to stop watching them because they were so depressing! I reminded myself that while the lap band may not work for all, most seem to be very happy.

Are you saying that you can feel the band through your skin or that you can feel the band inside you? I sometimes get the feeling that I can feel the band around my stomach. I feel a tightness, sometimes a pain right below my breastbone and to me it feels like I can feel the band. Other times I think it's probably gas? I can definitely feel my port through my skin. I actually like feeling it there because I know where it is and that it will be easy to access.

I felt the same exact thing and really felt like I could feel the band. I chalked it up to gas. I was banded 4 days earlier than you and today is the first day that I didn't feel it as much although still feel it just a little.

Join us in the November '07 forum so you can see that others who had surgery around the same time as you are going through the same things. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f99/

I know that many people feel that they physically can go back to work so quickly, but personally I wouldn't. Sometimes I wonder if flipped ports and some other complications are caused by some who try to do too much too soon before stitches have set and things have healed.

Well it's one week today. I feel better, but nowhere near to normal sorry to say. The port pain which was previously the worst thing is lessening and I can live with it at this point. I am tired of the "bowling ball in my belly" feeling though. My stomach is still distended and sometimes there is so much pressure that it hurts and it feels heavy. It's really just more uncomfortable than any kind of pain. My energy is nowhere near back to normal. I can sit up and work at my desk just fine but taking a shower wears me out. I went to Target today to look at some Christmas decorations and I couldn't really enjoy myself (mostly because my son was acting up). I'm still sleeping in the recliner and I try to get in bed every night but just can't do it. Mostly it feels like my stomach is too heavy and presses on my back or on my incisions. Right now I am upset that I feel like I'm missing time with my son. He's a very active 3 year old and I'm stuck in a chair or slowly walking around the house. I just want to be back to normal. I'm really getting tired of it.