Nancy33

Hi Cindy, Yeah i am right there with you! I was banded 8 months ago and have had good and bad days, I concern the days when I hae to cut back the good days and the days when i can eat anything the bad. Just got my 7th fill and I must say I am having more good days. I asked my doctor about the change from day to day and they said that hormones can make a difference. I can eat very little the week before my period with out vomiting. Can't wait to see how I do when I start menipause. lol

Welcome Bev, Most of your responders are also fairly new. I have had the band for 8 months so let me add my two cents worth. The times you will be restricted to liquids and mushies are right before and right after you are banded. Don't start the liquid diet before your doctor requires you to. (You'll get bored and cheat) the liquids and mushies after the surgery are OK to start with cause you won't feel like eating a lot for a while (usually you are on for 2-3 weeks depending on doctor) After you start getting hungry it is sort of fun trying to see what you can make mushy, I have heard some really weird things on this site! if you like weight watchers and enjoy going, keep doing that. You probably won't start losing until you get to the right amount in your fill and ww can help you make healthly choices. There is not as much being deprived as you might think. I hit my sweet spot with my last fill (I can stay full for 3-4 hrs on about 1/2 to 1 cup of food) (after 6 fills) If I want a cookie, I eat it but I don't want the whole bag like I use to, thats what the band does for you. Also, I know that I need my Protein, and veggies so I eat those first and even though my husband has the biggest sweet tooth going and I always have sweets in the house, most of the time I just say I'll eat them later and then, never do. what I can't eat (and it seems to be different for everyone) is prime rib, steak, lettuce and doughnuts.(Can still do danish though!) lol

We had crab legs along with out steaks. Something special that I can eat without problems. They were great!

Here's what you do for the taste and yourself make sure your guy eat something with cinnamon in it every morning. You won't regret it. you don't even have to tell him why. I read this somewhere and it works!!1:blushing:

Hey Jorge, Just wanted to make sure you mande your fill appointment and got rid of all those negative feelings. We need to know you are hanging in there! Don't just disappear, i bet you have a lot of questions at this point. Let us help.:thumbup:

They do give you a shot first to numb the site and then they poke the big needle in. lol No really the shot stings a bit but the injection needle doesn't hurt after that. You will probably lie on your back and put your fist under your back. That makes the port pop out so it's even easier to find the port.

Please don't feel like a failure. You aren't. There is nothing in your body right now that is any different than what you had before the lap band was put in. Until you have a fill and start to feel some restriction you are operating on straight will power and unfortunately will power is something that we are all lacking in or we wouldn't have had to get the band in the first place. That said, you took a great step toward your future and your health by getting the band in the first place. Now is time to go to the doctor, get your first fill and start making it work for you!! The time for embarrassment is gone. Hold your head up with pride and say "I.m taking charge of my life. how can YOU help me". If you don't feel restriction after the first fill, call and make an appointment for another and another one yet if that doesn't work. It has taken me 7 fills to hit my sweet spot. Once you get your fill, start thinking about exercise. I know it's hard but I just read that even THINKING about exercise in a postive way and visualizing you self doing it benefits your body and over all health. I am a big believer in all kinds of visualization and I recommend it when everything seems out of reach. Yeah, you have a little further to go than some of us but we'll be there for you all the way. The hard part is done, (the surgery and the decision to get it) from now on take advantage of what is out there to help you. Walk proudly into that doctors office and say "my surgery is heal, Now lets get started on my recovery." I'll be with you in my thoughts. Now take this hug and call the doctor. We don't use the f word around here!

Mike, I am in the middle of a bad situation right now and I of course am trying to blame it on someone (anyone) other than myself. Your words were just what I needed tonight. Thank you and I am so sorry for your loss.

I really have to agree with Mike on this one. Surgeons are very busy people and you had no idea what he was doing that held you up. His staff really can not give you that kind of infor, all they can say is he is running late. He had a problem that time, another surgeon might have a problem next time and before you know it, you don't get the surgery! That would be a shame. I live in an area where good surgeons don't fall off trees and I would rather have a known surgeon who has a proven record of success with lap band surgery than some the doctors other people have discribed on this site. I feel really sorry for some of you as the care you describe doesn't sound that good to me.

None of us got banded because it fun or because the lion on the commerical is cute. lol We did this because nothing else worked. I for one tried it all and had a little success but couldn't keep it off. I haven't lost really fast but that's O.K. I haven't really felt deprived either. I have lost 35 lbs and I haven't gained back anything. That's what has been great for me. In addition I figure in the 8 months since I was banded I would have also gain about 5-10lbs more if iI hadn't got the band. I will never see those 5-10lbs and that makes it worth while. I'm 50 and I know there was only one way for my good health to go and that was down. Before the band my blood sugar as 104 Borderline, last month it was 90, in the safe zone. So worth it. My other blood tests were all better too! I don't snore anymore and I sleep sounder. My knees are also feeling great. I'm not trying to talk you in to anything but these are things the doctor doesn't always have time to mention.

Good for you, you rea almost there! Don't get scared now, looks like you got a special person who will be pulling for you and thats half the battle. It's important to have someone to share all this with, the ggod and the bad. Follow your doctors orders exactly and you'll have no problems. If you are going on a liquid diet before to shrink your liver, don't start it earlier than the doctor says. While it might seem like a great thing to lose a couple of pounds before, you are going to be on liquids a long time and it gets boring fast. Hope everything goes well for you, keep writing this site has the best support available!

I've been taking Fiber Choice (weight management) sugar free strawberry. Easy to chew not a bad taste. The weight management part is Chromium and green tea.

You need to be patience. You are doing great for 2 months! My question for you is what kind of thicker stuff? I have never heard of that before and to tell you the truth it sounds scary. What is your doctor putting into your band that could leak out into your system? Ask that he stays with saline and just puts in more. I hate to think that some doctors are using silicone, that's scary stuff.

Is it just me or does the port feel like it did when you were pregnant and the little foot poked out on your side. Sometimes I feel myself rubbing it like I did their little feet! :thumbup: Forgive me, my last baby leaves for college next month and that empty nest already seems way to empty:wink2: Anybody else dealing with that on top of everything else?

The 30 minutes before is not a big deal. My doctor has us watch on x-ray while we are drinking clear liquids on an empty stomach and it pretty much goes straight through, but now if I try to drink anything after I eat the right amount of solids, sometimes for up to an hour, it comes back up.

Do you mean right after being banded or 2 months down the road? Right after it's mushy foods, baby food, etc. Your doctor will give you the rules. About 1/2 to 1 cup three times a day. Down the road it depends how much restriction you have. I didn't really start having problems with food until after my second fill. I just toughed it out til then and tried not to gain back what I had lost preop. Once you hit your sweet spot for restriction, you'll want to eat about 1 cup of food, 3 to 4 times a day. Some can eat more for some it's even less. That's when it becomes very important to get your protein first, then veggies and then carbs.

I called the doctor first to get things going. My doctor had me call first to make sure that I was covered. Of course getting a "Yes, you are covered "is never going to happen, to many things to take into consideration, but once you find out that your company has in the past covered the band, I would let the doctor submit what they need. They know how to get the job done in most cases. I have heard about doctors who leave all of the insurance stuff up to you and I don't think those claims are as successful. Don't give up!

Everyone on this site use to talk about sipping pineapple juice when you get meat stuck. I haven't seen it mentioned here yet so I will let you know it does work. There is something in the pinapple juice that starts to break down the meat above the band. This is something I use in extreme measures not so I can eat more but it sure beats a trip to the emergency room. When I first got banded, I bought a six pack of small pineapple juices, I keep one at work, one in my purse and one in the glove compartment. You just never know. I have had one day where I started vomiting and then felt like I could not stop sliming for over an hour. Tried small amount of soft cheese and a cracker and it calmed right down.

Restriction comes in many ways. Sometimes its with certain foods, sometimes its with how much you try to eat and sometimes its the order you eat your food in. If I eat sugar free pudding by itself, I might be able to eat a whole mixing bowl full, but if I eat a part of a chicken breast before I eat the pudding, the chicken takes longer to go through the band and I might only be able to eat a very small amount of the pudding without feeling uncomfortable or vomiting. all of us have different size tubes ( don't know the medical term) to our stomachs, could be that your sisters was bigger than yours so when the band was put in she feels that it takes longer for the food to go down now. Neither one of you are feeling the restriction sweet spot yet. you'll know it when you get there. Also horomonal changes can effect the tightening of the band. The week before my period I can eat very little. Doctor says this is normal. Hope this helps, trust me when you have restriction, you'll know it!

Yep, those are the gas pains! I didn't get them until the swelling went down from my surgery. Use the gas-x strips they can't hurt you and if the gas moves up to your shoulder area, you are gong to wish you got more of it out before hand. Good Luck and congrats on your band.

Great info, Thanks. I have been having the shoulder pains since I have hit my sweet spot but nevethought they might have something to do with the band.

Don't worry and relax. with 2 days to go there is nothing you can do now and nothing you have messed up so far. Losing 20lbs is great and you have discovered the problem with starting the liquid diet to soon, it's just to hard to not cheat. Stick to it for the next 2 days and you'll be fine. NO last supper! lol what we don't always mentions is that after your stomach shinks from surgery and before the fills hit the sweet spot, you'll be able to still have a taste of your favorite foods. The great thing is a taste will satify you.

I told anyone and everyone, i was so excited. The people who are supportive are always my support system, the people who aren't were not going to support anything I did to lose weight anyway. I do think Imight be getting more compliments if I hadn't told. Some people still think of it as an easy way out. HA They should try a week in my shoes. lol I am very willing to talk to other who are considering it and I have given my GP premission to have other talk to me about it.

Buy a blender, with a few turns lots of things can become mushy. Chicken can become chicken salad (you control what goes in it) I make this stuff that is just hamburger, carrots, potatos and onion, throw it in foil and into the oven for an hour, then put it in the blender for a spin. It is kind of like hash. Great way to get your protein. i tried the soup for a while but the protein just isn't there. I did start making my own soups, like cheesburger and thick chicken wld rice but that border lines on cooking and you don't want to go there!! lol Sugar free lowfat milk pudding can get you over that beginning choc craving.

Iasked my doctor that one and he said it had to do with the amount of air that is going through, the spacing between bits of food. We also are only use to chewing things until they go down our throats, the band after restriction is smaller than that and we need to chew more. The yogurt is a matter of eating to much to fast. It sound like you are almost at your sweet spot. Congratulations!