Persimmon

Goodness...while I've heard of a couple days on liquids after a fill, have never heard of a 6 week protocol basicaly repeating the healing phase. Nancy 394/275/180

I know it's frustrating in the early phases Nykee...but one thing we can do while waiting to get better restriction is practice as many of the bandster eating habits as possible so they can become more automatic and thus make the transition to more restriction easier. Stuff like prioritizing our foods (Protein first, then produce, then starchier things), taking small bites, putting the fork down between bites, chewing to mush, not drinking with meals or for an hour afterwards, getting in all our Water, taking a daily walk, etc. Sure, your portions won't be as small as when you have restriction but that's ok. Just try to keep them in the range of sensible without feeling ravenous all the time. Hang in there...it will get easier... Nancy 394/275/180

Well, as pretty much everyone else said, not a good idea to test a fill out immediately like that. Also, the band will never make our food choices for us, and, don't get mad, but the stuff you had at the Denny's really weren't good choices for a bandster. Remember: Protein first, then produce, then, if there's room, something starchier or a small treat. Were you drinking the milk with your meal? Or before it? Also keep in mind to try to think of milk as a food, not a beverage. beverages should be noncaloric (or very low calorie, like crystal light). If you're not sure how you should be eating, I would recommend Jessie Ahroni's book on the lap-band (search her name on Amazon to find it). But unfortunately, fries and ice cream, buscuits & gravy and onion rings are not good choices for people serious about losing weight...And yea, I know...moderation in everything is what we're looking for, but you didn't have a moderate amount of junk there...you had mostly junk... Try to start each meal with a good protein source Nancy 394/275/180

My observation has been that folks tend to be looking to "feel" more than they should be worried about feeling. The "sweet spot" is a little more subtle than a blatant feeling or any particular volume of food. It simply means: 1. you're losing 1-2 lbs/week on average; and 2. your meals are making you full (full = "not hungry anymore" NOT stuffed, uncomfortable, feeling tightness or golfball) and you don't get hungry again for at least 3-4 hours. By definition, if someone is losing, they're not eating too much and we just want the band to help manage hunger/satiety and portions. We shouldn't be looking for the band to stop us from eating, but help us stop eating, if that makes sense... Nancy 394/275/180

Actually, tightness means you would either be a bit too tight or had eaten a bit too much. It's really the hard stop and we should be stopping prior to feeling any discomfort. Nancy

Don't be bummed...fills should only be given on an as-needed basis...and it's obvious you don't need one! LOL Be thankful that you're one of the rare lucky ones who has restriction with just the band in place. Nancy 394/275/180

Goodness, you're just 2 weeks out...you're nowhere near healed! Fills shouldn't be given until 1. you're healed and 2. you're back onto and fully tolerating solids. Don't worry about the scale right now...it's not about losing until you're properly restricted. Any loss during the healing and pre-restriction phase is a bonus. Nancy 394/275/180

Flouro isn't necessary unless your port is hard to access. I've had 5 fills, never needing flouro. Contrary to some popular belief, flouro doesn't in any way guarantee a "better" fill. Barium isn't food and doesn't act like food so watching barium go through the band is unreliable in terms of how food will or will not go through. Flouro also can't predict post-fill swelling and cannot predict if the fill might "kick in" 1-2 weeks later. The only thing flouro can, however, guarantee, is a more expensive fill. My surgeon only uses flouro when she can't hit the port easily. Nancy 394/275/180

Nope. Just keep the consistency on the thin side...to make stuff like tuna or egg salad a true "mushy" mix up the salad, then run it through the food processor so it's the consistency of spread, absolutely no lumps. Don't overcook the scrambled eggs so if you don't like them on the runny side, opt for something else. Try egg drop soup too...that will have more Protein and be easy on your stomach. My surgeon has us on 1 day of liquids, then immediately onto purees/mushies for 2 weeks and she has a very low occurrence of slippage. I assume this nutritionist works with your surgeon's practice?? Nancy

Yay a nanner! that's actually one of my nicknames LOL Nancy

Found it by accident...was browsing post topics and my mouse was a bit over to the right of the post link and a thingie (yup that's the technical term) popped up with the first paragraph or so of the actual post... Nancy

Yup yup clueless. She has no point of reference cuz obviously her body's hunger/satiety mechanisms WORK. Yours doesn't. I had a similar conversation with a friend who just wasn't getting it...also naturally slender...I asked *How do you know to stop eating?* She said *Well, I get full and I stop*. I replied *Right...so what would happen if you never got that signal that you were full? Or that signal was very delayed?* *Oh, I'd still stop* *Would you? Would you actually know to stop or be able to stop? Do you measure out your food just in case?* *No, but I'd just know.* *How??? What if your body just simply didn't give you any indication you'd had enough?* Well, after going round and round on that for quite some time, she did finally start to understand that my body was very different from hers...perhaps it took me telling about the one Thanksgiving where I had gone back for 2nds and 3rds and literally had food coming back up AND was still experiencing ravenous hunger pangs. It's really frustrating when folks just can't wrap their heads around the idea that we KNOW eating less would let us lose weight...but that our bodies really fight that...if only it was that simple...gah! Nancy

Don't worry! most folks don't get it just right on 1 fill...usually takes 3-5. You'll know when it's right because you'll be losing 1-2 lbs/week on average, be able to eat sensible portions of real, solid, healthy food and feel full (full = not hungry anymore, not stuff or uncomfortable or tightness) and not get hungry again for at least 3-4 hours. If that stuff isn't happening yet, just means you'll be needing another fill...rinse and repeat as necessary until those things are happening. Nancy

Nope...yer not allowed to give up after 1 fill...most folks need 3-5 to get "just right" and you'll get there too...this is the frustrating part and just take comfort that most of us had to deal with that period of frustration too. Until it's properly adjusted, the band will not do much of anything...once it is, it'll be easier to focus on making better choices because you'll know you can't eat as much and you won't be hungry all the time. Hang in there. Nancy

While banding isn't rocket science, experience still makes a difference. If I had to choose between being a surgeon's 1-3rd banding patient and their 20th, I'd chose the earlier number because of the presence of a proctor. Studies show that surgeons in their first 80 or so bands have higher incidences of complications requiring reoperation. Personally, my bigger concern would be experienced aftercare because again, banding isn't rocket science as far as surgery is concerned and aftercare can absolutely make or break results... For patients opting to go with less experienced surgeons, they need to be their own best advocates and work with the surgeon in their learning curve. Discuss things that sound wrong...don't just blindly follow instructions that sound off the wall...help them along with studies, articles etc. you come across and learn together. Nancy

Unless you're completely noncompliant during the healing phase, it's next to impossible to do anything to cause slippage or start erosion early out. The 2 biggest causes of slippage are maintaining too tight a fill or chronic PBing. The 2 biggest causes of erosion are port infections or maintaining too tight a fill. Port infections, which (thankfully) are pretty rare) are certainly completely out of anyone's control, however. If after surgery someone has a port infection it must be aggressively treated. It's really common for folks to get really stubborn about letting any saline go after they've gotten it...but the best thing to try to do is maintain the least amount of fill that lets us lose 1-2 lbs/week on average and that helps regulate hunger/fullness. Those who decide the band is there to stop them or punish them from eating are going to be at higher risk simply because they're going to be a lot tighter to force the band to act that way. Usually, loss ends up slowing/stopping when we're too tight anyhow cuz we can't comfortably eat solids and end up eating soft, high calorie foods...so that kind of defeats that idea anyhow... It gets hard and frustrating sometimes finding just that right spot...but at least we don't have to worry about a window of opportunity closing down on us...time is on our side, unlike the other surgeries Nancy

Ask yourself, what exactly is so great about rapid loss? Really? Is it healthy? Safe? Is it what all the medical/health literature advises? Or...is the emphasis on slow, sensible weight loss as being healthier, safer and more likely to be maintained? Truly, rapid loss merely appeases the inner child who wants it now...and yea, that's appealing in our Instant Gratification culture, but it doesn't make it as safe or healthy as slower, more sensible loss. In reality, if someone is losing faster than 1 to 1.5% of their total body weight per week, they're guaranteed to be losing more than just fat. And the REAL goal is to only lose fat. We need lean tissue to maintain our metabolisms. And that also means we need to add weight training to the mix to ensure we only lose fat and keep that metabolism going. Loss of lean tissue, especially during massive loss, can have tragic results in rare cases...namely, sudden heart failure. The heart is a muscle. And the body tends to not really like sudden change. One of the people I lost to the RNY died 18 months out of heart failure...and yes, she ate plenty of Protein...probably about 100g/day. Didn't matter. All the intake of protein in the world isn't going to stop lean tissue loss during rapid loss especially when no muscle is being built through weight training. She dropped dead at the age of 37 of massive heart failure and had had no pre-existing heart problems. She lost about 180 lbs in 1 year...it's just too much too fast. Nancy

Not me...There were times when (cuz I liked the crap) I'd practically live on cheap ramen and Mac & cheese...and real, good food is much more expensive. However, a good restaurant meal will usually last me 2-3 meals so that is cheaper Nancy

Bandsters should never have to be in support groups with RNY patients...99.9% of them are horrifically ill-informed about the band. I'd take 100 slippages over premature osteoporosis or chronic anemia or a leak or blown-out stapleline or a stricture that keeps coming back... Nancy

Noooo same, only different...much different. You will actually feel FULL on those sensible portions rather than immediately wanting to eat more. You won't get hungry again (once properly adjusted) for at least 3-4 hours, and the constant background hunger will be dimmed, so you can go about your life not constantly thinking about what next to put in your mouth. "Rapid loss" and Lap-band shouldn't be used in the same sentence however. Banding is about sensible loss. Rapid isn't healthier...it merely appeases the impatient inner child that doesn't care if it's healthy or not. Everyone should be doing some exercise. It's part of what we commit to when we get banded. Those who do not exercise, 30% of what they lose will be lean tissue/muscle. Those who just do some cardio, 25% will be lean tissue. Those who do cardio AND weight training, 0% (yes zero) will be lean tissue. We want to lose fat and only fat...so yea, exercise (especially strength training) is the way to go... Nancy 394/275/180

Well, just the idea that they're so flip about the RNY being "reversible"...while takedowns can be done, they are significantly riskier than the original surgery (especially since in most cases, the condition of the patient is so poor at that point) and it's extraordinarily difficult to find surgeons who will do it. AND the digestive tract will never be "back to normal". Total BS. And the studies they're pulling the EWL numbers from are studies done by surgeons/institutions strongly in favor of the RNY, so again, quite flawed. LOL And they didn't even have the courtesy to put a contact email addy on their site...guess they don't want angry bandsters beating them up Nancy

Richard Simmons had a ton of plastic surgery...he initially starved his weight off in about 2-3 months and then had huge skin issues that required quite a bit of surgery. Nancy

Always funny to see myself appearing where I wasn't before But glad Leatha saved the link to this, cuz this stuff's hard to find on OH which doesn't have the good sticky feature. Nancy