redhead87

I got my 5th fill recently, bringing me up to 8.5 cc's in a 10 cc band. I am getting worried, because I feel hardly restriction. I do chew very well, but I've never felt stuck at all, and have never had any sliming or anything like that. I am also not the best at eating slowly, but still no stuck feeling. I do feel full sooner than I used to, but I can still eat more than I should. Ugh. I'm stressing.

Browneyesin tx are you premeasuring your chicken? Not saying you need to, just curious.

Well, in the eleven days since writing this post, I've lost two pounds, and I got stuck for the first time! It wasn't fun, and it's not a good thing, but it was actually kind of reassuring to know that there is some restriction. I think that I just don't realize how much less I am eating, and since I do chew very well, I haven't gotten stuck before. So I've lost about 40 pounds since I started my pre-op diet in July. That's not too bad.

Well, we talk about it at every appointment; he asks me if I'm feeling restriction and if anything has gotten stuck and I always tell him no. He never seems to concerned about it, which seems weird.

Once you were in the green zone, how many pounds did you lose let week or per month? How long did it take you to reach goal?

Thanks everyone! I'm about seven weeks post-surgery, and I've lost 30 pounds since beginning the pre-op diet. It averages to between 3 and 4 pounds a week, and I knew it would slow down, I just didn't know how much.

I had my first fill on Saturday. It didn't hurt very bad at the time. However, since last night I've been having pain near where the port is. It feels like muscle pain, kind of like after surgery. When I sit up or stand up it hurts, and it also hurts when I bend over. Is this normal, or should I call my surgeon?

I have my first fill today. How important is it to eat purées for 24 hours after my fill?

tifme, I think that's pretty normal. I just had my first fill yesterday, but my surgeon has been telling me since before my surgery that it (usually) takes three or four fills before people feel restriction.

I was banded on the 16th, last Wednesday. I was doing well on the liquids portion, until Sunday or Monday when I started to feel hungry. I started mushies today and I'm still HUNGRY. I feel okay for about two hours after I eat, but then I just get hungry. What can I do? I've also noticed today that when I eat, I get a little dizzy/lightheaded. Is that normal? Will it pass? Am I doing something wrong? I'm also having trouble with the idea of stopping when I'm satiated as opposed to eating until I'm full. It might be because my incisions/belly still hurts from surgery, but I can't tell if my stomach hurts from hunger or from other things. Any tips? I'm trying SO HARD to make this work and to do everything right. But it's hard when I'm still SO hungry.

I'm only 11 days post-op, so I don't know from first hand experience, but I do have a suggestion. Does your church ever do the wafers instead of a loaf of bread? Could you get those instead?

Dragon Lady, I'm 10 days post-op, so just one day behind you. What are you eating for mushies? How much/how often are you eating? How long do you have to be on mushies? Sorry for all the questions, just curious about other people's experiences!

Before getting banded, I was a left-side sleeper. It hurt after surgery to sleep on my left side. It no longer hurts. Is it okay to sleep on my left side, as long as it doesn't hurt? Or is it bad for some reason? I'm 8 days post op.

I'm 8 days post-op. I started mushies yesterday. Today at lunch, I had some non-mushies food, like rice and chips and a taquito. I just made sure to chew to pulverization so that it was basically puréed. I feel really guilty. I wanted so badly to follow my doctor's instructions to the letter. I feel like a failure.

Thank you Colleen, as always! :-) The reason I'm not eating when I am hungry is because my nutritionist told me to have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner of 1/2 cup of food, and to have 4-6 oz of a protein shake between the meals. So I have been doing just that. And it's killing me! I ate dinner two hours ago and I'm already hungry. And bedtime isn't for two more hours. Ugh.

I should also mention, I'm hungry to the point that it keeps me up at night. I'll wake up to feed my son, and then I can't go back to sleep because my stomach hurts from being hungry. I just started a new job today, so this no sleep thing is not helping.

I'm six days post-op. Until Sunday I was on clear liquids only, and starting yesterday I am on full liquids. This Wednesday I'll start mushies. I have been getting hungry the past few days, since I've started feeling better and (I'm guessing) the internal swelling has gone down. I'll be glad to start mushies on Wednesday and be able to have "real food" again. In the meantime, I guess I'll just keep sipping on my protein drinks and my crystal light.

I am so frustrated with my surgeon's office! One of the reasons I chose this practice was because they do fills on Saturdays. I am a high-school teacher, so I can't just leave work for an appointment, so Saturday fills were perfect! Well I called to schedule my post-op appointment on Friday, and I wanted to see about scheduling my first fill so that I can make sure I get a Saturday appointment. They don't have any in August, and they won't schedule for September yet! I'm very annoyed. I can't go during the week. When am I supposed to get my fills??? Ugh.

No, their last appointments are at 2pm because they do procedures in the afternoon. I'm going to ask the doctor about it at my pre-op appointment, because otherwise I don't know what to do.

If you were given an incentive spirometer, did your surgeon tell you how high you should be trying to get it? I don't remember my doc telling me a goal of where I should be getting it. I can only get it up to 2000 most times, very rarely 2500.

Terry, that's hard for me, too! I've always taken a bath to relax every night, except after my c-section and now after this surgery.

My surgeon told me I could shower after two days, which was yesterday. So I did shower yesterday, and it was wonderful. Can I shower every day now?

My incisions are glued, so I have nothing to take off.

How many incisions do you have? I have five. I thought I'd only have three.

Thank you for that, Colleen! My husband is here and during the week my mom was helping, but he just wants me. He walks over to me and grabs on to my leg, then starts crying and holding his arms up. It's so sweet and sad! But like you said, I need to remember that this is temporary and the results will benefit him, too.