Skinny_Jill

I had similar pains. Pain meds and the heating pad helped.

I used to be very regular but not any more. I now go every 2 - 3 days. I am not constipated I just don't eat enough and definitely don't eat enough fiber. I take Benefiber when I remember. I am also trying to eat more veggies. :mad:

There are certain foods that I miss but it has not been bad. There are times I wish I could finish a meal in 5 minutes. I ate a Lean Cuisine for lunch today and didn't finish it and it took me 30 minutes to eat it. Small bites and lots of chewing take a while. It took a couple of fills to get to this point but the band is doing it's job with my help. I love my band. Good luck on your journey.

You will be so amazed that even adding just a small fill can completely change your restriction level. After my first fill I could still eat just about anything if I chewed well. My 2nd fill helped a little. My 3rd fill was WOW! The nurse told me when I got my 2nd fill that she will only add .5 cc at a time from now on and I thought I would never get there. I had a more experienced nurse for the 3rd fill and she added 1 cc and I could not even drink Water. She back it off to .5 and the water went down. I could only drink liquids for the 1st day and soft food the next and I could feel and hear everything go through the band. You are very new and should not give up. You just have not hit the best restriction level for you. Remember to eat Protein first then veggies, drink water between meals and exercise. It does take a lot of effort on our part but you can do it. Don't you think you are worth the effort?

I totally respect you for being so honest about your feelings. You will deal with it and be a better person for it. Your parents clearly need this surgery and you will do everything you can to help. Just know that your mom is in a bad place in her life and she can't admit it. I hope it all works out for you and your parents. I have similar issues with my sister. She has always been one or two sizes smaller than me and 2 years ago when I first looked into the lapband she didn't want me to do it because she was afraid I would die. She got over it and I finally had surgery in November and she was supportive but now I weigh less than her and that little green monster shows up occassionally. We were having dinner with my mother and 2 sets of aunts and uncles and it was time for desert. I had a small sliver and everyone else had a normal portion. Everyone at the table is thin and healthy except for me and my sister. We were discussing caffeine and I mentioned that I gave it up because I can't have Diet Coke and that was my favorite. My aunt asked why I can't have Diet Coke and I told her it is bad for the band and my sister says "Yeah but that desert is ok" in a very sarcastic tone. I was mortified and truly pissed. I ate 3 ounces of steak and salad and little bit of potato and now a couple of bites of low-fat desert made by my healthy aunt. I wanted to slap her. I remained calm and left shortly after. She is 8 years older and very controlling and it drives me crazy. I am very bitter and I need to get over it and move on. When I talk to her I sometimes have so much anger that I can hear it in my voice. This is obviously something I need to deal with.

My surgeon included all costs in his price. It was $12,900 and that covered everything (except for pregnancy test that was only $10.75). So sorry this happened.

You are most definitely NOT wrong for wanting the band. I am 5'1" and was 210 with a BMI of 39 when I was banded. It is great. As you stated it keeps getting worse so don't wait until you've gained more weight. Good luck on your journey.

The only way he can tell is if you overeat often and stretch your pouch and they do fills under flouro. I seriously doubt one incident will cause your pouch to stretch. If that is true then I think it is safe to say that 95% of all bandsters pouches are stretched. LOL

I would do it again. I love my band. My cousin had GB and she looks great but she is not healthy. She didn't lose her weight fast either. She lost about 30 pounds and stalled, then had a baby and then she got very sick from malnutrition and then she lost her weight because she was so sick. She is severly anemic (sp?) and has to go to the doctor and get special injections. Like I said, she looks great but is always sick.

Don't swallow it. There have been bandsters that swallowed it and it was stuck for quite a while. Do a search on gum and you will find a lot of threads.

I was pretty tight after my last fill and I had to sip Water and was really gurgling. I was afraid I would need an unfill but it loosened up after a couple of days. I did not PB during that time. I hope it loosens up for you soon. If you can't get in enough liquids than definitely get an unfill. You don't want to get dehydrated. Good luck!

I wasn't drinking enough Water and the scale showed it. I am back to drinking my water and the weight is coming off now. I just wanted to remind everyone to drink up. :wink2:

Hi Vanessa, You are doing great! Congrats on the 30 pound loss! I hope this fill gives you restriction. My 3rd fill brought me to a total of 4.5 cc's in a 10 cc band and I have good restriction now.

Shortgal, I am glad you get to move up your fill appointment. It is such a great feeling to have restriction. You will get there soon hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks Trixie! My 3rd fill was last Wednesday and it made a big difference. I've lost 5 pounds in a week. I'm very happy.:confused:

What you are going through is normal. What everyone has posted is so true. The band will help control how much eat but you will need to control what you eat. The band will help with that is some cases as well. You will still be able to eat your favorite foods just much less of them. Monday night I was craving hot wings and french fries so I went to my favorite place and picked them up. I picked at the chicken and didn't eat the skin and was only able to eat a few of the fries before I was stuffed. It was a waste of money but at least I got to eat my favorite. I still lost weight too. I know I can't do that every night and I don't want to but at least I can do that every once in a while. Good luck with the band! I love mine!

Name................starting #..........current #........ goal #..... to go# TxArcher................360....................346..........345....... ..1 Shortgal.................198....................192.6.......192. .......1/2 (now I'm aiming for 191) Trixie......................264...................248..........244.... ......4 tyman311................168...................161..........150........ .11 Shalee04.................218...................208..........206....... .. ..2 Steph.....................203.5................188.5.......188.5...... .. ..0 hungry....................227.5................218..........215.5..... ..2.5 Longhorn.................211...................205..........199....... .. ..6 plump_princess.........237...................227..........227......... .. 0 Momto1plus1...........241...................235..........229.......... .. 6(229) ellbrookes 191.........181...................175............................6 want2lose...............236.8................229.8.......225......... .4 .8 Hollyberries.............298...................285...........285..... ... ..0 Skinny_Jill..............195...................186..........180..... .......6 kristin1031.............256...................246..........240........ ....6 Cindyg..................218....................215.........208...... ......7 Teresajo.................212..................199..............205.... ... ..-6

I am taking Benefiber and I've had no problems with it.

You need to eat or drink Protein depending on which stage of the post-op diet you are on. This will help with hunger. Have you given up caffeine recently? If so, that can cause headaches. Please remember that this phase is for healing and any weight loss is a bonus. If you are really hungry then have a Protein Drink or something else high in protein. The protein really will stay with you longer. Good luck!

My TOM is still regular after surgery. I am less than 3 months post-op though. I have very little restriction during PMS and then GREAT restriction during TOM. I actually lose weight now during TOM because I eat so little.

Cindy, So sorry your team lost. I'm sure you are heart broken. The CEO of our company is a huge Pats fan so I am staying away from him for a few days. LOL

I love Diet Coke and I used to drink approx 6-8 a day. My doc said it can stretch the pouch. His nurse said that some people still drink fountain diet coke with lots of ice as it is less carbonated than right out of the can. I broke the rules and had some before my 2nd fill but now I can't drink it because it is painful. I do miss it but it is tolerable. Giving up Diet Coke was worth to lose the 24 pounds I've already lost.

I love all the bad foods and the good foods. I have stayed away from the bad foods since I was banded and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would. I was afraid that I would fail but I haven't. Before my 1st fill I did eat some of the bad foods again like pizza and chips but now I don't eat them. I've had chips a couple of times but only a few. Last night I went to a Superbowl party and there was a ton of good food like meatballs, queso, french onion dip, chips, scalloped potatoes, burgers and hot dogs. I eat a few chips, very small amount of queso and dip and one meatball and I was satisfied. There were also some veggies so I had those as well. I did very well and still had a loss this morning. I was very proud of myself. I have good restriction now and that makes a big difference. I've given up many of many favorites and it is worth it. I do have head hunger and I do think about the bad foods but I stay away because I don't want to gain weight or damage my band. In the past, I could be "good" for about 2 weeks and then go right back to eating those bad foods in large quantities. The cycle has been broken and I am thrilled.

I've had 3 fills and I have good restriction with 4.5cc's in a 10cc band. I got my 3rd fill last Wednesday and I've lost 4 pounds in 5 days. It feels great to eat a small amount of food and be satisfied for several hours. It is much different than before. I now have to sip water. My protein shake took a while to go down this morning. I now know what true restriction is. You all will be there soon.

Dr. Spivak is wonderul and his staff is extremely helpful. They have always answered my questions the same day. I had a question regarding my insurance and they called the insurance company immediately and I had an answer within the hour. Dr. Spivak answers all questions and then gave me additional information that he felt I needed to know. He was great the day of surgery. He made me feel very comfortable. I highly recommend him.