gentylwind

I too immediately thought of a possible slip.

That isn't really the way the band is supposed to work. You are not supposed to eat until you feel restriction, until you feel like you could throw up if you take another bite!. You are supposed to eat only until no longer hungry! To eat until stuffed is only going to cause you problems. Learn to look for the "soft stop". A sniff. A sigh. A hiccup. Eat very very slowly. When the hunger pain goes away, you are done. Stop eating. Get up from the table. No, you won't feel full. You have to learn to redefine what it means to have completed a meal. The "only supposed to eat half a cup" does not refer to what actually can be fit in there. It refers to when you are supposed to stop. If you eat high protein and low carb, you will not get hungry again for three to four hours. Fullness is not supposed to be defined by literally not able to take another bite. People naturally of a healthy weight stop eating when they are no longer hungry. That is what we are learning to do and what the band is meant to help with. To rely on it to literally physically stop us is not using the band as intended and is going to line you up for slippage and pouch stretching and a lack of satisfactory weight loss results. I have to ask also, how long is it taking for you to finish that much food? It should take 20-30 minutes to finish half a cup. Frankly, I often stop eating because I am plain old bored and sick of sitting there, and my food is getting cold. Make sure you are taking baby sized bites. Get a baby spoon and use it to eat if you are struggling with this. Put your fork down and wait several minutes between bites to give your body a chance to assimilate how much food it is getting. Are you drinking with your meals? That's a definite no-no too and if you are doing it, could be pushing your food through your stoma and letting you eat more...in essence, sabotaging what you are trying to accomplish here. Meals should be a time of thought and inner reflection right now. We are relearning old bad habits that lead us to get fat in the first place. Don't let yourself slip into old behavior and expect the band to make it all work out in the end. It won't. You will wind up with complications like so many on this site have. You can do this. Its hard. Its frustrating. Its scary. We are so used to eating until full. Its hard to learn a new way, but you can do it and we are here to help.

I wasn't taking in much more than that at that point, but have been gradually loosening up since then. Call your doctor for reassurance, but I think as long as you are staying hydrated and taking your supplements you are probably okay.

I chose Lap-Band for many of the same reasons above...less invasive, less down time, no malnutrition issues, didn't want my innards rearranted and affordability of LB over GB. I also read all the time about GB patients regaining their weight and having more serious complications. On top of that, I knew five people who went in for bypass. Three of them died within four weeks of their surgery from complications, all of them were young (under 40). Granted, all of them were in much worse health than me and far more obese than me. But it frightened me away from GB all the same. I researched the LB for two years before taking the plunge. So far, so good. I am glad I did it.

I go to Dr. Manuel Castro. Cost is $9990 and I could not be happier. He is very gentle in demeanor. You get to know the whole office by name and they are wonderful. Dr. Castro's own wife has had WLS, so he definitely understands the issues that come with obesity. I had little pain, was in for my surgery and back home within four hours and my scars are barely noticable. I do highly recommend him.

If you are moving to soft foods, try soft fish...cottage cheese...tuna salad...beans...things with a high protein content. It will keep you full longer.

Down to 219.5.

She in no way acted in irresponsibly by flying to Colorado with her family. It is a fluke bit of rare, unfortunate weirdness. To say she should not have gone on vacation with her family because she MIGHT have an infection and it MIGHT lower her immune system and it MIGHT then cause the infection to get worse which then MIGHT kill her is a reach at best and that is being kind. No normal, sensible, educated, rational, clear-thinking individual would stay home from a family vacation based on the above thinking and no court of law would hold her responsible based on the above thinking. If we all lived our lives around the vague could-be scenarios of risk in this world, we'd never leave our house. The odds of this having happened to her are so slim that there is no way one could argue she acted in detriment to her own health. Unless one were just being critical and mean spirited. Surgery is a risk. She took that risk, like all of us who had this surgery did. It could have been any one of us. We fell on the good side of statistics. She did not. Its factual. It happens. It is a tragedy, NOT noncompliance, NOT unnecessary risk-taking and NOT negligence toward her own health. To imply otherwise is, frankly, absurd.

It sounds like you are eating too fast and/or taking too big of bites and/or not chewing well enough. Take bites the size of a pencil eraser. Chew until liquid in your mouth. Put your fork/spoon down between bites and wait a bit to see how its going down and how you feel before taking the next bite. Take at least a half hour to eat your 4-6 oz meal. Hope that helps. You should probably call your surgeon and nutritionist. What is happening with you can cause some pretty serious band complications.

Anti-inflammatories and aspirin are believed to cause a higher risk of band erosion. I am forbidden pain relievers oher than tylenol. No Advil, no aspirin, no Aleve etc.

She would not get a massive abdominal infection from something on a flight nor from altitude conditions. This is almost without argument due to surgical complications. Anyone in the medical field would tell you the same thing. And there are no contraindications to traveling with the band immediately after surgery. People travel to Mexico to have it placed every single day and fly back much sooner than two to three weeks postop. None of those arguments would make it off a lawyer's desk. It is also likely that her physician will NOT be found liable for anything regarding her death. It happens. You'd be amazed if you saw your world microscopically the risk we all live with all the time. Her immune system was for whatever reason unable to trump this particular bacteria. It happens. Its a surgery and ALL surgeries come with risk and ALL surgeries have a percentage of patients that end in death. Its rare with Lap-Band. But rare doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. In fact, it means that it does. Should it cause panic? No. Should it be weighed out in making the decision whether to have the surgery? Absolutely. Its taking a conscious risk. So is getting in the car every day to go to work. My heartfelt sympathy goes to her family, her friends and her patients. She was far too young to die.

Just a few observations that may help you: - Stuff you did before you had the surgery on a regular basis isn't going to do any more for you after the surgery than it did before. This includes your "active generaly lifestyle" stuff, including up and down the stairs, housework, working full time yard work and the like. You were doing it already then. Therefore its not "extra" now. Your body already incorporates it into its metabolism. You got to the weight you were doing those things. You have to do MORE to lose. - If you really don't think you are eating a lot or poorly, take a week to record every single little thing you put in your mouth, including ingredients in recipes. You'll probably be surprised. - I second the suggestion above to get your blood work checked. It will rule out any metabolic issues that may need taking care of, and if there aren't any you will know you need to look at your own behaviour as the solution to your lack of loss. - Make sure you are drinking 64+ oz per day. In my long years of experience in dieting, it really does help the pounds come off faster. I wish you luck. I hear your frustration. Take a good honest look at yourself and definitely talk to your physician. You can do this. Its hard, but worth it!

The only thing I would worry about is the Peanut Butter to be honest...it has a lot of sugar in it, which is more dangerous to liver fat than fat itself. Peanut Butter is actually not on Atkins at all until the final phase. Other than that, I think you are doing fine from the sound of it.

Keeping carbs below 100 is not at all impossible! You do it by not eating white things....rice, Pasta, bread, Cereal....get your carbs from mainly vegetables and berries (citrus has the highest carb count of all fruits) and you will be under 100 carbs every single time. A glycemic index will help you as well. Low glycemic index foods are also low in carbohydrates. Hope that helps.

I have had 4 oz of red twine on two occasions...it didn't impact me much, but I drank it beyond slow.

Get a second opinion. It does not sound right to me. Chances are he is more experienced with bypass.

I think that is probably the most extreme postop diet I have heard of. Huh.

I can pass on the advice I was given for while I start solids. I was told to look at my thumb nail, divide it into fourths and that is how big a bite of meat should be. That tiny. And then to chew it until liquid in my mouth. If it can't liquify, its too dry and will likely get stuck and I should not swallow it. Super moist, softer meats only if PBing is a problem...try chicken thighs, tenderloin, things in the slow cooker. Remember to take 20-30 minutes to finish 1/2 to 1 cup of food. If you are PBing often, eat slower, take smaller bites and chew longer. I hope this gets better for you!

I am two weeks postop but can't say I have had that one. I hope you feel better though!

You are redefining the feeling of satiety for yourself. You are never going to have the same "full" feeling you used to get when you ate a large amount of food. So yes, the chest pain you are getting with meals is an indication that you are overeating. This could be irritating your stoma (opening) and causing swelling, which in turn makes your food even slower to slip through the hole and calm your stomach down. The "still hungry" feeling may also be a sign that you are eating too fast...filling up your pouch before any of it has a chance to slip into the lower stomach portion. Theoretically if you eat slowly, some is slipping into the lower portion of your stomach and giving it something to do. You complete your meal, satisfied that your pouch is full,and your stomach is busy digesting the food trickling through the stoma, thus not triggering hunger pains any longer. Remember, you should be taking 20-30 minutes to finish one half to one cup of food. Start focusing on the feeling of fullness in your little pouch. Remember to put your fork down and chew 25-30 times for each bite, and then to pause and assess your body before taking another bite. Look for the "soft stop"...a sign your body usually gives that it has had enough before you actually have any feeling of having HAD enough...a sigh, a sniff, a hiccup. Stop eating before you have any feeling of fullness at all. And go slowly slowly slowly so your body has time to catch up.

I don't know that there is a blood test for nicotine. You have to be stopped well enough for the surgeon to be confident that you will stay quit after you have the band. Smoking and the band are not compatible. But as far as a blood test, I don't think there is one. Its a lifestyle change that he has to be convinced you have permanently made. If there is a blood test, it would be a month or more, I am pretty sure. That is how long marijuana can be detected in the blood stream anyway...

Mine was very very very explicit about this too, as was my dietician. NO drinking while eating, PERIOD. The key is to keep drinking when you are allowed to. If you stay hydrated, not drinking while eating becomes easier. And as the poster said above, you just don't do it, and it becomes habit. I was a little lucky, in that my mother never drank during meals, so I already knew it was possible. But I too thought I would never be able to do it. I am doing just fine with it now. Keep practicing and before you know it you just won't crave fluids during meals anymore. And be sure you get your 8-10 glasses in between meals, making note of how long before and after meals you are supposed to not drink.

Two weeks postop tomorrow and I am down 16.5 lbs. Yay me!

Honestly? I think the pain you are feeling IS restriction. When I have felt my restriction, I definitely feel it in the chest. Most of the time it is NOT the same feeling as when I felt "full" prior to surgery. Its a tightness in my chest that at times can move into my left shoulder. The couple of times I have eaten enough to get the chest/shoulder pain so far, its when I ate just a bit more than my band wanted me to. If you really think this is not the case, you need to see your doctor. The other cause of chest and shoulder pain is heart disease.

Sounds like you may need more calcium.