gentylwind

6.9 cc seems to be a very good spot for me so far. I have great restriction, can eat pretty much anything but definitely have to slow down. I am super tight in the morning...even yogurt goes through really slowly. My morning cup of coffee helps loosen things up. Tracking on mydailyplate.com is helping me a lot and I naturally am eating 950-1150 calories per day without even thinking about it. Yesterday I actually FORGOT to eat lunch. Me. Forgot to eat. Who would have ever thought that was possible? So right now, I am very happy with this fill. It remains to be seen if I will need another tweak in a couple of weeks.

www.diaperswappers.com Great forum for cloth diapering Moms (and other kinds of Moms too!).

My oldest child died of acute myeloid leukemia on 01/10/2007. He was 13 years old at the time of his death. His life was stolen from him and here I am wasting mine. Been researching the band for years. Once I got financially and emotionally stable, I moved forward on getting the band and getting healthy. If he could go through all he did with the kind of tenacity and courage he showed, I can get through this and live a life he will be proud to know about when I see him again.

This is not a surgery I would ask a family member to help me with. There are a lot of people who fail weight loss surgery and borrowing that kind of money and not getting the results the person loaning it would expect will create friction in the relationship. Even if you do well, there's no guarantee it will be enough to satisfy the person shelling out thousands of dollars. Frankly, I never consider borrowing from family to be an option. 90% of the time it goes poorly and strains or ruins the relationship. Particularly in these hard times it is unfair to ask someone else to put up that kind of money, even if by your perception they have plenty of it. There are institutions out there who will loan money for this with reasonable interest rates if your credit qualifies. If your credit is so poor that a loaning institution, who are in the business of assessing risk of default, will not loan you money, why should a family member assume that risk with money they may one day need for their own health or survival, particularly with what the economy is doing right now? I am sorry if that sounds harsh, but it doesn't negate the truth of it. A poor risk for a bank is a poor risk for anyone. If you insist on asking family for help with this, you need to seriously evaluate how you will feel toward that person and about yourself when/if they decline to loan it to you. If they agree to loan you money, you should have a plan for paying them back that starts IMMEDIATELY whether you lose weight or not. This plan needs to be put in writing and signed by both of you detailing how much the loan is for, what the terms of it are, how much you will pay them each month or week or whatever you agree to and state the fact that repayment is required regardless of progress or complications. Even if it is family, there needs to be no doubt on any party's side what the agreement was. You should realize too that if they loan you this money, they will very likely (rightly) feel it is their right to inquire about your loss, how you are doing, and to comment on your progress or lack thereof. You should also have a plan for what you will do when/if there are complications, which are not uncommon. A flipped port requires another surgery. Slippage. Erosion. Development of a hernia. Gallbladder surgery. How will you cover any of that if the coffers are now empty from the surgery itself? You must have a plan, not just pray all goes well. I strongly encourage you to find a way to do this yourself.

Follow the band rules. No drinking with meals, usually 1/2 hour before and up to an hour after. Protein first, then vegetables, then if you still have room, a VERY small amount of carbs. No soda. Avoid chocolate, ice cream, chips, crackers, high calorie liquids including juice and white carbs of most any kind including rice, mashed potatoes, cake, Cookies. Exercise daily or at least five times a week. Keep your calories under 1500 per day. It will be easier once you get restriction but it still won't be easy. A lot of the good choices you need to make can be practiced now before the band is tight. 5 cc is not much. You probably need another fill and to slow down, start coaching yourself to stop eating when you are no longer hungry, NOT when you are full or stuffed. Learning to tell the difference is half the battle. The band was never intended to be a physical block to eating. It is intended to give early and prolonged satiety from a smaller portion of food. There is a difference between the two. Its hard but keep in mind that "satiety" is not another word for "full" or "stuff". It simply means "enough". If you are honestly already doing all of this and STILL not losing anything, you need to see a doctor to find out why your body is not working the way a healthy body does. PCOS, diabetes and thyroid problems are all common barriers to weight loss. If you do not have one of those and you are still not losing, look hard at what you are (or are not) doing. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

My doc has been pretty aggressive with the fills but has a good system for determining how much to put in. I went back to solids last night and WOW, I ate next to nothing! It was awesome!

As far as I know the only way to tell is by X-ray.

Yep, you are definitely ready for another fill!:biggrin:

I never believed it either, but I am getting close to my sweet spot and I have to say, after my fill earlier this week (my fourth one, taking me to 6.9 cc in my 10 cc band) I have had NO head hunger. Eating just enough has been EASY. I am averaging 900-1100 calories per day without effort at all. Prior to that, I was struggling with head hunger a lot. Good luck!

You sound way too tight.

You are still swollen. Small bites, very soft foods (you should still technically be on liquids by most postop instructions...you were just banded four days ago). It gets better, but the more you strain it, the longer the swelling will last. It will improve over the next four to six weeks. Make sure you are following your postop diet to the T.

I am three months postop and just now after a fill two days ago (my fourth fill, bringing me to 6.9 cc in a 10 cc band) able to eat and be satisfied around 950 cal/day. My doctor told me to stay around 1200-1500 per day. Do what you can but don't sweat it too much. Until you have good restriction you will find you are hungry.

I have literally done that...gone to the meat case and lined up 15, 20, 25 lbs of pork loin or brisket. I look forward to doing it! It really makes a great visual on how much weight has been lost when I feel discouraged by a slight gain or by not losing as fast as I would like. Its also very motivating to then use my grocery shopping time to put good, healthy foods in my basket and leave the tempting stuff out (for me that is chips and crackers!) JMS, that sounds MISERABLE. :biggrin: I am so sorry your fill was not a good experience. I hope the swelling calms down and it still results in decent restriction for you. I really have been so so lucky so far, no PBing, no vomiting, no getting stuck and so far never too tight. *knocks wood*. Let us know how are you doing.

Things go through the stoma more slowly. However, you are not particularly restricted yet, so things do indeed pass through right away. You are tighter than without the band, but not yet tight enough to completely create the pouch in the way the band is intended to work. Most people don't get that kind of effectiveness until after the third or fourth fill. So you can get stuck if you take too big of bites, but you are still passing food with relative ease compared to true sweet spot restriction.

Yep, sounds like you need a fill. Don't be ashamed to go to your doc. Follow up care seems to be directly linked to success! Keep your chin up! My doc told me this week even just walking 15-20 minutes a day is enough at first, so find the time to get that in (I need to lecture myself too...I have trouble making time for exercise. How's the old saying go? Those who cannot make time for exercise must eventually make time for illness?) Good luck!

Yep, I'd say your time to be self-focused has passed and now you have time and mental energy to offer something to others. Find a cause you believe in and volunteer. Get a hobby. Mentor others going through the surgery. And if you are mourning food still to to the point that you think being thin isn't worth it, you probably need to see a counselor who can help you define why you miss your drug of choice enough to get down about it.

Yep, I have used all three. www.mydailyplate.com is by far the most user friendly in my opinion.

FWIW, I am really glad I did mine earlier. I was nervous about it worrying I might get filled too tight. My doctor's office is fantastic and has a good system for telling that. The difference today from yesterday is just incredible. A container of yogurt filled me up completely an hour ago and I still feel totally full.

Its the measured amount. I don't think most people chew their food and then spit it out and measure it. *wink* Its the measured amount. A true half cup serving. Not more due to mastication.

Yes, the stoma is the opening, not the pouch.

Follow your doctor's guidelines. You can call and ask if you can add in soft foods, such as refried Beans, mashed potatoes, etc. But salad is hard to tolerate for some people even when they are fully healed and no longer swollen. That won't be on your menu for a while. But do call and ask your doc about adding in some softer Protein type foods. My first one was cottage cheese. It helps, but you will have to deal with some hunger until you get restriction, which can take a while.

Right now I am into the Atkins dark chocolate with two tablespoons of peanut butter blended into it.

I had 3 cc left in the band at the time of surgery. He gave me another 2 cc on my first fill. I had minor restriction but nothing that really affected what or how I ate. I had my fourth fill yesterday. Today is the first day I feel real restriction the way I hear others talk about it. I just had a container of yogurt and I feel full. Its a long road to get to restriction for most people. Be patient.

Does drinking warm liquids help at all?

Mine is same as Kiz....can't get past mushies for two weeks, then need a slight unfill.