cindyg1212

Hi Everyone, I haven't been on in awhile. I lost quickly the first 2 weeks but as soon as I went to mushies the weight loss just about stopped! I'm hungry and can eat almost as much as before. I get my first fill 12/17 and can't wait. I'm hoping I can get this going again as I'm losing my motivation. Can someone tell me why some people have 10cc bands and others have 4cc? I just checked my card and I have a 4cc. Does that mean I can never have more than 4cc filled? Will I be as restricted as someone with a 10cc? I should have asked my doctor but I really don't know the difference. I also need to start attending the support group meetings and visiting this board for motivation.

Hi everyone, I was banded on 11/1/07. I've lost 10lbs since then but not for reasons to be proud of. I have had excruciating gas pains everyday. Sometimes in my gut, shoulder, and jaw. Othertimes in my hips and down my legs. Drinking makes it worse. My surgeon is very strict about what we are allowed to have after 5 days. He is insistent on liquid shakes for the next 2 weeks. The shakes in his office sent me into the bathroom for hours. Waited 24 hours and tried again. Same thing. Yesterday the gas was so bad that I could barely sip water. I spent a few hours last night in the ER on an IV. They x-rayed the band and found a huge gas bubble. Tried Mylanta and Gas-X but this sucker won't pop. Everyday, I'm wondering why I voluntarily did this to myself. Anyone else had such awful gas pain? What did you do?

My doctor insists on liquids for 3 weeks. Why do some doctors allow more to eat after 1 week than others? My surgery was 11/1 and I'm starving! Is it OK to have some soup broth and really soft foods? My doctor is very strict.

Longhorn, Your doctor does sound like he is very cautious and mostly interested in keeping his patients healthy which is great. At least he allows blended Soups which I am now having anyway as I'm starving. My doctor also insisted on us losing 5% of our initial body weight or he would not perform the surgery. I was told at my pre-op visit that if I didn't lose the last 3 lbs by my surgery date that the operation would be canceled. I had 3 days to get that weight off. I really starved myself. I was weighed on the morning of my operation and had taken off 5 instead of 3. He really has sent patients home instead of going through with the operation. Apparently, dieting softens the liver to prep it for surgery. But if a patient is 1 lb over, he will cancel. Think my doc is a tad OCD?

Tann, That's amazing!! Congrats on your success!

Hey Sades, Lucky you! My doc isn't letting me go on mushies until Monday. Why is your doctor nicer than mine? What kind of things have you been eating? Are you hungry?

Glad you're feeling better Anitak! Gas-X can be a lifesaver. Right now my biggest problem is hunger. Next Monday I get to go on mushies. Can't believe how much I'm looking forward to that. Got my mini processor ready to go!

Day number 13 for me and the gas pain is finally gone completely! Yay! What a horrible 10+ days. Can't wait to see the full effect of this thing. Wish I could fast forward to a year from now.

Anitak, So sorry that you are experiencing what I went through. But guess what?! The gas pains are gone! They went away a few days ago. Just woke up one day and they were gone. You were just banded a few days ago and this is the worst of it. In another week, this will all be behind you. I promise that it will get better. The surgeon pumps tons of carbon dioxide into your abdomen when he performs the operation and some people take more time to expel it than others. Hang in there!! Cindy

I was banded on 11/1 and that gas pain just went away yesterday. Gas-X was the only thing that helped. Sometimes it hurt so bad that I couldn't swallow water. On day 7 I would up in the ER on an IV drip from dehydration. I couldn't get in any liquids because of the pain. They x-rayed my tummy to check the band and found a large gas bubble near it. At that point, I was so mad at myself for voluntarily doing this to myself. I'm much better now and am starting to appreciate the weight loss so far, 12 pounds in 12 days. Just hang in there. "This too shall pass".

I was banded on 11/1. Is it too soon to join the countdown to onederland? I can easily see it as I was in Onederland just 3 years ago. The past few years have been rough with the ilnesses and loss of my parents. I also have 2 children at home. Somehow with all of the stress and lack of sleep, I managed to gain 50 more pounds. After trying unsuccessfully to get it off for the past year, I joined the bandwagon. I lost 15lbs before surgery by starving and 10 since. Gas pain and generally feeling lousy after surgery makes it easy to stick to the liquid. Now I'm hungry. Anyway, I hope to cross the bridge into Onederland by New Years. Not sure if that's realistic but I'm going to shoot for it!

Hi fellow new banders, I was banded last week, 11/1. The gas pains the first few days were excrutiating. The vicodan was the only thing that worked. Question tommaney, are you taking prevacid pills or did you find chewables? My doc said not to try to swallow anything bigger than a tic tac ever. But I've been finding that he is stricter than a lot of the other doctors.

Sades, I also think that my doc likes quick success stories. His nurse told me that I could have Dannon yogurt smoothies. I'm having a cup of soup broth right now and it tastes great! I don't plan to fess up to him however. I just have to drink really slow so the gas doesn't come back. If I starve his way for 2 more weeks then I'm afraid I'll want to go crazy once he allows mushies. Just like Tulipstar said, your body goes into starvation mode and then tries to hord the calories at first. I'll be happy with a steady, consistent weight loss. It's almost winter anyway so we could all look forward to a more comfortable, slimmer summer.

Wow, every doctor is different! You would think there would be one set of criteria. My doctor doesn't want us to ever have soup or broth. Something about the salt and that it goes through the stoma too easily. He wants his patients to lose as much weight as possible in the first few weeks to get a good start. But I'm feeling weak and malnourished. I would rather lose at a slower pace and feel healthy. Blended soup sounds like Heaven at this point!

Thanks Longhorn! I think I did it. Feeling better today. I had some soup broth which is against my doctor's orders. I felt fine after. Why are some doctor's stricter than others?

Help! I'm techno challenged. I created a diet ticker on the ticker website but I can't figure out how to add it to my messages. Please help.

Thanks for the help everyone! The gas pains have eased up a bit but not gone. The doc got some new shakes in his office. One is like chicken noodle soup. Not great but not horrible. I'm starting to get hungry. Why do some doctors allow their patients to eat mushy by now and others like my doc insist on liquids for almost 3 weeks?

Nessa, you are so lucky that your doctor allows you to eat real food already! My gas pain is a bit better and I'm hungry. I'm trying some new shakes that my doc got in his office but I would kill for a baked potato. I don't understand why there are so many different directions for post op.

Hi everyone, I was also banded on 11/1. I've lost 10lbs since then but not for reasons to be proud of. I have had excruciating gas pains everyday. Sometimes in my gut, shoulder, and jaw. Othertimes in my hips and down my legs. Drinking makes it worse. My surgeon is very strict about what we are allowed to have after 5 days. He is insistent on liquid shakes for the next 2 weeks. The shakes in his office sent me into the bathroom for hours. Waited 24 hours and tried again. Same thing. Yesterday the gas was so bad that I could barely sip water. I spent a few hours last night in the ER on an IV. They x-rayed the band and found a huge gas bubble. Tried Mylanta and Gas-X but this sucker won't pop. Everyday, I'm wondering why I voluntarily did this to myself. Anyone else having such awful gas pain? What did you do? Wonder why some of your doctors are letting you have mushie foods already when mine wants us to wait 2 more weeks. I heard that he likes to get his patients to lose as much as possible in the first few weeks but this can't be healthy. I'm only getting in about 200 calories a day. They're letting me have Dannon fruit smoothies now but that's it in the way of calories. Their shakes, if I could tolerate them, are only 400 calorie a day. Any ideas for the gas pain?