shortgal

I am a steady, not fast, loser and I track my calories everyday and my Protein every day. I rarely go over 1200 calories and some days are 800 and most are 1000-1100 calories. I eat very few carbs, wait one hour after eating to drink, and then drink flavored Water between meals. Solid protein will keep you full longer, so for me if I coudn;t keep solid protein down like chicken, then I would consider myself too tight. I have yet to exercise since being banded, but I will start walking again when weather improves. I walked three miles about 5 times a week before being banded. Exercise, unless it is very intense is not enough to lose much weight, but trims us up and does help boost metabolism. A one hour walk at 3mph will only burn about 350 calories for someone that weighs about 215. so to lose one pound with that one hour walk, would take 10 days, if you walked EVERY day. Decreasing food intake is the key, unless you can exercise at a higher intensity like step aerobics for an hour. So if you walk 3 miles in one hour 5 days a week and decrease the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight by 500 daily, you'd lose approx 6 pounds in a month. If you can't or don't exercise as described above then you'll lose slower unless you decrease your calories even more per day.

Most surgeons have their own pre-op diet they want you to follow. some are all liquid like Optifast and some are low calories, high Protein, some are a combo of both ( 2 shakes and one low cal meal). Generally they are all to prepare you for surgery to shrink your liver, so it's not enlarged during surgery and a pre-op diet is a nice little mental boost when you lose weight before surgery. If a person has a very high BMI a Dr might ask them to lose a certain amount of weight or be on the pre-op diet a little longer than those patients with a lower BMI.

You look so great in those jeans and that is before swelling goes down. Absolutely amazing! I want get me some PS!

On the TV show "Big Medicine" last night. A girl that was over 300 pounds wanted GBP and most surgeons wouldn't do her becasue of lupus and clotting disorders she had. But the Dr on the show said he would do surgery and he thought Banding would be better for her becasue it was less risky for her other problems. Her ins would not pay for band only GBP, so they did the GBP. But she had lots to lose, too. so I don't understand the thinking of some Dr.'s. I know they say you can eat "around" the band. But you can eat around GBP, too. difference is, banding is safer procedure. Many of the GBP patients have low Iron and blood counts after GBP, and that puts them at more risk with PS procedures or any surgery later in life. Just my two cents. But you can check on this forum and there are people that have lost 150 pounds.

this is why the period between surgery and good restriction is called bandsters hell and not bandster heaven. We all want to lose fast, but what does "not fast" mean to you? One to two pounds is normal with some possible slow spots and some quicker losing spots in between. But this is a good time to practice portion control, not drinking after meals, chewing small bites well, to get ready for when you do get restriction. In the meantime, are you counting your daily calories and tracking your Protein? Follow a simple weight watchers points program until you get better restriction and stay away from carbs.

Until you get good restriction, pureed food will go through your pouch and not keep you full long. This stage of food is for healing. You had surgery and no matter what your sutures and incisions look like outside, your inside is still healing. Sorry, but you might need some willpower. Drink flavored Water etc in between to help stay very hydrated and just be on a diet until you get restriction. I know it sucks, and we didn't get banded to be on diets, but if you want to continue to lose, until restriction, it's necessary. Protein is key. Be sure you track and get enough every day. It helps the cravings.

I heard someone else say they imagined Pac man eating the cancer cells, but I love the cowboy boots. In my mind, Mine are red, with metal pointy toes and I am kicking the crap out of your tumor. Oh yeah, and I have on very skinny jeans and a nice white blouse with those boots! Keep the spirits up, Kendra and so good to hear the Dr. thinks it's curable!

One of the problems with "cheating" is once you let those "foods that cause cravings" back in we can;t stop. We're addicts! Sticking to the high Protein helps that until you get to a level of restriction that really helps. We all know if a smoker quits, and then has even one cig. they'll be back full force smoking again in no time, same with a drinker, one drink and they're full blown again. That's the problem with food, we cannot give it up completely! But it's usally carbs we're addicted to. My suggestion, do one or two days of clear or full liquids, high protein ones. Avoid any with too many carbs and detox those carbs right out. Then stick to what ever stage you're on and keep those carbs low! Once you get the right restriction, it should be much better!

First you must get the right amount of fill to get to the first level of restriction ( band fitting your current stomach). I don;t get fills with flouro, so it was anybody's guess (since they can;t see in there) when my band was getting to the right fill to fit me. so it can take several fills to get there depending on how much they put in at each fill. When you reach that right first level, you'll loose more weight ( and stomach fat) and the band will loosen and you'll need a little more fill. And so on, depending on how much you have to lose. Manufacturers make recomendations but Dr's treat the patients and make adjustments to the recomendations based on their clinical experiences with patients. Example: the manufacture might receommend 3 cc's at first fill, but Dr. does that and has several patients get too tight, so the Dr. might adjust all patients down to 2 cc's, rather than risk a few patients being too tight. Just like a baby book might tell a new mom to do something, but the mom's experience tells her that doesn't work for HER baby, so she does something else and that works for her baby. We are not machines, we are human and what works for one person, doesn't always for for someone else.

EVerybody is different inside their stomach and where the band is placed you might have more or less fat than I do in that place. So your band might need to be tighter or looser than mine to fit YOU. As you loose weight (and fat around the stomach and band) the band will loosen again and you'll need another fill. My Dr.s office has done fills on me as close as two weeks, but I generally get small amounts, 2 cc's first fill, one cc each fill after. But I agree, some Dr's just seem to slow up the process, so the 90 day ins rule is up and they can bill patient or bill ins for more fills.

Your Dr will probably decide how much fill to start with. I got 2 cc's at the first fill in my 10 cc band. The PA or nurse and I discuss how much hunger I have, what foods and how much I eat and how long a meal satisfies me and then decide if a fill is in order. I've had fills two weeks apart sometimes, but a fill can kick in after a few days, so some Dr's want to wait a little longer in between. My fills vary as far as pain. Most have been very easy and one small prick with the needle. One was a bit more difficult as it was ahrder for her to find my port, but all were totallly tolerable. They fill the syringe with the saline, put the needle in the port and then they withdraw all the saline currently in the band ( to check for leaks) then they replace it all with the additional saline they add to the syringe. I drink a little Water and go home. I am then on full liquids for two days and soft food for two days. You can get swelling around the band for a couple day, so liquids are a smart thing. After the four days, I slowly try more solid foods again, to see what goes down. some times you'll get more tightness at the beginning of the fill and think, yes, this is my band working and then it loosens up again. It could take several fills to get to the right spot. I feel smaller fills, closer together is better, than one big fill. If you get too tight, it can cause lots of problems, so I'd rather "sneak" up on restriction.

Some banders can eat bread if it's toasted. But yes, rice, bread, Pasta are all carbs and add to weight gain. some people can tolerate those foods and choose not to eat them, others can tolerate them and eat small amounts and some can't eat them. How tight your band is can have an affect on which of those foods you cant eat. Some banders want/need very tight restriction to lose weight, others need less "help" from the band and a lower restriction gives them the "willpower" they need, so how tight YOU need or want your band will allow you some control over which foods you can eat. I can eat toasted bread and I do occassionally, but I know I'll slow down my weight loss and since I can resist the bread, with the help of my band, I just don't eat it often. Same with pasta and rice. I choose not to eat them. Before they band, resisting them was much more difficult.

The problem with getting too thin, is are you able to eat enough to get in all the required nutrients on fewer calories. Can you get enough Protein, Calcium, Fiber, veggies, fruit etc? Of course, only he can decide what the right weight is for him, but he did ask people for their opinion.

I haven't fed a three year old in a looonnnng time! But this is a good chance for the little one to learn good eating habits with you. My husband will make chicken at night and then I have leftovers for lunch the next day ( warms fast in micro) or he'll make a turkey meatloaf and we do the sam thing. That way I get my protein in the next day at lunch. Will she eat tuna? For moist chicken that reheats without drying our receipe is. Strips of chicken breast. Lightly coat them with a bread crub and parmesan cheese mix ( no egg on chick first) and line them in a baking dish. Saute a little oninon in a little butter and add milk and cook a little, Add one box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well to the milk mix. Then pour the milk mix into the chicken pan and bake. Stays very moist, good since some banders have a problem with dry chicken. And a veggie is already in it. Beef stew is also good, if you can eat beef. Just leave the potatoes for your family to eat and you can eat the beef and carrots. Easy leftovers. We also like the morning star soy chicken patties over a salad.

Yes, if the food is not still stuck, no soda, the carbonation could irritate things more. If food is still stuck people have suggested and I've used papaya enzyme tablets chewed or a sip of pineapple juice. My nurse also suggested coughing to see if it dislodges. THIS IS FOR FOOD STILL STUCK.

Read the threads/post about Mexico Dr's and the Dr. in Co. There are many on the forum. These are posted by people that actually had surgery at these places and you can ignore any comments where people said "they heard" this or that. You can also Pm ( private message) anyone that actaully had surgery with these people to talk with them personally. Just click on their login name and send PM.

You've mostly likely irritated the esophogus and it needs some time. some people mention a warm liquid helps, very small sips, very slowly. Don;t get dehydrated, if you feel you are ok to wait until tomorrow then see how you are in the a.m. if not better call your Dr. If you have a lot of pain call the Dr now. When you get stuck, it's best to not continue the meal and give the esophagus time to heal. And drink only liquids the rest of the day that you get a bad stuck episode. I assume nothing is stuck now that what was stuck came up. Can you suck on an ice chip slowly?

There is a Dr. in Co. that charges around $9000, i've seen mentioned on the forum. I thinks it's Dr. Kirschenbaum. Sp? Look under the Doctors and hospital section.

Sometimes the fill is tight for the first couple days due to swelling and then it relaxes a bit. Give it a few days and just follow the full liquids for two days and then soft for two days. When you get to regular food just go slow until you figure out what goes down. Getting food stuck hurts! The last few days I really thought I needed a fill and of course because the appt is tomorrow, I'm feeling tighter tonight. It's like when your ear ache goes away right after you make the Dr's appt. To get Ticker: Click on anyone's ticker to get to the site. Create your ticker. bookmark the web page. Copy the actual ticker ( ignore the instructions that say copy and paste the long wordy part) and paste it on your signature on the forum. Go to the "Edit signature" on the upper right portion of the forum page. To update you ticker just go to the web page that you bookmarked and enter your password, update it and it will automatically change on the forum pages!

I started by going to the seminar held at a local hospital that has a bariatric center. and I called my ins co. to find out their requirements. Ended up a self pay.

You might ask someone on the forum from your state. Under the support group section, go to USa and then find your state, listed alphabetically. And welcome!

Are you tracking calories AND Protein? Are you following band rules of protein first, veggies second and no drinking for one hour? Can you log everything you eat including quantities for one week and bring it to the dietician? I'm sure it is harder to lose weight when your diabetic, It might take you longer than most, but isn't losing 15 pounds better than where you'd be without the band. I have approx 7 cc's in my 10 cc band and had six fills to get there. Still need a little more maybe .5cc. I've gotten 2 cc first fill and then 1cc each fill after.

Let us know how you do. Another long term bander just posted about being off track, too. she is preparing to detox her system from the bad foods by doing the five day pouch test. She will start a new thread and invite others to join her, if they feel they fell off the band wagon! It's a method used by GBP patients that have gotten off track as well. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html I think at some point, we will all need to do this test. To get back on track after a "vacation" from our band rules.

My office always withdraws all in my band and then puts it back with more saline, so that way they are always checking for a leak. It doens't hurt, it's the same as getting a fill.

You might want to start the thread a few days earlier and state the starting date and post the 5 day diet, so others have time to get what they need and start with you. Like the target date challenges that we do on the forum. Everyone that joins can sign in every day or two to let everyone know how they're doing and support each other. It's only five days, it's totally do-able. Watch your Protein, you don;t seem to be getting enough.