jrg1979

Do you measure 1/2 cup of food in terms of before chewed, or after chewed? For instance, how do you measure a sandwich in terms of volume. Does anyone have an estimate of how much (cup wise) a 6 inch sandwich from Subway would be??

What is the "easyband"? I've never heard of it. As for eliminating certain things from your diet completely, if you read through the posts on this forum it is easy to see that every surgeon has different diets and guidelines. Most things you hear you "can't have" are only short term while you heal, or have been known to cause problems in others. That does not mean that YOU cannot necessarily have it.

My Dr. says no, because of the risk of swallowing it and getting it stuck, which ay require a visit to the ER. But I have to admit, I still have a piece after meals, I just try to be careful.

Since being banded I have not "PB'd" (or at least I don't think I have) or gotten anything stuck at all - not even once. There have been times, however, that I feel like I probably ate more than I should have. So my question is, as long as you don't PB or get anything stuck, does that mean you have not eaten too much or eaten too fast?? Can you eat too much ( to a point where you may stretch your pouch or cause slippage) and not PB or get anything stuck?

How much (in terms of volume) exactly, SHOULD I be eating? Right now I think I am averaging about 1 cup per meal.

I have been reading through many of the posts about fills and I have noticed many times people mention that the 4cc band is not used much anymore and has been replaced by a 10 cc or 14 cc band. I was just banded February 13 of this year and my Dr. gave me a 4cc band "based on the size of my stomach". Did he give me an outdated band? What would be the reason the 4cc band is not used much anyomore if this is true?

thenume, how much did you get during your first fill? I also have a 4 cc band, in which they put in 1.5 cc at my first fill. I have felt little or no restriction. I am hoping fill number two will be better. How many fills did it take you to get to your sweet spot?

This "mini bypass" reminds me of the gastric sleeve. Although it may be a great surgery and even may have been a better choice for me, it is just too new and too scary. I am not willing to have my insides rerouted and/or completely removed until I know for sure what the long term effects will be. The lapband may indeed have to be converted to something else 10 years down the road. I sleep better at night knowing I will have that option when the time comes, since it is reversible!

Loosinit sounds just like me, we had our first fill at the same time and everything. I called my Dr. office today to schedule another appt. for a fill and they told me I have to wait at least 1 month between fills. This is so discouraging. I do not feel any restriction at all.

I am soooo jealous! j/k I had my first fill on Friday, but am certain I will be going back for more.

How is it a waste of money if your insurance is going to pay all but $150.00??? Tell that person you will save that the first week off the grocery bill! LOL

I have to look at the scars under my shirt to remind me that I even had the surgery!

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but my weight loss has stalled for over a month now since I moved past liquids. I lost 15 lbs. during liquids, and now only 2 lbs. since then in the last month. I don't understand how I can be eating so much less than before and the weight is still so slow to come off??

I recently found out I was given a 4 cc band. The fill nurse said the Dr. "gave me a tiny one". What does this mean. Is a 4 cc band not the norm? How do they determine which size band you get??

I've noticed that myself, that drinking through a straw actually seems to make me take smaller drinks. My nutritionist says we should not drink through a straw to avoid getting too big of a gulp and swallowing too much air, but I think I do better with the straw than without. I guess this just once again cofirms that it is different for everybody.

So GraceUtah, you still have soda and drink through a straw??? Must not do too much damage, looks like you're doing great!!

I really thought giving up Dr. Pepper would be the hardest part of being banded. I have tried many times to quit them on my own in the past, but never stuck it out because I would actually go into withdrawals if I did not have them. The night before surgery I got the biggest Dr. Pepper I could find and drank every drop of it. The next few days after my surgery, I had bigger pains than my DP withdrawals, so I really did not even notice. I am proud to say that as of today I have not had a DP in over 6 weeks. I would be lying if I said I did not crave them once in a while, but I am no longer an addict and HAVE to have one. In fact, I took a small sip of my boyfriends the other day and it did not even taste good to me any more. Go figure?

My pre-op diet was just liquid, not "clear liquid" like I originally thought. THis makes a huge difference. Fat Free yogurt blended with bananas and strawberries or peaches was my favorite. I also survived on sf jello and popsicles. The campbells soup at hand in creamy chicken is pretty good, and so is the Campbells tortilla soup (with all the chunks blended or strained out.) You will be suprised all the liquid meals you can come up with when you get hungry enough. Just be creative - the liquid diet is not as bad as it seems.

I am just curious if most of you get fills at the surgeons office, or somewhere else. I see a nutritionist at the hospital where I had my surgery done and the nurse told me if I go there for fills I would get my first 4 free! Sounds good to me, and my Dr. said it was OK, I am just nervous to get my first fill there instead if with my surgeon. Any thoughts?

The only way I could describe it was it felt like I was kicked by a mule. Luckily, I did not have (and still have not) had any nausea - so I wouldn't really compare it to a stomach bug.

I panicked about this, too. My port incision was (and still is) so swollen. I could feel my port and it was swelled to a point it felt like there was a boiled egg under my skin. At my 1 week check up the Dr. assured me it was fine and was not a hernia. Now I am 6 weeks out, and it has gone down some, but still seems more swollen than I expected. He said sometimes it can take as long as 3 months to go down. Hopefully this will rest your fears some, but I would definately have your Dr. take a look at it as well.

Thanks everyone, for your replies. I am seeing my surgeon on Thursday, hopefully he can trim it for me or something.

I am nearly 6 weeks post op and all of my incisions are healing nicely. My largest incision (where the port is) has had a little dry skin around it where the scabs finally came off. This weekend, I had one tiny piece of "dry skin" sticking out so I tried to just pull it off. When I pulled it, a string came from below the surface of my skin. I am so panicked. I am scared I pulled something loose or something. I just left it alone and alot of the string that came out has now gone back in, but I still have a tiny bit sticking out that looks like dry skin again. Has this happened to anyone else????

Where did you get these. I am very curious now. Maybe this is the reason I am so cold. How long does this usually last??

Please, tell me more about this "ketosis". My boyfriend says I am burning him out of the house. It seems like ever since I had my surgery I am cold all the time!