barbie1978

ok food getting stuck SUCKS...i was adamant that it wasn't going to happen to me...but after this last fill i am at my sweet spot and have leard (the hard way...many times over) that i need to SLOOOOOOOOOW down. For me it really hasn't been too many bites...it's way too fast and YES, you will know RIGHT AWAY.... Here's what else sucks (hey we're being honest here)...when it comes back up! Especially when it doesn't all come up right away. In the past month that has only happend twice that it took awhile for whatever is stuck to fully come back up..and quite a few times in teh past 2 weeks that it's come up right away....tonight has been a difficult one for me....things have been coming up for the last 4 hours....from a TINY wrap....chicken is becoming a NO NO unless it's chicken salad with LOTS of light mayo.... It sucks, it's gross, but you learn from it....or at least you should. But as gross and not fun as it is...bringing it back up is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than suffering to see if it will go down.... And don't bother drinking pineapple juice after you eat...you WILL bring food up if you try to drink ANYTHING.....

Miss Sammy...ok i know it's frustrating, but IT TAKES TIME!!!! I'm 11 months out and i just got a really good restriction and started really losing again IN APRIL...i'm at my sweet spot now, but i just got there..and my surgery was July 7, 2009. It sucks when you want/expect it to happen quickly and much easier...take everyone's advice here. Really look at what you are eating and how you are exercising...i was totally lying to myself and wasn't working out like i told myself i was...which is PART of why i wasn't losing well...the other part was that i could EAT...if your doc can't/wont help more than what he is, find a new one! Just because he did your surgery doesnt' mean he has to be your doc forever... Look around for a new doc, talk to a therapist/nutritionish, really really watch what you are eating and how you are working out...goodluck!!!!!! And it WILL WORK FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

Congrats on getting to ONEderland!!!!!!!!!!! I'm doing better after this last fill (finally!!!!) and I am only15 pounds from ONEderland1!! What did you change up that got you there?

last week i went for another fill and he gave me a big one...from 8.5 to 9.5 and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! NOW i feel what i've read about on here...i can only eat very very small amounts of food...most pasta and bread is a NO NO..anything starchy really. I stay away from crap food but the one time that i had it (with a bus full of people and we only stopped at McD's) i coudln't even eat all of my small fries..i used to eat a large fry and then more of whoever else didn't finish! YAY! I'm SO excited to have such good restriction! Plus i'm down 6 from last wednesday :thumbup: Be patient! Do what your body says..mine said it could handle more and i got it..and now my band is really REALLY working!! :thumbup:

yes!!! I don't 'eat' all of mine either..i do love tuna though... however, i found MUSCLE MILK LIGHT...it's 100 calories, NO SUGAR, and 15g of Protein. I usually have one in the morning and sometimes in the evening... Once in awhile i will have a Protein Bar if i need something quick and small...but the ones i like are not low in calories....they taste like a fricken Reece's PB cup...yeah...lol they're called Supreme Protein Bars and they come in 2 sizes...200cal for 15g protein, or 30g protein for 400....if i haven't eaten a lot of calories by the end of the day i'll have one..but they're REALLY good and i will totally overindulge so i usually only buy the small ones...

1. COMFY CLOTHES!!! Like loose fitting sports bras or those tanks with ''built in'' bras...i LIVED in my lose tube top (it was a 24....VERY lose) and XL yoga pants that i had cut to knee legnth... 2. LIQUID TYLENOL...most likely you won't need your pain meds..i NEVER used them, even in the hospital. The only med i got besides tylenol was some anti-nausea meds (it's all i wanted..i requested NO Rx meds unless i was in a lot of pain and asked for them after surgery). They also make a PM version of liquid tylenol..obviously to ONLY use if you are not taking any narcotics 3. sugar free popsicles! And Luigi's Lemon Ice...oh so yummy... 4. ice packs 5. a big comfy pillow or body pillow...not very comfortable sleeping without it. When i finally was able to sleep laying down (i spent the first 3 days in a recliner), i kept a pillow slightly tucked under my right side, where my port is. I felt like gravity was pulling down on everything and once that pillow was there it was great support GOODLUCK!!

ok so here's my question..what's the difference between vomiting and PB'ing AFTER a stuck episode? Like a lot of people, sometimes i get excited and one of the bites is too big or not chewed well enough and i'm in pain but it ALWAYS goes down..well not last night! :thumbup: That was my first PB (i think)....i went walking outside for fresh air, breathing deep, praying for it to pass with no luck.. at one point i just yelled "GO down or come up! I DON"T CARE!!! I just want the pain to stop!"...and about 10 seconds later stuff came up...it was weird because it was definately not vomit..it just kind of poured out (sorry, it's graphic)...that happened 3 times and then at home it sounded more like a vomit but it still wasn't...it was just the chewed food.....that was about an hour afterwards...THEN i felt better... So was it a PB or vomit? I'm still assuming it was a PB?

Congrats!!!!!! It's the best thing you'll ever do :bored:

it's all happened to me too..had my first "bring it up" incident last night...NEVER AGAIN!

it's normal!!! :redface: My surgeon made sure i fully understood that inches would come off first..i lost 30 pounds in the first few weeks after surgery (which was 7/7/09) and then the scale just stopped...however, by 6 weeks out of surgery, i was down 4 inches on EACH MEASUREMENT of my torso..chest -4, hips -4, bust -4, waist -4...so even though the scale wasn't moving anymore my clothes were still getting way too big and everyone kept saying how much smaller I was getting...but i was getting frustrated at the same time because as THRILLED as i was, i wanted to see that damn scale MOVE DOWN! Now i'm 7 1/2 months post-op, i've had my 4th fill in January and i'm LOSING EASILY AGAIN!!!!!!! :redface: After each fill i would drop a few pounds the next day and then the scale would just stop again..this time i dropped 8 pounds in 3 days and it's slowed down but i'm still losing!! Dont' get discouraged...the scale WILL start moving again! Just try to believe everyone when they tell you that they see the difference...it took me awhile to really believe it but i do now!

LMAO unfortunately it's absolutely normal! I remember those first few days just thinking "WTF?" every time i went to the bathroom...i mean, like you said we're all on an all liquid diet at that point so how is that possible? HA! Don't worry...

DON"T PEEL THEM!!! My surgeon was VERY strict on that...he said they will come off when i was healed...well i will say that one of my incisions the glue was rising up so after about 2 weeks i just 'scratched' it off...big mistake. Most of it was not ready and that incision expanded...mind you, it did not open, but instead of having a little line for an incision like my other ones are, it's the size of my thumb :thumbup: That's what happens when you take it off before it's ready....

i'm almost 8 months out now and after this last fill i can't do most starch....occasionally i can do sweet potatoes or a regular small potato...and bread only if it's DRY or really moist (like a small sub w/dressing)... My doc said NO STARCH (especially bread) for the first 4-6 months post op, at least.... When I did lose weight on my own (10 years ago), all i did was no starch and the weight few off...you think you're missing more than you really are...and believe me, for an italian to say that you don't NEED bread and Pasta, it must really be ok..LOL Once it's out of your system, you truly won't miss it...and when you do taste it again, you'll probably think "THAT'S what i've missed? It doesn't tase as good as i thought"....really...

curiousinoh, you HAVE restriction! I've been banded since July and it took me awhile to figure it out (and that's normal)...i thought that since i wasn't 'full' after 2 bites of food that i didn't have restriction, but we all do! It might be at different levels, but we all have it. Your restriction might be different with different foods...chicken is a hard one for most banders....i usually have a harder time eating it..if i want chicken i just have to eat less of it. You will have foods that you can eat more of and foods you can eat less of....like chili for you seems to be a 'slider' food..goes down easy and passes through the band so you can eat a lot of it..it doesnt' mean that you don't have restriction, it means that chili is a food that passes easily for you... It's hard for all of us to re-learn how to eat. After this most recent fill (my 4th) i have GREAT restriction...i get full faster, i eat SOOOOOOOOOOO much less, and pounds just fly off when i exercise! A lot of foods have changed for me after this last fill...any starchy foods (bread, Pasta, rice, etc) ESPECIALLY if it is dry (like crackers) are almost a no-no....a few small bites is all i can take.... Yes, we need to eat slower....but sometimes eating a food that gets 'stuck' or hurts a little (ie gets stuck), well if you eat it slow enough you can eat more than you should. Listen to YOUR OWN body..we can all give you advice, but we're all different. What i can eat in a day probably is totally different than what you can eat....that's why i love the band because it's so individual from person to person... I would say to you to just pay attention to your body..if something hurts going down, don't eat it! It could very well change with each fill you get....i didn't figure it out until i'd say this december..which was 5 months post op for me... Don't worry! You'll figure out what's right FOR YOU! We all do...GOODLUCK!

I had my third fill on 12/30 and have definately noticed a difference in how and what i can eat. I have to eat much slower, take smaller bites, etc...i've been slacking on workouts (until the past 2 days so yay for me for that) so i haven't seen much loss... BUT, here's my question....the past few days i've noticed a LOT more restriction. I know it can take a few days to really feel good restriction after a fill but almost 3 weeks? Has this happened to anyone else? It's nothing i'm nervous about..i'm THRILLED actually...i just want to know if anyone else has experienced this... I'm supposed to go back in for another (SMALL) fill in a week and a half...i'm going to try something different w/calories this week and if i start really losing i'll change my appointment...if not i'll go in for the next fill....i want to make sure i keep good restriction!

so just an update...i still have been eating slower and some foods were a little harder to get down...but i could still eat almost 2 cups of food...SOMETIMES 1 1/2 cups...so i went for my 4th fill today...and i'm at 8.2cc's in a 14cc band! :smile2: I can already feel the difference...i truly truly think i am at my sweet spot with this fill...fingers crossed for no more than 1/2 - 1c. of food per meal and seeing that scale MOVE DOWN! :tongue:

hey all! I've had my 4th fill now and I'm at 8.2 in my 14cc band....we thought the last fill i was at 7.5, but when he removed all of the liquid today i was actually at 7.8! I had to eat a lot slower but could still eat a decent amount..no where NEAR like before that fill but i can already feel the difference.... I have been right about all of my fills so far and I've been saying that 8cc's is my magic number...so now that i'm at 8.2 i'm so excited to see how it goes! I've been at a standstill forever, it seems...dropped most of my weight just after surgery and now i'm finally starting to drop again (only down 2 since my last visit in december).... this is the good one though! I feel it! I'll update soon!