HeatherO

They would have had you do a barium swallow in the hospital where you drink the pink Fluid and they take pictures, right? If you had a slip it would show up. You would also know if you were unable to ingest anything. If you still have any nausea, you should take some meds to prevent vomiting if at all possible. Are you still having vomiting episodes now or has it passed. I came out of anesthesia really slow and late. My husband was worried because they said I would be in my room in 30 minutes but it was more like 1.5 hours. I also evidently vomitted during surgery as well because the side of my mouth, neck and around my back had a purple stain from whatever they must have had inside my stomach. It was like a dark die and it actually took a couple of days to wear off. I guess anesthesia affects us all differently. I hope you are recovering well now.

I remember your previous posts where you hade to "take care" of him. Now you can focus more on yourself and find someone that suits you better. You have a great attitude and can make the best of any situation. :0)

Welcome to banded life!!! It is a very interesting lifestyle . . . and the best thing I have ever done for myself. It sounds exciting to live in Cyprus. I hope I will hae an opportunity to find my way in Cyprus some time in my life. I have spent time in Turkey so there must be some similarities . . . and I love being in Turkey. What languages do you speak? Is banding common there?

I agree with her:thumbup: Your body is just catching up to adjustments made in previous months, one fill won't cause it. I am also suffering from mild hairloss so I feel your pain. It does get better as long as you are eating healthy.

I guess it affects us all differently. After banding I had a mild diarrhea for weeks. I am normal now, but volume is greatly reduced, probably because intake is also greatly reduced.

I found for me that to keep my weight loss going I needed to cut out processed carbs. I still eat carbs, but they are primarily in the forms of vegetables and occasional fruit and only very rarely eat potatoes/crackers/etc maybe to around once per month. Typical day for me: Breakfast - 2 egg omelette with a little onions & green peppers tossed in and some low fat cheddar. Sometimes I will just have a cheesestick. Sometimes I am really tight in the morning and will just have a slimfast optima, but rarely. lunch - Tuna salad with a little low fat mayo & pickles and a small salad (maybe 1/2 cup tuna salad and 1/2 cups salad). Sometimes I will roll up a little turkey and cheese in a piece of lettuce and will have broccolli or something on the side. Sometimes I will have 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 piece of fruit. dinner - Salmon cooked with dill and non-stick cooking spray on the stove top with a salad near of chopped cucumber, dill and a little smashed garlic mixed into 1/4 cup of low fat yogurt. I could have a small chicken breast with steamed veggies. Sometimes I will make a small lean hamburger and eat it without the patty with a salad on the side. I stalled for about a month before I changed what I was eating. Before I changed I was eating mashed potatoes, oatmeal, etc and I could not lose like this, eventhough my calories were down.

The variations have everything to do with height and body type. Some people are pears where they are bottom heavy but have more of a waist. Apple people tend to carry more weight in their abdomen to be a little more rounded at the top with skinnier legs and arms in proportion. Fat distribution is not equal in all people, if you carry a lot of belly fat, that is going to make a definite impact in the size of your pants or shirts. People that are more evenly distributed can generally wear smaller clothing then people who have concentrated areas. Height is very important. If you look at the difference of 220 pounds on someone who is 5'0 (who will look fairly obese) as compared to someone of 220 pounds who is 6'0 (who will be appear much closer to a normal bmi), you will see why the clothes fit differently. When I weighed 220, I was wearing the same size clothes as you . . . so perhaps we have a similar body type and our distribution is similar. At 150, I am in a size 8/10 and medium . . . perhaps you will be as well.

Congratulations Susan, that is wonderful news.

I eat salad almost daily. We have a turkish version of salad. It is finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and a very small amount of romaine and parsley chopped finely. This is topped by 1/2 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon and salt sprinkled on top. This is my all time favorite salad and band friendly in that there is no sugar or fat other than a small amount of olive oil on a large salad which we split three ways.

We all go through this phase. Just hang in their until you start getting fills and keep following the plan. Also make sure that you are getting your proteins in first because they are more filling. Good luck.

How expensive are your fills going to be after a year?

I had the pain between one to four weeks out. It was stabbing occasionally and at its worse felt like a horse kicked me in the neck/shoulder. It wasn't gas, it was an irritated diaphram and gas-x did nothing for it. Tylenol also did nothing for it. I had a hernia repair during surgery, and those who have had it seem to complain about the long term neck/shoulder pain more often. Did you have a hernia repair? Massage helps. Hot baths where you have your shoulder and neck in the Water and your belly with the incisions above water also helped. Unfortunately, everything I did to combat the issue would just take it from stabbing horribly to fairly uncomfortable. Bear with it, it does go away.

I eventually gained several pounds but will update once I get back on track :0(.

That is just crazy. They just don't want to pay for potential complications/issues on their dime. I hope you can find a more reasonable insurance company.

Almost every doctor says you can shower the first couple of weeks. The goal is to keep the incision sites from staying wet very long, so clean them quickly and minimize Water exposure. Baths, pools, hot tubs are never allowed the first couple of weeks. One thing my doctor stressed is that you must use a clean towel or washclothe everytime, if you reuse them you can risk infection. I was also told that papertowels can be used to dry the incision sites. However, my preference was to air dry. I think you should be able to wash your hair just fine.

I used to have to cross my legs when I sneezed or coughed. It has resolved itself completely. I had a minimal problem before . . . and none now.

You should check out the clothing exchange forum on this website. It might help you to find friendly to free prices on clothing you can wear.

jmegirl said it all. :girl_hug: I agree 110%. You need to eat. If you don't get enough Protein and Vitamins in, you are much more likely to be weak, lethargic and suffer from hairloss down the road. The goal is good health more than to be skinny. Plus . . . how can you get your exercise in if you eat too little and have no energy.

Make sure you are getting in your Vitamins and Protein and are eating healthy well-balanced meals. It could also be that your body is still recovering which may make you extra tired. Iron deficiencies could be a possibility, you can always get tested to be sure. Another thing that really helps is exercise. That sounds like a contradiction . . . to be exausted and trying exercise, but it seems to get the blood flowing again and makes you feel more energetic afterwards. It works for me.

I always pb on rice once I hit my sweet spot. It clumps too much. This makes me a little sad because I miss sushi, lol. Oh well . . . that's banded life for ya. My worst day banded still beats my best day heavy hands down. A really rough pb will make me sore and uncomfortable for a couple of days. The most important thing is to not pb again on top of it. It doesn't sound like a slip to me either if you can get things down, but I am not a doctor by any means. However, I have learned the hard way that if you are not feeling comfortable, you need to go back to liquids/mushies until you feel decent again . . . otherwise your stomach irritation can just get worse and lead to more pb's and discomfort, sometimes to the point of needing an unfill to get back on track again.

I have noticed a theme in those who get a "pre-fill" and those who don't. It seems like Realize bands are usually empty and the Allergan/Inamed bands usually have a small fill. The fluid is saline or something similar, never bodily fluids.

I had a bit of a problem for a while as well, but can now do mini burps the majority of the time. They are tiny, no one can hear them and are just in my stomach to my throat. I have to do this after I drink and sometimes after eating. It helps to relieve pressure . . . but I am not sure if there is an anatomical difference that lets some people do this but not others. Gas-X strips that dissolve on your tounge might help if you are uncomfortable . . . and they are band friendly as well.

I have never heard clumping used either but I have heard of stuck, sliming, pb, etc. I guess you learn something new every day :0). I have been through that as well. Unfortunately, you just have to ride it out but it is utter misery when it is going on. I found that chicken and salmon have the ability to make that happen. I have to be very careful with those, but everything else works fine. I sometimes eat meat with a little low fat yogurt and it helps to avoid that. I also alternate bites of meat with veggies or whatever else I am having for dinner so that it doesn't stick together so bad.

dianegoe, I had the same exact issue. I got a little sick on a Sunday night, and got progressively worse every day until I could not get Water down by Thursday and had to go for an emergency unfill. My stomach was swollen from getting sick and it caused a snowball effect because I would go on liquids for a while, try to progress to mushies, get sick and pb, causing more swelling in the stomach . . . and repeated repeatedly. I got 2 cc's taken out on the 29th of August, it was instant immediate relief and afterwards I could eat anything, and I do mean anything. It was like being unbanded. I got 1.5 cc's put back in yesterday and I am at good restriction again. My previous fill went from the end of April to the end of August with absolutely no problems. I was at my sweet spot. It only took getting sick one time to cause this issue. I asked the nurse and she said that it does have the ability to snowball in that if you get really sick, it can keep progressing until you need an unfill within a couple of days. My nurse also said to take Motrin to relieve the inflammation in the stomach if this ever happens again. She said Motrin is OK for use on a very occasional basis and works great to relieve swelling in this specific situation, but you should never use it regularly or for an extended period because it is rough on the stomach. She also said that I might have been able to avoid the unfill if I would have stayed on liquids for a couple of days uninterrupted combined with Motrin. My cycle of trying to get back to normal foods too soon just added extra aggravation to my already swollen stomach. I am sorry you had to go through that in Spain, it was pretty terrible here in Ohio . . . and being abroad in a foreign hospital with people that are unfamiliar must have been very frightening and intimidating. I am going to Turkey for several weeks in mid-October and I am scared to death of having a similar situation so that is why I asked the nurse not to replace my fill level 100%. I hope you feel better very soon.

I guess my next question would be, what are you eating? How much protein and how many calories are you ingesting daily? Are you eating lean protiens first followed by veggies as the primary source of your nutrition? Are you taking in any carbs in the form of crackers, potatoes, etc?