Trouvette

I wish I could provide more insight, but that is a radically different way from how my surgeon has been doing it. He's been filling a little bit at a time. I'm at 5cc now. And he has never left the needle in and asked me to sit up. This will sound kind of off, but I gained a better sense of band resistance when I ate something that could not easily pass through the band. When I eat now and I feel the beginning of that sensation, I know to stop eating. Right now, you might be having a hard time figuring out what you are feeling because you have no basis for comparison right now. Of course, I am not encouraging you to eat bread so you make yourself sick! But in time, as you start phasing more foods back into your diet, you will start to notice how some foot sits in your esophagus a bit longer than it would have before the surgery.

How did your fill go? How are you doing?

I wouldn't say that it has gotten massively better, but I see improvement. I haven't had that experience that some people describe where they have two bites of food and feel full, but I am eating normal size portions of food and not snacking throughout the day. It takes some time to find your green zone in terms of the fill, but little by little, you will start to see that you aren't taking in as much food. I think that what I was expecting in terms of feeling full is the sort of full that I used to feel when I ate way too much food. Time with the band has sort of reprogrammed me to understand that full is simply eating enough to cover my caloric needs for the time being. I can have a tuna salad and some veggies and feel satisfied now.

It could also be caused by the gas that they pump into you during the procedure. It might be trapped in a location that is making it very uncomfortable for you. It dissipates after two or three weeks, but it feels miserable while you have it.

You look fantastic, Sharpie! You are a great inspiration to those of us who are just starting our journeys with the band.

I'm happy that you posted this. I can't overstate how disappointing it is to come to a support forum and see nothing but people bashing the band. It's not the purpose of the forum and not helpful to those of us who opted for it.

I see you are also a Dr. Fielding patient. I went for an adjustment with him last week and we were lamenting how troubling it is that so many people have written off the band because of anecdotal evidence. No single procedure is right for every patient and some people opt for more invasive procedures than they need because they heard stories.

Of course! Always happy to help.

Hi! I had lap band surgery in June 2017, and it is working perfectly for me. I agree with the above commentators, that you need to do your own research and not depend on anecdotal evidence. I chose the band because I wanted minimally-invasive surgery and because I have Celiac Disorder, so a malabsorbtive procedure would be a bad choice in my case. Yes, the band requires more appointments and more maintenance, but ultimately, it comes down to what is right for your circumstances and how much effort you are willing to put in to not only lose, but to maintain as well. I'm happy to discuss what my experience has been like over the past few months. Feel free to shoot me a message.

Ultimately, no one knows what surgery is truly best for them until they actually have the procedure. I got my lap band in June 2017, and I love it. Despite all of the horror stories and raging against the band that I have seen, I knew that more invasive procedures would not be right in my case, and so far, my band has worked perfectly. Maybe the band was not the right option for you, but you should be absolutely certain before you have another procedure. Perhaps try the pre-op diet for two weeks to see if it re-starts your weight loss. If not, then you should talk to your doctor about having the revision.

It took quite a bit of time for the swelling to go down around my port. In fact, I still have a bruise around the site, and I had my surgery at the end of June. Have you visited your doctor for a post-op yet?

I had tuna with light mayo during phase 2 post-op and was fine. You just have to smush it up well. I actually used a potato masher to do it.

I am a little more than two months post-op with two fills under my belt and I can still eat a normal sized portion. I have noticed that the amount of food I can eat has been greatly reduced, but I have yet to experience resistance or eating two bites of food and feeling full. I'm losing weight, but not as much as I thought I would seeing as my surgery was recent. How long did it take all of you to get to a point where you were eating tiny amounts of food or feeling resistance from the band? For the record, I have an 8cc band and am 5.5 cc filled.

I wish I could get the sleeve, but my surgeon didn't favor it in my case. I have Celiac Disorder, so the procedure would be too invasive in my case.

Hey Tat! to answer your questions: 1. MMMMM Thin Mints! My favorite! And if it is sugar free, it should work. Just make sure it is thin and liquidy. 2. I'm definitely getting my appetite back. When I was on the pre-op, it got to the point that I had to force myself to drink enough protein shakes to get up to 600 calories a day. Right now, I can have a cup of food and not feel satisfied. But I'm still under 1000 calories a day. I go for my first adjustment at the end of the month, so I am sure that my appetite will change once it is done. 3. I'm eating a lot of tuna fish, soups, cottage cheese, and baby food right now. It's not the most diverse menu, but at least there are a few more flavor options than I had during pre-op. 4. No problems sitting or bending right now, but I did have difficulty the first week after surgery. I actually cried when I was trying to get in bed when I got home the day of my surgery because I was so sore. Sitting was bad for a while too, but strangely enough, the pain was in my back rather than my stomach. I think it was because I couldn't re-adjust my posture the way I normally could. You will be limited in what you can do for at least the first week. Make sure that you have good back support when you are sitting or lying down. Don't bend over for anything. If you must bend in any way, hold a pillow over your stomach so you have a bit of resistance over how far you can bend. 5. I will try that one the next time I get food stuck. I haven't heard of the hands over the head before. 6. Technically, I took a week off. In reality, I own my own business, so I had a laptop with me and was working while I was in the recovery room. You shouldn't go to work for a week. Your body is is still recovering, and if your boss were to see how difficult it was for you to move, I'm sure he/she would send you home anyway. That being said, if you must work, you should be able to work from home without a problem. I wrote a contract proposal in the week that I was recovering. 7. I'm still not clear for exercise because I'm still slightly sore. I still have bruises on my stomach, actually. But I can walk for miles. I found that I had difficulty standing up straight when I was walking because it felt like I was going to tear my stitches, but it was actually the swelling that made me feel that way. But it's not too bad. If you take a stroll around the block, you will start out hunched over and end your walk standing up straight. But I am sure that the nurses in the recovery room will have you walk with them, so you can figure out what is and is not comfortable.

Hi! I was banded on June 27. I'm still in my recovery period, so I'm going through it with you and everything is still pretty fresh for me. 1. STOCK UP ON PROTEIN SHAKES!!! You will be shocked by how quickly you go through them. My shake of choice was the Labrada Lean Body. It has 40g of protein. My activity level did not decrease during my pre-op, so I really needed that 40g. 2. Favorite post surgery recipe - I'm still in the mushy food phase, and I'm obsessed with this recipe. I can see myself eating this well after I get off of the Phase 2 diet. It's an Italian pudding. 1/2 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese, Splenda, ground cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Mix it together and you have a subtly sweet quick meal that has 25g of protein and only 1g of sugar. I got this one from the nutritionist in my bariatric program, so it is doctor-approved. 3. I had a problem sleeping comfortably for about a week and half after my surgery. Sleeping on the side was out of the question. I was in too much pain. I recommend getting a memory foam pillow to keep under your back. 4. I've had a few incidents where my food got trapped around my esophagus. It's not pleasant. You feel like you are going to throw up. I figured out to walk it off a bit and relax your body, and it will eventually pass. I'm sorry I can't answer more of your questions, since I'm still finding these things out too. But stay in touch, we can learn together!

I had my surgery on Tuesday. I'm three days post op. Totally, agree, the worst pain has been the gas. My problem is (and forgive the graphicness), but I constantly feel like I have to burp but when I try, I can't get it out. Any tips?

I am now one week away from my surgery. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive, as this is this most serious surgical procedure that I have ever had. Does anyone have some word of wisdom that they can share? Things you wish you knew before the procedure? Anything different than what you had expected?

Best of luck to you too! I'll try and check in after mine and see if I can give you some words of wisdom.

Granted, I have not been banded yet (I go in next week), but you might consider working a bit with a therapist. There could be a myriad of reasons why things are tough going for you. Maybe you are experiencing a lot of stress? Maybe you still feel sluggish from your procedure. A few sessions might do you good because it might help you identify if there is an emotional issue that is holding you back. At the very least, you may end up saying that your head is in the right place, but there is still an underlying condition.

Hello All, I'm brand new here, but I can think of no better crowd to ask: Do you have any tips or tricks that got you through the pre-op diet? It's only been three days, but I am so hungry and my energy levels are in the basement. I can barely focus at work and I know that my normal activities, like playing tennis, are going to be severely hindered in the run-up to the surgery. Any advice that anyone has to keep this under control is appreciated.

Thanks! I've been keeping myself busy like you said. You were also right about the withdrawal. It's much more manageable now, but my energy level is still really low. I ended up skipping tennis practice yesterday because I still felt pretty weak. Maybe I will be in better shape for my Saturday class.