GBear

I remember you! Hahaha, okay, that's not fair since I know you IRL, too. But this is weird timing, I have to admit, because I haven't logged into here in, oh, I don't know how many months. Over a year for sure. I've been getting more emails on this thread lately, but I hadn't been reading them. Just today I was thinking I probably ought to log in and stop watching this thread. But now I see Chrys has logged in, and she has been my inspiration all this time. Maybe this is a sign I should keep on checking in on here, even if it's a little bit. Okay, so I won't stop watching this thread after all... I have been on a plateau for a loooooong time. Well over a year. Although, during that plateau was a small peak and then down as I want on a doctor approved "band holiday" as he calls them. Luckily, the weight swing was only 10 pounds, so it wasn't too big of a deal. But I'm still a few pounds heavier than my lowest (but I think most of that is actually muscle gain since I started doing personal trainer sessions, too). Anyway, I know I am making poor food choices, so that's the cause of my plateau. That, and I started to develop reflux when my band is "too tight." I put that in quotes because I actually liked the tightness level, but the tightness level doesn't like me. =P Anyway, that's enough about me. Best of luck to all the new and soon-to-be-new bandster with Dr. K! I'll have to do some reading to catch up on who some of you are. =)

I really believe all bandsters should add Fiber to their diet. My favorite way is to add a LOT of Benefiber to at least one drink per day. It dissolves in everything, even cold liquids, and it has no taste and adds no texture. You really will have no idea it's there! My second favorite way is with one of the sugar-free flavored Metamucils. They now have a mixed berry flavor and a lemon-lime (haven't tried it yet) flavor in addition to their original orange. It does, however, get thick after awhile, and it has a slight grainy texture. But I actually don't mind it because it helps me feel full in between meals without overstuffing me. Also, sometimes it's nice to "know" for sure that there's is fiber in what you're drinking! Oh, though, beware, I recently bought the Benefiber plus Calcium, but it definitely has a slight taste. It's almost as if it tastes salty. So, I actually don't recommend that one as long as you take a calcium supplement separately (calcium citrate is best!). I certainly don't have BMs as often as I used, and that is usually reflected in my weight, so I kind of keep a mental note. =) But adding fiber to my diet makes a huge difference. Good luck!

After my second fill (5 ccs in a 10 cc band), I started getting what my fill doc said is probably "first bite syndrome." I had read about that on the threads here, so I later searched for it and only found a few threads about it. Most people say to drink a warm liquid first (which my doc also suggetested), but I find that's not a guaranteed fix. I also know that Jack the Super Moderator said (here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f13/does-any-one-have-problem-74494/) that he learned how to deal with and it eventually (after many months) went away. But I searched the forums and didn't find as many notes as I thought (hoped?) I might. So, I was wondering, how many of you experience this? What are the various conditions under which you experience it? How long did it last (until an unfill, for X months, it still happens, etc)? And most importantly... what do you do to help not happen, or at least lessen the effects? Also, do you ever feel like if you have a lot of spasming one day that it can irritate your pouch? For those who don't know what first bite syndrome is, I'll describe my experience with it below. It sounds like everyone is different, and I seem to be one of the "lucky" ones who can get it from liquid. =P Thanks! GBear So, here's my story and what I have felt: The first time it happened was actually a couple days after my second fill. I had successfully eaten liquids and mushies for 2 days and even a little bit of soft solid food. I had great restriction and I was happy! But then on day 3 (the fill being day 1), I thought I had my first "stuck" episode. I ate a bite of something (I forget what, but it might have been a small bite of bagel... before then I could handle breads fine) and it HURT like the dickens. I thought to myself, okay, no bagels/bread for me, now I know. And I slimed... but nothing came up. The pain eventually went away, but it took many minutes. I had similar problems most of the day, but even when eating mushy food. I began to wonder if I was too tight. Over the weekend I kept a close eye on it and resorted to liquids and mushies. But here's what was the killer... One morning, I took my sip of liquid Vitamins and BAM, I felt massive pain at the based of my neck, in between my collar bones and I really started to slime. All I had had that morning was my liquid vitamins! I was really upset. The pain took several minutes to subside. But later on that day, I could eat food fairly normally. On Monday I went to the doc thinking I needed an unfill. I explained how I could either get this massive pain OR eat normally. It was weird, because as long as I didn't get the cramping and the pain, I could eat normal bandster amounts of food. That's when he explained I probably have "first bite syndrome." He said that basically, stomach wall in the upper pouch is not used to having food in it, so it starts to spasm on constrict itself. Once it stops spasming, you're fine and can eat normally. As soon as he described it, I knew instantly that's what I was experiencing. The pain I feel definitely feels "muscular," so to speak. And the degree of pain I feel can go up and down within any given episode. I decided to not get an unfill because I liked the restriction otherwise. Over the next three weeks, as my restriction loosened, the first bite syndrome occurred less often. But it's weird, because it can still happen with almost any kind of food or liquid. And drinking a warm liquid doesn't always work for me. So, I got my third fill this past Thursday and I was fine on Thursday and Friday. Only very mild cramping/spasming. Very mild, especially since I was on liquids and then mushies. Saturday morning, I had a hard time eating some scrambled eggs because of the pain, but it wasn't too bad. Then later that morning, I took my liquid vitamins and BAM! Massive pain that lasted for minutes with sliming (again, no PBing). I had a hard time drinking any kind of liquid all day, and certainly couldn't eat mushies, so I wondered if I kind of irritated the stomach pouch with all of the spasming. Sorry for the long story! Hopefully you only read it if you were bored. :biggrin:

Thank you everyone who has commented so far! I hope more people continue to comment. =) I've been nursing my Protein drink for a few hours today so far. I get the suspicion the inner wall near my band is sensitive from the spasming over the weekend or something, so I can feel every sip that goes down. I'm going to stick to liquids (and maybe a liquidy soup) today and hopefully tomorrow and see how it goes. And now I know to be even MORE patient than I already was! Boy, there's patience and then there's slooow patience. =) I need to exercise slow patience. =)

Hi Jenhay, Well, hopefully you won't get this. =) Like you said, there are very few posts about it, so hopefully that means that most bandsters don't get it. Although, I suppose it's possible that some people get it, but don't realize it and instead think they are "just too tight." I know I'm not too tight because when the spasming doesn't happen, I can eat normal bandster amounts of food. Good luck with your next fill! Be optimistic! :biggrin:

Thanks, Jack. Having you describe what you do in more detail helps. I will try this very specific technique, but maybe I'll wait a couple days and stick to liquids for a couple days to let my body heal a little. You say this is a relatively short time frame, and as I read that, I realize you're probably right. Bummer, eh? Also, you're right, I was slamming the liquid Vitamins because they're kind of funny tasting. I was thinking all day yesterday that maybe that was a problem and I was considering diluting them with some warm Water so they're not so cold and so I could hopefully sip it a little. So you're reaffirming my hunch. As long as I can get Protein drinks down tomorrow, I think I'll wait this out and see about letting my body heal and then trying your approach. Hey, at least I can enjoy the extra weight loss in the meantime, eh? :biggrin: Thanks!

Yeah, I know, but that's actually one of the few foods that has NOT given me the first bite syndrome since my third fill this past Thursday. It's really weird. Like I said, any food or liquid can cause the FBS, and I can get it at any time of day, as well.

The coordinator at my doc's office said to try either pineapple juice or meat tenderizer. I bought both, but have not had anything stuck yet, so I can't speak from personal experience. If you do decide to get meat tenderizer, I suggest the unflavored kind. It's a powder, so you would add some to Water. Unfortunately, I don't know how much. Also, call your doctor's office first thing on Monday! =) Good luck!

Vanesa, It's so wonderful to hear of such a supportive partner! Not everyone can be as empathetic as you, and Billy is a lucky man to have you in his life. My husband has been wonderfully supportive, too, and sees the money we spent on my surgery as an "investment" in our future together, as well as my own life. But even still, I don't think he probably "gets it" quite as well as you do after reading this thread. Go give him a big, strong hug and tell him you will always love him no matter what. And God bless all of you! This really will be for the best. It's your future together!

Deb: I am SO sorry to hear about Tucker! I will keep you and him in my thoughts and prayers. Lotza: I started on some mushies last night and it's going well so far. But I still eat some pureed soups, too. I'm feeling almost no restriction now, but I'm still managing to keep my calories kinda low as if I were banded. Bella: Oh gosh, I'm so sorry to hear about the two funerals. I'm glad you went to the for your late husband's coworker. I'm sure your husband is smiling down on you for that. And yay for the pretty comment! Lap: Congratulations!!! How funny about the grandSON. Anytime a doctor says from an ultrasound that it's a girl, I *always* assume it's still possible to be a boy. I don't care if the doc says, "here are the girl parts," the baby can still be a boy. This just confirms my belief, heehee. uptownmami278: Welcome! What kind of pointers are you looking for? I flew in from California and it worked well for me. My surgery was Wednesday morning and I flew home Saturday afternoon. I had the advantage of staying with relatives in between, though! By Saturday I felt strong enough to fly home, which was nice. I could have done it on Friday, but was glad I had an extra day. But the day after my surgery was my most difficult day, so I would have been miserable flying home then. This is an investment, so I think it's worth it to pay for an extra day just to be safe. What else would you like to know?

Deb: I hope you have a FANtastic time at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland! I'm jealous because I still haven't been. I was hoping to go in my senior year in high school (in the SF Bay Area) with a club I was in, but it ended up conflicting with the band trip. Sigh. Still haven't been. A friend of mine is finally going soon with her husband and they have been planning to go for 12 years now. Also, don't be scared of being banded based on the newbie stories... I'm a newbie and as far as I can tell, I'm doing fine so far. And for Bella and Lotza, they will get be fine soon enough, I have faith! Party: Wow, that's the first first I've heard of the vagus nerve. Time for me to read more on wikipedia! Even though I have less swelling now than last week (and therefore less restriction), I can still feel some tightness. But I'm so curious as to what my soft signs will be when I eat actual food. I admit I'm a wee bit scared of the process of finding out, but hopefully I'll be smart about it. Bella: Yeah, I get a little bit hungry every now and then, but I really don't have to drink much to make the hunger go away. I'm thankful for that! I hope it's not too bad for you. Mini and others: How long did you use your spirometer after surgery? I used it mostly consistently through Saturday (banded on Wed), but I have only used it a few times at night before going to sleep since then. Should I still use it all the time? I tend to read most of the updates in the daily digest email because it's easier for me... but it means I miss out on most of the photos! I just wish the website were quicker to navigate instead of taking forever to download each page. :cursing: I'm going to have to go back and look for the RR picture and the furry picture. =) So, I guess I'm doing all right. Today I experimented with pureeing more substantial soups to get more flavors in. My favorite sourdough bread bakery place makes an "Indian curry" soup with some chicken in it. I bought some and pureed it at home and had some for dinner. I thought I would end up eating more if it, but didn't eat as much as I thought. So that's good! But boy oh boy, did I want some of that bread to go with it.:thumbup: Maybe someday I'll be able to tolerate a bite of it... The tooting is also going down some (thank goodness!) and I'm able to get more water in, so I feel better about that. Oh! I feel good about another thing today. A couple years ago I bought a juice for juicing veggies and fruit. It was in an effort to eat more raw food. This thing has the engine like a jet, it's kind of funny. But anyway, I bought some swiss chard and an apple and juiced them last night. This morning, I made my own smoothie recipe like I used to do of just fresh strawberries and a few slices of frozen peach and instead and blended them in the blender. I used to add either carbonated water or a little bit of juice to thin out the smoothie, but this time I used some of my veggie juice. The smoothie looked awful, but tasted good! And it felt SO good to get some "real" food in me. Low cal, good fiber, raw, and nutritious. (Oh, I also added some Benefiber, just in case.) It was nice to eat something that wasn't so processed. (Benefiber notwithstanding.) Two last questions before I go... Did anybody here stretch a muscle in their far side from trying to take deep breaths? Or maybe from having a coughing fit? (I get "phlegmy" and sometimes have to just get out the phlegm by coughing. It's been hard since I can't use my stomach muscles.) And lastly, behind which incision are our ports? :thumbdown:

Hey Adorkable! What is your final analysis on the Isopure and how it affects your stomach? I had my first bottle of it today and, um, had major diarrhea, but only after I finished the second half of the bottle several hours after the first half. I was just wondering what your experience has been lately. Thanks!

Bella... yes, my stools are loose, too! Ugh. Between that and not drinking as much liquid as I'd like, I'm worried about dehydration, too. But I'm not getting a headache yet and I'm doing my best to get in liquids, so I think I'm okay so far. It just seems weird to have the loose stools since everyone talks about how people get constipated from vicodine. Not for me! Not this time, anyway. (I did, however, stop taking the vicodine Friday night for a Wednesday morning surgery. I'm only taking liquid Tylenol since although, none today so far.) I am so glad to hear that the ER doc said you are totally fine, though. That's at least good to know, ya know? Mini, how did you know you had a hernia repair? Did the doc tell you so after the surgery? I heard nothing about it, so I'm assuming I didn't, but it would be handy to know for sure. Lotza, if you and your husband can't talk and laugh about flatulence farts, then with whom can you?? :ohmy: I think that's a very sound foundation for a marriage. :blushing: Well, at least that's what my DH and I think, hahaha. So, my big decision next is whether to go back to CO for my first fill appt or to stay here. Eventually, I'll have to go to a doc here, so should I go to him/her from the very beginning, or see Dr. K first? If I get a cheap flight again, it's actually cheaper to go to Dr. K! But eventually I'll have to start a relationship with someone here. Hmmm, at least I have some time to think this over.

Hola Banditos! Well, I'm finally back home in California, and I'm glad to be with my DH. Surgery on the 16th went well, but I get tired easily, especially in the late afternoon. I was glad I had time to recover with my relatives in CO before coming home because I think that made a huge difference. Thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes and congrats! (Mini, Lap, Munchkin, PrtyAntOvrYt, and Green... gosh, I hope I didn't miss anyone!) I wanted to read more on this site the last few days, but I had spotty Internet access while at my cousin's house. Bella, contrats on getting banded! Adorkable, what a wonderful huge difference I see in you! Also, I'm so sorry to hear about the gall bladder, but hopefully you will be and feel better when they take care of it. I was glad I got to kind of touch base with Lotza at Dr. K's office for our preop appts and in the recovery room. I know I don't really know her, but it somehow made me feel a little bit better "knowing" someone who was going through the exact same experience as me right *there*. I hope you are healing well, Lotza! I'm having a hard time getting in all my liquids because I feel a teeny bit of pressure/fullness. Or maybe it's the normal amount and I'm just being overly scared. But I guess better safe than sorry. Now that I'm home I bought protein bullets and Isopure protein drinks to help me get in more protein for the time being. TMI alert!! I also have a LOT of gas going through my intestines, etc. Egads, what's up with that? Is it because I ate almost nothing for a day (and ate low carb before that) and now I'm having sugar water (in the form of juice and popsicles)? Inquiring minds wanna know! Actually, what I would really love is for some omnipotent being to explain to me what each of the different feelings are in my body and whether or not they're normal, abnormal, etc. "This is due to the blah blah blah..." I know I'll eventually be able to interpret my own body eventually, but I wanted to be 100% sure NOW, ya know? Ah well, I guess a little patience never hurt anyone. And now... to bed. My OWN bed (well, with DH in it, too!). Glory be.

hahaha, we just missed each other. I just finished delurking. =) Thanks, everything went well today. I took the liquid vicodone one last time (I can't believe I haven't fallen asleep while typing yet, to be honest), but I hope to be on regular Tylenol tomorrow. I don't like the narcotics, blech. And I forgot to formally tell Bella good luck tomorrow, so... good luck tomorrow!!

Well, done with being banded. This is just the beginning, right? I ran into Lotza both in Dr. K's office on Tuesday and at the surgery center this morning. Her surgery was after mine and by the time she joined us all in the recovery room (in a stall next to me, hee!) I was just barely getting coherent again. Lotza, I knew you couldn't reply because you were pretty heavily drugged, but hopefully you heard my good wishes for you! My surgery went well, too, and I am very thankful for that! Just an hour for the surgery. My anesthesiologist (Dr. Alex Carrillo) was also very nice (and handsome, too, hee!) and explained in detail what he was going to do and the *whys* as well. As a science geek at heart, I love that. I needed more pain meds in the recovery room, which made me verrrrry sleepy. For a very brief moment, I felt guilty about taking up more time in there, but admitted that that was just silly. I should take as long as I need to take! But luckily, it wasn't that much more time. Also, as those of you who went to RR know, I wasn't able to make it tonight. I didn't realize just how far it is from my relatives' houses northwest Denver, so I had already done a lot of driving that day and I was pretty much done with that. I hope you all had a great time! Bella, I LOVE your new name, too. And such an excellent nickname we all get to use now. =)

Hi all you July bandsters! My name is Jennifer and I'm getting banded on July 16 by Dr. Kirshenbaum in the Denver area. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, though. I'm going to stay with relatives in Denver and visit my bridesmaid in CO before my surgery. Since my hubby has so little vacation time, my parents are going to be with me and visit our relatives at the same time. I am very grateful! I'm 37 years old, but feel about 30. I'm in a high tech field as a writer. No kids yet, but I am pretty darn close to my nephews and nieces and spend as much time with them as I can. I've been slightly overweight most of my life with all the weight concentrated in my "spare tire" below my waist. I started slowly, but steadily, gaining weight when I finally stopped growing taller at the age of 22! Yes, I'm a woman who continued to grow until a couple months before her 22nd birthday. I didn't realize that's why I started gaining weight because I thought I stopped growing 4-5 years earlier. Ha! (I used to 6' 0.5", but I've now "shrunk" to 6' even.) So I had 22 years of learning how much food I required to maintain my weight... but that was only while growing. I never learned the amount to eat after that, so I learned to eat too much. Ever since then, I'd gain some (sometimes a lot) until I'd eventually start a diet of some sort and then lose some (not usually all of it). I know *what* to do to lose weight and I know all about nutrition and exercise and blah blah blah. But making those decisions are hard. So I'm really hoping the band will help me make the right decisions more often than I do currently. I have been pretty nervous most of this week for very irrational reasons. My body feels stressed. My rational, conscious brain knows this is all a good thing, but the irrational gut/sub-conscious just doesn't want to give up my dysfunctional relationship with food! Luckily, my conscious is overruling my sub-conscious. :cool: Best of luck to everyone! (Sorry I got so wordy here.) I hope everyone's surgery went/goes well!

Hi July bandsters! I'll go and introduce myself on the other list that Penny started, but I wanted to be sure someone adds me to the July 16th date for surgery. Thank you!

Wow, you folks are wonderful! Not to mention prolific. :smile2: It's hard to keep up with this thread. (I guess it doesn't help that I have a deadline at work this week... which got slipped until the week I'm in Colorado, but oh well.) Thank you everyone for the welcome and kind words. Everyone is too kind. And a special shout out to GreenChrysalis whom I've known online for... what is it now, 13 years?? She's met my husband (I met him from the same group) in person before, but not me. That's something I have to fix! Depending on how I feel and what my family plans are on the 16th, I'm going to try to meet everyone at Round Robin. I'm staying with relatives in Denver and my parents are going to be there, too (to support me), so I'm kind of at their mercy. And our relatives are very close and love all spending time together. So, I don't know if I'll be able to sneak away. But I'm going to try! Lotza and FW, I am SO with you right now on struggling on the low carb diet. I did a low carb diet to lose weight in 1999 and I remember the initial adjustment period being tough and awful, but for some reason, the last two days have been killing me. I keep on thinking I'm eating enough to satisify my hunger, but I have been hungry a lot, so I don't know what is up with that. Maybe I need more cheese. :redface: (Ack, but cheese is so much better with just a little bit of bread, meep!) Anyway, as a friend of mine said "the stakes are higher this time" on my low carb diet, so I will not take a single bite of bread (or similar). But man oh man, this is TOUGH. Night night!

Sorry for the delay, work got busy. I'm actually staying with my relatives in Denver, so unfortunately, I can't recommend a hotel. My parents are going to visit our relatives then, too, so they will be there with me so my DH doesn't have to take time off work (he has so little vacation time, but I have more). Our relatives live in western Denver and Arvada. I suppose I'll be in the recovery room when you start your surgery. I'll be thinking of you! If you want to try and meet up after you're done recovering, let me know. It might not be a bad idea to talk with someone who's going through the same thing. If you're interested, send me a private message and I'll give you my cell phone number. I fly back home Saturday morning, but I imagine you'll be going back to SLC before then, eh?