*Love*

I wouldn't worry about it yet. Mine is in my lower belly ares & it changes from week to week. It was sticking out, then it was indented, then flush, then indented...

I used a straw or a plastic juice box after surgery. They kept me from guzzling my liquids. I didn't notice an abundance of gas.

Work with your band & eat only one cup of food every 3-4 hours, until you can get to restriction. You & your body will get use to it. :thumbup:

I totally agree. I did tons of research & would not risk losing my entire retirement fund until I knew exactly what I was getting into.

I don't know if it's something lacking with the doctors, nutrutionists, the pre-op meetings...they don't seem to be sharing enough appropriate information....BEFORE surgery. Something is missing for sooo many woman. They are not getting all the information they need to be sucessful. They are not told that a band is a tool, not a miracle cure. This does not mean, eat whatever you want, whenever you want, after surgery & the band will magically stop you. It means, you must follow your outcare instructions to the T. You absolutely do not want to risk stretching your pouch or causing it to slip, due to the mentally that: if I can eat it, it is fine. It isn't fine!! Save those food you just have to have now, as milestone rewards in tiny portions. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!! Once at goal weight, you should be able to have them more regularly, if you even want them anymore by then. The weeks between surgery & your first fill is for healing. If you lose weight during that time, it is a bonus, not a rule. Before & after fill, you have to work with your band. It can be hard work, but I find getting into a routine is helpful for me. My doctor told me to: 1. Eat every 3-4 waking hours. 2. Make nutritious choices. 3. Always eat the protien first. He said you never want to get hungry, because that is the sign that tells your body it is not getting enough food, so it goes into hybernation mode & stores for later. My body was in hybernation mode for 3 years. That is how I ended up here. My aftercare package also gave meal suggestions & suggests eating 1/4 - 1 cup of food. To me, all this means that I will never stretch out my $18,000 pouch by ever eating more than a cup of high Protein food at any 3-4 hours sitting. I follow these rules strictly & it works for me. I eat Breakfast, I have my alloted Snacks, I eat my pre-homemade dinners that I froze in one cup containers, I never let myself get hungry, and I am starting to get more active. I eat off of a dessert plate or bowl with baby cutlery. I take the time to savour my small portion of food & typically finish after my husband. It's only 3-4 hours to the next meal. That is only a short wait, during which I am not hungry, since I am eating what I should, when I should. Between meals is when we are suppose to squeeze some fruit in. It only takes a half hour to digest. I am a prime example that, if you stick dilligently to your plan, you can lose with or without a fill. I was able to put off my first fill for quite a while because I am still losing an average of 1 lb a week. That is good enough for me.

Surely you have noticed that almost everday someone posts distraught that they are not losing weight before their first fill, & don't know why. It would be nice if we all got all the information up front. Since many don't seem to have it, I thought I'd share some. Please feel free to add in anything I have missed.

My doctor told me to: 1. Eat every 3-4 waking hours. 2. Make nutritious choices. 3. Always eat the protien first. He said you never want to get hungry, because that is the sign that tells your body it is not getting enough food, so it goes into hybernation mode & stores for later. My body was in hybernation mode for 3 years. That is how I ended up here. I follow these rules & it works for me.

Try putting only 1 cup portions on a dessert plate or bowl. When it's gone, you are done.

I was on the other side of the couple & I drink my lunch during the week.

It goes in spurts & starts. I sent an email (twice) two weeks ago & got an anwer on my answering machine, then I got 4 follow up messages from 3 different people...and I didn't even have a question anymore.

This website is great! It is just loaded with information. :huh2: I know I don’t have as much to lose as most & hope to prevent getting to that point. Here’s my story: After high shool, …after moving out & starting to work, I started putting on weight. I think that is probably pretty common. No rules, you could eat what you wanted. I yo-yo’d from 125 to 135 –157 (back & fourth) - 182 at the end of my 1st marriage. I became a chronic insomniac & to this day need medication to sleep at night. I inherited migraines from my grama & have had pretty much one form of headache daily or another for the last 20 years. (That is a lot of Advil.) This makes it really hard to have the energy to exercise. For me 157lbs was the magic number. If I hit it, I would start to have trouble breathing. I would usually start dieting at that point. Nutri-System worked really well for me, twice. By the time I was widowed by my 2nd husband at 29 years of age, I was a Weightwatchers Lifetime member. I would usually stick to a program for at least 3 months. The more I lost, the longer I stuck with it & the better I did. I drank a lot of Water, did not exercise & still did well. I had a couple more bad relationships with really angry men, plus 2 more failed marriages to more angry men. I am an emotional eater. I have had a lot to be emotional about. I had a Tubal Ligation just before my 35th bday. It was a laproscopic surgery. Other than several hours of wicked cramping & nausea, it was a breeze. My doctor’s bed side manner left something to be desired. After the surgery he popped in & told me the surgery went well & by the way I have 3 fibroids & then he disappeared. What?! What`s a fibroid?! Three years ago, I had a chest cold just after my 38th bday. I went on a scuba diving trip to Roatan, still sick. After the 1st night there, the symptoms pretyy much disappeared (weird) & I had a great vacation. When I took my 1st step out of the airport door after landing back home, I suddenly had trouble breathing again. I became & remained very ill for 3 months. I couldn’t even sit up in bed. It was like I had a bad chest cold, PLUS the flu, PLUS an ear infection PLUS severe stomach pains. Several hospital visits & no one could figure out what was wrong. They were able to eliminate all the nasty options. It was decided that the stomach thing was an ulcer. I realized the pain started within hours of taking Tylenol for my fever. Apparently, Tylenol hurts me. I lost a lot of muscle mass being flat on my back. Not that I really had any to begin with. I continued to have dizzy spells for some time. It is as if my body has gone into hibernation. No metabolism. I am naturally mellow, laid back & low energy, so this is not helping. I had a sleep study in early 2006, which confirmed my chronic insomnia. In November 2006, after years of super heavy periods & major cramping 2 days per month, I had Uterine Fibroid Embolization surgery. That is where small beads are pumped into the fibroid blood supply through the artery in your leg. They block the blood supply & the fibroids die in place. The worst cramps of my life (I have not had children) started half way into the surgery & lasted for hours. I was almost good as new 24 hours later. My periods are soooo mild now. I am glad I had the surgery. Considering everything I have been through, it`s amazing that I actually have my head on straight. J I don`t smoke (anything). I rarely drink. I don`t drink coffee. I don`t go out to the bars. We may eat out once a month. (We snack at night.) I keep low fat foods in the house. I climb up & down the 74 stairs in the work parking lot every week day, huffing & puffing with blood pulsing in my head. I have a great gym set-up in the basement. When my husband is on days, we exercise together 5-6 nights a week. I have zero interest in doing it, but I know I have to for the rest of my life… so if he changes into his workout clothes, I do too. He has enough motivation for both of us. He is very supportive of me & takes great care of me. I don`t know what I would do without him. It took me 20 years to find him. It doesn’t matter what I do, the weight won’t budge. I have gone back to the old programs more than 3 times over the last 3 years & no matter how good I am…even with the exercise, I may lose .25 of a lb the odd week. I have tried the Soup diet, grapefruit diet, …fat blockers, appetite suppressants…fasting, flushes………………………… Struggling constantly to keep my weight down, while sleep deprived, having trouble breathing & with headache pain, has become more than exhausting. At the rate I am gaining 10 lbs per year… I will be in serious danger in no time. I need to get control of this now. I am happy with what is on the inside, but not the outside. I am very happily married this time. I want to be able to leave the house (not hide anymore), ride my motorcycle comfortably, breath, fit into my wetsuit so I can enjoy the peace in scuba diving. I want to be able to enjoy my life again. I want to get joy out of it the way my husband does. I am hoping that the lap-band is just the tool I need to help me nudge the scale in the downward direction for a change, as well as help me with my asthma, headaches & insomnia. My doctor asks me if I am losing weight yet every time I see her. She thinks it`s all related. I am 'out of town' for the clinic I have contacted. I faxed in my medical / personal history questionnaire last Tuesday night & had a short phone consultation the next day, at the end of which I picked a date for next month & was asked how I would like to make my non-rufundable deposit. Today (Monday), I got a package with the forms for the lab work & ECG (which has to be done 30 days before the surgery) + surgery info. I would have though they would want to see the test results before taking a booking. I had the lawork & ECG done this afternoon. NOW, I can start getting excited - My surgery is on May 22, 2008. (It's the best time for us, since my husband already has vacation booked for that week.) (I apologize for the long intro. I am typically an internet one word or one sentence kinda gal.)

Stephanie was great. She was my surgery nurse too. I had a chance to thank her for making me feel so comfortable. Did you find the pre-op scale off too? Where were you sitting in the presentation room? Beside me? What did you think of Jody's delivery? Inspirational...not!

I finally went in for my first fill yesterday. It was a breeze & fast. It did not hurt at all. I could feel something I could not identify, but not a pain or prick. I had a bit of a short twinge about 10 minutes later. Between their pre-op scale & their fill room scale, I lost 9.7lbs. On my scale I lost almost 17lbs. I think the pre-op scale is out 7 lbs. It was the day of my surgery.