terrasmom

You are so cute! The doctors are very bossy when it comes to this surgery so many things are well out of your hands. Just carefully follow what they tell you and all will be well! Best of luck to you!

You will have normal ups and downs in your weight, it has to do with water retention, salt intake, calorie intake and exercise. It's all a delicate balance. May I suggest that you weigh once a week and see a better picture of the direction you are heading that way? Otherwise count your calories. Make sure you get 800 to 1000 calories no more for rapid weight loss. Eat your protein first and realize this is all a process, not an instant fix. It took a while to get here, it will take a while to get to the land of the formerly heavy. Good news is: you WILL get there and you are well on your way!

You need to go see your doctor! Yes you may have stretched out the pouch; it's certainly possible but it is much more likely that your weight loss made the pouch less effective since it shrinks down the stomach area that the pouch is controlling. Sometimes the band has an issue and leak the fill put into them too. Your doctor is the only place to get the problem resolved once and for all.

Yes this is normal. Your body has just had a serious trauma/surgery! It is doing the best it can and sometimes that means it's hoarding fluids. Just follow your doctors instructions very carefully, let yourself heal up inside and be gentle and careful with yourself. It will all happen in good time. Six or seven days from now you should feel much better. Call your doctor's nurse for further tips if you wish.

Do not over-do or try to do too much too soon! You sound like you are doing just fine to me. My doctor says we do not have to exercise at all, but if we want to he recommends short little bursts like 15 minutes done 2 or 3 times a day. Then stop! When you have lost your first 20 pounds you'll notice a big difference in your ability to exercise and you can do more then. The more you loose the easier your exercising will get and you'll come to love it. But remember, "inch by inch it's a cinch"! One inch at a time!! Best of luck to you!

You sound like a diabetic if you are hungry all the time; worth finding out if you are or are not if you don't know. I had the same experience as you are having (I am diabetic) to the letter. It's just a blood sugar thing and he's right, it will pass with the first fill. The band is wide open now so it is as if you do not have it in yet at all, that's very accurate. At your first fill you will notice a remarkable difference. That said, do not rush this process! You just had major abdominal surery and it takes time to get healed up enuf to get that fill! Soon you too will be dealing every single meal with how many ounces you are eating (4 to 6, buy a scale and measure them) and you will then see how very little food can fill you up completely. Until then do not loose hope. Have some patience. You are doing great and your success is on the way!

The band size is determined by your physician when he operates on you. The band size that is right for you is the one you will get. You do not get to vote on it or have a say in it nor should you. They put in what they know to be best for you and then you work with that. Later you will not notice nor care about what size band you have! It's not even a conversation or a thought once it's done. Some of the online impressions you get will not be right for you nor true in your case. For example, my doctor insisted that I spend one night in the hospital, the night after the surgery, and initially I thought that that was just a bit overdone after reading all the stuff online about how easy this was. Once I was in the situation I was darn glad I stayed overnight where they could give me medication instantly for nausea and headache! The following day I was great, but having medical professionals around for the first 24 hours was a good thing. This is a major, life changing event. All for the good, but it's a big deal, this surgery. They keep you very comfortable but there is recovery involved and probably about 6 to 7 days after it you feel closer to normal than at first. Good luck!

You will get a different answer on this from everyone because everyone has to figure out for themselves what to eat! There is no one way to do this, it's as different and individual as you are. There is no post surgery lap band eating list/plan for you to follow! You must try different things, slowly and carefully, and see what your lap band tolerates well and what you feel full easily on. 4 to 6 ounces is a meal, buy yourself a scale and weigh everything you put in your mouth. If you have Protein as a part of your meal, eat it first. That's it! My doctor suggested 800 calories a day if your wanting to loose quickly. The lap band makes that possible; you feel full easily. Your choices after that are up to you. Good, common sense (the lap band is very tight in the mornings, heavy foods like steak don't work well) and counting calories and quantities will work for you now.

Best of luck to you honey. I know it's very difficult at first, but you will cross that finish line eventually and all of this will be a vague memory then. You just don't want it to cost you your health in the process. Weight loss of 3 pounds a week is about average (which annoys me horribly) but there you have it. I still have to watch what I eat and eat salads and make a small effort at exercising and then it all goes much better. The exercising seems to make the weight fly downward. I only do 20 minutes on a stationary bicycle every two or three days, or I get into the pool and swim a little, but even then I loose twice as much if I make that small effort than I do if I don't do it. You hang in there. I am so relieved to know you'll get unfilled enuf to eat at a normal level. Congrats!!

I would not question him on this one. You sure don't want an over-fill. The amount of saline going into the lap band is determined by the size of the band put into you personally. I got 3 cc's of liquid the first fill because that's what my size band considered one fill. It's a larger, newer band. Everyone's is different. It's not the fills anyway, they just make the band a more stringent tool for you to use, but what counts is how you change how you are living and eating and exercising. The lapband keeps you on that path but it does not do it for you. The fills help but they are just a perk, not the solution. Good luck!

I would drink it before myself, or some kind of small drink before exercising so that I have some calories/nutrients available already. Try one way; if it does not work well for you, try it the other. It's a very individualized thing. The GNC lady is not a medical professional and every person is different. Not to mention just working out at all has huge benefits, regardless of when you drink a supplement.

OMG do NOT eat pizza darling!! For goodness sake here is why; (1) you will never loose weight eating pizza, lap band or no lap band, and (2) it will really hurt! I ate a small ham sandwich too soon post op and thought it would kill me for a few hours. I had to walk and walk and walk to distract myself from the pain. The whole internal area is raw and sore and trying to heal around this strange band that's been sutured onto it. It's not healed yet. Survive on the liquid drinks and do a bit of pudding or jello if you must. I did OK with chicken noodle soup too. I understand the crazies you get on liquid diets, but trust me you are about to give yourself a very painful and potentially expensive lesson by scarfing down pizza, breads, or anything else of substance this soon. Please don't!

Go with the most experienced doctor!! DO NOT, under any conditions, do a study, or let someone just starting out do this delicate procedure on you. It's life changing and you will be living with it daily; you need someone who knows what they are doing! Follow up care is worth it. This is major surgery honey, this is not day surgery. It's a BIG deal!! Make sure you have a good doctor for follow up help and fills and such. Pay whatever it takes for the best. You should not need many fills, only as you get thinner once you have had the first one. Good luck!!

You should call the place that banded you, make an appointment and go in immediately to see him about this. If it's not a band thing, no harm done. But it could be and you must know if so! Acid reflux is a frequent band issue but why it would crop up now all of a sudden? One prevacid a day can cure that -- but talk to that banding physician would be my advice. Call now!!

YES, it's a problem, and YES go get it unfilled enough so you can keep nourishment down! What you are doing by allowing this overfill to continue can be very dangerous to your body and it also sets you up to resist weight loss in the future because your body will go into starvation mode on that little nutrition and hoard everything you happen to give it for nourishment. To loose weight you need to eat like any other dieting person, that is 800 to 1000 calories a day. You still have to exercise and diet with the lap band, it just helps you not binge and over-do it. But get yourself unfilled down a little before you kill off your esophagus and worse!!

Yes, he does a great job. If you need a lot of hand holding he's probably not your guy; if you need a fabulous surgeon, he's IT. Very professional, very nice, not chatty, gets it done and done right. I stayed overnight like he said to; I thought it was really not necessary and could not have been more glad I did. Everything went perfectly for me and I highly recommend him.

I think coffee is just fine, have heard of no one giving up coffee. I adore diet coke, so I really feel your pain on that one. The truth is you CAN drink it, but sometimes it's no fun anymore because the carbonation can be really painful. I've tried pouring it out from long distances to let the carbonation get out some; I've tried letting it sit out and have barely any in it. Nothing has worked really. Frequently when I drink it, the carbonation gets trapped under the band or somewhere in there and it hurts. I find if I take small sips of it and make myself burp quietly afterwards I do just fine. The key is not to deprive yourself of everything you love for the band; just have less of it all. The band is the ticket to less of everything. Try different things and see what works for you. I think it's a very individual question in this case. Good luck!

I would clear it with your doctor before doing the trampoline. I would not want to have the lap band shake loose or move downward! I do not think it's very aerobic but one indicator would be to take your heart rate. Get your training heart rate off of google (just type in the question for the formula for it) and see how close you are to that after jumping on the trampoline. 20 to 30 minutes at a training heart rate == weight loss. Good luck!

My doctor says only this: eat your protein first when you eat a meal. Since you are going to have only 4 to 6 ounces of food at one time, then you want to take care of your biological needs first. Fat loss/weight comes off of the entire body, muscles included. So give them protein to rebuild themselves and then eat the other foods. Just always eat the protein first. That's it. Nothing complex! Good Luck!!

Hi everyone! I've been banded since 4/25/08, and have lost 19 pound in the month that followed. I am slowly learning the ropes of this thing and enjoying the process (most of the time). My doctor is Dr. Felix Spiegel in Houston. I have an appointment with the Nutritionist on Friday because now I've got the cure (the band) but I am no wiser about food, so I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say! Dr. Spiegel says as long as you keep the calories from 800 to 1000 a day you will still loose weight; it cannot fly off fast enough for me, but it's truly a huge undertaking that impacts every area of your life. Please stop by and say hello!

You have to count calories with the lap band to loose weight. 800 to 1000 calories a day, no more, and you will loose weight. If you are gaining weight you are eating too many calories, period. You can count your calories yourself or you can pay weight watchers and count points witht them, either way you must keep track. Light aerobic activity now and again is helpful. You are in this for the long haul. Keep working at finding out what works for you. Don't give up!

You go ahead and have the surgery, Girlfriend! This is for your life, to prolongue it and to make it better. You are so worth it!! If your husband has issues with it, perhaps he's worried that when you get thin and beautiful you will no longer want him? Whatever his deal is just reassure him and continue to pack your bags! You do this for you!! Do not let this small setback keep you from this life enhancing surgery.

As your personal doctor, but we had to have pre-made liquid shakes only with Dr. Spiegel, nothing that was powder that we make into the liquid shakes. Those gum up later inside you. There is Optifast and Slim Fast for starters that work.

A wedge. A foam wedge that you can get from a medical supply store that sells things like wheelchairs, etc. I slept on my wedge because it was too painful to sleep on my side like I had always done before. It was very helpful and easier to get up and off of than laying flat on the mattress is. Use a pillow to hold against you as you get in and out of cars or up and down from anything at all. Body suits for women have elastic that presses against you and can feel good too.

Call your doctor and see what he'd do. I would call within two weeks of the fill if it's still doing this to you and get it unfilled a little bit as needed myself.