Jodi_620

Main ingredient in many of them are bleached flour and sugar so I avoid them. I avoid the packaged stuff but when I do have them I buy the South Beach Diet snacks which are much lower in sugar than most and they use whole grains and have a little extra protein and fiber.

Burping does no harm and some people experience a lot of burping after surgery...some like me hiccup alot. It is normal and harmless. PB'ing is when you burp and undigested food comes up. That is the kind of burping you need to worry about. That happens when you eat too fast, eat too much or do not chew well so continuing such bad habits could cause problems with the band.

I am a stomach sleeper and since I have healed I don't have any problems with it. I was told that once healed, I should be able to sleep and move normally. You were banded about a month before me, are you still feeling pain?

I would have said wait it out but if you are showing signs of dehydration then you should probably get a slight unfill right away. I woke up too tight the day after my last fill. I was unable to get anything down including my saliva so I know how miserable that can be. A slight unfill did the trick.

The caffeine. The two reasons given are that it can cause nausea (post-op) and also it is a stimulant so it can stimulate your appetite.

Way to go Klutzyhazel, 9 1/2 lbs is fantastic!

The only thing I can't handle with chinese food are the fibrous veggies especially broccoli. And also, I skip the rice. Chicken dishes might be best, pork and beef have the potential to be more difficult. Some people can't handle shrimp but I do fine with it. Also, I don't order spicy dishes anymore because of the no drinking rule.

My primary physician did all my blood work and my EKG then provided the release letter to my surgeon. They looked at a lot of things mainly the purpose to to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery and that there is nothing that could make you a poor candidate (untreated thyroid disease for example). I didn't have to see a pulmonologist.

This is a personal decision. Personally I would wait. I would want to do it when I had time to truly focus on healing and eating right and of course I would want to be close to my own doctors in case there are any post-surgery complications. I needed to develop a routine and I don't think that I could have done that while traveling.

I hope they don't wait too long. Thyroid problems can really make life miserable. When I experienced the hair loss problems (I guess it was around five years ago now) I also started having skin problems (dry cracked bleeding skin), dry eyes, eyebrows falling out and the most severe anxiety that I have ever had along with panic attacks. I also was unable to lose weight and I had zero energy. My ex-endocrinologist kept telling me that it was just something I had to learn to live with. As the symptoms stacked up over a few months, I finally found my current Endo and he upped my dosage and within about 4-5 weeks I felt like a totally new person.

Yes, go here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/before-after-lap-band-surgery-pictures-only-4642/

Cessation of weight loss, abdominal pain and port site infection are the most common symptoms. Don't wait any longer, go see your doctor.

I've had hairloss related to hypothyroidism in the past. It is a common symptom of a thyroid imbalance whether it be Hypo or Hyper. If you were put on a medication when this problem was found last summer (which you should have been)then losing weight since could have caused your dosage to need to be adjusted (mine had to be lowered due to weight loss). If you were not put on medication then the hair loss could be due to ignoring the imbalance. Either way, proper treatment will resolve it. I am surprised that this was not checked during your pre-op tests for surgery. It was for me. Most check this becaue if you have a thyroid imbalance, specifically if you are hypothyroid, and it is not being treated properly it could hinder your weight loss with the lap band. You should see a good Endocrinologist to treat your thyroid problems.

It is common to be tight in the morning then loosen up as the day goes on. Try drinking somethin hot first a lot of people here have said that helps. Also make sure you are taking small bites and chewing well especially in the morning.

Nah, just be patient and keep going in for fills until you reach restriction...you'll get there! When were you banded?

On average it takes four fills. Can you go in for another yet?

You have to figure out at what weight someone your height needs to be at to be in the normal weight category (to put you in a BMI of, at the most, 24.9). You can do that here Calculate your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator. Take that weight and subtract it from your starting weight to figure out how many pounds overweight you were. Thenfigure out what percentage of that you have lost. That will tell you how much of your excess weight was lost.

I did not cook during pre-op, period. DH had to fend for himself and when he ate, I took a walk and told him to have everything cleaned up and out of sight before I got back. He was pretty good about it too which is surprising. I did not have any "easy to eat" food in the house. I guzzled Water all the time and drank chicken broth whenever it got to be a little too much. If you are allowed broth, I recommend using the broth from actual chicken noodle Soup (I used Progresso) and straining the noodles and stuff out. It know that it is wasteful but believe it or not that is more sastifying that the purchased broth. You can prepare this now and freeze it in small servings. If allowed, sugar free popsicles were a life saver too. That is the closest I got to chewing in four weeks. It is hard especially when you don't have the support but we are all here for you!

This is very common. It is best to start out slowly. If your doctor allows it and you think you are ready then yes I would get another fill. Mine tells me to wait one week and if at that time I still feel like I need another fill then go ahead and schedule it.

I quit all of my vices within three weeks time. On day 1 of my pre-op diet I quite Diet Pepsi, Caffeine and sugar I had my last cigarette the night before surgery and of course since then have kicked my addiction to food/emotional eating. About a month or two post-op I went through a couple of weeks of being a ball of nerves and desperately looking for an outlet. Admittedly alcohol came to mind a couple times but I made it through without picking up any new bad habits. I guess my only regret it taking on all of that at once but I figure what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! I am very proud of myself now.

I guess I was...I wasn't expected to lose weight prior to the pre-op diet. I think I may have gained around 3 pounds during the "last supper" week and then I lost 13 pounds during the pre-op diet. Since surgery I have done great and wouldn't want to lose any faster than I have.

I had Last Supper syndrome. From insurance approval to day one of pre-op I believe I had 1 1/2 week to eat all my favorite foods and boy did I ever! I had all of my favorite rich, fattening and sugary foods and ordered take-out just about every night. I ate at all my favorite fast food places for lunch every day and whatever I wanted for Breakfast. I enjoyed all my junk food in between. At the time it was like I was saying goodbye to all these foods but now I realize that there is not much that I ate during that time that I cannot eat now I am just satisfied on about 1/3 or less of what I would eat then. But it did not seem to hinder my success. I do wonder if my pre-op diet might have been easier if I had eased into it but I made it through.

I will give it to you straight. During the pre-op diet you will be hungry. It will be difficult but you can do it. After 3-4 days it does get easier. Keep reminding yourself that it is just a short period of your life and the rewards in the end will be soooo worth it, and believe me they will. I won't lie it is hard and I cried a couple times. I couldn't wait to chew again. But the majority of us have been through it and are proof that it can be done. Come here and get support when you need it. Post-op is a little easier. Right after surgery you do not have much of an appetite. I had to force myself to even drink Water. After a few days you may start to slowly get your appetite back but there is not so much of a calorie restriction so you can have a shake or some broth whenever you are hungry and then when the mushies come it was much easier for me. Then comes Bandster Hell. When you can eat but there is no restriction to keep you from overeating. But once you get a couple fills and you are at restriction you will no longer be hungry all the time. I rarely feel truly hungry and stay satified on three small meals a day. It is a difficult period but when you get there this will be a distant memory and I promise you that it will be worth it.

I was not ordered to quit smoking before surgery, it depends on the doctor. I don't think it has so much to do with the band directly as it does with adding complications to the surgery and healing. I smoked about a pack a day right up until the night before surgery. I didn't have any complications. But with my hiatal hernia surgery I did manage to quit smoking. My diapragm was so weak, for four or five days it was impossible for me to draw in cigarette smoke. To answer your question bethw66, it takes 3-5 days of not smoking to get the nicotene out of your system. Which is why I decided that since I hadn't smoked for five days I was half way there and I would be a fool to start back when I was clear of the chemical addiction. The physical/mental addiction takes a bit longer. They say it takes three weeks to get through that and I guess that is about right. After about a month I rarely even thought about cigarettes. It was hard but it was soooo worth it!!!! My DH keeps saying that was the best part of the surgery.

As you may know, PB'ing is when something gets stuck at the entrance of the pouch and you have pain or the food comes back up (sometimes you burp it up). Sliming is when something gets stuck at the band (too big to pass from the pouch through the band). It gets lodged and your body creates mucus to try and dislodge it. The mucus can't go down so it starts backing up your esophagus. You get this gaggy feeling and you keep feeling like you need to swallow hard to try and get it to go down but it won't go down If the food is really stuck bad the "slime" will eventually come up into your mouth, you can't swallow it because it won't go down so you have to keep spitting. I slime a little after a fill but it is basically just the gaggy feeling with no mucus in the mouth. The worst sliming I ever did was on a pill that was too big and on a chunk of dried apricot.