Jodi_620

As far as being able to eat bread, it does not get stuck for everyone. What gets stuck for me may not necessarily get stuck for you. You will have to try a little piece and see how it does for you. My doctor said that toasting bread helps some of his patients. I almost never eat bread because I am watching my carbs. As Jachut said, bread fills you up fast and I feel like it is better to fill up on more nutrient rich foods like Protein, veggies or fruit. If I do eat bread it is the 100% whole wheat wrap bread (I use it to make a chicken wrap or as a pizza crust). As far as cereal goes, I haven't had any problem with cereal getting stuck or swelling up. Oatmeal is a great choice and Kashi Go Lean is high in protein. I have found that cereal doesn't keep me satisfied as long though.

It is nothing like throwing up. You feel stuck when it is happening but you are not gagging or wretching like when you vomit. The slime comes up on its own and you can feel the it oozing up from your stomach into your throat...I always want to try and swallow hard to get it to go down but it never works. You have to spit it out and it is very thick and hard to spit out completely...Not pleasant at all. :biggrin:

You are probably eating too fast, your bites are too big or you are not chewing enough. Or maybe you are just really tight ( I am tight in the morning still tight but looser at lunch time and fine in the evenings) What happens is that the food gets stuck and your body produces mucus to try and dislodge the food. The mucus then backs up into your mouth. I have slimed a few times trying to swallow pills that were too big.

Definitely! I have a hard time swallowing water if I am stressed out.

Liquids generally flow right through the band. Mushies are better but not that filling. And of course solids are best. Whether you feel restriction before you get a fill or two remains to be seen (we are all different in that aspect.) I didn't feel real restriction until my second fill.

I would give it a day or two then call True Results and confirm that everything has been sent. Then give it at least a week before calling the insurance company.

That is perfectly normal Jaime. But it won't be so bad. After surgery, you will have to take baby steps while introducing the food back into your diet and it is not likely that you'll forget...not in the beginning anyway. But there probably will come a day when you are in a rush and swallow something too quickly and get an excellent reminder not to do it again. It is a learning process and it sounds like you will do just fine.

I had my second fill during TOM and I had absolutely no problem.

The first thought I had when I read your original post was that your bites were too big. I was told that the bites you take should be about the size of the fingernail on your pinky finger, although mine are slightly bigger than that. Once you are banded you will get the hang of it. You won't really need to chew salad greens, as much as you will the denser foods like meats.

It depends on how much internal swelling you have post-op. It sounds like you were fortunate in that you did not have a lot of post-op swelling. It may take one or more fills before solids will keep you satiated for long periods of time.

Give it just a little more time, it takes a while for some to get their appetite back. Just get as much protein in as you can handle and keep sipping on water so you wont get dehydrated.

You know, I had the same issue in the beginning and I know that there was a thread on this at the time with others who had too. For the first month or so, I would get people commenting on my weight loss but I knew the scale hadn't been moving. At the time, I just decided that because they knew I had the surgery, they were just saying these things to encourage me. But then I noticed that my clothes were getting looser. I am not sure what it is that allows us to get smaller but not see any weight difference but I know that others have been through this too. Some suggested it was muscle gain, but I hadn't really started any exercises at the time so I know that at least for me, that was not the case.

Your band can slip and you may have reflux, pain, lack of weight loss OR Your pouch can stretch which would allow you to eat more But as MacMadame said, you can not stretch your band. What you are describing sounds like either a leak or a problem with your port. You should ask your doctor what is going on.

The band will not stop your head hunger but once you reach restriction, you will not be physcially able to eat a lot of food at one time. However, the band will not be able to make you eat the right foods and keep you from eating between meals, you won't be hungry between meals but you will be able to graze (pick) if you allow yourself to. I was worried about it too but I have been doing great. If you are not able to channel your addiction to something healthy on your own, you may want to consider counseling.

I was hooked on Diet Pepsi and I quit cold turkey on day-one of my pre-op diet. I though it was going to be the hardest thing to do (I drank around six cans or more a day). But it wasn't too hard, after getting through three days of headaches from the caffeine withdrawal I was just fine. But if you are drinking regular Coke, you are having to battle two types of addiction, the caffeine addiction and the sugar addiction. Try switching to diet Coke first, then start alternating caffeine free Diet coke and Regular Diet coke weening yourself off the caffeine slowly Then start adding band-friendly drinks in between your caffeine/sugar free Cokes (home brewed caffeine free tea, Crystal Light or Water are good choices), first one glass in between then two....

Exercise, especially walking really helps me with stress. I was also getting very moody, like contant PMS. I started taking supplements that were recommended to me by my doctor about three weeks ago and they have been working wonderfully. (the supplement is SAM-E, a little pricy but worth it to me!-they were $40 for 60 tablets at CVS)

Your band is empty and you are in the healing phase, not weight loss phase. The band will not start working until you get at proper restriction, that may or may not happen after the first fill, it can take more than one fill to get where you need to be. Until then you need to use willpower. You shouldn't be drinking with your meal and you should not eat solids until your doctor says it is OK. Symtoms of slippage can vary from pain, to reflux, to no weight loss. You should be up front with your doctor about everything.

******NAME**********START WGHT****CURRENT WGHT*******GOAL********LBS. LOST ****************:eek:*************:tt2:************:crying:*********:cool2:* 1dayatime..........263............261............243............2 2BHealthE!.........194............179............194............0 ahsem2bme..........244............244............225............0 aJoneen............223............216............213............7 Aphrodite1984......208............208............190............0 Ariel..............199............196.4..........180..........2.6 ArmyWife4life......209.5..........209.5..........190............0 Barb12590..........228............218............213...........10 Bea1128............210.5..........205.5..........188............5 blueriley..........206............206............190............0 Brandymom1234......227............151.9..........135..........4.1 Caramia71..........208............202............195............6 cQQlgirl...........194............192............180............2 Crzytchr...........281............272............265............9 DebinFl............181............181............168............0 georgiagirl........245............229............220...........16 HarleyGirl.........188............185............175............3 HeatherA...........210.5..........202.1..........200..........8.4 HeatherO...........155............144............140...........11 Ivyrose325.........212............212............199............0 Jazzyywan..........255............255............190............0 Jodi_620...........196............179............177...........17 KikiVal315.........237.5..........229............220..........8.5 Lana24.............208............195............185............0 laurigee...........180............176............160............4 Leslie2Lose........220............214............205............6 lindar172 .........274.2..........262.6..........256.........11.6 LisaB..............205.5..........196............180.........10.5 livn4thm...........235............233............210............2 Long2bthin.........248............231............230...........17 Luu2008............203............199.5..........183..........3.5 Mamanmidwife.......299............286............280...........13 mamato3............186............186............170............0 MarinaBleu.........226.5..........226.5..........216............0 memom..............210............210............170............0 Minxz..............299............286............280............9 mominlv13..........299.8..........286.4..........280.........13.4 Momof5.............192.5..........187.5..........175..........5.0 nip50..............175............168............160............7 NukeChik...........218............218............208............0 NurseNiki..........258............246............239...........12 odamay.............242............242............225............0 paige65............252............242............235...........10 Peaches11..........205............205............194............0 pj_txlady..........220............220............200............0 Redtulips3.........180............171............167............9 Renee74............214............213............199............7 Renewedhope........171............167............150............4 reif78.............294............195............185............0 savimama...........216............216............200............0 shaversd...........230.5..........225............210..........5.5 SpecialK...........294............286............280............8 Sunshine2..........177............171............167............6 Tess...............304............299...........280.............5 thatDEgirl.........211............202.6..........195..........8.4 tp78...............201............192............180............9 Turler.............225............217............210............8 wendyw.............192............188............172............4 wowox7.............195............183............170...........12 WyominGirl.........327............321............312............6

If it is like mine, they will go over all of your pre-op tests, review preparation for surgery day, review post-op care and schedule your first post-op visit. Mine also did a body scan but I am not sure if all surgeons do this. (You take off all your clothes, step into what looks like one of those photo booths you see in an airport, close the curtain, then the machine scans your entire body and they get a computer image of your body mass). My surgeon also took my picture, he does progress pictures and creates a little journal for me to keep when I reach goal. As far as all of the people involved in surgery including anesthesiologist, I met them all after I checked into the hospital. They each came in one-by-one and introduced themselves and explained what their role will be while I signed paperwork.

This one? http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/what-if-i-decided-too-lose-weight-first-78308/

Why so much Water? I shoot for 64 oz. and I don't always get even that much in--yet my weight loss has been steady. How often and when do you weigh yourself?

From what I have seen and experienced, many people don't notice a difference with their first fill. As bamagal said, they have to take it slowly with fills. Won't your surgeon let you come back sooner? Mine tells me that if after a week, I feel like I need more, I can call. We have all been through this, it is a normal part of the process-be patient, your sweet spot will come.

I don't have Tricare but I was approved for surgery and that is about what I had to pay out of pocket too. My surgeon required $3,000 down and after all the other bills came in it post-surgery, it all added up to a little over $4,000

Yeah, it took me about a week and a half before I could comfortably lie down in bed. I slept propped up on the sofa...

Lauren. I started my pre-op per my surgeon's instructions which was two weeks liquid Protein. I was worried like you, sure I was going to fail. And I won't lie, following the pre-op diet was extremely difficult. Post-op was easier with the band in place (two more weeks of liquids then two weeks mushies) but once I was on solids, I was fine. If you are a carb addict and your doctor is prescribing a protein pre-op diet, I recommend keeping those white carbs out of your diet as long as you can keep it up post-op. It really does help keep the head hunger/cravings away.