noahsmomm

Hi folks - I am 4 months post op and I still have a case of 25 strawberry Optifasts (never opened), about 18 vanilla and 12 chocolate. I'd love to give them to someone on the pre-op diet as a gift. I live near Tyrone Mall and will be happy to hand them over. Just respond with you e-mail or phone.

I used to get canker sores/ulcers inside my mouth when I was a kid and then again in college. My doc told me back then that your mouth was often a reflection of what is happening in your stomach, stress, reflux, etc. Well - I think I got my band tightened too much a few weeks ago- ignored it - and then got all these canker sores in my mouth - they hurt like hell! A lot of PBing and burning. Then I took a pill in the middle of the night last night and it got stuck. Finally went down but I sat up burning and mucus going and gagging and dry heaving. Finally went to the ER and they could not find the port but the shot of Zofran and swig of maalox helped enough. I have to do clear liquids till my doc comes into work on Monday for an unfill. Anyone else have canker sores or reflux that you did not know you had until it was too late?

My doctor says - ATKINS only on lapband, but I am so tight I cannot eat the high protein foods - I can usually eat very tiny (1/2 cup) of mostly high carb foods. He says I will just gain weight that way - how can I be eating such small amounts of food and still be gaining???

Most days I am too tight - can't get much but liquid down - PB a lot if I keep trying to eat and yes I chew chew chew. I should probably have an adjustment - but before this last adjustment I was wide open. I am afraid if I do that - I will be back to wide open again. Also - I go days without eating much and then - boom - I can eat anything for a whole day and find myself eating safe foods like mashed potatoes and goopy stuff. It is 6 months in and still haven't found my sweet spot. PLUS I made the mistake of advertising my surgery to everyone who looks at me like - wow - didn't she have surgery? She's still fat as hell!

WHEW! Thank God I posted - you guys make me feel SO MUCH BETTER! I felt like my friend was saying if she can do it why can't I? We are different people - different lives (she is single and no kids - I was always thinner under those circumstances myself, but that is an excuse too) Anyway - I felt like a total loser and my doc also really bullsh--ed me on what he would do for me AFTER the surgery, now it is pretty obvious he wanted the money for the surgery and he is pretty much done. Bummer..... I am going to start writing everything down and I think maybe I am eating a lot less than I am thinking. THANKS!

I had the surgery 2 months ago. I have lost no more than 20 pounds. I have had 3 fills and no real restriction - I can still eat large amounts of food. I called for another fill (unlimited for the first year as part of the overall payment for the surgery) and I can't be seen for 5 weeks. I vent to my friend who had the surgery at the same time and has lost a TON of weight, has good restriction, joined a gym and doing well. She said I am relying on the band too much. I am shocked. I am relying on it for SOMETHING. What is the point otherwise? No I have not worked out with her because I have a 1 year old at home alone with me and have no babysitter to meet her 4 days a week and I am trying the low-carb suggestions, but again, I have tried those before and the reason I got the band in the first place is to help me because I fail at these things. I feel like a total failure. I am so screwed up I cannot even lose weight with a drastic surgical procedure. I feel pretty bad - like I wasted all this money and time and effort for nothing.

I get stuck every day - but my food tends to work its way down eventually, rather than coming back up. It is very painful and uncomfortable - I would rather it come up and be over with! What I need to know is how long can it last? Just like in labor - if I had an idea of how long I had to "hang on" I could make it. I sit at work wondering if I should go home for the day or if it could never be more than 10 minutes! What is longest period of time anyone has had something stuck?

You are doing better than you think - we are looking for miracles (should be after all we have gone through with the band) but it happens in small doses. My friend has a 10cc and she was reluctant to push the doctor for more fills when she still felt no restriction - finally - she has perfect restriction at 9.5 cc's - that is just her! Maybe that is you too...

I was banded July27th. Have had 2 fills - I just now have trouble swallowing sometimes if I don't chew enough or take big bites - then it hurts and feels like a bowling ball going down, but it goes down. So I am going for fill #3 next week - what the heck am I looking to feel? Will I fill like it is sitting stuck on the top of the band and uncomfortable? If the area above the band is full, won't the stomach below still be grumbling? Confused about what to look for..............

Me too - banded June 27th and can eat a whole pizza if I wanted to - lost 12 pounds at first - now I have gained back 5. Feeling discouraged - stupid - plus I told EVERYBODY about eh surgery and they look at me and think "Didn't she have weight loss surgery? Why is she still so damn fat??" I get a fill on Thursday and expecting that it probably won't do much - this is such a long, drawn out process. My friend at work had it done last year - went through all the same stuff with no restriction and not exercising and feeling like it was a waste of time - losing very little - and now - a year later - she is down 75 pounds. It just all sort of happened - she thought it wasn't happening and a year later - she is in a size 12 and she struggled so much that she didn't really notice that it WAS working. If she hadn't had the band - she would probably be UP 25 pounds by now. At first it was like nothing was happening -but now here she is - all thin! It all adds up - just keep doing it!

My surgery was June 27th. I obviously was not pregnant then, but my period came right after and was very light - normal for post op I hear. Now I have VERY sore breasts - the kind of soreness I only had with my last baby - feeling VERY tired, cranky and down - kind of like the flu - but that could be from the trauma of surgery and food changes. Oh - and I am starving!!! Want to eat eat eat all the time. Took a PG test - negative - but I swear I am pregnant! Anyone else????

4 weeks post op here and I woke up from surgery starving. Was starving for days and felt kind of out of my mind with hunger. I was furious about it too = it was all very ugly. Well - the time passed pretty fast and at 12 days I couldn't take it anymore and dove head first into some cottage cheese, pudding, cream soups, etc (2 days early) I admit - I broke the rules and maybe damaged my band and all the money I spent - but I did it and thats the truth. It did go by real fast though. Just nap as often as possible......

I am exactly in the same spot -feel the same way. I have my first fill next Thursday and already preparing that it probably won't be the sweet spot for months and months. The trouble is that I really thought in the beginning that my surgery day was the beginning of a new life, and it was really just the pre-beginning. The real beginning is when you get the fills and it is very disappointing when you have suffered surgery, complications and COST if you are self-pay and you are still fat and barely losing. I am totally with you. All we can do is wait and go with it. Read the one-year and two-year people - they are already there!

I used to be a certified addictions counselor. If you do not have medically supervised detox you could cause damage to your heart or brain - - and you probably will not be able to do it. Check in for detox for a week, then step down to outpatient and then hit AA - it sucks, but it will be over soon enough and at least you don't have to have surgery for this addiction!

I amd 2 and 1/2 weeks post op. Only lost 7 pounds and know it is because I am scarfing down full liquids with lots of carbs and the occasional mashed potatoes and refried Beans with cheese. I can either "go with it" like my doctor said and wait until my first fill - or I can be understandably panicked since I paid 16 thou for this thing and make the effort to lose despite the high carb diet. Can I do lo carb and high Protein without damaing my band? I was thinking soft eggs, cheese, cottage cheese - but that will get old quick - any other suggestions? I am ready to make this damn thing work!

My surgery was June 27th also and I woke up starving - I have been that way the whole time and eating as many full liquids that I can. At my 2 week post op I only lost 7 pounds - after all the HELL I went through I felt like I should have lost 50 and I am so disappointed in this whole thing. I cannot wait for a fill. The full liquids are mostly carbs and I am just going to gain it all back. I also made the mistake of telling everybody about the surgery and no one gets why I am still SO DAMN FAT! I am so bummed...I fell your pain and yes - I have cheated too. It is my mental state and subsequent behavior that got me in this big mess in the first place and it is very slow to change. I hate all the lecturers - aren't they fat too??? Be careful though - cheat on goopy stuff if you have to, don't want to hurt yourself.

I am so pissed! How come I wasn't so lucky? I woke up STARVING - and it wasn't head hunger. I was hungry from day one and struggled for days being angry and depressed over the whole thing. Then - ZOOM - it was over so fast and now I am 2 and 1/2 weeks post op. Struggling with full liquids and eating every chance I am allowed too- all carbs and weight loss is minimal. I can't wait for my first fill - if there is one thing I learned in this whole process is that the band is the preliminary stage and that the real BIG DEAL is the fill date (or dates).....

I amd 2 weeks post op. I am supposed to be on Clear liquids and on the 9th day - went to cream soups/full liquids instead, against my doctors orders. I know - don't do it, follow orders, you are not the medical expert, blah blah blah. I did it - I am still doing it and I feel I have to. The one thing I see over and over is that by doing so - I can damage the band even though I don't "feel" anything. I saw Dr. Ortiz on the doctor's corner and have spent countless hours researching. So then - who admits to eating improperly and then finding out later that their band is damaged or slipped?

Okay foks - didn't mean to start squabbles. It seems every time someone puts out a thread and actually gets an honest answer- people get upset. This is traumatic stuff to us all and we are all sensitive. HeatherO was hard on me- but dammit, she is right. I guess I don't understand why some of us can say "if my doctor said to drink water for 3 months, I would do it" - then why couldn't you do that without the surgery? I think we are all addicts - and for some of us - SURGERY IS ROCK BOTTOM. The truth for me is - I thought it would be for me too and I guess it isn't becuase I am still doing the same behaviors and making the same excuses. It's too late to say "I wasn't ready" - I am ready to be cured of this, but maybe my rock bottom is slippage, erosion, throwing up - or maybe it's death. SAD, but true...........Thanks all.

I was banded last Friday. Went fine, went home the next day, puked all night, re-admitted for 3 days - with no food or water except by IV. (You don't know hunger hell until that happens) Then sent home for a 2 week liquid diet, then 2 week cream diet. Now - here I am - I feel like I was hit by a train, I am dizzy and weak and faint - I have no nutrition in me whatsoever and cannot fathom living like this another 9 days. Water, broth and jello are not doing anything and I have diarrhea to the point that I am wearing a diaper to work today! Everyone who has worked with my surgeon says he is way more strict than other doctors in the nation, but that he gets results - real true weight loss. I see other posters who are eating after surgery and doing fine - why is my docotor's plan so much better - is starving to death the best plan? Help - I am feeling depressed, scared and depleted.

Funny - I am jhughes and my hubby is thughes and I was banded on 6/27 also! Try this on for size - clear liquids for 2 weeks and I had vomiting after surgery, so I had to sit in the hospital for 3 days with NO FOOD OR LIQUID AT ALL EXCEPT BY IV!!! So basically - I have not eaten in about 7 days and today I feel dizzy and weak, but still have to drink this crap. I am seriously regretting this whole thing!

I am scheduled for surgery on Friday. I have wanted this so badly for over a year - never questioned the logic for doing so and couldn't wait to get banded. Then - I spend HOURS on this forum and all I see is the bad stuff. PBing, sliming, vomiting, slippage, weight gain, slow process, have to be committed, severe incision pain, gas killing me, starving, hungry, port problems, taking forever to hit the sweet spont, nauseous, etc. It is making me think - THIS IS CRAZY! I feel like I should cancel the whole thing and try one more time on my own, even though I know it won't work. I am scared to death now and I have had all kinds of surgeries and a child and blah, blah, blah and YES - I WANT TO LIVE - but comfortably - not in constant pain and puking day in and day out....am I missing the picture here??? Are we all brainwashed into thinking we have to do something this drastic?

I am so big and uncomfortable that I cannot fathom wanting or being able to exercise. I have the excuse of a toddler at home, but I know I will have to exercise to make this work. Who hated it before and now likes it? Did you start right away or wait until you lost a few pounds. My feet kill me at 280, so I am thinkin 30 pounds off maybe start, but that may take longer if I DONT exercise!!! Help.

Bless you - I feel better already. I guess I need to LOOK for the good stuff in these posts. I am seeing too much negative and being doom and gloom - must be the liquid diet making me crazy,

Some of you have mentioned that you felt full or tight right after surgery - some have mentioned being sure that the doc puts the band exactly on the part of the stomach that secretes the appetite hormone and some have said you need a year of fill adventures before you hit that sweet spot. So - what is the consensus? How many fills did you need before it worked great? How many felt tight for weeks after surgery? How many suffered for weeks, months or a year waiting for the right fill?