kiz

I think it's mostly IV fluid and water retention. I gained too, but it was gone in a few days after surgery.

You're doing exactly what you you need to do at this point. It sounds like you're following your doctors post-op diet to a T so that you will have well healed stomach. You'll should start seeing weight loss once you can start eating nutrient rich solid foods that tend to be lower in calories than slider foods. Also, more than likely, you'll start getting hungry, and that's when band fills become very important. Until you start feeling restriction, which could happen right away or after several fills, you may feel more like you're on a diet then like you had WLS. Once you start feeling restriction, your band will be your bff. Of course, as you mentioned, exercise will help speed up the process. I never expected to loose 2 to 4 lbs/week. Not that I would mind, but my goal was 1 to 2 lbs/week weight loss. I've had my ups and downs getting to good restriction, but now that I have it, I'm trending at 1.5 lbs/week.

Part of it depends on what you want your sweet spot to be. For me, I wanted to stay satisfied 3+ hours (I usually start getting hungry 4 breakfast to lunch and 5 hours lunch to dinner) on the meal plan my doctor prescribed (3 1/2 cup solid meals plus one healthy snack), being able to eat most foods without fear of pb/slime/reflux, and to have that restriction stay long term. I had restriction along the way, but after two to four weeks it would fade. Looking back on it, I imagine the fade was due to losing fat around my stomach and the false sense of restriction due to swelling after a fill. I've been at my sweet spot for almost three months.

You really need to try to get to day three before you give up. That was the turning point for me, and I've read that over and over. Canadagirl mentioned the same thing. Your body has to adjust to the reduction of carbs. I know some of these pre-op diets are more restrictive than others, and that really sucks. (I was allowed one small, healthy, very low carb "meal" per day or a third protein shake and there's way around it, it's not easy, but it's not impossible).

My band has given me the control I used to have to limit my food intake before my hunger got out of control. I felt hungry all the time and found myself constantly grazing and making terrible food choices. Now, with my band, I'm in control. I make healthy food choices, I'm not grazing on junk food, and now that I'm getting closer to my goal weight, I have energy that I never imagined I could regain. Also, with the band, you do have some control over how tight you want to keep it. I would never want my band so tight I couldn't eat major foods such as steak, bread, pasta etc. Unfortunately, some people just have a lower tolerance for those foods, and you really can't predict that ahead of time. I would opt for the loosest band that keeps me satisfied on smaller portions while being able to eat the most variety of foods.

I was craving chocolate tonight... Plain Greek yogurt, a few tsps of sf hot chocolate powder, a dash of vanilla extract, teaspoon of Peanut Butter, 1/4 scoop Protein powder and Fiber One Cereal for chunkiness. I have to say it was some kind of yummy.

I'm very sorry to hear that your fill was painful. I have absolutely no pain, and the doctor uses no numbing. However, I accidentally discovered when I was scratching my stomach near that area that I'm numb right over the port. I asked the NP about it, and she said sometimes a nerve is cut, and it may or may not grow back. I hope to heck it never grows back. Ask for numbing next time.

I would listen to your husband and call your band doctor. That's crazy that she won't give you meds for pain with gall bladder problems. There's a chance you'll have to have your band fill removed from your band anyway, so that would make things easier. If I remember right, I saw the doctor that did the gall bladder surgery three times. Once for the diagnosis, once for the surgery, and once to get staples removed from one of the incisions (it was pre-glue times). I had two full out gall stone attacks before I saw her, and the pain was almost unbearable. She gave me a pain med that was safe for nursing mothers, but strong enough that it knocked me out. She scheduled my surgery fairly fast, because my gall bladder was full of stones, and I ended up needing the meds she gave one time, and thank God I had it.

Will your doctor do another fill after a couple of weeks? (some won't). Do you know if your doctor put a fill in your band during surgery? They test the band, and there's always some saline left, but some doctors go ahead and give a fill right off the bat. If you didn't get one then, your fill was pretty small, but that's not so unusual. It's just going to take time, but you'll get there.

You're doing absolutely nothing wrong. You just need more fill. Sometimes it takes a while to get good restriction. Try not to get discouraged. I went back once for sure, but maybe twice, just two weeks after a fill for another. Generally though, I went every four weeks, until I finally hit my sweet spot. I've had fantastic restriction for over two months now (almost three).

I bought my green Beans today, and I'm fixing them tonight. Thanks for the great tip! I bet the sweet potatoes would be good too. I'll give them a try next.

I wish I remember the girl's name on LBT, but she was asked by an acai rep to buy her before and after pictures for their ads. Not that she'd even ever used acai (she lost her weight with the aid of a lap band). It could be just one dishonest rep, but I tend to doubt it. If the product was as good as it says, why would they willing to buy pictures (although, the girl was gorgeous) from someone who didn't even use their product? I think it's a scam.

You should stay on liquids for at least a couple of days. Not every doctor recommends that, but it seems most do, and since you already know you're having trouble with soft foods, I think you would benefit from that schedule. Many people have swelling after a fill, and pb'ing can make it worse. Also, for whatever reason, many banders have trouble with eggs, so you might fall into that category too. Don't try soft foods until you can keep Water and Protein shakes down okay. However, if you find that you can't get your water and Protein Shakes down you need to go back asap for an unfill. You can become dehydrated very quickly. I would stay on liquids for a couple of days, soft foods for a couple of days, and then, as long as soft foods are going down okay, move to solids. If you find you can't move to solids within one or at the most two weeks, go back in then for an unfill. Don't wait eight weeks. You're setting yourself up for trouble if you keep a too tight band.

I've only ever taken a Centrum (or store brand) chewable multi vitamin/multi mineral vitamin, liquid B12, calcium and vitamin D drops in the winter months. I've had my band for a year and just got my annual blood work done, and it all came back normal.

My surgeries were reversed too. Laparscopic gall bladder surgery years ago and laparscopic band surgery last year. It wasn't even a concern to have a second lap surgery. My scars from my gall bladder surgery are tiny. I can't imagine one affecting the other. Also, they can't give you anything for the pain? I cannot believe they won't give you something to take during an attack. The pain was unbelievable during an attack, and my doctor gave me a prescription med to take. The good news is the recovery was quick for me. I had a newborn that I was nursing, so no handing off baby during feedings, and I got along just fine. If your prone to vomiting after anesthesia ask for a patch (I think it's for motion sickness) and a shot (not sure what was in it) to reduce stomach upset after surgery. I got sick the first two times I had anesthesia. For my band surgery I was given a patch and shots after surgery, and I was barely queasy.

It sounds like your last fill might have been a bit too much. You didn't say when you got your last fill, but if it was more than week or two, any swelling should be gone by now, and you should be able to handle solid meals. If it's only been a few days, it may just be swelling.

It sounds odd that the doctor thinks he may have a leak if it's only because he doesn't feel restriction. It seems the doctor would check the Fluid level rather than just let him worry. In the 9cc Realize Band, I've read that 7 to 7.5 cc is the level that most people feel great restriction. I have 11 cc in my 9 cc band, so I would have probably been like your friend with 6.4 cc in a 11 cc band. Believe me, I became concerned that I had a leak too, but my doctor assured me that I didn't, and that I'd eventually get good restriction. It turned out that he was right, thankfully.

Definitely too soon to tell. I did go back within two weeks for an additional fill when I felt next little to no restriction. They did that one under fluoro just to check my band out, and it was fine, and they pumped me up a little more. Sometimes, it takes up to two weeks to feel a fill for some reason, but at the point I went back in two weeks, I wasn't even close to good restriction. Also, a better indicator of how well you're doing with restriction will come when you go back on solid meals.

Not unless it's a requirement from either your surgeon or your insurance. People with your BMI and higher have the surgery all the time. Sometimes there's a six month supervised diet required by insurance companies and many doctors require a pre-surgery liver shrinking diet, but it varies from physician to physician. I've also read where people have been asked to lose 10% of the weight they need to lose, but I'm not sure if that's doctor or insurance directed. You just need to check with your surgeon to get all the details.

No, that's new to me. Sounds like a promising alternative when you can't good restriction with a normal saline fill. I had to have my band overfilled to reach restriction, so if I ever have problems keeping restriction in the future, I'll be sure to ask my doctor about this. Thanks.

"The important thing is to learn the signs, so you can stop eating in time. Its a real learning experience." That's the best advice of all. I know right away that I feel tightness (pain of sorts), or runny nose, or a bit of mucus comes up. When I had my pb, I had all of these, yet I took another bite. That's not to say, unfortunately, you can't get stuck without any warning at all. Based on your experience, hmarko, I don't think I'd try the hot Water unless I felt like nothing was going to move one way or the other. I hope not to get that stuck. But having water spew out everywhere or being in a terribly painful situation and after trying the papaya, walking, stretching, I'd try the water too. It's good to have several weapons in our arsenal. I got my papaya/pineapple chewables at Trader Joes. But like Pad said, you can find them at various Vitamin shops, and I've heard Walmart too. They're inexpensive, and they taste pretty good too.

Janet, do you know if your doctor put a fill in your band during surgery? It sounds like you're too tight if you're having trouble with a pretty soft meat like fish at this stage. If you're getting hungry quickly between meals, it might be because you're still mostly eating soft foods because of your band tightness rather than a need for a fill. Be sure and let your doctor know about your trouble at your appointment.

I guess the hot Water did bring it up, but it doesn't sound like the best way to do it unless you're really under distress and like you said, not in public. The time I had a pb was on Chinese chicken and broccoli. I didn't listen to my body's signals, and I was getting plenty, and kept eating. Lesson learned, that's for sure. For a Protein stuck episode, try chewable papaya enzyme. It doesn't work for everyone, but once, when I thought I was going to have a pb, it worked like a charm. A few other times, I was starting to get that tight feeling when eating meat, and it made the feeling go away immediately.

I think is should be a rare event. I got somewhat stuck a few weeks ago, but it was my fault. We were on the road, made a quick stop, and I tried to eat too fast. I've only been stuck (not pb'ing stuck, a little slime and tightness for a minute) a handful of times over the last year, and part of it was a learning curve with the band. I've only had one pb, and that was a few months after I was banded. I've been at my sweet spot for a little over a two months. For me, the sweet spot is that I can eat the meal amount my doctor prescribes, good solid Proteins and veggies, and stay satisfied 4+ hours.

If you're self pay, there's a good chance you only need a 35 bmi and no worries about co-morbidities. You'll just have to check with your surgeon to know for sure. It's generally insurance plans that have all the additional requirements. Good luck!!! (That's wonderful that you're mom is doing this for you.)