lellow

Before my body lift I was at the 'green zone' at around 7.5cc in my 10cc band. After my unfill, I needed 8.5cc to get back into the green zone (and stayed there for 3 years). After two port revisions, I now feel good restriction at around 9cc but it doesn't last because of the leak, but I expect that my green zone will be around there or slightly more if not for the leak. Who knows what it will be after I have band replacement. tmf is right, it doesn't really matter as long as you get there. It can be frustrating when you need so many more fills than anyone else to get there sometimes, but once you're there, it won't matter, really.

Funny how life throws you these curve balls, hey? This will be the first of many, I'm sure, but your resolve that you are ready and want this will serve you well in the long run. P.S I hope it isn't the drama it has the potential of being!

Lol I grew up with spicy food so never ever had an issue with it (hallelujah!). It was hard enough as an asian when I realised I couldn't eat rice anymore! Some foods, like mango, won't go down for me. I don't know what it is, but it was my favourite fruit and it hurts to eat it. Even when it's juiced. Go figure. And even now when my band is leaking, I won't risk it. And the weird thing is that now that I don't have restriction I still don't enjoy the foods I couldn't eat when I was restricted. Don't care much for steak, have lost my lust for rice and I really don't care for soda or junk food. So yes, I think the 'aversion' my band had for certain foods has served me well in the long run.

Like I said earlier, each to their own. I never did low carbs, never did calorie counting, never once had a Protein shake to supplement my diet so I am all for people taking responsibility for what goes into their mouths. If someone asks me a question, I give them my opinion and what they do with it is up to them. That people are here talking about their experience is a generous thing, and I think we forget that. But one thing I've learnt as a long-time bander is that only you can decide how you want to live your life long term. I don't get offended if someone disagrees with me, why would I? I'm not invested in anyone else's success but my own. Live and let live, I say! No one needs to defend their choices to anyone else. This place is ideally about getting information about things you're not sure of, but there will be conflicting advice and in the end, you decide which you will follow.

When my band was functioning, bread was out but wraps were ok in moderation. I couldn't eat rice but could eat noodles and as much Pasta as I wanted as long as it wasn't al dente. Mangoes and grapes made me PB but most other fruits were fine. Asparagus I never even tried because my dr told me to avoid it. A friend of mine is banded too and she can eat bread and rice but not pasta. She can eat steak but not eat chicken at all, which was completely the opposite to me. She can't have broccoli but can put away a huge bowl of cabbage. Cabbage did not agree with me at all.

Hahah don't tease me!

To me that feels like I've eaten too much. If I eat too much I feel like it's 'sitting' above my band for ages and my back hurts. Being stuck is different (for me anyway). I can't mistake what a 'stuck' episode feels like. For me, it hurts in my chest a LOT, I start producing a lot of saliva and I start feeling like I'm struggling to keep whatever it is down. And it usually comes back up because it's easier than trying to keep it all down.

I forgot all about the extra farting! Oh damn, I hope I don't have to go through that again when I'm re-banded. :/ This may be TMI, but the other thing that used to happen was whenever my partner and I were getting 'snuggly' my tummy would make these weird 'fruit burping' noises. He said it was his audio gauge as to whether he was doing all the right things . It was one of the first signs that made me suspect that my band was leaking, when I stopped making those sounds in my tummy. It also kinda gave him a complex that he was losing his mojo!

All this talk about strong coffee is making my hair curl. I like my coffee smooth, light and not bitter. I have flat whites every morning and if they're bitter or too strong, I won't go back to that place.

"Throwing up" isn't the right word when it happens because you're stuck. I have regurgitated food I've eaten but it doesn't smell like vomit and it doesn't come from the bottom of my stomach. On this forum, they call it productive burping. I have done it myself, and it's usually because I have eaten something my band won't tolerate. That happens to a few people - something, however innocuous, suddenly will not go 'through' the band (or feels like it won't) and it's less painful for it to come back out then to wait for it to go through. I found that rice and mango and bread. I love mango and I have chewed the hell out of it, and nope, it still comes back up every time. Even mango juice. It doesn't hurt like vomiting does. I still don't like doing it though. But it does happen and has happened to me. It isn't good for your band, but I wouldn't have known what my band wouldn't tolerate if I hadn't gone through it, so once it happened, I usually avoided that food thereafter (except mango, but I think I was in denial) I did however once have food poisoning and I was throwing up from the bottom of my stomach. That is a whole different kettle of fish and I could see how it could have really hurt me. I could feel my tummy spasming and the food coming up and hitting the top of my tummy but not going anywhere. That hurt like crazy. That would be an instant visit to the emergency department, I reckon.

Some people feel it straight away without getting any fills. I'd say that most people don't though and require fills to get to that 'green zone' where they're not hungry, a little bit of food satisfies them and controlling how little they eat is relatively easy. For some that takes no fills, for some (like me), quite a lot of fill. What I did was 'diet' and exercise until I felt it. And I put 'diet' in inverted commas coz that can take a lot of forms. For me, it was just about portion control and eating only when I was hungry.

Yeah my sleep apnea is gone and I don't snore anymore either. My partner is losing weight (in support of me trying to lose with a leaky band) and he wasn't big to start with and already I notice that he isn't snoring. He hasn't lost much either, just about 2/3 of his beer belly lol!

My dr doesn't have a lot of rules, but not drinking while you ate was one of them. And when I was in my green zone, to be honest I couldn't really drink if I ate hard Protein. There wasn't enough room for both. I know some drs don't like you drinking before you eat, but I always did. For one thing, it was so I didn't get thirsty afterwards, and secondly, it dulled any 'hunger' that was actually thirst, and thirdly, I couldn't see how drinking before would cause the band to not work (mechanically). After eating, sure, but before? Didn't make sense to me.

Before my leak I could not eat cake either. Then when I stopped having restriction I tried some cake and thought, yeah, this isn't as good as I thought it would be! I will have a tiny piece at a birthday or something but usually give the majority of it to my partner to eat. It so dense! Oh and donuts. I can't imagine why I used to love donuts pre-band!

I have to admit I didn't know what was in Splenda, because I don't use sweeteners at all, so thanks for that info. Though even so, I personally would rather use raw sugar in cooking than anything else, but that's my choice. I have tried a coffee with stevia in it before (a friend thought she was doing me a favour) and it was really ick tasting. But that might be because I don't have sweetened coffee or tea anyway.

I was allowed full liquids within 24 hours, mushies within 3 days and solids in a week. I had one day of Clear Liquids. Those were my dr's instructions so that is what I did. Every dr hones their technique for the way they do surgery and let's face it, some are cautious and some are confident. My dr had been doing lapband surgery for over 8 years when he banded me so if he told me I could eat, I ate. I don't think it set me up badly in the long run either, because I had a lot of success with the band and over a long time too. Just don't depart from his instructions because right now, he's YOUR expert when it comes to your band.

Oh I thought of a few more. I am not longer a slave to 'bad' food. Don't get me wrong, when my band starting leaking, I gained because I could eat more, BUT I never EVER had the urge to drink a coke and still don't, or have sugar in my coffee/tea, or have a craving to have KFC. I chose 'quality' food over junk food, every single time. And while I didn't enjoy (and still don't enjoy) formal exercise, I love getting out and walking, or skating, or running around with my kids. I enjoy being active, where I used to prefer sitting on the sidelines watching every one else get sweaty. So leaking band or not, the lapband HAS changed the way I perceive food and has changed the level of activeness in my life. I don't think I quite realised that until I rejoined this forum a week ago.

Yep I was told that carbonated drinks can cause pouch dilation. And when I was well restricted, if I tried to have anything carbonated (I once had champagne at a hen's night) the bubbles were in the top part of my band and was bubbling up my throat and into my nose. I figure that couldn't be good. But each to their own.

Artificial sweeteners have aspartame, and it apparently causes you to crave high calories food after you have it, which defeats the purpose of it being low-cal. Aspartame is also a nasty piece of work in terms of what it does to your body (feel free to google it), which is probably why he wants you to move to a natural sweetener. They taste more bitter than products containing aspartame, but is better for you in the long run. Though I agree that you're better off trying to go sugar free. I don't use sweeteners. Never have. If something requires sugar, I use raw sugar in small quantities. I don't have sugar in my coffee or tea and haven't in years. It takes getting used to (I used to have 2 teaspoons of sugar per cup of tea), and you might get some sugar withdrawal symptoms, so take it slow by reducing the amount of sugar you consume each time until you get rid of it completely. I used to drink 2 bottles of coke and untold amount of sweetened tea 4 years ago and now don't touch soda at all, and drink my tea black with no sugar. It took time to 'change' the way I did it but now it feels completely natural and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

I experienced numbness along the scar for 12 months or so, but most of the sensation returned. I still have 'numb' spots but I don't even notice it anymore. The main weird thing that took longer to get used to than the numbness is the fact that the nerves have moved a bit. So I can feel an itch at my waist but to scratch it, I need to scratch lower on my hip. That hasn't changed but like all your body's other idiosyncrasies, you get used to it eventually. I lost 7lbs immediately with my body lift (swelling notwithstanding). I had no lipo at all, it was just the weight of the skin that was removed.

Meh I have continued to drink coffee right through. And alcohol. What I stopped was soda, beer and all fizzy drinks, because we all know that can do damage to your band. You can FEEL it. I reckon that's a bigger issue than coffee (in my opinion). Diet drinks are even worse, read up on something called aspartame, it'll frighten you - better not not have any sugar than drink that stuff. If I had to give up everything I would have fallen off the wagon a long time ago. Every thing in moderation, I reckon.

Sure. It didn't happen often but it did happen. And it would be something left field, like the first time I got stuck on mango. Mango, I kid you not. No stuck signs, no 'soft tells' just BAM, instant vomitron. That's how I found out my band didn't like mangos. I have also hit the town and gotten tipsy and then gotten stuck on a damned kebab (coz everyone loves a late night kebab). If I hadn't been drinking I would have remembered to eat more slowly. I think of them as lessons. These episodes got further and further between as I went along, but every now and again the band would remind me who was boss, just in case I forgot.