RestlessMonkey

I use EAS carbcontrol advantEDGE and get them at the grocery store.

Good to know you're feeling better! Hopefullly on down the road you'll be able to eat rice again!

I buy, freeze, and dole them out. Works great.

I bought a small 2 cup food processor from penny's. It makes noise but it's very fast. And it doesn't "whine" like my blender does. You might want to check it out?

I am surely no surgeon nor doc...but still from what it sounds like yes, you need less restriction. As to the chocolate? Perhaps its a caffeine addiction. I'd discuss that with a nutritionist, seriously. You should maybe be anxious if there is NO food and you're starving, but not have a panic attack over chocolate. The nutritionist can maybe help you with that.

I think many American surgeons have brochures that offer financing but am not positive, of course. Just make sure, wherever you get the band, that you can either go back there frequently (esp for the 6 months to a year) for fills, aftercare etc....or find a surgeon or fill center near you. (realize many surgeons will NOT touch someone else's patient regardless of where they had the surgery...or they will take the patient on but charge really high fees) So plan ahead for fills while you're investigating!

I think you should listen to your surgeon. Get a slight unfill, and start following the "rules" again.

i can tell you one thing .... quitting isn't easy (for most of us) but it's only really hard for a little while. Each and every day it gets better until the day dawns when you don't want to smoke and haven't even thought about it. That doesn't really ever happen with food...so like you I was afraid to quit because I thought it would be lifelong misery (like most diets are). It wasn't. There were tough times, for me anyway, but I just thought "I've already gone X days (or weeks or months) without a cigarette. I don't want to start over and I want to quit, so hang in there". Use the patch, use the commit lozenge, use chantix, whatever you think you need, and do it. You will feel good (and smell good!) and you can use the money on new clothes!

I'm sure your surgeon will work something out for you if necessary! Good luck!

Thank goodness my clinical isn't 12 hours...just 245 to 1030PM and lunch from 6-630. And I probably can drink if I HAVE to but as a student and a guest I don't want to be "special" if that makes sense. Of course I could just drink throughout the time but don't want to do that. Frankly I already 'stand out" being the fattest and oldest. I don't want to have to take breaks when the others aren't. That's just a competition I have with myself....I'll just drink a lot before shift, chug some a time or two in between, and go from there. I think I'll be better off it I take the lunch time to eat, not drink, because I get so hungry by time to go home that I eat too much. My doc doesn't want me to snack so I have to figure it all out where I can drink and eat and still be a respectful "student and representative" of my school...It'll work out! :w00t: THanks for all the tips!

Thanks to you both. As a student I want to pass, and I have certain rules that I must follow, so just drinking anyway won't work. I think I'll try the drink in advance...only other option is to drink with my meal...which I may have to do for the 2 days a week that I have my "acute" clinical. On the bright side as students we take our full 30 minutes! :w00t:

Until you are restricted...(have sufficient fill) there shouldn't be any issue with taking time released meds because they will go straight on through to your stomach. Do check with your doc of course. Once you are restricted he may prefer that you switch to a non time-release formulary because the restrictive action of the pouch makes it work like "time release" anyway. Your surgeon however will make that call! And those of you opening and drinking capsules...take the parts of the capsule once you've gotten the "med" out, and put it in Water, and see how quickly it dissolves. If it dissolves fast (like within 5-10 minutes) you might want to try taking it whole. Because...if it dissolves fairly quickly, then even if it gets "stuck" it won't be much of an issue.

I still take all my pills including my Klor-Con which is a huge potassium pill. No problems. Have you TRIED to take your pills? Just spread them out.... and low dose aspirin is VERY small. You should be able to take that easily!

It is harder to place the band laparoscopically if your liver is too large. That will be your surgeon's call. Many of us (myself for example) don't have liver disease but do have enlarged "fat" livers and I had to do a diet to shrink mine. Your surgeon can give you guidance.

The band is a tool, that's all. Many many successful bandsters can eat what they want, and they do. It took me a while to realize this but it finally came through: I will use it however I WANT to use it. Except for the warning about "no carbonation" (and even that, eventually I may be able to tolerate) I will in large part determine what I can and cannot eat. I have a friend who weighs 120 and she's 5'5 and she has weighed that since high school. She is my age and healthy as a horse. She does NOT weigh/count/avoid/portion/fret over food. She does generally avoid processed things like white flour BUT she has only done this for about a year or two. AND if she wants to go to, say, Red Lobster and eat 3 cheddar biscuits, she does. MY point in all this: We will be in control and will use the band as we see fit. Personally I do NOT want so much restriction that I wonder each morning if I'll be able to swallow my own saliva. More power to those who feel they "need" that (but then, what you can eat when you are that tight is prety much nothing) but my doc says to aim for getting full on 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of food (note food...not "protein powder" etc) and be satisfied for up to 6 hours. Period. In other words if my family is jonesing for a hamburger, I will select from the kids/seniors menu. I'll have a small order of fries and may not eat them all. I won't go to hell and the world won't open up and swallow me if I do this LOL By the same token, bandsters who want to avoid hamburgers and fast food and anything that smacks of "unhealthy" may surely do so. That is the beauty of the band. In other words, there are no absolutes, nor are there any exact ways to work it perfectly. It adapts to us even as we adapt to it. If you choose leaner, healthier options you'll lose faster. I have 5.5 ccs in my 14 cc band and can still eat bread if I want to. I have to chew it very well, but I can have it. This isn't a punishment, it's for life. We have to choose how we're going to live it.

I like meat and cheese and have no problems. However there are many supplements on the market; you can find one you like and use it if you're afraid you won't get it in by diet alone.

Kiz summed it up pretty well. I had insurance (tricare standard) and it took me about 4 weeks from seminar to surgery (7/10 to 8/11) but there was no doubt, at 405, that I met the criteria. No tinkering with BMI etc etc.

It's fine if you want to call it eating; to you, right now, it is! Some posters "advance" the post op diet and eat solids too early, I think maybe because they don't realize how important it is to stick to it. I just assumed you might be eating solids; no biggie! I could "swallow" post op just fine, never needed to sip; but we are all different so call your doctor tomorrow if you think you should. That is always a good thing if you are in doubt!

I wasn't in much pain at all. I don't know if I have a high threshold, or if I was just so glad to have the band it was easy for me to ignore things. I could tell I'd had surgery but it was nothing to get in a dither about. I slept in my bed from the first night (used a pillow to prop up my abdomen) and so on. Lortab, Vicodin, Hydrocodone all make me vomit so the doc gave me darvocet tabs and I took 2 doses worth on day 2 but otherwise just took tylenol and felt great. Walking walking walking (just around your house for spurts, don't have to do marathons) makes a HUGE difference in recovery. By and large those unlucky souls who feel bad and stay drugged and in bed don't bounce back as fast as those of us who get up and moving right away. Not to belittle anyone's pain, mind you...just if you have it but can get through it, the more normal you act the faster you'll "feel" normal. And you may be like me...little to no pain or issues, just happy to have the band! :tongue2:

As long as you are doing what your doctor tells you I'm sure you'll be fine. I just got confused, I think, by the word "eating" since I relate that to chewing. Otherwise, I think of it as 'drinking" LOL Your feeling is probably trapped gas leftover from the surgery and if so no, Gas X won't impact it. Walking, slowly sipping your foods, following your doc's post op rules should help but if you are worried about it, call your doctor tomorrow.

Are you sure you're supposed to be eating? For most of us we have liquids or (clear, full, or a combo) for at least the first two weeks.

Hello, 62Peachy! You'd need to check your policy w/Coventry to see if Lap Band is approved. Since many of us have insurance through our (or our partner's or parent's) employers, realize that employers can, to a point, menu price the coverage (it is staggeringly expensive) by exlcuding things like weight loss surgery. Once you have confirmed (you can call them; there should be a number on your card) that your coverage does indeed extend to lap band, they can also tell you what pre-requisites you must fill to meet their requirements. While people here may post they were approved, it won't really help you much until you confirm that your insurance does cover the surgery and what prereqs are in place for you to meet. Once you know that, they should be able to provide you with a list of acceptable surgeons.

Since you are going by the book then you know that bandsters average 1-2 pounds of weight per week. You were banded 12/30 so in 32 days (4 1/2 weeks) you've lost 9 pounds...which is 2 pounds a week, spot on. Without restriction, no less. I think you need to adjust your expectations. You're blue and setting yourself up to fail when in fact you are progressing along perfectly! If you think of it logically and still feel disappointed, call your surgeon. Perhaps an appt. with a nutritionist will help. But realize that at your age, with no restriction, losing 2 pounds a week is a good rate.

Some people can (and do) eat rice so don't feel guilty. You are sufficiently post op that odds are one episode of PB (productive burp...where you burp up a bite of food that won't go down) most likely won't hurt you. However one thing many experienced bandsters do is to go back to liquids for 24 hours after they have had an episode like you describe...gives the stomach area a chance to calm down. Often when you pb you will have swelling in the area...24 hours of liquids lets things go back to normal. I can eat rice fine, but it isn't a favorite of mine (in any form) so usually it isn't an issue. However if you LOVE it, wait a few months and try again...making sure to chew it well, and perhaps alternate a small (SMALL!) bite of rice with a bite of something with a totally different texture. My doctor wants all his patients to have no "banned foods" (except carbonation) and that method, I've read, can work. Also make sure the rice is well done (same goes for pasta) because it does absorb liquid and can swell if you eat it al dente or on the less done side of done. Well cooked, small bites, chew. Until then try the 24 hours liquid. If you still hurt tomorrow, call your doctor. Good luck!

There's a LOT of misinformation out there about caffeine and coffee (caffeine is also in many teas and lots of sodas, to name a few sources) It doesn't dehydrate after all (new research) although in the past they thought it did. Actually a little caffeine can actually be GOOD for you. It IS an appetite stimulant for some, for others it actually acts as an appetite suppressant! (old diet pills always had caffeine as a staple ingredient) It gained a bad reputation for some reason...much of that based on "unfounded" assumption rather than cold hard science. My doc says to avoid caffeine if it stimulates your appetite. It doesn't do that to me (one of the few things that doesnt! LOL) so it's ok for me to have it. Other doctors will, I'm sure, have other opinions. Water, for example, has no nutritional value and still we need it. Once your doctor approves regular or decaf coffee (or tea, or whatever) then let it be a personal choice as to whether you want to include it in your "diet" (as in what you eat, not as in what you restrict). If you google it you'll find lots of info on coffee...for example, for some reason people who drink 6 or more cups of regular (not decaf) coffee each day are less likely to develop diabetes type II. They don't know why, so don't rush out and chug the coffee, but it's a valid statistic. They are doing "more" research. We all need to use our own best intelligence, remember that sometimes "they" (whoever "they" are) get it wrong, and that usually "all things in moderation" is a good way to go. And LOL at the 2 cals per 8 ounces. Good to know. I just checked my sugar free tic tacs and they are 1.8 cals each...the regular (with sugar) are...1.9! So I'll watch my coffee and tic tac intake carefully! :tongue2: (J/K) We all have to find our own way to use the band; and I guess for some, denying certain things makes good sense. If so, they should follow their hearts! But for some of us denial gets old and punitive where as an occasional cup of decaf or a glass of sugar free iced tea helps make things all go by easier. Do what your doc says, and what you know will work for you!