RestlessMonkey

I just whipped up (oh snorkle) a possum quiche. It's good for ANY phase of the lab band.

I was told calcium citrate, too...but not all docs think it's that important, actually.

I think I'm the "other poster" who said perceptions may be off. I wouldn't push any surgery on any human. I weighed 405 when I got the band so I think I qualify as "heavier" and I didn't want bypass. I didn't mean to make you defensive, either, but just to point out that if you have trouble losing, the malabsorption helps. I can lose easily but I can't keep it off, and then I regain what I lost plus another 20 or so (or rather I did until I got the band). You will of course do what you feel is best for you and that's as it should be; I don't know you from Adam and wouldn't tell you what to do anyway. But I think it would be prudent to ask someone who knows (ie your banding surgeon) if bypass might be more help to you, so you can make an informed decision. I've never thought knowledge was a bad thing, but you may not feel that way.

Have you really REALLY researched bypass? I only ask because of the "malabsorption" aspect. If I really couldn't lose on 1300 cal a day diet, I'd have had to really rethink bypass. i love my band but the point is weight loss. You won't get restriction for a while, and even that can be bypassed if you don't watch it. A truly slow metabolism would probably have better, longer lasting results with bypass. Have you discussed with your surgeon?

It is "referred" pain where your diaphragm, agitated during surgery, presses on the phrenic nerve. It is very rare for it to last for longer than a few weeks. Mine happened when I did something that increased my breathing (like walking in the early days LOL) What helps people varies. Some lie on their sides and stretch their left arm out. Some use a heating pad. Some just take tylenol. What helped ME was having my husband rub my neck, because the nerve caused my neck muscle to cramp. When that relaxed the pain went away.

Yes, call your surgeon.

I just took tylenol, although mine gave me darvocet capsules.

Actually if they didn't tell you a specific number, probably 60-70 g of Protein a day is plenty. (your body can't use much more than 20-25g at a pop, anyway) Mixing whey protein with skimmed milk is probably your cheapest way to go. The ones I do are the ones recommended by my surgeon and locally they are $5 for 4 so that would price out out of using them as an option.

I was a nursing student and starting my senior year at age 53 and 405 pounds when I had the band (boy I needed it!) I had my surgery on Friday, back to classes the next Tuesday, and by the NEXT tues (a week and 1/2 post op) was doing my clinical rotations which are physically and mentally demanding. There is no "understanding about missing classes". Especially the clinicals. You miss too many, you are out, even if you are the best student in the class. I recovered quickly and easily. Not everyone does though and honestly younger people seem to have more issues (maybe your pain receptors are younger and work better LOL!) Depending on what classes you're taking, you may need to wait until a break.

How long on average is it for your patients to feel good restriction? AND Do you put some "fill" in the band during surgery? I would've gone with my very conservative doc anyway but asking that would've saved me a few months of confusion! And the fill question...often people who get fills during the initial surgery have problems with getting liquids down etc. Mine didn't fill during surgery and I'm glad. AND Will you remove most of the gas before you close me up? Because...surgeons can, but not all bother. Removed gas=less pain for you.

I drank easily from recovery on. I had no fill in my band (except some primer) during surgery. Many who have issues post op find their surgeon filled their bands some. And yes the first 6 weeks or so are for healing. Your body was traumatized even if you don't realize it and is using calories etc to heal. Now is not a time to lose. My doc recommended a specific shake for me and that's the one I used. AND I didn't even GET Protein week 1! Don't worry about caloric intake, loss, gain, etc right now. Just heal and get that 64 oz of Water in each day.

Welcome and good luck. I agree, ask your surgeon about lifting restriction. Odds are, depending on how heavy your 5-month old is, you'll need help. My restriction was 15 pounds for 3 weeks but each surgeon is different. I had planned to be self pay but insurance covered it and from seminar to OR was just at a month. Honestly? by the time I got the band I was so ready!!! (I'd wanted it since 2003 when a friend's aunt went to a neighboring city and got it! back in the wild early days of banding) so NONE of it was hard. Sure I was hungry pre and post op but that was no big deal; I'd done liquid diets before to try to lose. Then they were awful because I knew I couldn't keep them up; for the diet they were easier because I knew they were finite. I'd had lots of time to be pro/con/pro/con so I was 10000% pro. Even then I did my "own" preop diet and didn't get the band the first try. But that was my foolishness. So I guess for me the hardest part was making up my mind over the 5 years I waited. Once I decided to go and self pay, ins came through. I took that as a sign and never looked back. But I'd gladly have paid for it, and had planned to. It's been worth it.

Your wait will depend on many things; your general health, your banding surgeon, how well you do post op, etc. Emergency surgeries are different from elective ones so your doc may want to put off the band for a bit, or not. Once you get your approval you can call and see. If there is a delay, as long as you don't have any issues, it shouldn't be a long one.

I'm really sorry you're going through this. I remember you from when I got my band...I think you're the lady who chewed gum and got it stuck? Anyway I don't mean this to be "finger-pointy" or playing a blame game. But I was digging around trying to find the gum post and I "found" a couple things. 1 You did generally follow your post op diet but your doc was very aggressive in that you were allowed yogurt consistency foods from the start. That's not common...many say Clear liquids for at least a week. I wonder if that, while "docs orders" didn't set you up for a slip? AND 2. I found a post by you at just under 3 weeks out where you'd eaten prime rib etc...and you were supposed to be on the full liquids for a month. So you ate ahead of your already fairly lax diet. I KNOW you didn't do this to hurt yourself and I'm not implying you willfully screwed up! BUT since my doc says most slips are caused by advancing a diet too quickly, for newbies who might read this, I wonder if that didn't set you up for problems down the line? Again chicaman1 I am not meaning this to be pissy to you; that totally isn't my point. However while some slips do just "happen", many are caused by something ... some action on our part or the part of the doc. And some people just don't get along with the band (or vice versa, either) But for those reading this...it is better to stick to your post op diet to the letter, find the best surgeon you can, starve before you eat food ahead of time. Like chicaman1 back in Sept of last year, you want to do right and be a success...don't let hunger get the best of you. It could come back to bite you later on, if you do. (again, I do NOT know that eating prime rib 3 weeks out, or having thinned chile 1 week out caused this. But we don't know that it didn't, either. A loosened stitch or two over time...can precipitate a slip)

I agree. At 2-3 hours post op you should be able to drink (unless you're drinking something carbonated?) By then it should trickle around and past the food (like a stream and rocks) and go on through, even if you still had some/most of your meal sitting there. You need to call your surgeon; you might have a slip or some other issue that, the sooner it's caught, the less problematic it will be!

PB is a nice little term for something very Un-fun, isn't it?

Contratulations! I know how you feel. I hit threedom fast, and then my 1st 10%...now I am CLAWING my way to Twoterville! I haven't been there for any length of time since I was 40! (even tho I'm not an april 09 bandster I just had to tell you congrats!)

Can you say...denial? LOL I take the boards 8/19 and after a summer of angst, self searching, praying, meditating, mulling etc I'm going into psychiatric nursing if I can find a job. I love it...the people motivate me the most in nursing, and so many other disciplines don't give you a chance to really interact, you know? What do you do with your degree if you don't mind me asking? (and I guess I should've PM'd this so as not to hijack the thread...)

Thanks Jennifer! Gotta practice that "patient teaching" you know!

Maybe too you should think about getting a different surgeon? If yours won't make a phone call for you, well...how will he be there in other emergencies? I seriously would switch if it were me. There's more to the band than just getting it placed...aftercare is VITAL. Maybe this is karma or something trying to help you switch NOW!

Welcome and good luck. I really enjoyed the seminar; I had researched a lot beforehand but still my surgeon had more to offer !

Welcome and good luck! I love my band and hope you love yours too!

Noahsmom...think of, say, a zip loc baggie. (stomach isn't shaped like that, but it'll do). Now, imagine putting a big rubber band around the middle of it..so it's kind of split into 2 sections (make the top section smaller). Ok? NOW...start tightening the rubber band. The top and bottom sections are still the same size. The zip loc baggie is still intact (no new baggie and old baggie, just 1 zip loc baggie) but the opening between the 2 sections gets smaller. In fact, you made an "artificial" opening between the 2 sections by putting the BIG rubber band around the bag, and tightening the band makes that opening smaller. IF that hole is TOO small, what you put in the top of the baggie comes back out the top...because that's the path of least resistance. rather than go through the tiny hole, UP it comes! If that hole is TOO BIG..the stuff flows on into the lower part of the baggie and you have "room" to eat more. The goal is to make that hole a good size so that what you put in the top hangs around there a while and then flows on through. We are "tricking' our bodies into thinking the stomach is full by keeping the food up in the upper portion of the stomach longer. Therefore, rather than eat a pot of macaroni and cheese to fill the stomach, you eat a cup (or less). It sits in the top, goes on through the hole to the rest, and you think "wow I'm satisfied on that cup". Your body, the hormones, the triggers for hunger...all think "wow I got a lot of food!" The stomach is intact. it isn't "old" and "new". The band just creates a road block, if you want, up close to the top, so food hits there and SLOOOWS down. So your body has time to think "WOW SATED NOW! GROOVY" and you don't eat too much. Because our bodies are living and not machines, they don't always immediately register things. Some systems take days to respond, some don't. For many, that tightened band isn't perceived right away. Now..the goal is for the pouch to remain small. HOWEVER it isn't really a baggie, it's stomach. And stomach is ELASTIC! So consistent overeating once you have restriction can stretch the pouch out (called pouch packing) and make it bigger. you don't want that but an occasional overindulgence won't cause it. Your goal (as is the goal of all of us!) is to get that band tightened enough so that you feel full on less food, can eat whatever you want to, stay full for a good long while, and lose weight. Because we aren't all the same, and because our bodies change (again, we aren't steel and plastic, we're a machine of living biomechanisms!) sometimes finding and keeping that optimum fill level is hard. But when you hit it , it's almost miraculous. Did that help, I hope?

Your doc can share with you his experiences, but from what I've read the band rarely leaks. (it happens but very seldom) it is usually the port or more often the tubing running from the port to the band.

The goal of the band is "the green zone" (what's called sweet spot here) so yes, everyone should reach it. And honestly if you have a surgeon who is inaccessible, who doesn't (or whose staff doesn't) give you direction, FIND ANOTHER!!! The aftercare is VITAL to this thing working. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 not mattering, getting the band is about a 3, aftercare about a 7!