RestlessMonkey

Keeping in mind that the band was FDA approved in 2003....I am guessing it will be either Jack (the moderator) or Jachut ... I THINK they've both had their bands since '04 or '05 but I'm just guessing. If it were a contest, I'd bet on Jack..but don't know if his band is original etc.

just saw this! Congratulations; I am sure you are VERY excited by now! let us know how it goes, OK? :biggrin:

I just had a check up and asked my surgeon about carbonation and he and your surgeon apparently are of like minds....he said the big issue is pain/gas...and if it doesn't bother me to go for it. :biggrin: No stretching the pouch or any of that horror. Unfortunately it still hurts me a little but not like it did so maybe I'm adapting. And I belch all the time too...but my beer belches have more KICK than I want. I think that will diminish as I continue to adapt. I hope!

Good luck! I have to warn you...I had to drink DOUBLE the mag citrate to get any "action" (and no I don't usually have bowel issues! LOL) I guess it's because I had been on a really strict diet for about 3 weeks preop anyway; there wasn't much to move through! I had been braced for "action" and that was a big non-event! :biggrin: It isn't GOOD but it isn't that bad either. I've heard of worse. Good luck! Tomorrow this time you'll be a bandster!

Osteoarthritis never goes away; it's chronic and there's no cure for it (yet).... but losing a good chunk of weight should help it be more manageable! The joint degenerates and losing weight doesn't make it grow back :biggrin:

Thank goodness I can eat any bread product and the low carb/high fiber tortillas are a staple of my diet (it's hard to get enough fiber in when you're a bandster) :biggrin: Love my surgeon and my band.

Funny I think my doc does "pressure fills" in my AP band without fluoro. He can always pretty well gage how restricted I'll be; he says he can tell by the resistance he feels when he fills me. Gotta love a good surgeon.

I have to say (about the bra) for me it kept the "girls" away from my surgical sites and was MUCH more comfortable than going without one! And it didn't (and still doesn't) touch any area that was cut....so thank GOD I had mine! It helped! We're all different....

Yes it is. Are you eating according to your surgeon's schedule (they are all different, of course; at 2.5 weeks I was on mushies) as long as you aren't eating foods you aren't cleared for yet, odds are this is gas. Try some gas x strips or chewables and see if that doesn't help. If it doesn't, or if it gets worse, check with your doc. I still get a pain in that area very occasionally but it goes away quickly.

Therapy. No kidding. I went for a year before the band, still go to her occasionally if I find myself eating for no good reason (and the ONLY good reason to eat is hunger. disasters don't count) I found mine when I googled "behavioral therapists specializing in eating disorders in San Antonio, TX" I kid you not. Good luck.

I didn't have any! NO kidding I was "borderline" everything. Now I am anticipating not being "borderline" any more. So looking at it one way, I was marginal and now I'm not any more! Although I have to say if someone were chasing me, although I have run short distances, I still think my best bet would be to just sit on them.

I have a surgeon who is very conservative. I got exasperated but I trusted him and waited it out, and now I am VERY glad. There is some evidence that aggressive fills can contribute to a lot of "problems" that bandsters have, including esophageal spasms, GERD, slips, etc. I can say that I can eat any food I've run across without any problems and yet I am at my sweet spot. I don't know if it's just the slow fills, or what it is, but I'm really very grateful. It is a process, and it's for life, or at least I plan for it to be for life. My doc explained his reasoning to me and then told me he'd go faster if I wanted, but I had to defer to his judgment. He's the pro in this relationship, not me. So conservative fills...who knows for sure? I just know it worked for me and in retrospect I'm really glad. I have had very few of the issues that some poor unfortunates do (eating only slider food, can't swallow their own saliva, etc) Remember the fill doesn't just impact you and how much you can eat. You are tightening something around your STOMACH...a living functioning organ. Cinching it up to quickly can cause it to rebel, but a slower process allows our "innards" time to adapt a little. Just a thought

Four weeks post op and I was still limited in what I was allowed (which had nothing to do with what I felt like I COULD eat) If you don't have any more post op limitations (like are you still on mushies? soft?) then you can probably eat anything. I'd maybe pass on fajitas but a chile relleno, Beans are both fine. The rice is probably ok too but don't overdo (remember unless it's really WELL done it can continue to absorb liquid so you can imagine how that could be problematic) Tostado chips should go down fine, as would beef crispy tacos etc... in fact a LOT of Mexican food is slider-type food. chicken enchiladas may give you a problem if they are kind of dry... All in all as someone else said, take it slow and you should be fine. BUT make sure you're approved to eat the foods you choose. Don't cheat on your post op diet.

I wanted to add....GOOD FOR YOU changing. I am sure it's a pain in the neck but you'd never be happy, have trouble with aftercare, etc. WTG!

I have a friend who has this (or something similar) and she HATES it but says she has found the best way for her is to just try to ignore it and get on with life....it usually lasts a few days to a week and then she's ok for a while until the next "spell" or bout of it. It maybe hits her once a year or less.

It's a process. It can take a while. Just be patient! (easier said than done I know but many of us have been there and that's all you can do!)

About 10 years (and another 50 pounds less) ago, my husband and I decided to avail ourselves of some "continuing adult education" classes. We took swing dancing (most improved and please don't come back) (we were enthusiastic if unskilled) and Yoga. During our first yoga class, whilst lying on towels brought from home in a dirty "music room" at a local school, in the dark, in the heat (A/C was turned off and just as an FYI it's still 92 here at 1040PM so it was HOT) during "quiet time" (like nap time for preschool I think) I heard a guy doing some fancy "In one nostril out another" yoga breathing. I'm sure to a yogi this is very important. I'm sure it's a skill that takes mastery. But to me, in the heat in the dark on a towel on a dirty floor I thought to myself "Oh my good grief. I am lying here on a towel etc listening to a man SNORKEL his SNOT. And I PAID for the privilege! I started to giggle. I've been told I have an infectious giggle. I don't know if that's true. BUT out of the dark sotto voce I heard my husband grind out "SHUT UP" That made me start to laugh outright (you know you've all been there...it is totally inappropriate to laugh so you really have to just DO IT!) and HE started laughing. And then someone else. And then another. SOON I think about everyone EXCEPT my teacher (she with the lovely Indian accent...so pretty and exotic) and Mr. SS (Snot snorkel) were rolling around on their towels on the dirty floor in the heat, LAUGHING. The lights BLARED on. She GLARED at me. She said (imagine the accent please...it took the sting out) Your mind is like a RESTLESS MONKEY....Leaping from limb to limb. You need to be still!!! Oh no way. I laughed until I almost wet myself. That's how I got my screen name, and it's also how my husband and I got ejected from Yoga class. And asked not to come back. So we took tai chi.

O M G I can't believe you were in a rock and roll band. (ha gotcha i bet) What did you play? Besides the field, that is

It can be uncomfortable for about 24 hours after removal (you don't say when it was removed) but to be on the safe side, call your surgeon's office on Monday and ask. Most usually things are "back to normal" pretty quickly.

My answer would've been: "I don't see why you wouldn't" but I am a cheeky monkey which may be a big reason people don't usually say stuff like that do me. As in never yet, but I'm ready! LOL

The question is really hard to answer. I agree with Kimaly...do you mean when do you hit restriction? When do people ON AVERAGE start to lose? Weight loss isn't just tied to fills. It took me 7 fills or so to get restriction. I found my "sweet spot" at fill 8, and that's when i really started losing. I started eating less with the first fill. I was told by the NP at MY surgeon's office (based on his patient base and how conservative/aggressive he is with fills) it takes many of his patients 6 months or more to start losing. That's just for me though; it really doesn't apply to you. You may have an aggressive doc, you may lose without any fill, you may take longer.

Your surgeon shouldn't give you a prescription for something you can't get down. (not that they won't, but a good one shouldn't) I think liquid lortab is the big favorite. Hydrocodone makes me vomit so I got Darvocet 100 pills and got them down just fine the 2 times I needed them. Otherwise I took tylenol capsules. (there's liquid tylenol if you need it)

I don't know that it will; it's just that we aren't supposed to chew anything and it could trigger that old digestive action in the stomach (you don't feel it but the stomach churns) Probably your doc will laugh and say you're fine (I really hope that is exactly what happens! I love being wrong about this kind of thing!) but just in case, don't have any more ok? Don't take or ingest ANYTHING that your surgeon doesn't approve during this phase; you're healing and it's important that it go according to his plan.

The average is 1-2 pounds a week. Keep in mind: That's an AVERAGE (which means some lose faster, some more slowly) AND...it's not steady. You won't get the band and start dropping 1-2 pounds a week. It happens when it happens and depends on you, your fill level, your surgeon, what diet you choose (as in healthy or not so) etc etc. So that's just a rule of thumb.

LOVELYASKANBE: DONT eat the ginger till your doc approves it. It may trigger digestive actions in your stomach which could cause your band to slip. Don't mean to panic you but don't eat or take anything your doc doesn't approve during this time! AND 8cc in 14 cc band is almost ...well... I have 7 cc in my 14 cc band and am at my sweet spot. I think you are overfilled, especially for your stage. Call your doc tomorrow; you probably need a small unfill. And ask then about the ginger ok?