RestlessMonkey

WOW requiring a 20% loss before surgery seems a little harsh! I'd never have been able to do it (no matter how much I wanted it) if I'd had to do that! Good luck to you!

Discuss with your surgeon. Without knowing you (and how you heal, do you have comorbidities, how old you are, who your surgeon is, yada yada etc LOL) it's impossible to say for sure but odds.... playing the odds do not do it with just 2 days to recover. You'll screw up your new job. Better to wait until Christmas break. Your surgeon can guide you best in this (he knows his patients) but even we bandsters who had worry free easy great recoveries need more than 2 days recovery. Plus you'll be on a liquid diet for a while...you'd be stressing your body too much I think, between healing and the new job. Making too many demands with no nutrition.

or not. I lost very little until this may when I finally hit my sweet spot and since then have lost 48 pounds. My AVERAGE is around 1 1/2 pounds a week, but I haven't lost that steadily. Some times I haven't lost, (or gained a little) sometimes I've lost 5 pounds (or more) a week. We're all different...the big thing with the band, IMHO, is that you have better odds of KEEPING it off. What happened when you lost that 4 pounds a week? Gained it back I bet (been there done that) The band helps you hold your loss even if you do go nutso. It can be eaten around but it helps if you try to work it. So to me it isn't that it helps people LOSE so much as that it helps people KEEP LOSING. If that makes sense! And yes some lose fast and keep it off...lucky dogs! (hard working lucky dogs...because it's work, even with the band)

Let's see...you've lost 21 pounds in 2 months. That's ahead of the "average 1-2 pounds a week" loss the lap band advertises. Maybe an appt with your surgeon's nutritionist is in order! :laugh:

No Protein isn't usually a clear liquid...so no EAS shakes (or any brand, for that matter) during week 1! Didn't you have to go to a nutritionist session before hand? That would've helped you a lot! Clear liquids are liquids you can see through (and coffee and tea are considered "clear"...but you probably can't have caffeine) Milk isn't clear. Protein shakes aren't clear. Creamy Soups aren't clear...tomato Soup isn't clear ... just things like Water, broth. STICK TO IT! Very important to let your band heal! After that call and ask them to tell you what exactly they mean by full liquids. Unfortunately we're all given different post op instructions and it's important to do what our individual surgeons tell us, because they have different styles, different staff and teams, use different equipment, have different levels of skill, AND they know their patients best. So don't do what someone on here "was cleared for" or whatever...do what your surgeon tells you. Most of us got a booklet or some such with that in it. If you didn't, call and get them to tell you item by item! OR... call if you're in doubt. Way way better for you to be safe than sorry!

Mine's a little left of center, and a good couple inches under my left breast....great spot! I never feel it! :laugh:

Just wanted to tell you good luck...and follow the post op diet exactly as you're told. It's a "healing" diet, not a weight loss one, and if you cheat (like eat foods ahead of when you are cleared for them) you can really hurt yourself! :laugh: Otherwise, it's about time! Good Luck! :tt2:

I know I say this a lot but you really should tell your surgeon this if it keeps up. I agree that I get more "bang for the buck" with Protein rich foods. I can eat 3 oz of grilled steak (just that...nothing else) and honest to goodness be FULL for 6 hours. OR I can eat something like, say, 3/4 of a bean burrito (with a high Fiber tortilla, just FYI! and low fat refrieds) and be full for about 3 hours. Obviously now I like the more protein rich, dense foods (love chicken breast too...or roast...) They just fill me up quick and keep me "not hungry" for a good long time. So tinker with your choices. If that doesn't help, I don't know what to tell you.

It's just odd how different the docs and post op directions are, and yet how successful so many are. My doc doesn't restrict foods. It's possible there is an "unsweetened" rule so that you can lose, but I don't really know that for sure! It's best to follow the rules YOUR surgeon gives you. I will say if there is one that's really hard for you ask your surgeon why...see if it applies to you.

It gets better. They call it "hell" for a reason...and fyi it covers the time from you get the band, are healing and feeling hungry...to the time where you finally start to get restriction and feel the band actually working in there. It did NOT happen for me at fill 1, or 2, or 3..but it does for some. However once healed you can safely eat more if you want to because until your band is filled and tightened most food goes on through. The time you are in is a hard time. You generally are physically in some pain, you are generally HUNGRY and you aren't losing much ... you dont' see the light at the end of the tunnel but it's there. Hang in there is all I can tell you.

It should help him a great deal! Good luck! :laugh: OH of course say WHERE the pain is too! and if it happens after something that you can connect...like you drink water and within 10 minutes you have a pulling pain under your left breast...or whatever...that will help him narrow it all down! :tt2:

Plain I am a rebel. It did occur that once I've lost weight I may need to change positions, but that is a political institution in our country...changing one's mind OVER AND OVER. :laugh:

You said "And Parrot" but maybe you meant me? Make an appt with the doc. Write down the times you have the symptoms, what you ate, how much they hurt (scale 1-10) and the "quality" (like...stabbing, pulling, sore, throbbing) and when you go see him, take that list. Maybe he'll see a pattern and can help you.

Odds are if you aren't getting at least 64 oz of fluids in daily, you are getting dehydrated. Is your urine very concentrated? Does it have a strong odor? Are you urinating less frequently than normal? We dehydrate really fast (you can go WAY longer without nutrition than you can without water) That's why I say if you still can't get enough down, call your doc tomorrow. That beats a trip to the ER on a Fri or Sat night! :laugh:

Check with your doctors!!!! You are healing...but things can (and do) go wrong. If your doc says you're on track it may just be a matter of time. And em2 bless you, you should just go to another surgeon and get checked out. You have had a BUNCH of unexplained pains and aches. Seems a new one crops up each day. that's no way to live.

It's just really personal....I LIKE only eating every 6 hours (and not being hungry all the time)...I have no problem getting enough protein in. That's what my doc wants me to do, though...the 3 meals/no snacks thing. It's wisest I think to start out following your doc's recommendations and then branching out from there.

You may call me Restless (way better than "Couch-Potato Monkey, for example) or RM, OR the whole moniker, or as nanook did the other day (made me LOL) "Reckless Monkey" :laugh:

I'm almost 1 year post op. We don't eat out that often but I (this is the truth here) get whatever I want and eat about 1/3 to 1/2 of it. For example I get a lemon chicken bowl (which is about 1 cup rice and 1 cup lemon chicken, I've measured it) and I eat about 1 cup of the mixture. What I don't have room for any more is having this as a "meal" rather than a bowl...no egg rolls, no fried won tons, no fortune cookie(s). :laugh: pizza...I have 1 slice, no crust. I know it isn't the healthiest choice, but this is life. I'm losing, my bloodwork steadily improving, and I'm living just fine. :tt2: I wouldn't do that weekly though. I would probably, say every other time the fam does junk supper, eat something healthier. That's because I'm in "loss mode" right now. I'd rather lose weight faster than eat more Pizza or chinese. Once you're healed and have been banded a while it's possible your old favorites will still be welcome, just in much smaller portions.

Week 2 (which is where you are now) I was still on clear broths etc (no creamy soups etc) and was to add in protein shakes (mine are thin...like skimmed milk that is watered down) However if you are in pain call back tomorrow and Tell them you can't get the protein or water down The surgeon may have filled you during surgery and not told you, either way you need to be able to get 64 oz of water down each day.

jerseygirl518 if you are one of the lucky ones to be doing well with your (to me quite large) first fill, then GREAT! as it gets closer, cancel that late Aug appt and book one for Sept (or whatever) and keep that up until/unless you need a fill. Don't get one if you are happy where you are.

I just had some peanut butter and crackers with my dinner yesterday. :laugh:

Exactly as AlaskaGirl77 says. ASK your doc! :laugh: I can eat anything ... ANY thing. My doc today even told me (at almost 1 year post op) that I could now have carbonation if it goes down ok! (It has been off-limits now since the surgery) Some people have problem foods, others don't. I don't. So wait and see what works for you!

To anyone who's scared...remember many people post on sites like this with PROBLEMS! The percentage of people with bad fill experiences is probably pretty darned low...but many don't post "fill was great and easy" like the OP just did! :laugh:

Great post! All my fills (Had 8) and 1 slight unfill have been uneventful, not grueling, easy! :laugh: Glad to read you are off and running!

Back to the original post I think they should tax THIN people for not eating enough. Fat people create jobs and the concommitant tax payments (more people work and buy more stuff which makes more jobs). that's my 2 cents, and yes my tongue (unchewed) is in my cheek.