2muchfun

Wish I would have read more posts before I was banded. Lot of experience here. I went back and read some of posts in my early days post surgery and what a crybaby I was. LOL Good for you. Now let's hope you skip that darn "Bandster Hell" bug that seems to be going around. tmf

Stuck episodes usually last less than an hour and your pouch will massage the food through. It sounds like you have some swelling that may inhibit food flow somewhat? Can you drink Water? If you can sip or drink up to 4 ozs of water you are not stuck. When I have a stuck episode I can feel the pressure has gone away and I then drink cold water. I can feel it flowing into my lower stomach. Cold fluids may help reduce the swelling. It's like putting a cold pack on a swollen ankle. meat tenderizer has been recommended here before. But squash is fibrous but should push through eventually and usually within minutes. Have you called your surgeon? tmf

LOL...That 3rd day dinner is a doozy. Add it up and there's about 6 cups of food there. I don't think I could have eaten all that before I was banded. At least not in one sitdown. tmf

What kind of stones do you have? Kidney stones are usually a hereditary trait but can also be brought on by indulging in certain food groups. If you are bulemic it would be impossible for any of us to offer advice in this area. You're body is aborbing some nutrition and then you're rejecting others. And the purging must have some kind of effect on the hormones and acids that your body secretes. Your pcp should refer you to a urinologist or nephrologist asap. I urge you to see a psychiatrist and stick with it. Counseling overweight people with WLS is hardly a surprise to a medical professional. tmf

What did your Dr Say? All docs have their own protocol. Most docs want you on liquids for 48 hours and then you're back to your normal diet.

What Wildrose said: Bingo!

If you're using IE 9 go to tools and click on compatability view settings. Make sure it's in compatability mode. I had a lot of trouble too and now I can't really recall how i got it fixed? I emailed Alex 3 times for help and no one ever responded. And turn off activeX filtering.

You can't be used to losing 10-20 lbs a month since it's only been 2 months. Most all of us lose a lot of weight the first few weeks. But it's not fat. Oh, some of it is but it's mostly Water we've stored for years. I could go on an atkins diet today and within 10 days lose 10 lbs. But it's almost all fluids. You want to be losing weight in the form of fat and I would venture to say you are. You're replacing fat loss with muscle gained so it may seem like you're stagnant but you're actually making progress. Just don't expect more than 4-8 lbs a month because that would take a lot of exercising and dieting to accomplish. tmf

I can eat it as long as it's Kraft and freshly made when it's still slippery. I rarely ever eat it because it has so much sodium, fat and no nutritious value. But I love it and is one of my foods I do miss. tmf

I prefer eating healthy foods in the proper amount as prescribed by the doctors. Fad diets never worked and this one will only help you lose Water weight. It also won't train you to eat the foods that enable your band to work it's magic. But, I do believe that if you're in a plateau, something like this diet should help you break that plateau and lose a few lbs. You won't lose a lot of fat, but you will lose some excess fluids. tmf

eggs in a shell are sterile and haven't been exposed to the environment. We buy hard boiled eggs at costco. 2 dozen are very cheap and you don't have to peel them. They're sealed and usually last up to 45 days. I hate peeling eggs. tmf

I was allowed to eat deli turkey. Refried Beans with a sprinkle of cheese is very satisfying. Egg Drop Soup is a thick Protein rich alternative. You can actually get away with most any food as long as you chew, chew, chew. Once you learn how to eat with the band, most of the food that reaches your pouch is mush anyway. I wouldn't go out and eat a sirloin but maybe a meatloaf and chew it up real good. I know I'll get crap for this but if you follow the rules of chewing, it'll be beyond mush before it hits your stomach. I think a lot of docs want us to refrain from eating solids at this point is due to the fact that we really haven't learned the chewing skills yet and if some pinhead* ripped off a huge chunk of chicken it probably wouldn't make it through the stoma and cause some harm. jmo tmf *They've posted here asking for help

Never mind. I heard your blog and you did throw up day 2? Not good. That's unfortunate! Could have caused your problem or it could have been a bad placement or poor suturing? Good luck to you. tmf

Did you have any vomiting episodes in the first 30 days? Odd your band would slip with erosion so soon?

Most of the weight we lose the first two weeks is only excess fluids and not really fat. You may be losing fat but retaining fluids due to the high amount of sodium from Soups and minced meats. You should at least be walking a few miles a day? Obese people can retain several lbs of Fluid. The scale can't differentiate between Water gain and fat. You should be close to or in the solid food stage by now? Consuming slider foods won't satisfy and most have high amounts of sodium and carbs. Eat normal foods and like someone else said, back off on the carbs, especially simple carbs. tmf

Yeah, sounds like some delayed swelling. If you can't swallow water or saliva a very small unfill would be necessary. But if you can give it time, maybe the swelling will go down?

Hard to tell Jim? You need to fill out your profile so we know more about your scenario? 80 lbs in one year is good, 80 is always good. Exercise of any kind is good.

Time is all the works for me.

After my 6th fill I was in the green zone but I thought I was too tight also. So, I had .5 cc removed. I haven't lost any weight since then. But I did realize I wasn't eating properly and that's why I was too tight. Re-educating myself to eat slowly, very small and chew more is one of the hardest things I've had to do with the band. I believe many people dance around the green zone simply because they don't follow the rules, like I didn't follow the rules even though I thought I was. Some even fail because they just can't slow down. tmf

Do you have pain with soft mushie foods and protein drinks?

Or, maybe a spasm when he drinks fluids?

Does food go down OK and what is a normal lunch or dinner for you?

It varies for all of us. All of our bodies react to the band in a different way. For me, I was hungry and could eat anything right after surgery. If you don't know, the band requires the balloon to be inflated with saline via injections through the port right under your skin. For me it took 4 fills(4 months) before the band started to give me the feeling of not being hungry after 300-400 calories. These are called adjustments and some people need none and some need 6 or more. After you get the adjustment that enables you to be satiated with 1/2-1 cup of food, you shouldn't be hungry. There is so much more to it than anyone could post on a forum. There are books that explain it in detail that you should invest in if you're serious about WLS. No, no dizziness, no hypoglycemia for me. tmf

Yeah, that's up to your surgeon and it can vary from no pre-op plan to atkins to liquids only. And they may modify or sculpt your plan specifically for you depending on your psych profile or weight. tmf

I can drink or even guzzle if I want but I never experience what you are experiencing? Does it feel like it's coming from your lower stomach or your pouch or your esophogus? If it's in your stomach, you should also be tasting bile or gastric acids? If it's just saliva or slime, it's probably coming from your esophogus before the stomach? Either way it's something to talk to your surgeon about. tmf