2muchfun

Unlikely it's a punctured tube. 1 CC is a lot of saline to remove. My doctor gave me .25 CC injections for my last 2 fills to get to the green zone. I could have eaten 3 slices before too. But, just because you can doesn't mean you should. You may have to pay very close attention to those satiety signals till you get a few fills to take you back to the green zone.

Loss of comfort foods held me back for about a year. I couldn't imagine giving up my chicken friend steaks and mashed potatotes/gravy, ribs etc. But, I did. It's truly amazing how little I care about McDonalds, Fried foods, taco bell and Nachos Grande now. When I first started, one of the lapbander members posted this: "I'm so stinkin' thrilled with my weight loss i dont even care about what i cant eat!" Pink Dahlia It is so true. And so what if you can't eat an entire slice of pie, you can still eat some if you want. Just not nearly the amount you ate before. And, you won't care. You do now, but you've got to be stronger than a food craving? You will be!

It's unclear who you're directing your comment to? I'll send you a personal message.

I think a lot of sleevers post on that general weight loss forum. Seems like they take up a lot of the topics though eh?

You should start a new topic for your question? This topic is about drinking with meals.

I can only wish mine was that awesome? This could have been me 3 years ago.

ARE YOU NUTS I can't wait for the weekends! Jussssstttt kidding of course except I love my weekends. I wouldn't sweat it so much right now if I were you. Looks like you're just banded and when you get your band properly adjusted many of those urges or cravings will disappear. I mean it, it's so much easier when you're adjusted properly and maybe eat something that satisfies you before you go on your trips? But I know how hard it is. Environment is one of the biggest enemies of weight loss of any kind. I'm fortunate, my wife is rather thin and eats healthy so it's easy around here. But, when I go visit my grandkids, OMG, the pantries are full of sugary cereals and chips of all kinds. My eyeballs roll so much I need a bottle of visine to re-lube them. I've seen so many forum members stop by here who are failing or struggling because they live in households where everyone is obese and they continue to overeat. Or, the forum member is young and hangs with kids who frequent pizza, taco, ice cream places often. Get those fills. tmf

My tin foil hat told me this

Why not just fall back to lean cuisine/smart ones etc for those meals you can't plan? I do. I eat progresso Soups a couple times a week. I eat a lean cuisine at least once a week. Usually its for lunch since lunch is time limited. I've got my breakfast meals that I rely on. I'm sort of tired of them and would love a Belgian waffle smothered in strawberries and cream(for another topic someday) but that aint gonna happen. Supper is one of those meals that's easy to plan out and we eat leftovers probably 2-3 times a week. My only fear with JC would be there are so many processed foods in those meals and it seems like it would be difficult to find meals that adhered to the Protein first and then veggies? Don't they have a lot of processed flours and potatoes? tmf

You've made a big mistake by not following up with your surgeon. Then again, I don't know your surgeon and maybe you never got the support you needed? I know going back just 3 years ago surgeons were selling the band as a tool that would stop us from eating less, but that's not what it does. It can help us to feel satisfied with less food. Unfortunately, about 34% of people who are banded never hear, see or feel that satiety signal and continue to eat beyond any signal and make mistakes such as eating too big and too fast. The band was oversold, imo. But, if you want it to work, you'll have to follow up with your doctor and bite the bullet for making a few trips. Or, have it removed? Here's a survey taken that addresses patient follow up success ratios. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/300825-washington-state-survey-fyi/

I make my own Caesar dressing but it's the original way and of course loaded with olive oil(not that it's bad) but this looks like a very reasonable alternative. I'm kindof into Dijon mustard so I'd probably triple the Dijon mustard and quadruple the garlic I'll let you know how it comes out. Good thing I work from home and no one has to be near me eh?

I think they reset this page so that we see all lapband and general weight loss topics. Are you guys seeing sleeve or bypass specific topics on the right side of your PC monitor? It's a little annoying at times but sometimes there are some general weight loss subjects I'm interested in so I'm good with it.

You're losing more than 3.5 lbs per week which is insane if not for the fact that the first 10-15 lbs is just Water. All the literature, every doctor, every experienced lapbander will tell you that if you lose 1-2 lbs per week you're right on track. Most banders cannot eat steak. It will probably be one of those foods you will have to give up. I can't eat steak unless it's a tenderloin and the bites are the size of a marble. We have tenderloin maybe twice a month. Tenderloin is expensive($17/lb) but can be found in the last day bin($11/lb) in the meat department in small sizes. And since I can only eat 4 ozs of the stuff, it ends up being a bargain. Hamburger goes down with no problem though. Roast chicken not so much. You're going to find that there are certain foods that will be problematic. Deal with it. That's the way it's going to be. Sucks, but what are you going to do? Remove the word "FULL" from your vocabulary when it comes to food. If you reach full, you've gone too far. We look for satiety signals that tell us when to stop eating. Signals like, burping, hiccups, sighs, yawns, coughs and the feeling you don't find the food appetizing right now. Satiety signals can and are usually very subtle signals. They don't jump out and grab you. You must slow down during the meal and look for it. There are some apps for cell phones that time you but that's not what works for me. I have to pay very close attention or I eat past the signal. You will too, so start watching for the signals. tmf PS. I have bad knees so I bike about 60 miles a week weather permitting.

Can't explain your bruise and knot since my port is on top of my ab muscles. It would be difficult for my doc to miss the port since it protrudes so high. The port is quite hard and one would think an experienced doc or nurse could tell the difference between soft muscle tissue and the density and hardness of the port? I suppose it's possible to miss and hit the muscle but I had 4 fills that didn't present any kind of noticeable difference in restriction.

Why do you think she missed the port?

I'm going to bookmark this topic/post. We have so many people who don't lose the first 6 months to a year and they went into the journey expecting the band to do all the work. Obviously it don't work that way. Congrats again and ^5^5 to you.

Can you go in for an adjustment?

Re-educating ourselves how slow to eat and how small to eat is one of the most difficult things we have to do. I'm serious, it must be very very slow and very small bites. Roasted chicken breast can be one of the hardest to get down, but oatmeal and bologna should be what we call a slider food. He sounds like he needs some saline removed. Maybe just .25 CCs.

If his doctor knows his band is not too tight, he's not chewing enough and/or he's taking too big of a bite and eating too fast. Most of us can eat most anything. Each of us have that one or two foods that we find hard to get through the band, but even if we take fingernail sized bites and chew a lot usually we can get them through. Specifically what is he choking on? And is he choking or is the food just getting stuck in his pouch or esophagus? Here are 4 videos that all bandster's or support for bandster's should acquaint themselves with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4

The band doesn't physically limit intake. If you can sit down and eat Protein first and then veggies, it's designed to dim your hunger but it won't stop you from eating too much. The sleeve and bypass force you to eat less. The band is more a voluntary means of losing weight. Unfortunately, many doctors sell the band as a tool that limits how much you can eat. It won't for most. Your band may be tight enough as it is but you won't know unless you eat planned meals as most banders have been instructed to eat. It appears as though you're on a diet and you don't have to treat this as a diet. "dinner is a problem because I'm eating whatever I can find while I cook for everyone else" This aint gonna work!! I highly recommend you have a visit with a bariatric nutritionist. Your doctor probably has one on staff or available. Here are 4 videos that may help you. Your vision of how this all is supposed to work isn't how most of us know to work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4 Sorry for the tough love but I/we just want you to succeed.

The band won't cause pneumonia. What does your daily diet look like? What foods are you eating?

Aspirin, Aleve, Ibuprofen are all Nsaids. Nsaids can cause your stomach to develop ulcers. It's not the pill or the Fluid going into your stomach, it's the drug traveling through your veins that can enable some bacteria in your stomach to weaken making it easier for you to develop an ulcer. Ulcers can develop at pressure points in your stomach such as the band area. Not everyone is susceptible to this so you should check with your doctor. I still take them if my knees ache from working out but it's rare. Some people have to take them since it's the only drug that lessens the pain of arthritis. Tylenol does nothing for me, so it's ibuprofen or nothing. tmf

"Did anyone cheat? Or do u have any idea to get rid of my food craving for fast food" Yes, many have cheated. The best advice to rid yourself of any notion to eat fast food is: Many who cheated, caused temporary and/or permanent damage to their surgical/stoma area and had to have another surgery to fix the problem or remove the band. Your stomach is healing from a major operation. Pay no attention to the claims this is a non-invasive surgical procedure. Your stomach is healing from having a plastic band and balloon placed around it. Then they take the lower part of your stomach and lap it over the band and stitch it into place into your pouch with several sutures. This means they stick suture needles through the bottom stomach and upper stomach/pouch. It takes several weeks to heal so they don't want your stomach inflating or moving to push food through it. This can delay the healing process and if you eat solid food can cause the sutures to tear away from the stomach leaving the band to wander around your stomach/esophagus. My apologies for being so graphic. tmf

Were you cleared to eat normal food even if it's blended? Seems a little soon for regular food? Violent throwing up can cause the sutures that hold the band in place to tear away. At the very least, throwing up will cause more trauma to your stoma and sutures which causes the stoma area to swell, making it difficult for food(or water) to pass through. Just one violent throwing up episode requires a call to your doctor. One more thing. Drinking 64 ozs of Water and eating 60 g of Protein shouldn't be a necessity the first two weeks post op. Maybe a goal, but not a necessity. We all had enough fat storage to last us several months going into surgery so no need to fret over a few ozs or grams here or there. Maybe 6 weeks post op, but till then, it's just a goal. imo tmf

I can't recall any names but there have been some patients with <35 BMI get surgery. Have you called your insurer to see what their guidelines are?