DesertRose

Not sure if this makes a difference but the whole day before I went for my first fill I was on liquids only, then liquids two days after. Soft musies for two more days and on the 5th day I went back to solids. Never had a burping or sliming problem. With the second fill, I ate normally all day on the day of the fill. After the fill I was on 1 day of liquids instead of two and went to solids on day two instead of day five. The difference in the two fills was huge. The first fill, no complications. The second fill, I've had burping problems and haven't felt that great. I'm still not restricted so when I go for the next fill I'm going to do liquids only before and after and follow my surgeon's instructions to a T. It makes all the difference for me. Hope this helps. :thumbup:

Thank you, Sunshinelady for your sensible and level-headed advice and encouragement. I appreciate it so much. This forum has been a blessing for me. I just need a kick in the seat to get back on track. I've been trying to encourage everyone else on here and now seem to be going through some of the same things. Guess that's what this forum is for!! BTW...you have done great...congratulations on your loss so far!!

You're just going through a rough patch. Try to remember what made you get the band in the first place. Try to remember all the times you've tried before ON YOUR OWN, without the help of the band. You will make it...don't give up!!! If you're that close to goal, you've come too far to look back now. Remember, you are one of the blessed ones who was able to get the band. There are countless people out there with no insurance and no means to pay for the procedure. Count your blessings and stay strong...you can and WILL make it to the finish line!!

I totally understand. The same things run through my mind. But, we won't give up, we will not go back. We will continue on the journey until we meet goal. We will continue to work at breaking bad habits and forming new better habits. They say it only takes 21 days to form a habit. That's an encouraging thought! Hang in there!!!

It's usually due to the sharp drop in calories. It will pass. :crying:

Thank you, mini-me...what we new bandsters need more than anything is for someone to tell us not to get discouraged and not to give up, especially if we don't lose at a rapid pace. We're all different and some people will lose faster than others. I am losing slower than I'd like because I haven't totally given up the sweets. I just took soft, oatmeal cookies out of the oven and finished off two of them while they were still warm. Yes, I am ashamed and I feel horrible about it, but I will not allow this to make me give up. I will have to do better tomorrow and I WILL do better tomorrow. God willing, with the proper amount of restriction and will power, I will be able to let go of the sweets eventually (hopefully sooner than later). :crying:

What you are saying makes perfect sense to me. I too, am a little nervous now that I'm getting a little more attention from others, for several reasons. One is, now that people are starting to look a little closer, will they like what they see? Will they really like the real me? I'm sure that like all the other phases of this journey, once you get through it, these feelings will pass. You've done a great job and you have been an inspiration to me since I've been reading this forum. Keep up the good work. You should write a book. It would sell a million copies in no time, guaranteed! :crying:

Actually, you sound like the poster child for a very good band patient. Your surgeon must be proud. The fact you're losing weight, is a good indicator that the band IS doing it's job. The fact that you are doing everything right, despite very small set-backs, and you're not PB'ing, sliming (ew), means that you are doing everything right! Just because you're chewing your food well the way you're suppose to and not having all the problems others have experienced doesn't mean you are not experiencing restriction. You have what I call FILL-power. You're getting your fills, but using will power at the same time. You're working with your band and you are losig. Don't worry! You're doing a great job, in my opinion!! I hope this helped.

First off....congratulations!! You must increase your Protein and lower your carb intake in order to lose the proper amount of weight and/or shrink your liver during the pre-op phase. Glucose stored in the liver is called glycogen. Glycogen is like your backup fuel. When the body is deprived of carbs, glycogen is yanked from your liver, forcing your body to burn fat, causing your liver to shrink. If your surgeon is not able to move the liver out of the way, your surgery could get cancelled. Depending on your insurance plan, you might not get another chance. I bought the vanilla and chocolate, Body Fortress, whey Protein powder at Wal-mart for $12.37 each. Add (a little) extra cocoa powder and splenda and even a little heavy whipping cream to make them taste more like a real milk shake. You can mix in some iced coffee for a frozen frap treat. You can mix the vanilla with DIET orange or root beer soda. Play around with your shakes. They are going to be your ally during this phase. Remember, this too shall pass!! Good luck!!

When I had my pre-op psych eval, I was told that I probably have used my weight as my "armor" to protect myself against unwanted advances, etc. At age 13 (oh gee, this will open a whole new can of worms) a married older man kept hitting on me. I ended up having to fight him off one night when he showed up at our house, when my parents were gone and asked to borrow a flashlight. I told him to get away from me or I would tell my dad. He finally left me alone but for some reason, I've never told anyone about it, until now. I even denied, in my psych eval that anything like that had ever happened. Needless to say it scared the crap out of me. However, I stayed thin until my last two kids, 19 and 14 yrs. ago. Anyway, my husband met and married me when I was hot, and has stuck with me, even when I'm not. I do remember being MISERABLE in our younger days because he was so insecure and jealous. His jealousy almost destroyed our relationship. As the years have gone by and I've slowly put on the weight, he became less and less insecure and we got happier. If my marriage is miserable, I am miserable. My point is, yes, I think I've used my weight as my armor. It makes me uncomfortable and scared to get any kind of attention from other men, because I do not want to go through (with my husband) what I went through in the past. Oh gee, as I type this I'm getting a revelation. There is nothing we can do except, continue on our journey without or without the support of an insecure husband. If we do not take care of ourselves now, we won't be around to take care of them later. Perhaps some day, they can come to terms with it. :smile2:

How about Fill-power? I will remember to argue with my dr. if he refuses to give me a fill. Even with restriction, it takes will power to stay away from milk shakes, ice cream, etc. because they just feel so much better going down. I had to force myself to get into the mindset that the purpose of the band is to limit my intake of calories by providing restriction. Therfore, if I consume too many calories on soft mushies, I'm defeating the purpose of the band. My point is...it takes both fills and will power to make it through this journey. :biggrin:

One of my main pet peeves is people who burp loudly, on purpose, and refuse to politely excuse themselves. Then, I got the lapband. I turned into one of those gassy, burpy, farty party people that I used to complain about. I thought I was losing it, till I started reading this forum. Now I know that it's "normal"!!! How do you control it? I mean, really. :tongue:

I too, fear the Really Saggy Belly Syndrome, but my surgeon advised me to avoid any plastic surgery for at least a year AFTER meeting my goal. He said our skin needs time to conform to our new bodies. If it hasn't after about a year, then we can think about other options. Has anyone else heard this? Hang in there!! :tongue:

I posted a small introduction but in case you missed it, I am a 40 y.o. wife, mother and nana to a beautiful family. My family is my life and I have spent more than half of mine taking care of all of them. My weight gain started after my 4th child, after starting work in an office and after quitting smoking. But, I guess that doesn't matter now. What DOES matter is that I took a step to change my lifestyle and was banded on June 24. I've had some minor and major set-backs but after 2 fills I have more restriction now, so I am on my way. food has always been the focus of our family gatherings. I would cook these huge meals, have family over and we would eat, talk, play games, etc. The hardest part for me was that I felt that I had to give that up, in order to stick with the lab band diet. If I cooked a huge meal, I felt too tempted to over-eat. If I didn't cook the way I used to, I felt guilty for depriving my family. If I take a walk around the block, I sometimes feel like the house will burn down. The other day I went to an essential oil conference at a beautiful resort. I wasn't there 10 minutes until I was getting calls from home and I had to run to save the day. It just seems that my family has always known that I would be there for them and the minute they think I can't be, they freak out. Don't get me wrong, they would do anything for me but they are so darned dependent upon me!! I am physically and mentally exhausted. I work full-time then come home and take care of my husband, my 14 y.o. daughter and my husband's 23 y.o. son who is living with us and not working! My married daughter is in school in the evenings so I take care of the grandbaby for her. I know I am rambling but my point is...why do I feel so bad if I do anything for myself? What is with this stupid guilt complex and grieving for the old me? Ugh! Am I being selfish? I fully intend to join the support group in September, but am a little worried about it due to all the posts I've seen about it on here. Thanks for listening, I am sorry to be so negative!

Thank you all for your GREAT replies! I see things in a different perspective, thanks to all your posts. I too, love to cook. It gives me joy to cook for my family. It makes me happy to make my hubby happy. When I started on my journey to quit smoking in 2002, I did it on my own. Hubby still smokes to this day. All I asked is that he NOT do it in front of me and he doesn't. My food addiction, however, is a whole different story. Allowing sweets and junk around a food addict is like putting an alcoholic in a liquor store and telling them not to touch anything. Would you look at them and say "You really should have more will power than that"? With that being said, I wholeheartedly agree with all of you. This is MY journey, and I will complete it. My reward will be a healthier new me. Mucho love...

Hello, everyone. I am a 40 y/o proud wife, mother and nana. Been banded for almost two months and I'm discouraged! Things aren't going quite like I had planned. I've had two fills, the first was 6 cc's, the last one, 5 days ago, was 2 1/2 cc's. They both gave me more restriction, but I still have cravings and I loooong to drink with my meals. Although I haven't been able to choke down bread, doughnuts, etc - I'm still hungry...a lot. Yes, I've cheated a little but my main problem is I am still a sugar addict. Is there ANYONE who has had the same problem? Can you offer any advice on how to break the sugar addiction? That's where most of my calories are coming from and I've gained back much of the weight I lost during pre/post op. Help! I want to HATE sweets!

I'm sorry you're going through this! To me, that was the worst part of the healing process. The key is WALK, WALK, WALK and walk some more. Walk at least ten minutes every hour you're awake. I know it sounds ridiculously hard, but you can do it. The more you walk, the more you will feel the pain ease up. That gas has to work its way out of your system somehow. Pretty soon, you will feel like running a marathon...hang in there!! :cursing:

Hang in there...it gets better after a few weeks. :cursing:

I had the same problem but it passed after a few weeks. I felt it more when I was on liquids because I became constipated. The pain seemed to up up to my left shoulder after that. I experience it more right after a fill. I've had 2 fills since the surgery. Sometimes I think it has something to do with the gas that is working it's way out of your system (not your intestines). Who know?! :cursing: Hang in there, it will ease up and soon you will begin to feel brand new!

Hi all! I just want to express how important it is that you stick with the pre-op diet. I'm sure you've heard it all before but the other day I heard about a gal who had to have her surgery cancelled because her liver did not shrink enough! It would be absolutely horrible to get all the way to that point just to have the surgery cancelled. Now...don't get stressed. :cursing: Just a bit of advice: I was banded June 24, 2008. The pre-op diet was hard but I made it through by the skin of my teeth. Do teeth have skin? Anyway, my problem was the shakes. They tasted horrible and made me gag. I did try a couple of things that made them taste somewhat better and much more tolerable. 1. To keep the carb content down and give your shakes a little creamier taste you can try a couple of spoons of heavy cream. Mix the shake according to directions, but use Water instead of milk and a couple of spoons of the heavy cream. Mix this in a blender with ice and it tastes much like a real milk shake! The key is moderation, go easy on the cream. 2. Use the same recipe above but add some cold coffee. 3. Invest in an extra container of vanilla and mix with root beer, orange soda or any other DIET soda. Tastes a lot like a float! :wink2: Yes, you've probably heard it all before but I just want to reiterate how simple it is to play around with your shakes to make them tolerable. Remember, you CAN and you WILL do it! If nothing else, try the sugar free carnation instant breakfast shakes, mix in a blender with ice, etc. Drink water like a fish! Stay well hydrated and get some walking in before your surgery. This will strengthen your heart and lungs and promote healing after surgery, not to mention help you burn some calories. After the surgery, you will have this very annoying gas and sometimes you will have some shoulder pain, they say this is from the anesthesia. Keep in mind, it will pass! After a few weeks you will be feeling great. Your stomach will be swollen due to the procedure so you will only be able to tolerate liquids for like the first week or more according to your surgeon's instructions. Do NOT choke down any solids. No matter how good something smells, etc. pass it up. Stick to the diet ordered by your surgeon. After the swelling goes down, you will be surprised how much you can eat before your first fill. Be very careful during this phase. You will be tempted to wolf down the same EVEIL FOODS that got you into this mess in the first place. food is not your friend. Break up with food. The relationship is not good for you. It is a destructive relationship that is robbing you of your health and vitality. Reach deep inside your soul and find that inner strength that has kept you going all this time. Think positive and remember all those times you've dreamed of being thinner and healthier. You will make it...we all will. Mucho love...