christymarie

My doc likes you to be in regular food for at least 2 weeks before your first fill.

I have been reading posts and have come across several that indicate that the reason we are not able to drink caffeine is because it erodes the band. I would love someone to explain to me how a liquid that is ingested erodes a band that sits outside our stomach? This makes no sense. I would imagine that drinking too much caffeine is bad because it's a diuretic and we need as much Water and liquid as possible between meals but that is the only reason I can imagine for not drinking caffeine. Can anyone tell me how caffeine gets on our band? Thanks Christy

Hi OG and Marie, I was actually banded in Elk Grove Village and LOVE the support groups there. You do have to pay the $10 but it is so worth it. I've also found a TOPS group that meets in my local library every Wed night. It's great for accountability and they welcome weight loss patients which is so nice! OG, I hope your surgery path goes smoothly! Christy

I had this and found out it was from reflux, stomach acid would get up into my throat and burn it, so to speak. I would call your docs office, they will probably be able to recommend an OTC or prescription medication to help with the soreness. I also found myself clearing my throat a lot, that was another sign for me, as well. Good luck! Christy

I had this exact thing happen today. I went in for a fill and then we decided I didn't need one after all. I've lost 24 pounds since surgery and have lost 7 in the last three weeks so the doctor thinks I'm doing ok with the restriction I have in the band just like it is. I like it because I get full and don't get hungry between meals (except in the afternoon when I have a high Protein snack) but also don't have any PBing or slimming. So far I can eat anything I have tried. I have to be careful of dry meat, however, and can tell when I'm chewing that it's not going to do well, so I spit it out, luckily I have had paper napkins handy when this has been needed. Good luck and keep up the good work. I figure eventually the fat around my stomach will decrease and I will need a fill but I can wait for now. Hugs Christy

I thought it seemed far fetched that drinking caffeine would erode your band but it is interesting to hear that erosion happens from the inside out. That would have to take a lot of caffeine, I would think. Thanks for the posts it seems strange that so many of our docs tell us all so many different things, some of them quite opposite. Well, I guess whatever works. Have a good night. Christy

Well, I went in for my first fill and ended up not getting one. The doctor told me he would be willing to fill my band if I really wanted him to but that I was doing so great with it so far that he was fine leaving it for another month to month and a half. I said that would be fine as I am doing well. I was down another 9 pounds from three weeks ago which makes 24 pounds total in the last 6 weeks. He says there are people who have a hard time losing that much weight when they have a fill so I'm doing great. I have an appt in 4 weeks but if I begin to gain weight before then I can call anytime for a fill. They were really very nice even though it took me two hours to see the doctor for only about 5 minutes. Oh well, I had a good book to read. Hugs Christy

Hi everyone, sorry I've been away. We flew to Boston late last week for a meeting and got home Saturday. I've come down with a horrible cold/flu type thing so I've been away from the computer for a while. My head fog seems to be clearing a bit today, finally. I'm doing well although I have no idea how. I think being sick has diminished my appetite so in spite of the fact that I can pretty much eat anything I'm down about 5 pounds. I'm afraid that my doc wont do a fill tomorrow since I'm total from surgery down 23 pounds basically in the last 5 weeks. The pain is that most of that loss was the first two weeks after that it's taken me 3 weeks of gaining and losing the same 5 pounds to finally lose an additional 5 pounds this week. I wish I could figure this out. I don't have heavy restriction but I do have some restriction with some foods. Kinda funny. I can eat quite a bit but if I do I'm uncomfortable, however, if I eat just a little but I'm satisfied for about the same amount of time as when I eat a lot. Very confusing. Well, I'm off. The boys are out of school today after being out on Friday so we are going to try to get out of the house before we all go stir crazy. Talk to you later Christy

Hope, I am right with you and not drinking enough. I find myself so thirsty at the end of the day since I'm not drinking all day long. LOL, then I'm up all night long going to the bathroom! Will I ever learn? I'm still hanging around the same weight loss as before but I'm starting to feel restriction again. It's kinda weird. I was able to eat anything at first with no problem but now I have to be careful and if I eat too much I get an achy pain in my upper BACK?? Can you believe it? I have no idea why my upper back would hurt but it does. Too strange. My first fill is the 3rd so I'm almost there. We are flying to Massachusetts this weekend and I was hoping to be much further down than this to help me fit in the plane seat. Oh well, wish me luck. Hugs Christy

That is GREAT, Summertime!! How exciting for you. Did it hurt? Did they do it with an x-ray? Can you feel a difference? I think you're the first of us who has gotten filled. How exciting. I'm looking forward to getting a fill, definitely in Bandster Hell right now, LOL. Take care! Christy

My hubby and I are about a month apart, he had his first, and it's wonderful to have someone else to go through this with you!! Just remember everyone is different so don't compare (guys lose much easier I'm convinced). Each of you will have different experiences with the band but it will be easier to go it together. Good luck!! Christy

I'm sure there are others who know way more than me but here's some that I found to be good. Fish- Just about any kind although I think cod is up towards the top as far as protein, also calamari is a great source of protein but be careful as it can be chewy and don't get it fried. Cottage cheese- It's basic but gives you good protein Eggs- I usually have them scrambled or boiled Hamburger- Make sure you get the extra lean type Those are some of my big ones. Hope this helps you. For the first few weeks it will probably be hard to get enough protein without powders and supplements but once you get to mushies and regular food it gets much easier. Make sure you follow your doctors guidelines no matter what as some of these foods you wont be able to have for several weeks. Good luck!! Christy

Hi guys, it's been a while but I wanted to check in with you all. Things are ok with me, struggling to stay at a steady weight but doing ok with it, I bounce around 3-4 pounds up and down but that's ok as I'm not going up steadily, whew. Who has a fill coming up? Mine is the 3rd of March. Hope you guys are doing well. Christy

It's been a while since I posted I'm so lazy!! Things are going.....ok. I'm not having the weight loss I wanted to have but I also have not had a fill yet. I was hoping I would be one of those people who have restriction from the beginning and drop weight right out of the starting block. Nope, not me. Oh well, I'll deal with it. I'm doing ok since I've dropped like 15 pounds in the last 3 weeks but I've been down to 19 pounds dropped and gained some back when I started on regular foods. Blech. It's my fault. I am definitely not getting enough water, no where close and I definitely need to exercise (not just haphazard stuff like grocery shopping or parking a bit further away from the mall entrance). I'm making pretty good food choices but I'm having trouble keeping my fats low. Proteins are fine and I'm watching my carbs. I have had no foods that are a problem except dry meats. I can even eat salad which is wonderful. I love salad. I went to my first buffet post banding and did very well. It was a salad buffet and I had about 2 cups of salad and a baked potato. Yum. I would have been perfect but dummy me decided to eat that mini blueberry muffin, it tasted good but not so good as to make up for the fact that I was uncomfortable for the next 15 minutes. No blueberry muffin is that good. I'm on all regular food now and have my first fill on the 3rd of March. It'll be interesting to see how much restriction I can get from that one. That's about it for now... Christy

It's been a while since I posted I'm so lazy!! Things are going.....ok. I'm not having the weight loss I wanted to have but I also have not had a fill yet. I was hoping I would be one of those people who have restriction from the beginning and drop weight right out of the starting block. Nope, not me. Oh well, I'll deal with it. I'm doing ok since I've dropped like 15 pounds in the last 3 weeks but I've been down to 19 pounds dropped and gained some back when I started on regular foods. Blech. It's my fault. I am definitely not getting enough water, no where close and I definitely need to exercise (not just haphazard stuff like grocery shopping or parking a bit further away from the mall entrance). I'm making pretty good food choices but I'm having trouble keeping my fats low. Proteins are fine and I'm watching my carbs. I have had no foods that are a problem except dry meats. I can even eat salad which is wonderful. I love salad. I went to my first buffet post banding and did very well. It was a salad buffet and I had about 2 cups of salad and a baked potato. Yum. I would have been perfect but dummy me decided to eat that mini blueberry muffin, it tasted good but not so good as to make up for the fact that I was uncomfortable for the next 15 minutes. No blueberry muffin is that good. I'm on all regular food now and have my first fill on the 3rd of March. It'll be interesting to see how much restriction I can get from that one. That's about it for now... Christy

Have you checked your measurements? Sometimes when you increase exercise you will drop inches but not pounds. See if one of your slightly tight jeans fits better now, it may be that you are still losing just not pounds. Also, make sure you get enough Water, if we don't get enough water then our body thinks it has to hold on to whatever water it currently has....that means extra pounds. See if those help, Christy

I'm definitely on a plateau. :tongue2: I've been hovering around 13-17 pounds lost for the last 2 weeks. My first fill is on the 3rd of March so not much longer. I'm making good food choices but have a hard time making due with just three meals a day. I definitely have to snack still or I get STARVING before my next meal which is BAD! Hang in there. Not much longer till the fill and even then it may take a while. DON'T GIVE UP!!:tt2: Hugs Christy

My mom and sister both had bypass and found that as they got close to their "ideal" weight it was actually lower than they were comfortable with. My sister found that when she was at 135 (ideal weight for her based on height and build) she looked almost gaunt and really had a hard time staying at that weight. She is now at 145 and much happier, looks fantastic, and can maintain that weight with balanced eating and exercise. I am hoping to get down to 150 and then see how I feel and look when I get there. It's kinda like Queen Latifa who keeps saying she's a size healthier. Does anyone know what happens when you get the flu now that we are banded? Do we throw up like normal? I know we do more pbing when things get stuck but if our lower stomach is trying to get rid of food because of being sick do we have it pass through to the upper stomach and then out? I don't mean to be graphic but my little one has the stomach flu and I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I get it. Thanks!! Christy

LOL, red wine is a liquid! CHEERS!:thumbup: Have a good Valentines everyone. Christy

Way to go JULIE!!! :ohmy: Hope I have been having trouble sleeping on my left side until last night. I crawled into bed and was settling down to sleep when I suddenly realized I was laying on my left side without pain and without thinking about it. After so long of it being tender it was kinda weird to just lay down and be fine. I'll have occasional pain but only when I eat too much or when I'm lifting something heavy from over my head. It may be something to ask the doctor about, I'd be concerned with a lot of pain this far out. Other than that it sounds like you are doing well figuring out how to eat with the band!:thumbup: Now that I am keeping my calories up into the 1200-1300 range I'm dropping about a pound every two days. I had no idea that eating so much less would not allow you to lose weight. I wonder how bypass patients lose weight so quickly when they are eating so much less?:w00t: Hope you guys have a good day and a good weekend. Any exciting plans? Christy

Morning everyone!! :biggrin: I've been doing some experimenting and have discovered that when I get my calorie intake up to about 1000-1200 I'm dropping pounds much easier. When my calorie intake was closer to 600-800 I was holding steady or even gaining a pound or two. I'm still having restriction and since my weight is over 300 to maintain at that weight takes about 2000 calories a day or more, I just wasn't getting enough calories. I had no idea this would be the case. :crying: I have a regular lapband and there is no fluid in it but I have my first fill on the 3rd which I'm not sure I'm going to need. Since I'm only able to eat a cup of food or less in a sitting and I'm mostly able to keep it to around 3, sometimes 4, meals a day. I struggle between lunch and dinner with hunger at times but I'm afraid that getting a fill will decrease the amount I'm able to eat at a time and mess with my calorie goals. We'll just have to see. So far I've been able to handle all the foods I've tried (including lettuce which I'm thrilled about) but I have not even tried rice or pasta since being banded. I'm just not tempted by them and figure I don't need to know if I can handle them or not unless I really start craving them. We actually went to a salad buffet last night and while I ate plenty I did go one mini muffin over what would have been full which just gave me the uncomfortable full feeling for a half hour or so. I haven't had any sliming or PBing yet. (knock wood) I hope you guys are doing well. Christy

Three weeks out we're on soft foods with no Fiber. We don't get fiber till week 4 when we get to go to a regular diet. I do get to have toasted low fiber bread now. I had a slice with 2oz of sliced roast beef and a slice of muenster cheese melted on it for breakfast. Yummy!! Christy

I have some restriction but not too much. I can't eat large portions without feeling the tightness. I'm going to have to check out the plate website. I have been using Sparkpeople. I start soft foods which is basically just about any food I want as long as it doesn't have fiber. I'm also able to have bread now (toasted) and had a slice of bread with sliced roast beef and muenster cheese melted on it. Yummy!! I also had some cottage cheese, gotta get the protein up. I'm off to my follow-up appt with my surgeon (actually, his PA) today. Wish me luck!! Christy

I'm wondering about that. :thumbup: I have been trying to get more in but with only being able to eat three meals a day and trying to make it as protein heavy as possible I'm just not able to get that many calories in. I guess I gotta get creative. I have not had the pain you guys are talking about but I have had a few times where there's a pressure under my ribcage on my left hand side. I'm thinking that is where the pouch is and it's inflating when I eat. Oh and the best news!! My gas bubble is gone. :clap: I have no idea what I did (if anything) but I noticed yesterday while driving that I was able to take a deep breath without pain. Hurray!! I hope you guys are well. I'm going to try to increase my protein, I noticed way more hair in my ponytail holder than I have ever had in the past so I'm thinking it may be due to not getting enough protein. So much to think about. Have a good day, everyone!:thumbup: Christy

Hey buddies! How ya all doing? Not sure what I'm doing wrong but have gained 4 pounds in the last two days. I have been keeping my calories down to about 600-800 and am getting good amounts of protein in but also high on the fats and carbs. I'm wondering if it's because of water intake still. I've only gotten in about half the water I'm supposed to drink. We'll I'll keep keeping on. I've started mall walking. It's been a bit amusing because you can see the people who are really serious about it. I just figure it's a way to walk when it's sub zero outside. I am tending to get lapped by 80 year olds.:cursing: Hopefully that will change soon, LOL. Have a good day guys! Christy