grannytwinkie

I had ear infection and sinus infection when I got my first fill. In fact my fill doctor told me to get some sudafed 12 hour to stop the drainage. He said that was the reason I had a pb episode, cause of all the drainage. He said not to by the Sudafed PE stuff cause it is junk! He was very helpful. I don't think that getting a fill will be a problem unless you have the stomach flu.

I was banded Oct. 7th and my port incision just finished healing within the last week or so. I had my first fill on Nov. 20th and still had a scab on the port incision. I had it looked at a couple times and was told it was okay. I had to look for it leaking a green substance that smelled bad, if that was the case I was to come in as it could be infected. It just took me longer to heal, I kept pulling the scab away from the skin and it had to reform all the time. I would have the doctor look at it though. Are you by chance diabetic? I am so that could be the reason why it took me longer to heal than most.

You can also log your food intake on myfitnesspal.com, which is a free site. I use it everyday, it gives me calorie count, carb count, fat count and most of all protien count. I use it religiously to keep myself on track. When I get to maintenance I probably won't but for now it is working.

I had to quit for the surgery as well or my surgeon would cancel and they make you sign an agreement that you would quit and that they would test you for nicotine and cancel surgery if you had it in your system. My mother died from complications of COPD from years of smoking and I was sounding a lot like her so I had a double reason for quitting. I quit in February of 2008 and can honestly say that I have no desire to smoke again. I used the prescription Chantix for about 2 weeks and did'nt like the side effects so I basically did it on my own. You have to stop altogether, not even a puff and once you get past the two week mark it bets much easier. You will have enough metabolic changes in your body after surgery that you don't want another one with quitting, so I would do it before surgery and get your body used to being smoke free, it takes about 3-4 months for the metabolism to stabilize after quitting (my doctor told me this is why the weight gain after quitting, but it eventually evens out). Hope this helps! Think of it - THIN AND SMOKE FREE IN A YEAR:tt1:!!!

Had my first sliming experience today. I was eating chili and all of a sudden i felt like something was stuck so I stopped eating and I got the hiccup thing, then felt myself start to slime, I ran to the bathroom and up came the chili. Not a good thing, I wasn't prepared when it came up and got it all over my white shirt, had to run up to KMart and buy something to wear to finish the day in. Note to self: slow down and pay attention to what I am eating and how fast!

I haven't gotten my first fill yet, will on Thursday, but I do have some restriction. Food gets stuck sometimes if I don't pay attention. Every once in a while I crave something sweet and I have ONE cookie or mini donut, not a handful like I used to and I haven't gained weight, I have actually lost. I think the whole thing is about not depriving yourself, cause I think that the feeling deprived is why other diets have failed in the past. As long as we don't over indulge all the time I think we will be okay.

I was on liquids for 2 weeks prior and 2 weeks after surgery. You are going to be hungry, but you get over it. I had a lot of sugar free popcicles, a couple of frozen juice bars and lots of jello. Those make it seem like you are eating something at least. One of my saviors was tomato juice, I would heat it up and add a little pepper for taste. You can do it, and you won't believe how much weight you lose just by being on a liquid diet!

I would call the doctor since you are newly banded. I couldn't drink much after surgery and wasn't going a lot either. I was stubborn and waited until my follow up appointment and found I was dehydrated and had to go to the hospital and get 4 liters of fluid by IV. It turned out that I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics given to me pre and post operatively. Not only was I dehydrated, but I developed the most horrible rash that darn near drove me crazy. If I had called sooner, they may have been able to diagnose it and therefore evaded the rash and dehydration.

My doctor says 30 minutes of "movement" seven days per week. Whether it is walking, swimming, jogging, he doesn't care as long as I move. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you could see an increase in weight, but a reduction in inches for a while. Suggestion: cut out all white carbs from your diet and it will kick start the losing again. I did it and I lost 3 pounds in 4 days!! It really works if you stick to it.

xgrl - I am from Iowa too! Dr. Glascock did my surgery on Oct. 7th! I am sorry to hear that you had people be so cruel to you! I was thin until I was about 26, then kept putting on weight, had another baby, a bad marriage a bad relationship and the pounds kept piling on. I have only had one experience with someone saying something mean to me and I am a bit of a bitch so I replied: I may be fat but you're ugly and I can lose weight! Which shut them up right away.:thumbs_up: I get annoyed with my skinny friends who complain about being fat, i just tell them to shut up or I will push them down and sit on them! :frown: I got the surgery so that I could improve my health. I was a smoker (my mom died from COPD), I have Type II diabetes, chronic back, hip and knee pain and sleep apnea. I want to be healthy to play with my 2 year old grandson, and to get off of all of the medicine that has made me miserable. I get my first fill soon, so I am hoping it will speed up my weight loss so that I can be a "normal sized person" again!! Oh my DIL says to me last night: "So when you lose all this weight you aren't gonna be a slutty grandma are you?" I said if you are slutty you would be that way fat or skinny, so am I slutty now???

I lost my oldest sister 4 years ago, she loved me no matter what. I also lost my mother 2 years ago who was my strongest supporter. No matter what decisions I made in my life she supported them, whether she agreed with them or not. And she wouldn't let anyone else cut me down in her presence either. No that she is gone I hear about how I should just eat better and exercise, how they don't agree with my lifestyle, how my cousin's daughter had bypass and almost died, etc. etc. I wish I still had my mom here to support me. I know my Dad is just worried, although I am 5 weeks out and he is fine now. But my siblings are on my nerves all the time. My whole family is overweight, all have type II diabetes and a mutitude of other health problems. I lost my oldest sister almost 4 years ago at age 52 from Lymphoma. I do not want to continue on the path of obesity and end up dying at a young age like she did. I Have always said friends are family that you choose, so I choose to tell them about my journey and let my family by birth find out some other way! (I only see my siblings on special occassions cause they drive me crazy trying to "save" me all the time). I know that it may seem that I am whining about them when they arent that bad, it is just I have had a lifetime of them not accepting me as I am, that I am sick of it. So I say to all of the Bandsters: Stay away from people who try to infuence you in a negative way. Seek only positive people to share your life with, cause life is too short to constantly be put down!

Has anyone else had the experience where their port incision seems to be taking a long time to heal? Mine formed a big scab and it was painful. The first scab came away from the skin and it looked like it was infected so I went in and they said it was fine. The second scab was just as painful and it came off last week and a new scab formed. I did yard work this weekend and it came away from the skin again. It just seems like it is never going to heal. I am 4 weeks post-op and all other incisions are just red marks. It also seems that the top of my stomach seems to still be swollen??? Just wondering if this is normal. I have to go in for my first fill Nov. 20th and scared that they won't do it if that incision isn't done healing.

Called my surgeons office today and the nurse told me not to worry, that the port incision takes a while to heal since the port is imbedded in the fatty tissue. She said it will heal but if you are active then you keep pulling it open but eventually it will heal. I asked if I could start bowling next week and she said I could as long as I am at least four weeks post-op, which I am (oct 7th was surgery). I am going to see how it goes and then call the office if there are problems. She didn't think that getting my fill on the 20th would be an issue. We will see I guess, it is just frustrating.

Things I won't miss are: 1. Asking for a table instead of a booth cause I don't feel comfortable in the booths 2. Shopping for clothes - everything has an anchor on it or some big ass flowers - What is that???? 3. Back, hips, legs and feet hurting all the time 4. Taking diabetes medicine 5. Seeing my Ex and being so overweight

Do you think I should wait until I go in for the fill to have it looked at? I go to the office to weigh and then to xray for the fill. I is getting pretty annoying, it is kind of tender too. I am walking everyday but a little leary of using the exercise machines because of the port incision. I was going to return to bowling (5 weeks after surgery) next week but don't know if I should.

Trust me you will know when you have had enough food. If you have too much you will get pain in the chest and throat area, putting your arms above your head or bending with hands on the arm of the sofa will help to relieve it. If you sort of hiccup/burp it is a sign to STOP eating or you will get the uncomfortable feeling I mentioned above. I sat down to dinner on Saturday and had about 3 bites and started to feel the over full feeling so I stopped. Sometimes I can eat more and others not much at all. I haven't had my first fill yet, but can hardly wait!

I do not tell anyone what I weigh. Especially not my SO. She is ex-military and of course fit. She weighs herself everyday and complains about being 160 lbs! She also drops weight really quickly. I don't, hence the lap band surgery. Once I get below 160 I will probably tell her, but not before!

I was wondering how long people waited before eating lettuce salads? I know that lettuce can be hard to digest for some people and I am afraid that it will get stuck. I would like to have a salad with grilled chicken for lunch, but am a little leary.

I do 1 cup cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk. When done eating if there is milk left I pour it out, I don't drink it. I have never drank the milk in my cereal, it was always a turn off for me so not drinking it with the band is no difference.

For grilling: brush with miracle whip, it seals in the moisture of the chicken while grilling. I also put it in my Turbo Cooker and it is tender and very good. The best thing about it is that you use Water to "fry" it in the turbo cooker so there is no fat added while cooking! Very good.

Thanks for the replies. I am cleared for solids, I won't have my first fill for a couple weeks so I don't think I will have a problem. Hopefully I won't after the fill either.

In the beginning I told only a couple close friends and my significant other. Guess who told everyone else?? That's right my significant other! So everyone pretty much knows. I haven't had my first fill yet so I am not losing much, since I have no restriction. So living up to expectations is getting to be a bore! I am watching what I eat, but if I slip, then I slip and move on. I have lost 23 pounds, but pretty much at a stand still now and having everyone ask how much I have lost is annoying. If I could have done this and not told anyone I would have.

I hadn't heard that Byetta would erode the band! I need to talk to my surgeon b4 I go to my diabetic doctor. I walk daily, sometimes in the morning and sometimes after work. It all depends on how I feel in the morning, I have never been a morning person and usually get up in time to get ready for work. But I always get my walk in. Once my doctor says I can lift I am going to start using my weight bench 3 times a week as well, I think he said 4-6 weeks after surgery, which means I have 2-3 weeks to go! I am hoping that I won't have to go back on the meds, it is so nice not to have to take them at all! I have some female problems so I have had the Depo shots every 3 months and that also promotes weight gain. GRRRRR. but as of this morning I am 23 pounds down. Hopefully things will work out.

I found that I cannot eat fried foods. I had chicken nuggets and thought I would up-chuck them. Today I had scrambled egg(cooked with olive oil spray) and a piece of toast. I filled up to an uncomfortable level on 1/2 the egg and 1/4 of the toast. So I am not sure if I can tolerate eggs and toast or not, I might try the toast by itself and see. Other than that I have been able to eat anything.:smile:

I was taking 2 glyburide and one avandia twice per day. Metformin twice per day and 10 mg Byetta twice per day. Blood sugar today has been 145 and 164. With barely any food in my system. 145 was first thing in the morning and 164 two hours after I ate 1/2 a scrambled egg and 1/4 piece of toast.