Hope09

Have a great holiday Craig:)

Hi Patrick, Thanks for the warning! I'm glad you are OK now. I think we will all do something against the rules at some point and it's only when we are in pain or something goes wrong that we will learn! I'm really scared of sliming and PB'ing but I find it hard to remember to eat slowly and chew well but I'm sure I'll remember once something gets stuck LOL! As I don't have much restriction now I haven't had that problem but I'm sure it will come in the future! Well done on your weight loss, keep up the good work! Jacquie.

Hey guys! Had my first fill today and it wasn't too bad, about as bad as giving blood. I had also lost another 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) which was good as my scales are broken and I was worried I would have put on! I had to lie on the bed and push my stomach up so that the doctor could feel the port and keep pushing whilst he put the needle in and injected the saline. It took around 10 seconds to do and the only pain was the initial point of the needle going in. So all in all not too bad. No barium drink or anything like that. I now have 2cc in a 10cc (I think!) band. I'm on fluids today and mushies tomorrow. I've had some soup and some yogurt (is that classed as fluids:confused:) and I can't say that it feels any different at the moment. I can't have another fill for a month so I am booked in on the 6th April for it. Just wish I could hurry up and find my 'sweet spot' and lose this weight:smile:

Hi guys, Well done Christy, you are doing so well, keep it up:) I go for my 1st fill on Monday and I haven't lost any more so I am scared the doctor will tell me off!:laugh: I am looking forward to having some restriction as there is hardly anything there at all. Welcome Fulham from down under! I'll let you know how the fill goes on Monday, I hope yours goes well on Tuesday:) KD, I have read of your experience happening to others on this site when they eat too fast and don't chew well enough. It sounds very scary but I'm sure it will happen to most of us at some point, especially when we have more restriction. It's hard to remember to eat slowly and chew well all the time and we only need to forget once and that's what will happen. I hope you are OK now. Thanks for the reassurance Craig! I hope you're telling me the truth and are not just being kind;) I'll let you know how I get on on Monday. Well keep in touch everyone, I'll check in again after my fill. Jacquie

I am getting my first fill on 9th March. Are you allowed to eat or drink beforehand? My appointment is ay 9am so I won't have too long to wait if I can't. Just wondered. Thanks.

Craig, what do you mean 'almost' no pain??!! I am worried now! What was it like? Like having a blood test or an injection or worse? And how have you been since your fill, have you felt any more restriction? Has anyone who has had a fill had any problems? PBing, anything stuck, sliming etc? Can't wait for the 9th when I get mine but I am a little worried:(

Hey everyone, Glad you are all doing well. I am going for my first fill on 9th March, my surgeon is away before then!:wink2: I am looking forward to it as I am not losing anything now but I am not putting on either. I really don't feel much restriction at all and I'm eating normal food, just less than I was before. Thanks for letting us know how your fills went, I have no idea how my surgeon is going to do my fills so I will let you know how it goes. The surgeons assistant told me last time that they expected me to lose another 6-8 pounds by the time I went back for my first fill but I don't think that's going to happen! I hope I don't get told off! I can feel my port and I have trouble bending right over as it feels as though my port gets squashed and I stand up quickly as it is not a nice feeling. This only happens when I try to touch my feet or bend right over to pick something off the floor. Does anyone else have this feeling? I hope there's nothing wrong! Still getting a little constipated too but using Fybrogel which helps. I think it's my fault for not drinking enough! Keep going everyone!

Hi Molly, Sorry not to reply earlier. I cannot comment on the balloon as I do not know anything about it. I was banded on 25th January but I have not had my first fill yet, that comes on 9th March. My operation went well and I just had some discomfort for a few days afterwards but I am fine now. I am looking forward to my first fill soon. My scars are small and are healing well. They will fade in time and i would rather have small scars than one large one. There is only you can decide what is best for you. Good luck with whatever you decide. Snow princess, you are doing really well, keep it up and well done!

Hi everyone! Glad to see that you are all doing well, well done on your weight losses! I had gained 2 pounds after starting on food again but I have lost that now so I am pleased. Julie, I know what you mean about your fears. I too have had that horrible stuck feeling pain in the chest when I have eaten something too fast or not mushy enough and then I worry that I have done some damage or made my band slip etc. I also worry that my port has flipped because I have been sleeping on my side! Weird I know but I think the only thing that will settle my mind is seeing it on an Xray but that's not going to happen! I will know when I go for my first fill on 9th March if it has flipped or not. Is anyone else managing to sleep on the sides yet? I am but only for short periods of time and then only on my right side, not my port side. Also I am still getting twinges of pain, well not quite pain, but discomfort, from my port site and my band and I wonder if anyone else is still getting this? I still have some tenderness to the upper left of my navel when I touch that area which is the same place I was having that awful pain shortly after surgery. I am managing to eat soup for lunch mainly and then in the evening I eat fish and veggies well cut up and chewed well. I am still having problems with overeating and need to slow down and stop when I am full. The trouble is I stop when I feel full and then over the next 10 minutes I feel even fuller and then bloated. If I eat too late I can feel bloated all night and end up having a terrible night's sleep. I think this is caused by eating too quickly and too much. I am not exercising yet either but will definitely start soon!:thumbup: Anyway guys, it's great having you all online and sharing our journeys together. Keep up your good work!:ohmy: Jacquie

Hi everyone! Sorry I've not been on for a while, I have missed you all! Welcome to Kara, I'm glad you found us over here! I've moved on to mushies and I've had a problem with portion control. I'm finding it hard to eat slowly and recognise when I'm full so I end up over-eating and then feeling really uncomforable for hours afterwards. I couldnt sleep last night as I felt too full all night. I've also had a bad fall today. My feet got caught in some wire and a I went down like a ton of bricks! Fell on my left knee and elbow. The fall has pulled all of my stomach and its really sore again. I've gone back to liquids since it happened as I dont want to stress it out by adding food to the equation too! I haven't lost any more weight either which is getting me down, I'm not scheduled for my 1st fill until 9th March. I too have that clavical pain that you were discussing, not pleasant is it? Anyway its great to be back online, keep up the good work everone, we'll get there in the end! Jacquie

Hi Jewel and welcome! So glad you found us here in the monthly sub forum! We were posting at the same time! How are you feeling? You are lucky to be on pureed foods, I am still on liquids for another week and long for some pureed foods!:cursing::drool:!! What are you pureeing? I have bought some refried Beans but apart from that I haven't really thought of what to puree. All ideas welcome!!

Hey guys and welcome Summertime! First of all I'm doing good, still on liquids but including Soups without lumps in so that makes me feel better. Still some soreness to the upper left of my navel where the actual band is so I know I need to be careful about what I eat, there is obviously still some swelling. It would be so easy to start eating things that I wasn't supposed to but I am a scaredey cat!:cursing: My dietician called me yesterday and reminded me that I can't start mushies till next week!:frown: I have bought my tins of refried Beans though in readiness!:tongue: My gas pain has gone and the stomach grumbling has more or less gone too. I've driven the car which was OK apart from the speed bumps of which there are many where I live!:huh2: I also found it difficult to twist round to check what's coming when reversing so I am only making small journeys. Christy, I'm sorry to hear about your rashes, what did the doc say? Can you use the benadryl? Tiare, sorry but I am OK on the energy front. Are you getting enough Protein? Ask your doc next time you visit or give him a call and see what he says. Maybe you just need some time to recover fully. Craig, we will all have days where we eat more than we would like to do so don't worry about it. 2300 calories isn't that bad! Just get back on track and put it behind you. We are in a similar boat to recovering alcoholics, we're in the first stages of getting help for our food addiction but we can still fall off the wagon so easily, especially as we do not have any restriction yet. I think it will be easier when we get restriction and can actually feel it. So take care everyone and don't undo the good work we have all put in so far. Use this site and look at some of the more positive threads to help you if you need it.:thumbup:

Hi Nancy, My BMI was 34.5 and heading upwards! It was 39 a few years ago and I was heading back there so that's why I decided to get a lapband. I'm sure I would have been there before long. I've always had weight issues. Anyway I am a Brit from the UK and yes I am a Christian too. We are lucky over here that the Sheikh allows us to practice our own religions in an Islamic country and I go to a church over here. We are not allowed to prosletise here though, at least not the to the Muslims. I did a few workshops on Escatology last year, very interesting! If you click on someone's ticker it will take you to the website. Fill in all the details then copy and paste the url into your signature by clicking on CP at the top of the front page then clicking edit signature. It may take a few goes! Good luck with your weight loss!

Hi everyone. I was banded a week ago and am drinking decaff teas like peppermint and fruit teas, I was told to avoid black tea and caffeine. But I would really like a cup of coffee. Are we allowed to have decaff coffee? I can't remember what my doctor said. Any advice welcome!:thumbup:

I had a gown on and some hospital mesh knickers but when I woke up the mesh knickers had gone! They gave me them back later on and I put them on. I stayed overnight in the hospital and although I had taken PJs in I stayed in the gown and mesh knickers as I was far too dopey to care about anything like that! Love the nono places too!:w00t:

Hi Cindie, so glad you are feeling better, that's great news!:w00t: Raink, my heart goes out to you, I don't know how you can do it without pain meds. All I can say is it will get better although that's no good when you are in pain. Keep your chin up and you will get there. I can't advise you to go against what your doctor says but if it was me, I would be tempted to take something if the pain was too much to cope with. Hang on in there and try to keep your mind off it.:drool:

Hi KD and a very warm welcome to the site! Of course you can join our little 'group', it is open to anyone who wants to post on the thread 'January 26th' on the monthly section of the forum so please just go ahead and post on there:biggrin: You don't have to have been banded on the 26th! We are happy to share our journey with everyone! However you will also find a thread called January 23rd so you might want to chat with them! How have you found it so far KD and jewel?

Hi raink, It will get better, I am one week in now and have a minor discomfort as opposed to any pain. My doctor only prescribed me children's Tylenol which didn't help that much so I phoned up and they said I could take crushed up Paracetamol tablets which really helped. Can you call you doctor and ask him if you can take anything? You really shouldn't be in pain like this with no painkillers. Give him a call and see what he says.

Hi jewel01 and welcome to the forum!:w00t: I was banded on the 25th although I am alone on that date as I live in the UAE and Sundays are the first day of our working week here. I joined in with the 26thers so I didn't feel left out! We have a thread on the monthly lapbanders section in January 09 and the thread is called January 26th. Come and join us, we are going through our journey together with the ups and downs, the pain and the gas! I also had a hiatal hernia repair done at the same time and had my stitches out this morning.

Oh yes well spotted TQUAD! It will be St Pat's day!:w00t: Nancy, Dubai is 1 of 7 Emirates that make up the country called the United Arab Emirates or the UAE for short. We are east of Saudi Arabia and south of Iran and Iraq on the Arabian Gulf. It's very hot here as it is desert and can reach over 50 degrees c in the summer! Have updated my ticker with starting stats although didn't measure myself! I'm a self pay so didn't have to wait long from when I decided to do it.

Thanks so much for all your replies everyone, it's amazing to see all the different things we are told by our doctors. I went back to see mine this morning to get my stitches out and asked him about coffee. He said I could have decaff coffee but I should be careful as it can cause reflux. If I have any reflux then I have to stop drinking it. Hope I'm OK, I haven't tried yet!

Hey Cindie how are you feeling now? Any better? I do hope so!

Hi! I have also been feeling hungry and I eat SF Jello when any hunger pangs come on and that seems to help. Also drinking Water helps but only short term. Carry the water around with you. I did a diet previously called Lighterlife where we had to drink 4 litres day and the only way I could do it was to drink continuously. It's hot here too (was 31 degrees c yesterday) so I will be carrying my water bottle with me. It's quite normal out here though to see people carrying one. I also find it hard to get all the water down though Christy and I haven't been doing the whole amount either. I had my stitches out this morning and saw my doctor, everything is OK. I can go on mushies in a week's time and then I go back on 9th March for my first fill:unsure: I can only walk as an exercise until then and nothing else is allowed. I can have decaff coffee but I have to be careful and if I get any reflux at all then I have to stop. Oh and I've lost 9 lbs!:w00t: Have you guys told people about your surgery? I've only told my husband and kids who are sworn to secrecy. I haven't even told my mum. She is back in the UK and would worry. I will tell her when I see her. Apart from that I haven't told anyone. What about you?

Christy, I think the gas has to come out of your digestive tract eventually, there is just no other way out. I know what you mean though, I have had some trapped under my rib cage on my left hand side near my port. If I lie in a certain position then it feels like my port is rubbing on my ribs, most unpleasant!:thumbup: Whether it is or not is a different matter but that is what it feels like. Over the past fews days it has been getting better as the gas has been released:wink: Now it takes time for the gas to pass through to the bowel and I don't know if the Gas x strips/Maalox helps this to happen. I still have some in my chest cavity and I can feel it when I take a deep breath in, it feels constricted and sometime I have a pain in my chest. At the hospital I was given a sort of toy with 3 balls in and when you suck on the tube really hard the balls lift up in their own little tubes. At first I could only get 2 balls to rise up but now I can get 3 to go up. They said that this would help get the gas out, by inflating my lungs as much as possible. It hurts when I do it so I don't do it as much as I should! Glad you guys like the stones, I will convert you yet LOL!:thumbup: I tried driving a little today. We have loads of speed bumps where I live and I mean loads! I hold to hold my stomach driving over each one! I also found it difficult to turn round and look behind when I was reversing. I think I'll stick to short journeys for a while! I am just taking Panadol (paracetamol) now during the day and only took one lot today. I take the other one at night as it helps me sleep so I will be careful about driving in the morning. I too am off to see doctor tomorrow (DH is driving!) and I am going to ask if I can have decaff coffee as I am desperate for a cup of coffee. Potato soup sounds wonderful Craig! I am jealous!:thumbup: It is almost bedtime here, take care and chat tomorrow, Jacquie