Melissannde

Since the regular size only goes up to 14, I'll hold off a bit, since I'm currently in an 18 and on my way to a 16...but it's a great idea!!

Hi Rennie, I'm sorry you're getting a bad feeling about the band from this posting. The Hungry Hungry Hungry thing is not the experience of many bandsters. I think what was meant to be expressed.. and done very poorly IMO.. was that there will be times you are hungry, but the band will help you control it. Some folks go into banding either not being told, or they didn't hear this part, that there is a time immediately after surgery that you don't feel hungry because of the post-op swelling. Once the swelling goes down, hunger comes back and it seems worse than ever for a period of time. Between surgery and your first fill can be anywhere from 4 weeks to 2 months, most surgeons seem to settle at 6 weeks. The first fill might help DIM the hunger a bit, but then again it might not. It may take anywhere from 3 to 4 fills to get really good hunger dimming. People talk about restriction on this site alot. I don't believe in using my band to restrict my food intake. I don't use it as a strangulation device (thanks to a bandbuddie on another list for that great quote!!), but as a tool to help me make better choices. With my hunger restrained, I can more easily chose healthier foods. Not that I don't slip up and make a bad choice now and then.. but it's one chocolate instead of a bag.. or one plate of nachos instead of 3 or 4. Hope this helps a little.

I'm sorry I didn't reply to your original post. I did see it last night, but was tired and went on to bed thinking someone else would do it. Sorry. I've had discomfort in my port area after eating, but I can usually attribute it to eating too much. I knew I was eating too much and did it anyway (I'm such a blockhead sometimes) because it kept tasting so good. However, having discomfort after only 1 bite would concern me. Especially since you report that the last fill left your port area swollen. Let's hope it's just a tad of overfill and nothing worse. Let us know how it goes.

You might look at WASA crisp & light crackers. They are 20 calories each, but very large crackers. Very bland in taste so that whatever you're eating with them the flavor comes through. Whole grain, some Protein, but don't recall the number. If you have calorie room to spare, look at Dr. Kracker Organic pumpkin Seed crackers. They are whole grain, very thick and filling. But one is 100 calories. Again, don't know the protein count, but I'm sure they have some. Crackers are tough for me because I can eat most of the mindlessly.. and before I know it I've eaten way more than I should. The Dr. K are so hearty that doesn't happen. WASA makes a few other varieties.. the crisp & light are the lowest in calories. Have fun in your search.

I don't remember worrying too much about the amount of Protein I got immediately post-op. There's protein in almost everything, just varying degrees. I don't know where you are on your post-op re-feeding schedule, but you can add Protein powder to many things or use chicken broth to thin Soups or (if not on clear liquids) use skim milk. I wouldn't force myself to eat. Our bodies have plenty stored. Now is the time to heal. Listen to your body and follow your doctor's guidelines as closely as possible. Congratulations on your new life!!

Hi, I suspect that the N&V from the Lortab has made your band just a bit irritated & swollen. Have you tried backing down to liquids or soft foods for a period of time? If the soft foods do well, then slowly advance back to solids. Treat it like you would after having a fill. I know you said you have an appt on the 18th, but I would go ahead and call and talk to one of the support staff and see if they have any other ideas. There might be other pain meds that you can take that won't make you as nauseous or they might suggest an anti-nausea med to take with the pain med. They may also want you to come in sooner for evaluation. Call and let the professionals decide. Hope you feel better soon.

Or to "search" for them!! ROFL

If they are depressing you, get rid of them.. give away or sell. If you can make yourself put them away for a period of time, 2 weeks, month, whatever and then try them again, then keep. I know how you feel, before banding when I would try and try to lose weight and then go and try clothes and no progress.. waaaahhh. And I'd eat to kill the pain. I just got 7 bags of clothing (.. omg.. it started out as 3) from a gal on freecycle. There's every size from 12 to 22 in the bags. I'm slowly going through them and picking out what I want and the rest I will re-freecycle. Right now about in an 18, but I just found a sleeveless (!!) dress in the bag in a 16 that I'm keeping because maybe by Spring I'll be down to that. I don't like sleeveless, but for free I can figure something out to wear over it I also shop at a local charity store that supports local Hospice care. I've gotten some real bargain there. Hang in there, you WILL get smaller. And the suggestion to exercise is a good one. I find that doing weight lifting is reshaping my body as I lose. The class I take isn't about body building but shaping and toning. The one I take is called Body Pump, but there are other good classes out there. Look around in your area.

Give it time. I had a lap hyst about 16 months before banding, so between that, my two c/sections & banding, you can play "connect the dots" on my abdomen. ::grin:: My hubby says it makes a Christmas tree. LOL But seriously, even though I have a fair amount of scars, they have all faded tremendously. By the time you're ready to wear a bikini again, I bet it won't be all that noticeable.

I struggle with this too. I think I'm at a pretty good fill level because I can go 4 or 5 hours between brkfst & lunch and lunch & dinner.. most of the time don't need a snack between lunch & dinner now. But at night I'm wanting to snack. I try to eat high Protein Snacks, but now & then I do slip over to "the dark side". LOL I read recently somewhere that the reason people are wanting food (esp. high glycemic carb foods) late at night is that they are tired and the body is looking for energy. That makes a lot of sense to me. So when I get that "snacky" feeling I'm trying to 1) eat protein (liquid or soft.. not dense as I get reflux if I eat dense right b4 bed) and 2) go to bed. It's working a little. Good luck to all of us.

Actually, LBT kinda does have a "like" button. Look at the + / - signs near the reply button.. Those are kinda a like & dislike.

I don't think you're a wimp. I was in pretty strong pain for 2 weeks. (I blame the NP who refused to give me adequate post-op pain medication). By the end of 3 weeks it was lots lots better. I remember telling my husband I had new sympathy for those who suffer from chronic pain, because I was so slow to recover.

I got some kohlrabi today. It's really good. raw it's sweet and crunchy. I'm cooking some tonight and we'll see how it is.

Depending on your personal situation and how aggressive your doctor is with fill amounts, you may or may not get hunger dimming with your first fill. Very often it will take 2, 3 or more adjustments to get to where you don't feel like you're dieting. I'm not trying to be negative, just wanted to give you a heads up so you don't come back on January 22nd thinking this band isn't going to work. You have to work the band, the band doesn't work you. Welcome to LBT. Glad to have you here and also welcome to your new life!!

check out the recipes at www.bariatriceating.com The white chicken chili is especially good. I made it when on soft/mushy foods, and put my portion through the blender. My son was mad I only made a single pot instead of doubling it, it was THAT good.

Yes, I would advise asking your surgeon or your PCP what Vitamins and calcium you should be taking. Most, but not all, bariatric surgeons have their patients taking calcium citrate not carbonate because Citrate is more easily absorbed without the presence of food. My doctors want me to have a minimum of 1500 mg of Calcium a day. I take Adult Centrum chewables (multi-vitamin), either Bariatric Advantage Chewable Calcium Citrate or Citrical Petites (when I run out of the chewables and I'm not due back in for another appt anytime soon), Biotin (for hair, skin & nails), Vit. D, and a few other supplements for my particular issues. The amounts and dosages of vitamins should be determined by your health care professional. There are several companies specializing in bariatric vitamins: Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate, Building Blocks, fusion, just to name a few. Look their sites up on the web and email to ask for samples. Most of them will send you some so you can see if you can tolerate their product before buying. Hope this helps

I think so too. New member, joined 7:45am today. And took the time to leave me a personal comment before they changed over to F2F.. ROFL.

Most mornings I have steelcut oatmeal that I made overnight in my crockpot. In the morning I add 1 tbspn powdered milk or f/f evap milk or f/f half&half. 1/4 of a HUGE apple, chopped. Generous amount of cinnamon. Sometimes I'll add 1 Tbspn of chopped walnuts. Splenda or Stevia to taste. (I use bob's redmill steelcut oats which has 170 calories per 1/4 cup dry = 1 cup cooked & 7 grams of protein). I also have 1 Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage link. (40 calories and 4 grams of protein). Steelcut oatmeal (aka Irish Oatmeal) is a good Breakfast choice because even though it is higher in carbs, the less processing of the oats makes them lower glycemic. Meaning that they do not spike your blood sugar as much as other versions, therefore you stay fuller longer. Give it a try. To make it overnight in your crockpot is really easy. you need a bowl that will fit inside of your large crockpot. I have some bowls that look like oversize coffee cups, they hold about 2 cups in volume. Perfect as this leaves room for the chopped apples. Spray smaller mug/bowl with Pam type cooking spray (not mandatory, but tends to make cleanup easier). Measure 1/4 cup oatmeal into mug. Add 1 cup Water. Place mug or bowl into large crockpot. Put lid on, turn crockpot on low and go to bed. In the morning turn off the crockpot and remove lid and let bowl cool while you take Vitamins. When you can handle the bowl, remove and add whatever sounds good to you. suggestions: chopped apples, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, chopped walnuts (measure these, they are high calorie), dash salt, sweetner as desired. I'm going to try DaVinci s/f pancake syrup on Monday along with my apples. Enjoy.

Is there a Kroger grocery store where you live? Kroger has a brand of yogurt called Carbmaster.. very low carbs in it. Or look for the PLAIN Lowfat Greek yogurt.. not the stuff with fruit added.. that's too much sugar. The plain low fat greek yogurt that I can find (Dannon, Yoplait) has only about 5 or 7 carbs and between 80 to 100 calories in a small container and usually about 15 grams of protein. I add my own fresh or frozen fruit to it. The other poster who made the observation that perhaps it wasn't that you are too tight, but that perhaps it was size of bites and rapidity of eating has a good point. Glad you're going to get in to the doc and investigate all these possibilities. I understand getting things coordinated.. my doc is only an hour away and that seems difficult. Have a good night.

My stomach has made extra noises ever since banding. I think it's just the nature of the surgery. :/ Real hunger.. I don't notice growling so much or rumbling, I just feel hungry. Head hunger: I've eaten, I'm no longer hungry but DARNIT the food tastes good and I want to keep on eating... to me that's head hunger. Another definition of head hunger for me is when I'm not physically hungry or it's only been 2 hours since I ate, but I want something to chew. I want crunch, I want salt. I try to divert myself with some activity like taking dogs for a walk or I will chew gum. two days on liquids is different from what my doc requires too, but then again, I get MUCH smaller fills that 2.4cc's. My first fill was only 1cc and everyone since then has been half that size or smaller. That could be why your doc is being cautious, because of the size of your fill. And sometimes fills can take a week or two make themselves known. I had my last fill on 22 Dec. on Dec. 28, I was having difficulty eating and when I thought about it, I realized it was almost exactly a week since my fill. I had gotten tighter. Hang in there.. I know it's difficult, but it's well worth it.

I've probably had close to a dozen fills (and one unfill, same process, just in reverse) in the 22 months I've been banded. The only one that was really uncomfortable was the first one. And that was likely due to that I was still rather tender over my port area.. and the tenderness due to my being stubborn enough to try to continue to sleep on that side, even while still healing. Even though it was really uncomfy, it wasn't bad at all. I don't get a numbing shot (I don't see the point.. it's an extra needle and the fill doesn't hurt that much). The doctor or nurse uses ultrasound to locate the port, they do a quick stick, pull back to see how much saline is in the band (this is good practice to check Fluid level each time) and then push it all back in with the additional of what they planned to add. Then the needle removed and bandaid applied. All this is done while lying down. Then they sit me up and give me Water to drink. If it goes down OK, then I'm free to continue on my merry way. Water has always gone down fine, but if it didn't, they'd probably want to remove some of the saline just installed. My post fill diet is liquids till that evening, soft or mushie foods (the one time I let myself have mashed potatoes) and back to regular as tolerated the next day. If anything gives me trouble to back down to liquids and advance diet a little more slowly. I've had the nurse not be able to find the port right off the bat a time or two. It's not a stick over and over, they move the needle just a tad while still in your skin. It doesn't hurt, just feels strange. If they use ultrasound or fluoro, it shouldn't be an issue at all. They don't use either on me now as I've lost so much. a NSV for sure!! And I totally understand being anxious. I was asking everyone and everybody about skin numbing preparations.. lol. I was plain out scared! It will likely be a lot easier than you can imagine. Hope this helps a little. P.S. I LOVE answering questions from newbs, oldsters & inbetweens. I learn from everyone and every question.

I know the fear about getting too tight again.. and if you haven't lost any, you are probably right - it's not quite time for a fill. But keep a plugging at it. It should come off if you follow the bandster guidelines most of the time. I had to have a slight unfill in May. It took till September to be ready to have it added back.. but when I did get it replaced.. whoa nelly.. it worked really well, lost 14 in 2 months.

The average time between surgery and getting your first fill is 6 weeks. Average.. meaning some doc's will do them sooner and some later. As to knowing when you need a fill, well, that's kinda subjective. But I know I need one when I'm not losing weight, when I'm hungry more often than every 3 to 4 hours and I'm starting to put larger and larger amounts of veggies on my plate. My maladaptive thinking goes sorta like this: "Veggies don't have much calories, you can have a few more, the nurse even said so". Which is all true, but if I'm routinely needing more than 1/2 cup of veggies.. something needs adjusting.. either my band or my head. Your doctor and nurses can help you figure out if a fill is in order. You can help by keeping a detailed food journal and taking it in with you to your next appt. I do mine online at thedailyplate.com, others like fitday.com or sparkpeople.com or fatsecret.com Hope this helps a little

All it says in her profile is that she works in Oncology. That could be anything from sweeping floors to answering phones to who knows what. I pray she is not an oncology nurse. I told her just recently on another thread that scolding people wasn't helpful. I see it didn't take. :::waits for the flames to begin:::

You must remember that most of the people posting here are those with problems. Many of us who are doing well with the band are out living our lives. I try to spend a little time on here repaying the support I got when I was new. While not every band problem is user caused, many are and mainly (I think) for thinking that the band is to do the work. Those folks depend on keeping the band tight and restricting the amount they are able to eat. I don't use my band as a strangulation device (great quote I got from another bandster!!), I weigh & measure my food, eat that and move away from the table. Granted, banding isn't for everyone. I'm thankful that there are different surgeries for different needs. I personally wouldn't want the sleeve right off the bat as I have a personal aversion to removing body parts, but that is just me. If I ever lost my band and was not a good candidate for having another.. the sleeve would be my second choice. Very glad I don't have to make that decision. Good luck with your choices.