Melissannde

I was in pretty bad discomfort for 2 weeks after banding.. and significant weight loss didn't start for me till 3 weeks after banding.. I agree with Dave, you need to go have a heart to heart with your surgeon.

I don't think you're getting enough calories. Our bodies become extremely efficient at conserving energy when it doesn't receive enough fuel. The first 3 weeks after surgery I only lost about 2lbs. I had to get back on regular food before the weight loss really took off. I started at 384 lbs at my pre-op visit, 383 day of surgery (March 9), 381 on March 28. A month later on April 29th I was 350lbs. I am now 19 months out from surgery and this morning before Breakfast I was 215. Two choices, either keep on as you are and be patient or try upping your calories just a bit (I'd try for somewhere between 1000 and 1200.. assuming you are average height..) and see if that helps. If you are exercising, do something different, either more or just a different routine. If you aren't exercising, start moving. Even just walking will make a huge difference. If you think "I don't have time to exercise".. au contraire.. we can build exercise into our daily lives with small actions. Make yourself walk one whole circuit of the store before you start putting stuff in your cart or basket. Park further away from the store. Return the shopping cart to the store when finished.. don't use the corral. Take the silverware one fork at a time from the dishwasher to the drawer. Do lunges across the floor when putting them away. Sweep your carpet with a broom instead of a vacuum (uses more energy). Carry the laundry one piece at a time to be put away. Hang your clothes outside if you live where you can have a clothesline. While none of these alone is a huge calorie burn.. over all they add up. Walk your dog. Don't have a dog? Ask your neighbor if you can walk theirs. Be creative. :laugh: Hang in there.. if you follow MOST of the bandster guidelines MOST of the time, the weight will come off.

I weight daily just for the curiousity of it all.. BUT.. I RECORD my weight only weekly... so I don't give the daily weights a lot of importance.. I just do it cause I wanna.

My friend on another support group saw Dr. Simpson (the author of the article in the original post) yesterday and she questioned him about the "no drinking for a period of time after eating" rule. Here's what she reports: "I asked him, if the pouch empties within just a few minutes of eating, why do we need to wait an hour to drink anything? His answer was that he doesn't tell people that any more. (ever since it was learned that it empties so fast anyway.) He says you just don't want to wash your food down with liquid. It's even ok to sip something while eating. That made a lot more sense to me." So, there's one doctor's opinion on the subject. YDMV (your doctor may vary). As always, follow your doctor's rules/guidelines as best you can. :thumbup:

I have no idea on your doc's protocol on length of time between fills. Mine will not do one any closer than 4 weeks apart. The only way to know about your doc is to call and ask. My nurses are great about answering questions like that over the phone. Don't beat yourself up over the pizza, life happens. Just try to do better next time. Maybe you could get a little lunch size cooler and keep string cheese & apples & deli meat and that type of stuff in it for your use while ya'll are in the throes of moving. I'm betting though, that you're expending so many calories moving that the pizza won't wreck your goals at all. Or make yourself some flatbread pizza. checkout Flatout Bread – Better Than Sliced Bread for ideas.

There are times when I can feel the Water start to "pool" up and then I know I need to take it slower. However, most of the time, I have no issues drinking water..hot, cold or room temp. I drink cold water almost every day during workouts.. no problems. I drink hot tea or hot water before meals.. no problems. You'll learn what works for you as you go along.

usually burps, but can be a sigh or a runny nose.

You don't "HAVE TO", but it's not a bad idea. It all depends really on how severe the episode was, IMO. I've had little ones that are like "ok, that piece of broccoli that I didn't chew very well is gone.. let's finish lunch" and I did eat the rest of my food and did fine. Then there are the times when it's "oh my god, where is the phenergan cause I can't stop heaving". THOSE I definitely do not try to keep eating regular food. As time goes on and you live with your band longer, you will learn how to handle each event. No harm in being cautious.

I've eaten them post banding and before getting to the fill level I have now, but I use the "thin buns". I could probably eat part of one now, but definitely not the whole thing with the bread.

bumping the spreadsheet again: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tYmPkphTP9YKZEc8WCbyoHQ&authkey=CNrR4dQH#gid=0 I don't like Monday weigh ins.. weekends kill me!

Thanks for sharing that.. very interesting. yes, yes, a thousand times, YES!

not sure how "little" this is.. but I can get into a smaller car now w/o having to put the seat all the way back.

I've heard of it before. It's not all that uncommon, just a first for your doc. :blushing: They thought they might have to take some of my "starter" fill out too, but I finally settled down to where I could tolerate fluids. Good thing as my port area was VERY tender. I couldn't even think of something accessing that area 4 days out.

All these NSV's make me smile. I'd type out a few, but I'm about to go get ready for a HUGE NSV .. going to walk (and maybe run a little) in my first 5K tomorrow!! (if it doesn't rain big time).

I asked Jessie about the not drinking after eating conundrum (to refresh memory.. Jessie Ahroni is a nurse & author working in the bariatric field. She's been banded 12 years. Lost her excess weight and has maintained. ) //I shared the article by Dr. Simpson with some other bandsters and now they are questioning the no drinking after eating. What is the point of not drinking for a period of time after eating? I don't know what to tell them// Jessie's reply: "Some doctors think that's not important. I still try to avoid it. I don't think it's a good idea to wash your food through,even if you don't have a band. As always, experiment. If it makes no difference and you're still able to feel full for hours and lose 1-2 pounds per week then whatever you are doing is working. If you're not staying full or not losing then waiting for awhile after meals before you start to drink would be a good technique to try. I have had my band so long I KNOW when my appetite is shut off and I am not going to eat again until my next feeding time. That's when I start drinking. It is usually more like 20 minutes than the hour that some people recommend, but in the beginning people don't know that so they should probably still watch the clock. Our docs recommend 1 hour and I have been told that we are all to say wait one hour so the patients all get the same instructions. I do think that each patient should try to do what their doctor recommends. I drink BEFORE I eat. I rarely have the urge to drink with eating. It's a habit I have developed. Drinking with meals seems weird to me now. I use to drink a lot (2 or 3 diet cokes) with every meal before banding. That really didn't serve me well." If I hear anything from Dr. Simpson's patient, I will share that too. I started my weight loss journey not drinking 30 min before or after my meals as my doctor recommended. I've since amended my routine to drinking right up to the first bite and wait an hour after eating to drink. I think the drinking before eating helps keep me hydrated and allows dryer foods to go down with less issues. I've also been known to sip hot tea if I get something mildly stuck during a meal.. but I try to avoid that if possible. Everyone is different and has to find their own path on this long strange trip. :w00t:

Same here. No idea what happened.

Fills have varied for me. The first few took a little while to make themselves known, and honestly the nurses were so cautious at my fill amounts (because I was losing weight) that the effects were very subtle. UNTIL RECENTLY, I rarely had difficulty eating or had anything get stuck or any of the other problems you hear people talk about. With my last two fills (.2cc.. that's point 2.. a very small amount) I start feeling the difference as soon as I'm back on solids. Beginning of my journey I got a fill monthly. Now I'm going a minimum of 2 months.. and sometimes 4. Last adjustment was in early September, I have an appt Nov. 3 and I don't think I want any more Fluid, but am not sure. If the NP agrees I'll put it off till either December or January. Hope this answers your question.

Hi Jeff, Let me first say I'm sorry about your injury. You don't mention the severity of it, but I hope it's not so severe to keep you from mild exercise such as walking. I started out at almost 400 and have lost at least 150 lbs in 19 months.. and I think it's more like 167. Will find out for sure early next month when I go in for my next check. The bypass (RNY) is one way to address the weight issue, and it was suggested to me by more than one doctor, but it was never presented as the only way. I was afraid of the malabsorption because of other health issues. The RNY IS reversible, but it's a very difficult surgery. The band does take work. It's not a walk in the park, but very doable. You must make good food choices, walk away from the table when you're finished with your portion and exercise (if possible). I do know a few banders.. online and in person, who are very limited in their ability to exercise. They are still losing weight, but it's slower for them. Keep investigating and asking questions. Research, research, research. This is wonderful that you are looking into this at your age. You will really extend your life.

I really need to clean off my work area and drag my sewing machine out and start running some seams up on some of my clothes. Have ya'll thought about taking some of your good things..I wouldn't bother with cheap stuff.. to someone who does alterations? Hmmm maybe there's a niche job.. or at least a way to bring in a little extra.. doing alterations for the WLS crowd. :w00t:

I suspected that this article would be controversial, but also thought it might be helpful to some. I work on the principal if a technique works for you re: weight loss, ride it till the wheels fall off. If it's not working for you.. re-evaluate and make a change somewhere. I agree that the food not staying long in the upper stomach (or pouch) and the prohibition against drinking after eating seems contradictory. I know someone who is a patient of Dr. Simpson and she said she would try to remember to ask him about this next week when she sees him. To clear up some confusion, Jessie Ahroni didn't write the article .. Dr. Simpson did. Or at least it is posted on the site that bears his name, so I would think that he at least approved the article. Many thanks for the thoughtful and insightful posts on this subject. I'm somewhat tender-hearted and really hesitated to post this as I don't deal with confrontation very well at all. Sometimes I can't even open this thread.. I'm so afraid of negativity. :w00t: Thanks for being gentle with me.

Thanks. Got myself entered .. Set my goal at somewhere less than 1lb a week, which is about what I've been doing lately. If I get more.. wonderful! If I don't, I won't be distressed. :w00t:

While I haven't had my tummy growl at me :w00t:, I know what you mean about not being able to eat more, yet feeling hungry. This is a new development for me since my last fill and I'm trying to work with it. I have to eat my portion and get up and move away from the table. Eventually I do get satisfied.. the hunger isn't overwhelming. I keep telling myself.. hunger isn't an emergency. There's always more food if I really really need it. Hang in there, hopefully it will get better.

Vitamins were discussed at support group this past Monday (Oct. 18) and the group leader (my doc's insurance coordinator & a nurse) said that the current thinking is that chewable children's vitamins aren't appropriate for bandsters.. that they don't have the right amount of nutrients for adults.. even if we take two. I don't know where she got the information, she didn't have any documentation, but this is something I've heard before from other bariatric nurses. I personally take the chewable Centrum vitamins, but when I run out, I'm going back to either Bariatric Advantage or Celebrate vitamins. Whatever you take, you should have blood work checked ever so often, either with your PCP or your bariatric physician. I have a friend who is banded that her Thiamine (a B vitamin) is so low she's going to have to have injections to bring it back up. She was on regular vitamins.. not bariatric. The deficiency was found by her surgeon.

Yes, the full feeling is very different. I don't even like to call it full, I prefer satisfied. When I start to burp I know I'm getting very close to being done with my meal.

I have had fills take up to 2 weeks to make their presence known. I've also had increased hunger from an unfill take 2 weeks to settle down. Sometimes I wonder if part of it is psychological instead of purely physical. :biggrin: