ParrotheadCathy

I keep liking my doctor better and better, lol. I was on liquids for 10 days. Mushies for 2 weeks, but in the second week I was to start adding other foods into my diet so that when I went for my first fill 4 weeks after surgery, I was eating mostly "regular" food. If you're that nauseous, etc., you should have called your doctor as soon as the first vomiting took place. You have to get in liquids. Your electrolytes are probably screwed up at this point due to dehydration in addition to your body being starved. If you're taking pain meds, stop them now. For some people they have an opposite effect (keep you awake, cause nausea etc.). Then get a call into your doc. I'd say call the answering service number TODAY and tell them your problems/symptoms and ask for a call back. That is not how you are supposed to be feeling.

I'm going to say that I can only imagine! Sounds crappy. My pre-op diet was two whey protein shakes (chocolate flavored) mixed with skim milk and two meals that each consisted of 3 oz. lean protein and a steamed veggie. Post-op wasn't so terrible even though I had 10 days of liquid -- I mean, it was a wide variety of liquid and most of it tasted pretty good. I can see that giving up carbs, caffeine and all your other vices along with things like CHEWING would be pretty awful. At least you're at the very end. Surgery is a speed bump. Down for a couple of days and then you're on your way. GOOD LUCK!

Liquids don't stay in your pouch for longer than it takes to pass through to the part of your stomach below the band. You may still get the sensation of fullness from the liquids being there for a bit, but the liquids are not in your pouch. You're supposed to drink about 64 oz of water a day. I find I drink a bit more than that. Don't have protein shakes instead of meals of "real" food because liquids pass out of the pouch and don't offer you any satiation...you get hungry faster.

Pre-op ... tell them you're experimenting with a "quick start" diet. LOTS of people go on short-term liquid or partly liquid diets to lose some pounds quickly and then go to a more normal diet plan. Post-op? Let's be real, here. They're going to see the results, you'll be past the surgery itself. If they are rude enough to ask why you're drinking your meals instead of eating them, tell them whatever you want! Be funny or be rude back...whatever works for you. I chose to be honest. "well, you see, I got tired of losing and gaining. I knew I wasn't doing my body any favors. So I got the lap band. In another week, I'll be moving on to more solid food and then on to a full diet." Then you can just leave them in the dust. I work with two women who are the size I was, and since I have dropped one whole dress size and most of the next one, I gave them all the biggest clothes already. Now, one of them has been diagnosed with PCOS and has been put on South Beach by her doctor. So, she tells me "you just keep losing and I'm right behind you. Anything you shrink out of you just bring to me." In truth, there may be some people in your life who are a little jealous, but most will be in your corner so just answer them as the questions inevitably come. This is nothing to be ashamed of or whatever. You didn't take the easy way out. You had surgery, for crying out loud. It says you are DETERMINED to use the tools available to you to succeed.

I can tell you that your band will likely have only a very small amount of saline in it, left from testing the integrity before inserting it, because you will have swelling post-op and if you also had saline in the band, you likely would have problems swallowing liquids. Band size seems somewhat irrelevant to me ... a 10cc band or a 14cc band, or whatever...they all work the same. You will likely reach your sweet spot sooner in a 10cc band, but I know people with 14cc bands who have gotten first and second fills that exceeded what 10cc patients got. As for fills, I haven't figured out why some docs do it under fluoro unless there's been a problem or question. My fills so far have been done simply by lying back on a table with my arms up over my head and I didn't even feel the needle. Most fills are about 4 weeks after surgery, but I've seen comments on here where people had to wait longer, so I would definitely want to know because once you've healed substantially and you're living on mushies, you're going to start getting hungry, LOL. Definitely ask about the charge. Everybody I've talked with at length who was self-pay had 10 fills (to be one in one year) included in the self-pay price. Insurance, obviously, if it covered the surgery will cover fills under whatever copay provided by your insurance. What you need to get, if you haven't already, is a printed sheet(s) of dietary guidelines for the time immediately post-op. You'll be on liquids for at least a couple of weeks, so you need a complete list of what your doctor considers liquids. Then you'll be on "mushies" and you should also get guidelines for that at least by the post-op visit. Find out about lifting restrictions, exercise guidelines for the first few weeks post-op. Advice? Have Gas-X strips on hand. Buy a heating pad. The day before surgery, make sure you have all your liquid food on hand so that you have variety. Sugar free popsicles will help with that desire for something different. I stewed a chicken (covered completely with water, quarter an onion --you don't even have to peel it -- some carrots, celery and seasonings). When done, strain everything and you will have the best rich stock to drink. My advice is, if there's some one at your house to eat the chicken is to make chicken salad or whatever with the chicken; other side just throw it away. If you cook for your family, you can do the same thing with a pot roast....save all that yummy broth and puree a can of tomatoes and mix with the broth and season, and you will have a tasty soup. Broth in cans and boxes do not measure up to these choices. Later, when you can have mushies, you can take the beef broth/tomato mixture and even add mushie vegetables to it.

GO BACK TO THE STORE!!! Get a clerk to work with you. Take LOTS of clothes to the dressing room and try them on, regardless of whether you THINK they will look good or not. You are shopping with the eyes of the fatter girl you used to be. First things first. Go to a really good lingerie shop and get fitted for a bra. 80% of all women wear a bra that is actually the wrong size! So, get fitted with one that truly fits you and will support your "saggy boobs". THEN, wear the bra to the department store of your choice and try on those clothes. Heck, I'm 58 and I won't be wearing short shorts, but hey, capris? They are flattering, dressy enough to wear out to dinner, casual enough to knock around in and I love them. The point I'm making is don't rule out anything (except maybe the short shorts, LOL) until you've tried a couple of them on. A helpful clerk will keep the clothes coming, bring the same thing in a different size for you -- and you just may find that you look a whole lot better in those styles than you think. Saggy arms? Okay, no sleeveless shirts. Lots of people won't wear sleeveless shirts even if they don't have saggy arms. Spring and summer should offer you cap or flutter sleeves, short sleeves and even 3/4 sleeves (though here in the deep South, I'd die from the heat in 3/4 sleevs in the summer). Where you live, the temps may be more tolerable. The main thing is to not go and thumb through the racks and walk away. Give your new body a chance!!!!!

Hi and welcome! I have a 10cc band. At surgery, the doctor tested the band to make sure it had no leaks. That left .6cc in the band. On my first fill, they initially put in 4cc and I was fine for about 30 minutes....and then suddenly I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. Went right back and they removed 1cc. That left me at 3.6cc. That got me through an 8 day cruise without gaining any weight and without walking around thinking about food all the time. Then my second fill, this past Tuesday, I got .5cc, which takes me to 4.1cc. More restriction though not to my sweet spot. After my experience at 4.6cc, I wasn't eager to rush right back to that. I realize that other things have changed since then and that 4.6cc won't be too tight the second time around. My next fill is at the end of April and we'll see how my weight loss is doing and go from there. Some doctors are VERY conservative and only put in a small bit at a time which will make it take you longer to get to your sweet spot. My doctor and his nurse practitioners are much more responsive to your experiences. They ask "how long do you stay full when you eat?' They look at the pounds lost since the last visit. And then they discuss it with you and it's a mutual decision.

Eat just egg whites....the yellow, if you'll "play" with it, can be "mushed" around and compacted and THAT IS WHAT STICKS. Egg whites (which are pure protein) won't do that. As for eating post "stuck". if you feel up to something, eat it. If not, have some soup or oatmeal.

3 things together will ease the gas!! Gas-X Strips Heating pad on wherever the pain is at the moment WALKING, WALKING, WALKING

If you're losing hair, you are NOT eating enough protein. Re-evaluate your protein intake. Amazingly, cottage cheese has A LOT of protein. A serving can have about 13 grams of protein! And even worse than losing hair, if you consistently don't eat the protein you need (around 60 grams a day), eventually your body starts attacking itself, attacking muscle, even your heart. So don't fool yourself...you have to eat that protein. If you are so tight you can't take in the proper nutrition, then you need to see the doc because you cannot thrive under those conditions.

LindaLee....it would be foolish to think this won't change almost everything sooner or later. BUT the reality is that the only real difference I've noticed when I eat is that I ACTUALLY FEEL FULL. As you get a couple of fills, you'll feel full sooner and it will last longer. That may be something you've never experienced before! Drinking? Not so much, at least for me. I've always been a water drinker, and that didn't change. But drink at least 64 oz of water a day, which may be totally out of your experience, just as it is flor a lot of people. No soda or beer because carbonation can contribute to stretching your pouch -- and you don't want to go through all of this and then have sodas cause you problems, right? You'll start to perceive yourself as your ability succeed at this important thing, this losing weight, as stronger and more capable. You'll see a different woman in your mirror everyday, and one day you'll make the leap to liking what you see. When you look at the plates of food that other people are eating, you'll start to think "gee, you don't eat enough protein" or "why are you eating that?" And just as important NONE of these changes happen instantly. It's a process, and one that you won't regret.

Jessica, that shake for dinner may be your downfall without you knowing it. My nurse practitioner says to stay away from liquid meals because while they may offer the calories and protein you need, they do not satisfy you the same way solid food does. Liquid passes out of your pouch quickly, but solid foods take around 4 hours to digest and pass out of your pouch. So it stands to reason that if you eat "real food" you will be less tempted to snack and will thus be less likely to make bad food choices. I was drinking a shake for breakfast every morning and I was starving by 10:30 or so. Since I started eating a couple of egg whites and a small serving of grits for breakast, I'm fine until lunch.

If you can't eat in the morning, but by midmorning or so are fine, try having hot coffee or tea or even hot broth, and a warm breakfast after that. Oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat. Lots of people say their band is much tighter in the morning. If you're still not eating and drinking comfortably by mid-morning or so, go get a slight unfill!!!

NSV is "non-scale victory".....that's like when you get on the scale and haven't lost anything in a few days but you put on an item of clothing that hasn't fit. Or somebody compliments you on your weight loss....anything other than pounds lost. You'll come to value the NSVs as much as pounds lost because it asknowledges your hard work.

Drink, drink, drink!! You're on a liquid diet. Drink water, crystal light, protein shakes, skim milk, broth. The important thing to remember is you HAVE to drink.

2 oz. protein and 2 oz veggies sounds more like one meal to me. maybe it just isn't written very clearly. that would be about 3/4 cup of food and that is what a meal should be approximately.

Stretching your pouch would mean you have consistently overeaten pretty much at every meal, and/or consumed a lot of crbonated beverages (soda and beer) on a regular basis. I don't think other than the ability to pretty much be able to eat as you did pre-band that there are any other symptoms. I, frankly, don't even recall a post from someone who has stretched their pouch; a couple from people who had their bands slip, but not stretched out. Talk to your doctor.

Most people "try" enought to lose a couple or three pounds a month. That certainly won't remove you from qualifying physically for the surgery but will show that you "tried" under a medically supervised plan.

Aubrie ... regarding problems with meat, that usually is because it is dry. If it's steak, try ordering/cooking it only to rare (that is more moist). Chicken...instead of broiling it, try this....a square of foil, place the chicken breast on the foil, put a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth (I keep a box in my fridge just for cooking), season it. You can even place some onions, broccoli and carrots on top. Seal up the foil and bake for about 30 minutes at 375. The chicken will be much more moist and your veggies are cooked too ... and clean-up is throwing away the piece of foil. You can cook fish in foil (but I don't put veggies in with fish because I don't want them to taste like the fish) and you can do a hamburger steak that way with a little water and worcestershire sauce, seasons, a little onion, 3 slices of potato, 3-4 baby carrots. Yummy and easy. The extra moisture helps make the meat, whatever it is, go down easier.

At your "sweet spot" the ideal is about 1/2-3/4 cup of food and you should stay full/satisfied for 4 hours. I have been told if I go longer than 4 or 4-1/2 hours between meals to have a small snack such as a little cheese and a couple of crackers because even at your sweet spot going 5 hours or more will leave you starving when you get to your food. I've certainly found that to be true. For lunch, I had my childhood favorite (once called it "orange soup") -- Cambell's Condensed Vegetable Beef Soup (ate the whole can, which is around a cup of solid food and a cup of broth, 225 calories and 12.5 grams of protein. With the cheese I had with it (7 grams of protein), I was right on the 20 grams of protein per meal. It will be 7 hours before I see any dinner, so I may have a snack but will try not to since I am going out to dinner and I'd prefer to limit my calories now just to be on the safe side.

Ask for printed versions of any dietary information. You'll have questions later and if it's in writing, you have a good start. Read it over and ask anything that jumps out. For MOST of us, post-op is 10-14 days of liquid, then 14 days of "mushies" and in the last 7 of that you start adding in "normal" food as you feel comfortable. Getting it in writing will keep you from wondering if you remembered right. All of us experienced guys can help you with ideas for things to eat in each stage and the nutritionist should be able to offer lots of suggestions too. None of it is difficult but I can tell you I re-read the dietary stuff I got because I got a little confused about what I could have when, LOL.

Your surgeon's front office people should have a sample appeal letter you can use. Ask. however, I would think that some documentation or a letter from your primary physician statint the duration of your weight problems, discuss your co-morbidities, etc. would be what you need as part of your appeal. Just don't hold your breath. A "specific exclusion", i.e., your policy has a paragraph that says it will not cover any weight loss care or weight loss surgery, will be hard to get around. GOOD LUCK!

A hiccup might not be your signal.....If you eat more than you can fit into your pouch, it will sit in your esophagus, you will start producing LOTS of saliva (called "sliming") and it will just slide back out...the problem is it will happen when and where it chooses..... My best friend PB'd at dinner on a cruise and it happened before she even knew it, no signal of any sort. Just slimed and then up it came right onto the dinner table with 6 other of our friends. You need to pay attention to your body and learn to recognize "full" when you get there. I've heard a few people say they knew better than to eat one more bite but they did it anyway, and PB'd.

Fiber --- I figured I wouldn't be getting the minimum daily requirement after surgery so I bought some Benefiber. In the morning, I make a "vitamin cocktail" that I drink on the way to work. I fill a large glass with tonic water (I need the quinine to stop leg cramps but you can use plain water). I put in a "serving" of Benefiber and an evervescent vitamin and a package of Crystal Light Focus Natural Citrus Splash. I figure I take cre of just about everything with that one glass of liquid that counts toward my water for the day! You could use liquid vitamins instead of what I chose. I haven't had any constipation and I know I'm getting my vitamins. The particular Crystal Light I use has 40 mgs fo caffeine and first thing in the morning, that's not so bad either!

It has a name....Bandster Hell. That time from back to "normal" type foods until your first fill....when the hungries threaten to take control. You WILL make it through!!!!!