ParrotheadCathy

Don't crush metformin. Tak to your pharmacist because some meds don't work properly if they are crushed. You may need your prescription changed to smaller tablets taken in combination. Personally, my internist took me off all my blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes medications starting the day of surgery and I've never had to go back on them. I still go in once every 3 months for an A1c and a quick overall check but even that will probably come to an end in the near future.

Ask if you will be given WRITTEN eating guidelines for each stage of post-op. There are lot of people on here who apparently didn't get that and they suffer from a lot of confusion. Ask when he will do your first fill and how aggressively he pursues fills .... some docs are very conservative and give the first fill months after surgery and then only give .5cc per fill, etc. It's best to know in advance what you are getting into. Ask if he stitches the band into place to prevent slipping. My doc anchors the band with a fold of the stomach stitched over it so that it cannot slip. Ask any little thing that comes to mind as you read posts here! Ask for precriptions for nausea and for pain BEFORE surgery so that you can get them filled and have them on hand. liquid Lortab is probably your best bet for pain...remember it tastes kind of nasty but you can request your pharmacist to add a flavor to it and they have plenty to choose from. I never needed either prescription but you may need them and it's best to be prepared. The better informed you are, the better you know what to expect, the better your recovery and weight loss will go.

Mushy food is soft food, somewhat easy to digest. For example, meat is not a mushy; fish is. Think about the difference in the two. Meat requires a good bit of chewing and still doesn't break down much; broiled or baked fish is flaky, breaks apart well just with a fork..... Vegetables that are stringy ... for example, celery ... are not mushy foods.

I've read of one person dying after lap band surgery .... a doctor who got the band, got an infection and decided to treat it himself. There's a saying about doctors and lawyers who have themselves as patient/client.....suffice to say that he was the cause rather than the band. Doctors have to give you what is called "informed consent". That is, they have to tell you the worst case scenario and if you go with the surgery, you'll probably have to sign a form that includes that potential "side effect." My BMI was 42.2 ..... I was running a much greater risk of dying prematurely than I ws of dying in connection with the surgery. You have to choose....a brighter, healthier future or give in to your fears. Most of us were a bit leary about this really working for us and when you have those subconscious thoughts it's very easy to give in to the most simple excuse not to proceed.

Bandster Hell is that period after you are back on normal food but have had no fills -- and can pretty much eat anything you want and in quantities that you shouldn't be eating. Once you start getting fills, you will find that each fill makes it easier. In the meantime, try this. Eat a meal of 3 oz of Protein, a vegetable serving and a serving of WHOLE GRAIN carb. If/when you get hungry in less than 4 hours, eat a small protein snack....a boiled egg, a little deli sliced turkey or an ounce of cheese (all these are about 70 calories each). When you get to your sweet spot, you should be able to comfortably go 4 hours (or perhaps longer) between meals and Snacks will become an occasional thing which you unavoidably have to go much longer between meals. The main thing is to not get discouraged, understand that this is a process, and that it does indeed get easier.

The transition to solid food often brings a small weight gain. All that liquid pretty much emptied your bowels of waste (this is how you lose weight with a colon cleanse)! You started eating mushy foods. Then the transition to regular food. You're recovered from the surgery, you don't have any restriction to speak of and you're feeding your body normal food. Don't worry! With that first fill, you are on the road for real and it will all start working for you. It could take several fills to get to your sweet spot, but just eat the portions you've been told to eat and if you get hungry in less than 4 hours, snack on a little bit of Protein .... a boiled egg, a little deli sliced turkey, an ounce of low fat cheese (all of these are about 60-70 calories). It will all come together for you!

Protein!!!!! A boiled egg, some low fat cheese, some deli lturkey. Proteinl takes longer to digest and makes you feel full longer as a result. I can go 4-5 hours between meals without a problem but I eat lunch at 12:30 and don't even get home until 7:00, much less get dinner together for my family and then eat. That makes the afternoon snack crucial to keep me from walking in the door at 7:00 and just grazing my way to dinner.

For now, it's a little tough. You still have swelling from the surgery which makes you tight, hard to take much in and it's maybe even harder still to continue to be satisfied by liquids since they don't stay in your pouch for long. I was on true liquids for 10 days and couldn't even have the soup or yogurt for 10 very long days. That first can of cream of mushroom soup was like getting a steak it tasted and felt so good, LOL. Just remind yourself that this is a very short term and it's just going to get better.

Constipation is a very common side effect of anesthesia and of pain medication. I suggest INSTANT relief. Go to the drug store and buy a Fleet enema or the store brand. They're cheap because they are nothing more than the little bottle and some saline...works in a matter of minutes...and there's not much that feels more miserable that constipation so getting rid of that is a very good thing. Some people report that their port is in the middle, just below their sternum. The port is either sewn (if you have Lap Ban AP) or attached with metal crimps (if you have a Realize band) to muscle and that's why it can be painful. It will get better day by day. Other soreness is more likely from tugging as they maneuvered their instruments and, again, that should get better daily. I was one of the very lucky ones. I had surgery on Tuesday and went back to work on Friday. I had some soreness around my port area, but that was about it. I never took any pain meds BUT I still had constipation from the anesthesia so I can relate. Hunger will be an issue for a while, at varying levels. Until you start getting fills, you will need to manage your hunger. Protein always alleviates better than anything else you can eat. So make sure you drink your Protein shakes (look to take in as close to 60 grams of protein in a day as you can get). And then drink Water. Getting dehydrated is your enemy.

Remember that the goal is not to find yourself unable to eat comfortably. The goal/the way the band works is for you to be able to eat a meal of about a cup of food and fell satisfied for at least 4 hours. So, the question is, what is your level of satiety? If you eat a meal, how soon do you feel hunger again?

Jello was NEVER a problem and I've never heard anybody say they had a problem with jello. I'd just sort of chew it/swish in my mouth a little and it's going right down. No picking up anything right now! Pain in your shoulder....Walk around and wave your arms over your head; sit in a rocker and rock instead of sitting in a chair; put a heating pad over your shoulder (just as a caution, don't put a heating pad on your incisions). For MOST of us, our ports are on our left side. Where is your longest incision? That is where your port is.

Okay, I'm going to try to offer helpful suggestions. If they're not, forgive me... 1. My granddaughter (who's 20) play WoW daily, belongs to a guild whose members mostly live in Australia....and she's raising a little girl. She's come to realize that WoW detracts from her being a really good mother. I know from Skye how ubsessive that game can be. I can't tell you to quit, but maybe if you evaluate what it's taking away from you. You have no social life, except for the vent and I suspect it also means you are not exercising. Maybe try getting a new obsession, like the gym? Perhaps change to a different guild, where they don't know you and pick a night to play. One night. 2. Cooking when you have crazy hours. Here are a couple of ideas. I don't get home from work until 7:00 or 7:15 usually. And I cook every night. Some nights, I just don't want to cook. So try these ideas. A. Make two small meatloafs; cook them both and freeze one for another day. Just wrap it in foil and then put it in a ziplock bag. Reheat in the microwave. B. You need some things that cook fast. I keep frozen fish filets on hand. Turn the oven on to 350. Put a fish filet in a square of foil. Put a little bit of butter and lime or lemon juice (like a teaspoon) and some herbs). Wrap it up tight, put it on a cookie sheet and back for about 20 minutes if the fish is frozen; sometimes a little less if it's fresh. DON'T overcook it or it will be dry and a little chewy. This cooks so fast that you can go put on your PJs, come back and prepare a salad (or you could have put some frozen veggies in the microwave while you were changing). C. Buy a small roast. Put in a crock pot on LOW. Cover with some beef broth, some seasonings (but skip the salt because unless you bought low sodium broth it's already got plenty). Add a little onion. Put a lid on and go to work. It will be done in about 11 hours. It will fall off the bone and be moist. Perfect! Again, fix an easy side and you're in business fast. And you'll have leftovers to put on a salad with other good veggies and a low fat dressing on another night. I can suggest other quick meals but I think you get where I'm going with this. Finally, back to giving up WoW or scaling back....Find a social group to join. I have been a very active member of the Parrot Head Club (Jimmy Buffett fans, who do a LOT of community service work) and have a lot of fun too. There are a lot of organizations out there who would welcome you to their events and activities. You'd be out of the house which I find to be very good for my success at this weight loss thing. I don't know what's in your city but here's a few from Atlanta and maybe you can find similar....Atlanta Parrot Head Club (go to www.phip.com and then the pull down for chapters to find a local club). Atlanta Ski Club (they go on ski trips). Atlanta Fundraising is a singles group that does some community service stuff and plan lots of weekend trips and such. I've been on a few and they are a lot of fun (beach trips, mountain trips, parties, etc.). I discovered my old habits and activities were all part and parcel of my weight and as I found different things to do I found that I changed what I did when I was out and about (picked different foods when I ate out, drank less, socialized more)!

CC, (with Dr. Hart) usually after the first fill or two, it's just liquids for the rest of the day. Later fills, I'lve been on liquids for the rest of the day and the next day and mushies for a day. Some doctors are more strict and require liquid for a week afterwards. Since I haven't had problems post-fill, of course that seems extreme to me (LOL) but that's the individual doctor's decision and I would really do what my doctor tells me, not what someone else was told to do...just so if you have a problem you can say "I did what you told me!".

That wasn't really "drinking with a meal". That was a single swallow of water. Drinking with a meal, that is, taking swallows of liquid as you eat, diminishes the effect of your band. How? you ask.... You chew your food really well and swallow it (well, except that bite that got stuck :rolleyes2:). Your band holds that in the pouch which stimulates the vagus nerve which is at the top of your stomach and you feel full. The better your restriction, the longer you feel full. If you drink along with your food, a good portion of what you eat will wash through the band opening and you won't feel full because the food in the pouch doesn't reach high enough to stimulate the vagus nerve. So then, you want to eat more/more often...and there goes your weight loss! Hope this helps!

Fly, what you describe has happened to so may obese women who take charge and, by whatever means, lose the excess pounds for good. There is an element of settling when your opinion of yourself is that you are less than the best available. By the same token, I know that divorce, even if it truly is the only option you have left, is painful and represents a huge amount of stress. I wish you a brighter 2010 for sure. The dating world is hard and that I don't wish on anybody but being alone (and you do have your son, too!) is often 100% better than being with someone that doesn't bring happiness into your life.

Macro, I take a Vitamin that is manufactured in Australia....Berocca Performance. It has ALL the B vitamines, including Biotin, and some other stuff. I have to buy it on Ebay from a lady who lives in New York on the Canadian border, but you should be able to buy at your local drugstore! It comes in three flavors and effervesces in Water like an Alka Seltzer tablet. I use the orange, stir in a tablespoon of Fiber supplement AND a packet of Crystal Light that is orange flavored because I can still taste the Vitamins a little if I don't.

The gas pains you describe are mostly the result of the gas they pump into your abdomen during surgery. Moving around is the #1 thing to help. Walk through the house waving your arms over your head. If you have a rocking chair, sit in it and rock. Take a short walk if you can. And you can put a heating pad over your shoulder (just don't put it on your incisions) to help, too!

That can still be gas pains, even it it's long after surgery! Gas can put pressure on nerves and then it's OUCH time. Moving around and heat over the painful area is still probably the best reaction.

I made the same discovery a while back. I can eat a pretty normal portion and be well satisfied....a cup or so of food. BUT when I get my favorite salad (a salad with chicken, black beans, salsa, jalapenos and a little cheese at Moe's) I can eat a fair amout more than a cup. So I asked at a doctor's appointment a while back why that was so. I was told that the lettuce breaks down really easily when you chew it and that releases the considerable water content in lettuce (particularly iceberg lettuce which is the base of most commercially made salads, especially carry-out) and that's why I could eat more food. And I was told as long as lettuce was the larger volume of the salad (as opposed to lots of "stuff" on top of the lettuce) I was fine.

I sort of agree ... best to get this out of your system! Once the doc puts you on the pre-op diet, you need to make every effort to stick to it because the purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver so that the doctor has adequate room in which to work when he does your surgery. A poster that I haven't seen anything from lately (Restless Monkey) went for surgery the FIRST time and woke up with no band because she had not stuck to her pre-op diet and her liver was simply in the way! She had to go home do the pre-op diet and come back for surgery a few weeks later. A cautionary story, I guess...but, like I said, that would mean it's best to get this out of your system now. And, please, remember this: You are not giving up the food you love for the rest of your life; you're just not going to be able to eat the portions that put you into the obese category that you're in. So don't act like it's the last supper!

What sometimes happens is that you have charges close together in time (or the provider is a little slow to file their claim) and as a result, monies you've paid out toward your deductible aren't "on the books yet" and so another percentage toward your deductible is charged to you. Once all the paperwork catches up at the insurance office, you get the overpayment back. Doesn't happen often, but it has happened to me.

As Frank Zappa once said, the one thing missing from computer communications is eyebrows....... For what it's worth, Elfiepoo, I never thought that you were rude and self-righteous.

Others have posted information relevant to this. Specifically, some Realize banders have said that their doctors have told them that they can be filled to 11ccs in their Realize bands (which supposedly have a capacity of 9ccs). First fills will vary dramatically from doc to doc. Some are quite conservative, giving only .5 to 1cc. My doc gave me 4cc on top of .6cc that was remaining in my band after they tested it in the operating room. And, that was too much. I was so tight I couldn't swallow my own spit and had 1cc removed that same day. And if you're too tight at some point and have an unfill, that doesn't mean that a later fill that goes past that point would be too much. I'm now at my sweet spot at 5.8ccs (I have a 10cc band). One thing my doctor emphasized to me that even once I hit my sweet spot, I should come in at least once every 6 months because I might need a small fill to "top off". Right now, I'm going 6 to 7 weeks between visits but I haven't had a fill since early August, and had a .2cc unfill in early October.

I didn't have to do just liquids at all before surgery. Liquids only for 10 days, mushy foods starting on day 11 and started adding "real" food on day 14. Like girlpilot said, what you're doing sounds fairly typical. Some variation from doc to doc but you're doing just about the same as others.

My thought is this.....we ALL have friends who think they are authorities on everything under the sun, and they don't hesitate to tell us what they think we should do on any given subject. Your friend doesn't live down the street. Ignore her opinion because it's really nothing more than an opinion. She obviously doesn't have the answer to weight loss issues either (heck none of did, right?) and most of us who have had the surgery will tell you that it was the right choice for US but not necessarily for someone else. If you've decided it's right for you then pursue your decision. She'll eventually see you, know that you've lost weight and you really don't have to discuss your decision with her. What will she see? Pounds lost, you eating smaller portions, making an effort to get more exercise.....and no neon sign that proclaims "I got the lap band in spite of what you think". This is such a personal choice. I wonder what she would say if you said "I think I want a boob job"?? Probably nothing as negative, which I find entertaining.