xavier

I dont think you would have any need to get unfilled but if you have any fluid in your band you should travel with the port syringe on you...it is very specialized and if you would need an unfill and they use a regular needle your port (the diaphragm in it) will be destroyed.

5 pounds in a month is perfect...this is not a race its a lifestyle. The preop diet will likely be much more restrictive but will take off more weight....lifestyle!!! Good luck!

I use little 1 cup bowls for all my food and if I try to eat a full one I am miserably overfull. I think I eat 3/4 cup at a time or less. I eat any time I am hungry and I never eat anything diet, reduced fat or calories or any fake sugar or anything like that...these things made us fat and hungry.

Mine looks like a golf ball now that I am skinny...if I puff out nmy stomach it looks huge to me...yes you will see it...I consider it a badge of honor! Like you have gotten healthy for your baby!

First, ask the pharmacist...they are actually supposed to come out of their box and walk with you down the aisles to find stuff! Second...compared to how you were eating before the band is the kids stuff really too expensive? You are worth it!!!!

The five day pouch test its called...its really not a test but rather a way to let your body recover if you have been vomiting or overeating...I think you need to see your doc even if you have to get a second job , borrow from someone,or use a credit card...this is a matter of your health and will not be solved on the internet!

I used to use the GNC unflavored...it comes in a black and red zip bag and you can put it in anything...soups , oatmeal whatever. I have not had a clumping problem but i have an immersion wand blender so I can just stick that in my soups...I dont taste it at all and one scoop is 22 grams of protiein. I also drink a Premier Protein drink from Costco almost every morning...the case of 18 little milk cartons is maybe $27 but i am lazy to mix anything and it starts my day with 30 grams of rotein (160 cals). I like the vanilla or the chocolate...I think Sams club has it too.

I am an old bander and not much for straws I guess. I coulnt imagine what difference it could possibly make! I know plenty of banders do it and my doc never mentioned it...I have tried t twice and immediately had to throw up in a painful way...weird!

The thing is they tell you not to drink with meals because it will wash food through and since that never happened to me (I can get overfull on water!) I never gave it too much thought. But those puffed up oreos were my 'aha!' moment ...I am careful now because I really never want to have to yak..I did plenty of it as I was learning and testing my band but now I never get sick and I never eat to overfull...I know the warning signs!

I think you have advanced your diet too fast, meat of any kind should be 5 to 7 days after a fill,

Everyone I know who has used it has gained back all the weight and more when they go off it and everyone does have to go off of it...shouldnt be any harm with the band but shouldnt be needed either...behavior change!

Somewhere on here you can search docs and see what other banders are saying about them!

Way easier than a flu shot! it took me 3 fills to a total of 6cc to notice anything...bandster hell

I had two weeks of each phase...do what your doc says...I also had the hernia repair but i really didnt have a lot of pain.

Didnt your doc tell you what to do? Mine just said lose 10 pounds so I just ate 1000 calories a day and I think I lost 8.

Good for you! I dont think anyone gives a fill to someone who is not eating regular food yet...

I am 5'4" and I started at 215 s I guess i was 'low' BMI so I had to self pay...I had no other health problems to get insurance to pay. I am 48 and was 46 when I got my band. I had been at least 230 at some point but I hardly wanted to get on the scale! I losy my weight kind of slowly (5-6 pounds a month when in green zone) but I never dieted or even exercised. I had a couple of very long plateaus where I thought maybe thats all I would lose (one was at 180 and the next at 155) and then I finally went (5 hour drive) and got a fill each time and that got me back to the 5-6 pounds a month. If I had it to do over I would do it in a heartbeat, even the $15K! best of luck! I wish I could have done it 20 years sooner.

I lost weight plenty of times before the band but always gained it back with extra. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...I finally had to do something different and I did get different results.

There are a lot of different preop diets and many involve real food. The thing is you may be hungry but you arent starving! The better you can stick to what is recommended is the better you can do with the band...I hope no one ever told you it would be easy!

Hunger means health...you are healing but yes, you are in Bandster Hell until you get enough fills to take the edge off.

Thats a good weight loss...more than that is just not realistic! This is for the rest of your life! Not a race...

The last big thing I learned is kind of funny. I always drank with meals if I felt like it and it never seemed to make any difference in staying full...but the one time I ate two oreo cookies (reasonable, right?) and then had some gatorade...I got very sick/stuck! I finally realized that those bready things puff up when wet and they puffed up on me...I never did that again and havent thrown up since.

You are absolutely right! I wish I had not been such a slow learner. I know two things now: 1. I love and need my band 2. I know how to eat right and not throw up!

Kale and chard are superfoods and good for juicing with fruits.And neither is palatable raw and cooked takes away a lot of the nutrition. As for peas have any of you pea-haters ever had them raw out of the pod right off the vine? They are nothing like what your parents made you eat! I never made my daughter eat anything ever! I only offered healthy food and at 17 she is vegan and a beautiful girl and what our school calls a scholar athlete...sometimes they do know whats best!

It is ok if you are not at good restriction. Without restriction you are just on a diet and 10 pounds in 3 months is ok. What is your fill level and how much is in your band? I got to my first green zone after three fills which added up to 6cc in a 10cc band. After that I lost about 6 pounds a month which was fine. I can usually eat about a half a cup of any food at a time and that allows me to eat whatever I want (protein first!) and maintain easily.