GuyMontag

Whenever I get stuck I do what Hazel suggests and go back to liquids if I think I've swollen my stoma. I also will take some liquid motrin if needed to help get the swelling back down. Also, in the future, I recommend going slow with your first bite and always putting down your fork between each bite to help you remember to slow down. And chew chew chew!

You could try some metamucil to help firm things up. It shouldn't be like that the whole time. It's probably just your body adjusting to changes.

Support. The more the better. Supportive family, friends, doctors, nurses, groups, support support support.

Most in here have answered your questions very well. From my personal experience I love the weight loss my band has provided but at the same time it can be a pain in the ass. The constant tweaking to get to a good restriction almost always tempts people to get too tight with disastrous results. Let me list some things that annoy me about the band. 1) I can't drink liquids quickly. I can't tell you how much I would love to down a bottle of Water in a couple of gulps right now! Lol. 2) Can't go straight to bed after eating or it's very uncomfortable. 3) Veggies can go down slow and hurt sometimes. 4) Daily heartburn if I don't take Prilosec. 5) TIGHT DAYS...out of nowhere my band can tighten up like crazy...causes can be drinking alcohol, stress, exercise, dehydration, early in the morning. 6) LOOSE DAYS...sometimes I'm just loose and can eat more than normal and then I'm hungry. 7) Hunger. Yes. I get hungry. No I don't need a fill. If I get a fill I will be too tight and bad things will happen. 8) Fills can be annoying...I had to get over 20 adjustments to get good restriction. I currently have over 14cc in a 14cc band. 9) I can't sleep on my stomach. If I sleep on my stomach I get reflux. No I do not have a dilated pouch. 10) Sinus drainage wakes me up at night because the nasty Fluid pools in the back of my throat. Gross! This can wake me up choking and is quite disgusting. I'm sure operations like the sleeve has its own bag of nasty tricks but those are some that annoy me about this particular surgery and applies to me. Your mileage may vary. If I had the choice to make over again I would SERIOUSLY consider the sleeve. Would I get the band again? Yes. If I didn't think the sleeve was all people make it out to be after research then I'd get banded again. Getting lapband surgery because you think it is a 'gentle' surgery is a mistake. To anyone that thinks they don't want to get the sleeve or bypass because it's too invasive and they want a gentle surgery then you need to diet and exercise and stay away from a doctor with a knife completley. Surgery is surgery and there's no 'easy' way about it even with the lap band. Look at what a band does to a stomach after 5 years and it's not all daises and sunshine. Don't even get me started on erosion or a slip. Lapband surgery is SURGERY and alters your body. Don't choose it because you're scared of something else. That's not a good reason to make a decision in my opinion. Good reasons to choose lap band are that it's adjustable and you can control, to a point, the speed at which you lose weight. You can usually opt for sleeve or bypass if your band fails which is a plus. Anyway, I've listed reasons why it's a pain in the ass above, but you can still lose weight with it and that's what matters. Is it better than the sleeve? I don't know. All I can tell you is what I do know. Good luck with your choice.

The fact that you are willing to see a therapist says a lot. Many people would've told the doctor to go to hell and just gotten another doctor to the surgery. Now if the therapist says there is no reason for the doctor to have turned you down then sure, go find another doctor. Also, I would ask the doctor for something specific on why he turned you down so that you could deal with it directly when you go to the therapist. As I've said before, I think that therapy is VERY beneficial for weight loss patients and the fact that you are doing it before surgery is even better. I wish I would have. Good luck!

You'll do fine. They are surprisingly anticlimactic usually. Lay down, sometimes they have you lift your legs or tighten your abdominal muscles, needle goes into port, add fluid, done. Once you get good at it you can be in and out in 10 minutes or less. Good luck!

Weight loss is about 80/20 diet/exercise in my opinion. You can keep losing with diet changes but you'd probably lose faster and more overall with exercise. I'd recommend not looking at exercise as actually 'working out' but just as being active. Just go walking every night. You'd be shocked at how much walking 30 minutes to an hour every night will make in your weight loss journey.

Great tips. I especially like ones about weighing yourself, keeping a journal, and getting enough sleep.

Everyone has their own journey and some are slower than others. 13lbs is great and you should feel proud. Do you have a local support group? Having local support can be so helpful and I highly recommend it. There are also lots of great people here in the forums that can offer fantastic support as well. Good luck on your journey and don't get discouraged!

Try measuring your body fat percentage. It helps working through the whole muscle/fat thing.

For me it's simply being able to eat a modest meal and not be hungry for four hours. Very simple.

Congrats! Keep up the good work.

http://www.5daypouchtest.com/

I think a lot of people get confused when diets call for 'x' amount of servings of fruits and vegetables. In my book fruit and vegetables are not equal or interchangeable. Vegetables are far superior to weight loss in my opinion and experience. Just because a diet calls for fruits AND vegetables I think you're much better off if you substitute vegetables for fruit and not vice versa. Anyone that argues that fruits have important Vitamins I simply say, I can take a Vitamin without ingesting all that extra sugar and calories thank you very much And to those people that argue that it's GOOD sugar I say, tell that to my fat body because it doesn't know the difference! Actually, my doc told me that fruit is great for skinny people because they don't have to worry as much about what it does to their insulin levels and metabolism but overweight people should eat fruit in moderation because it can hinder the weight loss process. On the flip side, I do say an apple is better than a Snicker's bar so if that's your choice, feel free to substitute the candy bar for the apple. Just don't substitute an apple for some broccoli and think you're making an equally 'healthy' choice because you're not.

I'm a big advocate of using BFP over weight or BMI. It really is a more accurate measure of how healthy you are especially when you are working out and exercising.

As you heal you may find that you have little to no restriction and can eat just like before you were banded. This is pretty common. It's important that you get fills as often as you can so you can get into the green zone quickly. I can tell when I feel full because I now eat REALLY slow and give my stomach time to let me know I'm full.

I was in pain for the first four days. Try using a heating pad and rolling your shoulder to help with the pain. It should start to get better soon. Hang in there!

Extreme weight loss is the cause of hair loss, not a particular weight loss surgery. So yes, there's hair loss. There are ways to try and prevent it as much as possible such as vitamins, biotin, and high protein intake, but hair loss is the body's natural way of defending itself when it thinks it is starving.

Make sure they call in your after surgery meds ahead of time or arrange to have someone else pick them up for you. Walking out of surgery with scripts for pain meds and anti-nausea meds that you have no way of getting wouldn't be fun but I've heard of it happening.

Sit ups are the last exercise I would introduce because of the strain they put on the abdominal muscles. I would wait a LEAST a month after surgery to start doing them.

I had to try several things to find a good diet that worked for me. What I ended up settling on was a mixture of Atkins/South Beach/Mediterranean diets. Basically, high protein and high fat. Lot's of Meats, cheeses, eggs, olive oil. No bread, rice, pasta, fruit juice, soda, sweets, etc. I did have potatoes but I try to limit it and only eat them after I've finished my protein. That might be a good start for you. Good luck!

I have always said that weight loss is about 80/20 diet/exercise. I do know people that have lost all their excess weight without exercise. It might be a little harder or take longer but it's definitely possible.

Definitely stay hydrated. Dehydration is one of the bandster's biggest enemies.

Everyone gets nervous. That means you are a normal living human being. You'll do fine. Out of all the surgeries that people can have this one is pretty minor in comparison. You'll love the weight loss and it is totally worth it. Good luck!

I get a lot of my recipes from AllRecipes.com. I'd just go there and type in flounder.