katwmn63

other than aggravation from a lack of weight loss... i feel back to my old self physicaly, and have since week 3. and once you start eating regular food, it will happen that must faster. hang in there!!!

Thanks for the kick in the @$$ everyone. i guess i just fealt that since i was one of the lucky ones who had a fill at surgery, and that my surgeon said i would feel restriction, that maybe bandster hell was not a phase i would suffer through if i demonstrated dilligence.... NOT SO! i am in no way going to give up on the band this early...and LBT is soooo helpful in getting me through that let down after stepping on the scale. thank you all sooo much for the inspiration:-) Jennifer & Michele... I Love You Too, and thanks for being right with me through this. And Michele, you are soooo busted for conspiring with my daughter via email to hide my scale i am working on the scale obsession :{ XO -kat

no... i had no bruising... but here is a guess... could it be the extra heparin (blood thinner) that everyone gets during surgery??? there are a few nurses on this forum...Restless Monkey and Unforgettable... you should get some firm feedback on this question. Good luck

thanks... but 15 of those pounds were pre op liquids. but i do appreciate your words... and i am trying to get the hope back to push forward another week ... many have advised me to put the scale for a week... but if i got on the scale this morning and compared it to last week at this time.... the depression would be so much worse. but thanks again! i do appreciate kind words and motivations more than i can say!!

lol... port and starboard side!! i'm a retired navy gal and it never dawned on me... I Love That

itschoice is bang on in my books. i haven't heard the term "first bite syndrome" but it is real and i have it often. IF that feeling of pain and pressure in your chest, fealt like it went trough all the way to your back, could neither get it up nor all the way down...and it went on for 10-15 painful minutes (with a slime in there too) that would have definately qualified it as a stuck. just learn from it.. we all are. this is all new. good luck!!

a heating pad helped me ALOT!! i had that heating pad wraped around my belly area for the first 4-5 days..it realy brought some comfort and my doc said it was fine. when i got gas up in my shoulder, it helped to have my daughter thump it (like burping a baby)...it seemed to loosen it up a bit. hang in there ...you will feel better very soon!!!

i got that feeling too once...recently. i really that the saline was trying to push out through the end of the port...it was shortly after i ate. hmmmm good question

Surgeons and nutritionists inform us at to what foods we should eat with the band, and as always, they varey widely. I am just wondering what kind of weight loss you experience with yours and which you follow? My surgeon told me it is completely up to me-we all have different palates-and it needs to be something i can stick to with small portions. He does "encourage" cutting out as many carbs as possible. I have had great "short term" success with carbs but fear screwing that up over the long term due to my love of Pasta & potato. But, I feal that low cal just won't do the trick for me...never has. Tell me which has been a success for you with your band? -What has been your average daily cal intake if you are just watcing cals? or... -what has been your daily carb intak if you are just watching carbs??? -What type of weekly loss does this give you??? I would appreciate any info from those of you experiencing some success with your band!!! Thanks :-) -kat

.. and i see you lost that 5 poundt too!!!! woot!! make sure you let me know how you are doing just as soon as you can. i will be thinking of you tomorrow. you will do GREAT!!! now your real journey begins:)

this is completely normal. i am just like you and i want to see loss!! but post op you are retaining Fluid... i actually gained a few pounds. they all came off and then a few extra too about the 5th or 6th day. good luck:)

could it be because pressure in the inside ring of the band pushes the pressure all the way through to the end/port?

UPDATE: First let me say thanks, and 2nd let me say... I LOVE MY SURGEON! Yes he emailed me back.. in fact i heard from him twice today:) the first thing he told me to do was to go to panera bread for lunch and order a sandwich, not Soup or salad, a sandwich, and to let him know how it goes down. i did exactly as he said and had a very tough time on the first few bites...i fealt restriction (i am not used to bread)! i did go kind of fast, so then i slowed way down and chewed alot... i finished just over half a sandwich before getting full. i fealt "kind of" hungry about an hour later and ate some sugar free Jello. then i emailed him the info. he emailed me back. he is happy with just a half of sandwich. he also told me that i shouldn't chew, chew, chew.. the more i puree the food in my mouth, the faster it goes through the band, and the sooner i will feel hungry. he feels that advice is a great disservice to LB patients - DISCLAIMER-"My surgeon's advice" but perhaps not everyone's, but i really always did wonder about the "chew" thing. He also said that if i snack beteen meals, eat nuts or other Protein snack ..jello is like saliva and a waste...it will go right through. he then told me to weigh myself tomorrow then sunday and report the weights to him...then we will discuss changing the date of the fill!! this makes a ton of sense to me. i still don't understand how 850-900 cals per day has me stagnant... neither does he... but at least i have something to try to feel fuller longer... and a surgeon working closely with me to figure things out:)

Hi all- I am wondering if anyone out there has a surgeon who is sympathetic and responsive to you when you feel you need a fill earlier than initially scheduled??? It seems from reading this forum, that most docs stick to their guns about fills, regardless of the patient's desire to get in there more aggressively and feel restriction. I, just moments ago, emailed my surgeon with frustration. So far my surgeon has been WONDERFUL!!! He did not require any liquid diet preop, only the first week post op...and that was full liquids, not clear. I am only 2 weeks post op, and he has already graduated me to regular food.... in short, he seems aggressive enough. He is also amazing at returning my emails... usually within a few hours. I feel no restriction any more and no longer feel full after eating. i feel that despite my forcing myself to eat only 800-950 cals per day (plus a 2 mile power walk on the treadmill) that i should still be losing weight but i am not. he has me scheduled for aug 24 for a fill (he did put "some" in at surgery). I shared my frustration with him and can't wait to hear his response. Has anyone shared this bandster hell frustration with their surgeons??? If so, did they stay strict with fills? listen to you and get you in earlier? compromise? Thanks!

That's my girl!!! WTG!!!!

i am 2 weeks post op- i started on the treadmill a few nights ago, very light swimming as well, and i return to karate class tomorrow night...we'll see how that goes;) I won't spar of course but i'm feeling ready to fully train!

what happens if you get a stomach virus/bug/flu, etc. in terms of vomiting??? would violent vomiting cause the band to slip? I can only imagine how difficult it would be for your stomach contents to come back up though the narrow stoma??? i have a bit of a belly ache today and feeling mildly nauseated. i haven't had to vomit, but it got me thinking.... what if?

i am not an experienced bandster by any stretch, but i am curious as to what the time frame is you got your 2 fills? if they were a month or more apart...i might get aggravated with 1cc at a time. if it has been less than a month, perhaps he is being careful to move slow to be sure the band gets reacustomed to fills.... does anyone really know for sure what happens to the band after very long term non-use??? 8 years is a long time and perhaps why he is taking it slow. as i said, i am a novice, but it is just something that came to mind after reading your post. so glad you decided to get back on track however, and i wish you the bst of luck!

I definately had this problem... so much so that I complained to my surgeon. He wanted to make sure the inabilityto take a deep breath was coming from my abdomen (diaphragm) and not chest (lungs)... the latter, as RM above indicated, a possible, a sign of a clot. Mine was definately in my abdomen and did go away after 5 days or so. It did help to occasionally (5x a day) grab a hold of my kitchen counter while about 3 feet away from it, leaning over to face the floor and brace for a nice deep breath. It felt less painful to fill my lungs, and gave my body that much needed fill of oxygen. I got this idea from another poster (perhaps retigulus above) and it really helped me. Most important is to get with your doc first and make sure it is NOT a clotting situation. Do feel better soon!

UPDATE: well, i haven't gained anymore, but i have still lost ZERO. I counted cals yesterday and only had 856...so what gives? I am definately getting on my treadmill today... geesh...this better do the trick... i really am being a good girl... ok... minus the water intake but i will improve that today as well. grrr

I know I am being rediculous worrying about a lousy 1.4 lb gain, but GEESH...I haven't lost an ounce since starting reg food (soups, ground beef cooked to oblivion, soft eggs...all suggestions of my doc) and I only eat around 800-1000 cals per day!! I have read posts that tell me to watch my measurements so I finaly got off my tush and measured myself. MAYBE that will tell me something in a few days...or weeks:( Anyway, my QUESTIONS are, for those that are on soft or regular food, how many cals do you eat a day? or carbs if that is what you count? are you losing? gaining? and most important... what do you notice makes the difference in causing you to gain and/or lose? For instance, my Water intake went way down these last few days...could that have caused the lack of loss and slight increase?? Does increased activity seem to kick start it for you?? I am determined to get through this Hell period. I had a few cc's at surgery and do get full fairly easy, but only mild restricton if any:( :thumbup: Thanks!

Ouch! I have been on soft foods with the green light to progress to regular foods. Tonight I ate 1/2 cup shepherds pie made with ground turkey (layer of turkey meatloaf with layer of corn and topped with layer of mashed potatoes). I went slow but am thinking perhaps the corn is not band friendly??? or at least not yet?? here's why: every 5 minutes or so i feel a tight pain right smack, dab in front of my sternum area...like pressure type of pain, then it stops. almost reminds my of when i was pregnant and the baby was pushing his foot strait out as if nearly poking through my skin..only much higher, and slightly more painful. could this be the corn gettiing stuck kernel by kernel??? I know I chewed the meat well enough..but the corn isn't as easy to chew to oblivion. thoughts????

Thank you!!! Sure is a learnng process :}

How much did your surgeon put in??? My surgeon told me he filled "a little" at surgery because he believes the port should be left alone to heal for a full 6 weeks before poking at it, and he doesn't want his patients to go that long without restriction. i like his thinking. but when i aked him how much he put in..he said he didn't know excatly because he lets some bleed off to test the band is flushed... but enough to feel some restriction. he also scheduled me for a "2nd" fill Aug 24th, but said... but if you want to push that out because you are already feeling enough restriction, that is fine. I am only 9 days out... i feel restriction i guess, get full fairly easy, but .. hmmmm i want to know how much :{ if you were filled during surgery, could you tell me how many cc's you got and how long that restriction lasted you if at all??