Shay7997

The pre-op diet was definitely the hardest thing for me, but you can do it! I'm so glad you didn't quit. Keep on trucking and if you need anything just post or even send me a PM!

Good luck chica!

I personally do not like ANY of the powders. But I do love the pre-made EAS Myoplex Lite shakes and they have a stawberry cream one. They are sooooo good. I really don't mind drinking them at all.

Caffeine will dehydrate you in a hurry. Personally, I stay away from caffeine for the most part. I will have some once in a while, but I'd rather drink something else without the caffeine and empty calories.

That's a really good question. I really wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. I would call your doctor and ask. That'd be the best place to get an answer. I really hope you get an answer soon!

Here's what irritates me. People come here and ask for advice and opinions. When it's not what they want to hear they get upset, read too much into something that's said and then attack the very people they asked help from. If you don't want to hear it, don't ask it! If you want to experience the pain of a gallbladder attack (which most women say is worse than labor) then you go right on ahead and keep that gallbladder. But remember, you asked for opinions on a public forum. And for the record, nobody called you stupid or even implied it.

Way to go!

My husband is having his gallbladder removed on Saturday morning. He had his first attack last Saturday. In 10 years of marriage I have never had to take him to the ER until that night. 4 doses of morphine later he was finally relieved enough to go home, where he has been in pain since. If the doctor is telling you he wants to take it, then let him, because the pain is enough to bring a grown man to his knees.

I had bought some really loose pj's to wear. I wore pants and an oversized shirt. I was up and walking at least every hour if I was awake. The pain killers knocked me out pretty frequently. At night I would walk around my room since everyone else was asleep.

I would definitely ask if you had a fill when you were banded. There have been quite a few people that did have a fill when they were banded and it caused them issues much like the ones you're having now. If you do have a fill, have them remove it until things have settled down. Then you can start going back in for some more conservative fills. It really stinks you're having a rough time with it. Especially when it's something you thought about for two years! I hope everything starts getting better for you soon.

Make sure you keep up with the pain medication. One thing I was told from my doc was if I take it as I start to hurt it's better to control it than waiting until I'm hurting pretty bad because getting it under control is another thing.

There's a reason we have to go through stages to get back to eating full meals. Your stomach is healing. There's stitches in there as well as foreign objects. For each type of food to digest it requires more movement from the stomach and other digestive parts. The more movement, before you're fully healed, the more likely you are to cause a slip, erosion, etc. While it may not happen immediately, what you do NOW can cause problems 6 months to a year from now. That's why it's best to talk to YOUR doctor. By coming on these forums and asking what people think, you're going to hear what you want to hear and think it's ok and I can do what I want. To me, that's not ok. What is OK is communicating with YOUR doctor and doing what YOUR doctor tells you to do. No, I did not cheat. I want to make sure I do everything I can to keep my band. My insurance paid a lot of money for this thing and I surely do not want to go through surgery again. Plus, this is also to teach us how to eat all over again. If you can't follow the rules and beat temptation now, when it's probably one of the most important times for you to do so, then how are you going to say no to your trigger foods later when you can eat whatever you want? Use this time to establish new habits and you'll be amazed and so proud of yourself. ***By the way, I'm not going to apologize for the lecture. You put this out there on an open forum. I'm giving you my opinion.***

You should be fine. I had the same issue once when they couldn't find my port.

I think stretching is mostly caused by continuously overeating. At least that's the way it was described to me. If you don't stop eating when you're full, and keep trying to get in that last bite, you're putting yourself beyond what your pouch can handle.

My band got pretty tight when I got pregnant and I had to have it unfilled slightly. I had the same feelings that you did. If it's hard for me to eat, that's too much restriction for me. I even had issues with stew. Proper restriction for me was feeling full after eating properly, slowly and chewing well, with only about 1 1/2 cups of food. The only time I ever felt stuck was when I took too big of a bite of something or didnt chew well enough. I have only had 3 stuck episodes where I actually got sick. If you're having that rough of a time eating it may be time for you to have a slight unfill. Eating isn't supposed to be a chore.

I lost 90 pounds by my 1 year bandiversary and was pregnant by then too! However, the 90 pounds put me under what my doctor wanted me at and I am now having to work on gaining a little.

Congrats! What a blessing! Ivy, I did have to have 1.5cc's taken out of my band. My band tightened up with my pregnancy and I lost more than 12 pounds in a month and a half without the help of morning sickness. Since having a slight release, I have been able to eat again and start to gain the proper weight with my pregnancy.

When my husband and I got married 10 years ago, I didn't want kids. I have personal reasons behind it. I didn't want to be the parent my parents were. After about 4 years, I realized I wanted kids. My step-daughter was 5 when we got married, and she's 15 now. I realized I wasn't going to be the same as my parents. So about 6 years ago my husband and I started trying to have a baby. Nothing ever happened. Then all of a sudden, I started to gain weight at a rapid rate and decided I needed to find out what was going on. I went to the base OB/GYN we had at the time (my husband is in the air force). She diagnosed me with PCOS and sent me off base to another OB/GYN. That lady confirmed the PCOS with insulin resistance. She pretty much told me I was infertile and kids weren't going to happen. She also had me taking 3000mg of Metformin a day and had my stomach so upset I couldn't leave the house. In the span of about a year, I went from 120 to 160, then in another year to 220 in weight. When I asked her if she could give me anything to counter the side effects of the Metformin she told me if I couldn't take it, she couldn't do anything for me and hung up on me. I quit the Metformin that day. I started to see a PCM off base, thanks to a shortage of doctors on the base, and he helped me so much. It turned out he was an expert in PCOS and told me after trying the Metformin and the supervised and diabetic diets, I was stuck. They way the PCOS works, I was only really going to keep the weight where it was or gain more. Losing it was almost impossible. So we discussed the lap band. He sent a referral in immediately and I was banded on June 10th 2009. I just found 2 weeks ago I am pregnant. As of today, I am 14 weeks and 2 days pregnant. After 6+ years of trying and losing 95 pounds, I am pregnant with a child I never dreamed I would have, and I couldn't be more happy. It goes to show, we CAN overcome our infertility issues with PCOS by losing the weight alone. I could NOT have lost the weight without the lap band. I couldn't be pregnant right now without the lap band. I also did NOT use any type of fertility treatments, like drugs (clomid, etc) or IVF. Ladies, have faith, because it does happen, and it happens when you least expect it. God is amazing.

I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day. As far as my hair, I just drink my shakes (the eas myoplex lite ones are good) and eat things high in Protein. I don't really do anything special. However, I have noticed since having surgery and losing weight, my hair has gotten a lot more healthy.

Congratulations! It's such an amazing feeling and you will feel it all the time on your journey. It just goes to show you made the right decision. I can't wait to see more from you!

My doctor has me weigh every day. I've been doing it from day one, and it keeps me accountable. I also have to keep a daily weight loss diary. He goes over it with me at each appointment. It works very well for me. But I am one of those people who thrives on rules.

If your bmi is over 40, you dont need co-morbidities. If it's under, you need 3. My approval was quick. I had it within a couple weeks. I got banded june 10th of this year. It's really not that hard to eat as long as you take it slow and chew well. I haven't ever made myself sick from getting stuck, although i have known when i've eaten too fast or not chewed well enough. I have had 3 fills so far and I have lost 50 pounds. I went into this knowing I could have issues with certain foods, but I haven't had too many issues. I force myself to stay away from fried foods, sugary foods and drinks, etc. I want this to work, so I've followed everything my doctor has laid out. That's not to say I don't go out to eat, but I don't eat fast food, and i make smart decisions about what I eat when I do go out. I substitute fries with a salad, etc. I don't eat fried or greasy foods. It was definitely worth it for me to do this. I'm a happier, healthier me because of it.