GoingforGoal

Mine does. What he is doing is filling you until you tell him you feel occluded. Than he tells you to continue drinking as he takes out some Fluid. The feedback should be 1) that the fluid is indeed passing but more importantly 2) that the fluid is moving much slower as if you can feel it in your upper pouch moving through the stoma. Otherwise it just passes through without any restriction which sets you back. Don't be alarmed by him keeping the needle in. He is trying to minimize the # of times he accesses the port which 1) reduces risk of infection and 2) reduces the # needle insertions into your port to reduce any breakdown in the port that can lead to leaks. Don't hesitate to ask q's. Not sure if this is your first or subsequent fill and he just assumes you know or he's just overlooking the education component to getting a fill.

Get some liquid tylenol in the future

Master seems fitting hahahah I obey it's every command lol

Hi! I know it's frustrating. Did you lose alot of weight prior to the surgery. The only thing that comes to mind is that you hit a plateau and with the added stress of the surgery it's just extended. Really frustrating when you do it all right but the results are not there. Do you measure yourself. You'll be amazed sometimes how much your body is changing even though the scale is not moving

Heating pad is fine as is cold packs.

ahhaahha good try tho (wink)

Despite whether you can chomp the living Fiber out of that lettuce, salad is one of the foods bandsters sometimes cringe at. It's a very fibrous food and it's very difficult for saliva alone to break it down. As a consequence, it gets stuck frequently for some bandsters. I have zero problem w/ salads, however, because it's a 'cringeworthy' food I would definitely wait until you are acclimated to solids before attempting it. Softs and mushies really need to be the basics like mash potato, mashed banana, watery oatmeal, super soft meats like fish that can be chewed down to mush before swallowing. Boring, yes, but safe!

Say what???? ahah No way I'm giving up my chocolate lol Actually the only time I've lost interest in foods is when they cause stucks readily. The negative feedback isn't worth it so I avoid those foods and now have no desire for them. Some people avoid chocolate afterwards because it upsets their stomachs when it didn't before. But the craving for sweet, salt etc doesn't go away just because you have a band. Some people have moved more towards raw/natural eating and this transition lends to less sweet eating and therefore they lose their taste for it. The key is no matter what, you will be able to have occassional treats. Key is to moderation and not over indulge. Chocolate is a tricky beast beacuse it's a slider and you can eat heaps of it on the band. Slippery slope as they say.

Putting my shrink cap on: For the most part we were all standing in your shoes. As a newbie (presurgery) you think you will never eat x, y, z again. You think somethings going to take control and you can't make decisions as to what you eat. But more importantly you are making a commitment, and as a newbie that's translated into saying goodbye to the wrong foods and severing the old relationship you had with food. It's a hard relationship to let go of, terrifying even when you think of how much joy and satisfaction it gave you (taste, comfort etc) (we won't mention the negatives right now lol). But the reality is, when you establish a strong foundation for your new eating habits, those foods can be slowly introduced. You'll be satisfied off a mere bites opposed to a full plate. Some foods may be troublesome and the negative feedback from eating those foods quickly wanes your desire to eat them and eventually you lose your taste for it all together. There are alot of emotions stirring before a surgery ranging from excitement to anxiety. And dare I say grief. Noones knocking you on one burger, but let that be the last. One burger won't thwart wl, 2+ will. Stay strong, and congrats on your decision to become banded

Redemption!

Nice, welcome back!

When I first had 3cc it felt good but that restriction dissipated by 6 weeks and had to go for more fills. I'm at 6 and feeling good and could probably use another 0.1-0..5cc Its highly individualized.

Nope that sounds like gallbladder. If you have stones than you can experience intermittent pain when the stones occlude the ducts. Get it out, it only gets worse and more frequent

Silly, Quick answer: you are not eating enough per each meal to sustain you However, a couple things. When did you get your last fill? If recently, there's a possibility inflammation will go down and the band will loosen with usage which will allow for more food. 1/2c should be your minimum, otherwise you are starving yourself. You should stick w/ the 3 meals/day, however, you need more food/calories. Without any idea of what foods you are eating it's hard to critique and share ways to do just that. How many cals are you taking in with each meal and daily? Being banded is a juggling game that requires constant tweaking. First you need to ensure you are not eating too much, too little. Than you need adequate Protein, calories, vits etc. Than its about band fills and getting restriction w/out adverse symptoms. It's very much up and down and to the side adapting to these constant demands. However I would discourage making up your own rules, its a slippery slope as they say. Zingy, I appreciate your comments, however, it is important to understand that we should not be comparing out diets to those who are not banded. We have a very unique diet that noone but us complies to. Your brother eats 4x/day because he is a fitness instructor. There are athletes who consume well over 4,000 calories a day just to fuel their bodies for their workouts. Naturally they eat this over the course of many meals/snacks. Again, we can't compare. Silly, let us know what you are eating so hopefully we can see some areas to help you with

Some bandsters can drink beer occassionally. Its very personal. For instance, if I sip on Diet Coke the carbonation seems to never bother me. I tried a beer and it just was too much. Go slow. You'll see it has a super filling effect too aha

You will see that different bandsters have different guidelines. For instance, some are allowed to drink up until eating time but not during or 30 even 45 mins after eating. In addition to what Zingy shared, you have to also understand that your new pouch can only hold about 1c of food. Despite being a slider (or not), Water will compound the total volume being held in the upper stomach "pouch". You risk dilatation or stretching the pouch if this is done consistently. Additionally, as you fill your pouch during eating, the vagus nerve is compressed. This nerve is responsible for sending the message to the brain that you are full and this will result in being satisfied on less food. If you eat too fast (easy to do w/ sliders) or if you wash the food in the pouch too quickly you may not achieve that stimuli needed and will still hungry. It's a hard thing to master. 4 years out and I still have to consciencely think about waiting. Today was the first time I told a waitress no drink please..strange feeling lol.

If you can get liquids down you are not stuck. Rather, you may have irritated the stoma when the bread passed and it's now inflammed. Best to stay on liquids until the inflammation subsides for a few days than progress with mushies than softs/solids

I can see yours, mine is active so I hope you can see it. If not, sign out completely and sign back in?

I just want to give you some encouragement. I do had medical issues that intervened w/ my wl progress. However, 18 months later I decided it was time to start losing again and I did. I lost the remainder of my 50 lbs and am now getting cosmetic surgery. I just wanted to let you know it is possible to restart. Don't look at anything as a failure, just a setback. Time for take two that's all. Good luck on your ventures.

sp, Carolina is right. There's more to this than just having surgery and getting fills. I would say it is NOT normal/average to have lost 0 lbs post surgery three months after surgery. Eating healthy and exercising moderately usually yields a 1-2 lb/week loss without the lapband. So we need to investigate what you are eating, how many calories do you consume, do you exercise and what type? What does your average daily menu look like, are you getting min. 60g Protein in? This may be the crux of the problem. It is essential in the beginning to create a foundation of strong eating habits so it becomes easier and more manageable when your fills finally kick in. Let us know..

It's a misnomer that slow exercise yields taught skin. What happens, as line implied, is you are replacing the fat with muscle thus maintaining some stretch in the skin. Whereas without weight training, there is more elasticity in the skin. However, no matter how much you workout , there are some areas where the skin has been so excessively streteched (stomach is most common) that you cannot build enough muscle there to counteract this effect. Many factors like how overweight you are, how long you have been overweight, where you carried your weight, your age, your genetics etc all play into how well your skin will rebound. I am making no claims here, but so far, the only woman I have seen with taught looking skin are the young 20s who had no babies and havent been overweight as long as my peers in their 30/40s after kids and holding 100+ lbs for 20-40 years. I have been overweight all my life, but obese for 18-20 years, have had 3 kids. I just lost 100 lbs and am now going in for cosm surgery. I need a tummy tuck, breast lift and implants (part wl part breastfeeding) and an arm lift (I carried alot of weight in my arms and some are fortunate to not)

Unfortunately this is a highly individualized number. I use to be green at 5cc, but 4 yrs later and 100 lbs later I've needed more fills to get to green and am now at 6cc. However, I have heard of people as low as 0 and as high as 10/10cc in their bands. I know you are looking for averages, but it's just worth it because it's irrelevant as it pertains to you and your band. Please be persistant and get fills every 4-6 weeks max until you reach green. Initially fills are large and than docs taper off because even 0.1cc can make a huge difference to someone very near green. So keep going

Yeah keep going Just shows how important fills are

Pinky, I lost 50 lbs w/ the band before getting pregnant than getting into a MVA that put me into rehab for 8 months. I never gained the 50 back but I was at a standstill because I was not even trying to eat correctly (stress and diet don't mix well with me). In Jan 2013 when my symptoms started to resolve I felt motivated to start losing again because 190 lbs was not my ideal. First thing I did was review the rules and get back to basics. I made a grocery list of lapband friendly foods and started focusing on minimizing calories and upping Proteins. I also came back to this site and come on here daily for support and to keep my eye on the prize, if you will. Additionally, I started to get fills again. It had been 3 years since my last fill. Well with 50 lb loss, a pregnancy and 30 more lbs lost since Jan I got a fill in May. Just got another one few weeks ago to tweak me back to green. It has helped incredibly. With time, my habits became second nature and less about mental will. I am at goal and getting cosmetic surgery to finish the job in October. It's just about recommitting, refreshing yourself on the rules, and getting support to rally you through. And get to green if you are not there!

Hello Sage, Congrats on the wl Everyone is different and it's not necessarily faster/slower recovery. I would recommend a liquid in the a.m. since we are usually dehydrated in the morning and need to work out band to optimal access. Than try a mushy for lunch. If it doesn't work, go back to liquids. Transition plans are guidelines. There's room for give so you can prolong liquids until inflammation subsides more, however, you won't know what it's capable of until you try. Just go slow