johnmordecai

Hi everybody. I'm writing as a lap-band failure. I had surgery in July 2009, and was faithful to the program for a year--lost 55 lbs. But I never found a sweet spot, and got too tight in May 2010, loosened in June 2010 but perhaps not enough. Anyway, I found I couldn't get anything down and began--yes--with milkshakes and the like to compensate. I began gaining, had some family trouble, and long story short, I'm here in March 2012 having gained all the weight back. I am going to call my surgeon's office and get a new fill-tighten-loosen, but I'm looking for advice-counsel-experience from those who have gone through something like this and have managed to get back on the horse and get straight. Thank you so much for your time.

I'm nine months post surgery. Last month I lost only a lb, after having stayed at the same fill amount as the previous month, when I lost 8. My doctor brought me up from 7.2 to 8. It's about 9 hours later and liquids are going down very slowly, with a lot of burping. It's not painful, but odd...Is this just today's adjustment and I'll be better off on Saturday? The problem is I'm going out of town on Saturday and will be away until Wednesday. What would you do? Wait it out or get an unfill? Never done an unfill before.

I'm four days after my first fill, 3 ccs in the band. Not much restriction. So I had a piece of halibut, an ear of corn, some pieces of cucumber, and about half a plum at dinner. Three hours later I'm really hungry. So I had a teaspoon of peanut butter. The halibut was half a lb. before cooking. Was this a good day or did I eat too much?

I had my first fill, 3 ccs in the Realize band. In the five hours since, I've been incredibly gassy and burpy. I haven't eaten anything, just had water. Also feel like I need to go #2 but can't. Normal?

A month after surgery, and I'm getting my first fill. It's been a tough two weeks because I experience no restriction whatever and after 26 days of liquids and mushies, I have been working hard not to eat everything in sight. I did pretty well, not great, no loss but no gain except maybe a pound. So what do you think I should expect? A small fill or a big one? My doc is Fielding in New York, he's doing the fill; will he go tight or start loose?

I found this on the web. It's from 2007, but it's the most comprehensive medical journal I've seen on the subject of bariatric surgery. The link takes you directly to a PDF download of the file, which is an entire issue of the journal. www.generalsurgerynews.com/download/gsnse07issueWM.pdf

my doctor says four weeks.

I did. It's cool.

yes. it could be the aftereffects of the anesthetic, which can last a few days.

So I'm on mushies, and I went to get tuna salad for lunch at a local deli. I'd taken a few bites when I realized there was celery in it and celery is bad for the band. But the pieces of celery were very very small. Anyway, I chewed and chewed and chewed. Now, 15 minutes later, I'm feeling something in the back of my throat, almost like something is a little bit stuck, but nothing esophogeal is happening. I'm not inclined to hypochondria, so I'm a little worried and given that it's Friday afternoon, I doubt there's much I could get out of my dr's office. Any advice?

So I'm in mushies, nearly two weeks post-op, and it's clear that a) I have no restriction whatever and :thumbdown: if I hold to the mushie diet I was given by the nutritionist, I am going to be living with painful hunger for another 17 days until I get my first fill. I haven't been eating anything sugary, cakey, or bready, and no dessert, so I still feel like I'm on a diet, but I feel like I just can't keep to the plan that I should act as though I have 4 ccs of saline in my band. Anyone btdt, or offer counsel?

I had surgery on July 20. And I am a man. Though I have been known to cry during Terms of Endearment.

The surgical swelling also causes you to gain.

It may be that your BMI doesn't suggest a distended liver, and so the pre-op diet isn't necessary in your case.

So I'm 10 days post-surgery. Doctor told me to start mushies. I started mushies. Had a little can of tuna yesterday, two eggs with cheese last night, five spoons of cream of wheat this morning. egg salad at lunch. I am starving, perhaps for the first time in my life. Fill on August 18. Any recommendations on how to distract myself from the hunger? I thought after nearly four weeks of a liquid diet my appetite would have been nil in any case, and it must be far smaller than it was, but gee.

I'm 11 days out. The swelling seems to be gone and has left me very, very hungry--though oddly as I type this I'm not. I've lost 13 lbs since surgery, 26 in all. I won't have my fill until August 18 and this is going to be a tough period. I'm fortunate on this board in that my ultimate goal is only 70 lbs away. I don't feel deprived; I just feel hungry.

I'm in the same boat; I'm not sure I've ever experienced true hunger, really, before this, and God, it's unpleasant. But everything I've read tells me once the fills begin, it gets a lot better. I don't know about you, but I'm 48, and I'm excited to have lost 25 lbs pre-op post-op; it's a wonderful start, and if we just hold on, we're going to go down a sharp downward slope with our weight and be able to keep it off. Keep the long range in your mind.

Mine-- Pre-pre-diet --291 Surgery day 7.20-- 278 Today--265 I'm delighted, though very hungry.

Try Colace.

I'm exactly where you are, except a little older and in a little better shape. Just had the surgery 8 days ago. It's the preventative aspect of it that I find the most appealing and useful; the idea that if I do this and do it right I won't get diabetes and I will be taking active steps against heart disease and what's more be a better father to my two small children. In my 30s my dieting was always about, basically, women--and I would get thin and get involved with somebody crazy and beautiful and get fat again. Now I've been married for eight years and I have an entirely different motivation for weight loss. And I think this one will stick.

Four days after the surgery and I find myself every now and then bursting into a sweat. I don't have a fever and there's nothing going on at the incision. Normal? Weird?

Dr. Schulman, I've just been banded at 277 lbs. I'm a 48 year-old male, 5'11"; the most I've weighed is 290. I've gained pretty steadily from 1996 until today, from 220 to 290. My question is: Do you think it likely that if I get down to a goal weight of 200, that I will need plastic surgery?

So I go in for the surgery on Monday. My scale at home says 278. The weigh-in at the hospital is 278. I have the surgery. Come home on Tuesday. Weigh in. At 282.5! Today it's 281. It's a new scale, so it could be messed up, but it did agree with the results on Monday. How could I have gained 4 lbs. at the hospital? Surely the drip wasn't 4 lbs worth! I'm not upset by this, just amused. Anybody BTDT?

Just got banded yesterday, the 20th. Also had hiatal hernia repair. I'm feeling constipated; my practice told me to use liquid Colace. Liquid colace must be taken with juice or milk, say the instructions. But it's taking me forever to sip it down. The practice also told me I should drink two protein shakes a day, but to mix them with milk to dethicken them. So now I've had half a shake with milk and the idea that I should have three more glasses of it before bed seems totally impossible! Any advice?

A warning: I spent 10 days, all liquid except for a salad every couple of days. Weighed myself and I'd lost 15 lbs. With surgery coming up in a few days, I thought I might indulge in some red meat since everybody says that's off the meal plan forever. Well, I did. And for 24 hours I had the most horrific constipation ever. So don't do what I did, and cheat with red meat after watching the liquid diet carefully. Hoo boy.