nkara

Exactly what others posted. Your body needs time to heal and the sutures holding in your band and port need time to grow scar tissue and become part of you. The swelling inside takes 4 weeks, per my surgeon. You wouldn't want to risk having something happen prior to that. I know some doctors have different diet recommendation post wls but mine is strict with Clear liquids, full liquids, pureed and then soft solids. I just started eating normal food and I'm a little over 6 weeks post op. Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

I just received my first fill on the 23rd and I've lost 3 lbs since. As you can see I loose very slowly so we'll see how I do till my second fill which isn't till the 26th of February. My doctor put in 4 cc's first fill and my band was empty after surgery so I didn't feel restriction till yesterday really. :smile:

Oh yes.. lumps and bumps on the stomach. My swelling went down about 5 - 6 weeks after surgery and my port was sore till about a few days ago. You'll go back to normal eventually. :smile:

Oh yes.. Bandster hell is not fun. I found that if I added a scoop of Peanut Butter to my Protein shakes it helped. When I switched to mushies I found that if I ate just protein, like chicken or pork, I was good for about 4 hours but if I ate anything else, like cottage cheese or oatmeal, I was hungry after only 2 hours. I just got my first fill on the 23rd so I'm just now starting to eat again and we'll see how the restriction goes now.

:wub:It does take a little bit longer than expected. I'd be the same way .. exhausted after walking to the mailbox. But it does get better. I'd say about 3 weeks I felt better... not exhausted and sore but not in pain. Chin up!

Ok let's see ... 1. some people aren't full after 1 cup of food. Mushies stage for me I was eating about 1 cup but depending on what I ate I was hungry again after only 2 hours. If I ate just chicken I was good but if I ate oatmeal I was hungry faster. 2. the healing process takes at least 4 - 6 weeks so pushing yourself to eat solids might be harder to handle on the inside of your stomach. I've seen people on the boards who have eaten regular food a week after surgery. It won't damage your band but I would check with your doctor. 3. exercise is limited until the healing process is complete. Again at least 4 - 6 weeks. You don't want to stretch the stomach before everything is nicely healed around the band and port. But also call your doctor on this to check as well. I found adding more Protein Shakes helped me with hunger in the "mushies" stage as well. The alcohol and bread thing is again depending on how your stomach can handle it. With bread my nutritionist told me to not heat "doughy" breads because they can form balls and be hard to pass through the pouch. the alcohol is I believe due to the absorption rate now and empty calories. That's possibly what the answers are and what I've seen ... we'll see what others say about this as well because I'm definitely not an expert. :thumbup:

this is all a personal choice and if someone wants to eat an occasional snack there is nothing wrong with that. The band is allowing us to eat like "normal" people by eating smaller portions, controlled portions. What works for one person might not work for the other. The whole process of loosing weight and having surgery is a journey and it is a life long one at that. :thumbup:

You can eat whatever your band will allow you to eat. It's all on a personal basis. I was told not to eat doughy things because it could become one solid lump and be hard to get through the port. I was also told not to eat "stringy" foods like celery, some meats, and asparagus. I'm just starting to eat now but I'll be trying things to see how I handle them and of course what other posters said... chew chew chew chew... biggest thing.

The port is sewn into the muscle in your stomach so it's bound to be more sore and take more time to heal. I would also caution doing to much until your healed. I am still quite sore there and it's been 6 weeks.

my question would be are you eating slider foods? I haven't gotten a fill yet but I can definitely eat more than 1/2 cup of food and depending on what I eat I'm hungry before 4 hours. I go on the 23rd for my first fill and hope that I feel some restriction from it.

Thank you for posting an update and giving all of us "new" bandsters something to look forward too. :smile2:

I'm so sorry people are having trouble with their band. There are risk's and complications with any surgery especially with putting a foreign object in your body. I went into this surgery after researching it and all of the complications I might possibly face but found in the long run it was worth it. My one question is - is this possible to happen if you just fall? I mean I'm a klutz and I don't want to worry about falling and having my port be damaged or my band for that matter. :biggrin:

I was admitted to the hospital the night of my surgery and the nurse woke me up at around midnight and told me I had to get up and try to urinate or they would put a cath back in me. :sad: Boy did I get up fast.. ok not so fast...:biggrin: It might be just swelling from the original cath being in from surgery and once the swelling goes down you'll be fine. [hugs]

I agree with this being the hardest part. I only drink when I eat so changing this habit is the hardest. I like the suggestions made by the other posters and I'll try it. I just said today after dinner that I hate not being able to drink after I eat.. I feel like I have food stuck in my teeth.:biggrin:

I'm actually glad this was posted with all the pros and cons and reasons why. I have been obsessing about what I'm eating more now than before being banded. I'm worried I'm not eating enough protein, I'm worried I'm not eating only 1/2 cup of food, I'm worried I'm eating every 2 - 3 hours instead of 4- 5 hours. Over all I'm eating WAY better than I did prior to surgery. My downfall was quantity. I could sit and eat a serving size bowl of salad and think it was ok.... :smile2: I also like ice cream and knew going into this I wouldn't be able to eat it like I used to. I think eventually I will eat once in awhile but not every day anymore. Maybe a treat once a month of every other month. I also am going to try to not eat too many carbs. I just feel better not eating them now. I should have realized that earlier. Over all I feel better and even though I'm not loosing the weight quickly, which I never did before anyway, I know I have a tool for life and I will work with it and see where it takes me.

I'm in the same boat at Juliansmom - I'm not due for my first fill until 12/23 and I'm a nervous wreck about it. I'm still very sore at the port site and not looking forward to having it pressed and prodded.. not to mention a needle shoved in it! I too am not measuring and I'm hungry before 4 hours but I'm doing the best I can with not eating more than 1/2 to 1 cup at a time. I think I'm more to 1 cup though. I hope I'm not stretching the pouch either.

I'm still out. Had my surgery on the 12th of November. I don't go back till December 28th. But I'm a CNA in a hospital so my job requires a lot of bending, stretching, lifting etc. I was nervous after 2 weeks when I went back to my doctor because I was not ready at that time. I feel good now but I'm glad I have another 2 weeks to relax and get completely healed.

I would say your instincts are right. After going through that with the fill and then exercising it was probably too much but definitely call your doctors office just to be sure. Hope it goes away soon for you.

Absolutely discuss this with your doctor. You have done great with weight loss so far so don't discount that at all! I'm getting my first fill on the 23rd so I'll ask my doctor what his time table for me to have fills will be.

I was in the same boat. I had bad pain for week and a half. I took the two pain meds they prescribed and it helped but I was still a mess. It does get better... I felt the pain get less and less each day and by the 2 - 3 week mark I felt almost human again. Hang in there!

No actually I was referring to some of the other posts. If you choose to feel it was directed to you then so be it.

Oh yea? I'm in Chepachet. Where is this gym?

This came up at a good time. I feel that everyone comes here for opinions and want the good and the bad. If the opinion you give hurts the person then that's going to far but if it's and opinion where you say "this is what I would do" or "I feel this is correct" then your not offending anyone. Weight issues are all an emotional problem and everyone just needs to step back and take a breath sometimes.

Absolutely. I just chose not to be rude about it. :eek:

The ignorance of replies on this is absolutely absurd. The poster has legitimate reasons for being on disability and is asking a question. She didn't need to be "bashed" on this thread because some people feel it's not right for her to use Medicare/Medicaid for a surgery that she feels she needs. Get over thinking it's your tax dollars and allow some common decency to rule your thoughts. And yes I live in the US and work for the healthcare system.