WhimsicalClay

Hey ladies (any gents on this ABC list?) Anyway, I totally blew my September goal of 10 lbs. The worst part is, I actually gained a few pounds. I'm going in tomorrow for my first fill. I really hope it helps! Right now I can eat as much as I could pre-band and that is NOT a good thing. Nothing gets stuck, I've had no PB, no vomitting...it's like I've never been banded, except for the scars of course. I am having the worst problem with taking smaller bites, eating slower and, oh my, Water...I can't seem to stop drinking while I eat. I know it's going to be awful for me once I get a fill. I was up about 7 lbs once I started back on mushies and solid foods. I was so excited to finally be able to eat again and since everything went down easily, well you know what I did.... But I am happy to say, that I stopped and looked at what I was doing to myself and realized that I paid a lot of money for this band to help me, but now I needed to help it - help me! So I'm back on my Protein drinks and water, and high protein foods and am happy to report, I've lost about 5 of the 7 lbs. I am so hoping the fill tomorrow will have an effect. I feel like nothing has every worked long term for me, so this has too!!! My goal for Oct will be 10 lbs again and this time, I will work harder at getting there.

Thanks for the replies, Libra, Chrissie and Andy Liz. I was just wondering. Like I said, I know this period is for healing. I am still on all liquids and have been for more than 3 and a half weeks (2 weeks pre-band) and my weight loss has pretty much stalled as well. And like you all have said, IF I can maintain at this weight or even lose a few until I get my fill, that is FAR more than I've ever been able to do on my own. I've pretty much been at this weight for the past 7 days...of course, I'm up and down a 1/2 lb but without this band in place and the healing going on, I could easily be up 4 lbs this week, without blinking an eye. I go in on the 20th for my 3 week post-op (no-fill). I don't really have any expectations of a weight loss for this visit but it would be nice to be down a couple pounds. Honestly, I'm not even sure what my Drs. policy is on fills. I do hear his patients says that they only put a tiny amount in the bands at a time...his office is very conservative. My problem is not hunger...it's greed. Let's continue to work together and try and encourage each other. I really need it at times!!!

I'm 10 days out from surgery and also am not feeling any restriction. Though at this point, I'm kinda glad about that as I know it is all about healing right now. I've had the HARDEST 7 days post surgery. I was in so much pain from gas and I think I was going into dehydration that my kidneys were actually hurting. It was extremely painful but the moment I started to increase my water consumption, I immediately would feel relief. With having no restriction yet, this is very tough, but I have to remind myself how much I've invested in making this band work for me. I've been poked and proded and examined more than enough in the past two months, that with or without restriction, I'm going to have to make the decision to eat the right things and work on my own until I am filled. Not to mention the amount of money I've had to put out as a self-pay. I am still on liquids until Monday when I can start mushies...which includes fish (and that makes me very excited - can you see me grinning). While we are still healing from the surgery, I know weight loss is not our main focus for the 1st 6 weeks or so, but I do have a question. Has anyone lost any weight during weeks 3 and 4 when in the mushie stage? Just curious. Finally at 10 days post-surgery, I am not in pain!!!!

Thanks Laura, Thats just how it looked about 5 days post op. Since then I have been putting vitamin e on it. it's a little puffy to the touch. I have a tendency to keloid...goodness, I hope these things don't. I have a C-section scar that had keloided at one point to the thickness of a pencil...over the years it has smoothed itself out very nicely. Wishful thinking, but I'm hoping these scars will heal the same. Lett

ok, I have more than one but I took the steri strip off of only one of them ... I couldn't wait any longer. This pic is about 5 days post op. I am now 1 week post op and have my appt in the morning. Hopefully he'll take the rest off. My stomach is so grossly large that I'm embarrassed to post the picture, but here it is, be gentle. have never posted pictures before so I hope this works. Lett

Thought I'd just chime in here and add my 2 cents. My goal for Sept will be 12 lbs. At surgery date I was 232.4 on August 28th, today I'm at 230.6, so I'm down just a few. After surgery I did go up to 234. My goal for Sept will be to be in the teens, 219! A brief update on me 5 days post op. I am still having excruiating gas pains. Passing the gas helps immensely, but I'm having trouble doing that consistently. I can feel it moving around in my back and sides but can't get it down. I'm taking Phazyme and gas x (chewables and softgels) with minimal relief. On another point, I also think I might be dehydrated as I'm having a difficult time making myself drink Water. It really weird because when I really think about it, I don't know if I'm in pain, because 1) It's hunger pangs, 2) lack of water - causing kidneys to hurt, or 3) really is gas pains. So I'm going to work extra hard today to increase my water intake and walk even more. I really expected to feel better by now, but I think yesterday was worst than the day of surgery for me. My incisions don't hurt, the pain is mostly in my back and sides. Other than that, I'm doing fine. No vomitting, no sneezing. Goal for Sept...into the teens 11 -12 lbs

Just wanted to give a brief update. I can finally say I feeling really pretty good. I have had the most excruiating gas pains of my life for the past 2 days. Keep trying to walk it off like most people suggested, so I went out shopping at Target. It was there that I realized that what I may have been experiencing was not only gas but extreme hunger as well! Since my surgery on Monday, I had not really eaten very much (liquid) food at all since Saturday - trying to get weight down before surgery. After my trip to Target, I came home, had a large cup of Soup and a Protein drink. The gas started rumbling out of me! What relief. I felt great for the first time since surgery. Thankfully, I have had no vomitting and very little nausea. I have stopped taking the oxycodene (as of yesterday) and am just using the gas x to continue to pass the gas. On a more personal note, I have not had buy 2 BM's in the past 17 days of liquid dieting. Yes, I do feel extremely bloated. I only gained 2 lbs during surgery and have since had that to come off. I have to remember to eat slowly, which is very hard for me to do. So I think I'm on track, feeling good and looking forward to a thinner new me. Seems most folks banded in August are doing pretty well! Keep posting and keep up the great job.

Hey Booda, Glad to see you're up and around so quickly!!!

I also had to do 2 weeks of pre-op liquid dieting. For the most part, I did really great. There were 2 days when I was so weak and could barely talk that I ate a can of sardines...which has 15 grams of Protein, the same as the shakes I was drinking. During that period I lost about 15lbs, also need to shrink my liver. You can do it. Just keep looking for different things with lots of protein to drink. Also near the end, I started sipping egg drop Soup broth. Now I'm 2 days post-op (in lots of gas pain) and I'm still on a liquid diet for 2 more weeks. Hang in there! You're close now.

Wow Mandy, Congratulations on finally seeing who you really are!!! I'm very happy for you! Can't wait til I get there myself.

Everything went very well yesterday. However, I am in great pain from gas in my back. I took some tums and that does not seem to be helping. Going to send boyfriend to get some gas x. I didn't expect to be in this much pain. Other than that, I'm getting around very well but not eating much at all. I only gained roughtly 2 pounds from the surgery. I went in at 232.3 and came home weighing 234.6...I've read somewhere that someone gained like 9 pounds from the surgery fluids. Anyway, I also hada tubaligation done at the same time! So a little discomfort could be coming from that as well. I arrived at the surgery center at 6:30, took care of a little paperwork. Went in to back and changed. Was on the bed and filling out consent forms, talking to BF and gynocologist, while getting an IV drip. The surgeon got there close to 8 and then I was wheeled in. I remember a little while in the OR and then the next thing I remember I was awaken at 10:10 am in recovery. Did the barium drink and xray and was on my way home around 11:40 or so. I slept most of yesterday and am feeling better today except for the gas, right now it's excruiating. Going to lie down. Thanks for all the well wishes!!!

Hey guys, I'm on my way!!! Scheduled for 7:30 am tomorrow morning, August 28th!!! Keep me in your thoughts!!!! Will let you know how things are on the other side.