Melinco

From what I've read, you want to drink about an ounce every 15 minutes or so. Try getting those tiny cups (like what you might find on the top of a Nyquil bottle), which holds an ounce. Keep a bottle of Water next to you, fill the little cup, and sip on it. The first few days after surgery I didn't drink a lot. But then I could tell when I was ready (and able) for more, and started adding more fluids. Listen to your body. It will direct you. Also, the first two nights, I started out in bed, but after about 4 hours after sleeping on my right side (my port is on my left), I had to get up since my right should hurt so much from laying on it, and move to the couch, where I slept on my back propped up with several pills. I'd sleep for another 4 hours or so. Then my husband and I changed sides of the bed, so I could stay in bed all night, once I was able to partially sleep on my tummy. Now I'm back to my own side of the bed and I can sleep pretty much any way I want.

I'm 21 days out since my surgery. I haven't drank any soda, too afraid of possible pain or messing up my band, which I paid for myself. I don't drink alcohol at all, but I do know others do, but in moderation, as they are empty calories. How weird that your doctor does your fills by the amount of weight you lose! Mine does it based on my hunger level. I've eaten tiny bites of a Pillsbury crescent roll, maybe 1/4 of one roll. I've had 1/2 slice whole grain bread, well toasted. I've had a tiny bit of tortilla. I've eaten turkey, chicken, ham, beef meatballs, pot roast, without problems so far. I cut them into tiny pieces and chew the heck out of them. I haven't tried steak or pork yet. I haven't had any issues yet with something being stuck (except perhaps one of my antibiotics that I didn't cut in half), but I definitely do feel full with around 3/4 to one cup of food, sometimes less. I expect once I get my first fills, that will change. Good luck!

You can also think of it as a 6 lane highway. If there is a horrific crash that is blocking all 6 lanes, and the traffic can only get through on the left shoulder, then you're going to have all this traffic bunched up, going car by car, though the little opening. The area right before the opening (your stoma) is going to be full, but the area behind the opening (the rest of your stomach) will be free flowing. As the others said, once the nerves at the top of your stoma feel that it's full, then they send signals to your brain that says, Hey, don't eat any more, I'm full! And you stop. Then, as with any traffic jam, it takes time for all of the vehicles to make their way through. Once they do, then it's all cleared up, and now it is back to normal. Meaning, it will take you about 3-4-5 hours for the food in your tummy to get through the small opening, maintaining your full feeling, before needing a refill. Hope this helps!

I'm 3 weeks post op, and so far, my breakfasts have mostly cosisted of Carb Master yogurt (12 g Protein, 4 g carbs) and light string cheese (8 g protein, ? carbs). I'll probably stay on this for a few more weeks, or at least until I get my first fill. There is one guy at my local support group meeting who has been banded over a year that eats one hard boiled egg and four cucumber slices every day for breakfast. Not sure why, but that's his chosen breakfast. When you met with your dietician, did s/he give you a list of the acceptable foods? Perhaps you can look at it again, seeing something that you may have forgotten about. Sorry I'm not more help, since I'm a week behind you, I haven't yet graduated to a full breakfast. Good luck!

Yesterday evening, after work, I went to the grocery store to pick a few things up for dinner. When I got there, I was feeling a bit of pressure in my left chest, just under my collar bone. I thought that if I walked a bit more around the store, this would help. By the time I got done and out to my car, the pressure is even greater. I'm tempted to call my dr. right then but decide to wait until I get home, which would be in less than 5 minutes. I get home and bring my groceries in. I pull out my cell phone, see I missed a call from my husband, and try calling him. Get his voice mail, and tearfully tell him that I'm experiencing pain. I then look through my wallet to pull out my dr's business card. I decided that perhaps I do just have gas, and think I'll use the restroom. Doesn't help. Husband calls back, tell him what's going on, and he says to take some gas-x, and lay down and relax. He'd be home in 30 minutes. Now, I'm not sure if you recall, but yesterday I posted about getting hiccups after taking one of my antibiotics that I didn't cut in half. I bet I hiccupped for close to 5 minutes. And it felt, for the rest of the evening, like I had drank too much water, and that any moment it was going to come up. I'm wondering if the hiccups created a bunch of gas in me, or perhaps moved some gas around that may have been trapped. Anyway, by the time my husband got hom, 45 minutes later, the pain had subsided, but I still felt like I drank too much water. I ended up not calling my dr, but man, was that unpleasant! Normally, back in the immediate days post-op, if I had gas in my shoulder, it actually hurt on the outside of my arm, like where you'd get a tetnus shot. But this pain was in my chest on the left side, just under my collar bone. Let me tell you, the thought of a heart attack did cross my mind, but I didn't let it linger. Thank God it stopped. I didn't drink any more water until 9 pm. I just didn't want any after that.

It's been 20 days. 20 l.o.n.g. d.a.y.s. Since I've had a diet pepsi. Can I just say I'm majorly jonesing for one right now? My craving for my throat burning, caffeine delivering, bubbly substance is about to do me in! Ack! Is there a meeting I can go to? Does someone want to be my sponsor? Can you come hold my hand as I go through my withdrawals?

I hear you, Lolly! I'm ok, unless I get to talking. Then it's like Whoa! Carefull!

Prior to surgery, my doc gave me a prescription of scopolamine (sp?) Patches (anti-nausea) to wear. There were lots more in the box than I needed just for the surgery. He said any time I feel nausea coming on, to put on one. He extended the prescription for a year, as he said that you want to avoid vomiting at all costs. In fact, he said if I were to get a bad stomach flu, to come in right away and he'd remove all the fill, so that the chances of slippage is drastically reduced. Of course, right now I have no fill, but this was for future reference.

Ah $h!t. Well, there goes that! lol Thanks for the info, won't be doing that again!

Dayum, dude, way to go! Keep up the fantastic work!

Okay, I don't remember which board is pre-op and which board is post-op, so I'll just post this here (perhaps we can adjust the titles to add pre-op and post-op so we don't forget). Anyway, here are my stats. Weight yesterday is from my support group meeting: Summer visit to PCP (highest weight): 294 1st visit to surgeon - 11/2/09: 288 Pre-op visit - 12/7/09: 282 Day of surgery - 12/17/09: 268 1/5/10: 261 Weight lost since this summer: 33 pounds Weight lost since 1st visit: 27 pounds Weight lost since pre-op visit: 21 pounds Weight lost since surgery: 7 pounds Their scales had me at 261, fully clothed, where my scales show me 261.4 naked. So I guess my scales are just a tad over? That's okay, I'll take either one!

If you don't mind my asking, why did you have to be rebanded three days later? Did you have serious complications?

It's tough. I'd usually have one with lunch and dinner, and then one in the afternoons to help me get through the day. What brought my craving on today was when I was upstairs in our breakroom at work eating my lunch, when the soda machine started to get stocked. I saw her bring in the flat of diet pepsis and other sodas, and that's all it took! I will admit that I had my assistant, on her way back from her lunch, stop at a local 7-11 convenience store and get me a small cola flavored icee (about 12 oz). It's just the cola flavor, no carbonation. I drank about 1/2. I didn't want to drink anymore due to the calories. But I don't want to do that too often as it's too many calories in a liquid. However, it scratched my itch, for today!

Oh, I may have to try that. Our grocery store just recently started carrying greek yogurt. Thanks for the idea!

Thanks, Donna. I seem to hiccup often these days. I took some tylenol just a bit ago (cramps) and I hiccupped after taking those too, but only for a minute or so. I have my support group meeting tonight, so I'll tell the doctor about it and see what he thinks. Just like when you have kids that don't come with a manual, the band really doesn't either, huh?

Rather than dipping your raw veggies in ranch dressing, make a substitute that is good for you. 1/2 cup cottage cheese 1/2 to 1 tsp. dry Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning Put cottage cheese in blender or small food processor. Blend until smooth. May add a few drops of skim milk to make thinner if you prefer. Add ranch seaonsing, mix well. Serve with favorite fresh veggies. This is the only way I'll eat cottage cheese. I don't like its texture, but if I blend it smooth, then I can't tell the difference. This way, you get the ranch flavoring you crave while eating your protein! Win-Win!

Good luck Great Ex, with your f/u appointment tomorrow. I go tonight for my first post-op support group meeting. I'll weigh in, so it will be interesting to see what those scales will have me at. This morning, my scales at home remained steady at 261.4 pounds, same as yesterday. Of course, that's without my clothes on. Tonight's weighing will be fully clothes sans shoes. My official pre-op weight was 288. Day of surgery it was around 274. I've lost another 13 pounds since. My heighest weight, which I took at a PCP dr appt in July was 294. I too have been adding exercise to my days. Since 1/1, I've exercised every day except on Sunday. I joined the January exercise challenge. My goal is 30 miles in January to walk. My first fill is 2/2.

For the most part, plain spices (not spice mixes that you buy prepackaged - like 3 Alarm chili seasoning) have neglible carbs. The prepackaged mixes tend to have carbs as they add sugar, flour, etc., to the mix. Like BT said, watch your salt intake. Good luck!

Not sure about the new job, but after I was off 10 days (I timed it to coincide with Christmas so rather than 5 days off work I was off 10 days - including weekends). Once I was back to work, I was fine. I am watching the clock so I don't drink too soon after eating, but it's going well. You know yourself the best. If you think you'd have a hard time learning the ins and out of both your band and a new job at the same time, perhaps you should get the job first, then have the band later, or vice versa. Good luck!

I read this article in today's Denver Post - Surgical hope for obese teens - The Denver Post . What do you think? I'm not sure if it would be appropriate on a 13 or 14 year old, but 16 or 17 year old? Probably. But only if they can show that they are serious about it. If we all think back to when we were teens, even as overweight or obese teens, were we responsible enough to do something like this? I'm sure some will be, but I think I'd bump up the pyschological evaluations to be sure.

Yes, if you mix Crystal Light (or even some fresh fruit juice - like lemon or lime or even a bit of orange) into your Water, it is still counted towards your water consumption. As far as good meals on the go, I like the light cheese sticks, yogurt, perhaps a few ham cubes or turkey cubes. I'm not much into smoothies or Protein drinks, so I try to eat my protein. Even some banana slices or other fresh fruit. But I think anything that you can cut up into small pieces, and pop in your mouth. Just make sure you chew well so you don't accidentally swallow too large of a piece of food and get stuck. It's easy to do if you get distracted, which may happen if a customer pops in unexpectedly. Good luck!

Male or female. Penis or vagina. What else is there unless you think you are an animal? Even transgendered will identify as one or the other. So yeah, I don't get it. Please do educate me.

I don't think it's my incision, itself, which is tender, but just the area above and around it since the port is under there. When sleeping on my tummy at night, I have to shift things around so I don't put too much weight on my left side, where my port is.

Huh? Extra characters added to meet minimum character requirement.

Pre-op, I was using www.my-calorie-counter.com. However, now that I have the band, I'm not counting calories. I'm still eating very limited amounts, so I'm not worried yet about calories. If that changes, then I may start counting again.