AlienBandit

I did the same thing when it came to my surgery. I didn't tell a soul. Not my family, my friends or even my best friend. My best friend was probably the hardest because I tell her abolutely everything. She knows more about me then anyone in the world. I didn't tell them because I live half way across the world and I didn't want anyone to worry or argue with me to not get the surgery. When I finally told my friend about 8 months later ( and by that time I was bandless again) she was upset that I didn't tell her at first but said she understood why I didn't want to tell her. Since I did finally tell her and I did this for my health she was glad I was trying my hardest to do something to make myself healthier. Now I have done other surgeries and I tell her everything and the fact that I kept things from her before are long forgotten. If a friend had said negative things before about a weight loss surgery etc and you didn't tell them because of that, I would make it clear to that person why you didn't tell them. I still havent told my family and 98% of my friends because I know their responses will be negative about the surgery and I francally don't want to hear it. Sooner or later I'll tell them tho..... just not yet.

My doctor isnt so strict when it comes to drinking alcohol after having the band. He recommends staying away from carbonated drinks and only having 1-2 because you will get drunk faster. 4 weeks after the band you will be back to normal. I was about 99% back after a week

I'm a teacher as well and didn't even take time off. I had my surgery on a Saturday and went back to work on the Monday. I didn't even tell the principals I was having surgery ( they would have told me I am NOT allowed to have surgery, because they control our lives here apparently). It was ok teaching, because standing and moving isn't bad but getting up and down hurts. I found I recovered faster because I was always moving. I was a little worried about going back to work right away because I had never had surgery before and am a big baby when it comes to pain but it was ok.

I dont know if you should bring Protein shakes because right after surgery for the first few days you are usually on Clear liquids. You probably won't want to have something like a shake. I am pretty sure I did 2 days of just Water right after my surgery. Here is a post I made on things to bring. Oh course you won't need long socks in Mexico but you get the point http://alienbanditinkorea.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/surgery-tips-and-first-photo-of-me/

Before when I wasn't near my sweet spot I would find having anything even liquids a few hours after my fill would bother my stomach. The more i tried to drink the harder it would become. I would suggest waiting a few hours after a fill before you trying to eat or drink anything. Also if your doctor takes out your entire fill and then put new saline + some, your first few hours after might be hell. Generally I go through 20-24 hours where I can't swallow my own spit. I attempt milk ( works better then Water for me) every few hours and suddenly it will magically be ok. I know so many people will shun me for not going for an unfill but that is just how my fills work. My last fill I got .3cc put in, couldn't swallow my own spit for 22.5 hours, pain in my chest etc and then drank milk and it went down. 12 hours after I was able to get in milk I was hungry just being on liquids and could even get mushies down ( tried it was ok but didn't continue it). Then I did liquids for 2 days. No need to rush on fills though, if you can lose weight still with small fills stick with that. Glad you're ok

Geez, if you're going to burn over popcorn then you better save me one hell of a big seat right beside you!

My doctor thought I would starve at my 2 weeks post op mark and told me I could eat potatoe chips. At first when your stomach is still healing the main thing is to stick with the consistency of what foods your doctor wants you to have and then when you are back to normal focus on the types of foods you eat. Try to always get in a lot of Protein too.

Want to read about a foreigner in a completely different country trying to survive with the band? There is different cultures, there is plastics, there is strange foods, and there is me! in my signature

I am a teacher and didn't take any time off work. Surgery was on a Saturday and went back to work on Monday. My students helped with any heavy lifting or moving of books etc and I was a little slow but the more i moved the faster I recovered

I didnt have much time to get nervous about the surgery as did research for over 8 years but suddanly booked a consultation and within 3 weeks was on the table. I tried to be strong doing this all alone but I freaked out on the table. Joke was on me, they already drugged me and I never finished my i cant do this sentence. I woke up the happiest person ever to be banded. I always thank my doc for drugging me and not giving me a heads up haha

Just like losing weight is different for everyone, so is maintaining. I know of people who get a slight unfill, or increase their calories to maintain. I am not at goal yet but i have stayed at 150lbs since last November. I might just settle here because 140 seems impossible. I work out, eat well and try to lose weight but I guess I have to be super super strict to get to 140 i just havent found the motivation for it I guess. I am eating basically the same diet I was a year ago and I was losing weight then so your body might tell you when it is ready to stop and just stop.

The gum topic urks me a bit. Ok so now I have maybe read one person who had to get theirs removed? This has never happened to my doctor (patients sos gum problem) and he never says no to patients having gum. Overfilled once i accidently swallowed gum and nothing bad happened. I had an endoscope and unfill 2 days later and it wasn't there. ( was my 6 month check up). i think it is no different then people having problems with certain foods.

i <3 the pouch test. I use it to get rid of my cravings (sugars carbs bad eating etc) and get back into better eating. The first time I did it I lost 3kg. I have done it 3 times now over about a year and a half and it always works. I need to follow plans to be motivated and see an end and 5 days is a perfect time.

Hahaha that is a loaded question ( getting off topic from the post) I went for a mini (from the front of your one hip to the front of the other) to get rid of a bump left from my port when I got my first band removed. However after that I still wasn't happy so my doc extended the incision to the back of my hip to the back of the other hip. After that I still had extra skin around my back so he did almost a cirrcumference tummy tuck maybe 360 degrees around my body. We should have just done that in the first place but didn't. Oh well, lesson learned p.s it costs 5,000 USD in Korea for a tuck approx

You were just banded and probably don't have any fill in your band. I know people who can eat almost an entire burger if they wanted 2 weeks post op ( don't recommend it though) You will probably get to bandster hell in no time once you're having things other then liquids. Just be glad your "screwing up" with only liquids, its better then a solid food.

I <3 the 5 day pouch test! Every time I do it I lose weight. It is a great way to get rid of your bad eating, sugar cravings and gets you to do better portion sizes. The first 2 days is liquids, then soft Protein then firm protein then regular protein. If you look under the plan there are the days and under the days there are a few recipes you can try. I have never bought the book as I am sure they wouldn't ship to korea and it probably isn't worth the expensive shipping costs either.

I'm a teacher and was banded on a Saturday and went back to work on the Monday. I didn't tell anyone I was banded so it was a bit of a challenge at first but I managed. I was afraid of the surgery since I had never had surgery before but the more active you are after the faster you heal. For ym second week of foods which was mushies it was ok trying to survive at work. I would have rice porriage ( with tuna) or mach potatoes, veggies and cheese melted on top, coup of some sort etc. If someone asked why i was eating thing I would say I'm on a detox or make up some diet ( the dutch diet etc). That way people knew I was trying to lose weight and wouldn't wonder how I did it when I did drop some pounds.

slowly losing the weight and working out can really help. Yes I did have a tummy tuck but I regret not waiting. It started as a mini just to remove a bump I had from my port and turned into this big thing. At 25 my skin has changed so much. In a year I only lost 20 lbs ( after I lost about 40 lbs) but went down 2 dress sizes simply because I was toning and my body changed so much. I was scheduled for a breast lift but my doc looked at my boobs the day of surgery and said oh you don't need a lift anymore. I went from a dd to b and I don't NEED a lift I just want everything to be perfect but I won't bother, I'll save the money for something else.

Watching the actual surgery, I think really helps people understand what your body goes through. Sure seeing a fake stomach with the band around it helps them see where the band is, but seeing a surgery helps people wrap their heads around it more. I watched a few surgeries before and after I was banded which helped me get used to the grossness of it all. I'm really glad I did it because since then I have seen tons of videos my doctor showed at conferences I go to and (though it is crewl) I didnt get grossed out when I saw him do a surgery on a pig in real life( well I didn't go into the surgery room but I watched from the room next door). I think watching videos might also get people to understand more that they need to take it easy with eating foods post op etc because there is so much done during surgery.

It is very hard to follow docs orders to a T. Trust me I screw up all the time! I know some people who are eating kimbops ( kind of like sushi) a week after surgery because they are starving and can't do the mushies because they are ready to eat their own arms off. As for just being banded and eating those things, I don't think it is that bad. I have read of people eating burgers with buns just a few days after surgery they couldn't follow rules. However you must be careful. Eating before your stomach is ready can cause problems like erosion because your stomach is sensitive, still healing etc. What you are consuming is better then these harsher things ( meat is so hard for your stomach to break down) My first week post op I was having any liquids not onyl clear and that was ok. I can't remember whom but I remember reading of a doctor who had a patient do 2 days liquids after the band surgery then 2 days mushies 2 days firm foods and the person was back to eating NORMAL food a WEEK after surgery. Every doctor is different and every person recovering is different. I would just be honest with your doctor. They won't knock you unconcious and steal the band back for not following their orders. They might lecture you yes, but telling them your cravings etc can help them help you get over things like that by maybe expanding your diet so you aren't so limited and open to cheat with food or help you by advising a trip to the NUT, or seeking therapy, My doc thought I would starve post op becaus I dont eat meat. When it came to my second week post op I didn't have many mushy options so my doc said I could eat chips ( yes potatoe chips) because it was better then me cheating with liquids like ice cream, chocolate or worse eating foods my stomach wasn't ready for like chicken ( yes I eat chicken sometimes ok I'm a faketarian!) bread etc. Really we're not perfect. I am always heisitant to write my embarassing fat and food moments on my blog but then I try to research to see if people have done the same stupid things as me online and find nothing. So i write my bad food moments all the time so people can see that you are not crazy or abnormal just no one else has the guts to admit the bad things they have done.

What band do you have? The swedish band? The realize band? etc? I am assuming your band is either 11cc in size or 14cc in size. If your band is 14cc in size then your not at full capacity yet. If you have the 11cc band, with an 11cc fill then you're basically full but sometimes people need an even bigger fill. When you get fills does your doctor take your whole fill out and then put new saline + some extra back in? For me I have a 10cc band ( used to have an 11cc band) at 10cc in my 11 cc band I didnt have a lot of restriciotn but had some. I had to work with the band a little more and eat more firmer Protein to stay full and work out to lose weight. I know someone who had an 11cc band and had an 11cc fill. She had restriction sometimes but needed to go a little over the 11cc fill to get restriction. I would check to make sure that you in fact have 11cc fill in your band ( if your doc doesn't take the fill out each time) My doc takes out my fill each time and replaces the saline and this gives me really good restriction ) lmot too much) at first until the fill settles. If you do in fact have that amount in your band maybe it has come unhinged? There is someone here who complained about never getting restriction and it turned out her band was come un clipped. If your band is ok and full with 11cc and still there is no restriction, then you might just need a little more to get to good restriction. Also check what you are eating and your portions. More slidery foods makes us hungry faster. Try eating harder Proteins and see how that helps.

One bad meal probably didn't cause problems. When it comes to rice, it really is hit of miss. I live in Asia, Koreans eat rice 3 times a day. People can get banded here and many still eat rice and it doesn't bother them ( and they still lose weight.... jealous!) However rice can expand in your stomach so I think if you eat it like Korean's do in the portion we're allowed per meal 1/2-1 cup Im pretty sure you would stretch your pouch as it does expand in your stomach. When I eat rice here it is usually with a Soup ( we cann it chegae) so I usually put the rice in the soup and wait for it to expand then consume the expanded rice with a little soup. It's never a lot and I rarely eat that, but rice works for me. I joke that my band is very Korean because western food bothers my band but Korean food doesnt.

Fills and stomachs can be tricky. When I was rebanded I got 4cc in the band surgery surgery. About a month later I went for a fill and then another fill in September. Things were fine until Halloween, I apparently did something ( lets assume alcohol) and I was over filled. It was terrible in November and I went to see my doctor who took out 1cc ( he wanted a complete unfil but I refused). That wasn't good enough so I had to get another unfill of 1cc a few weeks alter. After a few weeks that STILL wasn't good enough so I went for ANOTHER unfill of 1cc. By then I was at about 3.5cc which was lower then what I got during surgery. Finally my stomach swelling went down and I got back up to 7cc months later ( June). Maybe your stomach is just swollen so you might need a larger unfill to let your stomach settle and then go back to getting fills once things are better. I am overfilled again ( should have not gotten a fill to begin with) but it is nothing like last time I can live with this fill if I wana live off of liquids ( which I dont) so I will probably get a whole cc taken out ( the fill was only .3cc) just to see if that work. Then in a few weeks I'll prob need another fill when my stomach settles. it's a pain but thisis the life of the banded

When I had erosion it was very small 3 mm in size I think. My doc actually found it by accident. Did I lose restriction... well no because it was caught so quickly but I also had 10cc in my 11cc band and could still eat a fair amount so maybe I had already slowly lost a lot of my restriction. I was rebanded once healed and I find my stomach is very picky this time around maybe because of the scar tissue caused by the erosion.