Todzilla

I couldn't imagine living with others after having the band. I live alone and I still find it hard when friends and family come over and they want to order pizza or bring sandwiches or something. I politely tell them to "eat before they come". Also at work I have a boss that wants me to eat with him all the time, errr, more like watch him eat. I mean come on.. Yeah I would have probably turned down the dinner and stayed home. I was banded 11/2/09 and my weakness will be Thanksgiving. But my family is cool, they are making mashed potatoes for me to eat. But here is the upside I've heard from others that have the band: once you get back to regular food, it's cool to go out to eat because you can just "steal a little" off of everybody's plate, which in the end saves cash and you end up looking a lot better and being healthier, on their dime!!!

There are two forms of metformin. I have the kind you can crush. Actually I cut it into four pieces then swallow each once separately. The other which is the extended release (must be the one you have) which you can't use. I'd recommend talking to the doctor that prescribed them and see if they can switch you to a "crushable" one. Or possibly another med that is small or in a capsule or gel form (for both those meds). My LAP-BAND® clinic said any "tablet" style pill the size of a regular aspirin should go down with out a problem as will any gel or capsule pill of any size. The good news is if you get down to your healthy weight, there is a good change you might not need the Type II diabetes meds or the cholesterol meds. But as always, talk to your docs first.

I also had the "left side" pain as well. It showed up about 3-4 days of being banded and went away in about 8-9 days. My pain wasn't quite "sharp", but it did hurt bad now and then. I asked and they said it was normal, just internal swelling and tenderness from the surgery. I didn't feel it for the first three days because at the hospital they were giving me injections ever 12 hours for imflamation. As always though, call the doc if it doesn't get better...

Today I called my LB center and they told me to come down to get looked at. I told them my story and I the girl that does the fills told me that she was 99% sure that my band didn’t “slip”. She said that I just irritated the “pouch” and stomach with the “moist solids” I tried to tackle only 12 days post op. The irritation causes it to swell which does basically causes even more restriction around the band, hence my issue with not being able to swallow as easily as before. She said to help fix the problem, she would remove some Fluid from the band to help the stomach rest. I told her that I’ve never had a fill before! But she explained that the doctor primes the band with some fluid, so there was some room to take it down. It was my first fill (well I guess un-fill) so she had to find my port (which took two tries) and then she removed some saline from it. I think I did feel a little better after that but she said I had to go back to Clear liquids for two days. The internal swelling should go down in a couple of days and hopefully I’ll be able to swallow like before. Kiz is 100% right: this surgery costs too much (both physically and economically) not to follow the post surgery diet to a T. It wasn’t like I was out eating pizza and hamburgers 12 days out, but there truly is a fine line between “thick liquids” and “thick liquids with chunks of meats and veggies”. I’m with you lasttry09, the 3 weeks of liquids is the worst. I think those 3 weeks even help you subconsciously “beat the band” because the whole time you are eating things that aren’t restricted. So if ever in the future you want “more food” you can turn to thick liquids to satisfy you. Can’t be a good thing. That’s why I think I was trying to get to solids so quick, because I wanted to feel the restriction. But it only took “once” for me to be pretty much “scared straight”. Anyhow, thanks for the support everyone.

I was banded Tuesday, November 3rd, and so far my recovery has been pretty good. Like most folks I was pretty busted up the first couple days but after that, I was only getting better each day. My menu was pretty much like everyone else’s: clear fluids the first couple days and then “thick liquids” for the next two weeks. However since my recovery had been going so well, I started to “unconsciously” push the limits. Nothing horrible, but I have been eating some soups with a lot of thick noodles, and some “stewy like meats”, etc. My friend who had the LB a couple years ago warned me that you can “slip” the band easily in the first month (before the first fill). I guess my question is there any way besides what people describe as horrible pain and vomiting to tell if the band slipped? Is there an easy way for the doctor to tell? Or will I have to wait for my first fill? Lastly, is it correct the only way to fix a slip is with surgery? Sorry for all the questions, it’s just most of my surgery was out of pocket, and I’d hate to have screwed everything all up already. :wink2: