IAmJacksLapBand

My first adjustment is June 14th. I am so excited and it is right after I get back from vacation, the first real test of my ability to work with my band. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope mine is as painless as yours. Every doctor has a different way of assisting patients. I'm sure you are fine.

My dietician really did not tell me quantities. She provided the plan by week and taught me how to eat slowly so that I would have time to listen to my body and what the band was telling it. That amount of mashed potatoes seems like a lot. If you are consuming too quickly you may not have time to learn you are full. I took 40 minutes the other night to work on a 7 oz portion. By ounce 5 I had heard I was full. I had thought I was fine and started eating regular foods just chewing like crazy to get in that habit but have headed back to the dietician's plan to make sure I heal well.

I has been incredibly easy for me. I was downing 4 20 oz bottles a day. Then the surgery came and went. I now drink McD's unsweet tea and use a little sugar substitute. When I get the craving for a soda I just think about the damage I could do and I move past it. I do have a Lo-Carb Monster Energy occasionally as a treat. I sip it VERY VERY VERY slowly. It takes me all day to finish it. I tried to gulp it the first time and had the loudest most painful burp in my life.

I decided on 265 because it was lighter than when I remember being happy. I was happy at 285. But that still made me in the obese category. My long term goal is 220 after speaking with my surgeon. He said I would be in the overweight category but it would still be a great benefit for me. If I get there or below that is great. I just want to be at whatever weight lets me sit in a coach airplane seat and ride as many roller coasters as I want.

I am new to banderland. I think 2 pounds per week should be good. I lost 8 the first week since surgery and then 2 the second week. When I get hungry because of the little restriction I have I think about what I have the band for and turn away. I should have my first fill and still have a few weeks to meet the challenge. 15 pounds by the fourth will put me at 370 lbs.

2 pounds a week is healthy. So really you seem to be on track. With all the additions and really carefully eating and exercising you may be able to boost it more. Congrats on the progress so far.

I keep my Lap-Band Patient ID card in my wallet at all times. It is visible. I would hope if needed to ID me the emergency personnel would see the info on the card and the picture of the LB system.

I am day 8 post-op. Today I realized the restriction is gone. I feel like I can eat or drink and will not be full. I still have 5 weeks before the first adustment. I am doing well though. I had too much soup at lunch and just stopped and threw it in the trash so I would not be tempted to eat more. I saw the container that I had put down and realized it was double what I had been consuming. Any other April Bandsters already moving into this phase? If so, how are you combatting the urges?

I am 15 days post-op today. On Monday, my smallest wound decided to open and say "hello." The surgeon is not worried and thinks it will close in a few days. Today I woke up and the muscle around my port feels extremely sore, almost like it is heavily bruised. I have not had any trouble with it at all until today. First thing I thought is that I turned during the night and the port came unattached. I can feel it and it seems to be in place. Could I have pulled one of the sutures? Anybody had a smiliar experience with their port area?

I hope so. I am so paranoid about everything and do not want to have to go back in to have anything reattached, closed, removed, etc. I just want to get to the adjustment phase so I can make this band work. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I agree she may just be trying to scare you. The first place I would expect to see these reports from these "bunch" of people would be right here on LBT. However, I considered Mexico but made my decision to travel within the US for a great self-pay program. And I got referred to a local surgeon in my city to assist with adjustments under the direction of my personal surgeon. I agree with Becky, if you are comfortable with your decision, do not let others try and convince you about a "bunch" of people peeing out of tubes.

I too am traveling the first week of June to Disney World. I am also only a few weeks post-op. My apetite is returning and my restriction is low. I am in the opposite camp of the creator of this thread. I wish I had more restriction so I may not be tempted to over eat. I am progressing well and want to make sure I stay on track even when on vacation. I have already started to plan my meals and portions from the different restaurants. I am sure I can have a great time, enjoy the theme park food I love in smaller portions, and still lose weight. I am just thinking about all that great walking I will be doing. Plus my friends who will be seeing me there know about my band and are excited to see how my eating style has changed. I am concerned with with plane flight though. I only have about 3 cc in my band from when it was placed. So I will try and stick to water on the flight. No single serving wine or airline snacks for me.

Today is day 10. My initial feeling of restriction was gone at day 6. I had a nutrisystem egg fritata for Breakfast, about a 2 oz. serving and I can feel it sitting nicely above the band. No pain, just am not hungry anymore. I like the feeling. And my port site incision is in the middle of my chest, about 4 CM in length. I found the port, a little towards the right and up on my abdomen. About 1.5 inches away from the actual incision. It is the only part of my amdomen that is still a little swollen. I feel like the port is significantly under the skin. I hope it doesn't hurt too bad for adjustments. I feel like a kid. It is a little sore but I can't stop touching it to feel the outline.

It seems like the Late April Bunnies are doing well... despite a few roadblocks with soreness and emerging hunger. Hang in there everyone until we start to get our adjustments. If you have not read it, there is a very honest thread out there for those of us less than 3 months out who have been discouraged. The next few months are going to be challenging as we try and reach our "green zone." Just continue to adopt your new eating habits even when you know you can eat more. Enjoy the new energy you have and keep exercising. We will be successful! We were banded in April after all so that has to count for something.

I bought NutriSystem before my surgery. I've had the oatmeal and some of their chewy Desserts. This morning the egg fritata was my Breakfast. All tasted excellent and are perfectly sized for bandsters with great Protein, carb, and calorie content. The egg was really filling. About a 2 oz serving and it has cured my hunger at only 120 calories/12 g protein. As I move towards a regular diet I cannot wait to incorporate some more of the nutrisystem menu into my daily diet. Eating 3 nutrisystem meals a day with 1-2 nutrisystem Snacks is between 800-1000 calories, exactly what the dietician said my new life would be like.

JM, Congrats on the initial loss since surgery. Those are impressive numbers. I just feel like everything is going right through the band. My stomach growls alot. I am going to move to mushies a little early to try and get some of the food to stay above the band to keep me fuller longer. My nutritionist said I would never be able to finish a large drink again. I was able to drink 32 oz of unsweetened tea tonight! It just went right through the band.

Our thoughts and support are with you. You know your doctors are doing the best thing to prepare you for success with your band. I am so heavy that I worked harder than I may have needed to on my pre-op diet. Even so the surgeon encountered more fat around my stomach and liver than he was expecting. Luckily he was able to remove it while only extending my procedure by about an hour. I told him before we headed into the OR that my second biggest fear, next to dying, was awaking in recovery to learn that the band had not been able to be placed because I failed on my prep diet.

Great suggestions everyone. And thank you for sharing your experiences. I just had my band placed and 1 week later the initial restriction is gone. I was banded with 3 CC in a 14 CC band. My adjustment is not for 5 weeks. I hope I can keep myself calm and deal with the lack of restriction. I have had good steady loss since my pre-op diet and hope to be down another 8 at least by my first adjustment.

I was banded April 27th at Detroit Medical Center through Great Lakes Weight Loss. Total self-pay was $10,700. It included pre-op testing, surgeon consult, procedure, anesthesia, 1 night hospital stay in a private room with visitors allowed to stay over, and nutritional consult. 90 days of adjustments also included. Awesome staff, great surgeon who actually helped me set goals for myself and him, and a team of nurses who know what bariatric patients require. They were at my side for my every need. Could not have asked for a better and economical experience.

I would like some assistance with incisions as well. I had dermabond on all of my mine. On the port incision he also placed a actual watertight bandage which was removed on day 5. All of my incisions appear to be scabbed and raised, dark blood in color. When I left the hospital multiple people said they look fine. The port incision, once the dressing was removed is far more raised and lighter in color. It lays right on a crease in my belly fat. The area around it is swollen but not warm to touch or discolored so I do not think it is infected. My concern is that the raised, deformed area, may not heal and will prevent port access. I cannot easily feel my port under the inicision. Anybody feel I have cause for concern? I may just be worrying myself again over nothing.

Mine was gone by day 5. But it was so intense the first few days. I had convinced myself that my band had slipped. But I am fine now. Now that the pressure is gone I can eat a little more and it is very comfortable. Welcome to Bandsterland and best wishes!

I had major gas pains after surgery on the 27th. They just now started to go away But I still get a few rushes of pain in my shoulder. I used an extra-strength Equate product from Wal-Mart and it did reasonably well. I was able to pass solid waste about 5 days after surgery. I feel amazing after losing 22 pounds in the past three weeks, about 10 since my surgery last week. My apetite is slowly returning but I find that I will fix a big Soup meal and then finish about a cup and be done. I throw it away so I don't have to think about eating it later. I love my band. I have been waiting so long for it it was like meeting a pen pal in person. I listen to it and it tells me when I am full and when it is time to eat again. I cannot wait to get into the gym this weekend to boost these early results before the swelling goes down and I move into Bandster Hell for the first few adjustments.