honk

Is your fiance expecting you to actually care for him (do his laundry, cook, clean) while you recovering from surgery? If he wants a slave tell him to go home to Momma! Seriously is this behavior going to happen in another circumstances? What if you have a C section and are out of commission? Who's going to do all that stuff while your hurting. From the sounds of it. YOU. And that's not taking into consideration the verbal abuse. Sorry, but I think you need to cut your losses.

FYI not sure how long before insurance follows but the FDA approved use of LAP Band for use in individuals below 40 BMI for certain instances. I would ask your insurance.

I have to admit I read the title of this link to quickly and thought it said "Anyone have surgery at TJX, which is the corporate name for TJ MAXX and Marshalls (Their corporate offices are here in MA). Getting old is a bad thing!

As mentioned by previous posters they explain WLS. My doctor takes attendence and won't let you make an appointment until you attend.

You mention feeling very full to the point of having pain. I think you need to start measuring your food. My doctor says 3 oz of protein. Even as I am approaching restriction I don't feel full until a couple minutes after stopping eating. I try to stop when I stop feeling hungry and then wait a bit to see how I feel. It sounds like you are eating until you feel full and then it hurts. If you measure out your food and don't allow yourself seconds this might help your issue of eating to much.

Greek Yoghurt is good for this stage becuase it has twice the protein of reg. I also add half scoop vanilla whey protein up the level. FYI I add splendra otherwise it's to sour. Are you also eating Low/fat free cottage cheese (chive is nice). Can you have egg whites? I would make egg whites and add cottage cheese at the very end.

I believe doctors use your original weigh in since they know people will lose weight during the pre op diet. The only reason I could see for waiting is making yourself mentally prepared. This is not a miracle cure. I did not get restriction from fills for 6 months. During that time frame and now it is still about will power. Also you need to create new eating habits. Some of them truely are easy. Have a baked potato instead of french fries; eat grilled chicken instead of fried. While they are easy to do the hard part is following through. Also anything that is either liquid or crunchy starches slide right through the band pouch. After banding you can still eat a whole carton of ice cream or a large McDonald shake. You need to decide not to have them. I wish I'd had surgery years ago so I'm not saying to wait. I'm just saying to prepare yourself that your relationship with food will be different.

So difficult! When I go to my sisters I use her food scale. She does'nt weight the food she eats. Instead she is Martha Stewart incarnate and does a lot of fancy cooking and weighs the ingrediants. I weigh out the Protein and then eat small portions of everything else. Since it's your mother's house could you bring Greek yoghurt for Breakfast? For breakfast I have Chobani fat free greek yoghurt with a half scoop of vanilla whey isolate, Splendra and 1/8 cup Cereal. That would be pretty easy to bring with you. Bring powder and cereal in seperate baggies. This way you could control one meal a day. Also, unless it's a meal I just don't partake in Snacks, grazing behavior that others may be doing.

I agree to ask for a to go box when you order. My mother does that and she has'nt had surgery. She often gives leftovers from meals out to my nephew when he stops by to do his laundry (at least he does it himself!) and does want to "contaminate" the food.

I would suggest spreading your calories through out the day as much as possible to prevent your blood suger dropping.

Go back to the doctors order regarding food choices since you are so close to surgery. It stinks but thems the facts. Until you have restriction you will be hungry eating small portions. Until you get to solids I would spread you food out through the course of the day. Once you hit solids measure out your food and when it's gone stop eating. It is about will power. I did not get any restriction for 6 months. I don't consider myself low carb but I had to take a good look at what my food triggers are. I don't keep bread in my house or crackers, or really anything crunchy that are'nt veggies. I have never really eaten red meat or pork so I mostly have poultry Protein. This is at least 50% mental. I ask myself "If my doctor saw that in my grocery carriage or saw me order it at a restaurant would I be embarrased?" If so I can't have it.

I did not get any restriction until 10 CC's, so 6 months. I know it's not what you want to here; but it's what I experienced. Even after restriction the band will let you eat anything, esp. foods that "Slide" right threw: candy, ice cream, cookies. You have to choose healthy low cal/fat foods. Even preband I had been on a diet for 8 months. I was choosing healthy foods but I was still eating to much of them.

Yannabe, "My doctor prescribes only slimfast, Water, sugar free drinks like crystal light, broth, Jello, fat free yogurt and popsicles" this diet actually does not sound so bad. Did they give you a calorie limit? If so I would pick your food for the entire day and space it out having something every couple hours. I understand this will probably mean you have to stop eating even though you are still hungry. Think of it as trying to keep you bloodsuger stable over the whole day. In regards to fat free yoghurt I highly recommend fat free Greek style yoghurt as it has TWICE the Protein of regular yoghurt (I do add splendra as it is really sour.). Personally I like Chobani with fruit. I also recommend Mrs Dash salt free flavorings added to stock (pre heating). Oh and stock vs. broth it will have a lot more flavor (and don't bother with the low salt version it's bad enough as it is).

Watched MANY presurgery. I do NOT like to watch surgery videos. They don't make me cry more want to be sick. The thing is the surgery is done with a cauterizing tool which means they are kind of burning threw tissue rather than cutting it. There is almost no blood. It's almost surreal because it does'nt even seem like surgery. Personally I think everyone should watch these videos. It shows you exactly why you need to follow the post op diet. The surgeon places the band and then sews a piece of stomach above the band to a piece of stomach below he band. Until it heals you do not want the stomach churning and dislodging the band. Also the first one I watch they flipped this body part out of the way in a pretty cavalier way. I though what the heck was that? It was the liver. Lesson 1) the liver shrinking diet is for a reason; they fold that baby right over!

I had to postpone my surgery for another health issue and ended up losing 50 pounds. My change in BMI never came up though it was still above 40. Another thing to consider is that the weight loss makes the surgery easier. One nurse explained it as such: "Think of your torso as a over full suitcase. The more weight you lose the emptier the suitcase. The doctor needs to get to the bottom. With the fat gone they can get to things much easier which means less trauma to the organs".

You're right your family is not seeing weight loss surgery as a reasonable calculated risk. People have open heart surgery and joint replacements because they need them. We don't tell them to think themselves well. The comment that your "son needs you" really angers me. My father died when I was 11. He had a heart attack at 54; no warnings. Out of nowhere I had a stroke at 39, 39! Are you more liketly to have a heart attack or stroke being overweight than you are having this surgery? Probably. Because I'd had a stroke I was very concerned the surgery would cause another bloot clot. This surgery was not as bad as the gall bladder surgery I had (regular open kind) 20 years ago. And I am 20 years older! Do I wish I had this surgery years ago? Absolutely. Perhaps I would'nt have had a stroke. You need to do this for YOU. They dont' get a vote. Period. I would have the surgery and not tell them if they are being this uncooperative.

I'm not a doctor but I wonder if you've recently lost weight around the stomach and now the band is looser. My doctor allows fills after 3 weeks. I would go back in for another fill. I did not start to get restriction until 10CC's may need a smidgen more. So I am not shocked that you don't have resctriction after only 3 fills. I think I've had 8.

What day are you post surgery? I hit stage 2 at day 8. If that is the plan you are on you will not be full for 4 hours on tomato Soup. I would recommend spreading out your "food". I would have soup (usually tomato or tomato/sweet red pepper with MRS Dash chicken flavor non salt spice mix added before heating), and a hour later have the Protein shake. Another hint. Measure out your soup. I used a coffee cup, which was just that a cup. Measure how much fits in a mug you will be shocked usually more like 2 cups. You could well be getting much more soup than you're planning on. This is a good time to retrain yourself about eating and food habits. And it is training. My mother used to say somewhat jokingly "What happened to the other half of my sandwich?" She had eaten so fast she did'nt even remember eating it. Presurgery I had to attend 3 sessions on eating habits where we discussed thinking about each bite and savoring it. Do you savor each bite? I did'nt. If you have'nt done so I highly recommend getting a digital food scale (one that you can zero out the weight of the plate). I was using it once I moved into the mushie stage. My doctor calls for 3 oz of protein and you would be suprised how little that actually is! Until you get restriction you will need to measure out food (or at least protein) The first week weeks are about healing but be sure to pick low cal/fat choices. There are a lot of nice Soups in the deli section of the grocery but some of them are super high in fat (anything with milk base). And, yes some of us are slow losers. Just had a huge talk about that at my PCP's office this morning!

Getting stuck SUCKS in a big way. In week three I was allowed low fat cottage and ricotta cheese plus soups (squash, tomato) and protein shakes. I had to wait another week for shredded chicken etc. Perhaps you should do the cottage cheese route for another week. Could be you are still swollen internally. I know it does'nt sound like fun but would it be better than the pain of getting stuck?

I think it's probably water retention. Movie popcorn and restaurant food are very salty. You only gained one pound so that would be my guess. Rememer you have to have a 3500 calorie surplus to gain 1 pound.

As you heal and before you start getting fills you will get hungry. You will be able to eat larger portions of food than you would want to on a diet. I am not trying to be negative. I wish more doctors were upfront about how this is a life style change (the band won't stop you from eating anything); you need to make good food choices. I did not start to get any restriction until my 6th month. I weigh my food and exercise an hour daily; yet I am still a slow loser.

Hi. Did you doctor give you a schedule on when to move through the stages? I was on clear liquids for 7 days, full liquids 7 days, Musies cottage/ricotta cheese 7 days, could add egg whites the next week; then finallly to solids. Personally unless your doctor approves moving to mushies I would stay at full liquids until day 15. To control hunger I had soup (broth and then tomato) and a hour later a Protein shake. If you need something before your next "meal" you could have a cup of broth. FYI I had a check up at day 12 and asked if I could move to mushies 2 days early the nurse said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!".

Not sure if it's the same thing but my doctor said I could go swimming at 2 weeks. And that was in a public pool and not my own bathtub.

Are you taking liquid Tylenol? I only had perscription pain meds in the hospital. At home I took liquid Tylenol every 4 hours for probably a week to stay ahead of the pain.

In my experience the only time I get thirsty is if I eat something that is really salty. So the question becomes if it's that salty should I be eating it anyway. In fact the one time that I was uncomfortable because I was so thirsty was at a birthday party where the I did'nt have many food options. There was finger tip sandwhiches (ate the fillings ham salad but not the bread), shrimp cocktail (the best option), bite size pieces Greek Sausage (realllly salty). Since I drink Water right up until eating I don't really have problems at restaurants. I drink two glasses of water before the food comes then stop.