BetsyB

I think your doctor has given you a really skewed sense of what to expect. (This is not particularly uncommon, since most surgeons have not been banded, and many really do not pay a great deal of attention to their patients' aftercare, and therefore don't have a realistic view themselves.) Restriction is likely quite a way down the road for you. I have 7.3 ccs in my 11 cc band and can still freely drink fluids. Other people get restriction sooner, but I have only, with my most recent fill, experienced difficulties with any foods at all---and they've been very few and very minor. Still, in this working-toward-ideal-restriction phase, I've been consistently practicing the things I need to do---taking very small bites, chewing well, etc. (You sound like you're doing this, too.) Do try to make use of this time to build other good habits with your band (like choosing the right foods in the right amounts). I know you've only described a couple of incidents, but it does sound like you've got a tiny bit of push-the-envelope-itis going on. You say that you "don't feel anything," and describe behavior in response that seems to almost challenge your band to see what you can get away with. This is not a good idea so early on. Stick with okayed foods in the amounts recommended. If you ever do run into difficulties getting enough Protein, I think the Inspire protein powders from Bariatric Eating are really, really good.

I know it seems like an impossibly long period of time, but really---with all the other stuff you have to get done (clearances from cardiologist, pulmonologist, psychologist, etc.) ---not to mention all the learning you have to do---the time will pass quickly. I had years of documentation of weight-related doctor visits, as well as documentation from Weight Watchers. For my insurance plan, the clock for the period of supervision did not start until my first appointment with the bariatric surgeon. The stuff preceding did help establish the need for surgery, but did not reduce the wait. In retrospect, this was a good thing. I really geared myself up for the surgery, and was very well-prepared when the time came. It will be okay--you can use the time well, practice all the behaviors you'll need after surgery, and be all set for success.

Thanks, everyone, for the good thoughts and prayers. Mark’s hanging in--he feels awful, but isn’t really admitting it (most of the time). He’s been home a lot this past week, rather than at the office; this is largely driven by how he’s felt, though he’s couched it in getting-ready-for-holiday terms. He hates being sick! It’s been a good week otherwise, though--both kids are home from school, and it’s been nice. We’ve had great weather (well, except for this morning’s rain), and everyone’s been in good spirits. (Read that: the offspring have not spent the week at each other’s throats.) Bobbie! I love your picture--it’s great to have a face to go with your name! I have the opposite problem that you do. Veggies are no problem. It’s protein that’s giving me trouble since my last fill. Well, chicken. I think I may finally have to bid chicken breast adieu. (Dark meat’s not much better.) Still, no sweet spot quite yet, I don’t think….this is going to be like a tight wire walk, isn’t it? Elfie….oh, Elfie. Snakes. <shudder> My sympathies. I love good compost…but I don’t think I could endure a snake farm---even if it was cute little garter snakes. Seriously---you should see my face right now. HORROR! Illuminationlady--Welcome back! I’m glad you had a great trip, despite the untimely demise of your laptop. Tell Becky we’re all thinking of her as she recovers--what a good example she has in you. Denise--you look fabulous! I love seeing the transformation in your pictures. Jacki- You are adorable even in your “before“ picture! I wish I could find good “before” pics. I know there are a handful out there….but laying hands on them would require asking my in-laws--who take enormous delight in catching the most unflattering photos of everyone for their own private arsenal---for them. Oh, well. I have my huge fat pants as evidence, if nothing else. Speaking of pants, I broke down and bought new jeans yesterday, primarily because the ones I’d been wearing fell off. I tried on 2 pairs, a 16W and an 18 (regular). Both fit. I surprised myself for going for the larger number---because I JUST WANTED THAT DAMN “W” TO GO AWAY! So, I have a “normal” size pair of jeans. And am now looking forward to a lifetime of buying clothes off the rack, easily, and HAPPILY. (I almost cried in the dressing room. I took them off. Put ‘em back on to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. And did it over and over.) At my highest weight, I wore 24W. This is a BIG change, and really, very sudden---I did not lose weight this past week (I don’t think), but something changed! Okay, back to the regularly scheduled programming… Leigha--Yikes! That pollen! It’s bad here, too--I know this because my contacts seem to get glazed by it by noon every day. Blah! But it’s NOTHING like what you have! Oh, fresh eggs! They are so, so good. I am looking for a local farm to get organic eggs and meat----we’re buying in to a CSA for veggies and herbs, too. The quality is so good. The tulips are gorgeous--they are my favorite flower, and I wonder, every spring, just why it was that I forgot to put bulbs in in the fall. I have a feeling that THIS season, I will find myself with a great deal more energy to do things like that. Hummingbird--My scale NEVER cooperates on doctor visit days! In my earlier life (you know, LBB: Life Before Band), this really threw me for a loop. Now it just…well, is. How did your fill go? Are you feeling good? Karen! 170 pounds---that’s AWESOME!! Liz--Thanks for the Jillian info. I really like her. Something about her being a former fat girl really … I don’t know…it just makes me respect her more. I don’t always agree with her approach or rationale, but she gets really great results. One of these days, I am going to break down and get her Shred DVD. Laura--Congrats on Fill #2--Wow! That was a BIG jump! How are you feeling? Anne, I’m so glad you’re getting such awesome feedback from the nutritionist. You are going to knock their socks off, post-op. I really think that the wait (and preparation that goes along with it) paves the way to success. I don't have to teach Sunday school in the morning, so I am (horridly) contemplating sleeping late rather than getting up for church. That would be really bad, wouldn't it? :bored: Okay, enough blammer from me. Have a great day, everyone. I am hoping for the rain to end so that I can go for a walk and then play in the dirt. I am so eager to do my garden "spring cleaning."

Phentermine's not really safe (or particularly effective) without the band---no safer with it. Have you ever heard of anyone achieving lasting weight loss success with diet drugs? No, because it doesn't happen--ever. People may lose---and the minute the drug is stopped, they regain. It's a terrible thing to do to the body, and particularly so to a banded body (which is confused enough already!). Alli works by removing fat from your body before absorption. At this point, your intake is low enough that unless you're really overeating (and *ahem* if you are, stop), your body NEEDS the fat you take in. Alli's not a good choice at all. Never mind the oily, uncontrollable diarrhea; you will be robbing your body of a needed macronutrient that only is given very finite real estate in your new stomach. Look, you have a built-in appetite suppressant wrapped around your stomach. You're so close to banding that you haven't yet realized its benefits, but you will. Commit yourself to achieving a good level of restriction. That will guide your food choices in a way that you lose without introducing potentially harmful drugs to the mix. Will it take care of the head hunger? No. But numbing that out with drugs really isn't the answer to that problem, either. I know the early days are really frustrating. But make and keep appointments with your doctor, follow his or her eating plan, and you will get the results you want. It will be hard, at first. But it will be worth it.

I have an 11-cc Realize band. It was placed with no fill, and was left empty for 4 weeks. I've had 3 fills, and now have 7.3 cc. I think I will need one more to hit the sweet spot, but am still adjusting to the changes from my most recent fill (just a week ago), so we'll see.

Yes, you can hurt yourself by advancing too fast or eating too much, but no, you probably didn't. salad really does kind of chew down to nothingness. The main problem I have with it is that the leaves of lettuce (or spinach, or whatever), if not chewed very, very, very well (and it's hard to do this, because it tends to slip down your gullet pretty easily) can find themselves lying across the stoma just so....not really "stuck," but blocking the way for anything else to move through for a while. It can be really uncomfortable. It happens to me after fills--I have to be really careful. BUT, chances are you don't have much in the way of restriction right now, so by now, you've probably determined that you are just fine. (The pouch is more elastic than most of us think---you won't cause a slippage with a bunch of chomped-up greens.) Kelsey, if you're starving between meals and your doctor has a no-snacking rule, call his office and ask for guidance. You will very likely be given a broader list of acceptable Snacks than the one you have (which, I bet, has broth, sugar-free Jello, and sugar-free popsicles on it). If they refuse to help you figure out snacks, look at the foods you are allowed to have at mealtime. If you're genuinely hungry between meals, choose something that would be a wise choice for a meal, and have a small, measured serving. Then, tell yourself you're done until mealtime. But please, don't start down the bread and milk path.

Most orthopedists really discourage running until goal weight is well within sight---otherwise, there is too much extra stress on the joints. That said, even when thin, I'm not designed to be a runner. I love the idea, but my body simply does not do it well, even at normal weight. I'm made to walk FAST and LONG--so that's what I do. I can bypass joggers, and get a good workout--but there's just something about changing my gait to a run that turns me into an oaf. So much for the dreams of elated gliding through the air! If anyone reading is not cut out to be a runner, either, please know that there ARE other ways to be fit, and that they, too, carry with them the endorphins that make running appealing to those who love it.

If she's acting like a petulant child, use the standard petulant child response: "If everyone else jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?" Seriously. It matters not one whit to your wife's health if every single person on the planet other than her cheated on their preop diets. Their survival is not proof of safety. It's not a shield to protect her from the harm it might do to her. It's time for her to start following the rules. There are an awful lot that travel along with the band, and now is as good a time as any to realize that they need to be followed.

If you plan to eat, I'd do a "trial run" at home, first. I would not make the food eaten at the wedding the first food you eat post-sticking incident.

When I read the OP yesterday, my first inclination was to say that I'm not all that concerned with what others eat. But last night, when my son and daughter served themselves up (too much) ice cream, I did comment---and my son told me, "You know how some people go to rehab, and then think everyone else is an addict? That's you, with food." (Okay, maybe---but I'm their mother, and it's my job to do whatever I can to prevent them from making the same kinds of mistakes I made.)

I induce vomiting, too. If something's stuck, it's stuck---waiting it out prolongs the misery and leaves me with a sorer stoma. Fortunately, this is not a common occurrence for me.

I'm so sorry--what a disappointment! I am glad they are committed to helping you find a solution--but wish there were no need.

The first fill often does not effect much change in terms of restriction. I was on solid foods by the time I was filled (no mushy phase per my doctor's plan), and was still able to eat without any real discernible difference, once the swelling receded. (I had a day or two of feeling some restriction.) The second fill gave me a bit more restriction. But it wasn't until my third that there was a really palpable difference in how my body responded to what I ate/drink. Everyone is different. But if you're not feeling restriction with liquids, you may not feel them with food.

Old habits die hard. What triggered you tonight? You're admittedly not hungry---so what was going on? Boredom? Loneliness? Avoidance of another task? Grief for the lost "friend" in food? An irritating conversation with someone on the phone? A bad work situation? Frustrating homework? If bingeing was part of your life before banding, the band will not magically reverse this. You will build new habits that don't include bingeing---but it might take time. Be patient with yourself. Be proud that you didn't binge. If you found something that took your mind off it and kept you from the kitchen, take note---it might be another tool for your toolbelt. It gets better with time.

Congratulations!

My doctor doesn't have a mushy stage. I started on pureed protein on Day 3 postop. After a couple of weeks on purees, I moved on to solids (protein only). And after a specified period, nonstarchy veggies were added. That's where I am now; I'll be adding a serving/day of fruit in a couple of weeks----and that is it until I reach 75% of excess weight lost, at which point whole grains can be added in, in moderation.

Hang in there. It gets easier after a couple of days. Your liver will start releasing stored glycogen for energy, and you'll be comfier physically. The preop diet really is the hardest part of it all, IMO. You can get through it--and then, it's all downhill.

I understand the rationale as related to the vomiting, but if that has passed, I'd ask for a fill. You have at least 5 ccs left---cutting you off now, without restriction, to guard against a time when you might require more due to a possible change in your stomach size seems premature. Who knows? Maybe a very slight fill will do it for you. You were at your sweet spot; it might take just a very small amount of saline to do the trick.

I'm sorry you had an awful experience. My surgeon does all his fills--with fluoroscopy--so I've never had the same. It sounds horrible. You were barely able to walk? Where was she jabbing? It's too bad they don't have the policy of everywhere I've ever worked: no staff member can make more than 3 attempts before asking someone with more experience to take over. I think this should be a universal sticking-the-patient rule. I hope you find a good solution with the fluoro. But hey, what's with the "only 20 pounds"? Have you ever been able to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks before?! In a way that's going to allow you to keep it off?

There's not really much willpower involved at this point. There's a finite amount of space, and it gets filled :frown: I don't think there's really a "right" or "wrong" way to eat, but I do try to make sure that, because there's only a certain amount of space, I get the nutrients my body needs. To do that, I have to use the space really wisely. (And even so, I find that I consistently don't get enough of certain things--and have bumped up my supplements accordingly.) I find that journaling what I eat on Fitday.com helps me tremendously. It might help you, too. While eating biscuits and gravy is certainly "allowed" with a band, if you were to track your intake of nutrients, you might find that you want to use the real estate in your stomach differently so that you lose at a rate you're more comfortable with. In your first post, you state that you've only lost three pounds since banding. It might be time to consider that, really, it's not just about portion size, but also about the kinds of foods you're choosing.

Some redness is to be expected. Redness plus increased pain, swelling, drainage, and/or fever indicate infection. You've got that base covered with the antibiotic, so you can rest easy on that front. I did have issues with the steri-strips; my skin really doesn't like adhesives, and was very happy when they fell off!

What makes you think you did anything wrong? You didn't. The scale doesn't give the whole story. As a daily weigher, you surely have seen fluctuations before. Why is this one bothering you more than the others? Because it pushed you back over your milestone? That gain is not "real." You've lost 50 pounds. Chances are the 2 pounds will be gone tomorrow---perhaps with another pound for good measure. Deep breaths. You're doing great. Don't let what a less-than-accurate piece of machinery tells you dictate your outlook for the day.

Well, I'm not sure I'd correlate the snacking to the scale success. Plateaus begin and end for no real rhyme or reason---it was coincidence, most likely. But I'm glad you enjoyed the cookout!

Bread's not part of my plan, but everyone I know says that the crust is the easiest part to tolerate! (The softer inside is what gets gummy and can get stuck.) It's so weird how we all get told different things by our doctors. There's nothing about the crust that makes it less suitable, nutritionally. But trimming means that less goes into your body! Maybe that's the motivation...?