SoccerMomma73

I'm doing a low fat cheese stick late morning and low fat yogurt late afternoon to keep me from binging like a mad woman....Fill tomorrow! I don't expect perfection but I hope there's at least some restriction, right now there's essentially nothing

Less than 48 hours until fill time. I'm back on a self imposed liquid diet, just kinda queasy and not feeling great (likely related to the amount of GUNK my head is creating draining into my stomach). Hang in there everyone, it will get better!!! For one brief moment last week I thought "I should have gotten the darn bypass" but no, no, I'm glad I didn't, just ready for a little restriction.

Lap band is more work at first, but recent articles I've read show that long term weight loss can be as good with a band as with a bypass and in some cases band patients keep the weight off better. Now, these are band patients who follow the rules (at least most of them) and get their fills when they need them. My mom had a bypass MANY years ago before they realized how many Vitamin deficiencies, etc were associated with the surgery and before they followed you so closely. She has had multiple episodes of anemia, some really serious, but she's kept the weight off...because she works her butt off exercising to keep it off. I have multiple patients both lap band and bypass who have gained every ounce back and then some. I have multiple patients, both lap band and bypass that you would never believe were ever obese...it's all in what you do with the surgery....neither is a magic bullet (dammit) and you still have to work to get where you want and stay where you ....I know I'm no help! Sorry I chose a lap band mainly because I'm willing to exercise and eat healthy and I feel like I just need a little help to tell me when to STOP...and I feel like it's a safer surgery with less long term risk.... GOOD LUCK!!

Funny enough I got a surgery date before I ever went to my surgery consult. I met him on 12/3 and surgery was on 12/16....they scheduled it as soon as my insurance company gave the approval (I had to do his seminar, a support group meeting, and the dietician's meeting-actually conference call-before they would submit to insurance)...I guess I got lucky!

I go Tuesday for my first (surgery date 12/16) and I'm SOOOO hoping it will at least take the edge off and decrease my hunger...I'm not expecting a miracle and to have it perfect this very first time (though it WOULD be nice) but I'm hoping I can at least feel something with this fill....anxiously awaiting!

Good luck with the process and your surgery. I would encourage you to investigate the lap band further before making a definite decision. I'm a family practice physician assistant and have at least 6 (probably more) patients who had a gastric bypass, lost a bunch of weight, and now weigh more than 300 pounds...they just ate and ate until everything was stretched back out and now it's like they never had the surgery. Yes, the lap band diet is tougher butyou're likely to be healthier in the long run....Again, good luck with everything!

I didn't find this site until I was 2 weeks post-op and googled,2 weeks post-op from lab band and STARVING...I spent almost a week convinced I had done the wrong thing and woud be miserable forever then discovered this freaking "bandster hell" is totally normal!!! I wish the doc, the nurse, the nutritionist, someone had mentioned I'd go from full to starving in a matter of days, it would have put my mind at ease...They also gave me the impression that 3-4 oz of fluids would fill me and I wouldn't be able to drink/eat more, not so.... Other than that I think they actually prepped me fairly well. Good luck with your decision!

Mushies are heaven, thankfully I got to start 'em 2 weeks post op. You ROCK for sticking to liquids so long! My doc doesn't allow scrambled eggs until 8 weeks post op, he's had people get stuck multiple times on them apparently. My first mushies was a bowl of bean soup with a variety of beans, carrots, potatoes and a few saltines in it. It was like a little piece of heaven in a bowl and I was STUFFED for the first time in a month. I lived off it for most of a week actually. I've also been doing a lot of ham spread, put a chunk of turkey ham (or regular ham but the turkey variety is better for you) in the food processor 'til it's chopped to bits, throw in a couple boiled eggs (I take out the yolks, again, carb/fat content) then mix in low fat mayo and mustard. Spread on melba toast or low fat wheat thins (my new best friend)...fills me up and loads of protein between the ham and the egg whites and my 5 year old son LOVES it (says it looks gross but tastes yummy). Those plus string cheese and yogurt make up the majority of my diet right now. Good luck, enjoy your first good chew!

Gas pain is a bear. I didn't pass much on the lower end but eventually burped like I'd never burped before, for days in a row (err, in fact am still burping more than I ever had and long and low...not nice girly burps) and oh my goodness did I feel better. Gas-x and walking saved my life. It's not the worst pain in the world, but it is miserable, and it does pass

Waiting sucks, sucks, sucks! But it's so worth it Good luck, it'll be over before you know it and you'll be on the other side!

I got the call today confirming my first fill next Tuesday. I have to be healed, healthy, and cold free....I'm going to lock myself in the closet until then so I'm not exposed to anything! (I'm a family practice physician assistant and sick all the time from the crap I pick up from work...keep your fingers crossed I can be germ free for 5 whole days!).:thumbup:

My doc makes you stop 4 days before and stay off for a month after. If I stopped 4 days before I would have started my period the day before surgery and surgery day would have been a flood, something I didn't want to deal with so I stopped the pills about 10 days before and was nicely finished by surgery day. Worked like a charm!

I got the call today confirming my first fill next Tuesday. I have to be healed, healthy, and cold free....I'm going to lock myself in the closet until then so I'm not exposed to anything! (I'm a family practice physician assistant and sick all the time from the crap I pick up from work...keep your fingers crossed I can be germ free for 5 whole days!).

I was released to work after 3 days with a lifting limit of 10 pounds for 4 weeks. I'm at 3 1/2 weeks and feel great but if I forget and lift something heavy my tummy reminds me....Good luck!

I had to stop my birth control 4 days before the surgery (increases risk of blood clots) so I cheated and stopped a week early so my period would be the week before and I wouldn't have to worry about it around surgery time. Worked like a charm!

My surgery was 12/16 and my first fill is 1/12 so 1 day shy of 4 weeks, it seems a lot of people on here at at 4 weeks and 6 weeks for their first and a couple get theirs after 2 weeks! Good luck!

Dear God, my big fluffy pillow to clutch tightly against my abdomen when I coughed...and every time we hit a bump on the drive home....and gas-x....and legging and long shirts (it was a good 10 days before I was comfortable in even an elastic waistband). I joked my first week at work that I would KILL for a girdle, every time I walked my fat jiggled which made everything ache so I have to agree with the person above that said an abdominal binder...I never got one but I wished for one. And my socks with the rubber grippers on the bottom so when walking walking walking WALKING around the hospital I didn't slip (I'm not a big fan of house slippers, I'm always tripping on them so I opted for the non-skid socks which were awesome). And pain medication :thumbup:

Make that three of us, mine was 12/16 and while I was patient at first am starting to get discouraged (fill next Tuesday so I can hang in that long). I was up to 26 pounds but according to the scales have gained 3...I'm tracking every calorie I consume and am averaging 1000-1200 a day AND exercising at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week so I'm assuming it's fluid levels fluctuating...but GRRRR....want those three pounds GONE NOW.... Good luck! We can do it!!

Yup, enjoy not being hungry, soon enough you'll head the other direction :smile2:. Follow your guidelines. My surgeon requires you to drink 64 oz of no sugar added fruit juice mixed 50/50 with water...helps keep your energy level from crashing so low. I think I averaged 500 calories a day the first week...now averaging 1000-1200 (3 weeks post op) but fairly certain I could eat a cow, as long as I took small bites and chewed well!

So, I'm new here, just found this world earlier this week when I googled "2 weeks post lap band and starving" and boom, here you are, and 'lo! Apparently everyone 2 weeks post surgery is starving right along with me!!! I was starting to have my doubts, "oh my God, I"m going to be hungry forever?!?" but now am on mushies and while not full or satisfied, no longer starving and anxiously awaiting my first fill in 11 days. I lost 12 pounds in the 2 weeks pre-op and now have lost 12 pounds post-op, so 24 pounds since Dec. 3, not too shabby! I jumped up to get something off the ceiling at work earlier this week and almost lost my pants (much to my co-workers amusement). Oh, and a little about me in case you're curious. I'm a divorced single mom to an amazing 5 year old boy. My ex was verbally and on a few occasions physically abusive. But we got out and never looked back and our lives are amazing. I've been overweight forever, in fact, my mom got yelled at when she took me to my 6 week check-up because I'd gained too much weight...My mom had a gastric bypass almost 30 years ago, I think I am a combination of genes and learned behavior. My family loves to eat, it's what we do to celebrate, it's what we do when we get together, it's what we do to show our love...and we can cook too...bad combination to be a good cook and a great eater! So...I'm cruising right along, feeling great, little to no pain unless I do something stupid (lift something too heavy, etc), hungry, but not starving, exercising/walking 4-5 times a week, and happy and excited about my future (something I haven't felt in a long time), not to mention well on my way to a healthier me. I'm happy to be here and thrilled to have someone to ask my millions of questions to when I need to! Best of luck on your journeys! :smile2:

I've always been heavy and NEVER been able to just walk into a store, any store and buy what I want...I'm going to have to really really watch myself or I'm going to go crazy and spend a fortune on clothes when I get down to the "normal" sizes...I thank God for Lane Bryant but can't wait to NEVER GO THERE AGAIN!!!!!

Seminar Oct. 27, surgery Dec. 16, but I'd been considering it and researching it for years before I decided I could afford it and take the time to focus on me right now (insurance pays a flat $4000 the rest was self pay....single mom, work full time, blah blah blah, all kinds of excuses for putting it off) but once I actually jumped in the pool things went fairly quickly. WISH I'D DONE IT YEARS AGO!!!!!

YAY for you!! It's like waiting on Christmas, you're so excited but the time goes by so slow. GOOD LUCK!!!

I had an easy recovery, not much pain but the walk to the concert, to the seats, etc I wouldn't have been able to physically handle 2 days post op...

My doc requires a 24 hour stay and a barium (YUCK) swallow before he'll let you have anything other than ice chips....I would have done better at home. My aide (who was the sweetest, most adorable young man) kept walking in just as I'd drift off to sleep and waking me up, then asking why I was awake all night...plus nobody bothered to tell me I had a morphine pump or to put the pump near me (they left it attached to the IV pump which was out of reach) so I had no idea I could get anything for pain until about 4:00 am. when I was dying...had I been home I'd have had my pain meds by my side...oh well, it all worked out in the end