Betsyjane

Sometimes the aftermath of anaesthesia can be pretty yucky. Call your doc and ask for a nausea patch!

I wouldn't personally do well on that food. Granola brs have too much sugar and carbs for me. I do better with simple proteins and veges...and without liquids foods. In the morning, I'm often too restricted and have to do a protein drink so I do low carb slim fast. After that, it's 2 or 3 meals of meat and vege. Chili and gubo goes down too fast for me and I don't stay full. When I don't want to cook at all, I can always drive through McDonalds and get a chicken salad without dressing, and that will give me my meat and salad....

My first fill did virtually nothing. Same with my second fill. All I could do was pretend to be a bandster and keep learning...while I ate like a pig. BUT the third fill hit my sweet spot and I've been cruising ever since....my food cravings just stopped and I felt full! Everybody's different. It's hard to wait, but after all the years of waiting for success, you're talking days, weeks, or month now. Don't kick yourself. It'll happen.

It's always good to be aware of what can happen, and then you're wise to focus your time on learning all the great info that's on this site about how to be a successful bandster. If I remember right, the incidence of complications with the band is 3%, and most of those complications are fixable with minimal hassle, like my pouch dilation was. Just get a surgeon who is very experienced with the lap band, and celebrate the rest of your life.

I'd love to do free Tai Chi....maybe in addition to Humble Tai Chi!

The problem with polls here is that the site is heavily populated by band problems. Those who are cruising along are less likely to need the support and post here, especially after the first year or two. I recently went to a support group that was all people who had lost most or all of their weight and had been banded for 2-7 years. I had such a different perspective, seeing everybody relaxed and at peace, going on with their lives.

Ted: I was just reading this thread for the first time. If you have virtually no ability to eat solid food, and you are hungry all the time, then it's time to talk with a doctor about it or get a second opinion. It stands to reason that you are hungry if you can't eat, and if you are having to basically drink your calories, then it would be tempting to drink higher calorie drinks than you night need. I would guess either the band itself is too small or you have some inflammation causing you to be too restricted.

Enjoy the wedding, Lana. Wear your wedding dress to our next meeting so we can ooh and ahh. (Or bring pictures!) We want pics of the house too! I'm going to Tai Chi Monday, assuming he's not taking Memorial Day off, and I'm not sick. Suzanne-How about pics of the biker trip? Barbara-Er, I don't want to see pics of the operation, but I'll be happy to see your face! I miss all of you!

Hi. I have Lupus SLE and I was banded in November. My Dr. wanted to see my blood tests first to make sure I wasn't in the midst of a major flare up during surgery, and that was that. I never did have a flare up in reaction to the operation, and although it certainly hasn't made my Lupus better, the losing weight has sure helped with the severe arthritis pains Lupus hands me. And with less weight, I can exercise more...also good for me and my Lupus.

I put a teaspoon of instant coffee, my protein shake, fresh and frozen fruit, benefiber, and flax seed oil in a blender. It's not sexy, but it tastes great and gets me going.

Strange drug, but it's certainly useful when you really need it. It also gave me osteoporosis. Now I'm just on placqenil that beats up your bone marrow and eye sight. Sigh. At least I ain't so fat..... Amitryptiline is an antidepressant that also helps with anxiety.

The weight that I gained on prednisone put me over the edge and is why I decided to be banded.

Did you ever see Sleeping With the Enemy? Structure can go too far, IMO. I just don't see myself ever hiring a decluttering person. To me, it's a matter of getting your mind right first. I started looking at a room at a time and saying, "What would I pack if I left my husband and ran away from home by the end of today? Most everything else has gone to the local auction house. It helps me declutter whn I get some money back for doing it. It's an ongoing process for me though. After I do every room, I start back with room one again and find I can let go of more stuff. There are some really nice books about living the simple life, and I find that the lighter I travel on the planet, the lighter my mood. It doesn't come naturally, but I keep shedding things on a regular basis. My goal is not to have a bunch of pretty boxes to put my things in...It's to have only those things around me that are worthy of being dusted, stored, repaired, maintained....

Landsend.com

Please feel free to tell your husband that I was a Diet Coke junkie, and I also slept in various places each night, and never slept well. None of the meds worked. Within a week of stopping caffeine, I never had restless leg syndrome again.

Thanks, Barbara. That is just great that Dick got out. A dose of La Villa probably did him good. Hey, RhondaLynn. Terrific! Hope to see you there. Around 6:15PM!

Medicine really is as much of an art as a science,isn't it? I've heard Paxil and RA go well together, too. Who knows. I never can tell if my brain fog is due to Lupus or the meds. I do know that weather change and the amount of sunshine I get drastically effect my energy level..... Some things just don't show up on tests. I'm assuming you've looked back to see if there were any lifestyle changes that could account for your hitting a wall....

I have relatives in from out of town that Monday...Might be able to make it and maybe not.... I've decided the worst thing about having Lupus is that I never know if I will follow through on commitments that I've made. I never know if I'll have the energy to get out of a chair. It's becoming even more poignant for me now that I'm an "athlete" I couldn't follow through with a trainer, water aerobics, weight lifting class, Tai Chi. I wonder if I will do better just to belong to the gym and go when I have those windows of opportunity, rather than on a set schedule. I'm going to continue Tai Chi, but it will definitely be a question each time, whether I can go. And I go to water aerobics when I can. It's not very consistent! I've let friends and opportunities fade away a lot since I got Lupus. Eventually, you just don't leave the house much if you can't plan anything.... Ah well, it's not all bad. I have 9 dogs at my feet.....5 Golden Retrievers, a Hungarian Viszli, a Lab, and a Poodle.

I have Lupus, which wasn't made better or worse by the lap band, and a big part of it is the fatigue. I never know if I can keep the obligations I've made. I almost have to go on an hour by hour basis to see if I'm going to hit the wall. They prescribed an antidpressant for me at one point, on the theory that you ought to be depressed if you have a chronic illness. Oddly, it didn't change my mood, but it did decrease my pain a lot. I thought that was strange, but they told me that pain and depression receptors were near each other. My other odd experience was that I had horrbile restless leg syndrome, and the doctor prescribed everything in the world for it, and nothing helped. When I got banded and quit drinking Diet Coke, I stopped having restless leg syndrome. Duh. You never know what will help.....

congrats on your lack of tumor! Let's see... What zaps energy.... Depression? Too few calories? Chronic fatigue/Epstein-Barr?

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You did it! Liquid Tylenol helped my shoulder pain..... You're on your way!

Get to a doctor that knows lap bands and has done lots of them! It will make all the difference. Those statistics make me crazy and always have. I have read that on average you lose 50% of your excess weight with the band. And I've heard 70%. I also know that I'm not an average. With dedication and exercise, I am going to lose most or all of my excess weight. I am an individual and not a statistic.

Best wishes and congratulations to both of you. Think past your operation. One week or less from now, you'll be back to your life, and on with your life as a bandster.

Not for me! 4 ounces is just right for me. Everybody's different. I figure I'm at my sweet spot when I lose a pound or 2 a week.....

Hey guys.... Here's what it was like for me. The day of surgery, I went in and there was a woman there who just sits with people and helps people relax. I had last minute jitters and wondered if I was nuts to let someone insert a foreign object in me permanently.... Then the doctor came in and was reassuring and answered any last questions. They started an IV in my arm. which was no big deal. Then they start the medicine in the IV and you just go to sleep. The operation itself just takes minutes. When I woke up, I was groggy and a little nauseous. The put an anti nausea patch on my arm. They had me walk around. I was still pretty much in twilight. Then they had me drink a tiny cup of barium (no taste...white), and we watched it on the fluoroscope....it showed that it went on through my stomach without getting stuck. I sat around and drank some Water. They gave me instructions for what to do when I got home, and gave me photos of the actual operation, and home I went. It took me about 3 days of recovery. I was sleeping in a recliner because I had gas pain in my right shoulder..... And no matter what they tell you, the only things that worked for me were walking, heating pad, and lots of liquid Tylenol. I walked and slept, walked and slept. But I really started feeling quite a bit better after my initial nap after I got home from the hospital. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!