Katy517

I was told by my nutritionist to begin taking vitamin supplements as soon as I began seeing her, which was six months pre-op. My surgeon told me to begin taking them immediately after surgery.

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I was banded on 4/15 and still really don't have much of an appetite.

You might try some of the Trader Joe's low sodium cream soups. They're full of goodness and so far have no chunks at all.

My doctor does have an unusual protocol. I try not to think too much about it or I would pretty much bonkers now. Thank goodness for variety of soups.

I was banded 4/15/10 and am on this full liquid 'phase' for a full six weeks. I also wondered about how much I should be ingesting at any one sitting. So far I don't have any problems keeping liquids down. My nutritionist told me to just pace myself and try to take 30-45 minutes to consume my 'meals' so I do that with yogurt, protein drinks, soups, etc.

That's a great idea. I hear nothing but good things about that organizations.

Thank you - and I'm very happy that your pain has finally subsided. It's definitely troubling.

Has anybody else experienced a really bad pain in the port area when leaning over or bending down? It doesn't feel as if it's from the outside or a result of the surgical wound. Rather it feels like it's coming from the inside. It's not something that I've read about so am wondering if it's normal. Thank you.

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My pain at 8 days post op has been getting worse rather than better and that just doesn't seem right to me. That being the case, I called my doctor's office this morning since the surgeon told me to be sure and call if there were any problems. I told them that I felt like I had a broken rib and that the past few days it was a standard pain and not just when I bent over. They asked me to come in right away to see another doctor in the office since mine is not in today. The visit proved interesting as the doctor said that I did indeed have much more swelling than is normal at this stage. He attributes it to a hematoma resulting from a broken blood vessel. He surmised that the bleeding probably happened as a result of a cough. The good news is that it is not infected. He recommended only rest and time to heal it.

I have found that back sleeping on my bed is THE ONLY comfortable sleeping position for me since banding.

Thank you and good luck to you too. As to going back to work, my surgeon requires two weeks minimum for all patients and I'm very happy he does. I need to R&R and am still in a lot of pain at the port area. Thank you for the vote of confidence! Yes, I will get through this and I will follow the program. It's my God given opportunity for a new lease on life and I'm not going to mess it up.

From reading threads here it seems like most folks have a 10 cc size band. I am assuming that means that it can hold up to 10 cc of saline. I have a 14 cc Allergan band and was informed by the bariatric coordinator at the hospital that I had my surgery at that all lap band surgeries since 2/1/10 there have been with 14 cc bands. I didn't get a chance to follow-up to ask why. Am wondering if anybody here would know why that might be the case? Why would using a larger band on all patients be a good thing? Is the fact that my band can hold more saline meaningful?

My surgeon's standard is for everybody to stay overnight. It was good for me to do so.

Hi Emily. It looks like you're really doing pretty well considering the 1-2 pounds per week standard. Aren't you just shy of 2 pounds loss per week? Hang in there.

Yeah, my doctor's six week post-op liquid diet is pretty unusual from what I can gather. Not quite sure how I'm going to get through it other than sheer will power. I'm already thinking of how nice chewing would be. I agree that anything having to do with the port site right now would be pretty much out of the question. I'm still terribly swollen there in addition to the constant pain. Love the avatar!

Thanks for the responses everybody. I would have thought stomach size was the determining factor as well, but given the fact that at least my hospital has made a decision to use only the 14 cc bands, that must not be the case. I'll make a mental note and ask at the next support group meeting.

Congrats to a fellow tax day bander. I'm also one week to the day from surgery. I'm jealous that you were able to start mushies today. My doc requires six weeks full liquids post-surgery and then straight to regular food with no mushy stage. I'm also having issues with gas, but find that lots of walking plus the chewable Gas-x really helps with that. My biggest problem is port pain. It's constantly hurting still and even a bit more now than earlier on post-surgery. It's super painful when bending over so am trying to avoid that. Am told that it's normal though.

My doctor didn't allow any carbonated soda on the pre-op clear liquid diet.

Congratulations! That's an outstanding accomplishment and one you should be very proud of.

Thanks so much Betsy and Jacqui. I've done some reading this morning about soy Protein powder cons and am catching up on the research now. Betsy - are you from Joliet? I spent a large chunk of my growing up years there and graduated from both St. Francis Academy and the University of St. Francis. Cheers.

Anybody know if brown rice is in the same category as white and to be avoided after banding?

They were included in my pre-op clear liquid diet.

I spoke with my surgeon today and told him of my pain in the port area that is exacerbated by bending over. He said not to worry about it and that it should go away over time. He suggested that some folks just bruise more and deeper and that's what the pain is a result of.