chubbynurse

Kaylee, I was wondering if I needed a fill too. I'm eating more than 3/4 - a cup. Sometimes, I just stop eating because I know it'll be too much if I eat continue. Other times, I just eat more than a cup. Somehow, I'm still loosing about 3lbs per week. I asked my doc for a fill anyway because I'm afraid to get back into the habit of eating large portions. He scheduled me for one on Nov. 9th. Then, I got stuck 2x's this week from chicken!! So, I was gonna cancel that fill!! I never had problems eating chicken b4 unless it was too dry... So now, I'm kinda in limbo...to fill, or not to fill?? If I got stuck twice in one wk., and I'm losing wt...should I get a fill to control my portions? Yes I did eat it too fast, although I thought I chewed it well....

I guess I'll ponder about it and decide b4 Nov. 9th....

I was banded on August 18th and have lost 36 lbs since the preop diet. I was loosing 1-2 lbs/ week last month and I was o.k. with at least 2lbs a wk. My nutritionists increased my calories, carbs etc...and the weight started coming off faster! I lost 8 lbs in 1 week and 3 lbs the next week. Yes, 3lbs was Water but the other 5 was fat! My sweet spot seems to be around 800-1000 calories..... over 1000 or under 800 makes the weight come off very slow. I would start counting nutrition info and see what your body responds to. By the way, 1-2 lbs a week is good weight loss! I wouldn't worry too much as long as you're still losing.

Boo68 that's refreshing to hear....I planned to loose weight slowly so I'd minimize loose skin. But, I can't help but to wanna be normal size quickly. I've lost 28 lbs. in 7 weeks and started feeling like I should slow down a bit so I don't get the saggy rapid weight loss look. I wanna loose a total of 95 lbs, and I do work out ( I wouldn't call it being extremely active). I hope I can luck up with bounce back skin or build musculature to help fill the saggy skin.

I sooo need a fill! My surgery was August 18th. I'm not hungry, but I can eat more than a cup. The only thing that stops me from eating more, is me .... My doc doesn't fill until 2 or 3 weeks after being on solids. I'm on my second week now. I'm calling them early next week to schedule a fill. Btw, I was told that it takes a few days to fill the effects of a fill. Is this true??

I had an upper endoscopy done, abdominal ultrasound and the GI series (xray)...none of them found a hernia. When I woke up, my doc said I had a large hiatal hernia. He said sometimes test don't pick it up when there is one and likewise, tests will diagnose one and when he goes in...he doesn't see it. It's just one of those things....

Oh my!! An hour and a half??? I think I would've been in the hospital ER somewhere....I have to remember to get those papaya enzyme tablets.

Wahmom Pbing is productive burping...different from full on vomiting. You burp, and the stuck stuff comes up with the burp. 2bskinny, sorry I don't have an answer for ya. I've had my band just over a month and I haven't gotten stuck stuck per se. I've had food becoming stuck, I burped and it came up. I tried to catch it b4 it went too far down. It taught me to chew chew and chew some more and stay away from over cooked dry meat...

That's amazing!!! Do share your secrets....that's more than some bypass patients!!

Tara201, consider other reasons for weight gain such as Water retention. My doc told me that Fluid balance fluctuates a lot during the 1st few weeks post op. Also,you may wanna put the scale away. I know it's tough and we get fixated on it. But, you don't wanna weigh yourself everyday, the normal fluctations will dry you nuts! I was weighing myself too much too so my husband hid the scale from me. (I found it, but I got the point). Good luck and try not to worry too much since you're 2 weeks post op. The 1st month is a healing period.

I wasn't allowed crackers until the soft phase (last week) and even then, I was hesistant. I just tried them over the weekend and didn't have any problems. I made refried bean Soup on my pureed phase and it was delicious, felt like I struck gold when I found something other than hot cereal! I got the recipe from the lapband.com.

'Gettinready' I was wondering the same thing! How are you guys managing to get so much Protein in? I was struggling to get the fluids and protein in during the 2nd week. I'm in the 3rd week now and it's much easier (I guess the swelling went down and I have more room). I'm gonna work on building up to 100 g of protein. On Wednesday, I start stage 4 and was trying to get an idea about how much to eat. Mr. doctor's office is pretty conservative. Btw, BetsyB...phenomenal results! I hope to be where you are some day... Thanks, this definitely helps!

For the 1st week post-op, I had diarrhea too! I was on clear liquids without Protein Shakes, so I can't blame it on the lactose or Protein. I was like Ashbe925, you could hear my stomach across the room!! It was soooo annoying! By day 4, I called my doc and asked to take immodium and was told no. He said that if the diarrhea is caused by some sort of "bug", than that's the body's way of ridding the offender. He did advance me to stage 2 and that seemed to help. I didn't think it was a "bug", I thought it was caused by the liquid diet. After only taking in liquids for a week, only liquids came out for a week...lol... Stage 2 food had more consistency to it and so did the diarrhea. Once I got to stage 3, aaahhh, normal at last. Now in hind site, I think I would've lost more weight by now if I had done the liquid diet for the entire week.

Just wondering how many calories, carbs and fat does everyone eat and still manage to loose decent weight (2-3 lbs per wk)?? I'm still trying to find that "weight loss zone" for me. The nutritionist told me 800 calories, 20-25g of fat, 40-50 carbs and of course 80g of Protein. I know weight loss varies because of metabolism, activity etc. But I'm trying to get an idea about what everyone else does?

Yes BetsyB very useful info! My doctor fills under flouro too. That was one of my criteria when choosing a doc. I didn't want anyone poking around trying to find my port and inserting "guestimated" amounts of saline. Maybe you could suggest that your doc does all your fills using flouro since she's had difficulty acessing your port.

I think it's safe to say that "bandster hell" is the time period after surgery to the time u get the 1st fill. Some feel really hunryr and have to use sheer will power...... I'm just over 2 weeks post op and I haven't had real hunger. I've had head hunger and felt like I had a food funeral. LOL... but that's it. Now, the clear liquid stage 1 for me was bandster hell. I had extreme gas pain, an over active tummy (u could hear my stomach across the room), and a bad case of diarrhea :thumbup:. I called my doc and he advanced me to full liquids after 4 days post op :scared2:. Then, my "bandster hell" was over.

Now, I've managed to tame my head hunger. :biggrin: I haven't had real stomach hunger and I'm feeling superb!

I'd stay the one night. I think it definitely helped me.

I was told that rice and other carbs like Pasta and bread will expand in your stomach the way they do when they're cooked...Also, the carb content is high, so when you're ready to, try brown rice.

Wow, so many variations to the pre-op dieting.... In hind site, mines wasn't so bad after all :thumbup:

I was banded on the 18th but I'm on mushies now...Good thing bcuz the liquid stage gave me the runs!! LOL...Good luck to everyone!

I burp after every meal too....about 5 or 6 times. I think it's your body's way of ridding the excess air that we take in when eating. I'd rather it come out than stay in and make me bloated.

Wow Joonbug, lucky you for being able to take 6 weeks off. I'm only off for 2 weeks and then back in the full swing of things:mellow:. I am 9 days post op now and I got the shaky feeling at about day 4. By day 5, I couldn't eat another popsicle or Jello. I called my doctor and they gladly advanced me to stage 2!! That was the highlight of my week....grits and cream Soup never tasted sooo good. I'm still on stage 2 and just discovered some more foods to try. Otherwise, I was gonna call the doc again to see how soon I could go to stage 3. I'm glad I found some foods to hold me over bcuz I don't wanna rush it and cause problems.

Sorry you're having a hard time but it sounds like you need good old tylenol right about now. You're 3 days out and you can expect to still have some soreness. Also, the shoulder pain is gas pain and it comes along with the ride.... I used Gas X strips and it helped alot with the gas pain. On day 3 I was on Clear Liquids and I wasn't hungry. But my mouth missed chewing and it missed the flavor of food. I can't speak like a real pro bcuz I was only banded one week ago. Hope this helps a little

BTW, I agree with KPgrll... Most docs will not give any fill at all when the band is 1st applied. You have swelling from the foreign object and they wanna make sure that goes down 1st. Most people don't even need a fill and aren't hungry immediately post-op.

Wow, he told you to take tylenol one day post-op?? That's so bogus!! My patients who have less invasive surgery than lap-bands get sent home on much better stuff than that. (I'm a nurse).

That was one of my pre-op questions...."How will my pain be managed afterwards?"

I was banded on 8-18-10 and I had a hernia repair too. I had a one day overnight stay with a morphine PCA pump. I wasn't discharged until 9pm the next night and was sent home with prescriptions for tylenol with codeine and prilosec. I couldn't imagine getting through the pain without it. I know that feeling of breathing and hurting with every breath. That happened to me too the 2nd night when I went to sleep without pain meds.

Also, why did he have you "break up" tylenol immediately after surgery?? Maybe u should suggest he tell his patients to take elixirs and not pills!!

But I'm glad the doc found a medical reason for your discomfort and he knows it wasn't anxiety!

He sounds like he needs to attend some seminars on management of post-op bariatric patients. It might change his plan of care!

This site is sooo helpful and so empowering!! When I have my moments ( I'm sure I will) I'm going to seek threads like this and take good advice, there's plenty on here!