Alisomniac

I'm almost 5 months post-op and have a few questions/things i've noticed, and just wondering about shared experiences and whatnot... 1) Does anyone still get soreness on their band side? it's higher than where my port pokes are (same level as larges scar). It didn't start right away, I'm thinking it is probably tight scar tissue, feels like a sore muscle after a work out, and I usually only feel it later in the day when i'm tired. 2) My port pokes are lower on my belly, just above and to the side of the belly button, but i can feel something hard much higher (where my soreness is)... again, scar tissue, tubing or what. My regular doctor felt it and says it's probs part of the band system, def not a tumor or anything... anyone else able to feel other parts of their band (or perhaps my port moved?) 3). Rare BMs (sorry, gross) anyone self-dose with stool softeners (not laxitives)? How often do you take? I'm ok with the fewer poos, but depending on if im on a meat-low week (i dont really like the taste of meat and only chicken maybe 1-2x per week) the BMs can be slightly difficult and painful. 4). I have 7cc fill in a 11cc band, don't "have" to eat one bite every 5-10 minutes like i should (i tend to graze naturally, but can eat several bites quickly)... i'm careful not to overeat, but i just think it's odd. I rarely feel that "oops i ate too much" feeling). 5) any other weird things to expect? I'm kinda plateauing, and am looking to jumpstart a new round of weight loss since I'm going on vacay in 3 months, and would like to be down 15 - 20 lbs... which is faster than my doctor would find "ideal" but i'm sure it will slow down or stop entirely on vacation (next appt 3/17 for possible fill).

Yes! And i love it (i bought it for my computer at home - much better version and i pay to sync, so i can enter foods while i'm at work). It really works well, especially if you are a little OCD about dieting like I am... i custom enter every food- even ones that are pre-loaded generics... and i weigh everything... even glasses of milk. the only feature i dont really use is hte 'activity log' and there main reason for this is that it's important to me that i get activity, but not so that i can balance it against calories taken in (i might be tempted to use those extra calories. LOVE the body tracking feature too... if you use a MyoTape. it's super easy to measure and see those changes. Now at almost 5 months in, i'm looking to boost by mini plateau before my vacation in 3 months... hoping to lose more than 1lb a week... but not too much more - maybe 15-20 lbs total before vacation.

For me, all the Protein powder/shakes I tried were way to nasty to consider... Instead (and with the blessing of the nutritionist and my surgeon) I drink Slim Fast Low Carb (Chocolate). It took 2 or 3 to get used to the taste (like Jello pudding made with water), but after drinking it for well over a year now (before surgery), I actually like it and choose to drink it daily. It has more protein than the high-protein slim fast (20 grams per drink), and wiht my normal diet including eggs or cottage cheese for Breakfast, and often (but now always) chicken or fish for dinner, i more than hit my protein goal... i'm supposed to be around 55g protein a day, but I actually hit much closer to 70-75g (unless i'm having a veg day... i am not a huge fan of meat).

Breakfast: 1 hardboiled egg and 30g Farmer John Turkey Sausage Snack (if needed) string cheese or Dannon Light Yogurt Lunch 3 oz cottage cheese and 3 oz canned pears (light) Snack (if needed) Sugar Free Hot Cocoa Dinner 4 oz chicken fajitas (chicken, corn, onions, avocado and peppers only) Dessert (if needed) Sugar Free popsicle or yogurt

For me both, it goes hand-in-hand. I have a computer program I use to calculate exact calories, for me this equals accountability and satisfies my OCD-ish need ot be in complete control and know everything possible about what I'm doing. I use FitDay - it's free on their website or available for purchase (i like this version better- and it's around $20 - so cheap.), i really like it (I swear I'm not affiliated). You can even create "custom" foods from recipes, use the basic pre-loaded foods (good for most foods) or if you have OCD tendencies like I do, I load the nutritional information for everything I eat (except milk and fresh veggies)... which is easy to do- you just copy the nutritional label. If you want to really track what you eat, try this site. Your data will be most accurate if you weigh or measure your food. (Oh and it tracks weight, inches/measurements and you can enter in your exercise for calories burned too). best of luck!

This will me my first official challenge... I started at 276.2 pre op (270 day of) and wanted to be 250 by Halloween - barely missed it at 252. New goal will be 15 pounds by Christmas.... Starting today 11/15 at 249.6. (I weight in every other day for my own personal tracking... so If i miss a monday weigh-in, harass me via e-mail and I'll update!)

I usually go out every Friday with coworkers, but only my closest friends who know about the surgery. I'm currently 6 weeks post-op with no restrictions on diet (of course only healthy items, but i'm well into solid foods). If/When I dont finish my lunch, they understand. If there are others there who dont know I've had surgery and they ask why I didn't finish lunch, I simply say "I am full" or "I had a little snack earlier and am full". It works beautifully - and there really arent any prodding questions that go along... its cut-and-dry reason, and it's true. If I can't choose the place we eat, where I know what is easier for me, I stick to soups. There is virtually no chance at things getting stuck, are easier to eat at a non-glacial pace and are usually pretty filling too.

My post op liquid phase was one week, but after surgery day i could have "full liquids" and had some thin Soup, pudding, jell-o and was just fine... well, actually most days all i could do was slowly drink one Slim Fast, but i knew the other stuff was available. The guideline was liquid, or becomes liquid at body temperature. Now, the night before I was allowed to begin pureed and mushy foods I was craving Hot Dogs (and i HATE hot dogs) so I cooked one, ran it through a rough chop in my food pro (very tiny chopped, like a diced onion) and very very carefully chewed each piece individually... i only had like 1/4 of a hot dog but man was it nice to have something "real". I still don't really like Hot Dogs, and they are on my "naughty list" from the nutritionist... but i figured I was SO LOW on liquids (not hitting 200 cal most days) that I figured it'd be OK.

Sounds like we are in a very similar situation! I was banded last Tuesday and am planning on going back to work tomorrow (which I'm kinda dreading - I work a desk job, but it's fairly stressful and I work 11 hour days, including lunch which I typically do at my desk). I also only told about 3 people at work about my surgery. I figured it's not their business. When I get back, when people ask (and they will) I will simply say I was on sick leave (true) and I'm ok, but not feeling 100% - that should cover any questions about why I'm moody or slow, or exhausted. I'm not sure if I will wear my tummy binder to work, I generally feel better with it on, but it's harder to move in it, not to mention bulky. As for the bra- I had a flash of genius before my surgery and bought two Bali underwire-free bras (at Kohls) which offer support and no wires... my uppermost incision is well below my underwire line, but I want to be as comfortable as possible, and sometimes my bras hurt anyways. I'm also not able to eat/drink much. I can technically move on to mushy foods tomorrow, but seeing as i'm barely at 250 calories per day as it is I think I will take a few extra days of liquid. I'm able to do one SlimFast shake a day (and it takes 2-3 hours to down) and maybe a pudding or something. I just feel full and/or "sluhsy" all the time. I know this will pass, and also know I should eat more, but I don't want to get back in the habit of eating when I'm not hungry. Best of Luck! :laugh:

My highest incision is about 1" lower than the underwire on my bra, but I did buy two BALI wirefree bras for right after surgery...and they have some support so you're not drooping.

I had my surgery 4 days ago (Tuesday 10/5) and I too am finding it way too hard to keep up with the meal plan the nutritionist provided for liquid phase... I think part of it is that I don't have any hunger right now, and part of me is freaked out and doesn't want to stretch the pouch.... even 1 jello, eaten slowly freaks me out.... it's technically 1 cup, and even though I'm taking about 1/2 hour or more to eat (and it's considered a 'full liquid') I don't want to stretch out... I'm not eating anywhere close to the meal plan... I'm scared to say how much I've been eating because it's so little... but I'm not feeling faint from lack of food either... I feel guilty when I log into FitDay ($20 download version is MUCH better than free online) and see how many calories I should be eating... And silly, gross question... when did you have your 1st post-surgery BM? I've been peeing regularly, but with no solids have not yet had a BM. Not feeling constipated at all, and in fact just started farting today (yay! who ever thought that would be exciting - but now relieving gas less through painful burps)...

RUMiller - My surgery was actually pushed to 10/5 at 7 am... I was the 1st surgery of the day, actually. I was in recovery at 9am (though I think I woke up at 10) and was discharged at noon. I'm having incision site pain, but otherwise am feeling really good. I think I actually need the liquid painkiller because the pain is pretty bad for me, but it's not working very well... vicodin has never really worked for me (at best it just makes me muddy-minded, but does not dull the pain) ... Oh well, I'm otherwise feeling well... haven't been hungry at all in the past few days... and have definitely not been able to eat/drink as much as was listed on the sample liquid diet phase the nutritionist gave us... i think the pain is masking hunger, but we will see... hoping that when the pain is gone and when I finally get a "fill" that I'm able to feel the food... otherwise I may develop OCD about my food intake..

Only gatorade? Yikes! I had slim fast and about 2 oz yogurt yesterday, today I had more yogurt (2 oz), 10 oz of milk, and am having tomato Soup now.. have had mabye 1/2 cup over almost an hour... my problem is I can't seem to tell if I'm full yet, but I don't feel hungry at all... even before eating. I think the pain is masking those "sensors"... anyone else experience that?