MellieW

Yep! I'm right there with ya! I was also banded on 9/21 and within the first 5 days I had lost 15.5 lbs and gained 3 lbs back. The scale hasn't moved since. I'm trying very hard to keep things in perspective. 12.5 lbs in 2 weeks is huge and on an intellectual level I get that. But it's hard to not view it emotionally. I'm hungry and I want that scale to validate my hunger and frustration by moving down!! :thumbdown: I'll also admit that it's hard to not worry this will be just another failed attempt at weight loss. I know for me that's where my frustration is coming from.....fear. If that scale isn't moving it feeds my fear that this won't work. I know it's silly to expect anything to happen this quickly, but it is what it is. I've never claimed patience was my strong suit.

Wow! That just seems a little extreme to me. Have you asked why they want you to wait so long between bites? I'm still on the liquid phase for a couple more days, but I'm mindful to take the full 20 minutes required to eat 1c of Soup. I use a teaspoon so that's the size of my bites. It's an adjustment to eat so little over a 20 minute period so I can imagine how frustrating it must be for you to only be able to take a bite every 10 minutes! Is this something he/she requires just during the healing process or is this how he expects you to always eat?

Gabbi~ were you told to wait 10 minutes between each bite? That just doesn't sound right to me. I was told to take between 20-30 minutes to finish each meal, but I have never heard of a time limit between bites. I'd check with your nutritionist or Dr. just to verify that's what they are expecting.

Congratulations, ocnlvr! :smile2: I have just started losing and I can't wait until I can shop in the Misses section again!

I feel the same way. I was banded on the 9/21/10 and lost 15.5 lbs in the first 6 days, gained 2.5 back this past Wednesday when I added 1 cup of creamed Soup per day to my liquid diet and I haven't budged since. I know better than to do this to myself. I promised myself I'd be reasonable and not worry about losing weight for the first month. I'd let myself heal first then start worrying about losing but I have jumped on that darn scale every day for the past 11 days. Personally, I'm going to blame this insanity on the hunger. :smile2:

I tend to see this as I do any other personal medical issue. Since I don't typically discuss my medical history with everyone in my world, I don't feel the need to share this. (But because I do think of my band as a medical condition I have ordered a medic alert necklace in case of an emergency.) Besides my husband there are only three people who know I've had surgery. 2 have had wls and the other is in the process of meeting insurance requirements for wls. However, if someone were to ask, and I felt my experience could help them, I would consider sharing.

I couldn't agree with BetsyB more. I hope you can discuss this with her husband and remind him as her spouse it's his responsibility to inform her surgeon of her health risks if she won't. It's a horrible thing to put her surgeon, and his team, at risk in this way.

Alcoholism is such a sad and destructive disease. Being an adult child of an alcoholic I can understand your frustration and concern for your friend. Unfortunately, without knowing who her surgeon is there is little you can do other than what you are doing. Keep talking to her and remind her that lap band surgery will not save her life if she is determined to destroy herself with the booze. You are a good friend for trying to help her, but I will tell you what I told my father; We can protect our loved ones from anyone and anything in this world.... except themselves. Sadly, if your friend is determined to destroy herself with drink there is little you can do to save her. I wish you both peace and good health.

I was able to sleep on my side again on the 4th night post-op. (It felt like much longer than that, though. lol) I'm not a back sleeper, at all, so sleeping elevated on my back was very, very hard for me. Have you tried in the last day or two to lay on your side? I'd give it a try daily to see how you do. Hang in there. It does get better. :thumbup:

Hi everyone! I'm an AF wife, too, (retired) and I was approved through Tricare Prime (North) within 3 days. The longest part of the pre-approval process is all of the medical testing (blood work, sleep study, ekg and pulmonary function tests) and psych eval prior to insurance submittal. But it was still a fairly quick process for me. From my initial appointment with my chosen surgeon to banding was a total of 3 1/2 months! Good luck to all of you.

While an occasional alcoholic drink is permissible for most of us, we are advised that we must not drink our calories. (We are also advised to stay away from beer and carbonated soft drinks.) Because we are significantly reducing the size of our stomach it is imperative that we use that limited space for nutrient rich Proteins and veggies. If your friend is truly an alcoholic I would strongly suggest she get help for that issue before she addresses her obesity issue. My father is an alcoholic and much of his weight can be directly attributed to the amount of beer he consumes daily. If your friend is not ready to make the changes necessary for banding, including giving up much of her drinking, I'd recommend you speak with her surgeon. As gracierose said, they will not be able to discuss her treatment with you, but that doesn't mean you can't voice your very real concerns for your friends health. Good luck to you and your friend. I hope she, or her surgeon, recognizes this may not be in her best interest at this time. ETA; Since your friend already has a surgery date scheduled, I'm curious if she was completely honest about her drinking with her surgeon and therapist during their evaluations.

Nah, I never get a flu shot and I can't remember the last time I was sick. Like emjay I don't have kids in school so I don't know that I'm really high risk. I'll leave my dose to the young and the elderly. :drool: lol

Hi Yougotbiggie! I hope things have gotten better for you over the last couple of days. I, too, am still in the liquid phase and can relate to your hunger. I called my surgeons office and asked if I could have creamed Soups and got the go ahead. I can't tell you the difference that made for me. If creamed soups aren't helping you then I'd just suggest you call your surgeons office and let them know your situation before progressing to soft/mushy foods. Each doc has their preferred food schedule so I'd make sure yours is okay with your early progression. Hope you're feeling better today!

It sounds like it could be some residual gas causing the bloating and I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you start feeling pain again. I know it's hard to get fluids down when you're so bloated, but it's so important to get enough liquids and Protein right now, your body needs it to heal. I wouldn't take the pain meds unless I really needed them, but then I don't like putting meds in my system if it's not absolutely necessary. If I can tough it out without them, that's what I'd do, but you have to do what's best for you. Do you think Tylenol or another OTC pain reliever would work instead of the Vicodin? Only you know your threshold for pain/discomfort and must do what is right for you. Hope you feel better soon!

Nope, not even a little bit. Although I'm only a week post-op I did enough homework prior to surgery to know this was the only option for me. Keep asking questions and checking out all possible options. Knowledge is power. Good luck with which ever procedure you choose.

Hi Bander92210, I just had surgery last Tue (21st) and am still in the liquid phase. Yesterday was the first day since surgery that I've really felt hungry. Up until then I was content on the 5 protien drinks and my Water. But today I called my dr's office and was given permission to have creamed Soups. I can't tell you what a difference a warm bowl of cream of broccoli Soup made! If you haven't already started on them maybe you could give your doc a call and see if you can have them. It really made all the difference for me. Otherwise I'd still call them before moving on to soft foods.

Perhaps you were/are a disgusting repulsive slob, but I am not. Nor have I ever been. I am certainly overweight, but I have never believed myself a disgusting or repulsive slob. Nor am I incapable of knowing what is best for me. I am an educated, self supporting, self relying woman capable of intelligent thought. I trust my surgeon not because I don't trust myself, I trust him because I do trust myself. I have spent years researching WLS and surgeons. I didn't choose the first I met, nor the second. I chose the one that I believed, based on a lot of different criteria, would do the best job for me. I could only do that if I trusted myself to make intelligent, well educated decisions. Perhaps you should stop projecting your insecurities and poor self image onto others and find a way to show yourself, and those you interact with, some compassion and acceptance.

What about sugar free Popsicles? I'm not a fan of sweets so I can't wait to get out of the liquid phase (I'm over the sweet protein drinks) but I do enjoy the SF Popsicles, especially the "Tropical" flavors.

I was banded one week ago today and I can honestly say I experienced no pain at all. I felt a little nauseous as they were waking from surgery and they gave me something for that and I was fine. They offered IV pain meds immediately after surgery but I didn't need them. I still have not had the need for prescription or otc pain meds. The gas under my ribs and in my left shoulder did get obnoxious after a couple days, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle and seems to be gone now for the most part. My incisions are not painful but they are beginning to itch now that they are healing. I can feel my port when I sit in certain positions (mostly when I'm on the couch with my feet under by bottom and leaning against the left arm of the couch) and it's an odd sensation, but certainly not painful. I understand this will go away as time goes on. So, overall I am thrilled with my experience. I hope I've been helpful.

AGS (Adjustable Gastric Banding) has only been approved in the U.S since 2001, but has been used in Europe since 1990. As with anything it has gone through some changes over the years and you can do a quick google search and get some fantastic information from studies conducted both here in the states and in Europe. It sounds like you are still in the homework stage so read anything and everything you can. I literally spent over 2 years actively researching gastric banding. I read everything from these forums to medical studies and visited with more than one surgeon before deciding the benefits outweighed the risks for me. For me I needed to know all of the risks and benefits before I felt I could make an informed and educated decision. I wish you luck on your journey.

Hi Everyone! I was banded on the 21st so I am officially one week post op. Surgery was a breeze for me and I've had absolutely no pain at all. The gas was obnoxious for a couple days but nothing I couldn't live with. I was so nervous about pain post op so I'm thrilled it went so smoothly. I'm also 16 lbs down from the morning of surgery so things keep getting better and better. With that said, I'm really looking forward to the mushy phase. I have one more week of liquids. :smile2: I hope everyone is having a great day and wish you all a speedy recovery!

And the "no, I'm too scared" option wouldn't have worked? :smile2:

My surgeon recommends at least 50 grams per day for women over 25. I'm still on the liquid phase and am averaging about 70 grams a day with just Carnation Instant Breakfast and Adkins shakes.

Nope, you'll do fine. Don't worry too much about sliders right now and have a good time away. :smile:

Recommended mushies on my post op plan are things like refried Beans, mashed potatoes, cream of wheat, creamed soups, pureed meats, soft boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fine egg salad, etc. As long as I don't have to chew it I can have it. He said sliders are welcome in this phase of eating, that when I get back to solids is when I need to be concerned about sliders. This is just another phase in the healing process.