pmcw

After my surgery I got hiccups all the time, and I still get them when my body is telling my I have had enough. You do need to be taking in more liquid though by now. You are correct your stomach is probably swollen, that is why my Dr. told me to only take in COLD liquids at first, Popcicles, sugar free jello, and sorbet/Italian ice were my friend, the cold helps reduce the swelling, eventually you can move to room temperature liquids but I don't think I was allowed anything "warm" for something like 2 weeks.

I was banded on June 30, 2010. I waited to have my first fill until after I went on vacation, so I had my first fill 8/24/10. I received 4.8cc in a 10cc band. I haven't felt much restriction, and have only been losing like 1 lb. a week. I admit I could lose more if I "diet" but I am hoping the band will be more of a tool to help me lose and not have to rely on my will power, I already know that doesn't work or I wouldn't have needed the band in the first place. I'm going in for a second fill tomorrow I'm not sure what to expect I thought 4.8cc sounded like a lot, but it hasn't done much. What kind of results have the rest of you June bandsters been having?

I basically did the same thing, I was hooked up to an IV before the surgery, and even though I had no problem emptying my bladder before the surgery, I also have extreme nausea from anesthesia, and as soon as I woke up I started heaving, and with each heave I peed myself, I kept trying to tell the nurse what was happening, but I couldn't get the words out between heaves. At least I wasn't walking, but I soaked my bed and gown. And I made sure I got one of those Plastic pee pad things from the nurse to put in my car seat when I left so if the nausea came back my car would be protected. :thumbup:

This kind of scares me too, but I have to wonder IF port pain could be more associated with the position of the port? I haven't had a fill yet, but I was only banded on 6/30/2010, so not even 3 weeks out, and I have been able to lay on my stomach since about day 3, I know I layed on my stomach on day three because my back was hurting so bad I laid on my so my husband could massage my back. And I often sleep on my stomach. I am not sure where my port is yet, I didn't think to ask my Dr after the surgery, but before the surgery he told me it would be on the left side, all but one of my incisions are quite a bit higher than my belly button, Starting in the middle where the larger one for the band is located, their is one about two inches up from that, then straight over to the left from the band one about two inches over their is another small one, them about three inches over from that one only a little lower maybe an inch below the ribs(that's 4 incisions) and the last one is on the right, it is the lowest one, and I believe it is lower to avoid an old scar from Gallbladder/ Appendix surgery in 1980 when they really cut you open to do that. it is still about two inches above the navel and probably 5 inches over. So I am wondering it ports located more in the center near the belly button might be more painful? But then I am afraid that maybe I don't have any pain yet because I haven't had a fill yet? Also I would imagine that as you lose weight and you have less padding lets say, you might feel the port more?

Vent away, I totally agree, for this reason I have told very few people, I haven't told my mother because she is so negative, I'm sure she would know someone who had this and it didn't work, plus she and my aunt had gastric bypass years ago when it was new they did not have good success, and have had problems with their stomachs every since. My older sister had bypass more recently, and did have good success, but has always had the wrong attitude, from day one she would apologize because she couldn't eat very much, and would try to see how much she could manage to eat, so now she is gaining some of her weight back. Now because of all their issues and another person I know who actually had to have a stomach transplant after almost dieing from a bypass, I knew I would never do that, but the band seemed to be the answer for me. I just can't tell them because they don't understand the difference. Then I have another friend who iis jealous, I think she is actually depressed that I had this and she doesn't feel that she can, I now wish I hadn't told her, but I thought she would be happy for me, but now I feel like I can't even talk to her or I will only make her sadder:frown: then there is another friend I was not going to tell, because she is always trying to get me to go to weight lifting workout classes with her, and I try to explain I have problems with my joints and cannot do that type of workout, I do belong to a gym, and do workout on the cardio and circuit training(not enough, but as I lose weight I plan to get better), she is also into weight watchers, which I have tried and it didn't work for me, too much counting. So, the week I was going to have my surgery she was pressuring me to join WW with her and another friend, I told her I was doing something else and tried to leave it at that, she kept bugging me to tell her what I was doing, and when I didn't say she started guessing, she said "why won't you tell me, are you just having lots of sex to burn calories" :biggrin: anyway under pressure I told her, and the first thing out of her mouth was "I wish you wouldn't I don't approve of that" I told her well it is a good thing I didn't ask her and it was MY decision not hers! She left it alone but now every time she see's me she asks how much weight I have lost, it is none of her business! I told her I wanted to keep it private but she asks me in front of other people, plus I told her I wouldn't lose much weight right now because I haven't started getting fills yet but she doesn't seem to get it, this makes me so angry, and I have to see her several times a week:cursing: Why can't people keep their opinions to their self's:mad: Just venting along with you, sorry:wink2: Pam

My incisions never did really have much pain, just more a tenderness, like sore muscles after a good workout. But the Gas! That hurt, but not unbearable, and would not scare me off the surgery. Pre-op my Dr. only had me follow a low carb diet, no flour, corn, rice or potatoes, but I was allowed 1 serving of fruit a day, and basically all the meat eggs and veggies I wanted, so that wasn't hard at all and I still lost 5 lbs. On Wed. the day I had my surgery I slept most the day, with ice pack on my stomach, wasn't really hungry but did eat some jello and drank juice and water, took pain med twice I think. Day 2, Thur. I felt pretty good, still not really hungry, but ate Jello, sorbet and juice, about 4- 6 oz at a time every few hrs. kept ice on my stomach most of the day but the pain I had was in my back and shoulder not my stomach. I tried walking around the house and even walked around the yard a bit, layed down with my feet elevated anytime I was laying, and I did feel a bit better by bed time, but I did take pain meds for the gas pain in order to sleep at night. Friday, day 3 not so bloated feeling but the muscles in my back and left shoulder were still very sore, and I started feeling HUNGRY! I added protein shakes, and the thickness of them helped. I was feeling more normal so I drove my daughter and I to see a movie, got a big Icee to sip on during the movie, only taking pain meds 1 time at night and Dr. said I was ok to drive as long as I wasn't on narcotics. Sat. I was really hungry I had Protein shake in the morning, finished it for lunch, had sorbet, and jello every couple of hours, but I was still hungry between, took my daughter to watch fireworks and stopped to get a chocolate malt on the way, nothing seemed to satisfy my hunger for long, and I was feeling like if I ate another sweet thing I would puke...ugh! 11:30 at night I am making myself cream of chicken soup, I mixed it with water and put it in the blender to make sure their were no lumps in it, I only slightly warmed it, since I am still not suppose to have hot liquids, but soup never tasted so good. I feel like I am rushing it a bit, starting cream soups so soon, but my Dr. said the diet plan was only a guideline and everyone is different as far as how much swelling they have, and how soon they should move up from full liquid diet. Sunday, I started out with the other half the cream chicken soup, later I had a protein shake, still hated the sweetness, but Doc said the protein was important. later tried Butternut Squash soup, never had that before, but thought it would be safe to eat. It was surprisingly good, and just thick enough to make me feel satisfied a bit longer. Monday, no more gas pain, still some muscle soreness in my back though, stomach feels good though, I'm hungry again, I have lost 11 lbs since my first visit, so weight loss is going well, but I feel hungry within 30 min. of eating, I think the liquid is just going threw too fast since I won't have a fill until at least a month out. I am fighting the hunger, I still can only take in 4-6 oz at a time, but if I let myself I could do that every 30 min. I had a vanilla protein shake, and a can of broccoli cheddar soup spaced out threw out the day, I also had some juice and some sorbet, but late night I gave in and ate 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, I felt so much better, it was thick enough that I felt satisfied much longer. I didn't want to go to bed right away because I was afraid of heartburn, but it has been over three hours ago, and I basically felt ok this whole time. I am going to bed now that I am finished typing this, I don't know if this will help anyone else, but I wonder if I am pretty normal so far?:thumbup:

I agree, it will be harder to get some of these things down after a fill, especially bread that seems to be a common problem food, but what I have tried so far has worked fine, I just don't eat too much of it because it fills me up too fast, and it is high carb, which I am trying to stay away from pretty much. The not drinking has been hard for me, I knew it would be before I went into this, I even discussed it with my Dr. and he told me he had another patient that just never could adjust to the not drinking and he told her to do her best, and if she really felt that she had to then go ahead but keep it to a minimum, but during our discussion he indicated the reason not to drink was because it would wash the food threw the pouch faster and you wouldn't feel satisfied as long. So, in my mind I felt it would be ok to just drink a small amount for now, when I really felt I needed a drink and I would work on getting used to not drinking, I mean this is all a learning process right? Well, so far drinking while eating has not worked out very well, I told you about my two experiances, the one with the chicken and the time in the car, so I think maybe their is more than one reason not to drink while eating. It sort of makes it a little easier to say no. Now I just have to get better about drinking between meals, I'm not very good at that:unsure: Good luck as you slowly progress to other foods, keep me posted on how it goes! Pam

Well, being a mother of two boys now in their 20's, the reality is they both drank underage, but it was always understood between them and I that I was not giving them permission to drink, I did not aprove, but IF they chose to drink anyway, they would have to be responsible, and NOT DRIVE! They would have to know ahead of time that they would be staying where they were at or they would call for a ride. I know of only one time that my younger son, now 22, called my older son, now 26 for a ride, and I know my older son has pre arranged for my younger son to pick him up at the end of a night drinking with friends (he was legal age at this time). But the reality is 18 year olds do drink, and it is better he ask the questions now then go out and have a drink and not know how it will effect him. Actually this thread was even helpful to me, I am 50, and don't drink all that much but I am heading on a vacation to see friends and family, I know I will be drinking a bit, usually I am the designated driver because I don't like to get drunk so I limit myself to 1 or 2 drinks for the night, it sounds like that may be enough to effect me now so I better have a back-up plan if it does. Pam

HELP! I am not sure what I should do. I was banded on 6/30/2010, my dr. dosn't do a first fill until one month after surgery, but that would put my first fill right before I leave for a vacation. He did say he would do it a few days early and I could have earlier in the week so I would have a couple of days before I leave, but should I do it then or wait another two weeks and do it when I get back? I am hungry and going threw "Bandster Hell" but I am dealing with it pretty well. I would love to get started on the actual losing weight part of this, and not the struggling to get threw part, but I am afraid if I have any problems adjusting maybe I don't want that to be while I am staying with family that I haven't even told I had the surgery yet. But then again if I wait I will have my fill just as I am returning to work, they don't know I had the surgery either, and that might not be the best time to get used to my first fill either. What do those of you who have actually had a fill suggest? Do you think it will be a hard adjustment for me, should I do it before I go on vacation or when I get back? This is really stressing me out, mostly because I haven't told very many people, just my kids and hubby of course, and a very few friends that I am around regularly and having the surgery effected things I was able to do with them. None of my family back home know about this, and I prefer to keep it that way for now because I don't expect them to be supportive of it, they are too negative about things and would probably have stories about people who this did not work for. As far as work, I haven't told anyone because I work for a school and I did this during the summer and haven't really seen them yet, but their will be very few people there that I will tell either, because it is none of their business and I prefer to keep it private. What should I do:confused: How did your first fills go? Pam

ok, I wouldn't consider this real weight loss, because it wouldn't really be fat lost, but you could go to a health food store and buy one of those body cleanses, it will clean you out and you will lose weight, if your goal is just a quick 6 lbs it might just do the trick :smile: I think most of them you take for like 2 weeks. Good Luck!

I am around 2 1/2 weeks out, and I didn't have a BM for several days either, and when I finally did one day it was very loose more like diarrhea, but remember you are on a liquid diet, so I guess that was pretty normal, from the way my Dr. reacted at my 8 day post op check. Now as soon as I started eating regular food again I also started adding benefiber to my Protein shakes because I knew I was not eating enough Fiber, I was mostly eating meat, eggs. cheese, things to get the protein in, yes I was also trying to eat fruit and veggies, but I know I am not eating enough of them to get all the fiber I need and I don't want to be constipated. As far as the hunger, it is called Bandster Hell because you are not getting any bennifit from the fills yet, just try to eat more often when you are really hungry an watch the choices you make and hopefully this time will pass soon because I an still in it myself:sad:

Congratulations on your wedding! Where are you going on your honeymoon? Sorry you are having issues with your band again, hopefully this next adjustment will be just right. I have no idea what size band I have, are their very many commonly used sizes? I am feeling better about waiting, I think I mostly just needed to come to a decision and get my mind around it. Thanks for your input! Pam

I too have an allergy to some band-aides and medical tape, I don't know if it is the adhesive or what, because I know the cloth medical tape they usually use in hospitals take my skin off, but I can use the paper tape, so from that I would assume that it was the material, but I also have the same reaction to certain band=aides, especially the little clear spot ones, my skin comes right off. But that is beside the point since the band-aides are not on, what I am most concerned with is that you say it is worse after showering, it sounds to me like moisture may have gotten inside your incision and caused a yeast infection, and that can turn serious, you really need to talk to your Dr. and stress that you are worried and have him take another look, if he doesn't listen consult your GP, this is not a band issue, it is possibly an infected wound issue! I was banded on the same day you were, all my stitches were under the skin, I canot see them, and my doctor used a very thin stretchy clear material, I guess a type of band-aide, but nothing I have ever seen in a store, and he had me try one on my stomach for a few days prior to surgery to make sure I would not be allergic to it, since I told him I was allergic to some band-aides, but I was told not to get my incision wet for a week, I could shower, as long as water didn't get under the band-aide stuff he had on them. If you have openings that water is getting into I would be very concerned!

Ok, since I have not had a fill yet, I was banded on 6/30/2010, I am not positive which incision is for the port, but I think it is the one farthest to the left, since pre-op he told me it would be on the left side. But I can tell you from day one I still slept on my side, and I could lay on my stomach very shortly after that. I have 5 small incisions, most of them are under an inch long, the longest one is where they place the band threw, and it is more like 2 inches, I have not had much pain from any of my incisions, I mean if you rub them they are tender, like you would expect, but they don't really hurt. The one for me that is most tender is the top one, it is maybe two inches above the longer one for the band, and a couple of times I stretched to reach for something and I felt a pull there, so I think it is taking longer for that one to heal, but that is my fault really. I also had a hiatal hernia repair done at the same time so that may be effecting that area too. I only have one incision that is low enough for my pants to bother it, but it is on the right, so I don't think it is the port, I think it is just lower because I already had a scar on that side from a gall bladder & appendix surgery years ago, so I think he was just avoiding that old scar tissue. I can't feel anything particularly harder than the normal incision hardness right now so the port is not bothering me at all:rolleyes2: I only took pain meds after the surgery for the back pain, I didn't need them for the incisions, and the back pain was not horrible. Pam

Marc, Cheer Up, you have made a very positive step in your health and at a much younger age than most of us do. I am 50 years old, I have a son your age and I have just now gotten fed up enough to take a step like this. I wasn't always fat, and the largest I have been is 278, but over the years I have been on every weight loss plan you can imagine, including medifast, HCG, and hypnosis (to name a few of the less common). I was banded on 6/30/2010, and I am only down 13 lbs. 5 of which are from the pre-op diet. Now I know guys tend to lose weight faster, and the larger you are you tend to have faster drops in the beginning too, but 21 lbs is amazing, I mean WOW! As far as food goes, talk to your Dr. when you go in, tell him how you are feeling. Have you had any problems so far? When I went to my first post-op appointment I told my Dr. I was getting realy hunger and he told me this phase was known as "Bandster Hell" because we have had the surgery but none of the benifits of the fills yet. Now my Dr. seems to move at a faster rate than some other Drs. on here seem to, but mine gave me to go ahead to progress to regular foods at that point. He just cautioned me to chew everything really well, eat slowly and stay away from starchy carbs, so I would continue to lose weight. Oh, and this is very important, make sure to get enough protien in, only eat when you are hungry,and if something makes you throw-up stay away from it. I left his office on day 8 post-op, and stopped on my way home and bought a side order of bourbon chicken from a WOK place, I just ordered the chicken no rice or anything, and that single bowl lasted me threw 3 meals, I would eat a little of the chicken and something else like a yogurt or some well cooked veggies with it, and things have gotten much easier for me. The truth is I also had my first PBing episode after about the third bite of the chicken, but after that I have learned that well chewed REALLY MEANS "chew it until it disintegrates." At 5 days post-op I would immagine you are on a "full' liquid diet, which in my Drs. deffinition includes anything that could be sucked threw a straw (but don't use a straw). That includes creamy soups, either strained or blended so their are no chunks in it, and yogurt, blended no fruit chunks, even mashed potatoes and gravy, as long as they are not too thick. When I started eating these thicker items I felt much more satisfied, plus they tasted more like a real meal than Jello and juice. As far as when you can have a first fill, that is up to your Dr. but mine usually waits 4 weeks post-op, and many Drs. wait 6 weeks. Since I am going on vacation right at my 4 week date, I will probably wait until I get back which will be just over 6 weeks. The most important thing is talk to your Dr. and get support, on here or if they have one threw a support group your Drs. office may have or be able to suggest for you. DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED !!! You are doing GREAT!

Thanks shannie, I think after yesterday that is exactly what I am going to do. I had a very untimely PBing incident. My husband was going camping for the weekend on some property we own, and I decided to join him just for Friday night. I went out with minimal supplies since I was going to head home the next morning, I left for home between 10:30 and 11:00, I was getting hungry but didn't feel like eating the granola bars my husband had packed for Breakfast and just planned to pick something up on my way home. In the mean time a bag of pretzels had gotten left in my car so I decided to snack on a few of them, they went down fine, but I got thirsty, so I started drinking a bottle of Water, pretty soon I started feeling like I had swallowed to big a gulp of water and needed to burp or something, so I quit drinking. It wasn't long before all the water I had drank came gushing back up, I mean with force, it sprayed everywhere :scared2:, Luckily it was only water, and no one was with me to see it or it could have been really embarrassing. :smile: Anyway it was enough to convince me that if I am having problems with little things like that now what is it going to be like after a fill:confused: I just need to wait til I am home and can relax and deal with things slowly and privately. Congratulations on your success so far, I looked at your profile, my daughter is 13, and I can totally relate to how you feel about your 9 year old daughter:smile2: Pam

Hi, good to hear from you, it sounds like your dr. is much more conservative than mine is on moving along, since I have no prior experience with this I couldn't say which is better, I assume it is different for each person what they can tolerate or not. I have eaten chicken several times now, with almost no problems, I just chew it a lot until it is totally disintegrated, if I happen to find a lump if gristle or something in it I spit that part out, I don't want to risk an actual blockage. I have also had a hot dog twice now, the first time I ate it with out the bun, but the next time I decided to go ahead and try the bun, since I was hungry and away from home, I ended up only eating half the bun though, because I started feeling really full before I was done. and I ate some home made meat loaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, again I just chewed and chewed. Last night I was the only one home for dinner, so I made a lean cuisine spinach & mushroom pizza, I was a bit worried about the crust, because I know breads are hard for a lot of people, but with lots of chewing things went just fine. I have actually had more problems with water lately than anything, I know we are not suppose to drink while eating but I thought that was because it would wash the food threw quicker, but I have found that if I try to drink while eating the water can't go threw and sometimes it just comes back up, this has happened to me twice now, the first time it was actually the first time I ate chicken, I didn't chew a bite well enough and I felt a lump in my chest and I thought if I took a drink of water it would help to wash it on threw, well, I was wrong, because pretty quickly the water came right back up, luckily I was alone and able to spit it right out, I consider this pbing, because it was not throwing up, there was no heaving or food coming up, just the water. But the last time it happened the timing was awful. I was driving my car home from an overnight camping trip Saturday it was around 11 am and I hadn't eaten anything yet because I didn't feel like eating the granola bars my husband had packed and I was just going to pick-up something on my way home (my husband was camping for 3 days I just went up for Friday night). Well, I noticed he had left a bag of pretzels in my car so I decided to eat a few, since it would be another half hour before I got some where that I could bye food. The pretzels went down fine but they made me thirsty, so I started drinking water, I thought things were going ok, until all the sudden it came right back up everywhere, just the water Thank God, because I had almost no warning, I felt a bit like I needed to burp, so I stopped drinking, but I didn't burp, the water came up with force all over the place. Luckily I was driving on a quiet gravel road so I just pulled over and wiped the water off everything, at least I was alone, because otherwise it would have been so embarrassing. I swear more water came up than I thought I had drank, and because now the front of my shirt and shorts were all wet I couldn't stop for real food, and I had to just wait til I got all the way home an hour and a half later to eat anything. I think for now I probably shouldn't eat and drink while I am driving :smile: I think I will wait til I get back from my vacation to get my first fill, so it will be around Aug. 16. Let me know how yours goes! Pam

Thanks everyone for your support and advise as I told the other Pam, I think I will wait until I get back, but I am still a bit unsure, so I may change my mind again, I wish my dr. just hadn't even suggested an early fill to me :cool: Pam

Nice name :wink2: I wish my dr had made my decision for me, I was all set NOT to have a fill, because before the surgery he had indicated we would wait until I got back from vacation, then when I went in for my post-op visit he seemed to be ready to move things along at a faster rate, I guess because I was doing so well, he gave me the ok to eat all types of food, "as long as they don't make me throw up" and said I could have my first fill any time the week of the 26th, if I wanted to, so I would have at least a few days before I leave town on Aug. 1st. From the things I read on here about other drs. instructions, my dr seems to progress at a faster rate with things than some others, I don't know that that is bad, so far I have likes it, for example getting to eat sooner, but maybe I need to be slower about the fill, I mean it seems a lot of drs wait 6 weeks post op to do a fill, and mine is talking about not even waiting the full 4 weeks he had told me in the beginning. Plus I must have some restriction anyway, because why else would I fill up so quickly, and be having so many PBing episodes when I don't chew well enough or eat too quickly? It must not be too much restriction because the food does seem to go threw quickly and I get HUNGRY after only a short time, but there is definatly a change since the surgery. I am still undecided but at this time I am leaning toward waiting. Thanks for your input though. :thumbup: Pam

Thanks for your input, these are all good things to consider, however I will not be flying, I am going to IL to visit my family, so medical care is available, BUT at this point my family does not know I had this done and prefer to keep it that way until I have some results to show for it. I bounce around a lot between houses, Parents, two sisters, and an Aunt, also friends so I basically plan to not really eat with them much, so I don't have to answer questions about why I am not eating more and things like that, when I do eat with them, I will just try not to be too obvious. I may want to wait for my first fill though so I won't be as restricted, but then I want to start losing more NOW and I am HUNGRY the way I am so it is taking will power to make good choices and not eat too much, I want the decision taken away from me to an extent, I don't want to be hungry so much and I don't want to be capable of over eating with out discomfort (it is a lot easier to say no when you know the results will be uncomfortable). I'm heading away for the night and tomorrow, but I will check back as soon as I can on this thread! Thanks everyone for all the advise! Pam

Thanks for the help, I will have to check with my doctor about food restrictions after a fill, I didn't even think about that; I don't think he has any though or he probably would have mentioned that when we discussed weather I should have a fill before I left or not, he just said it was totally up to me:scared2: What do I know:confused: I'm going away just for tonight and tomorrow and I am a bit nervous about even that:rolleyes: Pam

Thanks Brad for the advice and info, you are probably right it is only a first fill, it shouldn't be too much restriction, and I will have at least a couple of days before I leave if their is a problem. I think I still need to think about it some more and hopefully get some more responses about others experiences. BTW.. Now I am 50 years old and happily married so don't take this the wrong way but your picture looks GREAT:wink2: Congratulations on your success! Pam

Glad to hear things are going well for you:smile: I'm heading out camping,just for the night really and part of tomorrow, but I'll see how this goes:scared2: anyway, I gotta run. thanks for keeping me posted, I really am interested. Pam