healthyby40

Amazing story. Good for you! I'm also from Western NY by the way!

I too experience this every month, and it took me a while to figure out what the heck was going on. About 2 days before, and during my period, I can't eat ANYTHING. Like you, even yogurt or pudding won't go down and if I try, it hurts. So glad to hear I am not alone!

I found "Pure Protein" bars when I was going on a long road trip and didn't want to get stuck in the fast food trap. They worked great and go down with no problem. They have 20g. of protein and hardly any sugar (I think 2-3 grams depending on the flavor you choose). However, now that I have them in the house, I WANT one every day even though I don't need it. Hopefully you're more disciplined than me and can use them only on occasion, like on a day you've really worked out hard or didn't get protein in otherwise. Not sure why the doc would recommend bars instead of shakes. I have a protein shake for breakfast that has zero sugar and 25g of pure protein. It's by Genisoy. I think that's actually better than the bar any day. Good luck!

Oh man, it's happening to me right now! I read your post earlier and didn't have time to reply, but now that it's happening I figured I'd get on and try to explain. I really didn't have a problem with sliming until after my 3rd fill. True, it happens when I eat too much or too fast, but it also happens for other reasons. I've found if I'm not hydrated and then try to eat, just about anything will get stuck. Sliming for me is when something is stuck and I start getting lots of fluid in my mouth and a pain in my chest. Lately I've noticed that waiting it out will not work for me. No matter how long, it just doesn't get better and I have to go get it out. I go in the bathroom and try to force it up. Oddly enough, it's never the actual food item that comes up, but gobs of slime. Once the slime is out, I feel better. I think it's the body's way of trying to attack the food object that is stuck there and get rid of it. I hope you don't have to go through it, some people never do, but chances are it will happen and at least you'll know what it feels like and what to do.

LOVE peanut butter but I seldom eat it plain., I actually add a TBSP to my protein shake in the am. I use chocolate flavored light soy milk so with the peanut butter it's like a Reese's PB cup in a glass! Yummmm.

My doc follows the guidelines provided by the manufacturer of the band. He showed me the chart that he receives from the company. I'm not sure why so many other docs just do what they want, and don't follow the chart. Anyway, the company says...1st fill 3CC, 2nd fill 1CC, 3rd fill .5CC (This is for a 10CC band) This has worked quite well for me. Hope that helps.

I'm 3 months out and this JUST started happening to me. I got my 3rd fill on Wednesday and pretty much have not been able to eat anything since. I tried runny oatmeal and it wouldn't go down. Last night I ate the tiniest bite of lasagna (we were at a dinner party, not what I would have chosen to eat) and after that teeny tiny bite, I slimed and threw up 3 times. The pain was unbearable. I'm restricting myself to liquids today since it's Sunday and I can't get back to the doc anyway. If things don't improve by tomorrow, I'll be going back in to have that last fill removed. I can't live like this much longer. Good luck!

OK, I just watched the removal of one of these Lipomas on Youtube...OMG, I don't think I'll eat for a few days now. I'm a wimp when it comes to surgical stuff!

Years ago, before my wedding, I lost about 60 pounds. It was then that I found a lump in my left arm. the doc did an MRI and he called it a "fatty tumor"...I didn't know about the term lipoma until now. He said I probably had it for most of my adult life and never felt it before because I was so heavy. Now that I'm losing again I've found another one in a different spot on the arm. I'm glad to hear they're common so I won't worry as much! I remember he said they don't remove them unless they begin to cause problems/hurt, etc. Just leave it alone and hope it doesn't show much!

I just asked about this at my last appt. The nurse told me that they don't have a 'hard and fast' rule about it, except to be sensible. Be mindful of sugar content, and no carbonation. I just had my very first drink and it was a shot of flavored rum over ice, not mixed with anything. I sipped it and made it last. I'm not much of a drinker though!

Whenever I feel like I'm falling off track I remind myself of "Back to Basics". And what I mean by that is look back at the materials that you received from your docs office. It helped me because there were actually things I COULD eat, and had forgotten about it. When I went home from the hospital I was told I could do "full liquids" which meant yogurt, oatmeal, egg beaters, SF Jello, SF pudding, popsicles, etc. I think you should look at the list and see the things you CAN have, instead of focusing on the things you can't have. You can do this!

I don't run much any more but I do take a spinning "Power Cycling" class. I did notice yesterday after a particular grueling class that I was sore around the port area and felt tight for about an hour after. I couldn't figure out what went wrong, but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one! I'm always afraid something is going to move that shouldn't!

I get AT LEAST 80 grams a day. My Protein shake (Genisoy) has 25 then mixed with milk gives it 7 more (31 total). Morningstar Farms veggie sausage pattie has 10 grams each and I have 2 for lunch (they are very small), so that's 20 more. Just from the shake and the veggie sausage (Breakfast and lunch) I'm at 51! I also have a cheese stick almost every day, and a piece of fish or chicken for dinner. It can be done and is not that difficult. Start keeping track, I think you'll be surprised.

I've noticed a recurring theme with people getting stuck when they haven't had enough to drink that day. Maybe the stoma area is dry and food gets stuck?

I'm interested to know who has had the band for a long time and been successful. I met with my surgeon today and he informed me that the national average for band removal (due to complications) is 20%. That's a little shocking to me and now I'm doubting my decision. I don't want to go through all this to have to have the thing removed in a year or two due to complications! I'm stressing a little here. I'm hoping to hear from some folks who are a long time out and have had no complications. Thanks

I'm currently 3 weeks late and no sign of it. I too took a pregnancy test, even though my hubby had a vasectomy. Hey, stranger things have happened! It was negative but I'm still freaking out daily over this. I've never had a problem and have always been on schedule, to the day! Glad to hear other people are experiencing this, so maybe I can stop freaking out over it!

I had my surgery before you and looks like you've lost more than me. I lost 6 on the pre-op and 16 post-op. I just went to my 6 week follow up appt. today and the surgeon was VERY pleased with my loss so far. He has told me several times that any loss I experience without a fill is a bonus, and not expected. Some people even gain some back during the time period before the first fill. I just feel fortunate that I didn't gain anything! You're doing great. Keep it up!

I noticed a lot of bloating and gas back when I was on the 4 shakes a day. I discovered, as many people do, that it was way too much milk for my body to handle. I switched to light soy milk and a soy protein and it all went away. I still have dairy in my diet (cheese stick, cottage cheese, etc.) but not as much as before. Try reducing your dairy intake and see if that changes.

It's healing. You're normal!

You're right, Carnation doesn't have quite enough protein per serving. That's why my doc and dietitian say to add a couple TBSP of non-fat dry milk to boost the protein. I've been using Genisoy all natural soy protein. The unflavored kind has no sugar at all so I mix it with vanilla flavored light soy milk to give it a vanilla flavor. Your docs office will recommend some different ones, just find what you like.

Have you tried sugar free popsicles? Works for me.

I had the worst back pain in my life for 2 weeks after surgery. It was the gas pain many people talk about. Mine never traveled to my shoulder like they said it would. It just sat there and was so painful that I started taking the pain pills again just so I could sleep at night. After the 2nd week it suddenly went away. This could be whats going on with you. If not, do you have a good chiropractor you could go to?

I was banded on 8/17 and have lost 16 pounds so far with no fill. I think it's because I'm still on the pureed diet so there aren't a lot of things I can eat. I don't know what will happen once I get to soft foods. I hope to keep on losing!

My first thought was that you are lactose intolerant. Are you making the shakes with milk? I switched to light soy milk and no longer have cramps/gurgling/gas. I think I was just consuming way too much milk in a day. Give it a try, and you'll probably like the taste and texture of soy milk anyway. It's yummy!

I'm more than 2 weeks post-op and exhausted all the time. I have to nap in the middle of the day with my kids or I can't get through the day. Twice this week I went to bed at 8:30 and slept the whole night! I don't think it's lack of protein. I still have 2 protein shakes a day along with slowly adding in pureed foods. I honestly think it's lack of iron. Think about it, it's been a long time since we've had a green leafy veggie! Obviously haven't had any meat until now. That little Flintstone vitamin for kids isn't cutting it. I'm calling my nurse tomorrow and asking if I can add an iron supplement. Good luck!