Vikki

Try not to be so obsessed on the numbers. I too weight myself a couple times a week and 9-10 times I get off the scale pissed off!!! But then I will put a pair of jeans on and they feel even looser then before???? I try to not look at the numbers as much as how much as how the cloths look very different on me. The stomach rolls are down and my waist is a lot smaller. Try to do the glass is half full thing to help you not get so frustrated and keep focus on the prize!!!! A normal BMI and maitaining it for life!!!!! We can beat this obesity and kick it right in the crotch!!!!!! (RIght Bandsters!!!) Can I get an AMEN!!!

That is great. My first fill experience was not as nice but I found out that I need to lie down when I get my fill because I get dizzy if standing. Live and learn. Since it is your first fill it might settle after a couple of weeks and then one day you will wake up and the coffee doesn't go down as easy. Once you feel that make sure you take it easy. I notice that after each fill it takes a couple of weeks to really feel the restriction and one day it just settles and you have to sip and have liquids for your meal or mushies. Then other days I can eat fine and not as much restriction. It has a mind of its own that is for sure!!! Glad your fill went well. The first one is always the most scary because you just don't know what to expect.

I agree it is usually tight at breakfast and then looser at dinner. Your body must just react differently to the band. Try to have the good protein shakes you like availabe when it gets real tight to at least have that to sip on for your meal. I really like the Pure Protein drinks that come in a can like soda because they are easy to grab to take with me. They are 35 grams of protein. Try to count your calories threw the day to make sure you not going way under what you should be eating. I know that sounds weird because diet was usually starvation but when we don't eat our body metabilism shuts down and your body goes in starvation mode. You will feel tired and fatiged but not loose weight. I have done it a few times and I think to myself I am practically starving why am I not dropping wieght. Your body will think it is in starvation mode and just shut down and any little bit you do put in it will just hold onto. Our bodies are amazing and you will really start looking at everything as a science with protein and vitamins for fuel not just eat it to fill your belly. Just be careful with the soups because they are super salty and when your tight it is hard to get the water you need and by having lots of salt your going to have cotton mouth and feel FAMISHED for liquids. It is a balance that everyone's body is difference and some need more iron some need more B-12. I love the Bariatric Advantage multi vitamins you can get online because they are easy to chew and taste good. Then you know at least your multi vita are covered for the day. Check them out if you need suppliments or vita that are made for Weight loss patients. Good luck.

It took at least 6 months after my surgery to stop feeling the sharp almost needle pricking feeling if I pushed or bumped my port. You have to realize it is a foriegn object in your body that was not there before. All the tissue around your port needs time to heal and adjust to it. I wear jeans that are right at the port level so when I sit down sometimes it pushes it and it would hurt. Now that I am 1yr and 1/2 with it I can pretty much move it around fine with out the sharp percing feeling. It just takes a long time for your body to except it. I have a girl in our support group that had her port replaced twice because her body would not except it and the area would ooz and not heal so the doctor took it out for a couple of months and then replaced it. She is doing fine now with it. Just keep in contact with your surgeon if it seems infected in the area or oozing at all because that could be an infection. Be careful wearing clothing that buttons tightly around your waist if it is at the port area. That is what I had to do when it was healing because it would really make my port sore. Good luck bandster buddie!!!!!

I laugh every time I see the commercial for Lap Band with the Lion and it states to curve your hunger. I have had my band for almost 2 years and it didn't stop the hunger. What happens is you do feel you want to eat everything but guess what you cant. Wont and cant are two seperate items. I am at a good fill level right now because after a couple of bites I feel tight and it starts to get to were it hurts and your brain says stop now or you will regret it. It is a big factor to change your body and the way it thinks about hunger. Hunger is a big mental thing not physical thing. You think your hungry but if you have a cup of Water a lot of times you don't feel that hungry anymore. You were actually thursty. I know it sounds weird but you are going to still at 2pm between lunch and dinner want a snack. You now can only have a couple of bites and stop button kicks in and your body will tell your brain to put down the fork or what your eating and go back after the tightness goes away and your food gets threw the band. If it takes 45 min to eat something that took you 8 min with out the band your going to stay full longer and have less. That is what your goal is and by only having small amounts you start to rethink of what exactly your putting in. Protein first veggies second and carbs are last but by the time you get down the first two you don't even want the carb to stick and hurt so forget it!!!! It takes a long time to retrain you habits. I had an unfil because I was too tight and let me tell you I went straight for the fast food drive threw and it went down fine so back I went the next day and went into my old bad habits right off the bat. I felt like a kid in the candy store. Three weeks later and 12 pounds gained I was back to get a fill. That stop button was gone and I don't trust myself. The band is a great tool and if used correctly to not overeat it is a great success. I was at the grocery market yesterday and wanted the seafood salad in the deli so bad. I started to down it while I was shopping and after three bites I really regreted it and it took 30 min to stop hurting. So I had to stop eating until the tight feeling went away then by the time I got home I didn't really want to deal with the pain again so just had a few items for dinner and that was it. Before the band I would have downed the seafood salad in 5 min plus a box of crackers and on to the next item. I CANT do that now. I forget all the time and start shoveling it in and then my body says NOOOO and I am in pain. It is a learning process every day to stay on track. It might take a couple of fills to get to the point where you feel tight but not too tight. I was too tight for a few months and from PBing every day I got so swollen inside that I could hardly swallow my spit with out feeling like PBing. Everyone's fill level is different for their body. Keep focused and you can make this a sucess!!!!

Please think that this Lap Band is the easy way out.....HELL NO!!!!! Is what I say about it. Is it easy to just eat only a couple of bites and then put it away or give it away or sometimes just throw it away............NOOOOOOO or we would not have gotten the band in the first place. Has you Mum ever struggled with weight loss......if no then they have no clue what it is like to be so mad,ashamed, and sad that weight has become such an out of control issue and it is very personal. I got the band to help me get the weight off but most important KEEP IT OFF!!! I hate having to be in pain if I take one too many bites!!!! BUT THE FLIP SIDE is I am loosing and not gaining. Pain is a BIG factor to change our head into eating for fuel not eating to feed our emotions or bordem or just to do it. This tool is exactly that a tool...........you sure as hell can beat this tool and not make it a success. Ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner but who wants to be right where they were when they decided to get the band. I want to get rid of this devil on my shoulder that tells me to Super Size it and its okay to eat that double fudge sundae.........................GONE!!!! It took at least 8 months before the peace really started to kick in that I am getting the food under control and its not controlling me. I love the band and wish that I could share with others but it is a very personal decision to put something in your body. I let others come to me to ask about it and then I get all excited to share what a blessing it has been. I am fighting the obesity and will win!!!!! Don't let others bring your down. That is what this site is all about SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can do it!!!!!! We can win this battle and be healthy and HAPPY with our body!!!! Obesity be GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW that is tomorrow!! I am sure you are nervous as we all were going into a surgery. The one bit of advice I can give you is walk as soon as you can after the surgery and walk as much as they let you. It helps get the gas out and keeps your bloating feeling less. You will be sore like someone punched you in the stomach and it will last for about 2 weeks. Keep your insitions clean so they heal well. Good luck and you will be so happy but you have to have patients with your body. It is a tool for the long haul and you didn't put the weight on over night. I know it will be hard to cut the food out when it has been our crutch for so long. Find a good support group in your area to make friends with locals that have a band. It makes a huge difference to meet up and bounce stories and suggestions off each other. I met with mine yesterday and we always leave with a sense of we are not the only one going threw these struggles of our everyday life with food issues. It is key to emotional healing and staying focused on the goal of being healthy and happy not SKINNY!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone is different. This is something that is a total mistery to me because I have had my band 1yr 1/2 and I am still dealing with left shoulder pain. I have been to my regular doctor about it many times and they took x rays and it hurts really bad at times like someone is sticking a needle in my shoulder. I never had this pain before my band and the only thing they can figure out is it is a re routed type sensation connected to the placement of my band. It hurts when I try to eat and it gets stuck then it starts to ache really something bad. It went away after the surgery for awhile but I still have it sometimes on a daily basis. It is the only side effect that has been really uncomfterable since my band placement. I love the weight loss and the band as a tool but I DO NOT like having this pain in my left shoulder. You should feel relief after a few weeks of surgery. But I can't tell you if it will completely go away. I ask others all the time about the pain and some do not have it at all and others have a little. I don't know why I get it a lot. I usually pop an advil or stronger if needed. I still love my band and hope the pain will subside with time................time will tell!

It is very normal to think that...What if I just cheat one time?? But guess what...when you get good restriction with your fills you CANT do that anymore. I am at the point to wear I am lucky to get down a cup of a meal and then I start to feel tight and pain kicks in. The switch that I now call the STOP BUTTON switches on and you STOP. Can't cheat anymore unless I eat ice cream or something like that. But it isn't worth it anymore because when you start to see the scale going down you are so proud of yourself and you want to keep it up. So the little bit you do put in counts to just keep yourself healthy not shove it in to feed your emotions. It is very frustrating when your at the table and others are shoveling it down like you used to and here you are trying to eat teenie tiny bites and slowly. It takes awhile before you start feeling like I don't care. I wanted to scream the first 8 months especially when I went out to eat with others and I couldn't hardly eat anything. It took awhile to not feel anger that you have to suffer to get the weight off when others around you eat what ever they want and stay at a normal weight. It is coming to terms that obesity is a part of my life and I have this great tool to now kick it and be healthy instead of miserably fat. The band is a great tool but it is NOT THE EASY WAY OUT and don't let anyone tell you it is. It is hard to not be able to eat. Good luck and you will be a great sucess. Keep the faith!!!!!!!!!!

Yah, now is the time to go on the post op diet. I didn't follow it but I wish I would have. I actually had my band the day after Thanksgiving so I ate quite a bit the day before!!! Good luck and it will be worth it!!

Have you guys checked out the products on Bariatric Advantage online. I get my multi vitam there because they are chewable and their products are made for weight loss surgery so they desolve very quickly. Check out their products to see if they have something to help out. Try their multi vita they taste good. All the chewables I would buy at Vitamin Store or Mothers Market would taste horrible.

I swear you guys get a bottle of Biotin and try it out. It works great for hair loss and it also makes nails strong too!!!

YES I had a time period of three months to were I had a too tight fill. Some days it was okay and others I could hardly swallow my saliva. So I did go threw a period that I was not getting enough nutricition and I started to notice hair loss and it was freaking me out because I have really thick nice hair. So I went to Max Muscle and bought Pure Protein drinks which would go down fine and they have 35 grams of protein in them. I started to have those at 11 each day and one around 3. I also started taking Biotin. Let me tell you that stuff is GREAT!!!!! My nails are stronger then they ever have been now and with me bumping up the protein and taking the biotin everyday for three months now my hair is thicker and shiny again. Just make sure your really getting the water/protein your body needs and you should notice a difference. It is easy to forget the protein now that it is harder to eat solids. I used to eat chix all the time but now it is hard to eat it. Beans are good protein too but it is hard for me to eat with out killing everyone with bad gas. So I stick to the shakes and just keep them in the frige at work and sip it at my desk everyday. They taste pretty good and make you full. This whole experience had made everything going into my mouth a total science. Protein/Iron/Vitamins it is a good way to look at food as fuel not emotional crutches anymore!!!!!!! I now am at a good level fill because it is tight enough for me to now overeat but loose enough to slowly eat a salad and everyonce in awhile get meat and or fish down.

I completely agree with that explaination. It is hard to explain to someone that has not experienced it. When you say comes up its not like throwing up your meal. It only is that couple of bites that did not want to go down and you start to feel a tight pressure at the tip of your esphegus and top of stomach where the band is. It is very painful as I have gone threw it many a time. I had gotten a fill that was too tight for me and tried to just get threw a couple of months to see if it would loosen and it just got worse and worse and I kept PBing every day which just made my insides irriated and swollen which then made my fill even tighter. I got to were I could hardly even sip Water with out feeling like I needed to throw it back up. Once you start recognizing the feeling of the tightness you will start learning that is when you put down the fork and stop eating to wait and see if the tightness goes away. It makes it almost a pain in the butt to eat and for me has been that blessing to stop overeating and obsessing on food like I used too. It become a pain in the butt to overeat and almost impossible or you will be in pain. It changes your brain and the way you look at food. It is now that fuel for me not just emotional comfort. It is what I need to be healthy and to feel good. I went threw days where I could hardly get anything down and I started to feel very tired and horrible because I wasn't getting what my body needed. I had to start figuring out how to get the nutricion in with out going threw pain. Not everyone goes threw this and I had to learn the hard way but after getting an unfill and having no restriction I went crazy eating like it was going out of style. Fast food big time. I need that stop button to make me not eat that much so I went back and go another fill. I am at a good fill level now and can eat fine but just have to eat teenie tiny bites at a time and very slow and always chew chew chew. I watch my husband eat now and he shoves the whole meal down in 10 min when I am still on my 4th or 5th spoon full and think to myself wow that used to be me. Now a small cup of Soup and a small dinner salad is more then enough to fill me. I save money on ordering food and intake a small amount of calories a day..................and I am okay with it.....head wise. Best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel good and I am not beating myself up anymore about eating way too much threw out the day. You just can't anymore. Yah weight watchers and all that is still good but when you can't do something it is a lot different then just not doing it. If we had the will power to NOT eat it we wouldn't be overweight. This tool is a God Sent and it is NOT THE EASY WAY OUT. There are days when I just want that darn double cheeseburger and would give my first born to shove it down.....................but I CAN"T. So I get that small soup and deal with my emotions. It is changing your ways and it takes awhile to retrain your brain and stop feeding the emotions. Good luck to everyone that is thinking of getting the band.

I am in Huntington Beach and have a group that we have going from individuals off of this site and word of mouth. We meet about once a month at each others house or last time at a park for a picnic. If anyone in Orange County would be interested in coming to one of our meet ups just send me an email. It is so nice to talk to other bandsters and it isn't like the Dr. support groups so we can chat with each other when we meet and just bounce things off each other for tips and advice. We were all banded by different doctors some here and some from Mexico so we all have different dates we were banded. Support is key to making your band a success. You can talk and talk to your family and friends about different things but they have no clue how it feels physically or mentally to have a lap band. Email me if your interested in getting together. Vikki4mymail@yahoo.com

I love to read stories like this. It does help me remember on bad days that it is an aye feeling. Today for lunch I tried to eat some chinese food and then after about 4 bites spent the lunch break in my car wondering if it was going to come up......the pain!!! But it went away after about 30 min and I am soooooo hungry now. But when I go to be tonight I will be glad I didn't overeat like I used too and be thankful for the excess calories I DID NOT EAT TODAY!!! Yah I love my band even though at times it is frustrating. It is funny how different you look at food now..........but in a good way. The way we were tought but couldn't control. Protein FIRST Veggies SECOND Carbs LAST I usually am totally stuffed by Veggies so GOOD BYE BAD CARBS!!!! It is a peace of mind that is so AYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally know how you feel about researching the bypass vs band. I have twin brothers that both had bypass two different types. One had his stomach made smaller the other had the reroute. The one that had the reroute has had really bad dumping syndrome which has put him in the hospital twice for passing out. The other hasn't had any complications and after quick weight loss even got a tummy tuck for the skin hanging and causing a hernia. So I had seen them and everything they went threw and felt the band was a lot less drastic and removable if any complications. The bypass is FOREVER and that scared me. If the band is what you want then you fight for it. You can find a great fill doctor in your area just be careful who you choose. I have a bandster girl that is in my support group that had a doctor put her band in at UCI in LA and was having fills done by him threw her insurance. She lost her job and lost her insurance and he wanted to charge her 1000.00 for a 3 min fill that is with SALINE!!!!!!! CRAZY so that is what he had been charging the ins. co. So she now goes with me to my Dr. in Mexico that charges 150.00 for a fill and he uses the gel saline that is a lot stronger for a fill. The other crazy thing is her port was side ways and she kept getting fills from them and they said she was at 5cc and did not use the floro machine which is like an x ray. They just put the fill in and that was it. When my Dr. went to take out the Fluid in her band........there was nothing in it!!! They were putting the needle in and not poking it into the port because it was tilted and putting the saline into her body.........but charging 1000.00 each time!!! Now she is at 5cc and says she can REALLY fill it now. She has had great weight loss. So just make sure you find a doctor that cares for his patients not just in it for his Mansion payment. Good luck girl!!! It is so worth it to finally get the help to loose the weight. I love my BAND!!:crying:

I never really thought of it in those terms and I love it!!!!!!! It is a life changing decision and experience. I too have been married for a long time...going on 17 years in Sept.....and we have been threw ups and downs together. You can think of the band in the same way but until you experience it , it is just what others tell you. This thanksgiving it will be two years with my band. If you don't mind me giving you a couple of stories from my experience to just help you? I have been threw ups and downs with my band already. It was the honeymoon stage when I first got my band and it is a very quick recovery. Since you have been threw child birth this will be a piece of cake. You feel like someone punched you in the gut for about two weeks and then start to feel your energy come back week by week and with in 4-6 weeks feel totally fine. Then it will be time to get you fill if the Dr. doesn't give you one before you leave to go home. Most doctors will not to let you body heal and make sure your body doesn't reject the band which can happen. It is a foreign object in your body and some people can't get to feeling good again. It is a very small percentage so just keep consentrating on the prize. But please baby step it with your fills. Everyone's body is different to what amount of a fill works for them. I had a fill of 4.5cc and for three months went threw having days were I couldn't even get Water down because the area around my band was so irritated from PBing so much (throwing up) and so it swelled up and it was MISERABLE!!! By that point I had gotten to the Stop Button (what I call it) which is after a few bites you feel a tight feeling which is you body worning you to put the fork down and STOP or you will start to hurt a lot or just end up throwing up what is stuck on top of the band. I went to my doctor who removed 2.5cc out of my band and it opened me right up. Honey the first thing I did was go to Jack in the Box and ate a double cheeseburger that I swear was better then sex.....just so yummy. Had no restriction so I felt like a kid in a candy store and just ate and ate and ate............the stop button was not there anymore. Three weeks later the scale was up 12 pounds!!!! ARRGGGGG So back to see my doctor I went and I only he only put 1cc in and just that little 1cc gave me the stop button again. Now when I eat I can tell after just a couple of bites if I need to stop and feel if it starts to get tight or if it goes down.......take my time.......take small bites.......be careful. When you have that GOD SENT stop button you feel a sense of peace in yourself you haven't felt before. This tool is not the answer to become skinny and thin like the models in the magazine. This tool is for us that have reached a point of insanity with in ourselves of why am I so heavy......how did I get this way..........how do I control it again. food became my worst enemy and I just beat myself up everynight because I ate all day what I said I wasn't going to do the night before. I couldn't control myself. It is not the easy way out. Let me tell you it took me a long time to be okay with such a small amount when everyone else around you is still eating in 10 min and eating huge portions. It took at least 8 months to feel that peace of mind that I was a good girl today. I did what I was suppose too. I ate my Protein and took my Vitamins and drank my water. It is a great feeling!!!!! I have not lost as much as I had hoped when I got the surgery but I have to keep reminding myself that I have gone from a size 20 to a size 16 and my goal is to be between 12 and 14. So I am almost there and I have to just keep trying every day to reach my goal. The next step will be maintaining. This tool will help me do that and I have to keep my fill at a good spot that will help me maintain that stop button. I wish you all the luck in the world. I love my band and want to share the joy with everyone I see walking down the street that is obese and struggling with food. It has been a blessing and a huge transfirmation for me inside and out!! Another huge thing you HAVE TO DO is get in a good local support group. You can talk and talk to your husband but other bandsters truely understand what your going threw and can help with emotional support in so many ways. I started one in Orange County and we meet every month. It is so nice to share advice with each other and just talk about things you can't with others that have no clue what having a band is all about. :crying:

That is exactly what you should tell your DR. I mean if we could loose the darn weight then geeeee we would have kept it off that last 100 times we went down the scale. The whole reason for the band is to be the tool you use to get fills and get it tighter when your starting to feel like your eating more then you should again. It is an ugly cycle and it is the tool to keep you on track. I had gotten a fill that was too tight so I went threw 3 months of hardly getting anything down with out it hurting and having to PB. I went and had half of my fill removed...........oh momma it was like a kid in a candy store. Let me tell you that the first place I went was Jack in the Box to get a double cheeseburger and it was the best thing I had ever eaten.............but it went down hill from there. Now I did not have the STOP BUTTON I had before and I just ate and ate and ate and ate and binged for three weeks..................12 pounds gained and back to the doctors office I went and got another fill. Just not as tight as before but enough to feel that stop button again so after a couple of bites I start to feel the tightness and set my fork down and wait until it is gone then a couple more small bites. It takes about 35-45 min to get a small meal down but because I am not woofing it down in 10 min like I used too it makes me fuller for longer and I am okay with the small side salad now. You use the tool for what it is suppose to be used for PORTION SIZE. If it is truley what you want honey then you fight for it!!!!!!! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!!!!!:thumbup:

This is why I ended up having to get my band in Mexico because my insurance wanted me to gain 50 pounds to even consider me for approval. Backwards way they do things I mean if they wanted us to get healthy they would make it so we can loose the weight and get the band before we get to a high BMI. The BMI isn't the only thing they look at if you have sleep apnia and or blood pressure problems then they might make an exceptions. Just fight fight fight for it if you really want it!!! I fought for a year and just knew it was what I wanted so just went and paid full pay with a great Dr. in Mexico. Best decision I ever made and I just love my band and it has been my savior to get control of my weight and overeating and kicking myself all the time. The band can be adjusted to what you want. I went threw being too tight and in pain to now being at a good level with my fill and feeling good. When your at a good fill you have a STOP BUTTON that makes you eat slow and wise. Good luck with your journey and it will be worth it I promise!!!!

:thumbup: The energy is just booming off the page!!!! I just really enjoy ready success stories like yours. It keeps me going and when I feel down and alone I always go to the support sites and remember how so many of us are going threw the same journey to our weight loss success!!! I am 1 year 7 months and thought I would have reached my weight goal by now but I have accomplished a lot by loosing 60 pounds and starting at a 20 and now teatering between 14 - 16 depending on the cloths. I can now buy size large in shirts when before it was straight to the plus size section to pick out 2x and now I swim in those shirts. It is a great feeling and a great long long long journey. It has been such an emotional roller coaster realizing the relationship of food being my support and hiding my eating problem. It took me a good 8 months to really come to terms and start feeling the peace with in myself to stop obsessing on what I was going to eat all day and being so okay with 4 bites. I still look at skinny people with that it is so not fare look sometimes but I am a better me by getting the band and remolding myself into a new and improved me.....Inside and OUT!!!!!!! Your story is insirational and I wish you all the band luck in the world. THIS TOOL IS A BLESSING in so many ways for us. I want to go up to people that a 200 pounds overweight and tell them what a gift this band has made my life but of course I don't because most of us that were obese were in such denial that we had an eating problem that it would offend. But I want to share the joy of now having the peace that I feel that I didn't eat the double cheeseburger for lunch and feel good that I only had that side salad and I am totally okay with that!!!!!!!!

This is something all of us bandsters go threw. It is fear and pain that has made me change my ways of eating very quickly. I now watch my husband eat and boy did we eat fast!!!! I always look at him now with big eyes going your done already??? You need restriction to be successful with your weight loss so it is part of the process. I call it the stop button and it is not something your body does over night. I went threw a horrible three months last year where I was too tight and I just threw up almost everything I tried to eat. It really was painful and as soon as I had my fill removed I was like a kid in a candy store. The first thing I did was go to Jack in the Box and eat a double cheeseburger........It was the best burger I have ever eaten. But let me tell you it was down hill from there and two months later I had gained 12 pounds......so off to get another fill I went. Now I am at a good restriction and my stop button is back so after a few bites I feel that tight feeling and have to put my fork down and wait until I can take another couple of bites. If you are in a hurry the best thing is to have to go Protein shakes or granola bars to slowly snack on little bite by little bite. Now that I have felt both sides of the spectrum from too tight to too loose you really rely on being at a good restriciton to be good and keep your calories at what your body needs to keep loosing or just maintain. It is amazing how cutting out carbs then adding them back in how quickly your body will just absorb them and pack it right back on. It is a science of what works for your body and when to stop or just SAY NO!!! Good luck and keep up the great work. It is a lifetime journey so just stay focused on that goal then maintaining is what the next goal can be!!!!!!!:biggrin:

Wow this one is a tricky one. I think that it depends on how you much you want them to know. I have a 9 year old daughter and 17 yr old son. I told my son everything because he is old enough to hear the emotional aspect of why I wanted to get the band and loose weight. My daughter is a curious creature and I didn't want to hide anything from her so I just told her mommy wants to be healthy and happy so I can be the best mom I can be. She has very bad eating habits and threw this whole thing I can see her changing the way she even looks at food. I explain to her all the time that I have to eat what my body needs to be a healthy body not just eat what I am craving because I feel hungry. I did go threw three months where I was too tight from my fill and it was difficult to hide getting sick after I ate. She started making comments about how she hating the band because she saw me in pain. I have gotten my band adjusted so now I can eat with out the compilcation of hurting and getting sick now. It is important to just explain it in a possitive aspect. They don't need to know the emotional roller coaster we go threw being heavy and dealing with the food issues. That is what the support groups are for. It is good to just let them know that mommy is going to be healthy and happy and when mommy is happy.......well know know :biggrin:

Congrats on your surgery your weight loss journey begins. I am surprised they did it outpatient? Where did you have it done? I was at the medical center for three days and any time I needed pain med's they gave them to me. The left shoulder pain is normal because of the gas escaping out of your body. I to this day get the left shoulder pain when I eat something that starts hurting going down. It is weird how my left shoulder starts hurting but can last for about an hour and it feels like a join arthritis hurt. You need to take your pain med's because it takes a couple of weeks to start feeling back to yourself. You won't feel true restriction of the band until you start getting fills so don't be discouraged that when you start feeling better and eating again your food is going down just fine. After you start getting fills and get it tighter is when you really start feeling the restriction to eat and what not to eat. It is all a process of elimination because everyone is different. Some can eat red meat others cant. Some can eat chips others can't. So you just have to figure out what you can tolerate and keep your choices well. It took me a good 2 months before I felt my energy was back and not so tender in the stomach area. You just need to keep an eye on your insitions to make sure they heal up well. Good luck!!!!!!!!!! I just got a fill after my unfil and it is amazing the difference in eating. It will take awhile to learn what your stop button feels like when your body tells you to stop eating or you are going to be in a lot of pain. It is worth it and the band is the best thing I have ever done!!! I love my band because it is the tool that has made a huge difference in getting healthy and happy.:cool2:

Do you mean air because of it getting tighter? I think it is not so much the band it is more your body/stomach changing too. It could make the fluid move that is your fill. I am not sure why it does it but your not suppose to have air in your band just saline from the fill.