Carmen188

Hello, is this still a mentoring thread? I was banded on sept 13, 2010 and have a question about fills. My surgeon said she was going to fill my band on day of surgery. I feel restricted in the amount of food i can eat at one sitting, I am losing weight. probably would lose more if I excercised and stopped treating myself to ice cream..however here's my question: I meet with the surgeon on oct 20th first meeting since surgery, should I have a fill or not? I am losing weight now about 1-2 lbs a week and feel good no throwing up ... let me know what you think..thank you Carmen

along these same lines...i have a question...anyone please let me know what you think. I was banded on sept 13, 2010 and I am not sure how much if any was put in my band my surgeon told me she would fill it on the day of surgery...soooo my question is if I feel good now I feel restriction to the amount of food i can eat and i am losing weight should I get a fill on Oct 20th when I meet with the surgeon for the first time since my surgery??? let me know what you all think thank you!!!!

How'd you do sun rae???

Hi there bandedtemple...welcome to the world of banded people. I was banded on Sept 13, 2010 it's going ok now it was very hard the first couple of weeks but I feel pretty good now. I can eat most things now i haven't gotten sick (thrown up) yet, I try not to push it, I try not to over do it. I can tell when i've overdone it because I feel like theres something stuck in my throat but it's just a annoyance more than anything else like painful etc. I've lost about 15 lbs probably could lose more if I started excercising and uh stopped eating ice cream. funny thing is I have deprived myself of these things for years because I knew I would gain weight and feel guilty but I wanted this band because i was tired of always feeling like i was one day away from failing yet another attempt at losing weight, i'd lose then i'd gain it right back. I hope and pray like you said that this is the last thing i ever have to try, it does help me to control my food intake and I feel satisfied with what i am eating. keep us posted on your journey. I'd like to know how you feel at the beginning. right after surgery.

I am doing better, it's a day to day thing. I had 4 weeks off after surgery and now that I have gone back to work it is harder. at home i was able to plan my meals and stay focused on eating 3 small meals and some snacking and entertained myself in between with tv, homework, or whatever...now that i am back at work. my job is pretty boring so I find myself thinking of food more often. I am really interested in seeing how you do from the beginning, i had a bad couple of weeks right after my surgery and regretted for a bit but now i'm better and as long as i am losing weight I think i will continue to feel good about my decision. I had the surgery so I wouldn't have to feel like I was always on a diet and so far so good I am eating things now that I would not allow myself to eat before I had the band and I am losing weight still. sometimes get those old feelings of guilt back when i eat a sweet but I am eating way less then before so it's not so bad to eat what i want. sorry to go on, i think this site is so theraputic for me to get these thoughts out of my head even if no one reads them LOL...keep me posted on your journey...

Hi Oceangirl16, my name is Carmen. Yes I had my surgery on Sept 13, 2010.

Well said Bayareanan, that's exactly it you get used to it and accept your limitations. In my mind I compare it to someone who loses a leg (I know that's a drastic comparison) my point is the body adjusts and compensates for the loss. we get used to things. and our health will be improved. best wishes !

Hello Allkitty, I was banded on Sept 13, 2010. I am 5 weeks post op and things have improved. About the pain, I had no trouble sleeping on my side or back. The worst pain i had was from the leftover gas that they used to inflate me and it stuck in my left shoulder and lasted for about a week but finally went away (on a scale of 1-10 that pain was a 8). You are not supposed to lift much the first few weeks so be careful lifting your baby. My first two weeks were the worst but things are looking up now, I really regretted it at first and missed just being able to go and grab whatever and eat it without having to think "is this going to make me sick?" or "how sick is this going to make me?" But like I said things are better now, i've lost 12 lbs and will hopefully keep a pace of 1-2 lbs a week I hope I hope I hope!! anyways if you have given diet and excersice a fair shot and if you are like me have lost weight but not been successful at keeping it off I think lap band will be a good thing. I've asked about 5 people who are 2-4 years post band if they now regret it and none of them has ever said Yes they regret it...soooooo if you feel sure and realize that things are going to be different and food will no longer be your buddy but just a necessity then you are making the right decision..It's tough i'm not gonna lie. good luck! Hopefully more people will answer you people with more experience than me.

Well said Cleo's mom this is a support site where we should be able to express our struggles without being judged for being weak and cheating or not excercising. Good for you RK if you don't struggle and are successful, some of us who have been banded aren't 26 anymore we're 46 and trust me when I say it's a lot harder to lose weight at 46 then it is when you are in your 20's. RK if you are so successful all by your sheer willpower then why do you need this site? Don't make people feel like they can't whine if they want to..don't judge!

I am 5 weeks post op and the gas didn't last that long for me probably a good two weeks and now I burp when I eat too much but not constantly like at first. I think you will be fine, it's a big adjustment period but I feel good now pretty normal.

diarreah for 4 weeks does not sound normal, I would call my drs office if I were you. usually it's constipation that they warn of us because of the lack of food and the pain meds...be careful and call a professional who can tell you what to do. good luck

Good luck to you, my only advice is be prepared that it will be very hard the first couple of weeks you may even regret having it done (I did) but about the 3rd week i started feeling much better. I had shoulder pain for the first two weeks that i thought would never go away but it did. (i was banded on Sept 13th) I feel pretty normal now except of course my eating habits have changed, I have lost 13 lbs so far. sometimes i worry that i am eating too much I have not thrown up nor gotten sick, sometimes I feel a little soreness when I eat too much but it doesn't last long. I am going on and on but I just want you to be prepared (i know everyone is different) but hopefully some of this has helped you to know what to expect...I know how you feel to finally be there about to get it done it's a relief in a lot of ways!!! good luck! God bless!!

oh I hope they get that fixed for you with little pain and misery..good luck to you

I used it about once every hour and did the inhaling about two or three times per session, hope that makes sense..lol after I talked to the nurse at Kaiser and she reminded me to use it I was on a mission! I too love this site because of the support and inspiration I get from the my banded peeps on here ... I hope that works for you!

here's my two cents..I lost 10 lbs the first week after surgery then didn't lose any in the next two weeks and then on the 4th week I lost 3 lbs, total of 13 lbs so far. I was 277 on the day of my surgery I am now 264. I am going to stay positive, it's 13 lbs off that hasn't come back and will hopefully stay off not like before when I'd take of 5 and put 5 back on the very next week. It's a little over a 10 lb sack of potatoes I'm not carrying around anymore! Stay positive..let's make this all worth it and lose weight!!!

Yes I felt like that, but I had told so many people that I was having it done that I felt like I couldn't back out, I know that's a crazy reason to go through with it but now I feel like it's a good thing that I did. I had my surgery on Sept 13, 2010 and I want to be honest with you I regretted having the surgery for about two weeks I was miserable the first two weeks, now I am ok with my deciscion but I miss being able to just eat without having to put so much thought into like I do now. I am hoping that when I lose more and more weight I will be totally at peace with my decision. Go with your heart, if you feel like it's not for you then don't go through with it, it's a big deal and a big big change to the way you live and your whole relationship with food will change. Best of luck to you.

I feel your pain literally, I was banded on Sept 13, 2010 and I got depressed because I thought my shoulder pain would never go away but it did. The pain was excruciating..I think yours will go away, you know what helped me...using the spiromiter faithfully I wasn't using mine like i should have been but as soon as I did the pain started to subside. i pray your pain goes away soon...take care

I was banded on Sept 13, 2010 and have lost 11 lbs so far, I have to admit that I thought it would come off faster. 41 lbs is great. How did you do at first, how much do you usually lose each week? Do you ever "cheat" and I mean like eat chocolate or ice cream? just curious. I had some chocolate today...and right now ice cream is the only thing that satisfies. I am still on the mushy stage.

what is it you need help with? I was banded on the 13th of Sept and for about the first 2 1/2 weeks I was hungry most all of the time. I am eating soft foods now and am not so hungry all the time like I used to be, it's getting easier..head hunger is still there though but it's getting better too. hang in there, stick to your fluids it won't last forever you'll be able to move on to the next stage soon and then you'll get sick of that but eventually you will get back to regular food. You might try popcicles..they seem to satisfy me a little here and there. I hope I helped...be careful with the bread.

Well then if you know 5 people then you have knowledge of what you're in for, I pray that justrite's situation is worse case scenario I personally do not want to go through the "head/image/emotional" issues that she is going through but I do understand how it can happen and how things can get to that point. I had lost 100 lbs on my own a few years ago and people make such a fuss about how good you look and how beautiful you are and I was still fat at that point (240 lbs down from 379) but I got to feeling like I looked good and things hadn't really changed in my life so I got very depressed. Anyways I think that everyone on this site has good intentions and justrite is right :thumbdown: when she says we need to accept and love ourselves at any size. God sees the heart not the shell that surrounds it, but for our health this shell will send us to an early grave. Again I wish you success, keep us posted!

No amount of research can prepare you for how you are going to feel afterwards. It changes your whole life, not just how much you weigh, if this was an easy thing to do there would not have to be support groups involved. Don't get me wrong I wish you all the best but please just know that it is going to be very very hard getting adjusted to this new way of life. I think that justrite is just being honest with you from the point of view of someone who has been down the long road and has experienced some of the negative things associated with this surgery. I take all of the things I read on this site to heart because these people have been there done that and their sharing their experiences with us is invaluable to getting better. Best wishes..keep us posted.

God bless you on your journey. I was banded on Sept 13, 2010 I've lost 10 lbs so far, i will not lie it has been very hard, I miss food. I know it sounds bad but I feel like all this will be so worth it if and when I am thinner than the people who I feel try to be sympathetic but still eat their lasagne, fast food etc in front of me. Keep us posted on your progress, I have found this site to be very helpful and inspiring as I start this new way of life. good luck

Thank you so much for the information you shared, I have been sleeping a lot since my surgery I didn't really know why, I thought that I was getting lazy. I am not a lazy person so I was getting worried that I could not get a handle on myself and get to working out already, I used to go to the gym 3-4 times a week but never made much progress with the weight loss. Hopefully this sleeping thing is just part of the recovery process as you mentioned that you slept some too the first month. I can't tell you and everyone else who posts stuff on this site how much help you all are too me, before the surgery I didn't think I needed the support groups but now I know that they will help me immensly to stay positive about all of these changes. I thought my shoulder pain would never go away and got a little depressed about it thinking that I would have it forever, but it did finally go away. oh and yes I am going to the meeting at Sutter on the 16th I look forward to meeting all of you, it will be my first meeting ever. The only things I have attended were the nutrition classes with Robin. See you on the 16th and thanks again for your words of wisdom!! It gives me hope that I will feel 99% sure some day that I made the right decision.

Thanks for the encouragement Tamra! I am going to attend a support group on Oct 16th, hey now that you are 8 months out are you glad you got it done? Oh by the way I had the lap band surgery. Some days I regret my decision more than other days, did you go through that? at 8 mos out do you enjoy food? mashed potatoes are the best but I try not to eat them everyday for dinner, i am currently trying to focus on my protein. The reason I got lap band as opposed to the other options is exactly what you said it's a slower weight loss but I think it's healthier, if I could lose 50-60 lbs and keep it off I would be ok, but I do hope to lose more. Well thanks for the response to my cry for help LOL this has been something else but i guess I don't have to tell you.