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Ok is your surgery on MONDAY? (10/13) or thursday (10/16)? Apparently you really are excited! Welcome and good luck! :thumbup:

I am going to see my surgeon today. I was banded on 1/26 and this appt. is for my second fill. I wonder if I should have one. Last time he inserted 2 cc's in a 10 cc band. What a difference this made! I had definite restriction on quantities and types of foods. I would say I must have pb'd 3 times a week during the first two weeks post-fill. It was my adjustment to my adjustment period. During the last week, I have only had one issue and that was because the meat was too dry, I was tired and ate too quickly. Anyway, is it typical to get a second fill so soon? I am still able to eat a decent amount of food, slowly, chewed well. I would say I can still eat about 5-6 oz of Protein and at least that amount of starch/vegetable. I have read several postings that indicate they can only eat 5 - 6 bites at a sitting and then have to stop. Is that the restriction I should be looking for? I hate to think that an additional fill may make me pb again! I suppose I will just get used to being more restricted? Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks. Karen

Hi I got my first fill on Sept. 28th. My doc had a hard time filling it. took 6 sticks to get it. I think they said it was 4 somethings in a 10 something band. I can't eat as much, and the port seems to hurt after I eat. so I am really gonna take it easy. Also does anyone have monster burps? Very embarresing!

Hello to anyone who's keeping track...We have a surgery date!!! I say "we", because my hubby is going to have his as well!! We're going to Dr. Rumbaut in Monterry and our surgeries will be April 12 - for $1000 more than it would have cost for just me to have it here in Chattanooga!! We're pretty excited! In preparation for the surgery, we are really watching our calories (daily - 1100 or less for me and 1600 or less for him) and we are walking for 30 minutes everyday. We start the pre-op liquid diet 10 days before the surgery. Other than what we are already doing, does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I'm open to anything anyone has to offer! Thanks for all the support! Christy <><

I know the pain issue is different for everyone. For me there was quite literally no pain to speak of. I had my surgery on 11/15 which was a Thursday, home Friday and the last dose of the pain meds I took was Saturday night even though I really didn't need them at that point. I was back up and visiting clients on that Monday and felt perfectly fine. Stomach itself never did hurt, the incisions were just the very tiniest bit sore for a couple days. Honestly the absolute worst thing for me was the itchy incisions around days 5 to 10. And really it was hardly noticeable just that it was the only thing worth mentioning. That said I do know I have a relatively higher pain tolerance. I think though there are a lot of factors involved from your own tolerances, your personal anatomy and it's effect on the surgery, surgeon's skill etc. I know my surgeon is very highly respected and even at that started doing the sleeve's with the DaVinci surgical robot to raise the standard even higher. I can't say for sure it made a difference but I know it allows more maneuverability and greater precision with slightly less room inside being needed. I can't help but think it played a role. Bottom line though is I was scared out of my mind and was ready to rip the IV's out and walk before hand. After it was all said and done I felt so good afterwards I wished I hadn't waited so long.

I think I am onto something about the B Vitamins. Too much of some B Vitamin leads to automatic gagging/heaving/throwing up. Not sure which B vitamin is is though. Here is where I could use your help. Looking at my mio energy drink, it says there is 10% b12, 10% b6 and 10 b3. My b50 has 2500% b6 and 2500% b12. I take 2 of these so double the percents to 5000% each. My Multivitamin has 200% b3, 5833% b12 and 600% b6. My b12 supplement has 16,667% b12. Plus whatever I am getting in the 2 shakes a day and pure Protein like chicken, salmon, etc. Lots of numbers, I know. It is not quite clear why anyone would need such a high dose of b12, but hey, I am following the NUTs recommendations. Except for the mio drink and the extra b50/b12. Didn't realize I was double dosing on the b12 and b50 supplements. Usually when you take a supplement ( or something like tylenol), you take 2. I am sure others can relate to this habit of taking 2 of something. So what is causing me to heave? Sometimes after taking multivitamin, sometimes after taking b12 supplement and some times after drinking mio energy about 32 oz. Typically if it is going to happen, it is after taking the multivitamin. However, I usually take the multivitamin after b12 and b50 supplements because they are most likely to cause me to heave. I think it is the b12 because the percentage is way up there in terms of DV. I also will cool it on the mio energy because I don't really need it, just a carry over habit of using energy drinks from before surgery. Besides, I have 1 coffee a day now as it is. What do others think that might have more of a vitamin background than I do. By the way, Nov 2nd will be my 4 month post op mark.

With the sleeve, at least for the first few months hunger is more a mental issue than a physical one(cravings). When the reduce the size if your stomach the remove the major portion that produces Gherin(sp) the chemical that produce the hunger sensation in our bodies. After a few months your body will adjust and you will feel hunger again. I am only 10 weeks out at this time, so all I can say is I have yet to experience hunger.

Sure Mandy - Typically in the morning I just have a Protein shake with skim milk, and add a capsule of Biotin and 2 tbsp of Benefiber. It usually takes me about 2-2 1/2 hours to drink this and I'm usually not hungry at lunch, but I eat anyway to keep somewhat of a schedule. Lunch usually consists of maybe an egg & cheese omelet, or maybe shredded beef and cottage cheese or banana, or if I don't have alot of time - a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine meal. Sometimes it's smoked turkey or chicken or ham and cheese on high fiber toast. In the afternoon I have either a yogurt with homemade granola (Kashi Go Lean Cereal, choc chips, dry-roasted peanuts, toasted pecans, raisins, Peanut Butter chips), or a bag of 5 Factor chips (10 grams of protein, 5 g of fiber, 130 calories) or fruit. For dinner I like to have some sort of baked fish (cod, perch, tilapia) and cottage cheese, or a baked potato. Sometimes chicken, sometimes hamburger, but usually a healthy dose of protein. I really frankly suck at eating vegetables and have my whole life. Some people have trouble with things like broccoli or cauliflower - fibrous vegetables. I get uncomfortable with hard apples, pineapple, and harder fruits. It's not that I can't eat them, it's just easier if they are dried, or grilled, or roasted to either make them crunchy or soft. But before you think I follow a really good diet, just know that I've been caught eating pizza rolls and potato chips for supper too! (Hubby made that and FYI - pizza rolls did not go down well). But I try to limit my treats to only a couple of times a week or just a few bites.

My girls were 8&9 when I had surgery (now they are 8&10) and our situation was a little bit different because by the time we had told them about surgery my husband had also decided to be sleeved so it was BOTH of us that were going under (although his surgery was 5 months after mine...so they didn't have to worry about both of us at the *same* time.) We skipped the gory details about losing 85% of our stomachs, but rather focused on the fact that we needed to lose weight in order to be healthy and that meant that our eating habits would change and that the surgery would prevent us from eating a lot of food. They understood that this was a private family matter and that we weren't planning on broadcasting our surgery to the world. My oldest DD did actually tell a friend that I was in the hospital and her mom asked me about it a few days later, but I wasn't planning on sharing with this mom. I simply said I had surgery and I was doing much better and feeling much better and thanks for her concern. And she dropped it and never asked again (although I'm sure she has her suspicions...lol.) Anyway, all of this is to echo was Tiff said, keep it age appropriate and know your child and what they can handle. I knew it would take 6 months before insurance approved, so we waited to tell the kids until about a month before my surgery. I didn't need them to worry for 6 months, but I also wanted to give them time to ask questions or voice concerns.

I am so glad to have my baby back. Grandma and Grandpa brought her back a little after 4pm this afternoon. I miss her so much when she is gone even for just a day. She really is the light of my life. She has started walking everywhere... finally. She was a late walker. She's been cruising since right around 12 mos. but it has taken her until now 4 months later to start really walking independently. I wasn't in a real hurry for her to walk (she's getting harder to catch ):confused: but I was gonna start worrying if it didn't happen in the next couple of months. Now I can relax and just enjoy her toddling around. Today was good. I've been really good at maintaining the house. I've used this time off from work and reorganized everything. I am at much more peace when my house is in order. Everything looks so nice. I rode my bike for 10 minutes and consumed 560 calories. Goodnight all!

I am so glad to have my baby back. Grandma and Grandpa brought her back a little after 4pm this afternoon. I miss her so much when she is gone even for just a day. She really is the light of my life. She has started walking everywhere... finally. She was a late walker. She's been cruising since right around 12 mos. but it has taken her until now 4 months later to start really walking independently. I wasn't in a real hurry for her to walk (she's getting harder to catch ):girl_hug: but I was gonna start worrying if it didn't happen in the next couple of months. Now I can relax and just enjoy her toddling around. Today was good. I've been really good at maintaining the house. I've used this time off from work and reorganized everything. I am at much more peace when my house is in order. Everything looks so nice. I rode my bike for 10 minutes and consumed 560 calories. Goodnight all!

I can relate. I had a dream after my surgery that I did the exact same thing with a coke. I had drank it without thinking. I didn't go as far as dreaming I went to the emergency room but I woke up with feelings of panic. I had all the same reservations that you did and I even postponed my surgery for over a year and watched myself gain while I thought I could lose weight "the natural way". My parents even forbid me to have the surgery... Now let me ask you this... Have you ever had a dream that you were dying of a heart attack but the paramedics couldn't get you onto the stretcher to save your life? Or that your caskett was carried by 10 people because you were so heavy? Have you ever had dreams about your 5 year old finding you dead in your bed because you had a heart attack or stroke in your sleep? I know it sounds horrible and I'm honestly not trying to be mean... but I'm 29 years old and I have had all of those dreams I just mentioned above. I cried to many times because of them because I was depressed, had given up, and thought there was no hope for someone like me. I'm 91 pounds down today and I would rather dream about cokes.

So, here I am...19 days post-op. I'm feeling good, considering that I've stopped taking my anti-depressants and given up caffeine since surgery. I'm down 12 pounds and keeping a positive outlook. It's really bothered me because a rumor started around my school (cosmetology school, nonetheless) that I'd had gastric bypass. I've just shrugged it off for the most part, but I'm gonna admit that hearing that bothered me. I feel that more severe obesity cases opt for gastric bypass and I feel slightly insulted that it's even a topic amongst my peers. I would think that my being fat wasn't an issue to them as well as my having LAP Band isn't a topic that's up for discussion. I'm probably being silly for even worrying about it, but that's what cosmetology school is for. Drama and girlfights. Even though I feel generally better, I have noticed that I'm really lethargic at the end of the day. I've been honestly forcing myself to walk for thirty minutes here and there. I'm only up this late because I made it a point to prepare dishes that my sister and I could eat while everyone else eats the high fat/calorie stuff for Thanksgiving. I took a bunch of recipes from Hungry-girl.com and made them into "mashies approved" casseroles. I ended up with a cauliflower bake (pureed), smashed sweet potatoes (made with sugar-free maple syrup and Splenda), and a crustless pumpkin pie. I'm pretty pleased with how everything looks. So hopefully, everything with taste good as well. We had a potluck today at school and I had a teaspoon of stuffing and I can safely say...their stuffing was terrible! I'm really glad I couldn't eat much because I couldn't imagine eating something like that and pretending to enjoy it. Blech. Anyway, I'm gonna go ahead and close by saying that I'm trying to keep my chin up and stay hopeful that I'm going to (one day soon) be much smaller! I've had a lot of heartache in the past year that's made a huge impact on my life and I really need to make this work. For me. This time it's not for anyone else. Keep your fingers crossed!

Good Luck! I am sure you can do it. My surgeon is requiring a 5 lb loss (Yeah I dunno either) but I was told when I start my 10 day pre surgery non liquid, sometimes liquid, kinda liquid diet, that I would be weighed before and on the last day and if I don't loose, that my surgery would be cancelled.

Good but get some Imodium for standby. SD: 10/10/12, Converted from Lapband to RNY, HW (before band) 263, HW (RNY) 230, Preop 219, after surgery 223, current 210

I had my surgery yesterday 11/13. I am home today and had a painful bout of muscle spasms in my right side. Last about 10 minutes but was pretty painful. Any suggestions on keeping this from happening again?! Is this normal?

Why was it so rough, I actually have been ok just struggling with liquids and protein, also since the bypass it's seem like I can't sleep like I have developed insomnia I don't go to sleep until around 3 or 4 am n before I had the surgery I was able to go around 10 no later then 12

I'm not a very patient person and waiting on insurance approval is awful. Everything was submitted on 8/10 and today I contacted my surgeon's office and they said as of 8/23, it was still "pending". Really, how hard is it to say yes or no?? My surgeon's assistant said they usually respond in 2 weeks, but they can take as long as 4. The wait is driving me bonkers. What has been everyone elses experience when it took a while hearing back from insurance. Was it a good sign?

ok this is the extended version of the Reader's Digest post .. it went like this 1. the keys: my hub was so busy taking pictures of me that he shut his door with the ...keys inside.. we got a family friend to take my daughter and her house key to get my car keys so that my hub could get his keys back.. and mind you he locked the keys in the truck at the hospital parking garage. *insert chopped part so as I am lead into preop there on the foot of my bed was "that gown" you know the one where you have to hold the butt so your hiney doesn't beam the world ..ok so fine I get that and then the "socks that can kill" appeared on the bed These socks must be some sort of a alien technology to take over the world I can see it now, walking about your daily lives when you decide it's time to stop.. but they just grabbed 2 feet in front of only to make you look like crazed puppet that just got poked with a cattle prod.. you know hands all up in the air..body spazing to keep balance because of those freaking killer socks decided to throw you like a rodeo bull ((named tornado or hurricane or something just as naturally dangerous))..into a small pond of super glue....Aliens umm hummm it always starts with the bovine then THEY came, the 2 nurses who are going to run my IV on my ittle bitty roly poly veins I looked at my hubby and held up my hand with 5 on it.. see if she can't hit it by 5 tries then I want a specialist..well I will say this they gave me a local before the IV, she tried several times and finally ended up on the inside of my elbow., my husband was almost freaked cause she was really "digging around" in my left arm. they put the BP cuff and the O2 finger gadget ....then came pressure hose and these little instep foot pillows that would puff air alternately squeezing my feet..I'd dare to say oh yea those were uber cool... then came the heprein (or however it's spelt) nothing like seeing your stomach poked with a needle and you feel nothing but a slight burn by that time I HAVE to go to the restroom right after I get all hooked up and everything so everything almost goes backwards...I get back in bed then come the "drainers" I used to call them vampires, but I don't know too many of those that collect pee...so I now call them drainers and they usually aren't to picky about what fluids they can get.. this one wanted pee~~DYES LAFFIN~~ I told her she should have been there 10 minutes ago I can't give any.. so she like OK.I'll just take some blood..it always comes down to a cup or a needle with these guys.. I mean all they needed it for was a pregency test and I TOLD her I wasn't preggy..I got talked into it ...some nurses are just too peppy for their own good.. Oh and tomorrow I talk about my smexy anesthetist heehee ok the gas is come and go now.. sitting still way low in my belly nothing touches it it's like it owns that part of me...HA I say again HA I can't cough good or even fart cause of the pain caused by any type of pushing because the attachment point of my port is above my abs on the left side and it hurts.. sleep bed pillow g'night

"In your post, please share information about yourself such as age, gender, marital status, occupation, geographical location, amount of weight lost, amount of weight to lose, etc." HI! I was banded 12/31/08 and have my first fill 2/03/09. I have lost 19 pounds of my 129 pound goal. I am 36, female in a long term relationship. I live in MO and work as an analyst in the finance industry. I think that answers all the questions above. I am looking for a female mentor in her 30's who's weight loss goal was over 100 pounds similar to mine. Someone who has been there and done that and kicked butt! THANKS!

This is boring tonight so what are you buying your kids or grandkids for Christmas this year? What was the hardest to find? I have 2 granddaughters age 4 and 19 months so we have lots of Dora for 19 month old and Taylor Swift Hannah Montana, and anything Barbie for 4 year old. Cheri

Judy thats awesome!!! I am so proud of you and hubby.. I'm down 25 lbs since march.. Just recieved my 2nd fill 6-19..(now 2cc in 4cc band) ..p.bed 2ce.. 1) pill was too big, 2)drank too fast..ugh!!!

I think I drank them in about 5-10 minutes. I'm realizing that my surgeon has told me literally nothing and I'm learning everything on my own and from the internet. I know it's my responsibility to ask him but sometimes I don't know what to ask and I barely see him for a few minutes and he runs off. I'm scared my stomach stretched and ruined the whole purpose of the surgery.

I am 10 days out and 15 pounds are gone!!!