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WOW how strange was it to see this at this site?? hehe well I know my husband used to eat chicken and potatoes and bananas when he was working out and trying to bulk up. He had a protien sorce with EVERY meal. I try to do this as well, but he also did the potatoes. Hope that helps. Unfotunately I didnt gain my weight with chicken and potatoes so the way I did it wouldnt be helpful for you. I supose you came to the right place though. lol Every one here could tell you their worst fat culprit. Mine is probably pasta! If you dont care if your gaining fat or muscle just eat fetichini alfraido everynight for a few weeks..................mmmmmmmmmmm fetichini **sighs**

Just started liquid 2 week pre-op myself. Today! If today is any indication of what it's going to be like, I would rather starve! I have to drink 5 HMR shakes a day - and water - that's it. They are making me gag - they are too thick and foamy. I just had fat free can of chicken broth, because I can't drink the shakes anymore. I don't know how I'm going to get through thirteen more days - seriously! I have already lost about 10lbs on my own and I would much rather continue with what I have been doing and then do clear liquids for a couple of days before surgery (11/12) but nope, not in their plan. Oh well, just bitching about it I guess. I'll have to get over it and keep my eye on the "prize" Good luck everyone

You could have been talking about me. I go for my 2nd fill this week. Hopefully we will both get some restriction and relief from the hunger. Hang in there!:thumbup:

How do i make my story short and not so sweet? Anyway I had my sleeve done August 15th and was oh so happy and was dropping pounds like bombs and my doc was like you can exercise after 2 weeks. So what does Tashara do after 2 weeks? I went for a nice little bike-ride around DC, 2miles tops. Anyways, I came back and collapsed at my desk and had a high fever. (this was last Tuesday 8/30). So I go to kaiser urgent care who checks my blood and sends me home with Tylenol and says I have a bug. OK. Wednesday I call my surgeons office (Dr. Salemah and Dr. Mayes) and go in to have a UGI to make sure my sleeve is in good condition. So my sleeve is great, and then I suddenly get sharp pains in my left side along with my 102+ fever. But they too send me home and say follow up with PCP. Now its Thursday and I'm about to die and so I see my primary who puts me on an IV, antibiotics (Invans) and liquid Tylenol for my fever. They check my blood pressure and it has dropped to 88\48! Usually I have to take Lisinopril for my pressure but I haven't even taken it since my surgery, so that is some very low numbers. So my doc puts me on another bag of fluid and sends me home when my fever drops to 99 and my pressure is up to 95\56. I woke up early Friday morning shivering like no other and a temp of 104.3. I called an ambulance and was rushed to the ER. So they gave me a CT scan and come to find out..my spleen has an abscess of liquid on it. So now i'm being transported to Virginia Hospital Center (where I had my surgery) and of course Dr. Mayes comes to meet me and he is rushing me to their CT scan so they can take out my infected spleen and place a drain tube through my back to get all of the excess fluid. Pain Pain Pain Pain. Saturday, the infectious disease doc comes in and totally freaks me out saying that the spleen and the stomach are basically connected by some blood vessels. When they cut my stomach they had to remove the cells connected to the spleen which usually dies off and grows back. But instead mines picked up salmonella. SALMONELLA!!!! Has any body ever heard of a crazy thing like that. I caught salmonella during surgery on my friggin spleen. Like of all the times I have eaten somewhere that might not have been the cleanest or pigged out on some nasty fast food, I catch salmonella poisoning on my spleen during surgery. So my labor day weekend was spent in the hospital and I came home finally today with a taped up back and a drain with yucky stuff dripping out. Would i be wrong to ask my surgeon to foot my hospital bill, I mean c'mon son!

I also have Aenta and Drs. office told me anywhere from 2-3wks, but most the time 2wks. Good Luck! I'll be sending in my paper work end of next week.

I have Aetna as well. My paperwork was submitted this Wednesday and I called them today. They told me it may be up to 3 weeks.

I had my surgery on Nov 30th, I went in for a fill 2 weeks later, and when the PA put in my first fill, aparently my stomach swolle up, and I couldnt get water down, we had to remove the fluid to let the swelling go down. Trying to find my port has been just a crazy game, I get so sick to my stomach..cant find it. I went in for a refill this last Monday she dug around unable to find the port again OMG. I couldnt belive it not again. I am scheduled for a floroscopy Thursday. I guess I have been eating acting as I did before I decided to get the lapband or as I have always eaten my whole life...feeling like a failure. I have gained some weight back..I need something to happen soon. The PA told me we would have to add fluid to the band slow at first. What a crazy begining to a new year, and lap banding.

OMG, all that talk about needles, I think I'm gonna be sick....I hate needles. I may never get a fill, plus my doc said no fluro. He said he use to treat cancer patients and had to inject meds into implanted device s/a port. Said it was nothing to it, well I guess we'll see. Why does it take weeks to see if it's working, seems you'd know pdq. Good luck Blossom

Betty, makes sense to me that I would have gotten a larger fill for a larger band. But then, I still can't figure out why I would have gotten the larger band in the first place... Michelle, 2 weeks sounds a lot better than 3, LOL!! Plus, I will still be off work for the holidays. Thanks for the suggestion! Kim, the swallow was something else I was expecting and did not get. Seems to me, testing the fill should be a given!! Pat, I hate needles, too. But honestly, the needles were the not that bad. Besides, one of my bosses is a RN, not to mention the Director of Health Services in our school district, and she says that your tummy has fewer nerves so you don't feel as much pain there as in other areas of your body. I kept telling myself that as I was looking at all those needles, LOL!!!

If you buy them from the manufacturer, make sure to search for online coupons. I found one that gave me three free bottles. The bottles are 25.4 oz or 750 ml so they last a long time.

Hello all! I got my surgery date! I got a call on Friday and the scheduler said that they have either April 25th or May 23rd. I picked April 25th! Am I crazy? That is less than 2 weeks away! Started my pre-op diet today. I am excited but also very nervous. Am I doing the right thing? Was there any other way that I could have done this?

Hi, and welcome. I haven't been banded yet but hope to be in the next few weeks. From what I'm told by my nutritionist, when one reaches their proper restriction they should be full after eating 2 ounces of food. One doctor I was considering going to charged $1000 for their consultation fee which included informational materials as well as supplements.

Going on 4 weeks post op and I have been good to follow all directions thus far. Not advancing my diet yet, still staying off caffeine, etc. I've been a good girl. Really. But today, I was offered a piece of gum and I nonchalantly accepted without even thinking. As a matter of fact, it never once crossed my mind until an hour later when I accidentally sucked that bad boy down! Damnit. So, I'm a little over an hour out and still drinking Water with no problem. I absolutely refuse to contact my surgeon's after hour coverage unless I begin to vomit or feel discomfort. Just curious...anyone else experienced this little mishap? How did you rid yourself of the gum? Run its course or surgical removal? (Lesson learned....NO more gum so please no lectures) Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Chewing gum post op is frowned upon by most surgeon's. At least as early as I am. Those that don't condone it forever, still require you to wait around 12+ weeks. It can cause blockages and require surgical removal depending on the situation. Can cause you to swallow more air than usual. And a few other things.. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App Most surgeon's what? This is the first i am EVER hearing about not having gum. Is swallowing gum really that common? I chew a lot of gum, never even stopped when i had my sleeve. Was chewing a few days post op

Alex, Thank you so much for the new ipod. I just love it. When I got home from getting my sleeve surgery, it was waiting for me. :thumbup: Again, thank you. I will post a picture of me and my new pink ipod sometime this week. Judy

Finally, I get to have my first fill tomorrow. My doctor called me yesterday checking to see how I was doing. I told him I was hungry alot of the time and he said that shouldn't be so he scheduled me to come in a week early. Now I am alittle nervous about the actual procedure. He explained it all to me but I am still chicken.:paranoid

Thanks for all the encouraging words I'm really praying I break this stall soon...

I am having a really bad time being unemployed. I sit around on the computer looking for jobs, and watch TV. I'm not moving, I'm not eating right and I'm losing my mind. I always wished my life away looking forward to retirement, now that I've been home for 2 months, I'm going crazy. I have a couple of prospects I'm going on a third interview this week at a great company. I'm hoping I get the job. But in the mean time, I haven't lost an ounce. Sometimes I don't eat at all, other days I'm eating just for the sake of eating. I go from being completely lose to so tight I can hardly swallow Water. I was supposed to be going in about now for a fill, but I'm still PB'ing half the time. Maybe that's just from stress, but I sure do need help to get back on track. Wish me luck, maybe I'll be employed again soon and then I'll start caring about what I'm doing again.

Hey ForMyFamily - what does ur liquid diet consist of? I'm trying to drop 20lbs in 5 weeks and my doctor has me on glucerna (diabetic ensure) 4 cans a day. I should be on a 4 week diet but I'm going to give myself a 1 week head start

Hi! I have a consultation in 2 weeks with a bariatric sugeron . Im curious about insurance approvals. Does anyone out there have federal BCBS? What are the requirements? What was the approval process? Im at a BMI of 35.6 and have no comorbities. There is no way I could pay cash for this surgery, so Im just wondering if there is anyone else out there who doubted that insurance would approve the surgery? I just really don't want to get my hopes up. Thanks for any input!

It is likely the incision where your stomach was removed. Usually it's the one incision where they stitch it internally and it causes the most discomfort after surgery. I had pain and discomfort around my lower left incision site for about three weeks. You should, however, call your surgeon's office tomorrow if you are concerned and in a lot of pain. Take care!!!

Well Aetna denied me not enough details, even though I had been going to my PCP monthly since July 8, Nutritionist every 2 weeks, walk the treadmill, and go to curves 2 days a week. I have lost 19 pounds so far!!! Really frustrated don't know what to do? What I was missing it my 3 month detailed report from the Doctor, I guess they sent July 8 but than only sent nutritionist report. I called Aetna and got a their fax appeal number and my dr is going to submit all the paperwork that was forgotten. Has anyone gone through this process and how long does appeal take?

I only had very slight bruising, it was a bit yellow, but I'm 2 and a half weeks out and still have a good amount of pain at my large incision. I'm just now starting to be able to sit up to get out of bed instead of rolling out!

Kelly, there's no question that a fill will help you get full faster and stay full longer. But if all you're eating is two eggs and a piece of toast (otherwise known as "breakfast"), and you're staying full for three or four hours (or until the time otherwise known as "lunchtime"), it sounds to me like you're doing just fine! If you're comfortable and losing weight where you are you may not need a fill just yet. Our expectations are often out of whack. If certain foods are causing you trouble now, chances are very good that they will cause you MORE trouble when you're tighter. Things getting stuck is a sign that you have not yet mastered the chew-till-pulverized technique, or the take-mouse-bites technique. By all means get a fill if you need one. But your description of what you're eating and how hungry you get doesn't indicate to me that anything is at all wrong. You don't WANT to get overly full. Maybe you can try eating just the two eggs now and see if that keeps you until lunchtime. Practice more on the meats that cause you trouble and see if you can master eating them without difficulty. Then when you do get a fill you can proceed without fear. You wouldn't be human if you didn't get hungry after several hours--that's perfectly normal and means you're still alive. :confused:

I am 3 months post op and I have lost 53 Lbs. last week I had emergency gallbladder surgery! Since the removal of my gallbladder, I cannot tolerate any food. Without too much Information, it doesn't stay in my system long at all. Carbohydrates are the safest thing at the moment. High protein/high fats are very destructive to my system at the moment. Any advice/suggestions to make it through this period? I'm hoping my body will adjust- but I struggling to make my protein goal at the moment!