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I eat well and exercise. I initially had lost 32# at my 2nd fill on 1-06-10. 11 # pre-surgery for a total of 44, but since then I have only lost 11 #. I need a fill, possibly my portions are too much or water not enough. Can u tell me how and what u eat?

Well, I'm now banded as of 03-11-10. My doctor moved my surgery up a day. It's hard for me to believe there are folks who get banded on Friday & go back to work on Monday. There is no way I could do that. This is the first day I've been able to half way move around without feeling like I'm dying. Even though I'm in pain, it will be well worth it in the long run. :thumbup:

Hi Every 1 I just had surgery on Friday the 23rd. I had diarahha after drinking that liquid (Sat afternoon) for my x-ray which i realize is normal but is it normal to still have it sunday at 10 pm. I have absolutely no desire to drink/eat and i am concerned about becoming dehdydrated. I am feeling that gurgling feeling in my stomach which i am assuming is the air still? Am i doing ok should i be concerned?

01-06-10 Had 2nd fill previous since surgery had lost 32# with total lost at that time 43. Since then have only lost 12#. since I have given up junk food and I exercise, I expect to lose much more. I need a fill I guess. My doc said as long as I lose I don't need a fill but I disagree. I eat well and I get 70+ protein dly. I even gave up my over abundance of decaf coffee . Help me please..............................

I'm 9 days after getting my band. Liquid only diet. So far, as pretty much anyone would on liquid only, I've lost 10 lbs., but I lost that in the 1st 5 days...nothing since. I was hoping it would be more. Am I being unrealistic? No fills yet, and my 1st post-op appointment with surgeon is tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm at the beauty shop right now and my stylist said you look great. I said thanks. Then as we were talking she said one of her clients lost 60 some lbs the right way by eating right and exercise. Was that a jab? I said that I have been N fat my entire life except for 3 yrs that I starved myself. Every time I lost 10 lbs I'd gain back 15 and so on and so forth. Now she weighs 110 soaking wet. PEOPLE!,!!!

I feel for you. I purposely didn't go out to eat or to the movies to avoid just those kinds of foods. I don't know if I could have held out if popcorn was held right under my nose like that. Fortunately for me, I couldn't stand the thought of eating anything at 10 days post-op. Hang in there and Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

Ah, thanks :laugh: I meant that mostly in a joking way, but I seriously would like to be at goal by Dec. 31st. That's less than 10 lbs. per month - I hope I can do it! If not, well hey... anything to keep me reaching for it.

I lost 10 pounds in the first week, then it stopped. It takes most people 2 - 4 fills to notice the help of the band. Before that it is just hard dieting. It is called banster hell by many and I would agree. I am 8 weeks post opt and now at 5.6 cc and finally feel like I have a band. Before I could eat anything and felt hungry alot. I followed the rules best I could and ate small meals slowly. But it was hard until the band started working for me. Once your swelling goes down, dont be suprised to feel like you have not even had surgery. It is disappointing and frustrating. But once though banster hell, the weight will starting falling off. If I could give you any advice, I would tell you to follwo the rules best you can and put the scale away for at least one month. You will drive yourself crazy the first few weeks. At least I did. I finally put it up and decided to only weigh at Dr appts until I got to green zone. Best of luck.

Do a search of all the boards on this site and look for threads with this issue as the subject...... quickly this was my reason. I have two RL close friends that both had the RNY one is 4 years out and one is 2. Friend that is 4 years PO has gained back almost all of the 120 lbs she lost because she never suffered from the Dumping and could eat anything. She is horrible about taking her vitimins and subsequently suffered a lot of depression mostly due to regaining her weight after all the money and crap she went through......... she is considering getting banded now. Friend 2, has lost over 120lbs and just had a tummy tuck and boob lift and looks awesome. She stays away from the dumping foods and has done extremely well.................. I knew RNY wasn't for me because... 1. I want all my innards to stay intact and there if I need them later in life. 2. Taking 4-6 weeks off work is not an option, with my band I had surgery on Thursday and was back to my desk job on Monday. My boss has no clue as I just took 2 days of PTO and that was it. 3. My issue is portion control, and I want to be able to get a fill 1, 2, 10 years down the line if I see myself being able to eat to much, where as with the RNY you CAN restretch your pouch 4. Insurance paid for it. 5. It can be unfilled in times of medical need or pregnacy 6. Any general surgeon can remove it in an emergency.. vs the bypass which is forever. To answer the weight question... Just do a search for BOO, JulieinNYC, Neal )OUsooner, and many many many others they have lost well over 100 lbs and in some cases over 200 lbs... My doc says average weight loss is 1-3 pounds per week........ so that is 52-150+ in a year........ and in my book that is fast enough Good luck in whatever decision you make. Afterall it is YOUR journey and no one elses.

Tomorrow will be one week since I got my band. :thumbup:After a false start (I was supposed to go in on March 29, and was postponed for two weeks because the Dr. heard a wheeze.) I was a little discouraged. After one week I feel good, I've lost 20 lbs. (including the 10 I lost on the pre-op diet which I had to continue for an add'l two weeks after I was postponed) I have to say I was not as diligent the second two weeks on pre-op diet, in fact I had two "last" dinners! I feel a little sore, but better each day. The biggest problem this week has been boredom since I am used to working, and I was not even able to walk my dogs. Tomorrow I go back to work for a few hours. I also have to say my friends and co workers have been VERY supportive which has meant a lot. My husband has also been very helpful and supportive. I think my biggest problem so far has been getting enough protein, and I wonder if I am eating enough. I find it tough to drink two protein drinks a day as recommended so I am adding protien powder to the foods I've been eating, 1/2 cup of protien for breakfast and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of soup twice a day. I am not hungry, but get very gassy after I eat.

Tomorrow will be one week since I got my band. :thumbup:After a false start (I was supposed to go in on March 29, and was postponed for two weeks because the Dr. heard a wheeze.) I was a little discouraged. After one week I feel good, I've lost 20 lbs. (including the 10 I lost on the pre-op diet which I had to continue for an add'l two weeks after I was postponed) I have to say I was not as diligent the second two weeks on pre-op diet, in fact I had two "last" dinners! I feel a little sore, but better each day. The biggest problem this week has been boredom since I am used to working, and I was not even able to walk my dogs. Tomorrow I go back to work for a few hours. I also have to say my friends and co workers have been VERY supportive which has meant a lot. My husband has also been very helpful and supportive. I think my biggest problem so far has been getting enough protein, and I wonder if I am eating enough. I find it tough to drink two protein drinks a day as recommended so I am adding protien powder to the foods I've been eating, 1/2 cup of protien for breakfast and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of soup twice a day. I am not hungry, but get very gassy after I eat.

Hello.... My surgery date is 2/22/10 im excited however, I am on a 2week liquid diet and it is VERY HARD! I did good for the first 2 days and I broke down and had a small order of fries from mcdonalds. Do you think that's going to harm me?

It's been 8 months since I had my face lift. Everyone tells me I look great, but I am very disappointed that my face is still numb. I am afraid it will not go away. I was miserable the first 7-10 days after gall bladder surgery. It was a much harder recovery than sleeve surgery.

During the liquid phase I used pre made shakes by premier Protein. I did not have any Popsicles what so ever and i ate regular Yoplait yogurt which was recommended by my nut. Because you eat so little of it at any one time the sugar did not bother me at all nor did the fat. I cannot tolerate any sugar substitutes so I just tried to choose things without sugar. I lived on homemade chicken broth, 1percent cottage cheese, yogurt and creamed Soups through the liquid phase and then ended up living on it through the puréed stage as well. I did not do well with puréed meats and I don't eat Beans. If you do that is a very good source of protein. I could not and still cannot tolerate eggs after trying them puréed. That is the only thing that made me vomit. I am still bummed about that because I used to love eggs. Every few weeks I will try eggs again to see if I can handle it but they weigh very heavy in my pouch and make me uncomfortable. Also, in the first few months after I even found myself lactose intolerant from the sugar in milk. That finally did go away. I also did not even like the taste of anything sweet or greasy. I ended up buying Kozy Shack chocolate pudding at about 4 months because it is not overly sweet. Prior to that I did not even touch pudding. That is about the only sweet thing I actually eat at this point and I do eat it fairly often. I never had full on dumping syndrome. I am not sure why but I am very happy about it. I am down 114lbs in 10 months with 31 to go until goal.

My family had pizza night last night too, and I'm 10 days post op. It's not pizza, but I went to Whole Foods and got this amazing Cream of Tomato soup. It tasted sooo delicious! Once I move to puréed foods, I'm going to make that ricotta bake that I see floating around. I know it's hard, but we can figure out a way to make this work and get healthy!

Ok, I was banded on 10/31 I am able to eat most anything. I have 5cc's in a 9cc band. I have decent restriction but am not at my sweet spot. Has anyone been eating south beach diet foods? The pizzas are pretty good. They have 30 grams of protein and 300 or so calories. I knowit's bread, but it's low carb. Has anyone else gone this route?

I bought an organic throat spray of aloe vera extract and some other natural ingredients .... it was $10 at the all natural store. Its supposed to stop sore throat pain from acid reflux and other issues .... i swear by that stuff.

My doctor encouraged me to be out walking and doing any excercise I felt up to doing, as long as it wasn't something that strained the stomach muscles. Avoid lifting more than 10 pounds, don't do situps or crunches, and you should be just fine. I'm happy that you're feeling so well! Enjoy the warm weather and be active! It's great for your body.

I am a professional body piercer, have been doing it for 10 years. THe tongue is not really painful but can swell for upto 2 weeks. If you do soft foods, nothing hot or spicy for 4 or 5 days you will be fine. I reccomend peroxyl for cleaning, it is made by colgate and doesn't burn. The random swelling I have never experienced or know anyone else that has. I have a bigger guage barbell in my tongue and have never chipped my teeth. Adk for it to be pierced back a bit further and it is much less likely to chip teeth. Most people do it for the enhancement of oral sex, I'm not sure how it would get in the way. I know that if you suck on ice the barbell retains the cold for several mins, the same with heat. That can cause a different sensation. I say go for it, but if you are doing them that close together, ask if you will get a discount if you do them both the same day, it is less set-up and break down and less time overall. I always gave a slight discount for multiple piercings. Also I would start taking viatmin E, it helps the body to heal faster. If you have any questions feel free to ask either here or in a PM. ~Mandy

lol...Alright..So my 23rd B-day is 08/08/06..I was thinking about getting my eye brow pierced?..and then i was thinking on 08/10/06 (my 1 year surgery anniversary) to get my tongue pierced..I need thoughts :) Does anyone have anything pierced and did it hurt? what are the rules after getting your tongue pierced? liquids for a week?? I am still iffy about the tongue one but its something i really want (isn't it a turn on for guys? ) What do you want to get pierced??? hehehe Kristen

I agree...Paul is cute!! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/172/160 5'7''

This is my story of having my Lap-Band surgery with Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. He can be found at Celebrate and enjoy myself with a wonderful BBQ dinner with the family. Oh, how I love those fried pickles! At least they won't be completely gone from my life in the future, though they may be the meal, and not just the appetizer. Since I was a So.Cal local, I decided to meet the clinic shuttle at the San Diego International Airport. Considering the long term parking fee was $9 per day, I was pleased to find the lot was literally next door to Terminal Two baggage claim. After a five minute walk, I was waiting for the shuttle driver. At the San Diego Airport, there are escalators with descending arrivees. I waited at the bottom, looking in the same direction that the arriving passengers would be looking. With that vantage point, I easily saw a Hispanic gentlemen holding a passenger's name up, and wearing an OCC i.d. tag. I approached him to let him know I was here. The driver, Francisco, informed me we had a third person to wait for, but her flight wouldn't be here for another 40 minutes or so. Oh well... back to sitting I go. Fast forward, and all three patients were accounted for. We walked out into the short term parking lot, boarded a large late model van, and made our way out of the lot and towards the border. Because today was Sunday, there was no clinic to go to, so we headed straight for the Lucerna Hotel. Crossing into Mexico was easy. However, glancing across the border at the traffic headed back to the U.S., we knew we had a fun wait ahead of us when we returned. The driver estimated we'd have a 2-3 hour wait coming back-- unless you decided to return in the middle of the night. It was ALWAYS this long. *sigh* Before we arrived, I asked what time we'd be picked up from the hotel. The driver said 8:00am. If you brought a companion with you, you wouldn't need to check out. Less than 10 minutes inside Tijuana, I knew we were getting close to the hotel. I knew we were close, because Francisco began to point out the Domino's and pizza Hut nearby (did he KNOW why we were even here?). And at last, the Hotel Lucerna appeared. On the outside, it looked like any standard older hotel. Six storeys tall, and each room seemed to have a balcony. Our luggage was taken out of the van and brought alongside the front desk for us to check in. When it was my turn, I identified myself, and was presented the documents to sign-- payment for the room was taken care of. Since I saw the sign as I entered, I asked for the internet code so I could access the free wireless internet. They wrote it down on my key envelope. The bellman offered to take my luggage up, but it was no big deal, so I took it up with me to the fifth floor. I found my room, and used the electronic keycard. Inside, I found a king-size bed, marble bathroom countertop, two 600ml bottles of complimentary Water, and complimentary soaps, shampoo, and hair dryer. Ironing board and Iron in the closet. No ice bucket. Hair dryer didn't work. Placard advertising order pizza on the room table. I hid that. I've stayed in worse rooms, but have definitely stayed in better. Personally I wouldn't give it any better than three starts The television has free channels, and some premium movie channels. No Pay Per View, but ports on the front indicate you could bring a portable DVD player or game system to hook up. I brought my laptop, so I could always use that to watch movies. Ahh, the laptop! Time to log in and let the wife know I made it ok (the kids prevented her from joining me). The wireless router name is unsecured and easy to connect to. However, as soon as you try to go to a website, the Lucerna security page pops up and asks you for your code. And after numerous attempts, it STILL wouldn't work. I headed downstairs, and realized that my front desk clerk had bad writing. The Access code is "lucernaXXX", with XXX being the room number you're in. The password is a five digit code they'll give you. Once I set down my free bag of ice (still no bucket) and entered it in all correctly, it worked. Slow and spotty, but it worked, and better to use Skype at $.02 per minute than my cellphone at $1.10 per minute. I set a trashcan as an ice bucket and iced down my final diet shake. Final shake, but not yet... time to go across the street to the local convenience store for a couple small bags of chips and a diet soda. THE last carbonated soda. Ahhhh... delicious. I looked out the window at the traffic circle of not so late cars and taxis circling endlessly, and the obligatory siren in the distance. This seems to ALWAYS be a siren somewhere within earshot. If you like sirens, Tijuana is for you. I never left the room again that day. Enjoyed my final shake and water, and nodded off at 10:30pm. THE SURGERY DAY (9/4/06) The surgery day came roughly, with me being awoken numerous times during the night by sirens, my dreams, and a bed that was decidedly not like home. But 7:00am was here, and time for me to kick it into gear for an 8:00am pick-up. I had just enough water left in my complimentary water bottle to brush my teeth with. Packed it all up, and headed downstairs. I emerged from the elevator to find the two people I met at the airport, plus some new arrivals. Right on time, Mrs. Ortiz (The Doc's mom), a small, spry, short-white haired lady with more energy than the room, and took us in two separate trips. I was in trip #1. With my luggage, I got into her late model Volvo S80 along with others, and we headed to the clinic. About a 5 minute trip. We parked in the underneath parking at the nice looking clinic building and took the elevator up. The elevator doors opened into the clinic reception area. We identified ourselves, and Mrs. Ortiz left to pick up the rest of the patients. We went to the receptionist's desk and signed the legal paperwork that basically releases them for just about anything. I signed. I was also asked whether I had brought my original paperwork that I faxed back. No, I said, I didn't. No problem-- they had a copy. (and I thought "then why ask me for one"?) I sat down and picked out a magazine to read. If you're a guy and REALLY into yachts, you'll be very happy with your reading choices. Other than that, good luck. Luckily, the movie Batman was playing on a TV in the corner of the waiting room. I didn't have to wait long. Shortly thereafter, I was called back for them to draw blood. They stuck a port in the side of my left wrist, and drew what blood they needed. They then taped the port in place-- this would be the port they would use for the duration of my stay. Back to the waiting room I go. I was then called to the receptionist desk to get my photo digitally snapped-- for what, I had no idea. Sat back down. Got called up again to see the cardiologist. He asked me a few questions about my health, then had me blow in a device for as hard and as long as I could. I expected some sort of resistance as I blew, but I was wrong. I ran out of air mighty quick, but the cardiologist keep encouraging me to keep on blowing... keep on blowing... I did until the machine beeped. Phew! Then I got up and into a back room where he started to place his sticker collection all over my body. Well, that's what it seemed like. Actually, he was placing sensors on key parts for an EKG. Once hooked up, it took about 30 seconds for a full reading. Between the lung thingy, and the EKG, I passed. No one came back to me in a panic over my blood test, so I could only assume that went well, too. ...and then I was called again to meet with the nutritionist, Dr. Miranda. She struck me as much younger than I had expected, and spoke better English than I expected. Don't ask me.why I thought she'd be older and less fluent. She had me weigh-in and measure my height. Then she handed me a nutrition guide, and I followed along with a Powerpoint. I was encouraged to write notes. She said I had done well on my diet, and based on that and no other medical problems, my surgery should take nine minutes. NINE? Are you kidding? No.. once I was under anesthesia, it should only take nine minutes, unless they ran into a hiatal hernia, in which case they'd repair it and it would take longer. Wow. I asked a few other questions, and we were done.... ...and BACK to the waiting room. I found the page in "GENERIC YACHING JOURNAL #836" that I had left off from... and then I was called in. This time, I was told to bring my luggage with me. Everyone else in the waiting room wished we luck, and I passed through the doors to the back. I was led to my room where I'd be for the next day. I was told to strip to my birthday suit, and to put on the gown open at the back, and a most flattering set of paper undies that do nothing for support. I did this, left the room to use the bathroom, and returned to my room. I was invited to use the phone in the room of I'd like to make any calls, including anywhere in the U.S. for free, AND they could call me using the clinic's toll-free line. That was a VERY nice, and I proceeded to do so. Earlier, I was also shown two computer terminals for internet access while I was there. My nurse, Josefa, came in and asked me to lie down on the bed. She set up an i.v. and I was also handed a cup with two pills... one to relax, and the other an anti nausea. I was told to place them under my tongue so they'd dissolve then I could swallow them if and when I chose. No water, though. I laid back down and the anesthesiologist came in. I made the obligatory joke about putting me to sleep for the right time, and he joked back that that was easy-- WAKING me would be the tricky part! No problems with anesthetics in the past, so he left. Dr. Ortiz came in and we chatted comfortably about the surgery, how men do well with weight loss under the band, etc etc. He left. Some time later they called me in, and I walked into the surgery room. Climbed onto the bed, and they strapped both my arms on extending planks reminiscent of a crucifixion. I asked why I needed to be strapped, but I don't recall getting a reply. After asking which one of them was going to scratch my itchy nose, a strap was loosened and I scratched. Back the arm went, and back on went the straps. That's the last I remember... ....I then woke up, back in my hospital bed in my room, with a mask blowing oxygen in my face, and I was told to wake up and breathe. I did... slowly. I was told it was done, and the lumps and soreness on my abdomen confirmed it. I wasn't in any great deal of pain, but I would have the occasional pain in my chest for about 5 seconds before it dies down. I was told that was residual air. Ok. My hospital room had DirectTV (they all did), but my remote wouldn't control the volume or power, so the staff became my volume control. Later I found out that my surgery took eleven minutes, since there was a small hiatal hernia that a couple stitches remedies. After I was in my room about 1-2 hours, I decided to try walking. I ended up walking three laps around the floor, but near the end of the third lap, I started to feel light headed. Off to bed again, and I felt better. I noticed on my way back into my room, they had an ID card letting the world know I had a lap band-- the back had a VG sticker on it. So, I got a Vanguard belt. A couple hours later, I decided to take some laps, but I ended up sitting at one of the community terminals to pound out a quick status report to the forum. My wife called and they transferred it there. But after 10 minutes of sitting, I started to feel light headed. Or was it nausea? I wasn't sure, and knew I didn't want to find out. I made a beeline to my room to lie down, and felt better. Phew! During that evening, I had some ice chips, a Capri Sun juice, an Otter Pop, and some chicken broth. I tolerated it all well. On an earlier venture to the bathroom, I lifted my gown and found my incisions looking much neater that I thought they would, all nicely glued in place. It almost looked like I had gotten into a nasty tangle with an alley cat. THE DAY AFTER The next morning, I had some more juice and chicken broth, and they told me to go ahead and change into my street clothes. Guess that was my subtle hint that I was being deported to the hotel. They offered me the chance to shower, but I decided I could do that just as easily at the hotel, so I packed up. While I was in the waiting room, another patient asked me if I was having my procedure today. They were surprised to hear I had already had it done yesterday! Another was surprised I was wearing jeans comfortably. Both comments made me feel good; that I had tolerated the whole affair well. So, I'm now in my room, pounding this little recap for all of you and waiting for tomorrow's 7:00am shuttle back to San Diego. I'm going to have a nice shower, go downstairs for some chicken broth and juice, and maybe walk. And there's a basket of fruit in my room, unlike the first room, I had. Who said Mexicans don't have a sense of humor? I hope this isn't just the end of the story. I hope this is the beginning of a brand new life where I can enjoy 99% of all life has to offer. And for that other 1%? When you have that delicious Diet Pepsi, think of me, would ya?

Hello, I was banded in Mobile on 6-19-07 by Dr. Hannon. Love him! I go for another fill tomorrow & hopefully weight loss will take off. It has been a really slow process so far but I'm not giving up.

I'm on Day 1 of a 10-day Optifast shake Pre-Op Phase (I'm avoiding the word, "diet"). I get 5 OptiFast shakes and 1 OptiFast bar per day. The bar is repulsive. Yeesh! I'm confident that some skinny person devised it to torture fat people. The shakes are 'okay', 6-8 ounces. But need to be consumed 'immediately' (per the instructions) for 'best taste'. I drink them 'immediately', but they still aren't going to win any contests for shake-of-the-year! Two more shakes today... (total of 960 calories if I can choke down the other half of the snack bar)... and then nine more days 'til surgery. I find myself going from excited to nervous to eager to anxious to... you get the picture. I hope I've made the right decision.