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Day 3 of pre op liquid diet. Surgery in 5 days on 2/23 which is 11 weeks from when I should have gotten it done but postponed because of Covid spike. I have been reading how much weight people lost in the first 90 days or so and it is inspiring! I understand there will be some rough times ahead but I know this is going to be worth it! I should be back home this time next week thinking what the Hell have I done but tht too will pass. I have enjoyed lot of good reading and gained a bit of knowledge on here in a short time. Let the journey begin!

I think this has a lot to do with being on liquids only for so long. My surgeon only required liquids for one week, and now that I am on real food (although soft in texture) I am really satisfied with small quantities. Today I had a couple of ounces of chicken, cauliflower cheese, mashed swede, carrots and potato with gravy for lunch. Yummy and went down a treat. I have a Midband.

I'm two weeks post op and I think the pre-op diet has been the worst part of the whole thing. I had to lose 15 lbs in a month before the surgery so I took it seriously and I didn't cheat but by the night before surgery I was a wreck. I went in for my final weigh in and the scale at the doctors office did not match up to my home scale. The little M.A taking my weight said"Oh you've only lost a little over half of what the Dr. was asking for" Now my scales were telling me I had lost 17lbs but of course that was first thing in the morning and nude. She said she'd page the Dr. and let me know if he would cancel. I almost hulked out on her. Instead I got in my car and cried then called my husband and told him if the Dr. postponed I was going to eat a giant cheese burger and eat a sundae. I was a little irrational but that is what happens when you are starving. You gotta feed a big girl or we turn into monsters. He didn't postpone and I'm glad I didn't cheat. You can do this!!!!! It's crazy the difference the surgery makes. I have no hunger pains and I have to make myself eat and drink now instead of being a slave to my appetite. Good luck and keep up the good work!

Hi I am 2 weeks post op and I am walking 2 miles but afterwards I am so exhausted. So today I only walked 35 minutes instead of 48 and I am still totally exhausted. My Dr. said to walk 1/2 hour in the a.m and 1/2 hour in the p.m. Does anyone else have this issue with energy?

Hello Everyone, I wanted to stop in and say Hi. I have been looking on this forum for about a week but a bit overwhelmed at how large it is. I wasn't and still not quite sure how or where to start using this forum. I will be having my surgery on Wednesday 8/27/08 with Dr. Felts trough True Results. I am blessed to be married to my first love and highschool sweetheart and have two beautiful boys. 4 and 18 months old. I am doing this surgery for me and so that I can be around to actually enjoy my boys instead of always feeling like I am watching on the sidelines. I look forward to meeting some of you if not most of you along my journey if I can ever figure this forum out. LOL! I have heard many good things about it.

I just posted what I am about to say on another thread.. but I am experiencing exactly what you are wanting to avoid. I have had my band for two years and lost 25 pounds. I also got pregnant and had a baby in that time so I forgive myself a year of that time. So I have been trying to get back to where I was before getting pregnant and I had a fill in February that ending up being a nightmare for me and went to the ER and had most of my Fluid removed. I've been getting fills since then and up until Friday had been able to eat whatever, whenever. Friday I went from 6cc's in my band to 6.5cc's and now I cannot eat real food and have only been taking TINY sips of Water, broth, etc. I took a drink of milk yesterday morning and could not keep it down so that irritated my band. I was sipping the rest of the day and was lucky to keep any of it down. Today, the same thing and to be honest, I am SICK of it. I cannot find a happy medium and I am starting to resent this band. I am so stressed out about it and I am just tired of dealing with it anymore. Yes, I know this is a poor attitude, but I cannot help feeling this way. My life right now does not allow me time to drive an hour to my doc every week to figure this out and I am at a loss. This has been such a huge emotional struggle for me and I dont even know what I want anymore, other than I would love to eat something to get rid of this headache I have from hunger. I am so sad and frustrated right now I am just beside myself.

I hit that 70 pound mark today! I'm finally losing at a pretty good pace again, at least this week. I'm now just one pound from a "normal" BMI! I bought a size 10 pant suit yesterday, and it fits!! Yahoo! I love my band!

I looked into WLS a few years ago, but my insurance didn't cover it, so that was that. A couple weeks ago, my wife told me that someone at her work is having WLS and that her insurance covers it. I've always had her insurance as my secondary insurance, but it never occured to me that they would cover it even if mine didn't. I called the clinic that her co-worker had hers done at, and inquired about my insurance situation. Sure enough, if my primary insurance doesn't cover, the secondary will. That clinic is out of network, but told me that they will bill as out of network, but then for my co-pay they will only charge me as much as if I was in-network. I made an appointment. I completed my paperwork and faxed it in a few days ago. I was scheduled to have a phone appointment tomorrow, and then a meeting with the surgeon a week from tomorrow. The clinic called me today and said they had a cancellation tomorrow and wanted to know if I wanted to move my meeting with the surgeon to then. I'm super excited to meet with the surgeon tomorrow and get my process started. I'm hoping that my secondary insurance doesn't have a 6 month process the way a lot of them do. As for my story, I've been overweight a good portion of my life. When I was 17, I was helping my dad move an 1800 pound safe off a truck and it fell off the truck and onto my foot. It resulted in a 10 day hospital stay and amputation of my foot. Even with that, I've always been active but a few years later was north of 300 pounds. A few years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes and also borderline high blood pressure. I've been trying, without success, to get some weght off to keep my diabetes in check. A year and a half ago, I woke one morning with incredible pain in my back. I went to my PCP, who told me essentially to quit being a baby and go home and walk it off, and if I wasn't feeling better in a few days to a week, then come back and see him. Later that afternoon, I went to my chiropractor, who advised me that with my symptoms I should go to the ER. I did and was diagnosed with cauda equina, which is essentially when a disc ruptures and presses into the nerves in your back. I was immediately transported to Swedish in Seattle (about an hour and a half away) and that night had surgery on my back. My neurosurgen told me that if I hadn't had surgery within 72 hours, she is pretty confident I would have been paralyzed. I ended up with some significant nerve damage in my legs, but I was lucky because I seeked out prompt medical attention so I can still walk and have use of my lower extremities. I do still have a lot of nerve pain in my legs, and right now my neurosurgen is trying to address that. Every day that I have to be able to walk and play with my kids is a blessing however. Now I'm hoping to get rid of this weight so I can be even more active and involved in their lives. Wish me luck at my meeting with my neurosurgen tomorrow! I do have my reservations however, because I'm going to Puget Sound Surgical Center, which, for those of you who have been following, is where iggychick got her sleeve done. However, her doctor was Dr. Billing and I'm meeting with Dr. Crouthamel. It will be interesting knowing iggychick's story, how forthcoming he is when I ask about complications, not only his, but of the clinic as a whole. It will show me how trustworthy Dr. Crouthamel is.

Congrats on your weightloss so far. I am also one week post up today and I am down 21lbs( 15 lbs pre-up and 6 lbs post-up) I hope I am not a slow looser.

I have heard this is normal. I had this happen about a week after surgery. It wasn't constant but it would happen a few times a day at least. Everything had a rotten egg flavor to it. It started to taper off and stopped completely after a couple of weeks. Just get your water however you can. Crystal light was a big help and my NUT also approved herbal tea. There are a lot of mint herbal tea options which was also helpful. Just check with your NUT first to make sure it's okay for your plan. Hope it goes away soon!

Hi, I was banded on November 15th. Things have been going well for me until a couple of weeks ago. The joint pain started slowly so I didn't think much of it at first. It started in my knees. The muscles feel tight both up my leg and down into the calf muscles. Now it is my knees, elbow joints, some hip pain, and this morning when I woke up my hands were hurting with the same kind of pain. The pain is the same on both sides of my body. I have tried icing these areas, as well as, taking a nice hot bath, with no effect on the joints. The pain is just as bad after as when I started the treatment. I still have some pain meds left over so I have been taking them at night to help me sleep, otherwise I would not be able to sleep with the pain. It has gotten so bad I can barely navigate the stairs, I'm like a 70 year old woman even though I'm only 33 trying to move somewhere; off the couch, into another room, etc. Everyday I am noticing the pain is worse and has progressed. Has anyone heard of this before? I will be calling my surgeon today but am worried he is going to tell me it's nothing. My quality of life has been reduced to just what has to get done each day. I have never felt anything like this before and it is horrible! Please help! Misty

Chew longer, eat slower. I have a stricture and food gets stuck for me all the time. When I first had surgery, one of my pills for nauseousness got stuck for three days. Sipping warm liquids finally got it down. I wouldn't drink fruit juice as that is liquid sugar and pineapple juice is so acidic it might aggravate an already irritated area.

You are gonna do great. The liquid diet and the post op healing period where liquids are really all I wanted worked wonders to help me forget about food. I found that I didn't miss it and enjoyed the weirdness of living off the Protein shakes. One look at the label of the Premier Protein and the Chike brand powders that I was using was enough to convince me that drinking the 3-4 shakes per day was giving me everything i needed to thrive. Even now.....I'll get in a "stall" period where the scale doesn't move to my liking for a few days......and a few days on liquid diet will resolve it and get things amped up again. It's a tool that has served me well beyond the early days and one I'll use for life. You are gonna do great.

You do have to do shakes in the beginning stages, usually for a liquid pre op diet and then for a week or two after surgery. Many continue to use them because it's an easy source of Protein to make sure they meet their protein requirement post-op. But you don't have to if you are able to get enough protein elsewhere in your diet. Also, you say you have 150lbs to lose, are you saying you wouldn't be satisfied with 105-120 of that being gone forever? Many people change their goals as they lose, especially when they have that much to lose. However, it is a tool, so it is what you make of it. You can lose it all through a lot of effort on your part with working out, and maybe even plastic surgery to take care of lose skin which can account for 5,10,15 lbs or more depending on how your skin reacts to that much weight loss. How well your skin does is based on genes, age, and current condition. There are definitely a lot of variables to consider, and I agree with mags, you should go to a seminar at a local hospital to get more info! And poke around this site, there is much to be learned. Good luck to you!

I know your pain. I had to wait until a blood clot in the brain (stroke at 39) was resolved. I was a week away from surgery and had to go another 4 months! Up side I list 50 lbs before surgery.

I wanted to post a before and during pic of myself. I had surgery 5/3/13 so i am 2 weeks post-op. The before pic was taken before a wedding in late February of this year and the after pic was taken today after church. I've lost 30+ pounds within the past 3 1/2 weeks and though there isn't a big difference i can see i look much smaller. After doing the comparison i truly am so grateful i had the surgery.. I have good and bad days but if this is any indication on how i'm going to feel and look later on in my journey i'm most definitely in it to WIN IT!

I'm in the same place! Twenty gone immediately post op (March 20th), then nothing. Have lost 10 inches, nothing to sneeze at though. BUT I cut out the protein shakes yesterday - dropped a pound today. The first pound in 4 weeks. I have read confliciting reports about OVER-doing protien - your body uses that, not fat stores for energy and to meet BMR. I also gave myself permission to eat like a real person. Healthy protein and veggies, good fats. So, we'll see. I have been feeling like a failure too. Hope that this direction is the right course and good luck!!

When I woke up from the surgery I felt terrible! I had nausea and pain. The nausea continued into the night and all night long. I tried to refrain from throwing up because I know it's bad for the band. In the morning the PA came in and took all the fluid out of my band. By that afternoon I was better and they sent me home. I had a hernia repaired and that may be why I had so much swelling. At home I took my pain meds for about three days and then stopped. I walked almost right away around my neighborhood with my daughters. This helps with the gas pain and healing. From then on it was smooth sailing. Hope this helps!!! Best wishes!!!

Hi everyone, I've seen the Nutritionist, psychologist and had my blood tests. I've got the letters to support my funding application and I have one more Dr visit before I can apply for my funding. I'm in Australia and I"m applying to my Superannuation Fund to be able to access my own money to pay for this surgery. I've been feeling really good about the surgery and I'm still going to do it. I'm just a bit scared. For instance, how bad is the nausea? Are you vomiting for weeks? are you in pain at the site of the band? How long until all of you could return to work comfortably? I may also have to have a small bowel biopsy at the same time and a camera stuck in there to have a look for celiac disease and I think this is what has thrown me into disarray. I'm still going ahead with the surgery, nothing is going to stop me there, I'm just feeling worried. I would really appreciate any of your stories about your own post-operative experiences. Thank you so much in advance.

Every surgeon is different, but at 4 weeks out from my surgery I was allowed 'regular' foods again. The first 2 weeks were full liquids, then 2 weeks soft/pureed.

My NUT directions are fore 8 weeks out. Stages are key...

It was painful...I didn't want to eat and barely wanted to drink I was constipated for a whole week I kept calling the surgery flr telling them the problem they kept telling all kinds of things to buy (so be careful with pain meds because that is what going to cause your constipation) if you have a recliner sleep in it that will be your best friend

They have enough food in them for two or three meals. Few have enough Protein and they are loaded with salt and preservatives. http://www.thedailymeal.com/15-healthiest-frozen-dinners http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/best-frozen-dinners#1 Consider buying frozen veggie blends and cooking up a bag, even with added salt and butter you'd be ahead calorie and nutrition wises. It's probably time to start working on your food choices anyway.

You can do this. You are at a sucky period right now, but it will get a lot better. Don't plan on any significant hair growing in by the wedding, though I've got the hair loss thing going great guns, too. I don't know how old you are, but if you are middle age or post menopause, you might want to check your calories with your nut or doctor. Personally, I don't lose at all on 1000 calories a day. I go to 800 calories a day to see a loss, and I'm still getting in all my Protein with that, too. I just keep it very low carb and eat more vegs. At my fastest (during my honeymoon period) I lost 2 lbs. a week on 800 calories a day. Now I lose maybe a lb a week if I'm lucky. Just some ideas. Best of luck to you.

Good for you! yeah i did 2 weeks too, and I was so glad i did. . . glad your doing so well! Keep up the great work!