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I had the flu and was throwing up for a couple hours before I could get to the ER and get some anti-nasua meds. It felt like I was going to throw up my band it hurt so badly. I now keep some anti- naseau suppositories ( I know...gross!) with me almost all the time just in case. I was worried about slippage but my surgeon said that the band is really made to withstand vomiting and I was ok. I had a fill scheduled a week or so after and everything was just fine! It hurts like h - e double toothpicks though. Megan

A few days with no loss does not a stall make. My weight loss since surgery has averaged out at about 8-10 pounds a month at three months out, so while 20 is an awesome thing to hope for, do not get upset if it's not reality. Congrats on your awesome success so far! You are doing fantastic.

Did you go thru a program pre-op? For example, I have kaiser and I’m going through a 12 week class. We are learning a lot about nutrition and what to eat. I can send you some pictures of the meal plans if you need inspiration. Or is it that nothing sounds good?

Ok.. A little background During my first unplanned, later in life pregnancy (I was about to turn 40, back in 2013) this particular nurse practitioner suggested that I terminate the pregnancy. I was floored. I'm am a married woman in a stable relationship and this suggestion was way out of line. Unfortunately this pregnancy did not turn out good and we lost the baby. I should've run then but I didn't. In 2014 I found myself expecting again.. Shocker because I have PCOS and in the 20 years of marriage at the time I had only ovulated a couple of times. We never used protection. Which wasn't our best plan, I know.. I was getting excited, we made it past the first few weeks. But Sadly this also did not turn out well and we lost another baby. At my follow up appointment this same nurse practitioner was rude yet again..in her manner of suggesting permanent birth control do to my weight and age. I love my doctor..she is wonderful, her beside manner was the best during my difficult trials. Id hate to leave the practice but today was just another dig. It's been a few years since I've been to the Drs. Since my last miscarriage. So I didn't think much about who I saw. That is until she walked into the room and all these emotions came flooding back. Of course you have to update your medical records. This included my surgery. She saw the scars during my exam so there wasn't any hiding it. It was her comments about my weight loss that really ticked me off today. "So you're BMI is coming down. That's good but you have more to go". I'm not looking for a pat on the back from medical professionals but I've lost almost 60 freaking pounds since I last saw her and my more to go is 25 lbs. If I stay I'm definitely requesting to see my Dr and not this Nurse practitioner. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

:decision: I'm going to have surgery on 6-19-07 and I'm struggling a little with the "Atkins" type diet did great for two weeks and know not so well the last two days. Not sure why. I have had nutritional counceling, a psychological eval and lab work this fri. My Dr. is Dr. M Srekanth in Federal Way, Wa. Any other Tacoma people and any advise on the diet thing?

I am set for lap band surgery on 6/28/07. Dr wants me on high protien slim fast for 4 weeks to shrink the liver. My Dr is Dr Chapman in greenville nc. I am 382 lbs give or take a pound. CAN'T WAIT UNTIL 6/28 Haze

I don't have a date for surgery, but by June 9 will have finished all the pre-op consults, etc. I will just need insurance approval which should not be a problem as I have BC BC federal and the surgery is covered. I am going on vacation mid-june and out of town for work the last week in June. I hope I can have the surgery after that in July. I will find out probably by mid-june. I am ready. My only problem seems to be that now that I have decided on surgery my appetite is through the roof...did that happen to anyone else? Good luck with your surgery. sunny

I told the people I work closely with as soon as I received a surgery date. I was out of work for 3 1/2 weeks and they needed to pick up the slack in my absense. I am an open person and it would have been very difficult to just tell them I was going out on medical leave. They would have assumed the absolute worst and I didn't want to cause them any concern. When I first came back after surgery I looked pretty haggard. I am sure that some people who didn't know I had WLS assumed the worst. I think the word spread and now everyone knows. I get a lot of comments and words of support. Some people ask questions because they are interested in the surgery either for themselves or for a family member. No one has said anything negative or unsupportive at all, at least not to my face! One interesting thing is that I did not tell my extended family I was having surgery (aunts, cousins, etc.). After surgery many of my work "friends" wrote messages of support to my Facebook page. It was pretty apparent that I had had surgery and was home recovering. My relatives all came out of the woodwork asking what was wrong and did I need help. I felt kinda bad that I hadn't told them before but I really had no opportunity to do so. I think the decision whether to tell your co-workers or not is an individual one. I work in an environment where we are generally pretty open with what is happening in our personal lives and it would have been more difficult not to tell than to tell.

I received a recommendation from my husband's co-worker to come here and I'm finding loads of useful information. I am in the early stages of researching lap-band surgery and have a question regarding if some one should have this surgery or not. As many of you have, I have struggled with my weight most of my life. The only way I've ever been able to control my weight is to be hyper,hyper active (exercising 6 days a week for a couple of hours a day) and really constrict my calorie intake(less than 1000 calories a day). While this kept the weight off, it was just too hard to keep up as I was always exhausted. I won't bore you with all my history because I'm sure you're familar with it. Anyhooo...to my question. I'm 5'5" and about 200lbs. I know I don't have as much to loose as many people do but after struggling with it for so many years I'm about to give up and just not care anymore. I really don't want to do it but I'm at my wits end. Most lapband sites I've looked at say I'm not eligible for the surgery and I'm assuming its because of my height/weight ratio. But does that make sense? Do I have to get out-of-control overweight before I do make use of a tool like the lap-band? I know I'm heading there. I'm 38 yrs old and been fighting this since I was 12. I'm so tired of the fight and I want something that will help me with the control issues I have. Are there any people out there who are like me and had a lapband that can provide any words of of advice?

Hi Sophie, Wow do I feel your pain...almost same story with me. It took 6-8 mos for my husband to support me, he doesn't have weight issue either. We have 2 1/2 yr old twins and only a MIL to who will play with the kids once in a while (like once a month). I decided to tell no one, my family back East has little sympathy and can be judgmental. Fortunatly my VSG was covered under my ins, but I had to be over 40 BMI, I was 38BMI at first and rejected. So I gained 15 pounds and made it happen (much easier for dh to accept then for sure). Just wondering if you tried that route? When it came time for my surgery, my dh took the week off from work to care for the babies. He really didn't need to, I recovered in about 4 days. Long weekend would have been enough. Although everyone recovers at a different rate. I am a SAH Mom so I'm not really around anybody when it comes time to eat, except dh. As far as telling co-workers, I might say that I had my gallbladder removed and am on a strict diet (though its no ones business really). I had road blocks too, but now I'm 4 weeks out today with 28 lbs lost. Some days easy, some not. But all in all I'm glad I did it, I'm already feeling the benefits. Hope this helps and keep me posted on your journey. Kelly

GUYS ROOM Hey, that is great. glad you are recovering fast. first month is super exciting. brace yourself for the week 3 stall. take care!!!

I can't honestly answer that. I would talk to your nutritionist. Mine never gave me a number. The only goal she gave me was to get 100 grams of Protein a day. I have been logging my food for the past 3 weeks and I rarely eat more than 1,000 calories a day. I do hit my protein goal about 80% of the time.

I am about 4 weeks out and am having a problem with the SLIMES (we have got to get a better name, but I will admit it is perfectly descriptive). I guess as I am transitioning to more solids, I am eating too fast. It seems to hit me when I am reading or eating lunch at work. I think what happens is that I am distracted by what I am doing and not paying attention to eating slowly. I am taking little bits, but not paying attention to the speed. I do not eat too much because i am only putting a small portion on the plate. For me it feels like you have to burp, but can't. I have on 4 occasions thrown-up. But it is not really like throwing up, it is more like burping up a ton of siliva - sounds wicked gross - really not that bad. It is nothing like real throwing up where you feel out of control. And it feels like it is coming from the bottom of your feet. For me anyway, it is just like a ... bluuuuurp - and I am done. No food is coming up at all. And as soon as I have blorped (technical medical term) I feel instantly 100% back to normal. Weird, but sounds like it seldom lasts for more than a few months. I am not sure if it cures itself, or if blorping simply teaches us to eat slower and the cause is then eliminated.

It only happens if you overdo it, something you're likely to do at least once or twice as you learn the limits of your new stomach. It doesn't even take minutes for me. I feel uncomfortable, the food quickly comes up and I'm back to normal in a minute. I would not call it "vomiting," really, because there is no real force behind it and no bile involved. Certain foods can cause this because they tend to swell when they hit the stomach. So instead of getting in several bites, you'll get surprised when after three you don't have room and feel discomfort. Those foods for me (in the beginning, now I know my limits!) were bread, Pasta, rice and tortillas. A lot of people have trouble with scrambled eggs. You learn your new full signals and adjust quickly. The most important thing is to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, instead of waiting for the old bloated and stuffed feeling to hit. ~Cheri

I was worried too and I'm only supposed to have 2 oz and I'm 8 weeks out...but I asked my surgeon bc I seem to be able to gulp without even thinking and was worried I was messing everything up, he said nope this is normal bc your tummy is a sleeve and especially depending on how vertical the portion is that remains it may nearly go straight through you! No worries! My bet is if you are in mushies or when you can start adding some dense proteins you will be full must faster! I still am barely able to finish two oz, so for example I am supposed to have 4TBSP of food(yes 2oz) so last night I had 2TBSP Taco Ground Beef(heated) then topped it with 2 TBSP Cottage Cheese, so all protein and I had to stop with one to two small bites left. If it was Greek yogurt it woulda gone down super easy. Hope that helps some!

Hi everyone, I'm new here and have a few questions. I have spent the past few months, almost a year on lapbandtalk.com forum because that was the surgery I wanted, and at the time the only one my Surgeon would perform on me. My surgeon was admit that because I have Crohns Disease the only true safe WLS surgery would be the band, or maybe an outside chance at the sleeve, but he felt best about band. Obviously at that appointment he gave me a list of stuff to get done before he would see me again, lose 18 lbs, see the food shrink, see the nutritionist, see the Diabeties dr, and all the normal WLS stuff. The Dr had told me it normally takes 6 moths to a year to complete the list, and get the ok from all the different doctors, Nutritionist and so on. I lost the 18 lbs in 10 days, and had all the doctors signed off on this within 3 weeks. When I went back to see my surgeon nobody at his office could believe I completed the check list that fast, and they put in my approval request for Band surgery. My insurance, which is good insurance, and the dr office says approves damn near everyone denied me, stating they needed more information. I gathered up all the info my surgeon told me to, it was resubmitted, and denied stating not medically necessary at this time. The surgeon then resubmitted the request, and it came back denied, Due to Crohns disease, and requested my surgeon call the med director at Blue Choice. Turns out the insurance company is worried about corrosion from the band, and with Crohns this could be really bad. My surgeons stance was that the band is really the safest way to go because if the crohns flares up they can drain the band, or even remove it if really needed. Long story longer, I got denied again, I called Blue choice Insurance myself, and asked to speak to the med director and was told they only talk to doctors, not policy holders. I have called Blue choice three and four times a week for months now, they still wont give in and let me speak to a med director. I would think as a paying policy holder I should be able to speak to the person who is making med decisions regarding my health, right? My surgeon keeps pushing too, without much luck. Last week my surgeon calls me and says come in tomorrow I need to talk to you. I go in to the office, and the girl behind the desk tells me, no charge for today, doctors orders, ok great, a free bee. Instead of taking me to a exam room they walk me to the surgeons office, and he says have a seat, at this point I'm thinking oh crap, he is gonna tell its all over and no surgery at all for me. I was amazed at what did actually say, and confused by it at the same time. The surgeon proceeds to tell me that if I agree to switch procedures he has been lead to believe that the insurance company will cover me for the sleeve. This really blows my mind! I have crohns, which is a mouth to anus disease, meaning it can show up anywhere between those two places. While my Crohns has been restricted to my Intestine, and has not been active, it is always a concern, which is why I can't have the full bypass. My Surgeon says we can most likely move forward very quickly avoiding the 6 moth wait for the sleeve due to the fact that I have been in a holding pattern for almost a year now. I want to get this done ASAP, but I also want to know what I'm walking into, so I'm going to continue to read every damn thread on this board that I can right up until surgery. I have spent the past six days reading online about the sleeve, and trying to research the sleeve with Crohns patients, but I can not find any info regarding the two of them together. Does anyone on this forum have crohns? If so how is the sleeve working for you? Has anyone heard of someone with crohns having the sleeve? Has anyone here had the band and switched to the sleeve? Would you get sleeved again if given the choice? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I'm not sure of the caloric value but I'm into pan drippings! Lol seriously though, my mom made a slow cooker pot roast and I added some water to the juices to make me a broth and it was delicious and still considered a clear liquid. We also had chicken fajitas and I did the same with that. I only suggest this if acid is not a concern for you. If acid reflux is a problem the spices might bother you. And, if possible maybe a no sugar added applesauce with a scoop of protein powder for a snack once or twice a week. I'm still trying to figure out what's good and what's not so good luck on your journey!!

I got the call a couple of days ago saying that I have a date for my surgery which is March 4th, but that the doctors could change it because it is based on when the doctor can do it. I started my journey in November 2012, and when I was weighed the doctor said that I need to maintain my weight which was 256. Now that the holidays passed I gained 4 pounds and now at 260. I am stressing thinking when I go for my doctor check up before my surgery they are going to post pone it cause I gained a little. Has his happen and they had to push it back, or are they going to be easy on me? Because right now I am working out like crazy and dieting so I can drop the extra lbs before I have to go in which might be in two weeks.

I just had a fill this week....had 1.25 in my band but my surgeon only pulled out .50. He said he also pulled out some air so some saline may also be in the band. He then pushed in another 1cc on top of the .50cc. Kinda has me wondering with the original .75 went but, my doc also said some can evaporate. I know my tubing didn't get punctured the first time because he got the port first shot. I'm just taking this last fill easy and see if the restriction stays. If not I'll see if he'd check me with flouro just to make sure. Did your surgeon use flouro this time around?

I have given up trying to fight the battle on my own. I go every week to the salon and have my eyebrows and upper lip done. $15.00 well spent in my opinion.

Hi- I'm Dianne the one Kim talked about about throwing the scale out of the window. I did that 3 time. Eash time with a new scale! It makes me nuts. I go into depression even though I know it goes up and down I get in a real bad mood and I usually would eat more that next "week" because what I was doing didn't make a difference anyway. I weigh in at curves once a month and then at the doctors appointment. Last week I thought I could handle the scale again, so every time I went to curves I got on it. I was wrong. For me I just can't do it. I suggest consentrating on the sizes rather than the #. After all all they really are are Numbers.

Hey! I went to my post op appointment last week and i asked the nutritionist what kind of pain meds i can take when i need them and she said TYLENOL - because advil can create a hole in the pouch. So, I went to the store and bought tylenol - it says "contains: Acetaminophen" right on the front of the bottle. Is that okay to use?

I had my surgery Dec 1st and my husband had his March 30. I am glad we did not have it at the same time as the first few weeks he was able to help me get up and around and for him I was able to drive and support him when he had some dizzy spells. We had lifting restrictions and even bending over to pick up and fold laundry really hurt during the first 4 weeks for me so he did housework when I was recuperating and I was able to do it when he was recuperating. I would personally recommend that it would be a least 30 days apart so that you can help each other in case of emergencies do do lifting or driving if needed. Once you both get to the same stage of food it will be wonderful. We are now cheap dates in splitting a lot of meals when we got out. Congrats on both making the decision to have the surgery, you will not regret it!

Don't believe a thing your body says right now. You're just a few days out of surgery. Right now your sleeve is a traumatized, stapled together, swollen sliver of a stomach and cannot hold very much at all. Everything that's happening now is a very temporary and artificial situation that won't last long. In the meantime, your body still needs 64 ounces of liquids a day. So that's why the instruction "sip, sip, sip" is the correct instruction. So for now sip, sip, and then sip some more. In a few weeks, as the swelling of your new sleeve begins to relax and your sore throat feels better (they stuck a plastic tube down there during surgery) your ability to drink more at a time will return.

Has anyone gotten pregnant after the sleeve? I’m 10 weeks and having bad food aversions and nausea. Idk how I’m going to gain weight when I barely ate before pregnancy and now even less with pregnancy because nothing looks appetizing and I’m sick half the time (not throwing up just nausea). I’m just nervous I won’t be able to eat enough to gain the recommended weight for pregnancy. Sigh! 😞