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Thanks! I think Zip Fizz counts as carbonated. I won't use it after surgery next week.

Well I figured it was time to start documenting everything, so here it goes. On March 10, my best friend was telling me about how we should get the lapband to lose weight. Now being a member of weight watchers for many years at first I was very against the idea (if you even mention it on the weight watchers boards you get yelled at!) Then I decided that maybe I should look into this and talk to my doctor. So I say my doctor on March 14 and she said that she thought it was a good idea. I called the surgeons office to sign up for his seminar on March 29 and the moment he started explaining everything I knew this was for me. He gave us a packet of everything we would need to do as far as clearances so I started making appointments. Here is my timeline: April 2 Psychologist April 3 Gastro (need endoscopy) April 4 Cardiologist (need echo) April 5 Chest xray April 11 Pulmonary April 16 Echo April 23 Endoscopy April 23 Nutritionist 1st appt May 8 Nutritionist 2nd appt June 12 Nutritionist 3rd appt June 10 Surgeon!!!!!!!!! June 16 Hospital bariatric coordinator So before I started this process I had called my insurance company HIP and asked what the requirements were and I was told it had to be medically necessary (yeah no six months) then on May 5 I just happened to be on HIPs website when I see that bariatric surgery was revised on April 15, 2008. I almost died when I saw that. According to their website you now needed six months diet. I called HIP and the girl had no idea what bariatric surgery was and I had to give her the link to the website and of course she had no clue and said whatever it says on the website is what it is. Well I was pissed. So I told the nutritionist this and she said ok then come to me for six months. Then I thought did I just open up a can of worms? Although I didn't want to not say anything and get everything else done and then have to start over with a six month diet. So I figured let me just tell her. Then I decided I should probably go talk to the surgeon, even though he doesn't want to see you until you have every clearance including the nutritionist. So I get the appointment and tell him everything about the insurance and he tells me that he probably won't be taking my insurance much longer! I almost cried. He then tells me that he was going to submit everything I had up until this point and for me to get the nutritionist to sign off on the three visits I went to. Well 2 days later I was approved. I could not believe it. Thank God. My surgery date is July 16 and I couldn't be happier.

:thumbup: I appreciate your encouraging comments. I am really pouring it out on my blog. It just helps for me to get this all out!! I will see what happens as I go in this week. IF I get another fill it will not be much but I just keep hoping each month it will be enough...thanks, thanks for the kind words. Looks like you are doing really well! Keep it up now!

:thumbup: Well I am now out of school for the year! That is a good feeling! I NEED the rest and time to regroup :w00t: My daughter and I are joining the community center and will be lifting some weights and I intend to do a lot more exercise. Right now I still feel kind of tired. Even though I was off yesterday I am tired. School just wears me out. I read an article this week on the Spark that was about how working overtime makes you fat. Studies done, etc.that show it. Well, well what surprise that is! But there is nothing I can do about that! I have tried to evaluate how to make it easier and it just does not happen. Also does not leave me with lots of time to work out, etc. I am exhausted at the end of every day. Can barely get home, make a meal, clean it up, walk about 25 min, grade some stuff then go to bed at midnight. Weekends I catch up. Heavens if I have to get up early on a weekend. We go to church Sat night which I hate but is good for the catching up on sleep. Some Sundays I grade papers ALL DAY LONG. Oh well, BREAK time is here! Yeah! OK now the weight thing. I am going in Monday for my 11months. I think I have gained a couple more pounds. So I have lost maybe 35 lbs total. Have not lost a THING since November. I have to go to an open house for a family member and I have a sister in law who had a roux-en-y right before Christmas--she had lost 70 lbs. Who knows now? It is going to be HARD to look at her and not be upset. This is just not going the way I thought it would. By the time school was out I thought I would be maybe 20 lbs from goal. Well I am nowhere near that and not losing. I am struggling to not gain.... I need to lose about 65 lbs. and it is just not happening. Gosh I would like to lose 5 lbs a month?? I would get there eventually. So tired of this. I read the answer to my blog and have started just this week to eat very high protein with little or no carbs. However, I have fallen down at the end of the day a couple of times this week and had some fruit. It has been hard. Interesting that when I do this I feel really tired no matter what time of day it is and need to shut my eyes and sleep! My head starts to hurt and eyes hurt. Hmmmm.... The two days I ate so much protein I felt invigorated and good. Just ran into trouble on the other two. I did a BIG protein shake this morning adding 26g whey to 2c milk (16g) and the low sugar inst breakfast (5g). That is a whopper 47g for breakfast. I intend on having meat if I have anything else before dinner. There are some carbs there but am trying to do what was suggested to me. I think I will be able to now especially with school out. What I need to see if some RESULTS! If I start losing and I feel a lot better I will be motivated to go on. However, this is just like Atkins diet. I went on that once. Lost 13 lbs first month then like 5 then it stopped. As usual for me. But with the band, maybe this is different. So I go in Monday to weigh (great??) and probably get yelled at again. I have no idea if I will get a fill or not. I am not going to base my life and my outlook on that darn fill and it making a difference. I have done that every month since I started this mess and it has been a severe letdown every single time. What a rollercoaster ride this is! I also am NOT going to let the negativity from those in charge at my doc's office get me down. I will NOT let them do that to me. I am trying as hard as I can. I exercise DAILY with a fast walk at 20-30 minutes, I am drinking more water than ever, I gave up any caffeine, carbonated drinks, bread when eating out(I have NONE!! when I used to limit myself anyway!), and am writing down most of the time too. What else is there to do??????? I SELDOM feel any what I would call restriction. I have just about given up on hoping the the band is going to help me to restrict and stop eating at a very small amount. I do not eat much anyway but I guess it is too much..... I have a friend online who was struggling too. She just got a fill, said she now gets stopped and almost throws up at each meal. Has lost 7 lbs this month! How great! Where oh where is that for me! I told her she would get the throwing up figured out and quit eating at the right point. That will stop. Again I have another friend who had a roux-en-y and she did that but eventually knows exactly how much to eat and has done well. She has less in her band than me. I am so happy for her but man this is HARD to take. I think I have 6 1/2 in my 9 band. How much does it take? How much will they put in? I fear that they will say--hey that is it, we aren't putting any more in, it isn't safe so now it is all up to you. And guess what? I am not getting it done....... I know my doctor is very conservative. They told me this. Which is good, they have had almost no complications with their bands. But gee this is just not doing much for me. I just do not get any help from it, very, very little. Very disappointing after 11months.... Also I am SICK SICK SICK of the way I look! I have this big fat shelf belly that is gradually growing back. UGH, UGH!! I wanted to just look better this summer. UGH. So disappointing. I think my body has been on a diet so so so long it just adjusts to whatever level I am at. All thyroids been checked, are OK, I am not diabetic, had that test. I just suck! Well this is long, it is nice to have time to get it all out. Please don't read this if you want encouragement because it ain't here. This is just a place to POUR it out. I am gearing up now to go in Monday and getting in my ZEN place so I do not get upset when they tell me I am a failure... I just keep repeating "zen, zen, zen....." I will keep trying to exercise, eat lots of protein, not drink diet coke which I still love and MISS after a YEAR of not having it. Like it is doing any good. Maybe the next fill will work.....ha. Do you believe this? I still have that little hope in there that I will finally get this.....later.

You're lucky! All i can have 2 weeks before surgery is clear, sugar free liquids and 3 protein shakes a day! I got my insurance approval today, surgery on Jan 5th! Good luck!!!!

Just hang in there! I just got through day 5 of my pre-op diet and I never thought I could do it for this long! You will be hungry and you will want food but you can do anything for 2 weeks when you put your mind to it! Good Luck!

hi look my dr just performed this surgery on me 2 weeks ago. i had the lap band w/the plication. he said it (could/may) possibly help more with band slippage in the future and also makes the stomach smaller (similiar to sleeve w/o cutting) and that would also help in the weight loss. i am hoping as i heal to get more feedback on this. i have read online that is does help or add up to 35% more weight loss. granted that is only what i found online and cannot say if its true or not as it is a kinda new surgery. i am thinking positive thoughts with this.

To add to all the other great posts above, the post op diet is for proper recovery. You can cause your band to slip or not be positioned correctly by eating solids too soon. It takes weeks for the recovery process and when you are eating solid and heavy foods you are putting extra pressure on your stoma (the band, sutures, etc) and can cause harm. It is sooooo important to listen to your surgeon's instructions. Also, mushy foods can be greek yogurt (high protein), scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and blenderized meals. I made my normal meals for my family and put my 3-4 ounces of meat in the blender with chicken broth or a sauce of some sort and while it may not have looked good, it tasted fine. Those are just some ideas for Protein. Note that it is very important to eat protein first as it will keep you satiated. Sorry if the replies seem harsh but by not following your post-op instructions you could be jeopardizing your health, recovery and success with the band. You will get through this - we all did! Best of luck to you.

Truth be told, there is mourning of sorts for a lot of us as we have to change our relationship with food; however, we have to stay on track as we didn't undergo all of this for nothing. You CAN do this. Some days SUCK (no nicer way to put it) but overall, the benefits LONG outweigh the suckiness of the foods we miss. It gets easier as the weeks go on and when the weight starts falling, it is inspiration to keep on going. I am sitting in my cube at work with a HUGE bag of Halloween candy behind me that someone brought in. Sure, I would love to have a piece or two but that candy won't taste as good as skinny feels! So here I sit w/ a hard boiled egg to satisfy my hunger and life IS good.

@@leag78, In reality the weight loss does not work on a timed schedule. I also had RNY. The first 60 days I lost a lot of weight very quickly. After that, I have lost on average about 10lbs per month. I have had many stalls along the way, one lasting 28 days 60lbs in 4 months is not bad, in fact it is excellent! however your doctor is probably thinking about the first year as the golden year and wondering if you are doing everything you can to take advantage of it. You did not give us a lot of information about why you think you need to reset. It may be appropriate if you have allowed things into your diet that you shouldn't have and want to break that trend. If you are following the plan and not grazing throughout the day, then look at your overall Protein and where you are getting it from. The majority should come from your food. If you are eating protein rich foods, and good carbs like fruit and veggies, there should not be much room for anything else and it should keep you full. if you are getting your protein from nothing but shakes and eating a lot of carbs, then you will get hungrier faster and eat more. This in itself can cause your weight loss to slow down. I have experienced this myself, I can almost know exactly what the scale is going to tell me before I step on it. If you are not already doing this, use an app like my fitness pal to log your food. Log it all and you will see the trends. If you are eating per the plan then you simply are a slower loser and it will all work itself out. You are the only one who knows his the plan is really going and whether or not you need to make changes. I wish you the best of luck!

Today is my two month surgiversary. As of this morning I am 186 pounds; down 52 pounds from the beginning of my pre-op diet (July 7), and 36 pounds since the morning of surgery (August 4). I have been at the same weight (+-2 lbs) for 4 days now. I am really hoping to make my second weight goal of 184 lbs, by my 30th birthday, which is on October 12. I made this my second goal because it was the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult (my first goal was 199 lbs). I had my 2 month follow-up visit with my surgeon two days ago. He seemed very happy with my progress and he cleared me for solid foods. He wanted me to get my labs done before this visit, but my vacation did not allow time for that. I'm going in on Friday and he will call to go over them once he's received them. Overall, I think I am doing very well. I'm still learning to adjust to my sleeve--eating slower, recognizing when I'm full. I'm also noticing that I MUST continue to plan out my food in order to make the best decisions. Last week was my first week back at work (although I'm subbing until the 15th when I take over my classroom again) and I didn't do the greatest with my eating. But thanks to this tool I know I will get back on track and continue to lose. I am so happy that I had this surgery!!!

Yup! That's why I did me pre op diet for a month instead of two weeks and why I never even considered a "food funeral". Why gain it just to lose it? I'd eaten more than my lifetime share of food by the time I had surgery and was ready to stop. So....I did.

I’m 68, and I am 5 almost 6 weeks post surgery. I recently noticed that across my shoulders and over the edge of the tops of my arms has what I call “underground pimples”!! So you all think it’s out with the bad, and in with the good, eh? Hope you’re right, it feels terrible, almost like a rash it’s so bumpy. Not sore, just bumpy. Wow! At 68!

Thanks so much for the information. I am not able to see a surgeon right now so I was looking for some information on here and other sites. I have been on a liquid only diet for the past week. Just Slim Fast, pureed bean Soup and Water. I was pretty surprised to have restriction back so quickly. I am very very guilty of "packing" it in. Especially these last 3 months. I lost restriction and thought oh well, I can eat more so I went for it. I know, BAD. This whole thing has scared me straight! Thanks again!!!

they're all different. Many are two weeks, but I've seen three or even four. Some are all no-cal liquids + protein shakes, some allow one small meal, some surgeons don't require a pre-op diet at all.

I just left my surgeons office I was supposed to have my first fill today. I found out 2 cc were put in my 10 cc band at surgery which explains why I'm not hungry. I've lost 3.5 lbs in 3 weeks with just walking. My surgeon said this is excellent as most patients gain weight after surgery. I got clearance to lift weights YAY! I'm satisfied with this, as long as I'm losing its all good.

I was banded 4/30/08. Lost 13lbs. Got 4cc in band-so Dr. Hart(atlanta) says & I feel nothing. Went back gained 3lbs. He said come back in 2 weeks...wow. Why did I spend 21,000. Dont feel full ever. Hugs to all LuLU

Well I will give you some info about me. I weigh 360lb and I would like to lose 120lb. I have a bad back I have been living with for years (over 15). I have a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease and the cartilage is very thin to gone between a couple disc. My doctor suggested to go until I can't stand the pain any longer then look into surgery. I know even with weight loss im going to have pain but my nsaids really help me. My weight loss doctor is wanting me to get RNY to lose more weight faster. He suggested for the back pain take tylenol and water therapy. I know tylenol and water therapy won't help me so im considering the sleeve. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I'm trying to decide between the two surgeries and its only two weeks away from surgery time

I came home from the hospital taking liquid Zantac twice daily. After 4 weeks I started having horrible breakthrough acid reflux. I called my surgeon and he added a daily dissolvable Prevacid tablet (I take that at night). I've been great since, with no acid issues at all.

My surgeon had no special diet. I was just to not eating anything or drink anything after midnight. My surgery went great and I am 10 weeks out and doing wonderful. Personally I am very happy I didn't have to do a liquid diet. I would have failed for sure.. Just remember every surgeon is different and every program is different. Have faith in your surgeon and his program..

My doc is very conservative and I am so glad. I have had no issues at all. Two weeks clear liquid diet Two weeks liquid diet, Protein shakes, yogurt, milk. Two weeks puréed. Mashed taters, mashed Beans, baby food, oatmeal, cream of wheat On week 7, normal diet. Introduce one food at a time. Aim for 100 G protein and no less than 75. At least 64 oz water/ liquid. Protein Shakes don't count as liquids.

Hi all I Had overseas surgery and all he said was liquids for two weeks and then start with Sami solids, no time line or even other important things such as vitamins? Disappointed at the promises but now done? So need help with a proper diet to follow and protein recommendations... Thanks y'all

Banded almost 3 weeks ago. first fill next Tuesday. Sorry won't let fill profile on cell.

I went back on day 9 post OP. I was fine, but not completely back to myself. I wish I had taken more time but only cause I never take off work and another week at home would have been nice.

I had my surgery on April 13,2012 and return to Work on May 5,2015 surgery went well and I only took 1 pain pill when I got home I was ready to go back in a week but really enjoy my time off so take how much time as you need trust me the doctor will approve it everybody body is different ! I wish you the best on your journey.....