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I wasn't required to lose weight, but interestingly, I lost 10 pounds during the 3 week process from seminar to approval. Now I'm on a low carb diet just because I want to feel better going into surgery. .

What's your MasterCleanser? I do a MasterCleanser (that's what they call it) every now and again (and am on day 3 right now) where you mix equal parts lemon juice and maple syrup. Then 6 times a day you put 3 Tbs of this mix in an 8 oz glass of Water and sprinkle about 1/10th of a tsp of cayenne pepper on top. It's only a 4 day cleanse. I'm not hungry, don't have any cravings and have an incredible amount of energy right from the start. Best of all, my blood sugar levels drop to normal without meds and I lose anywhere from 10-18 lbs. Yeah...I know it's mainly water, but it's a great start to a low carb eating plan. Normally, if I go right into low carb, I only gain back 2-3 pounds but then lose it again within another couple of days.

I understand your pain! I was sleeved on the 20th. I wasn't expecting to be in so much pain. I've had a c-section and a hysterectomy, but the sleeve hurt the worse. When I awoke from surgery, they asked me my pain level and I replied 10! And then I was so nauseated, I couldn't tolerate liquids and had to stay an extra day in the hospital. It was rough. I'm on day 3 now and reading these boards helps me because I know I'm not alone

This is not a race and you simply can't compare your situation to anyone else's. In the initial four to six weeks after surgery, your body has one goal: to heal. You had major abdominal surgery. Your body isn't about to let go of what it needs to repair and heal from surgery. Most people do have an initial loss of 10-15 lbs. and then stall for a week or so. It's just your body trying to catch it's breath. Don't fret. Put the scale away. Follow the postop diet instructions you were given. Drink your Water, Hit your Protein goals. Move your body. Rest when you need it. Everything starts with this. Good luck!

What Protein Powder do you recommend? I'm overwhelmed with the choices and am starting to sample different shakes to see what I want to get for my 10 day preOP. Premier are okay, but even a little too sweet. I'm a fruity person. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

It took me a long time to go down a size too. If you are like I was when I started, in the plus sizes, there is a BIG gap between sizes. The difference between a 22 and a 24 is a lot more than the difference between an 8 and a 10. Also, if you are like me, you were probably straining the upper end of that size you were wearing pre-op.

I had my sleeve mid-October and have lost about a pound a day since surgery. I'm happy with those results, however I know others that have lost 15-20 lbs 7-10 days out. I'm just curious to see what the norm is. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Currently going through this now. I had surgery 10/10 and I honestly don't feel the weight is falling off like I hoped. I'm a part of the Bariatric surgery community on Instagram so I get a lot of progress updates from people who have similar surgery dates. I feel like I'm behind the rest of the class. People keep telling me not give up and keep my working hard. Honestly at times I have "buyer's remorse" and feel having surgery was a waste. It is extremely difficult to see the light at end of the tunnel.

It depends on your starting weight. It is not typical to lose 15-20 lbs only 7-10 days out. I don't think there's a norm. Everyone is different. Don't compare yourself to others - it'll drive you crazy! Congrats on your loss so far - that's awesome.

I was banded on 6/19/12 in Idaho, have my first fill August 1st, how ever I'm going to be moving down to San Diego by the end of the year. I'm worried I wont be in the "green zone" and will be needing fills after I move.. Can anyone recommend a dr with reasonable full costs??

Hi everyone! I've lurked on here for a couple of months and have sat idlely just reading. And learning a wealth of information!!! My name is Ginny, and I'm 27 years old. I'm 5'3", and 279.5 lbs. (wow, talk about brave, admitting that to everyone!). I have no children, YET, and live in Holliston, MA. I have sleep apnea, and have had difficulty getting pregnant/carrying to term. Luckily, I do not have anything else, yet. However, I have the family history of all sorts of things and do not want to get them!! I went to a seminar at Brigham & Women's hospital in Boston in September of 2008. The next day I called Tufts, my insurance, and asked them what was required of me. They said according to my particular plan there would be no co-pay for the hospital itself, just for each individual doctor's visit (which thankfully is only $5/a time), and that I had to go through their 6 month "I can change" program. Well, here I am. Month 4. Down 5 lbs so far. Seeing a personal trainer 3 days a week, working out on my own 1 day a week, and doing cardio for 20 minutes the other 3 days. I'm maintaining a healthy diet of 1300-1500 calories a day and truly am trying very hard to loose another 10 lbs before my surgery. I just got a call from my surgeons office today (2/13/09). My surgery date is May 14th!!! OMG!! That's only 13 weeks away?!?! I can't believe it!! My 6 month program with Tufts will be up on April 22nd. I hope I'll have my approval from them by my surgery date! Anyways, I'll keep this it for now. No need to bore everyone with more details! LOL. I'm looking for support, friends, and supportive friends lol. Feel free to drop me a line sometime. BTW, my surgeon is Dr. Ali Tavakkoli-zadeh. He seems SO nice so far! I'm very impressed. I just hope he's there through the rest of this and keeps me just as impressed! Thanks for reading, Ginny :ohmy:

I think its a matter of what you get used to. I've been drinking skim milk virtually all my life, since I was about 10. My children have never drunk anything else once past infancy. I dont actually drink milk though, I use it on Cereal and in coffee. Full cream milk makes me feel nauseous, its disgusting! That's because I'm not used to milk having a creamy taste. I'd just suck it up and get used to it. Its like the sugar in coffee thing. I cant believe people use artificial sweeteners on a daily basis like that, when two weeks with no sugar in your coffee, and you're used to it. Its one of the easier dietary challenges to master!

I had surgery done in the am...got there around 6am and was discharged at noon...pain at incision site not bad at all but the gas sucked...I went for multiple walks to get rid of it...just keep walking! I felt so amazing after...I was surprised! I had it done Dec 19 and have lost 35 lbs...still 100 to go! Good luck!

I'm with Kacee--there certainly ARE ways to trick the band--eating five or six times a day, taking down chocolate, (which melts very easily, I can assure you!) cakes, or other goodies--ingesting way too many carbs! I was even eating 1/2 cup of oatmeal for Breakfast and decided it was too much and cut it back to 1/4 cup--was I still hungry? No--because I told myself breakfast was done! I've gotten two fills and I know I have a way to go to my "sweet spot" (I've got 1.5 cc in a 10 cc band)--so until I reach the right cc for me, it's GOT to be a lot of me! (Visits for fills are six weeks apart) That's why it is SO important to have the proper mindset when deciding to get the band--the band is NOT going to do the work for you!! :confused:

**I would like to preface this by saying that the story may be long, but I have been on this sight for about 3 months and have yet to post anything substantial. I loved reading peoples in-depth stories and wanted to share mine the same way. Take what you will My journey actually began 3 short months ago when my parents confronted both my younger sister and I about having the surgery. My mother was overweight and has RnY gastric bypass in 2003 and it completely changed her life, and ours, for the better. My parents saw us going down the same path and did not wish for us to have that kind of lifestyle. Having said that, there were times in my life I was fit and healthy, but no matter how much I exercise or watch what I eat these pat 5 years, I never seem to lose more than 20 lbs. The weight always came back. I have tried multiple weight loss systems and had no positive outcomes. I'm about 20 lbs smaller than my sister, weighing in at 240.8 at 5'6" and 28 years old (size 18/20 jean/dress). Which makes me approximately 100 lbs overweight and a candidate for laproscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy with Dr. Aviv Ben-Meier at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center for Bariatric Surgery in Cleveland, Ohio. This is where my mother had her surgery done, so she made a few calls to her advocate there and got both my sister and I a consultation with the surgeon. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to do this. The topic had been brought up to my sister before and I had considered what I would do if I ever had the opportunity, so when I was approached with have VSG in May, I knew I wanted to. Thankfully, my parents were able to pay for this surgery so I didn't have to jump through insurance hoops and was able to have the surgery quickly. I did check into my insurance in case it was a possibility, but found that it wasn't, by any mean, paid for. Having said that, a consultation, psych eval, sleep study, and 3 nutritionist appointments later, I was scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011. My sisters short story will end here seeing that she is in college and planning on having hers the first week of Christmas vacation. PAT's were scheduled 2 weeks before my operation in which I had no qualms whatsoever about the surgery. You should know that I am the last person you would find in a hospital, around needles and blood, but I was not nervous about this surgery AT ALL. That is, until PAT, when I passed twice getting blood drawn and heard about the tube and catheter I would have after surgery. Let alone the IV I would be getting beforehand (which I was aware of but thought I would be fine with until the fainting incident.) I went home that night after surgery education and was quesy and nervous for the first time. I was a pile of nerves and couldn't allow myself to think about it at all without feeling nauseaus. I couldn't back out now! Thankfully the next morning I woke up with a new sense of ease and was fine once again. I am so gracious to have this opportunity to get my life back, I didn't care what I had to do to get it. The day before surgery came and I had to drink 3 bottles of Magnesium Citrate on a clear liquid diet. I mixed the COLD cherry Mag. Cit. with Crystal light lemonade, and honestly, it wasn't that bad. I encourage those of you who still have to do this to try it that way. Also, since its nasty, you want to drink it quickly...but it's carbonated and may make you feel a bit nauseaus. fyi. That night I took my mind off things by visiting my 5 day old honorary nephew. Unfortunately they were eating homemade roastbeef and mashed potatoes for dinner!! The morning of I was up at 4:30, showered, hair done, and ready to head to Cleveland. I actually arrived at my surgery 15 minutes late! I was praying for an early surgery so I wouldn't have to wake up and wait around...well, I got what I asked for. 6am surgery! During pre-op they gave me a gown and asked me to take a pregnancy test, then put me in a bed where they took my blood pressure and found my heart rate to be an extremely high 119. I was worried about the IV at this point, could careless about the surgery. The nurses and anesthesiologists come around and introduced themselves, I was given warm blankets, then left to wait about an hour until they came back to do my IV. Maybe one of the worst parts for me was that hour long waiting-for-the-inevitable anxiety. Finally the actual anesthesiologist came over and began. He said they WERE GOING TO NUMB ME FIRST! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I actually reached up and grabbed his shoulder to thank him. He numbed my arm, and literally 4 seconds later the IV was in and I didn't feel a thing. I told him he was "amazing" which had the entire open pre-op room full of about 20 people laughing. He kept it going for awhile. Next thing I know, my surgeon, another amazing man, Dr. Aviv Ben-Meier, was at the foot of my bed asking if I had questions, saying that I would do great, and he would see me in a few minutes. They gave me a shot of heparin in my belly (which created a now 6" awful looking bruise) and some of what my surgeon calls "I don't care medicine." I was wheeled into the operating room and asked to maneuver over to the surgery table. Let me tell you, without that anxiety medication, there is no way I would have freely moved on over and allowed them to strap me down the way they were. I do remember calling them a bunch of friendly busy bees before they told me goodnight... Next thing I know I'm being wheeled to recovery in the hallway with nurses yelling my name. Honestly, this is exactly what it feels like waking up from fainting. I felt like they were screaming at me though they were just trying to keep me awake. Once in the preop area I was immediately given morphine through my IV which didn't help a bit! I was in pain! I'm a pain baby, just so you know. It is just intense soreness in your abdominal area. I will say that I didn't cry or beg for more medicine, but it was pretty miserable. Just prepare yourself. Thankfully every 10 minutes the nurse came with more morphine until the morphine pump was hooked up, but my guess is it took a good 45 minutes for me to feel any relief. It must have been about 2 hours, the last I was able to sleep through after the pain meds started working, and I was taken to my beautiful room. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center has remodeled all of their rooms to look like hotels! My husband, mom, and friend were then there with me. I was awake enough to hear that the surgeon found I had hiatal hernia which he needed to repair before the actual VSG took place, so the surgery took longer than expected. I was actually glad to hear that it got fixed! I'm sure that attributed to many of my preop symptoms. The rest of the day was pretty boring between pushing my morphine pump every 10 minutes and falling to sleep. My husband would push the pump while I slept which was awesome. I recommend you have someone on top of that if that is your line up of pain medication afterwards. The pump doesn't get pushed if your sleeping!!!!! I found that out the first night. The night of surgery they also had me up walking twice, which was unimaginable until I actually got up. Walking made me feel so much better. The first lap around the floor was difficult, but then they started to make me feel really good. I encourage the walking big time. The night of surgery went ok until I woke up 2 hours without pain medication. I don't understand this and probably never will. I tried to stay awake for 40 minutes to press the button 4 times but I would always end up falling back to sleep. Most of the time there are orders to push an extra dose of morphine if needed, so don't hesitate to ask your nurse. The next day they took away my morphine pump and put me on 2 separate pain medications that also helped with inflammation since I had the hernia repaired. The nurse came in and gave those through the IV every 6 hours. That was much better. I walked a lot the next day and also slept. The medication really didn't give me a choice to stay awake though I wanted to. My mom came and gave me a manicure and we watched the Bachelor Pad. That day I also had the catheter removed. I want everyone to know who is like me and never had one before, to not worry about it. I didn't even know it was there and it was no big deal when they took it out. My issue was that I was unable to urinate for a good 9 hours after and was told that if I didn't go they would have to put it back in. THAT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. lol. Also, the abdominal tube you do not feel in you at all. I was not allowed to drink anything today which was the second day without any liquid. Cotton mouth was an annoyance for sure. The swabbie's helped me the most, and also brushing my teeth a lot helped at all, just make sure not to swallow anything. I sounded like a frog. The third day in the hospital I woke up and was taken down for a barium X-ray at 8:00am. It was far too easy, but also extremely gross. Thankfully they gave me anti-nausea medication before I went. After not having anything in my throat for 2.5 days, barium was not my drink of choice. 6 small sips later it was over and by 9am my surgeon had approved me for liquids and had a glass of icechips by my bedside. Ice chips were a God-send and lunch was great. I found that I was taking really small sips too soon together though. The top of my stomach was gurgly. My surgeon came in that night and said that the rest of the day I should time my sips every 5 minutes, then the next day every 3 minutes. It was this time I was put on liquid percocet which is now my pain med of choice. lol. The rest of the day I walked, walked, walked. I was called speedy by more than one other patient The next day was Saturday and time to go home. I had been worrying about my tube being taken out but by now I was a nervous wreck. I was told that it doesn't hurt, it's just a really strange feeling. When the doctor walked in at noon I had to buck up and make my own judgement. He said the same, that it won't hurt, but feels like you're going down the hill of a rollercoaster. Would you know, that is what I would compare it to! What a doc! Also, I did not have bad gas pain in the hospital. I was warned the first day after surgery that I might since having the hernia repaired. I've noticed it in my shoulders when it appears but it is not that extreme. I find that walking and doing shoulder/neck circles helps. I guess I was one of the lucky ones! Again, if you are nervous about that, don't be...it's not worth it. I was still on percocet, and walking, as my discharge instructions were given. Then I was in the car and headed home. Nothing compares to lying in my own bed, propped up on pillows, relaxed by percocet, with my pup and husband. I do believe I told him that night that I was in heaven. My time home has been going really well. My surgeon wants me drinking 6-8 8oz. of full liquid per day, one of those servings being a Protein drink. As of right now, I find that impossible! Yesterday I had about 4 servings and couldn't bare to drink anymore. I am finding that I still have drink at a rate of about every 5 minutes, but I believe that may be due to the swelling I also have from the hernia repair. I may also be taking larger sips than I should. I'm still trying to tweak that. The Protein drinks I am drinking are from Arbonne and are absolutely delicious. I'm also drinking some Diet V8 Splash berry Blend (which takes most of the yucky taste away from crushed pills), tea, Water, crystal light, and broths. I think I'm able to have diluted creamed Soup but I'm afraid to try that as of yet. The medications I am taking upon coming home are liquid percocet when needed, flintstone Vitamin +Iron daily, 4 chewable Gas-X daily for the first week starting the day I come home, and chewable pepcid twice daily. The most shocking thing I've noticed since being home is the amount of gurggling my digestive system is doing. I think it is just the mix of gas and liquid, but it sounds like a washing machine dinosaur, and I have multiple people that agree with me! I'm so embarrassed by it but am glad that it doesn't hurt. I start grad school classes next Monday and am unsure what I'm going to do about this! The other issue I'm facing is head hunger. There is no way I could fit anything in my stomach, but food is absolutely everywhere and I want it! I get sad that I will never eat pizza...but have to tell myself that one day I will be able to have a portion of pizza. Food comes to mind that I'm not even a huge fan of, like oreos, and I want one so bad. I realize that this is my addiction talking and that I will be able to enjoy food eventually, but life is more important that chips and chicken wings. When I have these feelings, I just think...wouldn't you rather put on a pair of skinny jeans, or wouldn't you rather be able to cross your legs? etc. That helps. Today I am 5 days post-op and am actually at work. It's not typical work, but I'm still not at home resting. I take care of my grandmother who is suffering from Ovarian Cancer. I drive 45 minutes to and from her house each day to help her. I got up early today, drove out here, and we are taking care of one another. It's been nice. I haven't had to take any pain medicine today which I am thankful for and am getting in more liquids since I didn't sleep in and haven't napped. My surgeon said that each day I should feel better and so far I am! I hope this post is at least a little helpful for you all. I'll continue updating on my journey and reading yours! Attached is a picture of me from a few months ago with my sister and mom. My sister is on the left, me on the right with the red hair. Hopefully soon I'll be adding before and afters!! WOOOHOOOO! Can't believe I'm on the losers bench!

I got a pm from canadian - giving me the receipe for chinese dumplings! This sounds too good to keep to myself, so I wanted to share it with everyone else! well it was my own little version of chinese dumplingsi took some napa cabbage and boiled the leaves till they were soft enough to fold(like a cabbage roll) then i set them in cold Water to firm them up again then i mixed lb of ground chicken green onions a bit of salt some seasame seeds (not to much) hoisen sauce (bout 2 tbsp) 1 egg 2 tbsp of flour and if u like the zip 1 thai chili seeds out and chopped real fine, if u can't find a thai chili, use a jalapeno or a scotch bonnet then i mixed it all together and cut each cabbage leaf in half to make 2 dumplings i used a tbsp or 2 of the mix then roll up the dumplings they should be no bigger then the size of a golf ball then i steamed them in a steamer basket for 10 mins and dipped them in red pepper jelly that i warmed up real tasty hope you try them.... iamcanadian25 p.s- i'm a cook by trade..lol...let me know if u like this recipe and if u want some more this one was very band friendly

I have been coping with migraines for over 10 years. I have tried every acute treatment (Imatrix, Relpax, Maxalt, etc) and almost every preventative treatment (e.g., Beta Blockers, Topamax, etc). Nothing preventative has worked long-term for me. I had the most success with Topamax, but you need to go to a doc that understands the side effects at higher doses (can become highly sensitive to sunlight and get painful rashes). For acute relief, Relpax has worked the best for me. However, I am off it now because I have severe rebound on it (my body starts producing migraines just to get the next dose of Relpax). The rebound effect can happen with any Triptan drug, including Imitrix, so just monitor how you are reacting. I would get relief from the migraine, but then I started getting more frequent migraines and eventually had to go cold turkey off all medications to stop the pattern. Since getting the band, I have found the nausea has intensified (my doc does not know why). I have no real solution for you because I refuse to take anything because of potential side effects. The only thing that is helping is increased exercise, which helps keep my serotonin up. One last thought...acupuncture can work wonders for some migraine sufferers. I have not tried it because it is not covered by insurance, but I have two friends that swear by it...both for headache and nausea relief. Good luck. Hope you find a remedy that works.

I am not on the great white way to weightloss yet but am deeply considering the surgery. I have called my insurance who said they would cover 100 percent of the surgery. So my next step is a consultation and what scares me about this is will the doctor reject me. I have been a dancer all my life and in my prime i was dancing jazz tap ballet and many other things about 10 to 12 hours a week and still went from 280 to 325 in four months and never lost it ever in four years do you think theyll say im not right.

Welcome to LBT Jodi-T!!! You will find a wealth of information on this site and most everybody is super friendly and willing to help. Good luck to you on your upcoming lap band journey--get ready for an awesome ride!! :biggrin1: ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/167/160 5'7''

BlueGem, I did i did!!! i got my first fill March 19, and flew across the country (6 hours on a plane) March 21st. I had a 1.5 fill in a 10 ccband. i chewed some dramamine an hour before getting on the plane (the chewable kind not regular kind..lol) and i was fine the whole trip. i was on liquids the day of the fill and the next day then moved tomushies the day after. i was eating solid food the day i arrived home. never had any nausea. BUT .... everyone is different. Just wanted to tell you that i did it, same time period too roughly and i was groovy.

I also like the Weight Watchers scale. I got mine at Costco. If you are a Costco member, there is a coupon right now for $10 off in the current coupon book, which makes it about $18, which is very cheap for a scale with high capacity and accuracy. I have tested it by standing on it holding a bag of flour or a can of soup and the readings are pretty consistent.

Down the road you shouldnt ahve any issues, but take it easy now. I always found after any abdominal trauma (natural childbirth and caesars included) my core muscles take a beating and I find myself very weak in the back for a while. I personally couldnt wear my babies for a good few months after birth for example, and I'm big and strong at 5ft 10.

Im 15 days post and lost 10 pounds.Make sure you follow your doctors orders.Make sure you are not consumering no surgars.I'm proud if 10 pounds.Use to I lose 10 gain 15.At least it's staying off.I started my soft purees early with my doctor approval of course. Good luck and don't forget to execise.

I have to say I feel the same way. I was sleeved on 8/10/17 and have been trying to do this liquid diet. I am so over this! I am exhausted, I know I am not getting all my nutrients in, everything taste like prunes and I'm just over it. I have my follow up with my provider tomorrow and I am hoping to get started on my vitamins and maybe start the puréed foods a little early.

I didn't vote because I had my gall bladde removed about 10 yrs ago, so I don't have it anymore.