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I'm also 3 weeks out. Today I made shredded pork for the family and decided to throw some in the blender- I was nervous to eat meat. I was hungry too and it smelled so good. I probabaly had 2-3 ounces an was stuffed- Eat Protein first :-) funny because I had all these big plans to eat cottage cheese after or something with it anyway. No can do. Eating SF Popsicle a half hour later to satisfy my sweet craving. I want a candy bar!

I know it's early to Celebrate (or is it?) or maybe not enough to create a whole topic, but this might motivate people peeking through the endless pages of the forums! So I'm officially three months (and two days) out of my surgery, and I have lost 27kgs, which translates to 59,5248 pounds according to google! I am really glad I did this surgery for it has already changed many aspects of my life, it has taught me that life's pleasures do not only revolve around eating/drinking. I know the "path" is still veeery long and that it will not always be easy, but so far I am really pleased with the results. Of course I strictly follow my surgeon/doctors advice and I also do loads of sports : I swim twice a week (1,6 miles each time) and I go mountainbiking two to three times a week (depends on the amount of rain my place receives), around 20miles each time. Cheers everyone, and thanks to people that have been helpful on the forums !

I feel sorry for you as I know what you are dealing with. Having three surgeries back to back is so hard, I can only imagine. I had to do a endoscopy and had a 2 days rest and then went in for surgery. I think you can get PTSD from all of this, and it hurts to know that this is a elective surgery. We all went into this with high hopes and dreams of changing our life for the better and instead we dealt with more trauma. I had a spinal surgery in 2019 and I developed a drop foot, which was a complication from the surgery, which I still deal with. I have struggled with depression prior to this and it just hurts. I have went back to the ER and I get good support there but where I live it is overrun with covid patients, so it isn't the best place to go. My surgeon is very kind and I have his number. He comes to see me in the hospital every morning. I am doing a bit better but I still stay in bed most of the days. Your advice is great and I agree that I need to get back to a routine. I am less emotional now, I also think the meds they us on make us more emotional. I wish you a speedy recovery!

I don't know that I really felt anything that would indicate it had flipped. I sleep on my right side and sometimes at night when I rolled over, I "thought" I felt the port but was not really sure. Some people I spoke too said they never feel their port and others do. My doctor is going to do an xray next week to confirm it flipped and then outpatient surgery if it has. I'm not nervous about the surgery - just frustrated that I will have to wait several weeks to have it done and then possibly wait for a fill. I'm ready to start really using my band!

I was banded on May 12th and my port flipped within the 2nd month. I had my port revision done on Aug. 26 in outpatient surgery. I was in and out. He moved port lower. So far, so good. He was able to remove the Fluid and replaced it during surgery. To keep me on track, he did a refill in three weeks. Alls is good now, I have about 5 cc in my band and actually went back last month to get a small unfill. I'm ready for another tomorrow.....I hope he finds it easy. Best wishes to you.

Hi Andrea - I would recommend Dr. Adam Smith in Fort Worth. He is a great surgeon who performed my banding last month. The fantastic and unique thing about Dr. Smith is that he is also a lap band patient. He was banded a few years ago and knows exactly how the patients feel since he is also going through the process. I am not familiar with the staff in Fort Worth since my surgery was not performed there. We are lucky here in New Mexico because now Dr. Smith travels to ABQ one week a month to perform surgery and fills. The staff here in NM is fantastic! I have heard that if you are self pay it costs around $9900 to be banded by Dr. Smith in Texas.....it is around $15K for the same surgery here in NM with Dr. Smith. I really wish you luck in your Quest to find a surgeon. You will really have to feel comfortable with your surgeon and the staff since this isn't a one time interaction. You will be seeing the surgeon that you choose pretty much for the rest of your journey since they will be performing your fills. Oooh.. here in NM he always performs fills using fluoroscopy....you will find this to be an advantage over not using that method. You will have to check about the fill method in Texas, but I think that it is the same. You take care and good luck to you!

cyndy i hear alot about people being hungry and they are counting calories alot too but i have been banded since july 3rd and i dont see it that way i dont count calories i get hungry sometimes but if i eat something fairly healthy i pretty much full for a good while. the whole purpose for the band is instead of getting full off one 12oz steak and all the good things that go with it you will get full off about 3 oz steak and maybe just alittle more like some veggies. pretty much to sum it up you eat more like a 3 or 4 year old and your satisfied. i read in another post about how people feel bad about eating some chips but you will find yourself not eating that full bag of chips but maybe a quarter or less. i think that excerise will be a big key in losing weight i dont hear alot about people excerising as much as i would have thought but i think that will be the key. right now i eat what i want to eat i dont over do it before i could eat 10 chicken wings and some rice and now im eating like 4 chicken wings and im good. and as time goes by you will be able to eat more and more and that is where the fills come in. i have had one fill and prob another and the end of the month and getting a fill you even eat less then that for about two weeks. one thing you have to becareful with is staying about from the wasted calories like starbucks or shakes and things that go down easily. some people tend to do that sometimes cuz they feel like its ok to drink that cuz of the band and they will still lose weight you might but wont me as much as with excerise and getting good foods. well i hope that helps you alittle. me personally i was regretting what i did the first two weeks but i think that was cuz of the diet they put you on the first two weeks and going through surgery and all the pain but now im happy with it and i know i wont touch the wasted calories as much (yes i still have a starbucks maybe once every 3 weeks but hey who can resist lol) and i see that i dont eat as much as i use too and i am satisfied with what i ate. your still going to have to work at losing but it will be alittle easier then the average person without the band since you know you will not be able to over eat.

I too had pain after surgery but it was gone by day 4. The gas is the worst thing and walking it off is the key. Obviously no one can make the final decision but you but I am so happy with the sleeve/surgery. It is the best thing I have EVER done for myself. 9 weeks out and 52lbs down, able to move, bend over without strain, started running on treadmill and workout 4-5 days a week. I feel incredibly good now and can't really remember the pain after surgery...kinda like forgetting the pain from having a baby Good luck to you on whatever you decide.

My first post here 🙂 I had my bypass on January 29th and it was fine ever since, no discomfort in relation to eating or daily movement including mild exercise. But I'm experiencing new pain underneath two of my surgical scars by each side of my rib cage. I spoke to my doctor but he is not too concerned. It hurts a lot just to get out of bed. feels like the fat beneath the scars is being torn when I move. Anyone is experiencing similar pain? How do you deal with it? I hurt my ankle three days ago while exercising so right now have just been resting at home. This pain around my surgical scar is not making things easy. Is this normal? Please share your thoughts and tips. I'm from Hong Kong by the way, it's incredibly lonely to be an Asia bariatric patient in Hong Kong. I have zero bariatric buddy here, needs support.

I just had one of those days yesterday! I was super stressed out and I kept looking at my cheese stick (which I hadn't been able to get down since the morning) and my Protein shake (supposed to be lunch) and I just couldn't bring myself to eat or drink it. I didn't get all my Water or my protein yesterday for the first time since 3 days post op (i'm 6 weeks out today). It sucked. All day I had like 230 calories and 36 g of protein. It was a bad day for me.

Have you never had surgery before? It takes a good 6 weeks to heal and feel somewhat normal again. There's going to be good days and bad. Me personally felt worse at around day 3 or 4 after each surgery. Take it easy and let yourself heal. You just had major surgery!

As long as you're hitting H2O and Protein goals I wouldn't worry. You're going to be wrecked from your body healing, even if you don't notice the pain much, it's still a lot of trauma. I was sleeping most of the day for the first week, and wasn't at my pre-op energy level for about a month and a half.

22lbs down and feeling pretty good !

I am 8 weeks post-op and I experienced the exact same thing between day 4-5. The day of and day after surgery I felt you know, like I had just had surgery, but by day 2 and 3 I was surprised how good I felt considering. I went to the movies, walked along the beach, normal stuff. Then day 4 happened. I couldn't even get out of bed I was so depleted. What I can tell you is that is very very normal. By the end of the week, I was back at it and feeling more like my normal self. But I still got depleted easily for the first 3 weeks. After than, I was really back to normal. I actually feel like I have a lot more energy now than I ever did post-op. But that also might be due to the 40 lbs I no longer have weighing me down! Stick with it, relax and let yourself heal.

Everyone loses tons of water weight in the first couple of weeks of dieting, then it slows down. 4 lbs a week after that is a very high rate of weight loss and it will likely slow down sooner or later. And get ready for your first stall, because that's likely coming within the next couple of weeks. Don't let it freak you out! If the scale is going to stress you out, you may want to put it away for a while and just focus on the things you can control, like meeting your protein and fluid goals.

Your numbers don't show anything to be discouraged about. Your resting metabolic rate should be around 2400 right now, so unless you were working out ridiculously hard and eating nothing, it would be impossible to run a 3500 cal daily deficit to lose 1 pound a day. You also need to realize that your body is periodically going to take some time outs to do some readjustments throughout the process. 32 pounds in 7 weeks is actually really good! I was at my 1 month post op and the nurse totally checked me for pooh-poohing that I'd only lost 16. Hang in there, you are doing the right things, the weight will come off. We really have a big tendency to be too hard on ourselves and expect too much, so be kind to yourself and take heart in the knowledge that you are doing the right things. As far as the vomiting and having a hard time getting down food and Fluid goes... if you haven't called your surgeons office yet, I would really encourage you to do that. You really want to know if there is something creating this situation, particularly this far out, and if you continue to struggle with fluids in particular, you are eventually likely to end up with dehydration that will need to be treated. I'm at 5 weeks and just found out today that my difficulty getting any kind of volume of fluid/food down without nausea and the resulting dehydration is caused by a kink in my stomach. I'm going in for an endoscopy tomorrow, doc believes passing the scope through should straighten it out and solve the problem. Also had to get a couple liters of IV fluids. Good luck! You are doing great and I hope that you are able to determine and resolve the cause of your symptoms!

from my readings on this and other forums a pound a day is a very aggresive number, the number that seemed more achievable was averaging 3 pounds per week over the first few months. And some unfortunate souls were lower than that. i personally was hoping for four pounds a week for a little while. 32 pound in 7 weeks sound very respectable and commendable. I understand that with all the work i did i ached to see the results of the effort and also to convince myself that this time it would be different. you did not mention any exercise and for me that has always been an esential part of losing weight.

I know what you mean about how it is hard to wait. I am so bad at that. It does go by quickly though. I am already 9 weeks post-op, which sounds so weird. It doesn't seem like it could be that long already. It was this time last year that I was unable to fit onto a rollercoaster at Cedar Point after waiting to ride it for four hours. If I went this weekend, I'd be able to ride everything thanks to lots of inches lost in my hip/butt area. I hope your waiting goes quickly.

My barium eval showed a mild hiatal hernia. My dr hasn't said anything about it (I actually just found out about it a few weeks ago and my eval was months before) I think it's a much more common thing than what people believe. It makes sense if the dr wanted to fix it to just do it then - one surgery versus two is better! But, it's a pretty common thing in obese people.

Hi Judy and welcome! It's kind of hard to answer your questions specifically because everyone's doctor and insurance situations are different. I can tell you what my experience was though. I had my first consultation with the surgeon Nov 8, 2006, got my surgery scheduled during the beginning of December, and finally had surgery Jan 22, 2007. So, not too bad of a wait. Because of my insurance, I did not have to have referrals to the psychologist, etc. My surgeon just wrote the scripts and off I went. My doc did require I go to a seminar, but I also live very nearby. Maybe your doc will help you with an alternative? Again, with the liquids, all docs have different rules. For me, I did four weeks of Optifast liquid and bars before surgery. After surgery, I did two weeks of full liquids, which included thin Soups, gatorade, juice, Water, milk, etc. I must say again -- these were my specific instructions from my doc. You should always follow the guidelines set by your doctor. Hope that helped! Maria

Hi all, I just got my 4th fill yesterday. I had to get an unfill last time (long story), and then I didn't feel restriction, but about a week or two into the unfill, it started getting tighter. It always seems to be about a week or 5 days before my menstral cycle, so I asked the doctor. He said the band will tighten before and during your menstral cycle. I've heard others mention this also, so I wanted to ask the Dr. and he confirmed it to be true. Maybe that is what is going on with you gals??

Yep... Right down the road. Day by day im finally getting better... I am about 80 percent now so its looking like the damage isnt going to be permanant. As of now, i havent started a blog for my lapband experience due to the fact that i still cant sit up comfortably to type but i do plan on it. Hopefully sooner than later. The nerve damage was a pretty horrible side effect from the surgery but as of now, its been my only negative experience (besides the normal gas and bloating post op). I am never hungry. I was on fluids the day before and three days post op and then graduated to full fluids.. Currently im eating puree's but cant stand mushy stuff so its been soft crab cakes and steamed tilapia for the past few days. But i never get hungry. I have to sit myself down and eat... Sometimes i forget to eat until the afternoon and i get nauseaus... So my new hunger pain is nausea. Maybe thats why i never feel hungry. Lol The shake i love the most and (actually my girlfriend has started to drink it for the Vitamins and protein) is the eas strawberry edgevantage (or some spelling like that).. I was so nervous when i took my first bite of real food.... I was scared i was going to eat to much... Or somehow shift my band... Was not as plesant of an experience as i thought it would be. Make sure to get a good food scale, it will save you some anxiety. Dont know if you found decent Calcium supplements but unjury.com has some that are pretry good for chewables... Hope all is well!!!!

I'm self pay- no endo either, just an ekg and chest xray. My surgeon said the gummy Vitamins are fine to start a week post op as I didn't like the chalky ones either. I bought chewable Calcium to replace the horse pills I take now. Big day on Monday.

Sherrie, Hubby & I were truck drivers, We both drove a total of about 18 years, about 2 of them together. One time before we met my hemmies (so much easier to spell that LOL) were bad that I went to a clinic & the Dr lanced it, then gave me pain med & antibiotic, well, antibiotics also tend to give me hemmies. (There are maybe 2 kinds I can take with no issues, that's it), well gee, guess what happened? I was back at the clinic the next day, and this was about a week before Christmas, luckily I was staying at a Comfort Suites practically across the street from the clinic because bumps & using the clutch to start & stop in a semi truck was murder LOL So next day I was back in there to have them lanced again. About 4 years ago we were in Colorado & they were REALLY bad, when they get bad hubby takes care of them (too tough with my weight), and I we were talking about taking me to the hospital. Finally the pain calmed down & I got some sleep. When it was my turn to drive I called my dispatcher & told her what was going on, I started driving, and even hubby was amazed at how loud I could yell in pain LOL Needless to say after a day or so they finally subsided. I had my family Dr refer me & the Dr that 1st did a colonoscopy, then removed my hemmies, was a good man & REALLY funny. When we went in he examined me, and when we were discussing the ectomy he said that I am going to want to punch him in the face every day for at LEAST 10 days. I had my surgery on Friday January 13th. Luckily he was having a good day LOL Needless to say, come January 17th, I was screaming so loud & crying so bad when I went to the bathroom that I surprised the police didn't show up at our door LOL I emailed him after about a week & told him that punch & face were not quite what I had in mind, kick & balls were more along what I was thinking at this point LOL Needless to say, when I told him that I needed to have an endoscopy done, he referred me to Dr Gabrielson, and when I told him about me having the sleeve done in 2011 (I didn't lose much weight) & that I get really bad heartburn & GERD that he told me that I am an excellent candidate to be fast tracked for the gastric bypass. So now I'm doing all the reading & trying to understand things. When I had the sleeve done I had it done in Mexico, so I didn't have to read or study anything, they told me to make sure I put myself into ketosis for 2 weeks prior to my surgery, then tell me what to eat post op & that was it. After that, at least in my case & the group I went with, they could have cared less, with the exception of getting the money from me. So basically that's my life story for the last 10 years LOL

So Im 4 weeks post-op today and I was doing great in the beginning numbers kept going down and down. Long story short when I was 3 weeks post-op last week I was at 206 and surgery day I was 226 so I was very happy that in 3 weeks I had lost 20 pounds BUT!! I got my period and I gained 3 pounds so Im at 209 again and I've had my period for 8 days non-stop like what is going on? Before surgery I was very regular and by day 4 PERIOD WAS GONE. ughhhhh Im sad that I gained 3 pounds and that I've had my period for 8 days and who knows when its gonna stop. anyways thanks for reading ladies hope someone can help me out and let me know if some of you when through this too.