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I have sensitive skin and am allergic to band-aid adhesive, too. It sounds like you still have some irritation since your doctor doesn't think it's an infection. I usually put some hydrocortisone cream on rashes like that. Ask your doctor if that would be ok. It helps me when I have a reaction. Don't try to dry it out with alcohol or peroxide. That will make it itchier!

Diet ginger ale has no sugar or caffeine... so I am going to give it a shot. It has nothing to do with hydration, as I have always been a water drinker. I don't drink alcohol, so sometimes to be sociable with my friends that drink, I like a ginger ale. Are there any other reasons not to try one?

To all I thought this info was really helpfull. For those that have been banded by Dr Chris, what aftercare is offered is there a contact in the UK. What to Eat WheN - After Lap Band Surgery In hospital straight after surgery to day 1 CLEAR FLUIDS OVERNIGHT water clear fruit juice and cordial only [*]don’t drink everything at once [*]small amounts often – 50mls every 10 minutes [*]suck on ice if thirsty or dry [*]no fizzy drinks NO SOLID FOOD - CLEAR FLUIDS ONLY VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Do NOT eat anything other than water, clear fruit juice, clear consommé, and black tea/coffee or cordial – even if it has been delivered to your room – it is probably a mistake. EATING UTENSIL Slim straw only Days 2 to 21-28 - Liquids Only LIQUIDS ONLY – small amounts frequently to keep you hydrated – 50mls every 10 minutes (up to 2 litres per day). Within a week you should be able to drink 1 cup of fluid slowly. 120 ml fruit juice 250 ml vegetable juices/ vegetable soup (pureed, thin) protein drinks reduced fat milk fully vitamised chicken/meat & vegetable soup no fizzy drinks NO SOLID FOOD - FLUIDS ONLY VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Drink small amounts often. Your new stomach pouch is small. Don’t overstretch it by drinking too much at once. Sip slowly, Small mouthfuls. If you can’t get it through a slim straw easily you can’t have it. EATING UTENSIL Slim straw only Days 21-28 to 35 - Sloppy Low Fibre Foods SLOPPY LOW FIBRE FOODS ONLY – EASILY SQUISHED THROUGH THE FINGERS - OR – THE THICKNESS OF BABY’S FIRST FOOD OR SMOOTHED MASHED POTATO turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating sip very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between sips no more than 200mls at a time 2 lite dairy/soya serves daily (1 serve= 1cup milk or 200g lite yoghurt or 35 g cheese) ½ cup pureed fruit or mashed banana puree cooked veal, pork or chicken, avoid beef (too fibrous) eat small amounts slowly but more frequently, hunger makes you eat faster avoid lobster, squid or prawns avoid home-cooked spaghetti & rice tinned spaghetti & tinned creamy rice are okay no fizzy drinks VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly and chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Low fibre fruit & vegetables only Low fibre means without the fibrous skin. Dried fruits like prunes, raisins & sultanas are also off the menu for this month. Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. SLOPPY/PUREED LOW FIBRE FOODS ONLY EATING UTENSILS MacDonald’s sized thicker straw or Teaspoon ^top Days 35- 42 - Transition Phase TRANSITION PHASE – gradually introduce solids from 5 to 6 weeks only very cautiously turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating do not increase the portion sizes you have become used to over the last 4 weeks eat very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between each mouth full cautiously introduce cooked unblended chicken or veal – 50 grams in total to begin with cautiously introduce cooked unblended vegetables cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces, then chew very well VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly Chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Cut meat into tiny pieces Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. EATING UTENSILS Teaspoon or Equivalent Size ^top What to eat for the rest of your life turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating do not increase the portion sizes you have become used to over the last 4 weeks continue the further introduction of solids that you began to introduce at 5 to 6 weeks very cautiously the volume and coarseness of the food should slowly be increased over the coming weeks eat very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between each mouth full continue to cautiously introduce cooked unblended chicken or veal – begin with 50 grams continue to cautiously introduce cooked unblended vegetables cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces, then chew very well 30 times each mouth full by about week 10 you should be at the point where you can attend a restaurant and eat an entrée sized meal in both volume and consistency – the time it takes you to eat this meal should equal the time it takes your eating partner to consume both entrée and main meal VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly Chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Cut meat into tiny pieces Cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. EATING UTENSILS Teaspoon or Equivalent Size ^top Tips for Eating Out the drinking rule still applies, 15 minutes or more before eating and one hour after eating; special exception because you’re eating out, you can take tiny sips of liquid while eating while we’re on the drinking subject, for those of us who don’t mind a tipple, with the Lap Band in place alcohol will be absorbed much more quickly and therefore if consumed should be done so very slowly – remember, less is more and a lower tolerance can mean higher blood alcohol levels, so if you’re going to drink, please don’t drive just because you’re eating out, don’t decide to “make a meal of it” so to speak, and consume more than you have become used to over the last ten weeks eat one entrée sized meal only over the time it takes your eating companion to consume both entrée and main course if you don’t like the entrée choices, ask for the main meal served entrée size remember, we often eat just for taste, and not for hunger; if you remember this then savouring one tiny teaspoon of your partner’s dessert for the taste is all you really need if you’re worried about drawing attention to yourself by making the above requests, or by seeming to eat less than you have in the past, remember, this is the new you, you DO eat less now, your appetite isn’t as great, you don’t seem to need as much to satisfy you anymore, perhaps you’re coming down with something (any of these statements, casually uttered should deflect the curiosity of family or friends used to the old you, if you’re the shy type and think it’s none of their business. Otherwise feel free to be loud and proud and espouse the wonders of Lap Band surgery.) locate the toilets on arrival so you know exactly where to go if you’re not concentrating on each mouth full and you need to make a hasty exit by now you should be able to judge what “tiny” mouthful means and should be back to using knife and fork ^top BMI Calculator Does my band need adjusting? Post Op Pointers Post Adjustment Rules Food Clues Inamed Lap Band Process GP Info and News What to Eat WheN - After Lap Band Surgery There is a printable version of this information available here in PDF format. The PDF version also contains some menu ideas for the different phases. In hospital straight after surgery to day 1 CLEAR FLUIDS OVERNIGHT water clear fruit juice and cordial only [*]don’t drink everything at once [*]small amounts often – 50mls every 10 minutes [*]suck on ice if thirsty or dry [*]no fizzy drinks NO SOLID FOOD - CLEAR FLUIDS ONLY VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Do NOT eat anything other than water, clear fruit juice, clear consommé, and black tea/coffee or cordial – even if it has been delivered to your room – it is probably a mistake. EATING UTENSIL Slim straw only Days 2 to 21-28 - Liquids Only LIQUIDS ONLY – small amounts frequently to keep you hydrated – 50mls every 10 minutes (up to 2 litres per day). Within a week you should be able to drink 1 cup of fluid slowly. 120 ml fruit juice 250 ml vegetable juices/ vegetable soup (pureed, thin) protein drinks reduced fat milk fully vitamised chicken/meat & vegetable soup no fizzy drinks NO SOLID FOOD - FLUIDS ONLY VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Drink small amounts often. Your new stomach pouch is small. Don’t overstretch it by drinking too much at once. Sip slowly, Small mouthfuls. If you can’t get it through a slim straw easily you can’t have it. EATING UTENSIL Slim straw only Days 21-28 to 35 - Sloppy Low Fibre Foods SLOPPY LOW FIBRE FOODS ONLY – EASILY SQUISHED THROUGH THE FINGERS - OR – THE THICKNESS OF BABY’S FIRST FOOD OR SMOOTHED MASHED POTATO turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating sip very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between sips no more than 200mls at a time 2 lite dairy/soya serves daily (1 serve= 1cup milk or 200g lite yoghurt or 35 g cheese) ½ cup pureed fruit or mashed banana puree cooked veal, pork or chicken, avoid beef (too fibrous) eat small amounts slowly but more frequently, hunger makes you eat faster avoid lobster, squid or prawns avoid home-cooked spaghetti & rice tinned spaghetti & tinned creamy rice are okay no fizzy drinks VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly and chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Low fibre fruit & vegetables only Low fibre means without the fibrous skin. Dried fruits like prunes, raisins & sultanas are also off the menu for this month. Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. SLOPPY/PUREED LOW FIBRE FOODS ONLY EATING UTENSILS MacDonald’s sized thicker straw or Teaspoon ^top Days 35- 42 - Transition Phase TRANSITION PHASE – gradually introduce solids from 5 to 6 weeks only very cautiously turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating do not increase the portion sizes you have become used to over the last 4 weeks eat very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between each mouth full cautiously introduce cooked unblended chicken or veal – 50 grams in total to begin with cautiously introduce cooked unblended vegetables cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces, then chew very well VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly Chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Cut meat into tiny pieces Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. EATING UTENSILS Teaspoon or Equivalent Size ^top What to eat for the rest of your life turn off the telephone, lock the front door, occupy the kids, totally concentrate on eating do not increase the portion sizes you have become used to over the last 4 weeks continue the further introduction of solids that you began to introduce at 5 to 6 weeks very cautiously the volume and coarseness of the food should slowly be increased over the coming weeks eat very small amounts very slowly wait for a minute between each mouth full continue to cautiously introduce cooked unblended chicken or veal – begin with 50 grams continue to cautiously introduce cooked unblended vegetables cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces, then chew very well 30 times each mouth full by about week 10 you should be at the point where you can attend a restaurant and eat an entrée sized meal in both volume and consistency – the time it takes you to eat this meal should equal the time it takes your eating partner to consume both entrée and main meal VERY IMPORTANT NOTES Eat very slowly Chew very well – 30 times each mouthful Cut meat into tiny pieces Cut fibrous vegetables into tiny pieces Drink 15 minutes or more before eating, and one hour after eating. EATING UTENSILS Teaspoon or Equivalent Size ^top Tips for Eating Out the drinking rule still applies, 15 minutes or more before eating and one hour after eating; special exception because you’re eating out, you can take tiny sips of liquid while eating while we’re on the drinking subject, for those of us who don’t mind a tipple, with the Lap Band in place alcohol will be absorbed much more quickly and therefore if consumed should be done so very slowly – remember, less is more and a lower tolerance can mean higher blood alcohol levels, so if you’re going to drink, please don’t drive just because you’re eating out, don’t decide to “make a meal of it” so to speak, and consume more than you have become used to over the last ten weeks eat one entrée sized meal only over the time it takes your eating companion to consume both entrée and main course if you don’t like the entrée choices, ask for the main meal served entrée size remember, we often eat just for taste, and not for hunger; if you remember this then savouring one tiny teaspoon of your partner’s dessert for the taste is all you really need if you’re worried about drawing attention to yourself by making the above requests, or by seeming to eat less than you have in the past, remember, this is the new you, you DO eat less now, your appetite isn’t as great, you don’t seem to need as much to satisfy you anymore, perhaps you’re coming down with something (any of these statements, casually uttered should deflect the curiosity of family or friends used to the old you, if you’re the shy type and think it’s none of their business. Otherwise feel free to be loud and proud and espouse the wonders of Lap Band surgery.) locate the toilets on arrival so you know exactly where to go if you’re not concentrating on each mouth full and you need to make a hasty exit by now you should be able to judge what “tiny” mouthful means and should be back to using knife and fork

Hey! band erosion can be caused by many different things like spicy food, caffine, alcohol, smoking, rapid fills etc. There is no one way to determine what causes it. 7cc is what Dr Kang usually gives as a first fill though I declined to get that amount with my first band and I will again with my second band only because a) I had erosion once before I didnt find big fills helped my hungry I felt the same full filled and completely empty c) I only have 10 kg to lose so I am in no rush to lose a lot of weight fast. As for me I was a very rare case (if your referring to me) and even the doc was surprised to find erosion ( it was only the size of a pea as he caught it early). As for Protein powder and such I have found it in itaewon so if you want to go sometime we can meet up one weekend. I am not sure how much it would cost though maybe a little pricey but trust me it is great :eek:

I'm also an ICU nurse, and I agree with PCindy. Plus, the 'resp depression' usually is the patient breathing too slowly or not deeply enough, not WANTING to breathe and not being able to. Its exactly like someone who drinks a massive amount of alcohol and then passes out on the couch. The reason its given over two mins is so that it dosent irritate your vein and burn like crazy. I cant believe that doctor didnt just admit what they did instead of leading you to believe that you have some sort of problem with the drug. very scary:(

Band is way less risky, reversible and leaves your bowels intact. Google "dumping syndrome." Band is adjustable or even reversible. Plus, you can drink alcohol with the band but not with the bypass. Truth be told, I would be interested in the sleeve but insurance won't pay for it and I'm not sure if the stomach would eventually grow back. For me, there is just no way I would do the full bypass - it's just too radical.

Alcohol is absorbed normally in our digestive systems. We do not get drunk faster than before surgery, unless tolerance is decreased due to drinking less frequently for caloric reasons. Bypass patients do, due to the restructuring of their systems, the alcohol is metabolized quicker.

None whatsoever! I have been embraced and strongly supported by members of OA. I find it an amazing program although I am only at the start of the 4th step and still in alot of emotional pain, (due to ongoing family issues). Although this venue is and continues to be a wonderful source of support, I do not think I would cope well without the support of people with whom I could physically connect with. Since I am dealing with a daughter who is an alcoholic (and an over-eater)-and is in complete, hostile denial, I am going to also look for Alanon meetings to go to as well. Not having food as a crutch really forces me to have to face my reality and I need as much support as I can get. Well put Roseib.

You know those pregnant girls, Judy... crazy cravings! :thumbup: I have the "Cookbook Collector on reserve @ the library. Right now I'm reading "Little Bee". How about that new Oprah fav? Women, food, and God... O says it'll "end your war with food". Here's an excerpt: Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth When I was in high school, I used to dream about having Melissa Morris's legs, Toni Oliver's eyes, and Amy Breyer's hair. I liked my skin, my breasts, and my lips, but everything else had to go. Then, in my 20s, I dreamed about slicing off pieces of my thighs and arms the way you carve a turkey, certain that if I could cut away what was wrong, only the good parts?the pretty parts, the thin parts?would be left. I believed there was an end goal, a place at which I would arrive and forevermore be at peace. And since I also believed that the way to get there was by judging and shaming and hating myself, I also believed in diets. Diets are based on the unspoken fear that you are a madwoman, a food terrorist, a lunatic. The promise of a diet is not only that you will have a different body; it is that in having a different body, you will have a different life. If you hate yourself enough, you will love yourself. If you torture yourself enough, you will become a peaceful, relaxed human being. Although the very notion that hatred leads to love and that torture leads to relaxation is absolutely insane, we hypnotize ourselves into believing that the end justifies the means. We treat ourselves and the rest of the world as if deprivation, punishment, and shame lead to change. We treat our bodies as if they are the enemy and the only acceptable outcome is annihilation. Our deeply ingrained belief is that hatred and torture work. And although I've never met anyone?not one person?for whom warring with their bodies led to long-lasting change, we continue to believe that with a little more self-disgust, we'll prevail. But the truth is that kindness, not hatred, is the answer. The shape of your body obeys the shape of your beliefs about love, value, and possibility. To change your body, you must first understand that which is shaping it. Not fight it. Not force it. Not deprive it. Not shame it. Not do anything but accept and?yes, Virginia?understand it. Because if you force and deprive and shame yourself into being thin, you end up a deprived, shamed, fearful person who will also be thin for ten minutes. When you abuse yourself (by taunting or threatening yourself), you become a bruised human being no matter how much you weigh. When you demonize yourself, when you pit one part of you against another?your ironclad will against your bottomless hunger?you end up feeling split and crazed and afraid that the part you locked away will, when you are least prepared, take over and ruin your life. Losing weight on any program in which you tell yourself that left to your real impulses you would devour the universe is like building a skyscraper on sand: Without a foundation, the new structure collapses. Change, if it is to be long-lasting, must occur on the unseen levels first. With understanding, inquiry, openness. With the realization that you eat the way you do for lifesaving reasons. I tell my retreat students that there are always exquisitely good reasons why they turn to food. Can you imagine how your life would have been different if each time you were feeling sad or angry as a kid, an adult said to you, "Come here, sweetheart, tell me all about it"? If when you were overcome with grief at your best friend's rejection, someone said to you, "Oh, darling, tell me more. Tell me where you feel those feelings. Tell me how your belly feels, your chest. I want to know every little thing. I'm here to listen to you, hold you, be with you." All any feeling wants is to be welcomed with tenderness. It wants room to unfold. It wants to relax and tell its story. It wants to dissolve like a thousand writhing snakes that with a flick of kindness become harmless strands of rope. The path from obsession to feelings to presence is not about healing our "wounded children" or feeling every bit of rage or grief we never felt so that we can be successful, thin, and happy. We are not trying to put ourselves together. We are taking who we think we are apart. We feel the feelings not so that we can blame our parents for not saying, "Oh, darling," not so that we can express our anger to everyone we've never confronted, but because unmet feelings obscure our ability to know ourselves. As long as we take ourselves to be the child who was hurt by an unconscious parent, we will never grow up. We will never know who we actually are. We will keep looking for the parent who never showed up and forget to see that the one who is looking is no longer a child. I tell my retreat students that they need to remember two things: to eat what they want when they're hungry and to feel what they feel when they're not. Inquiry?the feel-what-you-feel part?allows you to relate to your feelings instead of retreat from them. Sometimes when I ask students what they are feeling in their bodies, they have no idea. It's been a couple of light-years since they felt anything in or about their bodies that wasn't judgment or loathing. So it's good to ask some questions that allow you to focus on the sensations themselves. You can ask yourself if the feeling has a shape, a temperature, a color. You can ask yourself how it affects you to feel this. And since no feeling is static, you keep noticing the changes that occur in your body as you ask yourself these questions. If you get stuck, it's usually because you're having a reaction to a particular feeling?you don't want to feel this way, you'd rather be happy right now, you don't like people who feel like this?or you're locked into comparing/judging mode. So, be precise. "I feel a gray heap of ashes in my chest" rather than "I feel something odd and heavy." Don't try to direct the process by having preferences or agendas. Let the inquiry move in its own direction. Notice whatever arises, even if it surprises you. "Oh, I thought I was sad, but now I see that this is loneliness. It feels like a ball of rubber bands in my stomach." Welcome the rubber bands. Give them room. Watch what happens. Keep coming back to the direct sensations in your body. Pay attention to things you've never told anyone, secrets you've kept to yourself. Do not censor anything. Do not get discouraged. It takes a while to trust the immediacy of inquiry since we are so used to directing everything with our minds. It is helpful, though not necessary, to do inquiry with a guide or a partner so that you can have a witness and a living reminder to come back to the sensation and the location. Most of all, remember that inquiry is not about discovering answers to puzzling problems but a direct and experiential revelation process. It's fueled by love. It's like taking a dive into the secret of existence itself; it is full of surprises, twists, side trips. You engage in it because you want to penetrate the unknown, comprehend the incomprehensible. Because when you evoke curiosity and openness with a lack of judgment, you align yourself with beauty and delight and love?for their own sake. You become the benevolence of God in action. A few years ago, I received a letter from someone who'd included a Weight Watchers ribbon on which was embossed "I lost ten pounds." Underneath the gold writing, the letter writer added "And I still feel like crap." We think we're miserable because of what we weigh. And to the extent that our joints hurt and our knees ache and we can't walk three blocks without losing our breath, we probably are physically miserable because of extra weight. But if we've spent the last five, 20, 50 years obsessing about the same ten or 20 pounds, something else is going on. Something that has nothing to do with weight. Most people are so glad to read about, hear about, and then begin any approach that doesn't focus on weight loss as its main agenda that they take it to be license to eat without restraint. "Aha!" they say. "Someone finally understands that it's not about the weight." It's never been about the weight. It's not even about food. "Great," they say, "let's eat. A lot. Let's not stop." And the truth is that it's not about the weight. Either you want to wake up or you want to go to sleep. You either want to anesthetize yourself or you do not. You either want to live or you want to die. But it's also not not about the weight. No one can argue that being a hundred pounds overweight is not physically challenging; the reality of sheer poundage and its physical consequences cannot be denied. Some people at my retreats can't sit in a chair comfortably. They can't walk up a slight incline without feeling pain. Their doctors tell them their lives are in danger unless they lose weight. They need knee replacements, hip replacements, LAP-BAND surgeries. The pressure on their hearts, their kidneys, their joints is too much for their body to tolerate and still function well. So it is about the weight to the extent that weight gets in the way of basic function: of feelings, of doing, of moving, of being fully alive. The bottom line, whether you weigh 340 pounds or 150 pounds, is that when you eat when you are not hungry, you are using food as a drug, grappling with boredom or illness or loss or grief or emptiness or loneliness or rejection. Food is only the middleman, the means to the end. Of altering your emotions. Of making yourself numb. Of creating a secondary problem when the original problem becomes too uncomfortable. Of dying slowly rather than coming to terms with your messy, magnificent, and very, very short?even at a hundred years?life. The means to these ends happens to be food, but it could be alcohol, it could be work, it could be sex, it could be cocaine. Surfing the Internet. Talking on the phone. For a variety of reasons we don't fully understand (genetics, temperament, environment), those of us who are compulsive eaters choose food. Not because of its taste. Not because of its texture or its color. We want quantity, volume, bulk. We need it?a lot of it?to go unconscious. To wipe out what's going on. The unconsciousness is what's important, not the food. Sometimes people will say, "But I just like the taste of food. In fact, I love the taste! Why can't it be that simple? I overeat because I like food." But. When you like something, you pay attention to it. When you like something?love something?you take time with it. You want to be present for every second of the rapture. But overeating does not lead to rapture: It leads to burping and farting and being so sick that you can't think of anything but how full you are. That's not love; that's suffering. I'm not exactly proud to say that I have been miserable anywhere, with anything, with anyone. I've been miserable standing in a field of a thousand sunflowers in southern France in mid-June. I've been miserable weighing 80 pounds and wearing a size 0. And I've been happy wearing a size 18, been happy sitting with my dying father, been happy being a switchboard operator. But like many people, I've had the "When I Get Thin (Change Jobs, Move, Find a Relationship, Leave This Relationship, Have Money) Blues." It's called the "If Only" refrain. It's called postponing your life and your ability to be happy to a future date when then, oh then, you will finally get what you want and life will be good. You will stop turning to food when you start understanding in your body, not just your mind, that there is something better than turning to food. And this time, when you lose weight, you will keep it off. Truth, not force, does the work of ending compulsive eating. The poet Galway Kinnell wrote that "sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness." Everything we do, I tell my students, is to reteach ourselves our loveliness. Diets are the result of your belief that you have to atone for being yourself to be worthy of existing. Until the belief is understood and questioned, no amount of weight loss will touch the part of you that is convinced it is damaged. It will make sense to you that hatred leads to love and that torture leads to peace because you will be operating on the conviction that you must starve or deprive or punish the badness out of you. You won't keep extra weight off, because being at your natural weight does not match your convictions about the way life unfolds. But once the belief and the subsequent decisions are questioned, diets and being uncomfortable in your body lose their seductive allure. Only kindness makes sense. Anything else is excruciating. You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. The Sufi poet Rumi, writing about birds learning to fly, wrote: "How do they learn it? They fall, and falling, they're given wings." If you wait until you have Toni Oliver's eyes and Amy Breyer's hair, if you wait to respect yourself until you are at the weight you imagine you need to be to respect yourself, you will never respect yourself. To be given wings, you've got to be willing to believe that you were put on this Earth for more than your endless attempts to lose the same 30 pounds 300 times for 80 years. And that goodness and loveliness are possible, even in something as mundane as what you put in your mouth for Breakfast. Beginning now.

Forgot to add in my last post they weighed me again today so since my fill on Thursday I lost 3 lbs!!! Drinking: nope I've never been drunk either partly because I don't like most alcoholic drinks but put me in Hawaii with lava flow drink and who knows lol

Im having surgery the 19th and I went and bough chicken broth, sf pudding mix, sf jello mix- they told me not to get the premade kind. I also bought 2 big bags of SF popsicles. I got to looking at the label the other night and it does say sugar 0gm, but also says sugar alcohol 2gm.??? the told me to watch out for sugar alcohol...what exactly is it? oh ya, i also bough 2nd stage baby food :-) Good luck !!

I have lost 10 pounds on one week of pre-op - Medifast Supplements. I was so hungry and had so many headaches the first few days...I didn't think I could make it. Now it is much better. Yesterday, however, I was playing in a golf outing. Told my girlfriends upfront that I could not stay for the dinner portion (they do not know about my surgery). Long story short - I ended up staying for the dinner portion. I ate lean ham and 1/4 cup of cole-slaw. I couldn't get out of it and I didn't want to draw attention to myself by not eating. I am sure I stayed within the calorie and carb counts for the day. I did not eat the potatos, baked beans, chips and brownies that they offered :thumbup:. I did not drink any alcohol all day either (my first time doing that during 18 holes of golf!). I'm just not going to beat myself up over it. I did not use this slip as an excuse to raid the fridge (the old me would have). I am back on track today and doing great! There have been so many times when I could justify eating a little protein, or a veggie, as so many don't even have pre-op diets...but I stuck to the plan. Funny that I ended up being in a situation where I ended up doing it anyway. I really didn't even enjoy it. It certainly didn't feel like cheating! I'm sure it will be fine - the protein bars that are part of my diet plan have 15 carbs in them. I don't think the coleslaw had more than that...and I didn't eat the protein bar that day. My surgery is one week from today . I'm already not sleeping very well. I can't wait to get this behind me!!!!:thumbup:

Morning...interesting conversation. Let's just home none of us discover we only have 24 hours left....if I do, then I don't want to know. We need to resume this conversation for Las Vegas. Laura, I found a "duffle on wheels" type suitcase at the Samsonite outlet store in Phoenix. I love it. It isn't particularly lightweight, but I can sure pack a lot of stuff in it and it has a lot of handles so I can grab it many different ways. I took it to Costa Rica and DH and I use it when we need to check a bag and we just need one extra bag that we share. Cheri....getting plastered is fun at the moment, but the after affects aren't really worth it to me. Ug! But I guess you really need to do it at least once to know what it's all about. I have an automatic shut off valve, I drink too much, I throw up. It's sort of like PBing with alcohol. LOL. Off to work again this morning. I know I'm wishing my life away, but geez, I'm not going to miss the weekly grind of getting up, going to work, not having enough time to do what I want to do. Okay, talk to you all later. Eva

Phyll, got a contact high from mj once. Newly married at 19, went to a Joan Baez concert. Very smokey. Don't remember much of the concert. Just wanted to sleep. My husband told me later that all the smoke was mj. Never understood the attraction. I'm enough of a space cadet without the addition of drugs and alcohol. Cheri

Just get me to the plane in time for my ride home. Actually, I did get sick from drinking 1 time. My first husband and I were at my uncle and aunt's house in Milwaukee (both of whom turned out to be confirmed alcoholics-they divorced after she tried to set the bed on fire-with him in it). We hadn't had lunch and they took us to a brewery where we sampled the beer. Then we went to their house and sipped on wine well into the evening before they grilled some brats soaked in beer. I think I had one Southern Comfort Manhatten thrown in there too. Next morning, bright and early, with the sun shining in through uncovered windows, I finally gave up trying to sleep and went in the bathroom and stuck my fingers down my throat. The brats hadn't digested-just pickled. TMI I know, but funny. I actually told that story at my uncle's intervention. My husband, who ended up with an alcohol problem himself, started drinking Southern Comfort a lot after that. I had a five month old baby with me and I decided I'd never again drink that much. I don't think she liked the taste of my breast milk the next day either. So that's my drunk story. Once in a while I don't mind getting a nice buzz if I'm not driving anywhere. But I am not at all fond of headaches and throwing up. Cheri

Thank you everyone for the advice and encouragement. I will think of you all as standing between me and that fork that I want to use to shovel all that food in my mouth. I don't normally binge but after all this time waiting for regular food, it's pretty scary. I feel like an alcoholic-in-treatment going to a wine tasting event at a vineyard without being able to take a friend for support. But, I will follow your advice and report back how it goes. Thank you again!

Sorry that you are having so much problems with this issue. I know it's so easy for anyone to tell you that your issue is with the food and that you have to let food stop controling you like this. BUT it's not so easy getting rid of those old habits that follow us even after we are banded. The only real thing that I can possibly say to you is this, Step back and re-evaluate things. You had the band for a reason. You can either make this work, or you can give up and let food take over like it has probably done for most of your life (I know that's what it was for me). I am not trying to be harsh here but sometimes the only way to the heart of things is facing the truth. Honey we can sit here and type until we are blue in the face and it's going to go in one ear and out of the other. You have to be the one that makes the decision of wanting this to work. "You can lead a horse to Water but you can not make them drink." Yes the band is only a tool. And if you want it to work for you, you have to put your best efforts into this. Yes this is not a diet but it is a lifestyle change. And it will work if you set your mind to it, and WANT it to work and MAKE it work. Look food is a comfort food that we turn to when we are stressed, when we are upset, and when we want pleasure. It's just like an alcoholic turning to the bottle or a drug addict turning to heroine. It's a addiction that can only be broken by you. And if you want that to happen, only you can do it. No matter HOW much your mind tells you to do otherwise. Most of what you are feeling is head hunger. You really need to learn the difference. I don't eat 5 to 6 meals a day. I eat 3 meals a day which are no more than 5-6oz. I have sugar free ice pops and plenty of Fluid in between. I have a sensible snack once and awhile. If you are THAT hungry then you need to make sure you are eating higher Protein foods. And you need to stop yourself when you have reach the end of the plate. If you are having problems stopping then you need to measure your food and only eat that much. Keep a journal of what you are eating, that sometimes also helps. Get back on the path and don't give up. Don't give into frustration. That's probably how we all got into this mess in the first place. You can beat it. Don't let food beat you. Have faith in yourself. You can do it. If I can do it, SO can you.

Well, I set a goal to be at 150 by this Sunday when I left for vacation and I am at 150.1, I would say close enough! To date I have lost 30.5 pounds and this coming Monday will be 9 weeks post op. I continue to follow low carb, low fat, high Protein and it is working for me. Weight loss is slow and steady and I am fine with that. My Mom, who has not seen me since we said goodbye in the DFW airport when she went home and I still had to fly back to Dulles after surgery, has been asking me to send her pictures of my progress but I told her she will have to wait until I see her in Orlando on Monday! My babysitter came over last night to watch the kids so I could go to dinner with a friend and she screamed when she saw me! Said I looked so much smaller! That was so awesome to hear!!! Like I told a girlfriend at dinner last night, if anyone ever accuses me or anyone who has had WLS that we took the easy way out I think I would come unglued on them. This is not EASY! I watch what I eat everyday. Do I regret having to follow this healthy lifestyle, ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is what I needed to get control of my eating and my life. It is a blessing in disguise because I was feeding my face and drinking alcohol to deal with emotions. Now, I can't do that. I have moments where I want to grab food or a beer and I know I cannot. This has given me the push I needed to start dealing with some very deep routed issues in my life and I am so grateful! It will be a long process but well worth it all! TGIF!

So....here I go again...it's been a long time since I have posted and MUCH has happened (again). Well...the honeymoon is definitely OVER with the bf. He turned out to be very controlling and I was not going to have that in my life so I broke it off. Well...he wanted no parts of breaking it off and he went NUTS. He threatened me, called me a whore and an alcoholic. He said that he has pictures and he's calling my ex-husband and he'll make sure that I never see my kids again...says that these "pictures" show me drunk and that he will prove to my ex-husband that I'm an unfit mother. I'm sitting at work right now crying and wondering how did I get my life to turn out like this? Am I that bad of a person? So...there's more...a couple of months ago I took out a personal loan so he could get a vehicle because his credit is horrible and he wrecked his car on the ice and he didn't have money for another one. Looks like I won't see that money, huh? I did have him sign a promisory note but we'll see how that works out. He has the keys to my house and the garage door opener. I'm actually scared to go home from work...how did this happen? Well friends...I sure could use some good vibes to be sent to me right now...I NEED them badly!

Congratulations and best of luck. I haven't had soda since 5/1 and any alcohol since 5/3. Somedays that is a shock to me, most of the time I forget :-).

I found the contraindications on the lap-band page and it does not specifically mention APS; however, it does mention autoimmune connective tissue disorders as contraindicated with the lap-band. I'd ask a surgeon or even call the toll-free number and ask someone at Allergan. The LAP-BAND® System is not right for you if: You have an inflammatory disease or condition of the gastrointestinal tract, such as ulcers, severe esophagitis, or Crohn’s disease. You have severe heart or lung disease, or any other disease that makes you a poor candidate for any surgery. You have a problem that could cause bleeding in the esophagus or stomach. That might include esophageal or gastric varices (dilated veins). It might also be something such as congenital or acquired intestinal telangiectasia (dilation of a small blood vessel). You have portal hypertension. Your esophagus, stomach, or intestine is not normal (congenital or acquired). For instance, you might have a narrowed opening. You have/experienced an intraoperative gastric injury, such as a gastric perforation at or near the location of the intended band placement. You have cirrhosis. You have chronic pancreatitis. You are addicted to alcohol or drugs. You have an infection anywhere in your body, or one that could contaminate the surgical area. You are on chronic, long-term steroid treatment. You might be allergic to materials in the device. You cannot tolerate pain from an implanted device. You or someone in your family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases.

If you hang around here more, you will bump into many many bandsters who have lost 100+. My mom has lost over 100 w/her band and I've lost just over 50 in 6 months. My goals is 100 and there's no way I'm not makin it! I think if you have your mind made up and you follow the rules, there's no way you can't succeed w/the band. My weightloss did start to slow dramatically about two months ago. I did some soul searching and decided I didn't have surgery just to get halfway to my goal. So, I gave up alcohol and increased my exercise A LOT! Yes, there are challenges for everyone and everyone's challenges are different. But, if you have your mind made up that you are gonna get to goal and this great tool to help you, you will achieve your goal. Best of luck to you!

Why no dairy? Also caffine can cause acid reflux which can cause band erosion. Alcohol can also cause band erosion. 4 months after my surgery I had band erosion and I was a coffee drinker and enjoyed alcohol as well. I am definitely changing my eating habits my second time around already stopped drinking coffee and alcohol its' been a week and I am still dying for coffee. Surgery in 3 days though so I want to do better this time. My doc also doesnt see a problem with coffee and alcohol though we are being cautious because I already had band erosion.

Hi, I was just banded on June 28th. I have a baby, almost one year old who I still breast feed. I spoke with one of the anestesiologists. He said that the anesthesia is not in your milk once you no longer feel the effects of it. The same is with alchohol. If you have a drink and feel tipsy you should not breastfeed because the alcohol is in your milk at that time, but once you feel normal, then your milk is ok. He said to be really safe, wait for 24 hrs to feed your baby. That is what I did. I had Csections with both my babies and breastfed them immediately after I came out of the OR and while on pain meds in the hospital with no problems, and that was when they were newborns, so I would think if it was not safe, they would not have encouraged it. Because I paid cash for the Lap Band, I was able to go first at 0730, and home by 1400. So I fed my little guy before I left for the hospital and then I started again the next morning. He is older than your little one, so only feeds in the morning and before bed, but I had some frozen milk just in case he seemed to need it. He was fine about it all though. In regards to supply, I think everyone is different and you won't know until you have the surgery yourself. I would recommend you talk to your surgeon and research for yourself and then decide on what makes you comfortable. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

I do tend to lose more on days that I take a moment to praise God before I step on the scale. It can't hurt! More Protein and Water would help if you are low in those areas. Sounds like you have stepped it up on the exercise already which is good. You might not see results immediately w/the extra exercise, but hang in there because it really does make a difference in the long run. The only other thing you might consider is if you are getting any empty calories any other ways. For me, I was still drinking alcohol when my weightloss started to slow. It was pretty obvious I had to give it up. Since giving it up (a month ago) and upping my exercise, I am losing a lot better now.