New Bander With Soooo Many Questions

[my_genre 0]

Hello. I was banded on the 7th of november and I am feeling so down tonight. I had my post-op appoinment yesterday and they remove all of my staples...thank goodness!!!!! I forgot to ask what size band the doctor ended up using with me and don't go back for a month. I am wondering about some things.....

My doctor had me on liquids and then mushy foods by the 5th day. At my appoinment yesterday he said i could move to the soft phase which is anything you can mush with your fork including chicken, In two weeks, he said I could have whatever I want (within reason), including beef and hard fruits and veggies. Is this normal?

Also, after the first three days beyond surgery, I was sooooo hungry. I feel like I am eating way too much (I can easily eat a cup of food before I feel full), and I am so afraid I am going to stretch my pouch. I feel like I am failing at this so early after being banded. Has anyone else felt this way? How much should I be able to eat now? I do not feel restriction until I am almost too full and I am taking my time and eating slowly and chewing well.

I think some of this is head hunger too. I am trying to retrain myself and lose the bad habits.

I just really need some support now, does anyone have any ideas?

-Debra

[HarleyNana 10]

Welcome to bandland & LBT.

After my surgery, I was two weeks liquids, two weeks mushies, then onto food, but not every doctor has the same schedule. It's normal to be hungry, you don't have a fill yet, if so, it's ever so slight, some doctors are leaving a slight fill after surgery.

I wish you the best.

[my_genre 0]

HarleyNana,

Thanks a bunch. Do you remember how much you could eat at around the two week mark?

Thanks,

Debra

[the best me 6]

Hang in there, Debra. You will do this, don't worry. And be patient...it will not all change overnight and it doesn't have to either. Slow down.

Keep your foods as mushy as you'd like for as long as you need to, even if the doc says it's okay to move on to more solid foods. However, it sounds as if you are healing nicely. It's just that your band is "wide open" at this time and you need to be eating good nutritional foods. If your foods are mushy you shouldn't be doing any pouch stretching...the food is just going on through! Think "loose bracelet" or "wide funnel" when you think of your band and eat what you need, not just what you want.

You will get restriction once you start getting fills. Hang in there. You are in no-man's land...healing, hungry, and unrestricted. Up your protien intake, too. That seems to help alot. (soft eggs, egg drop Soup, egg salad, protien drinks, etc)

[my_genre 0]

Thanks Kathy,

I don't regret my decision at all. I am just worried that it wont work like it should or I have been messing it up. There are a lot of new habits to learn and old habits to break. I have always been a grazer and I will catch myself reaching for something without even thinking about it.

-Debra

[TrishS 3]

At first I thought I was messing up to.. We put such a high expectation that when we actually get there and do what the Dr. says it seems to easy.. Like you think it should be harder. Well we cant be that hard on ourselfs and as long as you are following your Dr.'s orders then you are doing fine... Just keep chewing slow and a whole buch.. take small bites. I have always been a grazer too.. and now when I look in the fridge or cabinet I just get a bottle of Water and the helps... sometimes we mistake hunger for just being thursty.

[rpaniagua77 0]

Debra,

I too was banded on the 7th and know exactly how you feel. I am hungry sometimes too my stomach growls because I don't eat the 2 oz every hour like I am supposed to and even when I do drink all day it still growls and I hate it. Sometimes I just don't want any stankin Soup or broth or watered mashed potatoes. So I just don't eat sometimes. I know that is not good either because then later in the day I am starving and I have to give in to the soup or broth and drink it. I know that I too can consume more than that without feeling full I only tried it once I had some broccli cheese soup at hand and it was good so I drank the whole drink (sipping of course probably took me about an 1 or so it was 10 oz. I did not feel full but I was fine, I just tried not to sip on anything for the next 3-4 hours since I had drank the whole 10 oz in 1 hour. My dr too has me moving along quickly from liquids to creamy and mushies within 2 weeks I can even a scrambled egg and thicker Soups after 2 weeks. Today is my post-op visit at 1p.m. and I am just wondering what he will say or what instructions he will give me now. I know 1 thing though is that I do not feel full after the 2-3 oz consumed and I don't remember the dr saying that I would. Right after surgery I could not drink much because of pain. Well now I don't feel much pain only hunger and like I said I don't ever really feel full but I also try really hard to only drink or eat the 2 oz instructed by the dr. I know IT IS SO HARD!!! but I have been fat for a long time and I am so ready to look and feel different. I tell you what it has only been 9 days and I have lost 16 lbs although I know this time is strictly for healing I guess the liquids are making me lose the weight and I already feel different getting out of bed in the morning. I feel a little lighter( laugh at me if you want I know it sounds silly) but it's true. I have even had some people notice the weight loss and that tells me that this is working. It may take some time but heck, time is what we have anyway. So cheer up and think positive. This will work for you just trust in it and do as your dr instructs you to do. You will be ok. Even when or if you mess up a little just start over. GOOD LUCK AND KEEP YOUR HEAD UP YOU WILL BE OK.

[kat72 0]

Debra, I too was banded on Nov. 7th. my first question to you is why were staples put in? Did you have the open form of the surgery or the laparascope version. Second of all, from what I understand, you should not be able to consume a cup of food so soon after surgery, but who knows? I am so fortunate if I can get my full 4 oz. down about 5-6 times a day. I have been told several times on this board that you will not be hungry after surgery, and I have found that to be untrue in. Several new bandsters, including myself, have been having an extremely difficult time with being so hungry after surgery and not being able to eat anything. It has been so difficult for me that I honestly thought that I would go insane from it. I feel that people who are considering having surgery for the band need to know about this critical stage. Don't get me wrong, I still would have had my surgery done, but I also would have known to expect to be hungry afterwards and would have been more prepared mentally for that challenge. I have had a difficult time emotionally after my surgery due to the fact that I cannot eat enough or drink enough to nourish my body. I even started having panick attacks and kind of regretted having the surgery. However, each day has slowly but surely gone better than the next. Yesterday I went to see a therapist who specializes in working with weight loss surgery patients, and that made a world of difference for me. It is possible that you may need to seek therapy. Of course it is your personal choice. Also, it is possible that you just may be at the point where you need a fill. As for me, at the rate that I am going, I may not be able to have my first fill at the appointed time. I may have to wait a bit longer if my current restriction keeps up. I think that we all go into surgery gun-ho, expecting certain things to go a certain way, and when we realize that things are not going to be the way we expected (at least not in the beginning), we become afraid and concerned and we panick. I am sure that everything will be fine for you. We've only been out of surgery for a little over a week, and it is going to take time for our bodies to heal and recover from the shock of what has happened to it. Hang in there, and don't worry too much. From what I have read, our goal is to work our way up to 3 cups of food (1 cup at each meal) a day. Maybe you have just reached your goal earlier and some of us may reach that goal later. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Take care.

[my_genre 0]

I had the laparoscopic version and he stapled every one of my incisions. I found it odd but he does that with all his patients. All of my incisions, except the larger port one, are almost already gone. I just have a tiny bit of scabbing. I was showing my husband last night how quickly they have healed and he was wowed too. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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I did not think I should be able to consume so much either. I am going to call them today and ask what is going on…they told me to just eat until full….and it seems to be far more than it should. Maybe, my swelling just went down quicker than most. I don’t know.<o:p></o:p>

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I think you are right that we all go into surgery expecting a certain type of outcome and response from our bodies and when it is not ‘textbook’ we tend to work ourselves up. <o:p></o:p>

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I don feel a lot better today than last night. I do notice a difference in the way my body feels just from the quality of the new foods. I have lost 15 pounds to this point, so something is working. <o:p></o:p>

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Take care also.<o:p></o:p>

Debra

[my_genre 0]

I called my doctor's office and spoke to his PA. He said it was fine that I could eat that much right now and that I wont stretch my pouch unless I really force it down and to go ahead and eat until full. He said my swelling must have gone down rather quicker and that they had used a VG band on me , and there is no fill in it yet. So everything is normal as far as they are concerned. My first fill is the 13th and he said they will put 4cc's in. So I feel somewhat better about all this. Thanks to everyone for their support. You are all awesome!

-Debra

[my_genre 0]

What is PBing anyways?

[my_genre 0]

I know IT IS SO HARD!!! but I have been fat for a long time and I am so ready to look and feel different.QUOTE]

Girl, I am right there with you. Best of luck to you too!

-Debra

[ajack 0]

PBing is productive burping(food dont go down)... hang in there. I was banded on aug 17th and i thought i was eating too much and tooo hungry but i found that everyone is different and i just keep thinking abuot how much less i am eating from before

[sunsett 2]

Do you watch the clock when you eat/drink? I thought I was eating slowly to find out what I thought was slow really wasn't.

Tonight I was really hungry. I make myself some chicken, rice, greenbeans and applesause. I now put the timer on for half an hour. Half way through I was still hungry, at the end of the half hour satisfied. Now I have cleaned the kitchen and it's been at least a half hour since I finished and I am very full.

I haven't had a fill yet either.

This is also totally a head thing. If you have faith in God ask him to help you, and he will. It does get easier. I hope this helps.