Hoping to find support from all my fellow banded people

[Carmen188 1]

I had surgery on Sept 13, 2010 at the Kaiser in Richmond, my surgeon was Dr Park, the day itself was miserable as I had to wait around all day to finally be released because the surgeon had some other priority/emergency going on that day. I am left puzzling because nothing was ever explained to me as to why the delay, when she finally did come see me it was about 4:00 in the afternoon (I had been there since 6:00am with a 2 hr car ride ahead of me before I could get home) when she saw me it was obvious she was worn out from the day she had had and kind of just stood there looking at me not saying much, I felt like it was up to me to talk so the only dumb question that came out of my mouth was "when can I take a shower". Anyways...it will be 3 weeks this Monday since my surgery and i admit at first I SO regretted having this done, I was kind of miserable and hungry and had the worst pain in my shoulder imaginable, I thought "great I am going to lose weight but suffer from this shoulder pain for the rest of my life" lol but the shoulder pain has subsided and seems to be going away and I still have my hunger but I think that it is mostly "head hunger" you know the feeling like you just want to chew and eat something good besides yougurt, Soup, cream of wheat. If anyone has any suggestions for this stage of food I would welcome them. I have only lost 10 lbs since the 13th it seems like I should be losing more and faster but I am not getting discouraged I will keep the faith that this will work! I forgot to mention that the 10 lbs came off within the first I'd say 3 days and I havent' lost anymore since. I have a lot of tenderness on one of my incisions and it is swollen but maybe it's just the port ? I wouldn't know since my surgeon didn't take the time to explain things. I didn't have some "wretching" right before I went home from surgery and a little more on the way home in the car but other than that I have been fine. Pain meds worked really well, I wish I could have some more for a little while longer just to help me rest and not think about food. Well sorry to have gone on so long, and I plan on posting more on here it seems to help me get this all out of me..thanks for listening if anyone has listened!!! :biggrin:

[onthego317 4]

I felt EXACTLY like you do. I was completely miserable and regretted the decision for the first 4 weeks! I promise it will get better. I will be 6 weeks out tomorrow and will get my first fill. I felt like I was starving the first 4 weeks! Mashed potatoes was my favorite, I also loved soft scrambled eggs with cheese...you just have to chew till its liquid. Now I'm eating real food and am completely happy with my decision.

The 1st 2 weeks I lost 11 lbs and then didnt lose anything for the next 10 days. I actually gained a pound! Hang in there.........the weight will come off in due time. At 6 weeks Ive lost 17lbs. I have to keep in mind that without the band I would still be carrying those pounds and maybe a couple more. My Dr wants me to lose 2lbs a week which doesnt seem like a lot but adds up fast when I thin how long I've been carrying this weight around.

My port site was really sore for 5 weeks. Its still a little bit tender. I had 4 small incisions and one larger incision...its the bigger one and is under my left breast.

My gas pains lasted about 2 weeks. GasX chewables really helped me. Keep in mind all of your feelings are normal and hang in there....there is a bright shiny light at the end of this tunnel!

[Carmen188 1]

Thank you Shelly for your input, it is such a relief to hear those positive things from someone who has just recently had it done but is a few weeks ahead of me! I am enjoying my mashed potatoes too..they are the highlight of my eating day LOL it is so true what you say about the amount of weight that has come off, even though it seems like i'm starving and should be losing weight like crazy 10 lbs is good..it's a whole sack of potatoes! let me know what happens when you eat regular food... and what you eat and how your body responds to it once you start on your regular food again. thanks a million for your response!:biggrin:

[onthego317 4]

Just wanted to let you know that at 5 weeks I started "real" food. I could eat just about anything as long as I chewed until it was liquid. I didnt eat any thick breads and have not vomited. Taco bell's pintos & cheese is my favorite treat....I also get a taco and mix the meat in the pinto beans! (Throw the taco shell away) About 300 calories of tasty Protein that goes down easily for me and it feels like I'm cheating! It also makes me feel "normal".

I eat 3 meals a day, each one being between 1-1.5 cups. I do not snack, only drink my Protein shot between meals. Actually once I started eating, the scale started moving. I think I needed those extra calories. I get between 1000-1200 daily. When I was gettig 600 is when the scale stalled.

I got a fill yesterday, 3cc in a 10cc band. I have to admit I was a lil nervous but it wasn't even as bad as a shot! My Dr told me to do liquids for 2 days and pureeds for a couple days. I'm starving again and broke down and had 4 oz applesauce. It went down fine and I do not notice a difference in my restriction yet. He said it may take a couple fills to get good restiction. He was also very pleased with 17lbs in 6 weeks and reminded me that this is a slow progress. They also stressed the importance of exercise to prevent skin sagging.

Keep me posted on your progress and send me any great tips you may come across!