1 Wk Post Op And I've Already Cheated Several Times.....

[sam3841 57]

Don't stress yourself out for cheating. I cheated, I had solid food two days after surgey, well mashed potatoes. I am not saying its okay to cheat, you should try to do what your Dr says to do. Everyone heals differently and handles food differently. The key to cheating, or as Dr oz says cheat in the right way ) I love Dr oz). Please remember more than likely you have no liquid in your band so no restriction, you are going to be hungery as hell, it will help if you eat high Protein high Fiber foods which will help keep you full till you are out of bandster hell.

[Toddy 758]

My understanding is that some surgeons will put in a small fill to "prime" the band during surgery. Mine, however, didn't. You are not alone in this hunger thing! I actually feel hungerier now than I ever have. I had no problems on the two week pre-surgery liquid diet at all, but I've had nothing but problems with hunger post-surgery. If my doctor had required a lengthy liquid diet post-surgery I don't know what I'd do.

The ONLY bad eating habit I have never had is middle of the night eating, even if I went to bed a little hungry. But since being banded a week ago yesterday, there have been two nights that I couldn't sleep because I was so hungry! I resisted eating because I don't want to begin a brand new bad habit, but after both those nights, when I got up the next morning I felt absolutely awful and it took a good half a day to get back to feeling decent.

[ready for my journey to be 14]

my dr fills the band cuts the tube then when the Fluid becomes a trickle hestops it he said this way some people go a very long time before they need a fill..just goes to show u how different drs are.....

[honk 780]

I don't want to come across as mean spirited. Stop eating solids. Your stomach is healing and should not be getting solids. Again this is for your health not me being rude. Being hungry sucks I get that. It would be better for you to have more liquids than to be eating solids at this point. Space out your meals every couple hours to help with both the physical and head hunger.

[elcee 3,341]

Honk you are not being mean spirited. I am getting tired of reading thread after thread where someone has cheated on their postop diet and all these noobs come along and tell the OP it's OK, they did it, no problems etc etc.

I get it - people cheat but they shouldn't . The postop diet is there for a reason. The last thing people need is all these unqualified people telling them that it is OK to ignore their Drs instructions and that they will be fine. Who has the medical degree? Who did they pay the money to and trust their lives with? Who should they be getting advice/approval from if they "cannot" stick to their postop diet?

So the message here is if you have already cheated you cannot undo that but just because you have done it and think that it's OK does not mean that you should carry on or that you should encourage others to do the same.

[sam3841 57]

Hold on! I never said you listen to me instead of your Dr, I actually said the exact opposite, that you should listen to your Dr. I don't think she was asking is it okay to cheat on your post-op diet and that if you did cheat did something bad happen. Cheating was what got us all there, but I don't think you need to be so judgemental. It might be true that you shouldn't cheat and the rules are there for a reason, but no one is perfect and especially in the earlier stages of banding food has a greater power than later on. It happens, the point is to focus on why it happened and what we can do to prevent it happening. Nice name calling by the way.

[elcee 3,341]

Did I say I was talking about you?

Or did I make a general comment?

I wasn't being judgemental. If you read my post/s I said that cheating that has happened cannot be undone but that going forward it is important to follow your Dr's instructions as they are there for a reason. Time after time on this board people post saying they have cheated and all these people will come on and say it's Ok, fine, don't worry etc. Well it's not. If someone posts saying they have cheated then they should be encouraged to stick with the program, talk to their Dr etc. They should not be given validation that what they did was Ok and that it is fine to carry on.

Not sure what name that was, I don't recall calling anybody anything.

[Joyce Real 21]

Honk you are not being mean spirited. I am getting tired of reading thread after thread where someone has cheated on their postop diet and all these noobs come along and tell the OP it's OK, they did it, no problems etc etc.

I get it - people cheat but they shouldn't . The postop diet is there for a reason. The last thing people need is all these unqualified people telling them that it is OK to ignore their Drs instructions and that they will be fine. Who has the medical degree? Who did they pay the money to and trust their lives with? Who should they be getting advice/approval from if they "cannot" stick to their postop diet?

So the message here is if you have already cheated you cannot undo that but just because you have done it and think that it's OK does not mean that you should carry on or that you should encourage others to do the same.

I agree, you need to follow your doctors orders, if you are eating the things you say you are not helping yourself in any way. You worked to hard to get the surgery, if insurance paid, or if you paid you do not want to waste your money. Be strong it wont be long till your band is your best friend.

[sam3841 57]

You used the term noob, I don't like it, but looking above at some of the people who responded most of them said they are in post-op diet plans. After reading your post again I was rash in my comment and I am sorry. I just don't think scolding her will help. Looking back on my surgery in 2010, I wish I could tell myself not to cheat cause the torture will be over soon, but I don't think it would have made any difference.

That being said, if you have cheated, I would tell your Dr at your next visit or call your nurses line. They know how you are feeling and have good solutions. When I did call them cause I was starving, or at least thought I was, she suggested adding Fiber to my Protein shakes, sugar free fudgesilces (sp) they are 25 calories. If you are in the misguided stage add fiber to Greek yogurt. Chewing gum when you get hungery really helped me.

[ducker2010 17]

Honk you are not being mean spirited. I am getting tired of reading thread after thread where someone has cheated on their postop diet and all these noobs come along and tell the OP it's OK, they did it, no problems etc etc.

I get it - people cheat but they shouldn't . The postop diet is there for a reason. The last thing people need is all these unqualified people telling them that it is OK to ignore their Drs instructions and that they will be fine. Who has the medical degree? Who did they pay the money to and trust their lives with? Who should they be getting advice/approval from if they "cannot" stick to their postop diet?

So the message here is if you have already cheated you cannot undo that but just because you have done it and think that it's OK does not mean that you should carry on or that you should encourage others to do the same.

This was really well said. I hate to say it but I can't even imagine cheating. I'm three weeks post band and I'm just not hungry. I drink my shakes and eat my yogurt like instructed and can barely find the room for one tiny meal a day. I eat about three ounces of meat in the evening. That's it. They've told me I can have five small meals but at this point I can't even fathom that much in my stomach.

Maybe I'm too anal but I just don't want to do anything at all to risk messing up my one and only chance at health.

[Toddy 758]

This was really well said. I hate to say it but I can't even imagine cheating. I'm three weeks post band and I'm just not hungry. I drink my shakes and eat my yogurt like instructed and can barely find the room for one tiny meal a day. I eat about three ounces of meat in the evening. That's it. They've told me I can have five small meals but at this point I can't even fathom that much in my stomach.

Maybe I'm too anal but I just don't want to do anything at all to risk messing up my one and only chance at health.

I just wish we were all as lucky as you!

[ducker2010 17]

I don't know that it's luck. I think some of it is actually head games with me. I simply know I'm "not allowed" this or that. I don't think it's easy. The other day I was pms'ing and wanted pretzels. There was a whole bag sitting in my pantry for the kids. I wanted to eat them so bad. But I didn't.

I've suffered with excruiating arthritis in my knees for the last three years. I'm 20 years too young for double knee replacements. Some days I can barely walk. I've also always been heavy. My whole life I was overweight. Even as a child. I was fortunate our insurance paid for it or I'd never have been able to do it. I really do just look at this as something I am going to have to deal with. Giving up soda was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. For me, it was a food addiction. I gave it up six months ago and there are days I feel like a drug addict... Scouring places that might sell a can of soda. Sometimes I just find myself standing in the soda isle staring. But I haven't given in even once.

I'm counting on the band to save my life. But in return I'm willing to do what I need to do to make it happen. Will I be perfect? No. But I'm going to try as hard as I can to be.

[54Shirley 105]

I agree with elcee !

If it's done, that you scratched your itch ! Get back to the BASICS, and follow your Dr.'s Plan.

If you do this you will lose weight.

If you insist on PIGGING out, it will never work for you.

It's up to you ! But it's time to get it together.

So Good Luck !

[pmartin323 13]

From my Dr. and PA I have learned that the band holds 10cc's of saline, which of course if too tight. My band was primed with 2.5cc's and after a month or so of healing I received my first and only fill of 2cc's which puts me at 4.5cc's and nearly half full. I have been informed that I am where most people live with the amount of saline in my band.

I am currently 1 week (thursday) post-op from gallbladder removal and I requested my GI Dr. who did my lap-band to do the surgery due to the fact he is familiar with me and his work. I was banded in 2010 and have lost 50lbs. In addition to removing my gallbladder he did a procedure called a (thanks to another member on here) called a Pliation, which makes my stomach smaller. Needless to say I am back on liquids for 2 weeks, purreed for 2 and then solids. So far so good, yes I get hungry but I really want to get healthy, so I will not cheat, pluse I think the gallbladder surgery is a bit harder than the band or stomach thing.

[hsigari921 10]

I also wanted to add to the previous post and say, the reason a lot of people's post op diets are a bit different (my doctor requires me to be on liquids 3 weeks followed by mushies where as other people go on mushies starting week 2) is because every doctors surgical technique is different. Some doctors suture the heck out of the band... what I mean is, the band is tied into place with a few sutures until your skin heals and natural forms its own sutures and holds the band into place. Other doctors such as mind, did not do too much suturing of his own (this is what he told me) because he prefers my body do the suturing rather than him do it which will lead to longer recovery and more pain.

So to reiterate, the reason why some doctors move patients into mushies and solids much more rapidly is because of their surgical technique, thus a much less likelihood of the band slipping.

This is to say, follow your doctors orders verbatim because only he and his stuff know what they did. Dont compare yourself or your diet to anyone else because everyone is different. So to read that some people start solids so quickly therefore its ok for me to do it, is a complete misunderstanding since everyone is different.