June 2006 Band Crew

[warmmorningsun 1]

Anyone else here who isn't required to do a pre-op diet? My doctor does not require one, and although I decided to do one anyway, I'm having a really hard time staying on it (probably because I know that I don't HAVE to do it). I'm trying to do a CIB liquid fast with added Protein for the next 2 weeks, but I've failed both yesterday and today.

What do you all think?

Lizzie

Lizzie, I am now one week post op. My MD didn't require me to do anything but get on Clear Liquids 24 hours before my surgery; but, I"ve noticed my clear liquid stage is longer than most here have said: 10 days. He said I had no complications at all during surgery, so maybe it's only for certain health types, weights, etc? Not sure what the rhyme or reason is?

[Randi L 0]

BOY - do I hear all that!!!! That is EXACTLY how I feel! <surgery is still on tuesday, the 20th>

[Reeneea 0]

It seems that there is such a wide variety to the pre and postop diet phase. I will have to ask the dr about that when I go for my fill. Just wondering what the logic is. Although those of you on a liquid diet pre op do seem to have a jump start on the weight loss, I only lost 2 pounds pre op with a low carb diet.

Hope all those recently banded are feeling better. i will say that it was about 5 days before i felt pretty ok, and a good week until just about back to normal.

Also I still have my steri strips on. Anyone else? Mine seem to be stuck on really good, only a couple have fallen off. most have the edges up, but are still a few days from coming off it seems. How are everyone elses steri strips doing?

[kimsretro 0]

I dont know about anyone else, but I am totally disgusted with myself. I feel absolutely NO restriction at all. I was having a bad bad day and I literally ATE the whole day. Anything that I saw I ate. I had been doing so well. I had a few hard boiled eggs the other day, But nothing like today. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I have been crying all night. I know that this is going to take work, but I was hoping for SOME type of restriction. Anyone else having these issues?

:help:

[Poodles 0]

KIM: Please don't eat beyond your "phase" you could tear your stitches, or hurt yourself really badly. They have these rules for a reason. Read my previous post today regarding what my doctors office said. It really worked for me. I have eaten less today than yesterday. We need to let our poor tummy heal. Be careful.

[warmmorningsun 1]

I dont know about anyone else, but I am totally disgusted with myself. I feel absolutely NO restriction at all. I was having a bad bad day and I literally ATE the whole day. Anything that I saw I ate. I had been doing so well. I had a few hard boiled eggs the other day, But nothing like today. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I have been crying all night. I know that this is going to take work, but I was hoping for SOME type of restriction. Anyone else having these issues?

:help:

Kim -

Nothing is wrong with you. You've taken a huge step towards helping yourself and the fact that there's no instant gratification/restriction is disheartening, I know.

You are absolutely worth the choice you made to stop overeating, and this tool that you've given yourself will help you. but it may take a few weeks before you really start to find the benefits. Think of anything in your life you've had to work towards that took longer than you expected or wanted (college degree, buying a house, etc.) It will be the same way with this band - hard work, setbacks, seeing results, not seeing results.... Take a deep breath. slow down a bit and think about taking this one day at a time. Don't require so much from yourself. Ask yourself to do small tasks first: one meal without overeating. One day without eating more than you've been told. One day within the restrictions your MD has set for you. Then do it again. If you mess up, it's okay. Start again.

We've all had weight issues, probably most of us for the majority of our lives. One week or two weeks is not going to change that. It's going to take more time. The difference between this time and any other time before is that we now have a tool that is going to eventually force us to come up with some other mechanism to deal with what's wrong. We will no longer be able to turn to food. I am sending you lots of hugs and prayers and PEACE with your decision. concentrate today on staying peaceful and in control

[JJinLA 0]

I had my surgery on the 5th with Kuri, don't have scales lol so nothing to report yet.

[lucymann 0]

Hi Juliegeraci and bubbyville - thanks for the encouragement. I AM surprised at how quickly pounds drop on the liquid phase. I have read a lot about breaking plateaus by "going back to basics" - lots of liquid and Protein. I hope I remember that when things aren't going so well :-)

[time4change 0]

Hi~ I have a few questions for the group....

Does anyone else have a hernia that was / will be repaired during band placement?

Does anyone else have young kids? What did you tell them?

Does everyone have to drink the magnesium citrate drink the night before?

Thanks!

[Reeneea 0]

Jen, I have a 6 and 10 y/o. I did not tell them about the surgery before hand. My 10y/o is a big worrier. They were very nervous afterward (son wouldn't go to friends house, wanted to stay with me). How old are your children? Sorry I don't know anything about the mag citrate or hernia repair.

Kim,

My thoughts are with you. I think we have all been there. We will get through this. I too have no restriction and am hungry. I wonder if I am hungry now, how am I only still going to be able to eat 4-6 oz at a meal in 3 weeks. But I guess i will try and focus on here and now. Take care and come here often for support and questions.

[jlogantx 0]

Boy are you lucky. My dr required 2 weeks liquid diet. My insurance lost the paperwork and it was either stay with it or start over. I was on liquids for 3 weeks pre op and 1 week post op. I still have one week to go with liquids and then I have two weeks of soft foods. The bright side of it is I have lost 31 lbs in those 4 weeks. I not sure I remember what food taste like.

[chako_lady 0]

I know this is kinda long...But I thought maybe it may be helpful!

<TT></TT>

<TT>This is from another board from a girl who was in the FDA trials she </TT><TT>has been banded 3 years has lost 140 pounds...</TT>

<TT></TT>

<TT>This is a recurrent theme on all lists, so let's just address it.</TT>

<TT>The Lapband was designed with a purpose. To be emptied if we ever</TT>

<TT>needed to be able to eat fairly normally again. I say "fairly"</TT>

<TT>normally because even with no Fluid it usually cuts our portions at</TT>

<TT>least some. But mostly this is because we haven't been forced to</TT>

<TT>superchew our food yet. Now, we understand this purpose when we go</TT>

<TT>into it. But it doesn't really SINK IN until we're actually healed</TT>

<TT>from our liquid phase (or even before that) and we decide to TEST</TT>

<TT>THE BAND. And we can STILL eat!!! And we PANIC! And we convince</TT>

<TT>ourselves we're doomed to fail! And we stress out and eat more. And</TT>

<TT>maybe gain back some of the weight we lost during the liquid phase.</TT>

<TT>We're convinced the band that seems to have worked for thousands of</TT>

<TT>others isn't going to work for us. That we're some freak of nature</TT>

<TT>that is going to be fat for all eternity. It's normal to feel this</TT>

<TT>way. Really. You're coming down from the drama and high of the</TT>

<TT>surgery into the day to day boring liquids and you expect to start</TT>

<TT>really losing some weight. I mean, you had surgery didn't you????</TT>

<TT>Well don't expect much until you're restricted. Use this time to</TT>

<TT>HEAL. See ANY weight loss before your first really good fill as a</TT>

<TT>BONUS and NOT a given, okay???? If you're lost weight, consider</TT>

<TT>yourself that far ahead.</TT>

<TT>There are some lucky ones who experience great restriction out the</TT>

<TT>door. Most are in between and some experience none (like me). You're</TT>

<TT>NOT GOING TO FAIL. Your tummy is healing. It's anchoring that band</TT>

<TT>in place so that it won't slip. If you've had one fill and you need</TT>

<TT>another, make it your priority to get one. Otherwise you're just</TT>

<TT>spinning your wheels. I've had my band so tight that a couple of</TT>

<TT>sips of coffee and ONE bite of a strawberry make me so full I'm on</TT>

<TT>the verge of barfing for hours. I've had it so tight that chewing</TT>

<TT>gum was too much for me because swallowing all that saliva was</TT>

<TT>causing it to back up.</TT>

<TT>Right now I'm kind of at a happy medium. When you get your band to</TT>

<TT>that "just right" spot a switch goes off in your brain about food.</TT>

<TT>You stop caring about it. I'm serious. Suddenly you have to come to</TT>

<TT>grips with the fact that you just CANNOT eat like you once did. And</TT>

<TT>that has a lot of issues unto itself but it comes with the reward of</TT>

<TT>weight loss so it doesn't leave you feeling as vulnerable and</TT>

<TT>schitzy as the prefill stage does. If you're still healing and</TT>

<TT>haven't lost much weight--please try to just get through this time</TT>

<TT>and preoccupy yourself with other things.</TT>

<TT>Did you know that Dr. Fox in </TT><TT>Seattle</TT><TT> prescribes his band patients</TT>

<TT>diet pills to take during the prefill stage? Why? He understands the</TT>

<TT>difficulty. He feels it's better to kill the appetite chemically</TT>

<TT>while the band heals that subject his patients to all that stress.</TT>

<TT>And he happens to have one of the highest band success rates in the</TT>

<TT>country.And as always, it's better to ADD to your habits then to try</TT>

<TT>to take away. Add more Water, more Vitamins, more exercise. But</TT>

<TT>don't try to take away food because it throws you into dieting</TT>

<TT>mentality. Adding will naturally balance out the other problem.Just</TT>

<TT>my thought for the night and now I'm finally going to bed. It's a</TT>

<TT>good thing I type 100+ words a minute</TT>

<TT>robin</TT>

<TT>this is a reply from robin:</TT>

<TT>And it is my pleasure to try to reassure you all. I remember 2</TT>

<TT>things from my prefill stage--how utterly depressed I was thinking</TT>

<TT>the band wasn't going to work and how totally alone I believed I was</TT>

<TT>in my experience. The last 2 years has proven to me that I was more</TT>

<TT>the "norm" that I possibly could have imagined and had my doctor or</TT>

<TT>SOMEONE let me know this from the getgo I would have felt like it</TT>

<TT>was just a neccessary part of the process and would have gotten</TT>

<TT>through it with a more realistic outlook.</TT>

<TT>Let's just say I wouldn't have beaten myself up the way I did.</TT>

<TT>Robin</TT>

[Reeneea 0]

Thanks Janelle,

That says it all perfectly.

[IBLoser 0]

Aimee,

That was an incredibly wonderful response to Kim. Your compassion for others truly shines through.

I was feeling a little low today because I had a Dr's appt for some excessive menstrual bleeding. I was so worried that something was wrong with me that would interfere with my banding next week. While I was waiting for the Dr. I prayed that I would be ok. I have to have a couple of more tests but thankfully (I never thought I'd be saying this....) I may just be starting early menopause!

Anyway, I feel such a relief. I can't wait to join the rest of you in bandland. I feel so very blessed that I stumbled upon this site while doing the research! It's nice to know that there are other people out there with not only struggles but some major sucesses. None of us has to go through this alone.

After two hours at the Dr's office, I'm even more confidant that I'm making the right choice!

[chako_lady 0]

Good Morning! Hope everyone is doing fine! Congrats to all who were banded this week. I can't wait to join you! Just a few more days... Have a great weekend all!