I can't WAIT to get my first fill!

[raising3monkeys 55]

I'm two days away from being 4 week post-op on my band. My doc put me from liquids straight back to solids after 6 days. I haven't had one bit of problems with that - nothing seems to bother me or be uncomfortable. Well, I lie - I've had one incident where I was eating a hard-boiled egg and it felt like it got stuck. It was super painful, but quickly rectified with Water. Otherwise though, no nausea, no vomiting, no pain, etc. I've been good on my diet, as prescribed by my surgeon. No liquid calorie intake (only solids), only eating when hungry, no carbs (no rice, Pasta, bread or potatoes), and trying really hard not to drink while eating or immediately afterward. I am steadily losing.

My problem is that I don't feel like my band has offered me ANY benefit whatsoever so far - it's as though everything goes right through and I'm hungry again right away. I've been eating MUCH smaller meals than I used to - close to what I'm supposed to be with the band. But I don't get full - not a full sensation at all - I just stop because I should. I haven't had a fill yet - I'm not scheduled for a fill until Dec. 19th. That's about a month after my post-up check-up 6 days after surgery. The doc says that he doesn't tighten until a month after that first check-up; the stomach has too much healing to do still do throw that into the mix. I get that. But I'M STARVING!!! It's very difficult to make this large of a lifestyle change when the thing you did the surgery for (alleviating hunger) hasn't kicked in as a tool yet.

I realize that the tightening is right around the corner, and I'll have to just persevere until then. But it's very difficult!!! I just want to not be hungry!

Anyone else been in this position? Did it get massively better after the first tightening? Please give me hope that this tool is going to offer some benefit.

[Trouvette 34]

I wouldn't say that it has gotten massively better, but I see improvement. I haven't had that experience that some people describe where they have two bites of food and feel full, but I am eating normal size portions of food and not snacking throughout the day. It takes some time to find your green zone in terms of the fill, but little by little, you will start to see that you aren't taking in as much food.

I think that what I was expecting in terms of feeling full is the sort of full that I used to feel when I ate way too much food. Time with the band has sort of reprogrammed me to understand that full is simply eating enough to cover my caloric needs for the time being. I can have a tuna salad and some veggies and feel satisfied now.

[raising3monkeys 55]

I contacted my doctor yesterday after writing this blog, and told him what I feel I'm up against, and how healed I feel overall. He said he saw no reason to put off a fill - I'm going in tomorrow for one vs. waiting until Dec. 19th! I'm very glad I reached out to him.

I'm not really looking to feel FULL full - I'm just looking not to feel hungry and hour after eating. This will help, I'm sure. I'm ready.

I'm scared of the fill making it more difficult for what I sometimes feel when I'm eating too fast, or not chewing enough - that "stuck" feeling. However, I think I'll be okay if I slow down a bit and chew more. That'll be easier to do when I'm not eating as much. Or rather, not as starvingly-hungry.

I'm very excited for tomorrow afternoon!

[Trouvette 34]

On 11/30/2017 at 3:06 PM, raising3monkeys said:

I contacted my doctor yesterday after writing this blog, and told him what I feel I'm up against, and how healed I feel overall. He said he saw no reason to put off a fill - I'm going in tomorrow for one vs. waiting until Dec. 19th! I'm very glad I reached out to him.

I'm not really looking to feel FULL full - I'm just looking not to feel hungry and hour after eating. This will help, I'm sure. I'm ready.

I'm scared of the fill making it more difficult for what I sometimes feel when I'm eating too fast, or not chewing enough - that "stuck" feeling. However, I think I'll be okay if I slow down a bit and chew more. That'll be easier to do when I'm not eating as much. Or rather, not as starvingly-hungry.

I'm very excited for tomorrow afternoon!

How did your fill go? How are you doing?

[raising3monkeys 55]

My fill was different than anything I expected. I'd read here about people whose surgeons would only put in 5 cc of saline at a time. Or who had to eat liquids for a few days following a fill. I went in, we talked for a few minutes, then he laid me down on the exam table, found my port, and stuck the needle in. He pushed some saline into it, and then had me sit up (with his assistance). I still had the syringe sticking out of the port. He goes over, runs some Water into a cup, and hands it to and says, "Chug". I chug about four sips. He asks me where the water's at now. I point to a spot that I'd say is my upper stomach. He says, "Okay, let me know when it goes down", and sucks a bit of the saline from the band back into the syringe. I think I feel something, so I say, "there". But I don't really know if I felt anything. Every time will be like this.

I still don't feel like I truly have less that I can put in. I'm controlling it, but the band itself thus far has worked as more of a shotgun start than a tool. I'M managing my foods. I'm getting pretty good at it, but at the same time, sometimes I cheat and have sugar in something instead of artificial sweetener. Or I taste something sweet, or a few sips of wine. Still - I'm MUCH more controlled than I was. But again, I think it's all willpower. It's hard to tell.

I'm supposed to get another fill on this upcoming Friday. I'm going to tell him this time that last time, I wasn't sure what I was trying to feel. And I'm not sure I felt anything. So we need to be more sure this time. I think what he wants is to close the band ALL the way off so water won't even go down, and then pull back a bit so he knows things will pass, but it will be restrictive. That's what I want - I want to be satisfied after a few bites - not have to stop because I think it's enough. That will come over time. I want to be able to use this tool. I didn't have surgery to not use it.

I'll have more to say after I visit again.

[Trouvette 34]

I wish I could provide more insight, but that is a radically different way from how my surgeon has been doing it. He's been filling a little bit at a time. I'm at 5cc now. And he has never left the needle in and asked me to sit up.

This will sound kind of off, but I gained a better sense of band resistance when I ate something that could not easily pass through the band. When I eat now and I feel the beginning of that sensation, I know to stop eating. Right now, you might be having a hard time figuring out what you are feeling because you have no basis for comparison right now. Of course, I am not encouraging you to eat bread so you make yourself sick! But in time, as you start phasing more foods back into your diet, you will start to notice how some foot sits in your esophagus a bit longer than it would have before the surgery.

[raising3monkeys 55]

Yes, it doesn't seem like my doctor's fill technique is like anything I've ever heard of before. That doesn't make it bad - just..... uncommon. Maybe he's a pioneer - who knows. I know he's been doing bands forever now, and has done thousands. So he has much more experience than me, that's for sure. He says, "You'll leave here every time with your band properly adjusted."

I do have the "stuck" feeling a lot, actually. But it's in my throat, I think. I used to have this feeling when I had a ton of scar tissue built up in my throat from untreated acid reflux for years. They did a procedure where they "popped" that open and I've been fine since. Most times I do that loud hiccupping thing, which I also did all the time before that procedure. Sometimes it's stuck enough that I panic and start trying to wash it down. I know it's from the lap-band though; it all started again after the surgery, so that's no coincidence.

We shall see. I know I need the band adjusted again (which is scheduled for tomorrow). I can eat way too much. I shouldn't be able to get down an entire pork chop and two sides. I'm still losing, but it's more from Portion Control and food choices at this point. I want the tool available to me, too. It's why I HAD

[raising3monkeys 55]

Yes, it doesn't seem like my doctor's fill technique is like anything I've ever heard of before. That doesn't make it bad - just..... uncommon. Maybe he's a pioneer - who knows. I know he's been doing bands forever now, and has done thousands. So he has much more experience than me, that's for sure. He says, "You'll leave here every time with your band properly adjusted."

I do have the "stuck" feeling a lot, actually. But it's in my throat, I think. I used to have this feeling when I had a ton of scar tissue built up in my throat from untreated acid reflux for years. They did a procedure where they "popped" that open and I've been fine since. Most times I do that loud hiccupping thing, which I also did all the time before that procedure. Sometimes it's stuck enough that I panic and start trying to wash it down. I know it's from the lap-band though; it all started again after the surgery, so that's no coincidence.

We shall see. I know I need the band adjusted again (which is scheduled for tomorrow). I can eat way too much. I shouldn't be able to get down an entire pork chop and two sides. I'm still losing, but it's more from Portion Control and food choices at this point. I want the tool available to me, too. It's why I HAD the surgery, after all.

Edited December 14, 2017 by raising3monkeys