First Post Op Problem

[coltonwade 27]

I went in for my 1 week post-op appt. today and my doctor told me he usually says you can try solids at 10 days but I've been doing really well and healing quickly so he told me I can slowly start trying solids. He was very careful to tell me to chew and not try too much at once. He knows me well, he knows that I HATE throwing up and he have talked at length about what are good choices. He trusts me to make good decisions about what I eat and I wouldn't do anything to jeapordize my success.

Everyone is different and every doctor is different, as long as you trust your doctor and feel comfortable with what he/she tells you then I wouldn't worry about it.

You're not stupid, you learned from your mistake. A lot of this is trial and error and as long as you are learning you're doing good.

I am sorry but i just re read what you said. And I find that at one week post op for a doc to say " I trust you eat what you think is right " Is IRRESPONSIBLE ! !!

That is like a doc handing over a needle to a chemo patient and saying " I TRUST You Put in as much as you can "

Do we understand what is going on w/ our bodies ? to an extent ! But did we go to medical school for 12 yrs and know how the insides are working or not working ?

Im baffled by this I really am , This is nothing agianst you . And i know we all love our docs. But there is a reason we pay our docs thousands of dollars for this surgery and its NOT so we take over our own care !!

Mindy

[LisaFromCali 0]

Rotisserie chicken is difficult for me to eat, too, and I am a month and a half post-op... I have to chew, chew, chew.....chew, chew, and chew some more with that one.

I haven't had food get stuck for very long, the most has been about a minute or so, but I have noticed a pattern....I tend to get stuck with things that are supposed to be eaten hot. Because I have to chew sooooo much, by the time I take my next bite, the hot food is now cooled off significantly, and by the time I take my third or fourth bite, the food is pretty much cool to cold.

So, I have just had to reconcile with that---I would rather eat food a little cold and be healthily losing weight, than not.

And, yes, it was kinda uppity of you bandsister, but if it helps, I've been called MUCH worse.

Good luck----chew, chew, chew, 'til you can chew NO MORE.

[coltonwade 27]

Rotisserie chicken is difficult for me to eat, too, and I am a month and a half post-op... I have to chew, chew, chew.....chew, chew, and chew some more with that one.

I haven't had food get stuck for very long, the most has been about a minute or so, but I have noticed a pattern....I tend to get stuck with things that are supposed to be eaten hot. Because I have to chew sooooo much, by the time I take my next bite, the hot food is now cooled off significantly, and by the time I take my third or fourth bite, the food is pretty much cool to cold.

So, I have just had to reconcile with that---I would rather eat food a little cold and be healthily losing weight, than not.

And, yes, it was kinda uppity of you bandsister, but if it helps, I've been called MUCH worse.

Good luck----chew, chew, chew, 'til you can chew NO MORE.

Look i dont really care what people call me , I am here to help and help only . I can voice my own opinion on things and this is one I chose to voice my opinion on .

If I think docs are putting patients at risk, slips ect by allowing them to eat sooner than they should I can have that opinion . call me uppity if you will ! That's fine.

I can have an opinion on it !

I am not perfect, never claimed to be. BUT I think for people who are a month, a week ect out of surgery to be calling those of us who are Yrs , yr out of surgery UPPITY when we ARE TRYING TO HELP is a little , well im not sure what to call that. I would have NEVER dreamed of calling a fellow bandster , vet bandster a name , uppity , ect if they were trying to help me when i was a month , week out of surgery .

I am on this site BECAUSE when i was a week, month , months out of surgery people were here to help me , answer my questions, If people already have all the answers, or do not like what others have to say dont ask the questions.

NOW That might be uppity or bitchy im sorry , I AM . But I will say it ONE MORE TIME ON here. it does NO ONE ANY GOOD To sugar coat something , It does no one ANY GOOD to say what you WANT to hear instead of what you NEED to hear. I wont do it !

In this instance its my opinion with a little bit of fact ( the stats on US Slips , complication rates ) But please dont call those of us trying to help names !!!!

Mindy

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Its just like Wasa said and has said. its no offense to anyone on this board so dont flame me for it . But these docs pushing these post op diets up and up is the reason why the US has the highest and is getting HIGHER Slip rates and complication rates than anywhere else ! There is a REASON For it. The makers of the bands do not recommend this ! Its just dangerous. food is food , you can live on liquids for weeks and weeks. Its not worth it to me to risk my band to have anything to eat. I Understand the docs says its ok. But Like i said there are reasons the US is having higher and higher slip rates !

Mindy

Sooooo true. Since the US docs have been changing the post op diet from what the band manufacturers have been suggesting.. our slips stats are more than DOUBLE that of ANY other country.

When they are sued enough times, they will finally begin following the band maker's instructions.

I feel bad mostly for self payers. They don't have the money to pay for surgery time and time again.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Rotisserie chicken is difficult for me to eat, too, and I am a month and a half post-op... I have to chew, chew, chew.....chew, chew, and chew some more with that one.

I haven't had food get stuck for very long, the most has been about a minute or so, but I have noticed a pattern....I tend to get stuck with things that are supposed to be eaten hot. Because I have to chew sooooo much, by the time I take my next bite, the hot food is now cooled off significantly, and by the time I take my third or fourth bite, the food is pretty much cool to cold.

So, I have just had to reconcile with that---I would rather eat food a little cold and be healthily losing weight, than not.

And, yes, it was kinda uppity of you bandsister, but if it helps, I've been called MUCH worse.

Good luck----chew, chew, chew, 'til you can chew NO MORE.

Sometimes we want what we want when we want it. We will run over and slam dunk anyone that dares to get in our way of getting what we want when we want it.

Mindy is quite correct in what she is writing. That is just something you'll have to deal with. She isn't uppity, she is honest with herself as well as the world around us. You can call her names and insult her all you want. Sadly, it does not change reality one tiny bit.

[bethm 0]

Sooooo true. Since the US docs have been changing the post op diet from what the band manufacturers have been suggesting.. our slips stats are more than DOUBLE that of ANY other country.

Last thing i want is to get into some flame war which this seems to quickly become. (hi folks! it's the holidays! lighten up!)

But my question is.. is there evidence to suggest that the reason there are higher slippage stats is because of adherence to a certain healing stage dietary plan?

Because I believe this is not backed up by a study. It's a theory. It may be a good theory but it's not fact.

So it might stand to reason to start out with "It is my opinion that..." instead of "it is because of ..." and that will avoid the flames.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Last thing i want is to get into some flame war which this seems to quickly become. (hi folks! it's the holidays! lighten up!)

But my question is.. is there evidence to suggest that the reason there are higher slippage stats is because of adherence to a certain healing stage dietary plan?

Because I believe this is not backed up by a study. It's a theory. It may be a good theory but it's not fact.

So it might stand to reason to start out with "It is my opinion that..." instead of "it is because of ..." and that will avoid the flames.

Per Inamed slip stats are more than double for US doctor's patients. It's not an opinion. They were quite clear about this at a lecture they gave about a year ago.

Inamed explains the reason for the post op diet. When the surgeon places the band around the stomach he sutures it in place but the sutures are not what really holds the band in place long term, it's the scarring the body forms around the band. Six months after surgery if you look at a band it is covered in adhesions all the way down to the port.

When you consume Clear Liquids your stomach does not have to work to digest food. It pretty well just runs right through your stomach. When you eat foods with more bulk your stomach has to work and churn to push the foods through your digestive system. In the beginning the newly forming strands of adhesions are frail and when your stomach is working and churning to push food through to your intestines it breaks those fine strands of scarring.

Scarring never grows back in the same place with the same quality a 2nd time. So if you don't give the scarring a chance to form it's not going to hold your band in place well, long term. That means people are at higher risk for a slip months down the road.

There really is a reason for the post op diet. Doctors outside the US have their patients on a post op diet of:

10-14 days of Clear Liquids,

10-14 days of full liquids,

10-14 days of soft foods,

Then solids as tolerated.

They have less than half the slips US doctors do.

So to rephrase the post you are responding, it is my opinion that I agree with Inamed. ;o)

[coltonwade 27]

I am not trying to get into a flaming war. I am staing my opinion and as WASA Said my opinion is based on Inamed stats and resources .

Agree or not . But I AM simply trying to help . I understand not all docs agree or follow this protocol. But there are reasons why the makers of the band put them in place.

It is what is is !!

Have a great day !

Mindy

[HeatherO 7]

I really wish there was an objective study out there that shows the long term effects of having different post-op diet regimens in the early stages of banding. Inamed and Johnson & Johnson have performed studies but they have conservative post-op diet plans that give patients plenty of time on the liquid phases to allow adequate healing/scarring to take place to truly set the band. Manufacturers have gotten their bands approved for placement in the US, individuals doctors don't have small trials showing how they compete with each other based on differences of opinion . . . only their records will show if they are successful or not.

It is true that there are doctors out there that give you a few days at different stages and progress you as quickly as you want to go . . . if your doctor happens to be one of these, then I would caution you to find out how many bands the doctor has placed, how long the doctor has been placing bands, where they trained and what is the long-term success rate of their banded patients. Compare that with the statistics from the manufacturers studies to see if they are up to par (but don't forget that a small number of patients that have not been banded for very long is no comparison to the manufacturers studies).

Band manufacturers have come up with standardized post operative plans for a reason based on research approved by the FDA in the US that goes through strenuous testing in clinical trials.

As in any profession there are both good doctors and bad doctors as we see all too frequently in the news. For my own health and future, I took a more conservative approach that fit the manufacturer guidelines, and would have done so even if my doctor suggested that I don't have to follow them. A doctor will never fault you for taking a more conservative approach if you are meeting your basic dietary needs, but to be more aggressive is to be non-compliant.

Why would I do this . . . because I am the one who has to live with this band and hope it helps me to overcome obesity. I want to succeed, and I want everyone else out there to succeed with banding because I understand why we got banded in the first place. I have no problem at all giving a little extra time to not so pleasant food options if I know that I could take off this weight and keep it off.

I wouldn't want an overly aggressive doctor to risk the band that I have in my body . . . because I am the one who must live in this body.

We can argue all day about differences between the doctors plans, manufacturers plans, who is uppity or not about wanting to follow one plan or another. However, in the end . . . we still all want to be successful with the band and we are really not so much different from each other.

[coltonwade 27]

Well put Heather , I do wish everything was uniform in this subject, pre op diets, post op diets, it would make things "easier" for us. I too chose a doc w/ a more conservative approach , well im not sure if you can call following the bands makers instructions conservative but he does. He goes a step further and on post fill diets , I do 3 days clear liquids 3 days full liquids 3 days mushies and 3 days semi solid foods.

So that's on the conservative side. But its like you said, i am the one w/ the band , so its up to me to chose wisely . I chose to not have to go through another surgery so I follow every single letter to a T from my doc .

HTH

Mindy

I really wish there was an objective study out there that shows the long term effects of having different post-op diet regimens in the early stages of banding. Inamed and Johnson & Johnson have performed studies but they have conservative post-op diet plans that give patients plenty of time on the liquid phases to allow adequate healing/scarring to take place to truly set the band. Manufacturers have gotten their bands approved for placement in the US, individuals doctors don't have small trials showing how they compete with each other based on differences of opinion . . . only their records will show if they are successful or not.

It is true that there are doctors out there that give you a few days at different stages and progress you as quickly as you want to go . . . if your doctor happens to be one of these, then I would caution you to find out how many bands the doctor has placed, how long the doctor has been placing bands, where they trained and what is the long-term success rate of their banded patients. Compare that with the statistics from the manufacturers studies to see if they are up to par (but don't forget that a small number of patients that have not been banded for very long is no comparison to the manufacturers studies).

Band manufacturers have come up with standardized post operative plans for a reason based on research approved by the FDA in the US that goes through strenuous testing in clinical trials.

As in any profession there are both good doctors and bad doctors as we see all too frequently in the news. For my own health and future, I took a more conservative approach that fit the manufacturer guidelines, and would have done so even if my doctor suggested that I don't have to follow them. A doctor will never fault you for taking a more conservative approach if you are meeting your basic dietary needs, but to be more aggressive is to be non-compliant.

Why would I do this . . . because I am the one who has to live with this band and hope it helps me to overcome obesity. I want to succeed, and I want everyone else out there to succeed with banding because I understand why we got banded in the first place. I have no problem at all giving a little extra time to not so pleasant food options if I know that I could take off this weight and keep it off.

I wouldn't want an overly aggressive doctor to risk the band that I have in my body . . . because I am the one who must live in this body.

We can argue all day about differences between the doctors plans, manufacturers plans, who is uppity or not about wanting to follow one plan or another. However, in the end . . . we still all want to be successful with the band and we are really not so much different from each other.

[TQUAD64 9]

I agree with Heather O. Well said!