Guess Who Came to Stay

"I can resist anything except temptation." A typically wonderful quote from Oscar Wilde. A quote that rang trough my head yesterday as I succumbed to the lessening powers of The Band over Mothering Sunday lunch.

As I sat in my favourite restaurant and bar (La Place in Winchester - highly recommended!) I finished off the whole plate of Steak Haché et Frites (hamburger and chips for us lesser mortals). I had sinned and needed to birch myself severely. The reprimand I deserved could not wait. I needed immediate chastisement and nothing should delay the inevitable self-flagellation that would follow...well, nothing except another few more frites!

For those that don't quite understand the adjustable Lap Band, I will briefly explain where I am at the moment and relax my friends and family before they think the whole procedure has been a waste of time, stress and money.

The band was fitted around the top of my over-active stomach (fitted internally around my actual stomach - I am not walking around with a big elastic band around my belly). Effectively it is strangling the cavernous beast and creating a very small "virtual" pouch at the top which will act as my stomach in the future - thus allowing me to eat a small portion of food and feel marvellously replete. The effects of this are quite literally astonishing, as I found during the first three weeks after the operation.

Because the band was sewn in place around the stomach, there was ample swelling after the fitting, which means the aforementioned strangulation is amplified somewhat for a few weeks. However, as the swelling goes down - as mine seems to have done - the throttling eases off and one finds a new ability to eat again. This is where the beauty of the device kicks in. I have had a small "port" attached under my skin, just below my ribs. This is connected, by a tube, to a balloon that is patiently encasing the inner rim of the band. This allows the surgeon to inject a small amount of saline solution, through the port and tighten the anti-hunger grip, so as to achieve the desired full effect of the band. As it is best to under-fill and not over-fill due to obvious blockage reasons - it may take a few fills to get it just right. But it eventually will get to where it needs to be. Ingenious!

However, my surgeon has decided that he will delay my first adjustment for a month - he probably has some pretty mountainous golf courses to explore in the meantime.

Now, this leaves me in a precarious and worrying situation. To date I have lost 42lbs (in about 6 weeks consisting of pre-surgery fear and latterly post-op mush). With the help of the band and its swelling after surgery - I have to admit, losing this weight was pretty easy. Forgetting any emotional side-issues, the practical part of not eating the equivalent of a week's food for most people each and every day was simple. Yesterday however, I found my old friend hunger again. As the swelling settled, Beelzebub dropped in to live with me in my furniture-less bachelor-pad - and he came supplied with twenty suitcases full of Temptation. I think I am going to have to insist that he sleeps on the floor!

My band-fill date is 18th April - so I am now in the precarious position of having to diet like a normal over-hungry fat man for four weeks. Oh my God!

But - I am now prepared. Yesterday's realisation that I could eat normally, frightened the over-sized underpants off me. Living alone means that I can empty the place of anything unhealthy or unnecessary. I am not going to a restaurant for the next month - all my eating will have to be done in the confinement of my own home and I am going to stock up on carrots for my new best friend: the juicer. Who would have thought carrot juice would be so very tasty to a huge carnivore such as me?

It's quite an interesting challenge to set myself actually. I am very much looking forward to getting back the full effect of the band, but perversely I really want to see if I can continue to lose weight over the next four weeks and keep Lucifer gagged and bound.

Wish me luck!

Originally posted at: Lap Band Blog

Hi Ben, First of all, love your writing style, (writing is one of my passions). I too ate enough at one meal to feed three more people, so know exactly where you are coming from. Now, three years after banding I've lost 78% of the excess weight (that's what most banders lose). I now eat what most non-obese people eat at a setting. I still eat a couple of french fries once in a while (I sneak them off of my hubby's plate), and I can even eat a (very moist) burger, but 1/2 of it comes home with me for a later meal.

I don't eat this kind of a meal all of the time, usually at home will try to eat healthy, but believe it or not, you don't have to be totally deprived of the foods you love. I choose not to eat at fast food places, the foods usually dry and tasteless not to mention greasy. I would rather spend my money and fill the smaller real estate with really good stuff.

Hang in there, the fill will help, believe me.

Three years out I have gone from a 24/26 pants, to 16/14. Can walk for miles with my dog, ride a bicycle and enjoy life again.

Blessings, nancyb

That was sooo funny! You had me in stitches! :mad2: If you are not a writer, you should be! Very good stuff. Okay, on to the lapband...I hear you! I am right there too! Yes, this is Bandster Hell and Beezlebub is definitely lurking around the corners! I am curious why your doctor wants to wait so long for a fill? My doctor is a 6 weeks filler, no matter what, kind of guy! Some people have every 4 weeks fillers! I guess that's just how it goes. But I would rather go slow, than too fast and have too much fill anyday! I am about 1 month postop lapband surgery and feeling a small amount of restriction myself, but yes, the hungry monster has come back to my home too! I am trying to keep my portions down, do some walking and hoping to maintain my weight loss until my fill. Since I am no good at dieting (obviously), I will have to be patient!! :thumbup:

Good luck to you!!

:ohmy:

I totally understand the hunger!!! I am dealing with it today. My first fill is on April 8th and I am kind of excited however I have fear that it can be too tight. My surgeon is a great one. He did my colon resection surgery and is basically the only one in town who knows how to do it. I love him and I am trusting God that it will be cool. I've found that my protein shakes and protein bars help. I was drinking two shakes a day. I am going to incorporate one protein bar along with the two shakes. I hope this is enough protein. I am on a full solid diet. Besides the nutritional value, protein is filling

What a wonderful writing style.....I laughed...I cried...I related! I've had 2 fills with my 3rd scheduled on 3/26. Fills aren't bad. I'm in/out in 20 minutes - and then back to work.

I'm worried about this fill though. The emotional eating hasn't stopped because of the band. I'm worried I stretched my stomach with my eating. Over the weekend I ate so much for dinner....it would normally last me 3-4 meals!

It is reassuring to know that we aren't going thru all of this alone!

I am so glad to see this post and know that I am not alone. I was banded on March 9, 2009 and my first fill was not scheduled until April 14, 2009!! Are you kidding me? 5 weeks? I started getting my old hunger pains after the first week! My doctor had informed me that when my appetite returned that this was a good sign because it meant that I was healing nicely with no inflammation, infections, etc. I guess that I just healed a little to quickly because I was still in the liquid phase when it decided to come back full force. I am in absolute hell. I forced myself to eat liquids and mushies for another week, but I am STARVING!! I couldn't take it anymore and broke down and had a 2 soft tacos, and then another time I ate a sandwich and a few chips. I was surprised to find that I had absolutely no problem getting these meals down and actually I was still starving and wanted more when I was finished. Now, I am feeling soooo guilty and hoping like hell that I haven't messed anything up. I mean I feel so weak and dissapointed in myself for not being able to resist temptation and stick to my diet. So after a few days of overeating and not being able to take it anymore, I decided to call my doctor. He told me that I was just in need of a fill, and to come in next week.Thank God! I am so excited to get my first fill and actually let my band start working. I lost 15 pounds in my first week with the lapband and now it is slowly trying to come back. I go up and down about 3 pounds a day. Maybe you should call your doctor and he will give you a sooner appointment for your fill? Good luck in any case.