POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

I have had bad neck pain in the back of my neck. It is very stiff when I try to turn it and is very uncomfortable to sleep on. It feels like its from when they had the breathing tube in and had my head tilted back. Ive tried heat and massage but nothing has helped so far. It is the only discomfort Ive had. Has anyone else experienced this? My surgery was October 1st.

Hi all. Has anyone ever seen that show “you are what you eat” with Jillian Mkeath on the BBC ? Well I was watching it last night and she had this large man in a lap pool and was telling us all at home that swimming burns 550 cal per half hour! I was wondering if any of you are on a swimming program? I love to swim and plan to go today. If this is true I should be fit in no time. Has anyone out there had any success with this or Water aerobics?

What do all these short symbols/codes stand for like for example pb, sliming, etc. can someone please give me a cheat sheet, thanks

For any of you who have thick raised scars: My scars have been healign wonderfully (surgery June 16th), but the one right above my belly button is thick and really raised. I went to my dematologists about a mole and asked him about that scar while I was there. He said oh ya that can happen and he injected the scar with something and TA-DA is has totally become flat! I have sooooo excited. So I dont know if others of you have thought of going to the dematologists to help with your scars, but I am so glad I did!

Since eating is not as fun as it used to be and we're not supposed to drink what do you do for fun? Going out to dinner, and bars are out. What's left? Getting tired of going to the movies.

It's 19 days since my surgery. I had an all night into morning bout with reflux, (been taking the prilosec 2x per day along with regulan (anti nausea medication that my surgeon says "helps to push food through" the digestive system.) I had some yogurt with applesauce, and chicken broth with a very little bit of cottage cheese, as well as the usual protein drink/s and waters all at times according to instructions. So you can imagine how disappointed and uncomfortable I was. Today I was hesitant to eat and just sipped and had a bit of protein (brand name "naked") which I find tasty and tolerable. However within the confines of my chest I could feel air bubbles and/or liquid…

Warning -long post!!!! This post has some duplicate information from another post, but I wanted to expand on the topic. The new information is at the bottom...How do you compare? I was banded on July 22nd and have lost about 30ish pounds. (includig preop diet) I just recently got to where I don't feel like I am choking all day long -now it is only after I eat any food of substance (not yogurt, etc...) So, all in all, I think I should get a fill, but don't want to feel bad all the time. I eat anywhere from 1/2 a cup to 3/4 a cup of food, and not nearly enough Protein. Now, to my question... Well, it's not really a question, but a topic for discussion that I want to…

What are some learned tricks of the trade for head hunger? I do really well all day until the family sits down for dinner. Then the head hunger goes crazy!! All day long I am fine but come dinner time I would love to cheat and dig into a piece of chicken ( not there yet) Please help I don't want to just avoid dinner time all together- that is one of the few times everyone is all together.( I have two teenage children who stay on the move!)

Does your Dr allow cottage/ricotta cheese on liquids phase post op?

Ok, so my surgery was May 15th and since then, unbeknownst to me, I was called an "emotional wreck" by some friends. I didn't think this was true, because I had some ongoing stress factors that were in my life prior to the surgery, but I guess they became more prevolent after the surgery and made me emotional depressed. So, two weeks ago, I had an incident that threw me into an emotional tailspin and I had 2 panic attacks and crying episodes at work. <<<<<NOT COOL! Luck for me my boss is great. ANyhow, I called my dr and he put me on Lexapro. This week I feel FABULOUS, but Im not planning on stayin on this more than 3 mos. Has anyone else felt depr…

I know my Dr was male so he doesn't know much about female anatomy or whatever but I am going to have to set him straight. I have a small incision right at the bottom of my breasts right where the band from my bra sits. I have it covered now but it still hurts from my surgery on 9/18. I put some neosporin and a bandaid on it today since the scab finally fell off but it is red, sore and starting to itch. I just don't feel comfortable without a bra, I have tried but can't walk around without one on. I would think they could find a better spot to cut. Also, the area where the port is (right above my belly button) is red. The scab came off there too, but there are…

still pretty sore. Is it just me? I see so many people on here and it was nothing to them - I'm telling ya, I'm definately sore. And the bruises on my belly! Everyone at the hospital was sooooo nice, knowledgable,and patient. I'm drinking my 3 oz Protein shakes every hour and my Jello. Going home today (it's 3 hrs away from home and my BIL who brought me wanted me to stay one more nite just in case something happened). I had to spend 1 nite in the hospital - that's ok, I got the good drugs. Now, I'm off to lose some weight!! While I'm not really hungry, I do think about food constantly - especially when my borther in law eats. I just ask for a smell - how pathetic is th…

Hello everyone, If you are a nurse I do not have to tell you how demanding nursing is on the body. Can some of you share with me how long were you out of work after your surgery? and were you able to return to work with no problems. I am a ICU nurse and I am pending approval, my only concern is when will be able to return to work. We do 100% of the pulling and lifting. Please share your experiences.

Anyone have one? Think they are needed? Share info and tell me how to get one if you know how. Have a great day!:thumbup:

Hi I was banded on 9/23....surgery went flawlessly as did recovery! I feel great 100% Walked 2 miles last night etc... My only concern is that I feel no restriction. I just ate a baked potato smashed up to mashed consistency and I stopped myself after about 1/2 of it, but not because I fel full.....just because I knew that was about all I should be eating. Is it ok to not feel restriction right now? I feel tight at night after exercise, but that is usually after eating dinner and an hour or so later, but other than that I pretty much feel noting at all. Thanks for your help!!:thumbup:

Hi all, I'm 16 days out, and just yesterday I got a precription for Prilosec 20 ml. twice a day. Oddly enough I am having acid reflux in my sleep! I had to prop my pillows behind my back last night and sleep in a near sitting position. Does anyone have any suggestions? could this be from maybe eating a soft food like cottage cheese too soon? Why didn't the prilosec work? I don't sleep very well in a normal bed in a semi sitting position, that was easier to do with the hospital bed. Any advise is welcome.

So I was Sleeved 2 weeks and 1 day ago and Im feeling GREAT down 28 pounds and loving it, Joined a gym, been walking 2 miles a day, but I have some questions. I got my sleeve done in Colombia so its hard for me to call on my surgeon everytime I need to ask the smallest things so I find myself here and just want to thank everyone for all the great tips and information I gave learned from all the great people that have had this procedure... 1. is Skipping meals.... So the doctors got me on this schedule... 8am 4 oz ensure 11am 4 oz fruit juice 2pm 4 oz Soup (puree) 5pm 4 oz Jello or apple sauce or yogurt 8pm 4 oz soup (puree) 11pm 4 oz fruit juice Well I work 8am…

I am very overweight and I am thinking about the lap band. I wanted to ask this forum do to you guys already having the procedure done. 1-Is it worth it? and 2-What can you no longer eat. I heard that you sometimes can not even eat certain fruits and veggies and then how do you get all of your nutrients and eat healthy? I am 33 with 2 kids and I do not want diabetes, heart issues and everything else that goes along with being so heavy. I have to do something!:smile:

well Im 2 and a half weeks out of surgery and Im starving. I just had 4 oz. of baked fish and about a cup of butternut squash. I know thats alot but I could have ate more and it was hard to stop.I havent had any fill yet. The calories werent high but the amout was kinda alot.does it cause damage to eat too much

Was anyone soposed to wear the surgical support hose after surgery? And did you? My release papers had instructions on them for me to wear the support hose for two weeks after surgery. I will have had my surgery 2 weeks ago this coming Monday. These hose are killing me. I am so ready to trash them!

Hey there! I am a brand new baby bandster (surg. 9/21) and am in the liquid diet phase. Did anyone (or everyone) experience extreme hunger (I'm about to gnaw my arms off :smile:)? Of course, it doesn't help that every commercial I see is all food & friends trying to "help" my family, bring over things like pizza & spaghetti. I guess I thought that after the surgery, I wouldn't be so hungry anymore...my mistake! I was also hoping to get an idea of what to expect from weightloss. About how much did/do you lose on average each month? I'm sorry, I know this questions is probably buried out there somewhere, but I haven't found it just yet. Any help, advice, &…

I am four days out post op and I am DYING OF THIRST. Before my surgery I was thirsty alot ( did not have diabetis) and could guzzule the Water. The doc has me sipping 1 0z of water every 15 min and it is not quenching my thirst. I want to just drink a whole glass of water but am afraid of what would happen if I do any suggestions I cant go on being thirsty like this HELP. I did call my doctor about this and he said just sip the water Thanks

I am 4.5 weeks post op. I lost 9# the 1st 2 weeks and only 1.25 since- nothing for the last 2 weeks! Here's history: 5-600 calories liquids x2 wks. 800 cals. per week 1st week purees 1100 calories per day most days for 2nd week purees. to dr. NUT told me no more then 800 cals. per day. EVER til I've lost all my wt. and this is a standard. I am working out 5-6 days per week 1 hr. per day. . I have built back up to this (1 hr. per day 6-7 days per week pre op) and this week 1 hr. per day all week. Monitoring my food religiously and being totally honest on it... using livestrong site. getting in my water. 3 small meals and 1 small snack per day. no late nite eatin…

I was banded in June this year and have had three fills - 3ml, 3ml and 1ml, the last being last week. This week I have learned what restriction truely is - I've not struggled really, just made sensible food choices, and I've been fine... no bread, no chicken, nothing naughty. However.... although I'm now on about a side plate of food each meal, I'm really hungry after 2.5 - 3 hours. My surgeon tells me that my sweet spot should see me filled up for about 4 hours. So if I'm finding food ok now (I struggled after 2nd fill with pbs and sliming - I guess through bad food choices) but I'm only feeling full for 2.5 hours, I guess my next fill (which I'm told will be …

I recently received my 2nd fill and now have about 5.5 cc's in my 10 cc band. The problem is I can only eat 3-5 bites of food before I begin feeling completely uncomfortable with continual burping. It feels as though I have to vomit along with a tight burning sensation. I believe it's telling me that I have eaten too much but it was only 3 bites. Is this what the "sweet spot" feels like or should I have some of the Fluid removed? Until this point I have experienced very little restriction so I am excited about the opportunity to now start losing but my mind is telling me... you need to eat more. Does this make sense?

Anyone here from around the Memphis area? or anyone banded by Dr. Weaver? Just curious.

Talk about regrets! I'm so hungry (banded 9/23) and am having a bad day here at work. So what did I do? I ate seven Starburst Fruit Chews. I chewed them until they were pretty much disolved, so I hope that I didn't damage my new hardware. Now I feel GUILT. Why did I do that?!

Hello everyone! I'm new here and really excited. I'm about 3-4 weeks from my surgery date if all goes well. I'm starting to get really nervous about controlling my diabetes. I've read some threads on this subject but most of them are old posts. I'm looking to get some info/advice from other bandsters on how to keep my BS from dropping all the time since I won't be eating like I've been used to. Especially worried about the first weeks after surgery. And I've also read that people with Type 1 diabetes lose weight alot slower than others and this really discourages me. Anyone with advice/info/experience with this? My sugars already run low sometimes anyway. Any he…

Hi everyone! I'm so frustrated! I have the realize band but not sure how many cc's it will hold cause my doctor doesn't tell his patients that. I have had 5 fills and I know that after my 4th fill I have 4 1/2 cc's only because the PA told me again my doctor doesn't like for you to know what you have in your band. My doctor did my last fill so I'm not sure if he brought me up to 5 cc's or 5 1/2 cc's or maybe even 6 cc's. But I hardly have any weight loss at all and some restriction. I eat healthly most all the time. I walk 2 miles everyday. Work out with my trainer 2 times sometimes 3 times a week. I go on Monday to my Dr.'s appt. and hope he will give me another fill. I …

and how do you know when you get to your sweet spot?

I posted last night because I ate fish and it felt stuck. I thought it was a fluke, so I ate tuna today and it feels stuck again. I ate about two hours ago. I chopped up tuna really small and mixed it with mayo. Trying hot tea right now and am ging to call my dr when I leave work.

ok well today was my 1st day of mushys Thank God! I had a scrammbled egg for breakfast, a cup of cottage cheese for lunch and for dinner I had about 1/4 Cup of meatloaf smashed with a fork mixed into about 1/2 Cup of mashed potatos and gravy. My question is was this OK or was the smashed meatloaf not a mushy? The nutrisionist never gave me a list of food I could have so just wondering everyones opinion. I was also wondering if anyone had any ideas for veggies cuz Im craving some. Also is baked haddock OK?

Hi, I got my surgery yesterday Sept 29. I read many of the posts before I went in and thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Many people said there pain was not that bad. I am miserable. I am in terrible pain and I was on morphine in the hospital. My doctor did not want me to meet with the diatician until after the surgery. Which I did not agree with. The dietician came into the hospital room and told me what I needed to do. All the infmoration was so overwhelming I burst out in tears crying. I started feeling anxiety and thinking why did I do this I made a big mistake. I know I am depressed this is a new life and I guess I am mourning my old eating habits. I know th…

Can anyone tell me why they make us wait so long between fills? If you are not getting any restriction then why not fix it? I don't get it!

I only got done the day before yesterday but I have just had a whole tin of Beef Consomme, it is the consistency of Water and went down fine. Is this normal? Should I be feeling restricted before my first fill? In the hospital I had a whole bowl of Soup and then 1.5 crispbreads, then last night I had a cup a soup and 2 cripsbread (i had 1/2 a sachet with 1 crispbread at about 5pm then the same at about 8pm). But a couple of the other people there had hardly anything!! Thanks Anna

I know you are not to drink while eating and I understand the reasons why. Is this something you get used too? I am eating some blended cottage cheese and due to the consistency it will barely go down. does anyone rinse as they are eating. This is a really tough thing. This is like eating glue. Greg

I've noticed the abbreviation PB in a lot of posts. I may be an idiot but can anyone tell me what it means?

Hey everyone, I was banded 4 months ago, but the last 2 days I've had pretty bad gas pain, (caused by my massive consumption of wheat I think ) and was just wondering what everyone uses for gas pain? Just gas x or something of the like? I would call my surgeon, but well, his office sucks. So thanks for any suggestions!

I have an appointment to get a fill this Friday at my last appointment 6 weeks ago. However, I'm not sure I need it. I'm eating about 1100-1200 calories a day and I am working out and am satisfied. I'm not losing weight super fast, but I am losing weight. I don't PB very often, but will if I eat too fast as well as sliming sometimes. Should I get the fill?

Has anyone had a change in insurance half way through the process of getting banded? I have decited to go for it and under my current insurance surgery will be covered. Unfortunatly the rumor around the office is that my company is going to make everyone change to a different insurnace plan (same insurance compnay) at the begining of the year. Seeing that it is oct 1st I have a feeling that surgery wont get done this year, but the process will be well underway. Has anyone else had this issue? what happened when your insurance changed half way though Thanks!

I recently had a .5 cc put in my 14cc band. I am now at 10.5 cc, at 10 cc, I wasn't feeling much restriction and could eat anything. Now all I can eat is liquidy food, no bread, nothing dense, and I cant even eat chicken 100% of the time. Am I too tight? I slime at every meal (except when I eat soup). Do I need to go back to basics or see my doc? I have an appt tomorrow to talk about getting .25 cc taken out. Either I am too tight or my band is very very moody. Is this just how it is?

So....I just got banded on July 31st of this year and I've been doing pretty good. No fills yet but I've still been losing weight. Well along with this weight loss I've noticed that my hair is starting to fall out a lot. Like when I brush it or when I shower. No bald spots or anything like that, but it feels like alot. I know my dr. mentioned that I would be losing a little bit of hair but I never thought it'd be like this. What can I take for this or is there something I can do to make it stop falling out?? BTW, I'm taking my multi-vitamins like I was told.

I found MetroMint waters in the organic section of my local Kroger stores. Yes, it's silly to pay for Water, but these take some of the dull out of it now and then. My favorite of course is the chocolatemint. They have orange, peppermint and spearmint. There might be others, my store just doesn't carry them. I like the pepper or spear mint sometimes when I'm exercising. Just thought I'd share in case anyone wants to check them out for a treat now and then.

so I've been quoted two different prices and was just wondering if anyone here might be willing to share the approximate cost of their procedure? thanks again for sharing so much!

Hey ya'll I had surgery 2 weeks ago, and combined with pre op diet I have lost 30 pounds in 30 days, but I am in desperate need of new food ideas. I have tried Soup, cottage cheese, refried Beans, chili with very ground up meat, yogurt, pudding....I need new ideas...I need variety!!!! Any ideas ya'll have?

Hi Everyone, I am only one month out, because I was banded on August 31st. How are all the others doing who were banded the same month? Speak up and let us know how you are feeling and what progress you have made so far.

I was banded on 12/09/08. Noticed a patch of what look like welps on my side that was itchy, burning. Last night noticed another small group on my stomach. Doctor diagnosed me with shingles. Was told it can be brought on by stress and that my weight loss may have brought it on since I am not under any other stress. My body is reacting to my weight loss (34 lbs). Anybody else been thru this or heard of this? Thanks

First off it is appearant (sp?) that everyone's Dr gives different rules. I was to be on liquid protiens for the first 2 weeks and pureed for the next 3.5. The Pureed Diet is to be low fat and low carb. A few days before my first fill I was to start normal foods chopped up very small. I was banded Sep 3rd. I shut down on the 6th and couldnt drink another thing. I wound up in the ER on the 8th for dehydration and potential c-dif (tested negative). After asking the Doctor to move on to pureed a week early he said it wasnt ideal but if that was the only way to get protien, do it. Here I am 3 weeks into pureed foods and I have had enough! First off, i have no…

hello, I am saving to have my procedure because it wasnt approved by insurance. does anyone know the approximate cost for visits to get the band adjusted/ post op appointments?

I was allowed to have fish starting today. I thought I chewed well, but maybe not. It feels stuck--I ate about 3 hours ago. It doesn't hurt, just bothers me. Please tell me it will eventually either go down or come up!!