POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

I was banded on the 18th in TJ, now I am back home in San Diego. I feel much better today than I did yesterday, but am very low energy. Started on some chicken broth...I dunno if I can stand any more jello!

:cursing:I was banded on feb 3rd and feel great. while i read it is common to be hungry after one week, i have been diligent to eating mushies, high protein and getting about 80 oz fluid per day. i asked my dietician, who is new to this job,how many calories should i be consuming. she said i should not be able to take 1000 calories for six months. i am close to that now, but i think you need a certain amount to stimulate your metabolism. i thought she was wrong, but what the hell do i know? i can eat with absolutely no feeling of any restriction and i am honestly making good choices. the scale is up two pounds since surgery!!! shoot me now!peg:cursing:

Ok I had lap band March 14th 2009. I went back for my first fill a week ago and the Doc. only gave me 3 cc's. I didn't feel much restriction and when I called the office the next day they said sometimes it takes a couple of days to feel it. Well I STILL DONT feel it!:laugh: And they said the soonest I could get another one would be abnother 4 weeks:mad2:!Waaaaah!! I really was hoping to drop some weight before summer starts but at this rate it is going to be a much longer process than i first thought. I know everyone is different but what is the normal cc amount for a first fill? Am I some kind of freak???? Please help!! Thanks!!

Recently banded in April, and just wondering if anyone has had any problems with frequent diarrhea? I usually have 2 bouts a day of it and it's usually 15 to 30 minutes after eating. When I'm at home, it's not a problem, but when you're out and about, well you know. It can happen after Protein shakes (for breakfast), and it will even happen if I have shredded chicken and a few bite of cottage cheese. My stomach just sounds like it's turning over and then I know I need to get to the bathroom quick! Anyone else have an issue similar to this? Any suggestions? I know increase the Fiber, but is this common? :cursing:

I think I just have to vent a little bit. I went for my second fill last week and my Dr. said he thought I had too much restriction already. He did the fill under floro and when I drank the barium Fluid it slowed down when going into my stomach. Doc stated that did not look right and asked if I could eat. YES, I can eat just about what ever, I feel some restriction in the mornings, but by lunchtime I have minimal restriction. I can eat sandwiches, chicken, etc. I was losing weight up until this last fill, but I was so demoralized by the whole experience of driving an hour to the appointment, paying the co-pay, and waiting 1.5 hours to have my physician tell me I hav…

Well, it's been a wonderfully relaxing two weeks off, but I'm back to work tomorrow night 7p-7a. I bought some cute little 1/2 cup size Ziplock containers and I need ideas on what to fill them with. What are your favorite high-protein mushies?

Hi everyone, I had my fourth fill a couple of days ago. I now have 6.5 cc's in my Realize band. I can swallow Water and food but I have to take tiny tiny bites and little sips of water. Up until this point I could guzzle water and eat bigger bites. Am I too tight or is this how it is finally supposed to be?

I have been banded since january 6 2009 and have had a relatively good experience so far (lost over 75 lbs), but over the weekend something horrible started. I was placed on Pepcid some time ago because of acid reflux (or that is what they believed). I had 1 fill of 3 cc and an unfill of .3 cc. I began to wake up with a horrible acidy and sour taste in my mouth and was burping up yucky stuff. I have not been able to eat or drink anything since Sunday night. I am hungry and VERY thirsty...(even water comes back up).. I eat or drink and within 10-20 minutes I have pain and alot of pressure and it comes back up..either on its own or because I make it from the pain). I …

okay guys so, i have had my band for over two years. things started off great. i started at roughly 320 and got down to 148-ish. after this i had a complication and had a revision. scince the revision things havent been the same atall. i have a 10 cc band and it is filled to 9cc's i have been assured there is no leak when the band reached 9cc's however, i feel that somethign is wrong. i can eaat whatever i put in my mouth and more of it than im supposed to as if my band wasnt even there. i am really nearvous about having to do a 2nd revision and i feel like a complete failure. andy advice or input would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Sorry guys, this one's for the girls!!!! Has your period stopped since surgery? My surgery was April 16th, so that was 5 weeks ago, and flo should be here by now? Anyone else experiencing this?

Hi everyone! I am looking for some advice/feedback, etc. I am 1year and four months post op. My band has been a wonderful tool towards my weight loss and I am thankful for every pound lost thus far. However, some thing feels to be a bit different after my last fill. My last two fills were difficult for the doctor to actually get the needle into my port. She informed me that she thinks that I have alot of scar tissue now. I had reasonable restriction until the most recent fill. Since then, I have been starving!!! My restriction used to be in my upper chest and now if I feel any thing at all it is in my upper abdomen. I am able to eat foods that I have not been…

I am banded almost two months now and was wondering if anyone lives in or around the Brooklyn, NY area. I am interested in getting a small group together once or twice a month. I need to surround myself with more bandsters to share experiences and frustrations with. Although, this site is awesome, some face to face discussions wouldn't hurt.

Banded in May 2008. This morning I was 198.5. Only 44 pounds so far but still happy I'm on this venture.

I go for my first fill this morning and I really hope that in a few days I will fill some restriction as of now I have none. Am really anxious to see how this goes today. Don't really know what to expect. Let you all know.

Hello fellow bandsters! I am a first time poster today-- I am really struggling. I have recently begun working with a trainer, I for the most part get my protein in as well as my water-- but I am stuck right around 230-240. I was banded August 27, 2008-- I see my doc on Thursday for another fill or to let some out I'm just not budging. I am going to restart journaling again-- to see where I am messing up--I was just wondering if anyone else is struggling like me or if anyone had thoughts or suggestions. Thanks

I was banded on March 4th and have lost 75lbs! Which is awesome, I love it but about a week ago I developed a mildly discomfortable feeling down in my esophagus. I'ts hard to pinpoint a specific incident that brought it on but I think it developed after I took a bite of something that was too hot and instead of spitting it out I swallowed it without chewing. I called my docs office and they asked if I was having trouble keeping food down, I said no and they said then theres nothing to worry about. I have had a few random quick chest pains too but they are rare and I'm not discounting nerves and my worriesome thinking as the contributor to this. I go for a followup on Thu…

The reason for me askijng is because,I have tried so many liquid vitamins that taste badd. so for the last past week I have been taking my centurm pill.. am I the only one doing this? please advice..thanks

:purplebananna: I have about a month since my hair is falling a lot I mean a lot a lots. Since my surgery I taking Biotin everyday and using Biotin shampoo and contioner, trying to get enough protein. But is getting ridiculous. Help I need halp with this.

Had the surgery May 18th. Everything went fine. Not as bad as the hernia surgery I had 4 weeks ago. The doc had to work a little harder on me because of the abundance of fat around the belly. Got back to my room able to drink without any problems. I didn't stay overnight... didn't need to. Am looking forward to the upcoming months. I understand I have to train my brain to work with my body. The next couple of days are supposed to be the worst because of possible swelling. After that I will start on full liquids and then on to solid food. The doc is working very closely with me. I am to let him know immediately if I have difficulty getting fluids down so he can remove some…

does anyone else on here feel "safe" with their band on...dont get me wrong i know u can gain weight back if u dont follow the rules....but i have this feeling of "safety" with my band...i'm sitting here eating a 1/2 cup of refried beans with some ground turkey mixed in it...and i know i cant eat more than this 1/2 cup...i feel safe from over-eating...

Hey everyone. I was just wondering how long after surgery people stopped feeling restriction and went into bandster hell? I'm 3 weeks out and I'm wondering not because I'm there already, but because I'm not. If anything, I'm actually afraid I'm too tight. Is it too soon for me to tell that, or should most of my swelling have gone down by now? I've been on mushies for a week now. I had my first post-op appt last week 1 day after starting mushies and I told my doc that when I ate I got that pressure in my chest that feels like indigestion without the burning. He said I was probably just eating too fast and I should slow down. Well, I've been eating plenty slow now. The in…

Hey guys! This is my first time poking around the forum and I've just read some stuff that really scared me. I am now eight days post-op and I've been doing liquids until today, when I mushed up two hard-boiled eggs with a fork and ate it. My mother had gastric bypass and she encouraged me doing this, and I thought it was okay since I felt absolutely no discomfort. My doctor said that during the second week I could graduate to non-clear liquids including creamy soups, so I thought the mushy egg would be okay, but now I'm reading on here that any kind of solids before the five week mark are really bad and I'm super scared! I definitely won't be eating anything remotely sol…

Just curious if you wake up with the tube in your throat (you know,on TV,they say take a deep breath out...lol)??? I'm slightly closterphobic and it takes my breath away just to think about not being in control of my breathing...TIA!

I had my surgery more than one month ago and I have not lost any weight in the past three weeks. I went for my first fill last week and was told that I already had 5cc in a 10 cc band from surgery and so she added another .7cc. I think I can eat alot of food and I am really worried that my band will stretch. I experience PB alot so I am still adjusting to the eating thing. How much food is too much? I was able to eat two slices of pizza for dinner and I am worried. I feel like I am going to fail at this. I was never a huge eater. My problem was my sweet tooth. Does this band mean that I have to be on a low carb no fat diet for the rest of my life? I am definat…

Hi everyone, i am still not a banded, but looking to get banded soon, i've already done my consultation with Dr Chris De Bruyne in Dubai..now just deciding if i should go for it or not( Honestly i am really really scared) and i understand almost everyone prolly went through this nervousness/anxiety and undecided phase before their surgery as well. Now since m not banded yet m doing all my research i can before hand and looking in for answers i dont have from someone who does.( as i found out everyone here is very very helpfull--my own experience:thumbup:) I am starting this post so everyone can also post all the questions they think are silly and which they dont have…

As a school administrator, I do not have many choices of banding dates. I have secured July 13th, 2009 for the date of my procedure. Since then, I have found out my goddaughter is getting married. I will need to fly out of town the following weekend of July 17th. For those of you who have had the procedure, do you see that as a workable possibillity to travel 4 days after the banding?

How long were you sore where they put the port?

Si this normal? I was bended on the 28th and have had no complications. Its just when I move a certain way I feel a shrp pinch near the port. Like a stab - is this normal? K

My surgery date is May 28 and besides questioning myself every day about doing this and slightly freaking out about the surgery as I have never gone under the knife before, the one nagging question I have is: Can you become uncomfortably hungry after the surgery and before the first banding, and if so, are you able to satisfy the hunger with just liquids?

So last night I attempted to eat my first solid food meal. I attempted to eat a piece of tri-tip and it didn't go down well. It ended up finally coming back up 4 times. Today my stomach is very tender as well as my chest area. Is this anything I should be concerned about? By the way, I think I will stick with mushy food from now on : )

I had my first fill. It was all I thought it would be...lol. I have a 12cc band and it was filled to 3cc. I can tell a restriction now that I did not have before. I have lost a total of 30 pounds since surgery and 30 before. So a total of 50!!! YEAH!!! I am hoping that the fill with help keep me on track, I can tell more now than before when I need to stop. I do miss drinking as much water as I want when I want...that is the most I miss. Hubby & I have started taking Tae Kwon Do classes with our son...we love it, and it is an awesome workout!!!!

So what is your signal that you're full? Runny noses? Hiccups? I've found I'm getting suddenly sleepy... could that be my signal?? Still trying to find it, and wondering what others have experienced as their signals.

And in alot of pain. :-( Port site and also gas pain, which I amtrying to walk off, but doesnt seem to be doing alot.

I had 1/2 a polony sandwhich. it was DELICIOUS! I only had a 1/4 at a time...Surprisingly it went down fine and I haven't felt ill or had any problems though which is good - i guess. I did make sure that I chewed and chewed until it became liquidy before I swallowed though. I am only supposed to be starting mushy food on Thursday - not tomorrow but the next day...so now I'm feeling guilty. :purplebananna: What sort of foods did you all eat when on the "soft and mushie" foods?? or more so....what couldn't you eat?? (pretty much everything I can think of can "turn" mushy if it's chewed enough times before swallowing but I don't know if I should be thinking that way :Banan…

If you had problems with your gall bladder and had it removed, can you tell me what symptoms you had? In hind sight, were there any signs that you now think you should have paid attention to? Thanks for any info you can share.

What causes erosion? Was reading a post on here, talking about puking up blood and almost dying...kinda freaking me out!!!

I'm new to forums and have a questions. I had a fill done 3 months ago and since then can not eat bread or any meats. If I try after eating a few bites I start getting a pain near my band and vommit. To top it off I just moved out of state and need to find a new doctor and considering having the fill taken out. I'm worried I will gain weight or not lose any but hate being on liquids only. Is this normal, is it possible I have too much fill and can this be dangerous?

So I had my surgery last Thursday (today being Monday). I am still in alot of pain. My stomach is killing me and I am constantly getting chest pains. How long did the pain typically last for you?

I am wondering if you were able to drive after the op or if you were advised to stop for a while? I have spoken to a couple of people that have told me they couldn't drive for a couple of weeks after the op and this concerns me. No I'm not expecting to jump in the car the day after surgery and do a cross country trip but I do need to be able to drive to the school busstop etc. I see my doc for my final preop appointment next week and I shall talk to him about it then but in the meantime I am wondering what other people have done. I have had 2 Caesareans and started driving after those as soon as I was given the all clear which I think was about 2 weeks afterwards.I…

I have a 10cc band with 8.4cc's in it presently. My last fill was January 9 and I haven't needed another fill yet. My weight loss has slowed down to between 4-5 lbs per month the last two months whereas the first two months after my last fill I lost 9 lbs each month. I'm just curious what everyone's fill level is that is around the same time post-op as me. Thanks for your input!!!

I had my lap band almost 2 years ago, never had any problems, I am within 10 lbs of my dream weight- I hit my goal weight a good year ago. I had my surgery in Mexico, the Dr. was fantastic- no issues there, but I have nobody to go to right now and I'm alittle concerned about something. A few weeks ago Dh and I were wrestling with the kids and I stretched and arched my back and felt a sharp pinch where my port is. Sharp enough pain that I stopped playing with the kids. It was tender and sore there for a few days and has kind of been tender ever since.A little tender to the touch and I get the pinch feeling if I stretch. I can feel my port pretty well, it is in the s…

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site, but have been reading it for a few months now. My band date is next week, May 26th, I am Super excited. Can anybody give me some last minute helpful hints. Is there anything I should remember to do before or after surgery that you forgot?

I've noticed the last couple of days I'm actually starting to get hungry....is it normal to be hungry at 9 dpo?

Ok...before i had surgery i had this same pain maybe once...but since having it done, ive had it almost 3 times..the last 2 times were only a couple days apart The other night, me and my cousin had went out to eat, i didnt over eat or anything like that. Well we finished, went looking around at different stores and then my stomach started feeling really weird and knotting up. We went back to my car, and i had to put my seat back because the pain kept getting worse. I was laying down and it felt just like my upper stomach was in a knot and someone was pulling it on both ends as hard as they could. I felt like i was dying. I made her drive home but after about 20-30 mi…

I am invited to a fundraiser and it's an "all you can eat" deal at this restaurant. Tickets are $25 and all my friends are going. I am still on liquids until my swelling goes down and will not be able to particpate in any of the eating. Even so, I STILL would not get to engage in "all you can eat" at any time with the band! I can either: a. go, make the donation, and be the only one not eating at the table and have everyone ask me why I'm not eating b.not go It's so awkward! Anyone have any advice?

What does PB, NUT, and sliming mean? Thanks!

Today I had my 6th fill and I am 9 months post op. I've never had an issue of not being able to keep things down, well at least not until today. I drank an entire bottle of water in the office before driving home. Drank some more in the car and several other things throughout the evening, but now I can't get anything to go down. Any suggestions, comments or thoughts?

And this is a good thing! This morning I crossed the threshold from obese to overweight and am now at a BMI of 29.9 :smile:. My next mini goal is to get down to about 212 which is the lowest I was ever able to get down to on Atkins or NutriSystem. I feel confident that I will shatter this goal within about 4-5 weeks at my current loss rate. I LOVE this band :laugh:

I was banded on 5/5 and still get really tired? Is this normal? I could seriously nap every afternoon if I had the time.

Okay so im just waiting to hear from my insurence and i have been talking to some people and i heard that (i know it varies depending on the doc) but i hear that you go on liquids for about 2 weeks b4 and 2 weeks after..does anyone have any suggestions on what i should eat? i know like jello but i need variety!! Any help would be really helpful!