POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

Hi everyone....I will have been banded 1 month on Monday...The first two weeks I was fine..had a little trouble drinking was that was to be expected...well now I am in pain...i have that golf ball feeling in my chest EVERYTIME I drink or eat...once i drink and it goes down i get that golf ball pain....almost like a big huge air bubble.....I am ready for this band to come out now....i cant take this anymore....please someone can you help me and let me know what is happening....i went to the doctor and they did a CT scan and said that it was not my band....what can this be....please someone help me out with some answers or advice!! Thank you!!

I am getting so fustrated, I am eating right at around 1000 calories and in the GYM four days a week with 30 minutes of cardio and 45 of strenth training. In my opinion it is too early to hit a platue. I have not lost any weight in about two weeks. My last weigh in at my dr's office was Jan 13 and I have only lost 7 pounds since then. Should I be getting my tyroid checked? Please help, I need a boost of positive.

Curious about not drinking while eatting - - mainly concerned about having soup with some veggies or other healthy things in them, as essentially having soup is like eatting and drinking, correct?

I just had surgery Friday 1/30 and, while I feel great, am still having reflux issues. A representative from the hospital called to check Sunday and I said I can't keep anything down. She asked if I was getting my 61 grams of protein. I repeated that I can't keep even water down. I am not dehydrated, so I know I am getting some fluids, but at what point do I get worried?

Hi Friends - Im just past 2 weeks post-op and know how important the Vitamins are. However, I CANT stomach the chewable Calcium pills that I got from the dr. office. Im looking for a liquid calcium brand that is comparable to the nasty chalky stuff I have. If anyone has any suggestion of a brand of liquid calcium that they are using and can tolerate I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks so much!

Hey Guys, Sorry if this is TMI. I was banded on Jan. 12th. One week later I started my period and had a semi normal one. Then a couple of days ago I spotted and that was it. Then last night I woke up feeling really sick and went to the bathroom and I was spotting again. I thought it was going to be an actual period, but, this AM nothing else. I am / was really crampy feeling. So, is this normal? Anyone else is the same boat? Thanks guys...

Hello All: I got my surgery date set for April 30th! yay I know there is a 10cc band and a 14cc band. How do you know what one you are going to get? Whats the difference? How long does it take to get the band completley filled? If you get the band filled to its max, does that mean that you are forever going to stay restricted? What happens if you get all the way filled and still start to lose restriction? Im so excited and nervous at the same time. I just hope Im making the right decision with the lap band. Thank you!

Just a question.....I'm almost 3 months out and have started noticing after I eat I sometime's have pain on my left side and around my port area,is this normal? Just wondering if anyone else experience's this?:confused:I see my surgeon next week so I'll definitely ask her as well...........

I was banded yesterday morning by Dr. Kirschenbaum in Colorado. It was a great experience for me. I was totally nervous because I had never had surgery before. The staff was awesome and helped me through my anxiety. I feel some pain but nothing unbearable and I am so excited to start my new life. Anyone else banded yesterday???

Hi I was just banded a couple of weeks ago, I have been on liquids until now. Today I tried some of the foods recommended by my Dr. for the puree diet. First time I tried a non-liquid, it got stuck - how do you get unstuck, water won't even go down - PB, but still stuck. I am starting to question my decision, not sure I am understand what its suppose to feel like, what am I gonna feel like when I get my first fill in 2 weeks?

I am 6 months + 4 days from my surgery day and I am very happy with my weight loss. I haven't really had any problems (knock on wood) and I haven't had a regret one since doing it. However, in the last couple of weeks I have experienced some severe pain on my right side about an inch above my right hip bone and about an inch to the left. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? Has anyone had similar experiences? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As you guys do or don't know my surgery date was feb. 4th, this past wednesday. Everything went better than i expected. The pain is bearable but its still pain. Still very sore, they kept me over night because of my sleep apnea, i have very mild sleep apnea but they just wanted to be sure that everything goes well. I was so nervous before i went in, my blood pressure was high as a kite but after wards it dropped to 114/51. The nurse seemed very concerned and said that it would be best to leave after my the bottom number reached at least 60. So i just got home about 30 minutes ago. The gas pain is out this world, the gas x strips dont seem to be doing much, but then again …

Has anyone else noticed that after eating, you get what they call the full feelting (upper stomach pressure) but still have a bottom empty feeling? With stomach growling and everything?

Hey everyone! I had surgery on 1/16 so I'm about 2 1/2 weeks post-op. I'm doing great so far, I've lost 31 lbs:thumbup: (that's including the 10lbs I lost in the week before doing my pre-op diet) and I'm not having any struggles with food. I feel great and only am experiencing slight pain in my port area. Only 2 things I can complain about... 1. I'm a stomach sleeper so sleeping on my back has been hard but I'm dealing... 2. I just want to work out!! I feel like I've done so well with my weight so far that I know if I was working out I'd be doing so much better! I've been walking but I just feel like that''s not enough. I called my Dr office and they said nothing more tha…

My name is Ahmed, and im from Egypt, 23 years old at the moment and Ive finally took the decision to make the lap band surgery. I feel 3 weird feelings #1, soar throat and pain around the throat every time i burp or breathe deeply. #2, cant take a deep breath, and sometimes pain in the stomach while trying to, is it cause of the incisions? or is it the band itself? #3, pain at the shoulder? Would be nice if you can share your experience with me, as its a new dilema for me and i havent called my Doctor yet. Thanks!

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has new guidelines that remove the 8 glasses a day of water recommendation, saying that healthy adults may use thirst to determine their fluid needs. That's what I've always used. We are told to listen to our bodies about food and not eat when not hungry, and I believe the same is true with thirst. Furthermore, the article goes on to say that for years drinking water has been recommended for weight loss - despite the fact that fluids generally satisfy thirst and not hunger. Barbara Ross, PhD, an expert on thirst and satiety, points out that thirst and hunger are regulated by entirely different mechanisms. I never believed that saying "…

I was banded yesterday and I am feeling great! None of the left shoulder pain or anything! I have been up and around as much as possible and even took the dog for a walk! While in the hospital, I walked every hour for 10 minutes (mostly b/c I couldn't sleep). I am trying my best with full liquids and Water today, but am definitely not where I need to be! How did everyone else do?? Check In when you can! :redface: Kristil

My husband and I got the band in Dec. and just got word from our insurance that instead of the $1500 per person, we are going to be charged $2500 per person....for literally NO GOOD REASON!! They told us that it would be about $3000 total for both my husband and I to get it after our insurance covered the rest. Now we are being charged $5000. This is NUTS. Did this happen with anyone else? The surgeries went well without a hitch, and neither of us have ANY problems at all (in fact it's like the band isn't even there, which is unfortunate...going in for another fill. ) But not only that - I had to sleep on a gurney!!! Yeah, they didn't have a bed for me to sleep on so they…

I have been reading this forum for months now. I pretty much have my heart set on getting the band and once I see my doc on the 4th the date will be set. But im getting worried, so many people say that they get filled and have no restriction. How long does it take to get restriction? Has anyone every been fully filled and still no restriction? I just dont want to go through with this surgrey for nothing. I know its a tool and I have to do my part, im just hoping the tool works really well!

Hey everyone, just had a quick question. Where is everyones port located and how many laproscopic locations did your sugeon use. Mine is just to the right and at about the same height as my belly button and my doctor only used 2 incisions to do my surgery. Also did anyone have a choice of where thier port was put. Thank you in advance for your answers.

I have had some up and downs this past year! As of today I am only 27 lbs down. I have done what I have been told Yes I am human and I have made some mistakes but not every day. My doctor reviews my food logs and he tells me that I am doing good considering the rough 4 months that I had with all the nasuea. I know that I backed off the Protein shakes and have started them back last week. If I am making the right food choices and I am not eating full size meals.......WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME! Someone told me that it is the stress that I am under. But that doesn't make sense since the "BAD" foods are not going in my body. There are days where meeting the 1000 calories is hard …

I had my first fill today. The water I drank in the office went down fine. I had soup for lunch, didn't feel full or have any restriction but about an hour later started feeling really nauseous and it hasn't gone away. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you for any help!

I chose to get a lap-band because I had a problem with portion control and not so much a problem with sweets etc. I have found that I can eat pretty much whatever I want with a few adjustments (ie:burgers with no bread) and less of it. The one thing I was told however was ABSOLUTELY NO CARBONATED beverages. And I must admit that I really really miss my Diet Pepsi. My family and I go camping once a month and the one thing I looked forward to at the end of the day was a Jack and Diet pepsi while sitting by the campfire. So my question to all of you is...........Is there anything you can't have now that you really miss? Just wondering.:cursing:

Hi Fellow Bandsters - Im having strong urges to test my band. I'm 11 days post-op, I'm starving on my liquid diet, and I really am having feelings like there is nothing even there! I feel like I need to eat something and get FULL - just to prove to myself that I can still feel FULL! Is this normal? Am I just starting to get crazy on the liquid diet? My need to chew something is getting hard to fight! Thanks -

im one week post op and have been pigging out literally on soups.I have been so hungry and have been eating double helpings of soups until i feel sick. what is the matter with me?,can i do damage to my new band by being such a pig?,im not eating solids but am really giving my soups a workout.:cursing:,so angry at myself,feel like im destined to be fat forever

Ok people here is my story, I was banded on 10-16-08 since then I have lost 50lbs, but.........after my first fill( 3cc) I noticed a actual reduction in my restriction after a few days, and even though I have tried to start walking on my treadmill 15-20min / 4x week I have managed to gain 8lbs back :cursing:, I talked to my surgeon and he said he wasn't worried about it because I haven't gotten to my "sweet spot" and I had lost the weight too fast to begin with and he could get it back off but he was happy I gained some weight becasue he was thinking there might be a problem with my digestive tract becasue of loosing so much so fast. My Question is this, has anyone ever l…

6 days post op and I am having upper back pain. I do not believe it is from gas. I don't know if it is because I have bad posture or what?

I was eating my dinner tonight and clearly didn't chew the chicken enough, got that stuck feeling. Then, had a lot of slime come up and eventually gagged up the chicken and some other stuff. Then, a few minutes later did the same thing. The feeling was more one of vomiting, but there was no bile or anything. Just curious if this really is vomiting or PBing?

I am having some numbness on the left side of my stomach. It is external I can't feel anything when I move my fingers over it. Has anyone else had this sensation?

I was banded on 1/30/09 (just a few days ago). With the pre-op liquid diet and post-op, I am down 20 pounds. So, in about 3 weeks I have lost 20 pounds which I am thinking is a pretty good amount for a pretty short period of time. Since the procedure I can barely eat anything. Even broth makes me feel extremely full. Is that normal? Here is what I had today, a BariatrxEssentials shake for breakfast (2 scoops in soy milk), half a cup of coffee, water, chicken broth (1 cup) for lunch, water, and chicken broth for dinner. I am totally full. What should I expect this first week?

I am so thankful for this website. I feel that nobody in my home knows what I am going through and it is wonderful to have people to talk to that know exactly what I am going through. I have been fighting off depression all day long. I don't have anything to be depressed over, but for some reason, I just feel this "BLAH" feeling in the pit of my stomach and I just want to curl up and cry myself to sleep. I have went on an eating rage today. I have over eaten big time. I'm not going to give myself down the road because of it. I know I shouldn't have done it and admitting it is the first step in the right direction. I will hit the gym as soon as the kids get on the …

I wasnt sure where to post this...forgive me if its the wrong place. I was banded the end of Dec. and since my pre-op diet I have lost 30lbs. Of course I am very happy to have lost that much that quick but something has changed this past week. I finally started on real food and now my weightless has completely stopped. Is it normal that once you start eating again you stall or plateau? I am being very careful of what I eat and measure and count calories and Protein. Always getting on the high side of protein too. I always stay under 1200 calories, usually around 1100 sometimes less. Could this be too much food? I guess I am surprised b/c I am doing so well with…

My plan was to have the surgery on Friday and be back to work by Tuesday. Plans have changed and I'm thinking I will be out for the rest of the week. The only person that knows the real reason why I was out is my manager. I told her to please do not tell anyone, even her director, which happens to be the HR Director. She told him I was having a procedure done on the off chance something went wrong and needed to go on short term disability. I guess for HR purposes. Well, since I didn't return Tuesday and think I might be out until next Monday I'm afriad this will may cause a lot of questions. I'm wondering if I should just let people know I have been sick. A real nasty bu…

Hi I was banded 5 months ago and have been having trouble keeping food or liquid down. I have had to un-fills and that would help for a bit but then it goes back to bad again. I was thinking and still think that stress has something to do with it. I have 3/4 CC in my band right now and I just don't know if I should take it all out. I don't want to gain weight again, but it sure would be nice to drink Water without throwing it up. I am going to the dr on Tues and I hope to have him x-ray to make sure things haven't slipped. which gosh I hope it hasn't. If it has slipped does anyone know what you have to do to get it fixed? I was going to try and do 10 days of liquid …

I know, I know, I can do this. After all, I survived Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, and the Super Bowl with my new Band. But when I saw the billboard today that said, "The Girls Scout Cookies are Coming" it freaked me out. :tongue: OMG, my favorites are coming back. :thumbup: You think I'm crazy don't you? But I love those darn cookies and they are only here once a year. It is going to take all my Band will power and the support of my LBT buddies to get me through this.

Hi all, I did a search for this, and didn't find anything that really answered my question, so I apologize if this has been discussed before. I'm 3.5 months out from my surgery (Oct. 16, 2008) and am down by 40 lbs -- I've only had 1 fill, too. I seem to have hit a plateau the last few weeks though. Now, I am struggling with eating habits -- foods aren't the problem, nor amounts. I have difficulty eating an actual 3 meals a day, though I do try. I'm really trying to keep to a schedule of: 9:00 AM - Breakfast 1:00 PM - lunch 6:00 PM - dinner Doesn't always work as planned, as I am not used to eating breakfast (I've spent the last 33 years not eating a mornin…

I was banded on Sept 30th 2008. Everything has been going ok, I havent had a fill yet but I have pain around my port area. The pain has been there for 4 days now. Has anyone else had this problem? I see the doctor on Monday for my first fill, worried about the pain and not being able to have it done. Anyone out there that can give me some insight? Thanks Kim

Please tell me I am not the only person out here that is having a horrible time with quitting smoking!!!....I have just reordered Chantix and pray that it works. My doctor said I had to quit or terrible things could happen with my lap band but she didn't say what they were. Does anyone know? I know the health risks of smoking and that I need to quit. After 40 years of smoking it is not easy.

Hello All Buzy Bandsters, I am closing in on over 30 lbs lost, and two months banded YIPEEE (only 100 more to go!!) I have more energy and love the way the pounds are melting off. I am walking my 10,000 steps/day (equivalent to approximately 4.7 miles with my stride) and am looking for more energetic and exciting routines to add to my day. If anyone has any great routines that you can share that would be fab. If they are easy to adopt that's even better.

Has anyone had the experience of saline shooting out of ???? when the RN pulls out the needle after a fill?

I was banded on October 22nd, and since then I have spent much time on this site finding answers to my questions, but until now, I have never had the guts to post a thread... I have 6 ccs in a 10 cc band. My surgeon has been rather aggressive with me. I have only lost 19 lbs. since the surgery (including the pre-op diet.) My question in this: I PB .....ALOT!! Almost every meal, and I wonder, is that because I am not chewing enough or could it be that my stomach is just full?? (I never get the same full sensation that I use to pre band.) And can this be a reason for the slow weightloss?

Hello all I am starting my holiday detox early. I fell off the bandwagon and gained.....gasp 7 pounds! SH*T.....so instead of waiting for the holidays to officially be over and add to the total I have decided to start a detox program for myself early.... I am going on a few days of liquids only, followed by the 5 day pouch diet. I figure it it an easy way to get back on track. Anyone want to join me and NOT wait until 2009 to get those holiday pounds off?

I'm 3.5 weeks out from being banded. Over the last week I've experienced extreme nausea and a lot of dry heaves. I saw my Dr. on Tuesday and she prescribed phenergan but otherwise wasn't too concerned. She also keeps chalking up my ailments to "nerves" which is partially true but not entirely. I just constantly feel like I'm going to vomit and I dry heave occasionally for 5-10 minutes at a time. I thought it was an antibiotic I was taking but I haven't had that for 2 days and I'm still sick. Has anyone else had this happen? Did it pass? I can't stand having to live like this!

hello everyone :grouphug: i was banded on oct 7th, so i'm 2 weeks out today. i have healed well and i'm feeling great. i can feel my little port which is about two inches up, and to the right of my belly button (right under my largest incision, naturally)... i get that...but about two inches up and to the right of my port...i feel a much larger 'bump' (almost feels like a swollen muscle or something)..just wondering if this is normal for lap band? i was thinking it might be my stomach or something, but i think the stomach is more to the left. it doesn't hurt at all, and i've had no problems whatsoever...my appt for my first fill is november 18th, so ill definitely ask the…

I had lap band 11-08 and have had 2 fills so far. Both times the doc had a hard time either finding the port or getting the needle in the port (I'm not su:scared2:re which). It took a while for him to do this and it hurt while he was pushing on my stomach finding it. Has anyone else experienced this?

hi fellow bandsters, i was banded a week ago,28th jan,and the last few days i have terrible bad breath. I dont smoke or anything and brush my teeth regually so i was wondering if it would be because im not acually ;eating at the moment; anyone else have this problem?

I was banded on 1/20, and other than shoulder pain have not had problems around my incisions. I had my post-op follow-up Thursday and there was no pain, but today after being up for a few hours, I suddenly began getting stabbing pains around the port area...what is this? Anytime I move, it feels like a stab from the inside when I try to stand up or move at all. What can I do? Is this normal, or the beginning of something else (like a hernia? I've never had any problems like this pre-surg). Nancy

Hello everyone - I am looking for some advice about ways to take my medications. During my pre-op physical, my primary care physician tried to order my medications in liquid form but they aren't available that way. I take Cymbalta, which is in capsule form and Lisinopril, which is pill form. I also take a low-dose preventative aspirin each day. I have been opening the Cymbalta capsules and pouring them into water and quickly drinking it. My best guess would be that I am only getting 1/2 - 3/4 of the dose. I am grinding up the Lisinopril and aspirin with the same results. I am concerned about this and looking for advice from those of you who may have dealt with and…

I had my surgery done by JourneyLite in Houston. My hubby and I both did and we are self-pay so our fills are free. We have since moved to the Waco area. Anyone know any doctors here who will do a fill? I hate to travel 3 1/2 hours for a fill, but it would be free. I'm hoping to find someone in the Waco, Ft. Worth area who will do a fill for us at a reasonable price.

Hi All, Just a question I have about my port. It is located to the right side of my navel. Every post I have read from this site have said that their port is to the left. I am not sure if it is because of my severe diverticulosis:scared2: on my left side of colon or what, anybody have any idea????