POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

I posted this in another thread, but it was related to PB'ing, and I don't think that's what I'm doing. So last night, I made a "creamsicle drink" and it had lots of orange rind in it from the marmalade. So I strained it, but I think there were still a few tiny pieces in it. So about an hour or so after, I started feeling these strange sensations in my chest, not really my stomach, a little higher, and I could feel the pressure or something coming up, or just moving, and I don't think it was gas. Then this weird sensation moved up in my jaw/mouth, and it would make me feel the need to yawn, or burp, or just try to make it go away. It didn't hurt, just very annoying, a…

I know for the liquid phase everything is liquid so it doesnt' matter. However, are you suppose to do the no drinking with meals when you start the mushy stage? Thanks!

There is one thing maybe you, my fellow bandster friends can help me with. I've been having these weird little... episodes where I have a warm sensation take over my body (mostly on the left side) in a matter of a few seconds, my heart starts beating very quickly and then I feel like I'm going to pass out. IT sort of feels like 1) I'm having a panic attack or 2) I've gotten really sick with a cold or something and I've taken too many meds in too short a period of time. It happened at 2 odd moments, both times I was just sitting watching tv. I haven't passed out yet, I just take a cold ice pack and put it on my forehead, lay in bed to some soothing music and count - and…

Can someone tell me what they are using. I want to start making fruit smoothies but need to find a protein powder that will be good in the shake. I have wasted enough money so I thought I would turn to you guys on here!!!! Thanks!!!!

I was banded on Thursday 6/5(2 days ago) and immediately started to have a decent sized cough. Naturally it hurts to cough due to all the stomach incisions and just natural soreness. I was wondering, has anyone else developed a cough from the anestesia? (Sp?) Please shed some light and tell me i'm not the only one to have this annoyance. It's keeping me up at night! Grrrrr.....

So I was wondering about this the other day, I've read numerous accounts of people who don't eat in the morning because there too tight but I have a dilemna, I'm currently on medication that has to be taken with food or directly after, I can't swallow tablets with food and I usually take them plus all my others and then eat breakfast so I was just wondering what anyone does? I'm not banded at the moment so I don't have to worry about it straight away but I'm wondering what to do once I am banded. Thanks

going in tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. for the surgery. What is best to eat for the first week? I need to go stock up on this today. I have Any Whey protein powder to add to my drink. Thanks.

I was thinking about the first thing I would like to eat after the band and after the liquid and mushie stage - and I'm thinking it's going to be jelly lol only because it's soft and tastes good and I figure it won't hurt going down that or I might try some potato bake or something along those lines - something soft that I only need to have 2 mouthfulls and I can feel the effect. So what was the first thing you ate?

I'm extremely concerned! I was banded on June 4. Now I've noticed that the lymph nodes at the base of my jaw are swollen & tender to touch & I have a white-coated tongue. Has anyone experienced these symptoms following banding?

So, my doctor recommends i have 69 grams of protein a day. I started eating pureed foods today and im starting to think ok if i have pureed foods, how am i gonna fit in the protein shakes?? because 65 grams worth of shakes is like 2 meals. Does anyone know of any other ways to have protein? like pills at all???

Im getting some redness around the cuts and the sticky tape stuff left after the doc took the tape off and some itching. So what can i do about the crap the tap left behind? what works for itching? and should i worry about the redness? its not too bad right now, but should i ask the doc monday? And... should i be cleaning the cuts? There are no longer covered. ~~jessica

Saw my doc today and im on mushy food 2weeks and a day after being banded. He went to feel for the port which is right above my jeans area and he said it was deep. Anyone hear of this ? Is this gonna be an issue for my fills? Also after he was poking and pushing i started to feel some discomfort in the area for the rest of the day. Im kinda worried about the port being low by wear my jeans come up also. Anyone else with that problem? ~~jessica :wink2:

Hello. New to the site, 5 days post-op. The main reason I decided on this procedure was I needed help restricting the amount of food. I talked to one of the nurses on Thursday and told her I was hungry. She told me to add Jello, yogurt and Soup to my diet...but no big chunks. Well, I had some chunks of meat in the soup and some tortilla, too. I was really testing myself expecting a bad reaction but everything went down fine. In fact, I still felt hungry. Today I had some peanuts and still no reaction. I feel guilty for cheating MYSELF like this and not giving it a chance, but knowing myself I also feel like I will keep testing the band since I didn't have a bad…

the scale hasnt moved much lately. i may lose 3-5 lbs but i gain it back. i have to say that since my last fill on april 15th i am doing so much better. i havent had any fast food, i did have chinese once, and 1 slice of pizza since then but thats about it. i do treat myself to a kids size vanilla soft serv ice cream from dairy queen once a week. i may have one day a week where i eat every 3 hours and feel bad about it when i do because i try to only eat 3 meals and maybe mid day snack, so when i have a bad day and snack it bothers me. im trying to calculate my calories and i am eating more than i used to. my nutrionist told me to eat around 1500 and i would lose. someday…

Ok, so what exactly is PBing? I was watching this thing on YouTube and a woman was talking about "spitting" after the lap band. Is that the same thing? I ask because I'm only 3 days post op, but after I eat (ice pops and broths mostly) I get this thing were I feel like I'm going to burp, but I don't always. Sometimes I do, sometimes it stops before it comes out. Nothing "fluid" ever come up either, it's just a strange feeling. I know it's from the band because I never got it before, but it's weird and I want to know what it is.

Today was the big day!! Hubby and I arrived at the hospital for 7:30am, and about 10 minutes later I was taken to pre-op to change, get hooked up to all the lovely machines, etc. The nurse was incredibly sweet and gentle, but she couldn't get a vein. My veins roll and hide a lot, and today they were on their worst behavior. She used a numbing agent first so she could poke around without hurting me too much, but I now have 3 bruises on my hands and arm! There were two little surprises- a shot of blood thinner in the belly (which I'd read about on these boards but my surgeon never discussed- thank you for the warning everyone!) and a creamer-sized dose of a nasty antac…

I'm still new to the band world, but today my friends told me about IDS Liquid Protein. It's got 42grams of protein per 3oz, which I thought was great!!!!! Small amount, and a great amount of protein. It has the consistency of liquid jello, but was very fruity. Some people mix it with water, which makes it taste like kool-aid. I decided to just drink it and it was pretty good. It's a little pricey at 2.75 a tube or 25-30 dollars per 12 tube case. I drink it on those days when I am not that hungry, but need to fit in the protein. But well worth it for me, not to have hair loss or a protein deficiency. It can be found at any vitamin store, I even found it a smoothie king!!!…

Hello guys! I just need to have someone to talk to. Today is a low day, actually the past few weeks have been low. I have been doing really bad on this diet roller coaster that I am on. I haven't yet had my first fill and I feel like I am a failure. I am eating the way that I did before the surgery and I am hating it! I don't feel any different then I did before I had the band placed. I went for my 6 week check up and I actually gained 4 pds. I have lost 1 pd of the 4 but I think that its just because I have lost Water weight. My first fill isn't until June 9th and I feel like I am starting to slip into a deep depression. I often think, what the heck did I do this for, I…

I was banded by Dr. gonzales in April 07. Everything was going well up to two months then everything started. I got an infection at the port. After many visits and no results at Dr. Gonzales's office for over 4 months. I ended up in the hospital and many doctor visits here in the US, I ended up in the hospital for over four weeks in a two month period and two surgeries within a week of eachother the band was removed. Couple of more days of delay I would have been dead. I have e-mailed Dr. Gonzales office many times and told them what happened to me but no one is responding or cares. It is very disapointing. All he kepted on doing is giving me antibiotics and se…

I have not been lost any weight in about a week and I am almost 4 weeks out from being banded. I am on soft solid foods and have been ok with it. I have tried to stay away from high carbs. I usually walk about 2 miles everyday. So here is what I didn't realize, I am not getting a lot calories throughout the day and I thought I must be getting to many. I just logged my food intake into Daily Plate and I only got 691 calories today. Is this ok or is this a reason I am staying at the same weight? I didn't weigh today because my next weigh day is tomorrow. Do I need to be getting more calories? How should I go about this without snaking. I am so lost in this process. I want t…

I was banded on May 20, lost 14lbs within the week and have gained 2 of those lbs back. I notice that I can eat way more than I thought I would be able to. I do not have a fill until my fourth week. I have not seen my doctor for the two week follow up due to a mix up in scheduling. I am so hungry all the time. The hunger is so bad that it almost hurts. I just wondered if anyone else has gone through something similiar? This is really frustrating, and very depressing. I feel like in just 3 short weeks I have lost the motivation and have fallen back into focusing on food all the time. Thanks in advance for any feedback! You guys rock on this site!:wink2:

Did anyone else get red around their incisions when the tape was taken off? sites look good, just Red..

Please give me an insight as to why the sliming? Will you always do it?

I was banded on Tuesday & I've noticed something & wondering if it was normal. Every once in awhile I'll bend over at the waist to pick something up & it feels like the band is brushing against one of my ribs. I did have some throwing up the day of surgery but I tried to 'hold' my chest to keep anything from moving. So, is this normal right after surgery to feel the band a bit or should I get in to see my dr? I'm not having trouble keeping liquids down today & I'm actually feeling better.

Hi there, I saw a post up here a while ago about the different foods that you can eat on the different phases. Does anyone know where it went? I think it was a sticky. I am on mushies now, and getting tired of the same old, same old. I wanted to see what's next on the food phases and get some motivation to keep going, maybe have something to look forward to. Any help would be great!

Hi All, Just something I wanted to get of my chest! My family are supporting me in having my decision to have wls, but would rather I did not have surgery and go the "traditional" weight loss route. I grew up as an only child my Mum and Dad split when I was 9 and my Mum married another guy he has kids but they are a lot older then me and married with kids when I eventually met my step sister. So I am seen as the baby of the family and kinda still clumped in with the kids really bearing in mind I am 30 lol! In the UK a well know talk show host has recently made public she had a lapband (Fern Britton), so as you can imagine there has been a lot on the TV about Gast…

I'm slowly losing. My legs, arms, back, bottom are all slowly shrinking. I'm starting to look like I'm wearing clown pants, baggy everywhere. EXCEPT my stomach. My jeans all fit the exact same, even a little tight. Anyone else having this problem? Any ideas on how to get the stubborn rolls on the belly to shrink up a lil? lol

i've found myself not eating that much. i don't get very hungry during the day, and sometimes find myself eating maybe 1 yogurt and some milk and water all day. Today i just had a yogurt not because i was hungry but because i'd only had half a smoothie and some milk all day. This isn't very healthy huh? lol i am sure next week when i move on to mushy foods i will be inspired to eat more. Has anyone else had this issue of not being hungry?

Could some one help me please! I live 150 mile away from my surgeon and I don't know what to do. I had steak on friday night and since then I have had a throbbing pain just under my left bra cup area above the rib. It gets worse when I move around, I have taken ibuprofen since friday and it is not easing at all. I have called my doctor and he is saying not to worry but I am finding this hard to do, I am worried that I have stretched my pouch or could I have infection as it is throbbing even more when I eat. I have had bowel movement so it isn't that but I do feel a little light headed and have more restriction today, can someone help as I don't think there is a hospital…

I am two weeks out and am looking forward to the following weeks and getting back to real food. Funny thing is I am looking forward to salads. I was wondering how much salad do you eat? I know about the 2 - 4 ouches of protein and carbs but how do you measure salad? Thanks for the input.

So I figured that I would feel full alot faster after surgery. Wrong! I am going to have my 1st fill on 05/27. My appetite is just as it was before surgery with the exception that I leave about 5 more bites on my plate than before. Isn't this horrible? I believe that I am supposed to be eating refried beans, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, and pudding at this stage. The issue at hand is that I can eat a double cheeseburger and fries from Wendys. I sure hope the 1st fill assists me enough to feel extremely full after 1/2 of a cup of food like they said it would before surgery instead of what I am able to eat now. Now I don't eat like this all of the time, but the idea is t…

I am starting to feel like a walking medicine cabinet! :thumbup: In addition to my high blood pressure medicine once a day and Centrum chewable vitamins twice a day, I will need to start taking: B12 1000mcg - once daily THEN - in 2 weeks, start B1 100 mg once daily THEN - in 3 weeks, start Ca citrate / Vitamin D 600mg once daily - 2 hours apart from other vitamins THEN - in 4 weeks, start URSO Foret 500 mg once daily (this - she gave me a prescription for and it is OPTIONAL) What are you guys taking?

My throat was sore after surgery Tuesday which was expected. Now however, my uluva (Sp?) that little thing that hangs in the back of your throat is swollen and half of it is white and touches my tongue (and even lays on top of my tongue). Its making me gag and its difficult to speak. Has this happened to anyone? What did you do?:thumbup: I called the dr on call last night (I was worried about going to sleep and choking as well as throwing up and band slippage) and she told me that its inflamed from being tubed during surgery and essentially that if I went to er they would just numb it. I asked in stead about using cloraseptic throat spray and she said to give that a …

O.K. not 4 sure what is going on today, but if not better tomorrow will call dr. I have been blessed with a easy post op, until today. I am p.o. 3 weeks 1 day... woke up with a small twinge on left side between port scare and another scare from band. did'nt think a lot about it. went to store and almost passed out. came home cold and clamy and shakey, side starting to hurt bad.... drank protein shake felt a little better, but not real stable....was sitting in fav. chair when dd came over with grandkids...could'nt hardley get out of chair because of my side. have'nt sat in it since. had lunch, they left got shakes so bad could'nt hardley move without feeling like I would…

ive read a lot about people having to bandage up their incisions but i dont have that my doctor glued mine i was wondering if anyone else had this done? it looks like crazy glue and its supposed to heal better so has anyone had it done this way?

I was banded on March 27th of this year. I have been exercising, and I am doing well with my weight loss, but strangely enough, my energy level has drastically declined. There are times I am so physically AND mentally wiped out that I can barely finish a sentence. It is so frustrating, and so I called my doctor, but he will be out until Thursday of this week for emergency surgeries, so I wanted to get some opinions. Anyone else go through this??? :eek:

I was banded on May 9, 2008 and I am on mushy foods right now. I have had no problem with eating, and I haven't been sick at all. The only thing that I completely hate about lap band is the fact that I can not drink while I eat. UGH, I love spicy food and its so hard to enjoy it when ur mouth is on fire. I know that it's more than a fair trade: No drinking with meals or for an hour after eating VS being fat...BuT, its still really hard for me. Anyone else feel the same or have another problem with having lap band?

I haven't found anything on this site yet about having sex after surgery. How long should I wait after getting banded? My doctor never addressed this and I really didn't think about it--its my husband!

Yes, I am still on liquids BUT dreaming of real food. I am wondering if anyone orders off the kid menu? I have mixed feelings about trying it. My doctor even gave me this credit card type explanation to present explaining we can't eat much. Anyone willing to share how they eat out? I know some places probably would frown on it and I don't know if I want to reveal that much info...but it seems a waste. Thanks

I noticed that some posters have a tracking tool for weight loss on their post.How do you all get that to work.

I had LB on 2-18 and had my first fill on 4-8. I don't feel any restriction except once in awhile when I eat meat if I don't take small bites I will feel a little restriction and start slimming. If I didn't do that I would not believe that I really had a LB. I am looking forward to my second fill next week because I need more restriction. I have not gained any weight since my fill but I have NOT lost any either. My question is - Why do we have the slimming issue after LB surgery? What does it mean? It is such a wierd feeling and my husband thinks I am nuts when I tell him about it. Only LB'ers understand.

I want to help anyone else I can.....stay out of Mexico. When you have it done there, no Doctor will see you at home. It's very dangerous, I lost all my money to them, and now have to give up daily needs to pay new "real" doctors. Infection as Staph, continued since July 07, I have had 2 extra surgeries. I had to make several trips of 300 miles away and back to get any help at all, my port was removed, as it was upside down.My doctor said it is a scam and here I am .....too sick to loose any weight and 1/2 a band implanted. Life is a Mystery.:mad:This was done by Jose Rodriguez and Dr. Calderon and some other guy who I don't know his name, he just did repairs instead of r…

I am 11 days post-op. Today I had lunch with a friend and ended up having onion soup (no cheese or croutons) 3 small breadsticks and a COOKIE! My doctor wants us on 4 supplements a day for 2 weeks post-op. That consists of drinks, jell-o pudding and water. Has anyone else done this and did I mess anything up? I feel ok, no pain but full but not uncomfortable. :w00t:

Hi Has anyone been told that there is a very high risk of pregancy soon after this surgery???? This is what my doctor's nurse told me today. If this is true - how long am I at a high risk????? Thanks:confused2:

I have just returned from a week long trip to spain (I live in the UK). I had terrible problems eating much for 3 or 4 days after each flight. It felt like I had severe restriction after the flight and could not manage much more than a few mouthfulls. I was PB'ing extremely badly after a couple of mouthfulls when I had not PB'd much at all before that. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this. I am taking a 9 hour flight in August and am thinking of having an unfill before I go purely because it was so unpleasant. On the upside, I didnt put on an ounce of weight!!!

I had read on here that some doctors said not to chew gum - mine never did or if he had I did not hear him lol Needless to say I thought what is the big deal and picked up a piece while riding in the car with my husband and chomped on it for the ride for about 10 to 15 min no big deal right? :thumbup: WRONG! I got out of the car after spitting out the gum and got REALLY BAD PRESSURE gas/air in my stomach that went up into my shoulders. Then I grabbed the Gas-X strips with no real relief. Took a few hours to get rid of the pain and pressure so I LEARNED MY LESSON! :w00t:

Hi everyone. I just got my second fill 3 days ago. I've thrown up everyday so far...not so much. But at least for a second. Yesterday my lunch was completely out but dinner was great. Today I was at a restaurant for lunch and had to go throw up every 10 minutes...which was how often i took a bite...I was ready about band slipping etcs...please advise...is this normal or should i worry. I drink water just fine!! I can't go through this surgery again!

O.K. I am used to cooking large meals. I have all my life. (started cooking when I was 6) My youngest daughter and her husband will be moving out in about 3 weeks. So I will finally have an empty nest. But I don't want to cook and freeze a lot of foods. The deep freezer is theirs so I won't have any real space to freeze anything in. So I was thinking about just doing lean cuisiene(sp) and things like that. Is anyone else going that rout? Is it working for you to loose the weight? Thanks.

I know now I am getting a lot of attention and seeing my dr. a lot this year for fills, but after all that - in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years... do you need an annual appointment?

I had a 2cd fill, now i have a total of 5cc, but still i can eat everything?!?!?!! food passes normaly !! whats wrong??? my band is 9cc!!! Is that normal ??????