Oregondaisy

HI everyone, Boy this has really been a very hard week for me. I knew it was a mistake to get a fill and then leave town to visit my dad who doesn't know I am banded. I just didn't have a choice in the matter. He is 88 and really needed me. I will I could reply to everyone individually but I only get an hour on the computer at the library per day. I am glad I am going home where it will be a lot easier to follow the bandster rules and not have to try to fool my father. I know from reading that there are some other people who choose not to tell family members. I am finding it really hard to eat in front of him. I didn't realize that even with the first fill, I would have so many problems with food getting stuck. It's very painful and there isn't anything you can do about it. I am really in a learning process right now about which foods are band friendly and which are not. I hope everyone's doing well this week. Congratualtions on your fill, Audree. I got 1 1/2 cc's for my first fill. My band holds 5ccs. Do you know how many yours holds? I don't think I am going to get another one for a good long while. They say when you lose more weight the band loosens up and I need to wait for that to happen. Right now every kind of meat I have tried gets stuck no matter how much I chew to mush. tomorrow I will be flying all day, so I hope everyone has a great Saturday!!

HI everyone, Boy this has really been a very hard week for me. I knew it was a mistake to get a fill and then leave town to visit my dad who doesn't know I am banded. I just didn't have a choice in the matter. He is 88 and really needed me. I will I could reply to everyone individually but I only get an hour on the computer at the library per day. I am glad I am going home where it will be a lot easier to follow the bandster rules and not have to try to fool my father. I know from reading that there are some other people who choose not to tell family members. I am finding it really hard to eat in front of him. I didn't realize that even with the first fill, I would have so many problems with food getting stuck. It's very painful and there isn't anything you can do about it. I am really in a learning process right now about which foods are band friendly and which are not. I hope everyone's doing well this week. Congratualtions on your fill, Audree. I got 1 1/2 cc's for my first fill. My band holds 5ccs. Do you know how many yours holds? I don't think I am going to get another one for a good long while. They say when you lose more weight the band loosens up and I need to wait for that to happen. Right now every kind of meat I have tried gets stuck no matter how much I chew to mush. tomorrow I will be flying all day, so I hope everyone has a great Saturday!!

Thanks Audree!

I have a question regarding these small meals throughout the day. When are we supposed to drink our Water if we aren't supposed to drink until an hour after we eat? If we are eating that many small meals per day, that's more hours of not being able to drink our water. I have no excuse about the exercising. I am definitely going to increase my exercising! I am just wondering how to co-ordinate the eating and drinking! thanks a bunch, Denise

What is pouch dialation? I am at the library and I only get an hour a day to use the computer. I couldn't find it in the section of complications where it said to go to read about it. What is it and what causes it? Or can someone direct me to where I can read this post about it? Thanks a lot, Denise

HI there Lily, My daughter had the gastric bypass not the lap band. It took her a year to lose all that weight. I found out about lap band from going to her support groups with her. I knew I didn't want to do the gastric bypass. For one thing, my insurance doesn't cover weight loss surgery. But mainly I wouldn't want to have my insides completely rerouted. I'm sorry it took me so long to answer you. I have to use the comptuer at the library while I am visiting my dad in Arizona. I don't know what to tell you about the loose skin. Building muscle does help, but I think a lot of it depends on where the loose skin is. I have seen an awful lot of pictures of people who had surgery to remove it though, on other boards. Being younger definitely makes a big difference. Today is Wednesday so that means Audree is off getting her fill. Getting my first fill was really simple and painless, but I have been having problems with food getting stuck since then. I wish everyone the best in their eating in the coming days. It's really been hard for me to only have an hour a day to use the computer. I find it so helpful at home to be able to come here and read the board whenever I need to.

Hi all, I am at my dad's in Arizona so I am at the library using the computer. I have missed all of you! This computer here is horrible, but better than nothing. I only get an hour on here though. I have been having trouble with food getting stuck. I don't understand why that happens. I hardly have any saline in there. I haven't pbed or slimed but it really hurts when it happens. Does anyone know why that happens? I have been chewing like crazy and taking small bites. I thought that the food goes into the smaller stomach created by the band so I don't get why it happens. Isn't it not supposed to pass through the band until it starts digesting? It feels like it's stuck in my chest. Now that I am off my liquid diet my sugar cravings seemed to have returned. It's because my dad has chocolate all over the house. I wish chocolate would get stuck because then I would look at it and not want to eat it. It hurts when food gets stuck. I wish I had enough time to go back and read all the posts I missed. I will do that when I get home and back to my own computer. If anyone can shed any light on why this food gets stuck, I would really appreciate it. thanks everyone, Denise

My daughter is 25 and has a lot of loose skin. She lost 130 lbs though, so it doesn't sound like you have much to lose with a lower BMI. It really depends on how much weight you're going to take off. I have heard that younger people's skin will go shrink back, but some of my daughter's friends have lost a lot of weight and had loose skin too. A couple of them had tummy tucks.

Thanks Gerbera. I don't really know what I good fill is supposed to feel like. I know I have a lot of trouble with food getting stuck. I haven't pb'ed or slimed yet, but I get terrible pain right between my boobs where it feels like a big rock is in there. I have a hiatal hernia too so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I have to remember to folllow the rules with chewing more and taking tiny bites. Sometimes I forget. What did you feel like when you felt like you had good restriction? Did you just feel full very fast? I do find if I eat mainly protein, I am not craving anything else. I don't think that's the band though. Once I eat carbs, I always crave them. I have another fill scheduled for 3-26 but I am kind of afraid to get one since the last time something got stuck, it was quite painful. Good luck on your weight loss journey too!:Banane20: Denise

Hi Kenasmom, I had to wait 6 weeks before my fill. You're right about this being the place to vent. That's what we are here for! I wouldn't have been able to make it through the first 4 weeks on liquids without this board, that's for sure. So vent away! We understand.:nervous

I am sorry you're not feeling well Debbie.:omg: They say walking will get rid of the gas. It's probably hard to get much walking in when you're in pain, but everybody told me to walk as much as possible to move the gas out. I should have had my hiatal hernia repaired too. I keep wondering if that is why food is getting stuck. I just to say that my throat closes up before I found out I had a hiatal hernia. So I am sure between the band and the hernia, that's why sometimes it feels like there is food in my chest and it really hurts. I have to remember to eat slower, take smaller bites, and chew better. I hope the nurse practictioner has something useful to help you. Hope you're feeling better soon. Denise

I don't really know. I know that VG band is bigger than all the others. I specifically asked him if I had that one. He said no, my band was from the brand that has been on the market the longest and it was a 10 cm band that holds 5cc's.

Congratulations Kedasmom! Welcome to bandland! I just got my first fill, so I am now experiencing what happens when I eat too fast. How long do you have to be on liquids? Every doctor has seems to have a different plan for that. I was supposed to be on liquids for 4 weeks, but I didn't make it. The last week, I wanted to eat so badly, I cheated a little and ate some stuff on the mushie list a few times. I did do mainly liquids though even that last week. It was really nice to see that scale move down.

Missy, They have been doing the band in other countries a lot longer than the United States. I haven't heard of any long term problems. There have been people that have had to have their bands removed for certain reasons, but it's not a normal and common thing. There are quite a few lap band boards. He should try to read some either on this board or another one. This board has a page for common questions. I knew for me, the only thing in site was gaining more weight. I have been dieting my entire life.

Hi Missy, What is he worrying about? I was never in any pain what so ever. Does he think having the lap band is dangerous? The other surgery, gastric bypass is far more dangerous. Lap band can always be reversed. We don't loose nutrtion the way the GP patients do. I am sure if you tell us what his worry is, we will be able to help. We are all very happy with our decision. My main worry was that I wouldn't be able to eat the foods I love, but I really don't need to be eating the wrong foods anyway. So far, I haven't found any foods I can't eat. I have heard a lot of people can't eat bread though, once they get proper restriction. I have heard of people chewing the bread up and spitting it out though, just for the flavor. Kind of gross, but I could see me doing that!

Mindy, I doubt seriously if you did anything by drinking more than you were supposed to. All it would do is go right through into your stomach since it's liquid. There is no sense in starving. Welcome to this group and Welcome to everyone else that's new! This board has been a lifesaver for me. I am so glad all of you are here!

Carrie, I only had to do Clear liquids the first 24 hours. I know I would have starved any longer than that. Once I moved on to full liquids, I really wasn't hungry. If I got hungry I drank a can of slim fast low carb. It keep my stomach from growling. When I got bored with Protein drinks, I made Soups. My dr. sells high protein chicken soup but I added a little Campbells cream of chicken soup and milk to make it runny and blended it up really well so there weren't any chunks of chicken left. That kept me full and was very sastifying. My doctor also said I could have egg flower soup so that was another thing that saved me. When I got sick of the cream of chicken soup, I bought a large egg flower soup from the Chinese restaraunt. There were peas in there and I was told to spit those out. It was pretty satisfying. I was on full liquids for four weeks and the last week was the hardest. I did cheat a couple of times and ate something soft the last week. I really wanted to eat. Probably the thing that got me through it was losing 18 lbs in 4 weeks. I was very happy about that:) You'll get through this and be really happy when the scale starts moving. Audree was a real champ and didn't even weigh herself during the liquid stage. I had to do it to keep myself encouraged.

I really don't use a certain recipe. I just put some egg beaters in there, some Mrs. Dash garlic and herbs, chopped onion, some ketchup and I use oat meal instead of bread. I make meat loaf different every time I make it. I use to put Cambells vegetable soup in there but there are potatoes in it so I used ketchup instead. I just put the oat meal in there until it wasn't runny. I would say probably half a cup?

That's great Audree. I made meat loaf out of ground turkey and I ate a small piece and got really full. I was going to make some kind of vegetables to go with it, but I was too lazy. I wouldn't have been able to eat them. I got full really fast, so maybe this fill is working! I hope all of us show the scale moving down this weigh in!

I had my first fill today. It was completely painless. I had heard that it didn't hurt so I wasn't really worried about it. He found my port immediately and it was over with in seconds. Now I can find out if I really do have any restriction. I am kind of excited to find out if my portions will really go down. I really want to start losing again.

Susan, you should be very proud of yourself. Running 5 miles is awesome. :thumbs_up:Who cares what place you came in. That's really an accomplishment running that far! I jog on the treadmill sometimes and the longest I have ever been able to jog is 5 min. Audree, glad you started. Sorry to hear about cramps. I don't miss that part of it. I haven't had one for 4 years now. I would actually rather have periods though because once you stop them, a whole world of other problems start. That's a whole different subject. :heh: I got my first fill today. I found out my band holds 5cc's and he put in 1 1/4cc today. I have to be on liquids for 24 hours now. I hope my weight loss picks back up again now that I have some saline in there!

I finally found the laughing cow cheese. I didn't know there were so many flavors. Which one do you like, Audree? I bought the one that said light, because it had less calories. I ate a ton today but it was fresh crab. There is no way to judge how many cups or whatever, but I ate one and a half crabs. Hopefully, that will carry me through the night. It was a crab feed for charity so it was at a wierd time. I ate at about 3:30. For breakfast I just had a slim fast. So again, I have no clue how many calories I ate today. I go for my first fill tomorrow!! It's kind of scary to me, because sometimes I can feel food getting stuck without any fill. That's when I forget I am banded and try to wolf my food down. I am reminded in a hurry because it hurts!! Good luck everyone in the coming week with good eating habits!! :):biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1:

I don't know how to keep track of calories at all. I guess I need to buy some sort of calorie book. I will check out fitday. I am getting my first fill on Monday, but I have heard my dr. is not very aggresive with fills. The girl that got banded by him on the same day as me said he hardly put anything in, and she can can still eat whatever she wants. It's will power right now.

Gee, All of you are doing so well! I haven't really lost anything since I went off liquids after the first 4 weeks. I get my first fill on Monday, but I have heard that he hardly puts anything in there for the first one. I want to start losing again!

Audree, how do you count your calories? There are some foods that I eat that don't have the calorie count on the package. I don't know how to tell cheese because it would make a difference how thick it's sliced, etc. There are a lot of foods that I can't tell if I am counting right.