♥LovetheNewMe♥

I had my first fill 4 days ago today and after the fill I went to lap band web sit and watched the video on the first 4-6 weeks post op surgery. I guess I should have watched it sooner because it gave me some info I really didn't know. On the video it stated that during our first 4-6 weeks after surgery we really should not be losing large amounts of weight that this was the healing time and really should not expect to fill the full effects of the band until after our first fill. I wish the doctors office would have explained this better. I think I spent my first month and a half dieting, I did have some restriction but after about 3 weeks I was starving by the end of the day and found it hard not to snack. I found I was controling more than my band. So any of you that have not had a fill yet, watch the videos on the lapband.com it does help and gives you some idea of what you should be expecting. Until we are in our "Sweet Spot" of restriction, we will fill hungry and still have to control what we eat. I have decided this is an evolution and over time it will get better. Taking it one day at a time here in SC. Merry Christmas to all, hope your holidays are filled with family and lots of joy! Diane

Hey Deb, Looks like we are on the same schedule for fills. I had mine 3 days ago and it does make a difference. I was glad to have it done now, I was really worried about the holidays also. The weekend before the fill I was able to eat a Jr. Roast Beef Sandwish from Arbys so I knew I needed a fill, didn't have a problem with the bread at all. The 5cc he left in my band have already made a difference. I have noticed I have to be very careful even with drinking or it will come back up. Food has always been a big part of our Christmas celebration, so I am just going to have to start some new traditions. Hope your holidays go well, best of luck and Merry Christmas!

I had a little soreness around my port after the procedure and I bruise easy so I have a black and blue stomach again over my port. I made it 48 hours on my full liquids and was brave enough last night to eat 2oz's of shaved ham and 1/4 cup of mashed potatos. Went to a christmas party at work yesterday at a resturant and had a cup of corn chowder, I could only eat the broth but accidently took a big drink of my iced tea and I thought I was going to throw up on the table. I can really tell a difference with the band filled compared to the 1.5 cc I had post op. I really have to be careful with drinking and eating. Chew, Chew and Chew more. Weighed my self today and down 3.3 lbs in 6days so the fill is working. Plus I am not feeling as hungry as I was, especially in the evenings. I know Christmas is going to be tuff, my family keeps asking, so what can you eat? That's a good question, depends on the day, the time of day and how I feel. Just going to travel with my protein drinks and make the best of it. Hope eveyone has a Merry Christmas and good luck over the holidays.

Had my first fill today, I was a little nervious but it went well, I think. He removed 1.5cc to check how much was there and added 5 cc. He told me I was going to be very tight.... No kidding, liguids and full liquids for 48 hours and then mushy and then try food again. I was really nervious to drink anything and have found out that I can only take small sips. But I will say that the hunger feeling is gone and that's a good thing. The past few weeks I had spent a lot of time of me controling my diet and hunger and not the band. Hoping for the best with 5cc's but really feel full tonight. The fill it self was not bad, they numbed me with lidicaine, then inserted the needle into my port and withdrew and injected the saline. All done under fluro, I got to see the liquid going through the opening into my stomach and boy is that opening small, probably smaller than a pencil. Hope everyone is doing well. I just had a good laugh with my mother-in-law and asked her if she could puree my prime rib for christmas dinner, because I think the next two weeks are going to be a little different than the past month. One day at a time here.

The one thing I notice is every doctor tells every patient something different about post op progression of diet. Mine told me to start solids after one week of liquids/full liquids. He told me to eat deli meats, chicken and fish and anything that was soft and mushy. I have found most meats are too dry unless added to soups, deli meats like turkey and ham work pretty good, of course soft vegetables are good. Today I made some Chili with ground turkey, I ate 3 oz with a table spoon of shredded cheese and a teaspoon of sour cream. To make my self feel better today I went shopping and bought some new pants that actually fit. I thought if I bought something smaller it would help me get out of this funk. It was shocking but nice to realize I had already dropped 3 pants sizes. I don't think I really realized how hard this was going to be, I don't think I was totally honest with myself about my addiction to food and how much comfort I used to get with eating. Eating food is no longer something fun to do but a necessity to sustain life. So now that I am trying to psychoanalyze myself I guess I need to find some new healthy way to channel my energy. Hoping when I go back to doctor this week he lets me start exercising, currently I can walk but no cardio or weights. Trying to take this one day at a time and adjust to the new me.

I am new at this was(banded 10/27/10) but I had a friend that this happened too and it sounds like your band may have slipped. You need to call your doctor and have him to do an x-ray or ultra sound. Good luck.

Not having such a great day... I am 2 weeks and 3 days post op and for some reason I just feel so depressed about eating. When I watch other people eat it just makes me nauseated, actually the site of food just makes me sick. Very little tastes good and it seems that my tastes have changed. My husband and I went out to dinner last night, I ordered but just played with my food and walked away feeling very dissatisfied. Maybe I am expecting to much too soon but it is just frustrating. I told my husband today I was just going to drink my protein and forget about eating for a while because I am tired of the indigestion and gas pains. Hope someone can tell me these feelings are normal.. I don[t regret my decision to have surgery, just hoping this feeling passes soon.

Like we need someone to tell us what to eat. I agree with everyone's comments, plus I will add no one trying to lose weight needs anyone to point out to them what they should or should not eat. We all carry enough guilt around on our own and don't need the added pressure. I think I would have slapped her friend on not.. Oh but I think I would have waited for her after work and did it in the parking lot.

Well, I made it back from my trip to Baltimore. I am so glad to be home. Eating on the road 2 weeks post-op if difficult. I did very good day one, protein shakes, managed to get all my protein in, Today for the trip home was a different story, good breakfast, good lunch but no dinner and no protein drinks. Managed a protein drink when I got home. I did notice that instead of feeling hungry now that when I need to eat and haven't I feel very tired and weak. Just glad to be home, hope everyone is doing well, hope fully I will get caught up on all the posts by the weekend. Congratulations to all who are now 1 week post op and all you new bandsters it does get easier, just remember one day at a time.

knoebelcamper, I struggled also with the sweetness of the protein drinks. I found a website, bariatriceating.com and have ordered several of their shakes and they are not as sweet as the premixed or the powders at GNC. They are low in carbs, around 110-120 cal have 30gm protein and you only have to mix in 4 ozs of liquid. If you use milk they give you 5-6gms more. The flavors I have tried are Dutch chocolate cake, ice cream sandwich and carmel lattee. The chocolate is the richest and tastes like a rich hot coca. They also sell a tasteless, no odor powder you can mix in your soups or mushy foods that adds 12=24gms protein to your food depending on wheither you add one or two scoops. I will tell you that it does get easier as you progress but it is a work in progress. Good luck.

SamGirl, Every Doctor is differnent on how he progresses your diet. Mine progressed mine to soft after one week but I still find myself migrating back to thick liquids and adding protein powder to the soups or mashed potatos. It takes a while to learn to eat again. I have a question for you, I took several medications before surgery and I restarted these post op. I have not crushed any of my medications, I was told to swallow one at a time and sometimes I have to space them out. Now my vitamans are all chewable. Did your doctor tell you to crush your meds? If some of your tablets are large you could break in half or if you need to crush you could mask the flavor in some pudding or yogurt. Just remember we are all individual and heal at our own pace and this will get better. I am almost two weeks out and learn something new every day. Keep up the good work, we all can do this, one day at a time.

Hope you feel better soon, give it a few days. The first week is tough, were all here to support you. Welcome to the group.

Good Luck with your surgery tomorrow, we will all be waiting here for you when you get out. On a side note, I tried to give up my straws and I still use them. I tried but when I was lying in bed I kept drowning myself.

Well today was 12 days since banded. Scales are down 10lbs since day of surgery. Still now restriction in my band yet but really do not feel hungry, still get indigestion after my evening meal. I also still have some discomfort around my port site but for the most part things are going pretty good I think. I don't get my first fill until between 4 and 6 weeks, I go back to the doctor on the 18th of Novemeber and he said last week by week 3 I should start feeling hungry. Hope everyone is doing well.

Ok, today has been a rather sucky day. On soft foods, and today everything seems to get stuck. Pureed vegtables, soups, soft mashed potatos are fine, but when I tried some grilled samlon it was a no go, I tried to puree the samon and it was still just too dry coundn't go it. I ate Ahi Tuna yesterday about 2ozs and it went down fine, but of course it was very rare and soft and mushy. I have decided to stick to soups and very mushy things, I will just add the protein powder to the liquids. Just don't think I'm ready for fish or meats yet even if pureed. Heart burn back tonight. On a positive note, I had a two yummy protein shakes, Dutch Chocolate Cake and Carmel Latte. They were both very tasty. Hope everyone else had a pretty good day.

I am 9 days post op also and in the beginning I could only take in around 2ozs and they said this was due to swelling. Went to Doctor Thursday and he told me I would start feeling hunger in the next week as the swelling subsided more. I can take in about 3-4 ozs at each serving before I fill full now. You may still have some swelling, if now better by tomorrow I would call your doctor again. You don't want to get dehydrated.:smile2:

I have several friends who were banded a year ago and eggs in any form are the one food the can not tolerate. They say they feel like they get struck no mater how soft they make them. I am 10days post op and have had egg beaters twice with no problem. I think everyone is just different.

I had surgery at 1:30 in the afternoon and went home around 10pm. Would have got to go home earlier but I could only pee 50cc and my nurse was concerned, gave me a liter of IV fluids and I still only went another 50cc. She called the Doctor and he said let me leave that I was just a little behind and I would catch up. I'm a nurse so I think he let me go knowing I would come back if I got into trouble, finally went to the bathroom around 4am no problem.

Congratulations on your accomplishment! :smile2:

I chew two fiber tablets daily, seems to work so far. I am post op from10/27/10

I was banded 10/27 and I am having the same pain, today worse than other days. I tried some ice it helped a little. I am going to assume it is just the healing process because this is where my intense pain was after surgery. So I am going to assume we are all experiencing the same thing and it is normal.:eek:

Deb, Do not allow yourself to be a slave to your scale. We are all in this with you, we have all had failed diets and we all have the same fear that we won't loose weight. None of us have done this without thinking through all the pros and cons and praying that this time this will work. It is hard not to weigh your self because we all need that little number to go down so we can feel that instant gratification of knowing we are loosing weight. So all of that being said, just keep doing what you are doing, taking in your protein watching your serving size and think about all the healthy food your putting in your body and the weight will come off, slowly but remember the difference this time is, "It is going to work". Good Luck and keep believing.:eek: