Donnaamarie

I see from your other post that you did end up with another .5cc's of fill. I hope this is going to work for you! I went for my first post-op yesterday and ended up not getting a fill. I can't eat more than 3-4 ounces of protein at a sitting so my surgeon decided to forgo it. I lost 30 pounds in 29 days, I'm guessing that I'm doing okay without the fill. I made an appointment for 3 weeks from yesterday as he suggested. I will see if anything changes during that time. He said I have a 14cc APL band and he was surprised that with no fill I was feeling full. That just goes to show you that everyone is different in this journey!

Why are you eating less than 300 calories a day? A good Protein shake 3 times a day will be more than that. Take a look at what you surgeon told you to eat. I think you might be short changing yourself. And as the other poster suggested, perhaps the exercise is a little too much that early out is a bit taxing on your healing body. Remember, we didn't gain our weight overnight, we won't lose it overnight. Relax and be gentle on your healing body. You will do great!

I am so glad everyone is doing so well! I am scared of getting stuck, so scared!! I am going to do everything to avoid it. Right now i find myself eating a little fast, even though I chew a lot! That is not going to fare well when I have a fill. I am a little tight still from the surgery I guess because stuff hurts sometimes going down even now. I haven't had a fill and I am supposed to go on Wednesday to get one. I'm not sure I need it. I am wondering if my doc is going to do it regardless. I was banded on March 29 and I have lost 30 pounds. I can only eat like 3 ounces of protein at a time, no more. I get a "soft stop" signal when I burp. Then I know it's time to stop! I haven't felt real hunger yet and I get in anywhere from 600-800 calories a day and at least 80 grams of protein. I'm also kinda afraid to move forward to ALL foods. Does anyone else have this same kind of fear???

Lost track of this post As of last Wednesday I was down to 319 from 338 on day of surgery. So 19 pounds down in 2 weeks.

I'm glad the doc isn't too worried about the stitch rip thing! I was worried for you! I am going for my first fill on 4/27. I am wondering whether my doc is one of those that wont fill if i am losing okay on my own? I don't know that this will last, the non-hungry feeling. I'm only 2 1/2 weeks out and I am really not feeling hunger. I am also down 19 pounds since the surgery on 3/29. I am eating at least 70 gms of protein a day, sometimes as much as 100 a day. Heck, I can "diet" with the best of them for a short time. it's after it starts slowing down that i lose my mojo. I guess i'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see! I have also been dealing with a seroma and have been on antibiotics for the past week. I'm hoping everything is cleared up and I'm ready to go for the fill on the 27th! It's great to see that all March Bandsters are doing well!!

I don't know that I could have ever done that pre-op diet. LOL I have done Medifast and did okay for like 6 weeks but somehow the idea of the pre-op diet would have been horrible to me. However, the day before my surgery I did my own liquid diet and by night time I was not a happy camper and I ate a cinnamon bun. oops! You are starting around the same weight as me. I started at 338 and now weigh 317. I had my surgery on 3/29/11. You will do great, just keep your eye on the prize! Good luck!!!! Donna

I have a seroma too! It's very annoying. My doc actually drained it when it became too painful to ignore. More tight then painful, truth be told. Of course it's already come back and yes the size of a tennis ball!!! I have some redness around the area but no leaking from the already closed incision. my doc gave me some antibiotics to make sure there is no infection. He said he definitely doesn't want infection near the port! I am also afraid to do too much in fear that I will increase the fluid in the seroma!! I'm going to see the doc on Wednesday and hope he clears it up as my first fill is scheduled for 4/27!

Jenn, I am laughing here, but definitely not at you. It's a running joke in my house. I can step on my scale and then get a certain weight, step off into the bathroom, come back after not doing anything in the bathroom, and "gain" 3 pounds. The other day my boyfriend finally replaced the battery because the scale actually said LO. He put the battery in and then put it down in the living room. I stepped on it and got one weight. We moved it to the bedroom and I stepped on and had again "gained" 3 pounds. I don't know what the real weight is!!! I am using my doctors numbers once a month. I figure that our bodies are changing so much that the scale doesn't even really know from minute to minute what it says!!! According to my scale I have lost 19 pounds since my pre-op bloodwork day on March 23. I find it gratifying that the scale is going down but I don't put that number in stone. Do what another poster said and check your doctors scale against yours. Heck, bring your scale to the doctor so you have some idea of what a "real" weight is! Good luck Donna

Hi Donna, I was banded on the same day as you. I doubt highly you stretched your pouch with 3 bites of spaghetti! Have you tried gas x strips for the gas? They work wonders for me. I was not prepared for the level of pain either, so I know how you are feeling. I know that the liquid stage is tedious but I keep reading that it's not that it stretches the pouch but that your stomach has to work hard to digest anything solid which places strain on the healing stitches, hence making it a possibility for the band to slip. That scares me more than the idea of stretching at this point! I do NOT want to go for another surgery to have my band repositioned. No way! Today I was not even very hungry. I'm savoring these moments, believe me. I know the hunger will eventualy come back with a vengeance and it's not something I am looking forward to. My doc made a follow up for my fill on 4/27, I thought that was a little soon as the guidelines are indeed 6 weeks. Good luck and the month will pass before we know it!! Donna

Hi Tammy, Your PCP gets more involved. Your clearance letter has to be within 2 weeks of the surgery. The cardiologist and blood work from your pre-op is sent to them before they can do the clearance letter. It gets confusing, it honestly does. When all the information goes to your surgeon they will tell you next steps. I just kept jumping through their hoops and then they gave me a surgery date!! I started my process on February 5 and then had the surgery on March 29. I also had more cardiologist stuff to go through after my EKG came back. I know all surgeons are different, above was my experience. Good luck!!! Donna

My son had to take a Phys Ed course for college as well. My son is about 6'3" and 340 pounds. He LOVED taking the Phys Ed class. Only class he got an A in. LOL He didn't care about his weight, just that he really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Also, remember, just because someone is skinny does NOT mean they are in shape. They could be heavy smokers or more sedentary than you believe you are! Have fun and even if it is paid for forced excercise, you are doing it!!

Thank you so much for the above. Your tastes and what you've eaten are very similar to what i would find myself eating in the future!! That is wonderful that you did so well. Your starting BMI was not outrageously high so you did better than I am sure you expected!!! Good for you and good luck with your maintenance. You seem like you have it all figured out! Donna

I think we were banded around the same time. By day 5 for me I thought I was going to die, that was yesterday. I was so hungry I imagined that my body was eating itself from the inside out. After reading many posts about how our stomachs have to heal, and if the stomach works too hard to digest solid foods the band would slip, I was petrified to eat anything!!!! I ended up puree'ing a half can of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup and adding a ton of low sodium organic vegetable broth. After about 3 ounces of that the hunger was gone, and furthermore it hasnt really come back!! I was sure today would be hell. I haven't had a problem at all but did have more of that pureed soup and it seems to do the trick. I also had about 1/2 of a container of Chobani which filled meup. Here's to no more days of excruciating hunger for either of us!!!!

Thanks fly i didn't want anyone worrying that I had died!! I also wanted to stop the complaining and let others know that there IS a corner to turn and it's not all as bubbles, stomach emptiness and whining!!!

I'm just updating as I saw the concern about the dizziness I was feeling yesterday. I had gone out to do some errands for the first time since the surgery on Tuesday. I didn't want Monday morning to be the first time I had ventured out into the world. It was brutal but I am glad that I did it. I just wanted to update and say that yesterday was like a turning point for me in this journey. I was feeling like I had made a mistake, wondering why I decided to put something inside of me that was making me feel like this. I was so hungry I was almost in tears. All the Protein shakes in the world weren't helping. I read a many page thread about all the creative things people were doing to get their clear and full liquids in. So I decided to take a 1/2 can of Progresso Italian wedding soup and puree it. Then i added a whole lot of low sodium organic vegetable broth and pureed it again. I made about 1 1/2 cups and was fully intent on eating the whole thing if I could. LOL But I started eating and was making myself conscious of how I felt, even over the gnawing emptiness in my gut. I ended up eating about 3 ounces of it over the course of 20 minutes while my boyfriend consumed a pound of shrimp in alfredo sauce with angel hair Pasta, and that didn't even bother me!! After eating that I was actually sated, the pains went away and when I woke up this morning I wasn't hungry or gassy. Yay!!!! I was worried that I would be going to work on Monday feeling pretty much like crap. I was wondering how long it would take me to feel normal again. I'm sure there will be a few more obstacles to over come, and my port site of my stomach is still swollen. But this feels a whole lot better than the last 4 days!!!