cakegirl

Just a question for those of you post-band... I've never seen or felt a port, so I don't now how obvious or accessible it is... Does the port get in the way of doing contact sports? In the past, I used to do a form of wrestling (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and I'd love to be able to do it again, but the thought of having a port that's near the skin and then having some dude with all his weight on my belly creating pressure and friction just makes me thing UGH! Would that sort of situation bother the port? Will I be able to do BJJ again or should I just stick to non-contact old-lady sports? Rebecca

It's amazing that you were fit and we'll enough to even sign up for it! Well done!

I don't count anything.

What is a belly band? I've only ever heard that used to describe the thing that pregnant ladies wear to cover their belly if their shirt rides up! I went back to BJJ today! I'm pleased to report that the port didn't feel endangered at all. It didn't even enter my mind - I was having too much fun focussing on the class (and feeling a bit embarrassed about sucking so bad after all these years off!!! ) I'm verrrry excited about being able to be a martial artist again!!! Plus about all the extra calories I burned today! I don't think there's a muscle in my body that's not burning right now! Even my fingertips are sore!!!

I eat ice cream fairly often. Not every day or anything, but often enough. My weight loss is slow because I don't deprive myself of anything, but I'm happy for that - I need this band to fit in with my personality and my lifestyle, and it doesn't suit me to sit by and watch while my husband and our 4yo have an ice cream! I'm happy for slow, steady losses if it means I have have an ice cream or a bit of cake when I feel like it!

I get shoulder pain too - the same spot where I felt gas pain up in my left shoulder area. I have discovered it's air stuck in the lower part of my stomach, under the band (and often under whatever food is going through the band). I find if I lean forward, I usually do a little burp and the shoulder pain is instantly relieved.

I eat pretty much all that food, all the time! I'm not 3 weeks out though, so I'm sure it will be different for you. But I eat sushi, nigiri, miso soup, edamama, fresh tuna, rice, etc all the time. It's really healthy food, and I have absolutely no problem with rice getting stuck. I don't eat steak though, but that's because I dislike it, not because I've had any problem with it.

I sleep on my stomach.

A fever is a sign of infection and is definitely not normal. Call your doctor and if your doctor doesn't answer, go to A&E and explain that you had surgery 3 days ago and now have a fever.

I want to get the lap band, but my husband is against it. He's an anti-medicine type of guy - he thinks just about anything can be cured with a glass of Water, and that, for example, diabetics should just lose weight, depressed people should just cheer up, etc. He thinks he's supportive of me - and hey, he hasn't left me for being fat - and he's getting me an exercise bike for mother's day next month. But he's against the surgery. I've done my own research and investigating, talked to people with the band, had the prelim appointment with a clinic, gotten all the information together... but this roadblock is still in my way. I've read a few posts on here where people have said that their partners were against the procedure at first, and i was wondering if you could give me advice on what I can do to make him realise that this is the only option I can see that might work? He still thinks that conventional weight-loss methods will work, because they've "worked before", and he doesn't believe me that I have never been a healthy weight. I lost weight doing Jenny Craig pre-pregnancy, but even then, I was over 3kg above the maximum healthy weight for my height, and I plateaued for 4 months, unable to get below that weight, before I fell pregnant and had to go off the program. My actual healthy weight range - well, I haven't been there since I was 12 or 13. Thanks in advance, Rebecca

Yep, it's the swelling in your stomach from the surgery. I found it really hard to drink enough of anything in the first few days.

I can't eat breakfast. I can drink liquid though, so I usually have a cup of tea if I'm at home, or a cup of coffee if I'm out.

Food commercials gross me out too.

Your body is detoxing from the high and carb-filled diet you were on that got you to needing a lapband. I remember it well - the hunger pangs, the headaches, the sleeplessness... But you need to do it now, because firstly you need to reduce your liver size for surgery so that its safe. Secondly, you don't want to be recovering from surgery AND going through the carb withdrawals at the same time! No way! Do it now and get it over and done with! By about day 4 for me, I was over the worst of it - no more headaches or dizziness, energy levels felt much more stable.

Wow, those meals are the same amount of calories that I eat in an entire week! Insane!

14kg, which is 31 pounds.

Before surgery, I felt bad that I was getting the lapband, and embarrassed that I was unable to successfully lose weight using diet and exercise. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat - in fact, I'd go back in time and do it earlier!

Yes, the band forces you to stop. Mine is quite tight now, and if I eat too fast (like I used to), I can get stuck on the first mouthful, and believe me, that stuck feeling screams STOOOOOP to me! There are foods that "slide" through the band, so theoretically you could emotionally eat those slider things and not lose weight. I know I've done that from time to time since I've had the band, but I didn't gain weight. I did stop losing weight, but at least I never got any heavier, and once I got back on track with a fill, it was all back down on the scale again

I've experienced feeling full up top but still hungry down lower in my belly. I've put it down to the food not passing down there yet. If I distract myself for 20 minutes, it goes away.

I eat all fruits and all vegetables. Cooked, raw, hot, cold.

When people compliment me, I just say "Thanks, yeah I have lost some weight" and smile. If they ask how, I'll usually tell them I've had weight-loss surgery... You never know who might hear your story and be inspired to make the change in their lives too!

I was the same. I had my surgery a little over a month before you, and I lost during pre-op diet and the 3 or 4 weeks post-op, and then it stopped. I got several fills and nothing. At least I didn't gain, but I didn't lose either. Then at the beginning of January I was suddenly STARVING and had to fight my body over that. Finally saw the doctor at the beginning of this month and got the fill that made all the difference... I've lost over 1kg a week since then. Keep checking in with your doctor, and keep getting fills until you get the right restriction - it WILL happen!

I still haven't gone back to BJJ yet. I've started some dancing, and I noticed this week after doing some very minimal floor work where I rolled over onto my stomach and then got up, the whole port area felt tender and bruised for a couple of days... It's not looking too good for BJJ... I wonder if there's a stomach protector I could wear that wouldn't restrict my movement too much?

I'm about to start it too!

Oh man, zumba doesn't look pretty in the mirror, does it?! I do it in a gym, and luckily for my self-esteem, we all have our "challenges"... Some ladies may jiggle more than others, some of us go left when everyone else goes right, some of us just can't move well. We even have one lady in the class who has had a stroke and can hardly do anything! So I ignore my jiggly bits in the mirror and am just happy that I'm doing zumba in a nice, supportive environment.