crash878905

I was banded June 20th. I've lost 30lbs since then. I DESPERATELY need a fill, because I'm super hungry all the time. This is dieting. I want a fill so I won't FEEL hungry so soon after I eat. So, you are totally not alone. I think you are normal, and loosing normally! Good luck on your fill.

Good to know that this is normal! thanks

So it's day 9 I have been feeling great, a little sore but much better. I have been drinking drinking drinking!!! I have lost 16 lbs. In 9 days. I woke up this morning so tired and weak buy I got up and made a shake and drank my fluids. I Took a shower to wake me up and my eyes couldn't see even with glasses, I had a migrane, dizzy and shaky. Me being a self diagnoser I knew I was dehydrated. I got down on myself and wasn't sure I I should call dr. Office well I did and they were on lunch so I went to er. They confirmed my diagnosis and my surgeon happened to be here and said it's common and as much as I'm drinking the weight coming off is so drastic my body can't keep up. Im so glad I listened to my body and didn't brush it off.... Iv fluids are running now and I should be better!!

I have to keep reminding myself this will all be worth it

Always listen to your body! Hang in there, you're doing great If anything not so pleasant happens, I always say it is worth it, because it is.

I had surgery July 6th, about 23 days ago. I started eating regular foods (as long as it doesn't give me problems, which thankfully hasn't happened yet) on thursday. I have been within the limits of the diet I've been given but I'm finding myself getting hungry before I should. I feel like I could eat like I used to pre-band if I wanted (which I won't!) I have an appointment with my surgeon on Aug. 14 and this is the day that I can get a fill. Am I the lone bandee that is already needing a fill? I lost 1.8lbs this past week. Should I be losing more?

Hello All!! Just wanted to let my fellow banders know that I am also stuck at a plateu .. .been almost a week now but I'm keeping my head up! I keep reading that the weight starts to fall off after the first fill so I'm not stressing it.

I hope that's true about the first fill cause I'm at a stand still now. I feel like I could eat a lot, but I do stay within my portion restrictions.

Good luck!

This was a great idea! I love to check in and see how everyone is doing. I feel like July bandees are a little family lol. I was banded on 7/6/11. Preop diet included, I've lost 23.8 lbs. When I went from Clear Liquids to full liquids, I GAINED 5 lbs. Today is the first time I've started seeing the scale go back down... thank God because I was getting VERY discouraged. I was thinking, how the heck could I have GAINED weight?! I'm not even eating! Lol... Pre-band, I would eat an egg and cheese croissant from DD with a medium iced caramel latte, a blueberry muffin for lunch, and fast food again for dinner... <--- I maintained my weight eating like that, and here I was eating 850 calories and I was gaining a pound a day... go figure! But, like I said, thank God the scale is starting to reflect my hard work. My go-to jeans are also loose on me now and I fit into a shirt that used to be tight on me... consider me a happy camper now!

My 1 month post op appt is in a couple weeks, and thats the first appointment that I could get a fill... I think I may need it.

You guys are all doing great... keep up the good work!

There is a cool web site :http://www.lap-band-surgery-site.com that has so much information on it !! I was thrilled when I found it!

This is the list I used and am using.

• Scrambled eggs and poached eggs
  
• Fat free or lowfat cottage cheese
  
• Fat free or lowfat ricotta cheese
  
• Lowfat cheese
  
• Egg salad made with lowfat Mayonnaise or plain yogurt
  
• Canned tuna, salmon, or chicken mixed with lowfat mayonnaise or plain yogurt
  
• Tofu
  
• Fat free or lowfat refried Beans
  
• pureed beef, poultry, pork or fish (blend when dry and add broth to desired consistency)
  

Fruits and Vegetables

• Applesauce
  
• Mashed bananas
  
• Pureed fruit
  
• Stage 1 baby food fruits and vegetables
  
• Cooked and mashed vegetables
  

Starches/Grains/Cereals

• Cream of wheat
  
• Mashed potatoes
  
• Hummus
  

Fats and Oils (use sparingly)

• Lowfat mayonnaise
  
• Lowfat salad dressing
  
• Extra virgin olive oil
  
• Canola Oil
  
• Guacamole
  

Hope this helps.. It helped me. I think my favorite was refried Beans with guacamole and little bit of cheese. All I can eat is 1/2C, but it is tasty. Also tuna salad with low fat mayo of course. Cream Soups are good, but get old quick.

I LOVE guacamole/beans/cheese... can't wait to try this!!

Just another thing to add... I don't mind not being the thinnest friend of my group... I like my booty, and my boobs (all though they are the first part of me where I noticed weight loss!) and my curves! I just don't want my curves to have curves lol

I have been thinking about this quite a bit. But am sorry to say I have no answer. I guess we will just have to learn a new normal. As for the lifting up your shirt, hilarious!!!!!

We're in this together... at least I'm not the only one wondering if I'll be the fat friend!

O my goodness I do the texting thing too! Lol it may have been just me but even when I lost a lot of weight the first time, I still did that. I think as you lose weight you gain confidence and you don't even think about the title that others give to you. Either way your going to feel great about yourself but awkward moment happen to everyone you just may not care as much about them in the future.....the futures bright love,enjoy! Best of luck to you! keep in touch

the texting move works like a charm lol when were you banded? are you just maintaing now or still losing?

I feel like i'm branded with the "fat friend" mentality. I totally remember the first time lifting my shirt to show the incision. I've learned that as the weight come's off I tend to let the "fat friend" diminsh slowly and remember it's all about you and not anyone else. Accept the new you and embrace the ride cause it''s a whole new you.

Keep lifting the shirt... (no sexual inuedo meant)

I'm hoping that with time the ft friend mentality will slowly go away... hahaha and yes, I will keep showing off those incisions! lol

I am getting banded partially so I can feel like a real person again, and partly because I now have health problems.

That is exactly why I got banded... and after being banded for a little over 2 weeks now, I already feel better about my body. I'm still no Victoria Beckham (nor would I want to be as small as her) but I'm liking myself a little more each day.

Patience my dear, it'll come!

Hi everyone I was banded on 7/6/11. This journey is still so new to me (clearly, haha). I'm down about 20 lbs so far, that's including my preop diet loss. I am happy to say I'm already noticing a difference in my confidence. For example, I showed 3 people my incisions. I know you're probably thinking good God woman why would you do that?! Never in a million years would I ever pull up my shirt! I wasn't just showing anyone, it was a friend, but still, I hope you get the point lol.

Most of my friends don't know that I've had surgery, and I hope they don't think I'm blowing them off when I say I can't go out to eat with the, or out to bars yet. etc.

It's got me thinking... when I do start going out with my friends, how do I learn NOT to be the fat friend? Hopefully I'll no longer have to pretend I'm texting when my friends get picked up and I'm standing there awkwardly? How did you guys and girls change your frame of mind? Does it change? Advice?

I weigh myself daily. I know that goes against what the experts say to do.... but

My mantra is.... Not weighing myself daily obviously didnt do much for me..... so far, weighing myself daily for the past 7 months has been a life changer!

Love this!

lol crash! We were banded on the same day and I do the exact same thing (many of us do). I also weigh daily, just excitement and eagerness but I only count once a week. Congrats for your weightless so far

haha we're one i the same! today is the first day since the first day of my pre-op diet that I HAVEN'T weighed myself... feels weird! I have gained 4.8 lbs in the last 3 days... it must be because I went from Clear liquids to ful liquids, because I know I'm not eating hot fudge sundaes and fries, I can tell you that much... hahaha. I'm trying not to stress it. My jeans do feel looser though congrats on your weightloss too!!

I was banded on July 6th. I have been weighing myself daily since June 22, which was the first day of my pre-op liquid diet. Everyday I was seeing a loss, and today there was a .8lb gain. I know that it is probably me just retaining Water, I hadn't gone to the bathroom, etc. But I was surprised at how disappointed I felt. I realize that I should not be weighing myself daily because it's messing with my head.

How often do you guys weigh yourself? Daily? Bi-weekly? Weekly? Monthly? Only at doctor visits?

So, I'm on day 10 of my pre-op liquid diet. My surgery is on July 19th. Well, today I had a weak moment and I cheated and I feel so horrible. I've been immaculately good to this point and here's what happened..... I had part of a Protein shake this morning (I get two Protein shakes per day plus some applesauce and some pudding in between). Then I had to take my son to the doctor and then we came back to our house for about 20 minutes and I had a pudding. We then went to another appointment and from there we went to a movie. During the movie I started getting a "hunger headache". I'm sure most everybody has had one. Most of the time on the pre-op diet I can just ignore plain hunger but when I start getting a headache, that really messes with me. Then I started feeling nauseated on top of that. So, here I was sitting in the movie with a headache and feeling nauseated. The least offensive thing I could think of was popcorn so I had my son go get me a small popcorn. I would have tried to hold out but I knew that after the movie I was going to have to drive thirty minutes to pick up my other son from where he was and then it was going to be 45 minutes back home before I could get a shake or a pudding AND I still had to wait for the movie to be over. I feel horrible about this, like I'm not deserving of the band if I can't even make it through the 14 day liquid pre op diet.

I feel like I just read a post I made July 4th weekend!!! I was banded on July 6th. I was required to do a 2 week Liquid Protein shakes ONLY diet. I did realy great for the first 12 days. On two occasions I had a salad with a tablespoon of oil and vinegar... just to chew. But on 4th of July weekend, 3 days before my surgery. I had BBQs. I had a weak moment and had a little baked Beans and a little potato salad. I came on here and vented saying how terrible I felt, was I going to fail with the band because I couldn't even stick to the preop diet, and so on. I am here to say DON'T WORRY! I beat myself up about it to the point that I could've cried. I was also dealing with a family member having a bad reaction to me telling her about the surgery, being nervous, etc. The next day I took a deep breath and just started over. Now being 8 days out of surgery, I really do feel great. My slip up didn't effect me in the slightest... I think my slip up is what's keeping me i check because I know how hard I can be on myself. Slipping up every now and again will not determine your lap band future, just don't make it a habit. I'm sure you'll do great! Just get back on track and keep your head in a good place good luck!

Is anyone else having trouble telling if they're hungry or not??? And/or with getting their heads around the new idea or portion sizes???

Me too!! I feel like I'm learning my body all over again. I ate Soup that gave me a lot of gas pains and it took me a little while to realize that they were actual gas pains... they weren't extremely painful, I just felt like a hot air balloon. I kept thinking, is this gas or am I hungry??? Turns out I was both lol I'm still getting used to the portion sizes. I find it strange that I can drink Water fairly quickly and eat yogurt at a normal rate and not sense my band. I'm thinkikng I'll probably need a fill in a month once I'm healed? Ah who knows, I guess I've got plenty of time to figure it out.

I am a week out and haven't had a bowel movement yet? Should I be concerned?

My doctors office says to let them know if you haven't had a BM 3 days out of surgery. I know someone who hadn't gone by day 3 and they took milk of magnesia. I took milk of magnesia on day 5 and didn't actually go until day 6. Not to get you worried, because it makes perfect since why you're not going lol, but you should probably call your surgeon's office so they can give you tips on how to "get things moving"

Hi everyone. I'm seven days post op. I just went back to work on Monday. This week has been rough for me. I don't know. My emotions are all over the place. I feel like nothing is happening. I've lost some inches. My clothes fit a little loose. But, nothing else. My first fill is next month. I'm eating thicker liquids this week. My hubby made me some vegetable Soup and then put it in the blender. It was pretty good. I'm looking forward to next week. Mushy food time.

I'm really looking for friends to talk to. I'm tired of people asking me what it feels like. I want to talk to people who understand the big change that I made. I wish everyone luck.

It's funny that you brought up being emotional because I noticed the same thing for me today too. My mom and sister were like 'you're being very crabby!'. To be honest, today I had a lot of gas pains because I just started full liquids yesterday (which include Protein Shakes with milk, yogurt, fat free pudding, blenderized soups).

I had broccoli soup today... do yourself a favor, NEVER eat it! I felt like a hot air balloon at work. I work in a school and I was ready to blame one of the kids for the gas if I had to... lol. I have been weighing myself every morning which is a really bad habit. I was up .8lbs this morning and it upset me. I am only going to weigh myself a macimum of 2x a week. I think thats why I wasn't in the best of moods today too.

I'm on post-op day 8. I can't believe it's been a little over a week since surgery! I am looking for band friends to, so please keep in touch!

for the #2 issue - applesauce did the trick for me! Also, if your incisions look like mine did, you have stitches inside, steri strips on top, and then a square of gauze on each spot, right? The gauze can come off after 48 hrs and the steri strips should stay on for 2 weeks or until they fall off. I still have all of mine. The more I shower, the looser they get. I can take them off this Friday, but my port ones aren't even the slightest bit loose. That's my experience, anyway.

Yea mine seem to be stuck on like glue lol my surgeon's office recommends taking them off after day 5 cause they say it turns into a greenhouse for infections haha... lovely analogy!

But yes, I have some kind of stiches (I think it's the glue kind) a small white square covering the incision and then a clear square covering.

This is my first post coming from Bandland! I was banded on July 6th. I'm so happy to see that the July bandees are continuing on. I hope everyone that was just banded or is left to be banded has a smooth and easy surgery and recovery!!

My surgery went picture perfect. I had my surgery at Winthrop Hospital in NY. The staff were incredible and I think my surgeon is sent from heaven! My stomach and abdomen did start to feel sore until mid-end of day 2. The anesthesia however, made me feel like I was hit by a Mack truck! Days 4 and 5 have been so, so much better... each day gets much better! I'm happy about that. Just the port incision is sore but I know that that is expected.

Hope everyone is well and I'm happy to rejoin my July-banded family

Today I asked my mom (who was banded this past February) if she ever regretted getting the band, even just a little and she said no. Right after I got surgery I did think for a split second, what did I just do??? I think it's normal to go back and forth but in the end I know I made the right decision for me.

Hello All,

Wow, I seem to have a lot of questions today.....

I know that telling people about my lapband is my decision. Part of me wants to tell the world and the other part doesn't want anyone to know. I read the "food police" discussion and it has got me thinking.

I have told my parents and a couple of my closest friends aobut my decision. However the problem is that I rent my extra bedroom to a girl that, honesty, I don't want her to know. She never really had any issues with food or her weight till she was 25-30 (we are now both 33). In the last year she has lost 50 lbs and is basically at her goal. She is really not a close friend of mine, it just works out well for us both to be roommates. I really don't want to tell her and we don't eat very many meals together, but I just don't see it being possible not to tell her because we live together.

Any thoughts?? Could it be possible to have this surgery and not tell someone you live with??

I'm glad you posted this cause telling people about the band worried me more than actually going through a surgical procedure. It probably sounds ridiculous to most people, but it's true. After talking with my mom (who got the Realize Band) and my dad (both are my greatest supporters) and coming on this website. I realized that this is for ME. And only me. IT sounds so basic, but when it comes down to it, it is that simple. Whether your roommate is left in the dark or knows about it, do what YOU feel comfortable with most. I realized that people will say what they say and think what they think, no matter what you do. I was just banded last week and if someone askes what happens, I just tell them I had gastric band surgery. I find it almost liberating. I do feel out the person first though and will tell them if I don't think they'll preach to me about what a terrible choice I made. Also, 3 days before surgery I told me aunt. Everything in me was telling me not to tell her because she would have a bad reaction. But I told her. Boy was I right. I felt terrible from her reaction. She just said "you're really getting surgery....?" and gave this look like 'why woudl you do that???'. So if and when you decide to tell people, I would say just prepare yourself for some of the reactions you get and remember why you got this surgery... FOR YOU.

Best of luck, I'd love it if you'd keep me updated on what happens!

I was banded July 6th It's been quite an eventful healing process... days 1-3 were no picnics, but I am happy to say that days 4 and 5 were incredibly better. On day 2 I contacted my doctor's office because my largest incision (port incision) was very warm to the touch. They put me on an antibiotic for 10 days just to be cautious that there was no infection and I'm happy to report that there is a little less pain there and it is no longer hot. I'm not one for blood so I am very happy that the Steri-strip and bandage stay on for the first 5 days lol I'm a little squimish. Anyways, yesterday there was a very small amount of blood that is now dried on the side of the Steri-strip.

I have to say I'm a little hesitant to take off the bandages cause I don't wanna see what's underneath!! Anyone have a similar experience? Had an infection? Took an antibiotic? Had a little blood? Didn't want to take off the bandages??? Hope all my July Bandees are doing amazing!!!

PS: taking some milk of magnesia to make me go # 2... :/ haven't gone since the 5th.

Good Luck Peeps - I'm a July Bander too ;0) 7/07 - 4 yrs this month

Your band is a great tool - use it wisely - make the lifetime lifestyle change in your eating and exercise habits and you will succeed..

52 when banded 250 lbs - today 56 and 136-139 lbs - feel 10 yrs younger - have 100% more energy..

I lost the majority of my weight in the 1st yr (105 lbs) then lost the rest in the next few months..

I have never dieted - I eat healthy - I exercise - I kept a food diary the 1st yr - counting calories & pt grms - I also weighed and measured my food till I learned what a 1/4 looks like or 4 oz of meat..

Prayers for a safe surgeries & speedy recoveries for all of you..

Great advice. And what a great success you are! I was banded this past Wednesday, July 6th. The first 2 days post op were very difficult for me--not because of my stomach, but because of the anesthesia. I had a terrible headache and all of my muscles were extremely sore... I was walking like Frankenstein lol But today I have a whole new attitude. I am feeling MUCH better and I cannot wait to use this brand new tool inside of me. With hard work, I have nothing but good things ahead of me I hope to be an inspiration like you. Thanks for the prayers, and I'll pray for your continued success