donali

Praise Him - Maybe a moderator can move this thread to one of it's own - you hit reply on a different subject, so you may get more responses if your question is posted by itself. I believe what your surgeon's office meant was that the band is not designed to work until you start getting fills. Everything is hooked up and ready to go, but you have to heal first and let the swelling go down before they fill your band, otherwise you wouldn't be able to swallow your own spit. No worries, follow your doc's protocol, and you'll be on your way before you know it.

(((Jonathan))) What a difficult decision. So far I have NOT been one of the lucky ones to keep my weight off like I thought I'd be able to without my band. In spite of my emotional healing, the physical hunger gets me everytime. IF I had had the option at the time, I would have gone with another band. But then, my band journey was so uneventful. RnY to me does not seem to be much of a long term solution - it wasn't for my sister. I know it is for some, but... If you have to have a period of unbanding before they put the VG in anyway, that may be the best of both of your worlds. It gives you time to consider. I, however, am such a weenie about needles and IVs, I would tell them to reband me at my removal surgery if at all possible. Best of luck with your decision! And maybe as Sue says, the DS may be a better option than the RnY, but both of those scare the sh*t out of me...

Kim, I think that sounds like a great idea, and if it works for you, whoo hooo! I had trouble getting in enough fiber - had no idea Citrucel made such a thing. I'll have to check them out, cause I still have problems getting in all my fiber.

:doh: Kelli, you are doing GREAT. It's surprising that it sounds as though so many of these WLS surgeons really don't seem to know anything about obesity, or what the expected results of the lapband are. I can only guess he's relatively new at placing the band?!?! YOU'RE DOING GREAT!!!

Shawn - I like your surgeon - he sounds very Enlightened...

Vanessa - If you're having a lot of problems being able to eat a variety of foods, you are probably too tight. You shouldn't have to worry so much about getting stuck and barfing if you are genuinely chewing throughly and eating slowly. Just a thought - maybe a teeny tiny unfill would allow you a more varied diet without the worries of it coming up.

OMG - (((Erin))) I can't even imagine...

LOL I'm embarassed to admit that I've never noticed that before, but I daresay you are right. No wonder the English language continues to be butchered... lol When I was in Germany my German instructor told us that a German would NEVER make the kind of grammer mistakes in German that Americans do in English. Don't know if that's true or not, but I wouldn't be surprised... :welldone2:

Hopefully that magic pill won't have the same nasty type side effects as Xenical... :sick lol

I don't understand how a professional can give that kind of advice?!?! It flies in the face of everything I have read. I would have expected her to look at your exercise level and perhaps suggest that you add a small meal here or there. Can you get a metabolism breath test somewhere so you can find out exactly how many calories you burn at rest? You want to meet at least the calorie level of your basal metabolism. IMHO. Of course, I'm fat, so take my advice with huge grains of salt... :tired

Usually if you honestly analyse your feelings you can find possible reasons. Perhaps you're feeling a little resentful that you can't eat as much as you used to, so you feel (subconsciously) that you deserve a "treat"? Or perhaps you subconsciously feel that because you've lost so well that you can afford to coast a little? Have you been denying yourself since your surgery? It's not necessary. If you're in "diet" mentality then it's harder to stop with one or two Cookies, because subconsciously you never know when you're going to eat them again. If you KNOW they're not off limits, and you PROMISE yourself that if you've just gotta have them you can, then perhaps it will be easier to stop. You have to do some probing, though, and see if you can figure out what's going on in that mind of yours. :welldone2:

This is exactly how I went about my banding journey, and I was completely thrilled with my results. It is not necessary to have a "perfect" diet to succeed. I made conscious choices instead of mindlessly eating, and my more nutritious choices outweighed the less nutritious choices enough (coupled with significantly reduced quantities) that I was down 103 pounds in 18 months. I probably could have lost faster if I had "worked" harder, but I was looking for a lifestyle change, not a "job". My doc never forbid anything except soda, if I recall correctly.

YES - what Betty said. :welldone2: No dieting! With the list of things to work on, I was thinking (but not saying) things like getting in your Water, moving the bod regularly, replacing some less nutritious things with more nutritious things occasionally, that kind of stuff. And I love the TommyO suggestion as well. I was concentrating more on what might help keep the scale moving downward, even if it wasn't being used regularly, but much better to obsess about how to be a better person, more loving spouse, etc. (Not that you're not perfect just the way you are!) I personally would like to work on upping my "random acts of anonymous kindness"... xxoo :scared:

I haven't evaluated the nutritional content of bananas, but personally always considered them an acceptable fruit. They are higher in sugar content, don't contain as much Water or Fiber, but are often recommended for the potassium content. Have a banana!! :scared: (That is, if you're not in liquids, or otherwise forbidden... :welldone2:)

Hi Kim! I have had counseling for obsessive/compulsive, emotional eating, and I, too, had a relatively happy "normal" childhood - I was just fat, and beating myself up for it. I found it very helpful, even though I am still fat, I no longer feel out of control, and my self esteem is a thousand times higher than when I started. But if you are only having troubles around that time of the month, I would suspect it is all hormone related, and while good counseling maybe wouldn't hurt, it probably wouldn't help too much. I would explore the natural PMS remedies first and see if that helps. If you do decide counseling/therapy is in order, I would make sure to find someone who is well versed in overeating disorders - preferably someone who has had a weight problem themselves that the were able to overcome and maintain. Good luck, and hang in there!

Amanda - Good question. I'll doubt I'll ever know. :welldone2: Interesting stuff about nerve damage. Hmmmm.... :scared:

Hi Janet! I would suggest that you take a look at what your normal eating and exercise patterns are, and evaulate how you might want to tweak them to keep you on the path. List all the tweaks you could make - both the ones you are currently willing/able to do, as well as the ones you are no way no how willing/able to do. Then, pick ONE of those things to work on (go from easiest to hardest), and set teeny tiny goals. Keep working on this one thing until you reach your end goal for that item, and it has become a habit that you no longer think about. Then tackle the next easiest one. Good luck! Keep us posted! :welldone2:

Another curious question - Is the nerve on the back of the stomach? I'm sure I read that part of banding's success was due to the fact that it pressed on the nerve, helping to reduce hunger. What happens when the band erodes? Does it cut the nerve through? Do erosions tend to happen from one side more than another? I.E. more often from behind the stomach, or in front of it, or on a side? Perhaps the nerve is not encircled by the band, and the pressure is from laying against the band rather than the band putting pressure on it as it does the stomach? Never thought of this before.... :welldone2:

Generally there are very few things that are "off limits". Some surgeons use banding as an opportunity to enforce their idea of the "perfect" diet, and say no "white" stuff, and things to that effect. Bear in mind everything you know about nutrition, and you will probably agree that most "white" foods have very little to offer in the way of nutrition, and also tend to spike blood sugar which usually results in further cravings and fat storage. Many people can tolerate these foods - many people can't. Some can if they eat them in combination with other things to help stop the food from recombining in the pouch as a big "glomb". So there are two things going on here: 1. Nutrition concerns 2. Tolerance concerns Since most banded people are trying to lose weight, nutritionally it makes sense to avoid high calories foods with little nutritional value. Some lucky people don't have a choice, because their bands won't tolerate it, so it ceases to be a "willpower" issue, and avoidance is done out of sheer survial instincts. :welldone2:

Ah - do you see the problem? You are mentally in a hurry, even if you don't mean to be physcially. Can you keep a little snacky thing at your desk to help keep from being overly hungry when those precious 25 minutes arrive? That might help, too. :welldone2:

Another possible cause for morning restriction is mucus accumulating in the pouch while we sleep. Papillon - most PBs are avoidable, but sometimes they just sneak up on you, because we forget to pay attention, or we think the last bite was okay because nothing bad happened, but the next one proves us wrong. Many people have found that their bands can be fickle - behaviour that caused no problems yesterday suddenly causes problems today. You learn to be flexible. lol It is not a stomach upset, so no, TUMS would NOT help - once something is stuck in the stoma there is NO ROOM to put anything else in there. The offending particle either has to move on down or come back up.

I was self-pay, and had an additional 7-$8,000 in expenses after my banding - a port revision, fills, and my unbanding. I would go the insurance route, if at all possible. Aftercare is a must, and unless Monterrey is very convenient to you, you may put off necessary care due to expense or time required to travel. You could be one of the lucky ones that never has any additional expenses, or you could be like Deb who was out an additional $70,000 with an impacted bowel, numerous abdominal abcesses, peritonities and 90% eroded band. Unlikely, but insurance is a great thing in that case! :welldone2: I know how hard it is to wait - I really do.

Tom, you are undoubtedly still swollen from surgery. Take very small sips, and try warm liquids. Once the swelling goes away you'll be able to drink more normally.

I suffered with this for about a month, and then it went away. I don't think it's a sign of being overly tight. I think it's also referred to as "esophogeal spasms". My solution - drink something hot first. Take a very very very small, well chewed bite. Then go do something else for 5-10 minutes, and you should be good to go. This went away all by itself, but was annoying as H*ll while I was dealing with it!

Whole fruit! :welldone2: If that doesn't sound good, you could bake it, with cinnamon... :scared: