daddyzbumblebee@aol.com

Hey Guys,
Things are a lot better since I got my last fill. Now i have a total of 3.5 cc in my band. I am seeing some great results my cloths are starting to get baggy.
Fefe

Welcome to the site!
I know I'm not a mod... but I would like to ask you to use the SEARCH function in the forum. Being 'stuck' and having slime / PB episodes have been thoroughly discussed in the forum. This way, I think, we'll have all the information streamlined...and not scattered everywhere.
P.S. I think this is one of the things you should have learned BEFORE having your surgery.

You can also try mixing the powder with applesauce, pudding or yogurt.

Kitty,

No problem, if you have questions, feel free to private message me as well if you'd like. Any advice on here should be run by your dr or NUT to find out what they would like you to do since everyone has different ideas on what works best. I've read a lot of people on here use sweet & low without a problem, my NUT said it was fine as long as we weren't using sugar. If you like any flavored teas, all of crystal light's teas are great! They have a peach tea, a red tea, etc and they're all very good.

Full size blenders are just obnoxious unless you're having a margarita party! LoL I don't know how people use those or have room on their counters for them. I think BB&B would have more options for snow cone machines and if you get one of those 20% off coupons in the mail, even better!

The chewable Fiber really isn't that bad, it does stick in my teeth a little bit, but swishing with a little Water takes care of it. A person above recommended using the dissolvable fiber, I personally can't go that way! I'd rather chew it and get it done with. I don't take a Calcium supplement, I'm on a bariatric Vitamin for lap band patients and my dr said if you take a high quality Vitamin, you won't have to worry about additional supplements. He also does regular blood tests to make sure the levels are acceptable.

Multi Vitamins this is heavily debated on here! A lot of people on here talk about taking kids chewables and adult gummies etc. If you compare the amount of nutrients with Vitamins that are made for a bariatric patient, you will see that they are really lacking in some areas! My Dr is very against just using kids vitamins and the gummies but does not require that you buy vitamins from him. I go through Bariatric Choice for my vitamins, they have some great prices and lots of flavors and options.


The dissolving Tylenol tabs should be fine! Just use the recommended amount of acetaminophen for adults on an adult package. I'm not sure of the strength difference, I just thought the liquid was slightly cheaper (had more per bottle than the package of dissolvable). I had read so much on here about people having issues with swallowing and recommending the liquid, but now I'm just using it to get rid of it. I can swallow pills just fine. The dr had me on 500 mg vicodin tabs and I'd just break them in half and I took them just fine. So if you can swallow pills after and you prefer pills, go for it! My Dr. let me go back to meds as regular the night of surgery (none were liquid or chewable, except my fiber). If you decide to just try swallowing the pills and they seem too big, break them in half or 4ths and you should be fine with 1 at a time.

Congrats! I'm 3 weeks post op tomorrow and finally doing pretty good! Some advice - make sure someone is around to help with your kids (especially the 2 year old) for at least 2 weeks. You need to avoid lifting and bending too much during this time and make sure you heal well. Make sure you have plenty of fluids, especially if you get tired of Water quickly. I had stocked up on Jello, sf popsicles, crystal light, chewable Fiber supplements, liquid tylenol, steri strips and Protein mixes. The one thing I realized I should have bought more of was the popsicles. The popsicles have been a life saver when I'm craving something sweet.

Try some different Protein shakes to find what kind you like. I would also focus on eating better, I've read some people on here don't have to do the pre op diet, but they tend to be the ones having a hard time after the band. If you don't have a pre op diet, try to work your way up to 2 Protein Shakes a day and 1 small Protein meal everyday. This will help like no other with cravings right after the surgery. I have my first fill in a week and I'm not having major cravings and I feel satisfied most of the time.

Anyways, if you have any questions or issues, jump on here and I'm sure someone will help you. If it's serious pain or problems, call your dr. Good luck and remember, this tool will only work as hard as we do with it but we can all do this! We're always here to motivate eachother.

Papillon Princess,

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!! That is very valuable to me to hear how others are doing!!
As for the liquids, last night hubby and I took the kiddos to get snowcones, and I had a small sugar free pink lemonade that I could only eat half of, so I told DH that next week when I'm on liquids that I would send him to get me one but also to buy a second cup of just ice, since they put WAY too much Syrup in it!! (I'd probably also ask for half the syrup, since too much grosses me out!)

I've already bought a box of SF popsicles (the variety pack with creamsicles and fudgesicles) that I hid from my kids, but will go back and get a few more boxes of the plain SF ones just in case!!! I'm also thinking of buying a little snowcone machine to make our own, I have a friend that makes her own syrup, so I bet she could hook me up with some good recipes.....

Also already have lots of Sobe Life Water 0 calorie and the Vitamin Water 0 and a huge variety of the crystal light packets...I am a huge iced tea drinker (decaf sweetened with sweet & low, but I have heard I need to change that to either stevia or truvia, according to people here on LBT; I will ask my nutritionist when I see her on Thursday!)...

Do the chewable Fiber supplements taste good? Worried about that!! Now I just need to go buy liquid tylenol!! Yuck!!!

Thanks again for the motivation!!!

Hi Kitty,
Glad I can help (I do tend to have quite an opinion and do tend to lean towards my dr being one of the best...so take my advice as you'd like to. I don't mean it in a bad way or mean that you're wrong and I'm right! Everyone is different in what works for them. A few things...you said you got creamsicles and fudgesicles – check with your nutritionist on when and if you’re allowed to have these (even though they’re SF) they’re not a clear liquid, you would need to be on full liquids. Creamsicles and fudgesicles are also quite a bit higher in calories than SF popsicles. (Just a thought…it’s still up to you though). As far as the syrups, Walmart and bed bath & beyond have sugar free snow cone mixes that are good in the blenders. (If you want a snowcone machine, go for it! I personally love my magic bullet and I can use it for lots of other stuff too!)
I LOVE iced tea as well! I drink mine with truvia and it is so good! The truvia is quite sweet, so generally you won’t need as much as if you were using actual sugar. It is a little pricy but when you see how much you’ll actually use, it’s not too bad. Also if you didn’t know, crystal light has some REALLY yummy iced tea flavors (the regular is 99% Decaf and the decaf is 99.9% decaf – so not much difference, regular should be okay). I love the lemon decaf iced tea by crystal light, it’s so good! Any type of stevia should be okay to try, but I do love truvia so I haven’t tried any others at this time. J
The chewable Fiber is pretty good (IMO) I buy fiber choice (I’ve had 2 flavors – the orange is very good and there is also one for weight management and it’s strawberry flavored) Both of them are good. Amazon has some great deals on fiber choice if you find one you like. I get my Vitamins through Bariatric Choice, they have great prices and quite a variety of items.
The liquid Tylenol isn’t that bad, they don’t have an “adult” option, just get the children’s Tylenol and calculate the dose of acetaminophen that you’ll need. I think I take 4-6 tsp of the children’s Tylenol (double check on my math for that…I use a pre measured thing and figured it out the other day). The bubble gum isn’t too bad.

Loly,
You mentioned you're drinking milkshakes...I'm not trying to give medical advice but I hope your dr told you that you probably shouldn't be drinking milkshakes. High calorie drinks get right past the band and defeat the purpose. The Protein in the milkshakes does not even come close to outweighing the calories. I personally am not allowed any milk products (aside from fat free cottage cheese and some cheese added to my meat). If you are allowed milk products, I still wouldn't suggest a milkshake. If you want something of that consistency, try using your Protein powder with skim milk and some ice cubes. This will give a similar consistency to a milkshake. I'm not trying to be rude with this, but hoping that you have as much success as possible! Try not to drink your calories away.

Hey I am a mommy of 2 boys 3 years and 2 years. I am six months post surgery and feel amazing. I love my band. Good luck.
Check out my blog
WWW.bandedme.blogspot.com