GeezerSue

Bright, I'm having an abdominoplasty. Not because I'm anywhere near goal, but because I'm old and have had two prior open abdominal surgeries and the little that I have kept off has left me looking like Austrian drapes.

What Alex said. Especially the part about a milk shake being pretty thick for four days out. If you are bored at four days post-op, there's a pretty good chance you could get REALLY antsy waiting for your first fill. Read around all the old posts to get an idea of what this month (or two) is all about. Sue

I think 1.2 sounds like a good place to start. You know, I'm completely unfilled right now and still can't eat much more than a half a restaurant meal. I'm amazed at how much restriction when I have no saline...

First, yes, yes yes! Then, I SO wish my sister understood this. As soon as her first grandchild was ready to spend the nght at a grandparent's home, she went into Fantasyland. She told herself--and us--that the reason that her son and daughter-in-law leave the baby with the other grandparents is that moms are always more comfortable leaving kids with their own moms. But her son said that there's no way he was going to leave his toddler in his mother's care because his mother has an in-ground swimming pool and can't move as fast as the baby. When he tries to tell her this, she bursts into tears and leaves the room. In her mind, Weight Watchers and Curves are all she needs to do. In the year since she started the combination of the two, I think she's gained ten pounds. In two weeks, she's leaves for a cruise. She has to fly there, and change planes. She is planning on the airlines letting her and her husband "share" two seats. That is, she thinks that because he's skinny, she gets the rest of his seat and all of hers. My sister is about 61" tall and her hips measure in excess of 72"...she is literally a foot bigger around than she is up and down. She needs two seats. Or business class. Or she needs to go to the airport in advance and say, "So what's up with the fitting in the seat thing?" But she's in denial, and will wait and then will burst into tears if the airline does anything that makes reference to her size. And she's mad at me for suggesting it. Sorry to post-jack. Back to your babies. That must have been a scare and yet a relief to know you could do what you had to do. Good work, Mom!

It's not Grossbard...he just got his band. And it's not Rumbaut. But for the life of me I can't remember who it is...senility on my part, I guess.

The Gary person used to post on the Spotlight Board. There were many complaints and reports to Administration and then he wss no longer there. His altruism would have been easier to accept if he had not been soliciting business at the same time. Grossbard (Florida) was banded, about a year ago, I think, by Ortiz (Tijuana). Rumbaut (Monterrey) was banded, several years ago, by Favretti (Italy.) There's another one, too, but it's a good thing I don't remember his name and couldn't post it if I did. Rumor has it he goes to his hotel room and unfills his own band so he can pig out at conferences and the like.

I think she means 2004. I don't know who Dr. Susan* is, but Dr. Gary* is a guy who kept coming to another board, posting "supportive helpful posts," and never forgot to include a link to his site where he could sell you online counseling. He IS NOT a wls patient. I'm just giving y'all a heads up in case he slithers on in to this site. *I think they went to school with Dr. Dan (the Band-Aid Man) and Nurse Nancy. Sorry, but I think that approach is SOOOOO pretentious. It's a clever way of saying, "We'll pretend I'm your friend, THAT'S why we're using my first name; but make sure you use the 'Doctor' title in front of it, just so I get treated with the deference I'm sure I deserve." Bite me.

Yeah...once you have a problem, it increses the chances that you'll have more problems with the next meal...UNLESS YOU TAKE A TIME OUT. If the first round was tough, there is most likely swelling in the area of the stoma, which gives the next bits of food a narrower passageway. Ah! the gross slimy stuff. You've had what I refer to as "A Saliva Incident." That happens when your brain, which hasn't read the band owner's manual, thinks that the food which can't get through the stoma (cuz too much went down too fast and got plugged up) needs help! It sends slime to grease it up and wash it through. Unfortunately that just causes more problems. When the slime doesn't work, the brain next sends the "now it's time to barf" message. All pretty routine.

You look wonderful!

Nancy, Good luck. This works. And if you want to see what you're avoiding, I just posted some links to some good esophagitis images at "that other place" and am too tired to get them right now. Sue

Of course I'm a week away from MY surgery and completely insane. (But the band surgery is a piece of cake. You should be in and out in less than an hour.)

Twenty-eight years ago, when almost every other doctor/hospital on the planet had FINALLY figured out that fathers should be in the delivery room, MY doctor (and Vanderbilt) were still keeping them out. Kid born at Ft. Campbell.

Relax and think of this: you're gonna get some really good drugs. EGBOK (Everything's gonna be okay.)

You know me. And Nancy. And Donali. But it does provide like a KICKBOXING version of this site. In fact, this site was started by someone from over there.

Do they still make "nursing pads." (Don't have any reason to know, as the baby is 28 and pretty much weaned.) They were about the right size and very absorbent. Ya know...if it needs to leak, you just might want to let it and "mop it up" as needed). You wouldn't want the excess fluids trapped under the skin.

There is a school of thought that says that when the body senses that there is a drought, it shuts down many vital functions in order to keep us from starving. People refer to it as "starvation mode." I think the ideal is that (on fitday or elsewhere) you calculate how many calories you need to operate your body (basal) and how many you need to do the things you do (activities), and then come in at 500-1000 or so calories LESS than that number, which makes for about a pound or two per week. I think that at <900 calories, your body has begun conserving calories in anticipation of potential starvation. Some successful people have a high calorie day one or twice a week to keep the body from conserving calories.

On the other hand...the band is about making changes. One of those changes is that some people cannot handle carbonation, which means there is a chance you will NOT be able to drink beer (by the way, a six-pack/week = 12 pounds per year, NOT including chips, pretzles, etc) after being banded. And eating just to eat can and does happen to some peole with the band. The band changes the VOLUME of what you can eat, and sometimes the CONSISTENCY of what you can eat. But there is an activity known as "eating around the band," and that involves finding foods that WILL work with the band and eating too much of those. Good luck deciding, Sue

Teresa, Whaddaya wanna bet that, three weeks from today, you are posting that you have absolutely no restriction and that you're terrified that you will fail at this LapBand thing? This is way normal. Relax and get well. Sue

Just guessing here, Nancy, but did you notice the thread *Jill* started over there?

Do you mean Ponce? Ponce is an old hand at this.

Darcy, You DID notice the "J/K" for "Just Kidding" I put in that post, right? The old gal is Maxine.

What donali said, plus many banded people have some foods that just compress into a plug, and miake life difficult. If I want a bite of potato when restricted, I'd better lube it up with a ton of butter, so seldom eat any potato. I can't even consider bread, rice, pasta or dry meats, such as chicken breast. We're all different. You need to find the foods, if any, that you should avoid.

I hate this thread. Nobody went along with what I learned at that meeting. I just think no one wants to admit who they are. (J/K)

1: Obes Surg. 2004 Mar;14(3):387-91. Related Articles, Links _ Adjustable gastric banding: assessment of safety and efficacy of bolus-filling during follow-up. Kirchmayr W, Klaus A, Muhlmann G, Mittermair R, Bonatti H, Aigner F, Weiss H. Department of General and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. BACKGROUND: Individual band-filling on demand of the morbidly obese patient is a major advantage of adjustable gastric banding. An increasing number of patients results in an enormous amount of outpatient follow-up visits, which inspired us to compare a stepwise band-filling strategy with a single bolus injection 4 weeks after the operative procedure. METHODS: 40 consecutive patients were prospectively randomized in 2 groups. 20 patients (Group A) had stepwise band-filling during 6 monthly ambulant visits. 20 patients (Group had a bolus-filling 4 weeks postoperatively and had the next follow-up after another 5 months. Weight loss, complications and procedural costs during follow-up were compared. RESULTS: Patients of both groups did not differ in age, gender or preoperative BMI.There was no significant difference postoperatively in excess weight lost (EWL) after 9 months. Postoperative complications did not differ significantly.By means of bolus-filling, a 60% and 53% reduction in outpatient clinical work was achieved within the 6 and 9 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Postoperative management after gastric banding takes advantage of a single bolus-filling during the first postoperative 6 months due to sufficient weight loss, low complication rate but significant reduction of personal, financial and logistic efforts. PMID: 15072661 [PubMed]

I understand your frustration, but think you may be SO frustrated that it's impacting your assessment of what's going on. I had all my saline removed yesterday, in anticipation of plastic surgery. I absolutely have less restriction that I did yesterday morning. But I am still restricted compared to pre-band. Can I eat a lot more solid food than I need to keep my body healthy? Sure. Can I eat what I did in September 2002? No way. Now, WHAT ARE YOU EATING? Give us a peek at what a day's worth of food for each of you is. Also, call Don Mills at Inamed and tell them that your doctor is one of those every-eight weeks guys and ask that his rep goes over scheduled fills with him. Inamed is all about surgeon education, because they need their product to succeed. Sue Babs--Yup...teensy, weensy.