feliciadawn

So I'm almost 6 mts out, 60 lbs down including 20 lost before surgery. Since I started full solids, I cannot seem to stop eating junk. Today I did great all day. Egg for bfast, crackers and hummus for lunch, salad for dinner. Then the chocolate craving hit. I ate 2 scoops of ice cream and half a butterfinger. WHAT is wrong with me? I need another fill, yes, but I don't think any restriction is ever reached with junk food. Makes me almost wish I had bypass instead if band.

Wow, are you kidding me? First of all, NEVER do a fill without fluro. They can't see what their doing and could puncture the tubing, not to mention they have to feel around blindly and cause you more pain and stress. I don't care what anyone says about the radiation from the machine, it's just an x-ray, you get your boobs smashed and x-rayed every year, you'd get an x-ray if it was a broken leg, or for anything else like that, and if they are not doing your fills under fluro, you need to seriously rethink your doctor. Secondly, why are you getting a fill while you are still swollen? Fills should not be done until you are healed, you'll just be causing more irritation around the band and the port, and pain for yourself. Listen to your body and yourself, not your doctor so much. They don't know everything, and that they are so eager to do fills while you are still swollen and healing also makes me concerned about your doctor's policies. While you are healing, you should only be worried about healing and getting enough nutrition, the weight will come off anyway, but don't worry about losing until you are healed and feeling better.

Thanks for sharing! I hope your esophagus problem is resolved. Have you been to Apple Valley before? My sis and I are planning to use them as back-up if we can't get to TJ for some reason. I think they are the closest to us that uses fluro.

as a side note or follow up to I said or whatever you wanna call it... I will say that the experience is kind of what you make it. He's a great surgeon, it's a great office, and all of the staff is great, but if you don't follow up, take care of yourself, and make sure you are getting what you need, make sure they have your information correct, make sure everything is in order, and ask the right questions, you will not get the care you should. You have to demand what you need (politely) and respectfully let people know where you stand, or you won't get anywhere with any doctor in any part of the world.

Wow, sorry to hear that. Have you had any complications? Where did you get your after care/fills? Just curious. I don't know if they recently began their after care program, or if maybe they didn't have your email address or something. Every three months, they email a "what to expect" informational video, they have you fill out a survey to let them know how you are doing, and then after you watch the video, they ask you to call them for a phone appointment with a doctor. Also, two days after surgery I was having some weird sensations (feeling the tubing move) and called Dr Martinez cell. It was a Sunday but he answered on the first ring, I could hear his kids (or someone's kids) playing in the back ground. I called once again when I returned to the US, the 800 number this time since the question I had wasn't as serious. Dr So (the doc who does the fills and aftercare) returned my call the same day. My sister (also banded by Ortiz on the same day as me) and I have had the most amazing experience with him and his staff, better than any treatment i've ever received from any Dr in the US. We've been joking about going to Mexico for everything now. Seriously thinking about getting my teeth done there.

I also went to Dr Ortiz, he and his staff were amazing! The Marriot, where you'll stay down there if you choose him, is awesome, the people are wonderful. I was banded in October '11 and just went back down there for my first fill a few weeks ago (I'm in Vegas, so flying or driving down there is pretty easy) their follow up care is great, they email you every 3 months after surgery, and you will receive Dr Martinez and Dr Ortiz cell numbers in case you need to call them after surgery. I have the 11cc Realize band, and when I talked to Dr Martinez after surgery, he stated that it is the only band they use now, and they have not had any complications with it since they started using it (a few years). All has been wonderful, and I am 60 lbs down, including the pre-op liquid diet, 2 weeks prior to surgery when I lost 20 lbs. Anyway...i cannot suggest Dr Ortiz enough. If you have anymore questions, feel free to message me!

I've been eating split pea since the post-op liquid diet. I would strain it and drink the liquid. It is one of my favorites nowadays, and I've read up on peas and learned that they are good for digestion, settle the stomach, and have tons of Vitamins and Protein. They go down SO well and make my tummy feel good. Here's a recipe i've made a few times now, it's a spin off of a Rachel Ray recipe.

1 lb split peas

7 cups Water (they say use 6 cups on the bag, but 7 makes it a little less thick)

2-3 chicken bouillon cubes, or you can use chicken broth instead of Water

1/2 pound chicken apple sausage, cut into small bits

1/2 large onion or one small onion chopped

about 1/2 cup chopped fennel (optional)

3-4 carrots, or about half a bag of mini carrots, chopped small

10 mint leaves, chopped

2-3 bay leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon

rind of 1/2 lemon, grated

thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, basil rosemary to taste (fresh herbs are always better, but dried work too)

bring peas to a boil, add carrots immediately. Saute onions, fennel, sausage, and herbs until slightly browned. Add mint, lemon juice and lemon rind directly to Soup. Add all other ingredients after browning. Let all ingredients simmer together until peas are mushy and you can no longer see whole peas and all the flavors are meshed. Enjoy! I make extra to freeze and take it to work for lunches. Everyone I work with says i'm going to turn green from so much pea soup!

you can also make this in the slow cooker, cook the peas for about 8 hours on low.

It's strange, the girl I spoke to who this also happened to also got her band in 2008 (if I remember correctly) she said it was a 4 cc lap band, as opposed to the realize band. I've heard of SO many more complications with the lap band than the Realize. I wonder what the differences are. I know that the Realize was developed in the 80s and the Lap wasn't until the mid 90s, but I don't know other than that. Here's a link I found on the two different types, if anyone is interested.

http://www.wlshelp.com/lap-band-vs-realize-band.html

I don't know if it was the type of band, your body rejecting it, or a combination of both, maybe this would have happened with either band. I just wondered if anyone else has any comparisons or knows anything about the Realize versus the Lap.

The veggie recipe is one my mom tried after seeing Jamie Oliver make it on his show. I made my own version, you can do it however you like, but the veggies come out SO GOOD when roasted in the oven, go down easy, and are very healthy!

Fennel

Carrots

Parsnips

Potatoes

any other root veggie you like that would bake easily in the oven

olive oil

cider vinegar

fresh rosemary

thyme

garlic - fresh if you have it, if not, powdered is fine

basil

salt

pepper

Chop all of the veggies into bite sized pieces, use only the bulb of the fennel, set the rest aside (it freezes really well) add Water to a pan and blanch until they are soft and slightly rubbery, but not too soft. Take them out and dredge on a towel. Toss all in a liberal amount of olive oil and about a tablespoon of vinegar (just enough to flavor) add the herbs to taste. If using fresh garlic, toss it with the rest of the veggies, it will crunch up and be SO yummy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until veggies are slightly carmelized on the outside and soft in the middle. Enjoy! I sometimes eat this as a meal by itself or with a Protein, it would be great with the baked herbed chicken below.

Baked chicken

1 whole chicken

fresh garlic

2 fresh lemons

one large or two small onions

fresh basil

butter

salt

pepper

powdered garlic

italian seasoning or herbes de provence

cut slits into the top of the chicken (as many as you can), insert small pats of butter, a basil leaf, and about 1/2 to 1/3 a piece of garlic into each slit. Squeeze a lemon over the whole thing. Peel the other lemon, half it, and cut the onion into thirds, insert into the cavity of the chicken. Insert a few garlic pieces into the chicken as well. Sprinkle powdered garlic, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning or other herbs over chicken, bake, covered, as directions on chicken wrapper state, or until done (depends on size). I always take the cover off for the last 20 or 30 minutes, so the skin gets crispy and brown.

Wow, this sounds so horrible, i'm sorry you had to go through this. Do you mind me asking which band you had? I recently talked to someone with a similiar experience. She went to an ER in the US and they did nothing for her, tested her for everything EXCEPT a problem with the lap band, she was in the hospital for hours and hours, bleeding internally, knowing what the problem was and trying to get the doctors to to an endoscopy. I don't know her entire story, and I don't know if she'd be comfortable with me sharing it, but I know that she left the hospital, had someone drive her down to Mexico where she'd originally gotten the band (luckily she lived in San Diego) and they saved her life, called another doc in for transfusions, removed the band, and sewed up the ulcer. I think she had a 4cc band, and was one of the last to receive that band. I've heard a lot of people have problems with that particular band.

Anyway, please keep us posted on how you are doing! Glad you are well and still with us. Terrified of this happening to myself or anyone else...I hope this is a problem that is particular to the 4cc band, since they aren't using that one anymore. Please tell us which band you had.

I just watched that documentary on netflix. It was great! Also, just wanted to update guy guys with a couple of recipes i've tried since starting this post

Grape, kale, and lemon juice

take 2 large bunches of grapes

4-5 kale leaves

1/2 lemon, peeled

I usually add about 1 part Water to 2 parts juice

orange carrot ginger

1 package of organic baby carrots

4 or 5 oranges

dash of powdered ginger

apple pear

apples

pears

that's it so far. I always have to play around with the amounts, it depends on the size of the fruit and how much juice it has, how sweet you want it, etc. If anyone has any other good recipes, please share them! It's hard to find juice recipes online, for some reason.

I had this feeling (what it sounds like) for a while after surgery. Called my doc and he said since everything was going down fine, it was most likely gas trapped in the band. I had it mostly at night, took a lot of gas-ex and ate lots of tums and maalox. Haven't had it for a while now, but I remember it sucked. Since everything seems to be going down and you aren't having probs eating, that's probably what it is. Don't worry, it will go away. Make yourself burp a lot! Have someone pat your back to burp you. Sounds dumb, but it really helps!

Try a different brand of Protein Powder. Wal Mart has a soy powder (EAS is the brand, I think) which worked for me. I also really loved this chocolate fudge flavored already made "nutrition drink" from Target, which has more calories, but tastes really good...good for a treat.

Hi, you are probably already home, or on your way home, Shannalee, but just wanted to also tell you (regarding the pain meds) we went back to the clinic on the day we left and bought another round of them. The doc ok'd it, and we just took the shuttle there on the way back to the border. It was no problem at all. We also got some tylenol w/codiene from a pharmacy down there, which was expensive and we didn't end up using at all...anyway, if you guys are still in pain, just want to let you know Dr Ortiz and Martinez and So will approve more pain meds for you without any probs at all!

Thsi makes me SO MAD. Why has the US gone to the 14cc band? Does anyone know the reason? I got my 11cc band in Mexico, and the general consensus there is that the US doctors make more money by giving more fills. I don't know if this is correct or what, but I've lost 48 lbs in about 3.5 months and have had no issues with my realize band. I just don't get why the US went to a bigger band..it makes no sense, except that it's a bigger money maker.

I guess in that case, if you are dehydrating and can't even keep Water down, you'd have no choice...still it seems a little extreme to me.

Thanks, you guys! My juicer (got it on Amazon reduced to only $30 bucks!) It works awesome, it's a black and decker. It only takes small amounts of fruits/veggies at a time and you do have to cut them fairly small, but that's the only downside. Clean up is easy as long as I rinse everything out right after using it, I don't really even need to use much soap, just rinse with hot Water.< /p>

P.S., the only thing I didn't like was not enough face time with Dr Ortiz, he came into the room and talked and joked with us for a minute, and that was it. I didn't see him after the surgery at all, and only for a few minutes before. I know he performed the surgery because I woke up and saw him as he was unstrapping me from the table, but that's it. Dr Martinez talked to us afterwards and gave us instructions, etc, and he's great, his is also the cell number they give you if you need to contact a doctor after surgery. Dr Ortiz seems very, very busy (to be expected, I guess)

I was banded by Dr Ortiz on 10/28, so about 3 months ago now! He, and his staff, are incredible! I love them all. The nurse doesn't really speak English, but she is extremely sweet and motherly, Dr Martinez and Dr Ortiz are both awesome, I woke up from surgery to Dr Ortiz standing over me, unstrapping my arms and I felt wonderful, I said "I love you" in my drugged stupor, and he said "I love you too" haha! Anyway, going back down there for my first fill in just a couple weeks, I waited longer than they say for the fill, but I felt fine and was still losing weight so... I did call them a couple of times with concerns after I got home, and they ALWAYS got back to me promptly and were extremely nice and concerned. I stayed in the hotel for 4 nights, three of them after the surgery, and the ride home still sucked (i'm in Vegas, so we drove). I would suggest staying a few nights at the very least. I'm flying back to San Diego for the fill. I just cannot say enough good things about Dr Ortiz, the lap band, and the entire experience so far.

So I had black bean Soup for lunch, homemade. I probably ate too much, thinking it was like regular Soup and forgetting how dense it was. Anyway, now my band hurts..or my esophagus hurts..or something. It feels like it's too tight and i need to burp, but nothing comes up when I do, basically it hurts where I burp. Drinking hot coffee now, which seems to be helping, but this sucks and it's kind of giving me a headache. Anybody know what this is? Banded 3 months, no stucks, no vomiting, no fill yet..

thanks!

I'm in the same boat as you! I will be 33 this year, still single, not that many friends. I'm a bit reclusive and I need a lot of alone time, but really, I haven't dated in a couple years now. I've been working on myself, and now that I've got that figured out...it'd be nice to have a guy! I was also on some sites, OKCupid and Plentyoffish.com, I would either get no messages, or the ones I would get were from freaks and losers (not to be rude, but..) I've been thinking about trying Eharmony, but I tried it once before (about 10 years ago) without much luck. Seems like all guys care about is how hot you are and how fast you will sleep with them. I got so sick of it that I took myself off all the dating sites, they just made me feel bad about myself. I don't like church, I don't like bars and clubs, and I work with mostly women... I'm interested in writing so taking a writing class which starts soon, and starting back at college in the fall. Maybe I'll meet someone there. I also signed up for a few groups on Meetup.com, we'll see if I actually make it to any meetings..haha.. If I hit 40 and i'm still single, my plan is to adopt a kid on my own. I'd rather be happy and alone than be miserable with someone I "settled" for.

Throwing up is NOT normal and you should not be doing it. It could make your band slip and ruin the whole thing. I was banded 3 months ago and haven't thrown up once (maybe i'm just lucky?) had some anti nausea meds from my doc, the kind you just put under your tongue, also I purchased some anti nausea liquid from Wal Mart, it tastes a little like liquid Jello and works great! Definitely call your doctor and have him give you some anti nausea meds though...and I don't know who wrote the post up there about suppositories, but that's just disgusting. Why would you put yourself though more uncomfortable and/or embarassing situations? Just get some anti nausea pills and you will be fine. Also, try warm chicken broth with a little cumin and lime, cumin really helps soothe the tummy.

The gas can cause nausea as well, so get yourself some gas meds, Maalox worked best for me, it's great for gas, reflux, and nausea. Keep it in the fridge and it tastes a little less icky.

sorry this is such a long post, but this is really important. Make sure you get what you need from your doc. I was on pain meds for about a week, anti nausea for as long as I needed ( I quit at about 2 weeks, I think) and anti reflux for three full weeks. Make sure your doctor is doing his/her job!

Also, do not do sugar free anything. It makes nausea worse. I was on Clear Liquids for one week (no Protein Shakes, just broths and watered down juices) and then creamy liquids for two weeks. No chewing for three full weeks. I made a lot of homemade broth (mostly chicken) with garlic, basil, cumin, ginger, lime, etc, whatever I was in the mood for. Cumin, ginger, and garlic really help with nausea as well. I also ate tons of popsicles, I loved the jolly rancher ones.

Some other Soups I did, which made me feel like I was getting a little Protein, was bean with bacon (just the broth) and split pea, I watered them down and ate just the broth.

Good luck! I hope you feel better! I'm down 45 lbs since surgery 3 months ago, haven't had a fill yet, and have never worried about sugar free anything..the chemicals will just make you sick. Also make sure you are taking a good Vitamin with Biotin in it to prevent hair loss. I take an apple cinnamon flavored one from Vitamin World, it has a ton of veggie and fruit extracts in it, then I also take an extra Vitamin C and Calcium every day. Stay healthy and take care of yourself!

I just bought a juicer and have tried a couple different varieties. Just wondering if anyone has any tasty, healthy juice recipes and if anyone has any advice. I'm a little worried about consuming too many calories with the fruit juices. Haven't tried veggie juices yet. I figured after I get a fill (haven't had one yet) it might be harder to get down certain fruit skins and raw veggies, so I thought this would help me get more nutrition. Any advice would be great!

I suspected I had a hernia, and I did! I've had breathing issues for about 10 years, it always felt like something was sitting on top of my diaphragm, it was the hernia... I also had esophageal adhesions I didn't know I had - from having bad asthma and some pretty bad bouts of bronchitis over the years. Had swallowing issues where sometimes food would get stuck and I'd have to burp it back up...this was BEFORE the band. Since I had the band and the adhesions and hernia repaired, I can breathe better and I have not had ONE stuck episode! I can eat steak (chewing it really well, small bites, of course) again without having to burp it back up! I LOVE my band!