JimR915

Every doctor and insurance company is a bit different with their pre-op requirements. Your doctor should give you a checklist at your first appointment of the requirements that you need to fulfill. My experience was: - First appointment - May 2 - (1) Psychologist appointment to gauge my readiness for the lifestyle change - (1) Nutritionist appointment to go over what my post-op diet would look like. - (2) Support group meetings (I would recommend getting in as many as you can before and after surgery) - Some insurance companies insist that you start on a pre-op diet and lose a certain number of pounds. My ins. company did not make me do that. - I could have had my surgery on July 8th, but I was out of town. Next possible time slot for me was August 12th. Things that could potentially push your surgery date out. 1. I was motivated to get things done as quickly as possible. Make sure to ask your doctor about availability of various requirements. For example, the nutritionist that works with my doctor's group was booking appointments 4 weeks out. I didn't want to wait, so I found my own nutritionist that was certified to discuss bariatric surgery requirements. 2. If you are submitting through your insurance company, check any pre-operative requirements they have. Some ask you to wait 3 or 6 mos after you have satisfied your other requirements to be sure you are still motivated to have the surgery. 3. Availability of the doctor to perform the surgery and the booking of surgical rooms can have an affect on timing. I selected my Doctor specifically for the reason that he had better access to the surgical rooms at the hospital than the other group of doctors did. Unfortunately, many hospitals still consider lap-band surgery an "elective", so they only schedule rooms for this purpose on a limited basis. You should ask your doctor what the availability looks like for surgical suites. Best of luck to you as you work through this process! You have already made one good choice by joining these forums. The people here can provide you with a tremendous amount of help.

I don't know any other way besides being direct with them. State the case to them that you just made above and insist that they support you in your endeavor to get healthy. When you discuss it with them, I would stress the "getting healthy" part over the "I want to lose weight and look good" (not that you indicated otherwise) I can't believe that any Doctor would stand in your way if you exhibit the pre-morbidity symptoms that you outline with your cholesterol, and your weight and BMI support the case. If they refuse to support you, then I would say it's time for a second opinion. My doctor was extremely supportive when I finally decided to get the surgery. Even though he had never brought it up to me as an option prior to me asking him for the referral.

I like the Life Fitness Elliptical machine. I put it on Aerobic Mode, level 10 and maintain a speed of about 6.5 except where it tells you to do different. I usually do it for 45 minutes. Then I follow up with a routine of chest and leg presses. Not a lot of weight. Several reps of 10 at a lower weight to hopefully tone. Aerobic mode is nice because it is a routine of several different speeds forward and backward. Keeps it interesting. This burns about 800 - 900 calories an hour.

Everyone is tempted to cheat during the first few weeks following surgery. I don't know if you can consider it cheating, but I did shorten my stages by a day or 2 depending upon how I felt. You really need to stick as closely to Doctor's orders as possible so as not to risk damaging the band or your stomach. Everything is still healing...so you need to stay on the straight and narrow for the time being. After that, it won't hurt to indulge from time to time.

Some of the things I enjoyed 1. Gourmet pureed Soups (there are a lot of great premium soups out there that taste great) 2. Pureed vegetables (carrots, butternut squash, turnip, sweet potato) 3. Weight Control Quaker oatmeal pureed in the blender. Or cream of wheat 4. mashed potatoes (add milk to make them a bit more liquidy) 5. college inn makes a great hearty beef broth and chicken broth. I think it's called Bold stock or something like that. Awesome flavor alone, or add other things to it in the blender 6. Cottage cheese (my doctor let me eat this during the liquid phase) 7. Premier Nutrition protien drinks (you can find these in Costco) Great flavor and 30g of protien per drink. 11oz, so it really fills you up Hope this helps. Good luck!

I never noticed the change in the way that food tastes. I am a diabetic, so I don't typically eat sugary foods anyway. I substitute sugar in my coffee with Splenda. I did notice that flavors are much more intense....but for me it's a good thing. I guess I don't take foods for granted anymore. And that means I appreciate flavors due to the limited amount of food that I can eat. I compare the phenomenon to anything that becomes forbidden. You tend to want it that much more.

It helped me to put it into perspective. We are on a long term journey. We didn't gain the weight overnight, and it will take a long time to lose it. The band is a tool, but there is a process to getting it to the right place where the tool begins to help you on that journey. I had absolutely no restriction until my first fill, and that was hell from being hungry all the time. I was losing weight, but I felt it was only because I was "dieting". The band was doing nothing for me. I had 5cc added to a 15cc band this past Monday. I experienced my first restriction when I ate my lunch a bit too fast. It was a great day when I felt that first bit of restriction. I suspect that I will need at least 1 to 3 more fills before I start feeling some real restriction each time I sit down to eat. Hang in there. What you are feeling is totally normal. Have faith and you'll be in the green zone before you know it.

I'm so happy. I had my first fill on Monday. At first I felt no restriction. Today, I had my first blockage. Is it so wrong to be excited about that. I ate some part of my lunch too fast and felt it block temporarily. Lasted about 5 minutes. Didn't PB or anything, but it was unpleasant nonetheless. Woo hoo!!!

My Doctor contradicted the PA when he gave me my food instructions. He just said that I needed to "ease into" solids again. He told me to have a protien drink that night (fill happened at 5:00pm), then start mushies for the next day. I was back on solids the second full day. His reasoning is that he didn't want to get anything stuck right after the fill due to some swelling. The PA actually told me 2 - 2 - 2. 2days liquids, 2 days mushies, 2 days soft foods, then back on full solids. I guess I eased into it and just listened to my body. I figured if I had any problems, I would immediately go back to liquids.

:lol: BEST THREAD EVER!! :lol:

Well, I was banded on 8/12, and got my first fill yesterday. I guess I have a 15cc band, and my doctor gave me 5cc to start. I was on liquids for the remainder of the day, and started with Stage 3 again today. So far, no restriction whatsoever...which I kind of expected. I go back in 3 weeks for an additional fill, I can't wait. I have to tell all of the people who are dreading that first fill.....it was a piece of cake. I was in and out in 5 minutes. Didn't even feel the needle. It was incredibly simple and painless. Even if you are someone who does not like needles, it really wasn't that bad.

Thanks for the encouragement Barbara. Thanks to you and the other people on this great forum site, I knew exactly what I was in for and set my expectations accordingly. I fully expect that I will need subsequent fills....but good to know that I can possibly see some restriction in the next couple of weeks.

I had my first fill yesterday. 5cc of saline added to a 15cc band. So far, I don't feel any more restriction than I did before. I am waiting to see if it gets more restrictive with time...but will go back in 3 weeks if it is still the same.

What kind of band do you have? Mine is the Lap-Band. The card came with it as part of the post-op packet.

I am going to get the opportunity this weekend to try out my Lap-band card. We are taking my daughter out to a great restaurant for brunch on Sunday for her birthday. I have no intention of paying full price for the little bit of food that I can eat. I checked with the restaurant, and they did not seem surprised by my question and said that it would be no problem, they would charge me the child rate. A tip of my hat to them for understanding and letting me off the hook.

I don't know much about it, but I did find a good article that seems to explain the myths around starvation mode. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the article, but it comes from weightwatchers.com.....fairly reputable. http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501&sc=801

As already mentioned, it is completely up to your Dr. He knows you best. It seems normal to me, however. I was on Clear Liquids for 1 day Liquids for 1 week Mushies for 1 week Soft foods for 2 weeks I look forward to resuming "normal" foods on my 4 week anniversary this Friday.

I did what I should have done before posting my question (my apologies). I searched the forum and found another post that answered my question: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/70601-re-how-many-calories-per-day-after-lap-band/

Hi, I am 3 and 1/2 weeks post op. I am in the soft foods stage. My nutritionist was very good at telling me what types of food I should be eating, even gave me a great booklet with suggestions etc. What she failed to give me was the quatities and total calories that I should be eating. I am trying to stay between 800 and 1200 calories. Invariably, I tend towards the 1200 or slightly more. I am supposed to maintain 100g of protien per day....which I have been doing. I lost 16 lbs the first week, and have lost a total of 25 lbs to date. For a guy...does anyone have any rules of thumb, or ideas for me on the amount of calories I SHOULD be taking in each day. Thanks jim

I've been drinking the Premier Nutrition Protien drinks from Costco. They are 30g of protien per drink. 3 of those gets me almost there for the day. But I find that I am able to substitute one or 2 per day with real foods now and still maintain the 100g.

I've tried a few different ones. unjury, Boost high protien, Glycerna (for diabetes), Atkins. I agree with honk. The best one I've had so far is Premier Nutrition Protien drink. http://www.premiernutrition.com/ I like the fact that it contains 30g of protien per 11oz container. You can find them at costco for around $24 for 18 drinks. The only problem is the limited flavors. Costco only has chocolate. Their website has vanilla and strawberry, but I haven't tried them. I also keep some Unflavored Unjury powder around to add to recipes like Soup, Chili, etc...

Very normal. I am 10 days out and get the gurgling. Not as much recently, but I guess it depends on the day and what I drink.

My doc kept me on Clear Liquids for only a day. Day after surgery, he had me on regular liquids, including juices (no pulp), protien shakes, thin cream Soups. I guess you have to judge based upon how you feel, but I can't see how regular liquids would hurt. That said, I was still hungry on regular liquids. Something to get used to for now until solid foods or first fill.

So, I was banded on 8/12. Swelling has gone down, incisions are healing nicely, and I feel nearly back to normal. On the liquids phase, I was very hungry between meals, but I adhered to the stict instructions during this phase. Now that I have graduated to mushies, I am finding that the small portions are satisfying my hunger for 3 - 4 hours. In about 5 days, I can begin stage 4 - soft foods. I feel so good though that I started introducing some of the stage 4 foods in very limited quantities into my current diet with mostly mushy foods. Last night I tried this for the first time and had some tender Cod. I chewed extremely well and took it slow. I had no ill effects and feel awesome! Maybe it's too early to tell, but I am afraid that a fill might change all of this and I'll start experiencing some of the negative aspects of the band that I have read about. I guess this can happen at any stage in the process between fills when you are not sure if you should go that one more notch....or stay with the current level. The old adage about "Perfection being the enemy of the very good". I'm sure others have experienced this indecision. Or is it usually pretty clear that a fill is needed or not?

Very sorry to hear this. What made you suspect that your band had slipped?