KristyT

try liquid tylenol and deep breathing for relaxation, the first 24 hours is the worst.

amazing how every surgeon is different, my surgeon only required 1 week of pre op diet, stated to me it wasnt about losing weight it was about shrinking my liver so he could place the band properly. my surgeon also only wants me to lose 1 to 2 lbs per week, if I am losing more than that he will not give an adjustment and if I am losing too much he will unfill some. he also states for me not to exercise or diet. he says to eat what I want but control my portions. he also states not to chew chew chew my food, he says if you are chewing constantly you will be able to eat more and other surgeons require you to chew 20 times before swallowing. so dont be discouraged, you are doing fine, a loss is a loss no matter how much it is, some just lose faster than others. good luck

the 6 monts goes by fast and then before you know it, You are a bandster and everything changes. slow moving but worth the wait. good luck

congratulations, you are well on your way and you are right about these forums, it is great to be able to chat with people and ask questions. these sites helped me alot and they still do. good luck

I was not given pain medication after surgery. I took liquid tylenol when I needed it and it helped just fine, the most pain I had was from the gas and I used gas x strips for that. good luck

i know right? bread... mmmmm I used to eat eat eat bread. now i am terrified of it.. LOL and I think to myself wow, shoulda done the lapband years ago before I filled my self with 7 trucks of bread LOL it is so hard learning to eat the right way but it is good also. I just ordered food from schwans , they have a live smart menu with foods, I just had their turkey meatballs, broccoli and wild rice, not bad. and I agree, we definitely need to stick together, I need all the support I can get.

The pre op diet should be followed due to the fact that obese people have enlarged livers, If you look at the way our body is set up, the liver lies right where the band is to be placed during the surgery, the purpose of the pre op diet is to shrink the fatty liver so the band can be placed without difficulty. My surgeon has refused to do the surgery on people that did not follow the pre op diet because of the fact that the liver had not shrunk and it is too dangerous to attempt to navigate around it in order to do the surgery properly. on the other hand he only requires 1 week of pre op diet, he does not require any weight loss from it, but he strictly told me that when he started the surgery he would be able to tell if I had followed it or not because of my liver, he also said that when he starts the surgery if he could see that my liver had not shrunk, he would not perfom the surgery. so make sure you follow your dr.s orders. good luck to you

you are very worth it, keep up the positive thoughts, make good choices and dont let the food control you, you can do it. good luck and remember you need to EAT TO LIVE NOT LIVE TO EAT

your fist post op visit does not usually result in a fill but I see that you say it has been 4 weeks, my post op visit was 1 week, then 4 weeks with first fill at 5 weeks post op. i had alot of restriction the first 5 weeks after surgery just from being swollen but that gradually went away and I was eating like a champ lol i am now on my third fill as of last week and I have noticed that if I am losing 1-2 lbs a week he will not adjust me, this last time I went 2 months and only lost 2 lbs and he gave me a very good adjustment. so it is probably up to your weight loss and most of all your surgeon. good luck and congrats on 58 lbs in only a month, wow, im jealous lol

I am from louisville, Ky and I am not sure if I have heard of drs that will adjust your lapband if done out of country, I did find this on the web that might be helpful For patients who had Lap Band Surgery outside of the United States, it is also a matter of the doctor not knowing whether or not the surgery was performed to the standards set in the US for patient safety. The doctor can be in trouble with the licensing board if you have a gastric band that is not approved for use in the United States. If you choose to have your surgery in Mexico or another country, make sure you work out fill arrangements before you have the surgery, unless you will be traveling back to the same bariatric surgeon for your adjustments and exams. If you find a doctor to accept you as a fill patient, it is common for them to charge you an initial consultation fee and a one-time program fee in addition to the cost of the fill. The first appointment and fill with a doctor could cost about $1000, and then about $100 to $300 a fill on subsequent visits. Another option is going to a lap band fill center such as Fill Centers, USA. might want to check out these "fill centers" see if there is any close to ky. good luck to you

i agree with above post, some days i can eat alot more than others. this morning I managed to get my breakfast down no problem, I had a 100 percent whole wheat tortilla and i browned it in skilled, scrambled 1 egg and put egg on tortilla with salsa and melted cheese, went down fine and filled me up. I get home around 2pm try to eat tuna fish and crackers, 2 bites and up it comes. so i think it just depends. now, pcos that is a different story. pcos makes our weight loss even harder than people without pcos, I also have diabetes which is another knife I have in my weight loss journey. I can say this though, I was not able to ever lose weight until I had this lap band. i just kept going up , up and up since the band I have lost 40 lbs, 20 of that was pre band so I am very pleased with the band. now snacks. yes i snack, i dont deprive myself of things I like, if i snack i eat pretzel crisps, yogurts, protein shakes, cottage or pimento cheese, things like that. I occassionally slip and have some cheetohs or something bad but i try not to have that stuff in the house. I think snacking is okay as long as it is good snack choices and in moderation. and soft bread is a no no for me, I cannot in any way shape or form do soft bread, it is awful. toasted or harder breads are okay but still have some issues. this is good for me because I love bread so Im glad i cant eat it now. thanks for all the chats and knowing that I am not in this alone. its nice to have support. good luck and keep responding, I need all the lap band buddies I can find LOL

this depends on what you eat. LOL lets see. I was banded on august 31 2011 had my first fill 4 wks post op at 3 cc and i could still eat quite a bit, had my second fill about 6 weeks after that of 1cc, he didnt really want to fill me that time because I was still averaging about 1lb week weight loss, i was filled in oct 2011 for second time with a total of about 4 cc. I was eating alot. 2 eggs for breakfast with toast, chicken strips or whole chinese lunch meal and it didnt stop me any at christmas time either, was able to eat plate full with no sickness. I went back to my dr last week on jan 10th, he was not pleased that I had lost only 2 lbs in 2 months which i thought was great considering all the stuff i was eating. lol so he filled me with about 1.5 cc now total fill of 5.5 cc and I have a very good adjustment. I have been averaging about 1 scrambled egg a day for breakfast and I add salsa to it, it is somewhat difficult to get down so I have to take my time in between bites but it does satisfy me, for lunch yesterday I had 1/2 piece of baked fish, half of my green beans and a side salad, that went down pretty good, when i got home later about 4 hours after i tried to eat the rest of my fish and green beans, 2 bites in I got stuck and had the slimy pb. then I had a 70 calorie secure meal replacement from andrew lessman with fat free milk. so that is what I am averaging now with 5.5 cc fill and I have lost 4 lbs in 1 week after this 3rd fill. so i think it takes a bit to find your sweet spot with the adjustments. good luck to you

I have been on ambien for 2 years and I am not sure what problem you all are having with it but it sounds to me like you have other issues going on here. if you are eating peanut butter cups and melting peanut butter and eating a half gallon of ice cream then this is not the band failing you, this is you making bad choices. when you say the band was making you vomit, how were you eating? were you eating slow, chewing, small bites, taking your time and choosing right foods, not fried or breads or things that get stuck? you should find out if your surgeon office has a nutritionist or counselors you can speak to in order to help you get to the root of the problem. I myself make bad food choices so what I do to help limit that is I dont have it in my house. if you have no control over what you eat at night then remove the peanut butter and ice cream, dont have it in your house, instead have greek yogurt, sugar free pudding, low fat cottage cheese, things you can snack on that are not necessarily bad for you. I was given cookies, candies, pies cakes at christmas time, i found myself eating them and when i got on the scale and seen i had gained 3 lbs in a week. I immediately took action and threw all of that bad food in the garbage and took it outside for fear i would get it back out of the garbage. food addiction and bad choices are the hardest thing to do with the lapband but remember, it is only a tool and it does work if you work with it. good luck to you

I really liked your post. I am going to try the tool box as I think it is a fabulous idea. you sound just like myself with battling over food. I try to explain to my husband about my food addiction and although he pretends he understands I know that he does not. He does not get excited over food nor care if he even eats period. when i am cooking food I get so excited over the smells and cant wait for the taste and he doesnt acknowledge it, makes me jealous in a way. I believe that I have food addiction due to the fact of being lonely and depressed for most of my life and food was my "everything" even though I am older now, not so much depressed anymore and not lonely, the food addiction is a long standing "addiction" and "habit" that is hard to break. makes me sad sometimes that I have complete control over everything in my life except food. again, I appreciate your post and I am going t try the tool box. thank you again and I pray for both of us with our ":head hunger" struggle. god bless

I have noticed that in the morning I always eat less. I am tighter in the morning than in the evening. when I an egg in the morning I put salsa on it to help it go down but in turn it still gets stuck at times. there is something you can buy to help with the "stuck episodes" its called papaya enzymes, I bought them at walmart. they help disolve the food that is stuck, they dont however seem to work with meat as well with other foods but great for eggs. try eating cottage cheese or yogurt in the morning and save the eggs for later in the day. hope this helped some.

i have had nausea before from cottage cheese. it depends on the time of day for me. I seem to be tighter in the morning and afternoon, I wouldn't put it on your do not eat list, I would try it again at a different time of day and take it slow.

it does work but it is not a fix it all. the lap band is about choices and making the right choices. it works by helping you control the amount of food you eat but the trick is you have to control yourself also because you can eat alot of what they call slider foods, so basically, you have to learn not to eat junk stuff, gravy, chocolate all of these things slide past the band, good choices of Protein,, grains and vegetables is what keeps you full. the lap band is a slower process of losing weight in my opinion because it takes several fills or adjustments to find what they call your sweet spot and that is where you have the right amount of Fluid in your band to help this tool keep you from over eating. it works basically by placing the band around the top portion of the stomach close to the receptors that tell your brain you are full, so if you have enough saline in your band and you do not eat "slider foods" you will feel very full fast from just a few bites of food. if you force the band and attempt to eat more than what the tool is telling you to eat, you become sick and it is very painful when the food is stuck and will not go down. you also need to be a rule follower and be able to not drink with your meals. many drs say different things about times. my dr says 1 hour after meals but i have seen other drs say 10 minutes, 15 min, 30 minutes. the not drinking with the meal allows you to keep the full feeling longer so you dont eat too much. I hope this helps, if you have any further questions let me know, good luck to you, Kristy I was banded august 31st 2011 and was 272 im now 233, was a very good choice for me and Im not a rule follower so my progress is slower than others.