quakergirl

EDIT: I just read up on this matter over on the Bandsters mailing list and found out that it is recommended to AVOID the idea I initially mentioned (warm water with a bit of meat tenderizer) because it might just irritate the stoma more. Sorry about that! I do think that it's important to call your doctor. If you can't keep anything down it's possible that your band has slipped or something, in which case you definitely want to have that fixed ASAP. Good luck.

Sounds like a good topic to me. I am sure those who are closer to goal weight will have a lot of input for you. Personally, I think that the emotional changes with the band are more subtle than with the bypass because our weight loss is more gradual. It is harder to adjust to losing 100 pounds in six months than losing 100 pounds in 12 months, I think. But, yes, there are still some big changes. I still have a long way to go, but I already feel much more confident and like myself a lot better, because I know I'm on the right track now.

Oh wow, it's almost time. I had to go on liquids right before my surgery too, and I think that was the hardest part of the whole deal. Good luck.

That is sad, especially since it was so preventable. I hope her family sues the doctors who let her get that bad without consulting someone who knew about the band. I hope that any newbies who are reading this are not scared off the band by it. The band is very safe with competent medical supervision - much safer than the bypass or staying obese.

Congrats on getting banded. Let us know when you have your webpage up. I didn't have surgery in Mexico but it is interesting to hear about other people's experiences.

For me they did the barium test the day after surgery. Only pre-op tests I needed were blood tests and an EKG.

I agree with Alexandra on the water loading thing. I don't feel like water fills up my pouch. It seems to slide right through. Yes, it does quiet my hunger pangs if I'm VERY hungry (although I no longer get hungry to the same degree I did pre-op), but I think I still have the same capacity for eating. But that pouch rules thing is interesting all the same. I find it interesting that it says that pouch size doesn't correlate to weight loss.

Congrats on your great progress. I agree with you that it's important to have an occasional treat to stay sane if you are trying to make a lifelong change in eating habits. Thankfully the band lets us have an occasional indulgence without totally losing control.

Congrats on getting off to such a good start. But don't worry even if you don't lose as much as you expect during this first phase. Until the fill, it's important to just take it easy and let things heal.

Here is a direct link that I hope will help: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mexicanbandsters/ Good luck.

I don't know of any way to shrink your stomach, but if I were you I wouldn't worry much about it. Losing the weight pre-op is mostly just to make sure the surgery is easier for you. It really doesn't hurt anything in the long run if you regain some weight before you get a fill. However, I bet that you will lose some weight pre-fill regardless. The first few days of surgery you will most likely have no interest in food. Your stomach will be swollen because of the surgery and you probably won't feel hungry at all. Then you'll be eating liquids, and from my experience it seems like it's hard to eat enough of them to gain weight after surgery. When you go back to solid food, then you might regain a little bit, but I've never heard of someone regaining all the lost weight, so by the time you get your fill you will still be ahead of the game. Good luck

I didn't need a transfusion, and I'd be very surprised if anyone else here has. As surgery goes, this kind of surgery isn't very traumatic. It's designed to be less invasive than other kinds of surgery after all.

I see that you're back from the hospital. Congrats.

Well, I think it's important to remember you DO NOT have to give up food after banding. All the band does is help you to moderate your intake so you can savor the smaller amounts you'll eat. I wish I had realized that pre-op, because I too gained weight due to "last supper syndrome". As for your husband's belief the band won't work because you can't diet right now, well, if any of us were good at dieting we wouldn't need surgery! You'll probably be successful with the band as long as you go back for fills and get the right level of restriction.

Congrats and best wishes! I'm sure that it's a bit intimidating to have things moving so fast, but in a few months you'll probably look back on this as the start of a great new chapter in life.

I'm surprised that nobody answered your question yet, so I'll try to. Technically, anything is "Ok" within reason, depending on the diet your doctor or dietician wants you to follow. A lot of people try to avoid carbs, but so far I haven't because I am a semi-vegetarian who doesn't like meat very much. I get a lot of my protein from meat imitations like Gardenburger and Morningstar Farms. I am at 2 ccs fill and still have not found anything that I am physically unable to eat. There are just some foods that require very careful chewing. For example, I need to chew bread carefully or else it seems to expand in my stomach and hurt. Basically, I'd say that I eat most of the same stuff I used to eat, but now the quantity is cut in half (that's subject to change if I get another fill, but so far so good). For example, where before I could easily eat an entire bagel, now just half of a bagel is enough to make me feel stuffed. Or I used to be able to eat a big bowl of cereal, but now I'd estimate I can eat about 1.5 cups of foods such as cereal. Of course, I avoid all liquid calories and don't eat very high-calorie foods such as chocolate candies or milkshakes. That's probabyl the most radical change to my diet...before I thought nothing of snacking on chocolate candies, but now I realize chocolate has way too many cals in such little servings.

I prepared for my PCP to try to get me to diet some more, but he didn't resist it at all. Actually, at first he didn't even know what the lap-band was, or where to get it! Fortunately, I had done that research myself and filled him in. Once I explained the procedure, he was okay with it and had no probem with filling out the letter for the insurance. I think in general docs (other than RNY surgeons!) will be more understanding of the choice to get a lap-band than the RNY, because it's much less radical and permanent. If you have the facts to support your reasons for wanting it, I bet everything will be fine. Good luck.

It doesn't sound like you need a fill. If you're feeling restricted in the quantities of solid food that you can eat, then the band is doing its job. You don't want the band to be so tight that you can't eat anything but ice cream! In fact, if you can't get healthy food down, then it might even be good to get a little fill taken out. If you haven't already seen it, you might want to look at the ideas on http://www.lapbandtransformation.com/Adjustments.htm for "how to tell when you're perfectly adjusted". Personally, I too have always had a sweet tooth. So far, I am trying to eat sweet stuff IN MODERATION rather than cutting it out altogether. It might also help your sweet tooth to look for healthier sources of sweetness. For example, a chocolate-flavored protein shake might be better for you than a handful of chocolate candies. Of course, that's just my opinion. I am still pretty new to this.

Well, medically speaking, your BMI is definitely in the right range to justify weight loss surgery, especially if you can show you have a medical condition aggravated by your weight. For example, if a doctor can confirm that your knee pain was caused by the excess weight (and will be helped by weight loss), then the insurance will be more likely to approve surgery for you. I believe some of the surgeons in Mexico are willing to do lap-bands on people with a BMI less than 40, so that might be an option for you even if your insurance won't approve you at your current size. Most people don't know very much about lap-band surgery, so it's not surprising they are worried about you getting it. You might want to try reassuring them that it's a lot safer than gastric bypass, and a lot safer than staying obese. Nobody supported me when I started investigating this surgery. Even though I'm obviously big enough to need it, my family and friends were scared by the thought of surgery and thought "one more diet" would do the trick. Fortunately, I persisted in pursuing surgery, and so far I'm very happy I did! Good luck!

Please keep us updated on how things go with the Swedish band. I'm very happy that they are probably going to approve another brand of gastric band in the US, since that will hopefully bring this WLS option to the attention of more people. Personally, I just have the good old-fashioned Inamed lap-band, but it doesn't bug me if it turns out that the Swedish band is somewhat better. After all, since the bands are all totally reversible, I *could* switch to the Swedish band a couple years from now. I think it's very comforting to know that we gastric band patients still have all our options open, whatever the future brings.

Congrats! Yes, this stage you're at now is the hardest part, but things will get better soon! Just hang in there and pretty soon you'll be soooo glad you got the band. I agree with you about that horrid barium stuff. I could gag just thinking about it now. Bah.

Congratulations! It's very impressive that you have made so much progress so quickly. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if you get to goal within a year.

I feel bad for those people. I know I would have been crushed if the band had failed for me like that. BUT...when you compare these worst case scenarios to the worst case scenarios with the RNY, I think the band is still the better choice. I've heard stories of RNY patients spending weeks in the ICU, or having such horrible hemorrhaging that the blood came out of both ends of their digestive tract. The band may cause pain and unpleasantness, but at least you probably won't die from it.

My honest opinion is that the RNY is a poor choice all around: You have more food restrictions than with the lap-band (due to "dumping"), but yet you can't be sure the weight is really gone for good. Yes, that's right - people CAN regain all the weight a few years after an RNY...if they even reached goal weight in the first place. The lap-band is clearly the safest choice, and many people have been successful with it. The band has an excellent track record in Europe and Australia, where it has been used for years. A lot of people don't look at the long term results...they see the way that bandsters start off slow and assume (wrongly) that it must be a failure if the weight doesn't melt off right away. But even if you're just in a hurry to lose the weight, at any cost, I STILL don't think the RNY is the best choice. If you're just in a hurry to be thin, I suggest researching the Duodenal Switch, NOT the RNY. The DS is a pretty major, risky surgery - like the RNY - but at least it has better long-term weight loss statistics than the RNY. The DS people can eat more foods than the RNY patients (no dumping syndrome) so they also tend to be happier with their post-op diet than the RNY people. See http://www.duodenalswitch.com for details. For those reasons, I feel that the RNY and VBG are both out-dated choices. The RNY has been replaced by the DS and the VBG has been replaced by the lap-band. Of course, if the RNY and VBG are the only options available to someone, I wish them the best, because those surgeries obviously CAN work...but they really aren't the best choices, in my opinion. I feel the only reason that the RNY is so popular is just because it's faster and more profitable for the doctors to do RNYs than to spend the time and effort necessary to perform duodenal switches or lap-band adjustments.

Since I am a semi-vegetarian I try to get some fiber from veggies. I like to use Gardenburger's line of products (soy meat substitutes) for protein and fiber. Even thought they're softer than most real meats, I find them very filling. I also bought some Benefiber (a tasteless fiber supplement). It really helps if you're feeling constipated from lack of fiber.