littlerlou

Funny..we had the surgery on the same date and our weight was almost exactly the same!

I wanted to give other new bandsters a little jolt of encouragement this morning.... I was banded on January 27th, Last night I took a shower. Our bathroom is connected to our bedroom...so I hopped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around me and went to get my undergarments out of the dresser in my bedroom, where my husband happened to be laying on the bed watching tv. As I walked in front of the tv, my husband said "Wow..its working" I said "What do you mean"..he said "I know you've lost but usually I can see your whole side when you get out of the shower". I looked at him kinda stunned and ran back into the bathroom to look in the mirror........ 'HOLY CRAP!!! MY BATH TOWEL NOW COVERS EVERYTHING!!!!" I cant remember the last time I had the bath towel (not a beach towel) cover my entire body! I was so excited. I have been seeing the scale move. My pants have been fitting a little looser but this was something that I could see with my own eyes and not have to second guess!!!! Im so happy! HANG IN THERE ALL YOU NEW BANDSTERS..ITS HAPPENING...ALL THE LITTLE THINGS!!!

Im suprised to find out that my favorite snack is a Special K chocolate protein shake mixed with 1 scoop of whey protein. I never thought this would be something I look forward to. The weigh protein powder doesnt break down completely so its like drinking pudding. Its so good and I love it!

You might need to consume more calories. I would try moving it up to about 1200 a day and see if you get any movement.

Yes, sorry the top paragraph was the update. It doesnt feel like tubing. Its really thick. Im actually wondering if it is the actual band???

Update on first post!

I got my first fill today and he put in 3cc's. He had me drink a glass of water to see if it went down. It did..but very slowly. Like I could still feel water in my throat. Im used to gulping down 24oz of water in 30 min and now Im sipping cause now that Im home it feels like the water is slowly draining from my throat to my chest. Is that normal? On a happy note..today I went in and I have lost 25lbs since being banded on 1/27/2012!~~

oh..and about the bump. he said that was "tissue" that my port is actually about an inch below that and that it should go away. We shall see!

I am 4 weeks post op and had my first fill today. He put in 3cc's. He then had me drink a cup of water that kinda sat in my throat for awhile. Is this normal? I had eaten a couple hours earlier and he said that could be why. Other than that everything went great!

I have flabby upper arms and I see a lot of people who lose weight never lose the flab..then I see people who did lose the weight and they have amazing arms. Is there a specific exercise I should do while losing weight to not get the flabby arms??

Thank you so much for showing your doctor!!! I have an appointment tomorrow so hopefully we can figure it out from there!

That is my question too. Ive posted on here as well that my port bump is HUGE. Im wondering if it flipped/? How would I know. I have an appt. on Thursday and wondering if maybe it did flip

How do they fix a flipped port?

Bending over and pulling anything on is going to be tough. You want to make sure you either have loose nightgowns or baggy pajama pants. The spanx girdle wouldnt work. As your nurse or doctors office if they will be giving you one. I think they run about 15.00 to buy one but if they are just going to give you one you might as well take the free one The one I have is just a velcro one that goes around my abdomen so it was easy on and off. Also, make sure you have Dial or some other type of antibacterial soap to wash your incisions with after the surgery

You'll need more than just chicken broth...get Beef Broth and other kinds of broth because by day 4 or 5 you will want something different. My husband went to the local Chinese place and got me a couple quarts of egg drop soup that was sooooo good and such a nice change up. If they dont give you one at the hospital, you might want to try to find one of those girdle type things that wrap around your abdomen. They didnt give me one at the hospital but some people got one. I had to buy one 3 days after surgery and that helped so much. Good luck!!

I use Sparkpeople. It does all the work for me.

Im wondering if its a flipped port.

Are you getting enough protein in? Ive been having a terrible time getting enough protein in. On the days that I dont..I feel horrible..on the days that I do I feel good.

Im loving all the suggestions! Thank you all so much!

I dont know why the photo isnt showing..but here is the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/76635133@N07/6876730509/

UPDATE: I seen my surgeon on Thursday. He gave me a fill and kinda laughed when I told him I was so concerned over my port sticking out. He said "Honey, your port is down here" and showed me where it was..about 3 inches below where this huge knot is. The knot is right under my incision. So I just said "Oh, what is that tissue or something". He had his back turned to me and kinda gave me a half hearted "yeah something". I didnt think about it and thought everything was fine..but now..a few days later..I am starting to freak out all over again. I can pinch it and feel that it is somthing disk shaped. Imagine holding about 3 pennies pinched between your index finger and thumb. Turned sideways. I can actually grab whatever it is. This cannot be tissue. It has to part of the band right? Im almost 3 weeks post op. All my swelling is gone, I have no pain..but since day 1 I could see and feel my port. I can feel every aspect of my port. When I wear sweatshirts it sticks out. I cant hide it. I know people say they can see their port once they lose weight but mine is HUGE. Im including a pic but even the pic doesnt do justice of how much it sticks out. Last night, when we were laying in bed my husband laid a quarter next to it and it rested on it fully..its sticks out the length of a quarter! is this normal? Should I be able to see and feel every aspect of my port?

I was on Phentermine BEFORE the band. It didnt make me feel jittery at all and I literally could go all day without eating. The only problem was, the minute I went off of it I gained all my weight back. My doctor wrote me another script to take the edge off of the hungry feeling. Honestly, I havent filled it because Im doing pretty good now and dont want to depend on anyting..but if you are struggling, I would definately give it a try.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Im writing all these down for my shopping trip tonight!

Thank you all for the replies..I was feeling so down for awhile reading all the negative posts..not that everyone was negative..it just seemed like there was more negative than positive to getting the band..and instead of looking forward to what was ahead I started fearing all of the downs that were to come. But so many of you are right..people who dont have issues have no reason to come here..so...I took all of the advice and started reading alot of the success stories and feel so much better. THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I read your other post and immediately searched for a Smoothie King...there are none within 100 miles of me I love the Special K Protein shakes..the taste is just like chocolate milk (not a big strawberry fan). I guess Im going to have to search for something else. I just hate the shakes that taste like your drinking crushed Vitamins ...bleeeech