bev712

You should probaby have only full liquids for a day and then mushies for a day to give your stomach a chance to adjust.

What's the matter with you people who vomit and vomit and think nothing of it???? Don't you know it can irritate your esophagus to the point of pre-cancerous cell changes called Barrett's esophagitis? Do you want to lose all this weight and then die young from cancer of the esophagus? Don't you read ANYTHING??? For Pete's sake, go to your surgeon and get unfilled enough so that you can eat and keep it down. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that some of you are so un-informed that you risk your health daily. Get with the program, people! You had this surgery to improve your health and yet you are risking your life.

Yes, go. You know you should.

Bear Lake, don't allow your doctor to criticize you! Everyone loses at her own pace, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly. There's no such thing as being "behind" in your weight loss. If he starts with the lecturing and negativity, tell him what you told us - you don't need him to make you feel worse. These guys sometimes have no bedside manner. Surgeons are used to people who are asleep on the table and whom they may only see once more, so they don't develop any people skills. The bariatric surgeons are no different, except that they NEED to develop a good bedside manner because they continue to see their patients fairly frequently.

I was advised by my surgeon NOT to drink alcohol because it's just empty calories, and I'd rather spend them on food with nutritional value. I hardly drink anyway, but if you MUST have some wine, limit yourself to one good-size glass and just sip it for as long as you can make it last. Drink red, which doesn't lose its taste when it gets to room temperature. If your friends comment, just say that you don't like the way you feel when you drink too much or too fast. And that's probably the truth.

I get a warm feeling in the middle of my upper back, sort of where the esophagus is, I would think. And the sense that if I eat one more bite it's going to come back up. I've learned to spit out that last bite rather than testing to see if it goes down. Gross, but that's what napkins are for. I had one slimy PB and one episode of vomiting, and I'm not anxious to experience either one again. Had my first fill last Monday, and can now only eat 3/4 cup at the most, so that's all I put on my plate or in my new, smaller bowls.

Jack, I would go back on the insulin for a while, maybe just Lantus, the 24-hour insulin. You obviously need something. I couldn't take metformin - got very sick to my stomach - and switched to Lantus and Novolog immediately. Since my surgery in January I've been fine with just the Lantus. Talk to your doctor about it. There are other pills you could take, too, but research them for side effects. I would consult an endocrinologist. Your internist may be great, as mine is, but they aren't able to keep up with the latest research on diabetes medication the way endocrinologists are. For example, 2 years ago my internist suggested Actos, which I'd read had serious side effects, and I refused it. And now that's all coming out about Actos. Anyway, just be careful. The last thing you want now is some serious side effect of the diabetes.

Glad you're feeling better. Amazing what a difference just 1 cc can make. Hope the scan tomorrow doesn't show anything major.

You have to talk to your surgeon about why he won't give you more volume in your fills. I had my first fill Monday, and he put 5 cc - to get 4cc into a 14 cc band. I doubt that any of your saline is getting in, let alone staying, in the band. There is always saline that stays in the line from the port and then leaks out, so with 1 cc at a time you're getting NOTHING and probably HAVE nothing. This is a mistake by your surgeon, and you have to discuss this with him ASAP.

Good. Now learn from this and don't do it again! Hope everything turns out well.

Call your surgeon TOMORROW and GET IN THERE! No matter what's going on, you should NEVER go more than a day without being able to drink something. So big deal if he takes out a little fluid - he can put it back in. Don't damage your body! Go the the EMERGENCY ROOM if he isn't available tomorrow. GET MOVING!!!

I'm told that with the bypass you lose more weight more quickly than with the band, but after three years the total weight loss is about the same. Many doctors recommend the bypass when they feel that the excess weight is currently endangering the patient's health - severe breathing problems or intractable high blood pressure, for example. Otherwise, it's up to you, as long as the bypass is done laparoscopically. The open surgery method is too dangerous, and I don't know if any surgeons are actually doing it anymore.

I weigh myself every day, too, and if it's up even a few tenths of a pound, I can usually figure out why and correct my behavior. We have two digital scales - one his, one mine, both Homedics, bought in Walmart, both very accurate. I know someone who's on Weight Watchers who weighs herself about 10 times a day - morning, night, before she pees, after she pees - now, that's obsessive-compulsive! She had to put her scale in the trunk of her car to keep from weighing herself constantly. I figure that as long as I only want to do it once a day I'm fine!

Definitely go for professional counseling. When you have such serious life changes, the problems you were able to keep from acknowledging can become overwhelming. It is NOT FAIR to expect your significant other to help you. You need to take responsibility for your own emotional well-being. Ask a friend who has had good results in therapy for the name of her therapist. Or call the program psychologist, if you have one. Or ask your surgeon to refer you to a psychologist who specializes in bariatric surgery patients. You may also need a psychiatrist who can prescribe medication for you. Just make that phone call asap before you find yourself unable to help yourself.

I had left shoulder pain for two weeks after surgery. My education nurse said that if it happened it was from the gas, but I had no other gas pain at all. I swear it felt as if they yanked me by the left shoulder, among other handholds, to pull me off the operating table and onto the bed. Of course, if one were moved off to the right side of the table, my theory wouldn't hold...!

Actually, that 3,500 calories (actually, kcal.) per pound was determined in the lab by oxidizing, or burning, food. It's unproven that the same equation works in the body. It's very possible that someone could gain five pounds without eating 5 x 3,500 calories. I know a lot of us who in our overeating days could gain more weight than our calorie intake would seem to permit, and it would just stay on as we continued to overeat. Metabolism is indeed quite complex, highly individual and not fully understood.

Another important thing here is to learn to say no to your friends when they offer to bring over high cal high carb stuff that you know you'll pig out on. Or, if they brought the food without clearing it with you because they wanted to "surprise" you, you have to tell them something like, my house my food, and then provide healthy stuff. Or level with them about your need for healthy food and say that they can no longer bring over food that will tempt you like that. I say tempt, because you know if they bring it, you'll eat it, but it's really sabotage. And so is your husband baking cookies and brownies. Thaat's sabotage if I ever heard of it. So there are a lot of up-front things you need to do and say. Put yourself first. I know it sounds selfish, but, as the great sage Hillel said, if I am not for myself, who will be?

it's good to hear these stories. I'm 3 weeks post-op and struggling not to gain weight, after losing 16 pounds. I'm still able to eat 'way too much food. We just came from lunch, where I experimented and ate until I felt as if I couldn't eat another bite, and that was most of my order! We get our first fills on Monday, and I really hope it makes a difference. As my guy said, we don't yet have any personal evidence that the band works.

I think the best thing you can do now is to accept the fact that you CAN'T help your sister. You need to concentrate on the great new life you can have now and give up trying to get her to do what you want her to. This may sound harsh, but it's not. It's the best thing you can do for YOU. We try our best to help other people and get them to do what we want, but ultimately our control over others ends about a millimeter past our fingertips. All changes in behavior come from inside the other person. She has to make up her own mind what to do about herself. All you can ask of her now is to please not say anything discouraging to you, and if she refuses, you'll have to change the subject immediately or avoid her. Sad but true.

It sounds to me like you and your sister aren't close at all, if you think she'd be comfortable going to a public gym and don't know why she can't self pay. Maybe distance works best for you two.

Does your sister realize that she's depressed? If not, one meeting with the program psychologist and filling out the usual questionnaires would probably bring it to her attention. I would think the program psychologist would want to work with her before clearing her for surgery. That might mean a number of visits or a referral to a psychiatrist for medication. On the other hand, she might be cleared for surgery as long as she commits to continuing counseling. Moral of the story: she should go to a program with a good psychologist.

Before we go through lap band surgery we undertake a pretty thorough self-examination of our thoughts, feelings and motivations for surgery. Our friends usually have not done this to the same extent, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by all the negativity they attempt to pile on us. It stems from their own screwed-up feelings - fear of abandonment, jealousy at our successes, and sometimes good-hearted but misplaced concern for our health. It's true, many of them no longer have any idea what a healthy body looks like. How many times in the past have we looked at someone obese and thought, well, I'm thinner than she is, so I must be fine! Denial is very powerful, and when you start to puncture holes in theirs, it can be very anxiety-provoking. Of course, that doesn't mean we have to cater to our friends' negativity to our own detriment. You are the one who now knows what's best for you, and that should be the end of the argument.

Jello is fine, but pudding and yogurt are for the mushies phase. Any of the Crystal Lite drink mixes are good. Even flavored water like Vitamin Water and So-bee, which has some weird but wonderful flavors. Apple juice and white grape juice are also fine. Tea with lemon is soothing. I don't know what your doctor allows, but we were permitted to drink regular liquids during the first week, like tomato juice, coffee with creamer and protein shakes. It was a liquid, rather than a clear liquid, diet starting the day after surgery. Definitely check with your nutritionist as to when to start these.

The crackers have gluten in them, which when soggy can form a ball in your stomach and get stuck. That's the problem with all wheat-based baked goods. We were told to have only really crunchy stuff like toast and crackers but never with liquids.

I'd actually GAINED 2 pounds the day after surgery, but it was all fluid buildup and came off over the next couple of days. Nothing to worry about. Luigi's Italian Ice is a good clear "liquid" with some crunch to it.