amica813

I've only been banded a little over 3 months, but I definitely get that "full" feeling when eating... IF I eat the right way! I've dieted most of my life and know from Weight Watchers, etc. that it takes a while for the full signal to go from your stomach to your brain. I find if I eat the way a banded person is supposed to eat (30 minutes for the meal, chew chew chew, put fork down in between bites, etc.) my brain does get the signal. If I eat too fast, not only do I end up sliming and vomiting (this is new since last fill 2 weeks ago), my actual stomach ends up feeling pretty miserable too, just like if I had gorged myself before surgery. I've been lucky though, I don't have a lot of troublesome hunger since surgery. In the morning, or if I'm running late for dinner, my real stomach does get rumbly, which is good for me to distinguish between physical hunger and head hunger. Hope that helps!

Great job! I'm mad at myself for not taking measurements before I started. I know I'm down at least one size, but it would be nice to have the inches as another reference point... and reason for a celebration!!!

Second fill went well this morning. Both the doctor and the nurse seemed shocked and amazed that I had lost 10 pounds since my last fill 4 weeks ago... isn't that what this is all about? I am now up to 4.5 cc. I'm definitely struggling more with getting it down than last time. I think this 10 ounce cup of soup is going to take me an hour to finish!!! I checked the BMI chart and I am no longer in the "Morbidly Obese" category!!! HURRAY! I'm scheduled for another checkup/fill in 5 weeks. Keep up the good work everyone - we're doing great!

I get my second fill tomorrow. I've been doing fairly well so far I think, but it seems over the past 2 weeks I've noticed I'm eating faster and more. The fill will put me at 4.5 cc.

Iryshgreene - I did get the card at my first post-op visit. Guess they figured I wouldn't be at restaurants until then. HA! I haven't tried to use it yet because the restaurants I have gone to only have things like chicken fingers, mac and cheese, burgers, and grilled cheese sandwiches on the kids' menu. There's no child sized grilled chicken salad. And we wonder how our nation got so big!

Good luck Mags! I was on liquids for just 24 hours and then on normal diet. This is my first week on regular foods and I'm traveling for work so I'm eating out. Boy can I tell a difference with the fill though! I was getting full pretty quickly before but now... It's crazy! I feel guilty about wasting so much food, though.

You can do it! So you made a little mistake? No worries, just move forward! I really think (KNOW) a lot of it is in your head! I came out of surgery thinking my doctor left 2 cc in my band. I really concentrated on eating slowly and listening to my body say, "you're full!" I've lost 18 pounds since surgery (I'm 4 weeks post-op today). But guess what? I went in for my first fill and found out I only had .5 cc in the band to start with! I lost that 18 pounds almost on my own! And now that I've had my first real fill, the scales are just going to keep going down from there! We all make mistakes, and it's not the mistake that matters, it's what we do AFTER the mistake that counts! Chin up girl! You can do it!

Hi all! I was banded on 1/9/12 and just had my first fill today (4 weeks post-op). My doctor left me with .5 cc in the band at surgery and my fill today was 2 cc for a total of 2.5. I felt a little queasy right after my visit, but I think that was just the sight of the giant needle (don't be scared!). I've been sipping some hot tea and just really feel "full"! I do have a horrible pain in my left shoulder/side... probably what I get for not having to deal with bad gas pains right after surgery. HA! Maybe I should get up and walk around a bit. I am curious about where he stuck the giant needle... it was like 3 inches over and 2 inches down from my port site. I figured he'd go straight in at the incision site. Any thoughts on that? Good luck everyone!!! Keep us posted on your first fill experiences.

Best of luck! I know you'll do great!

Hurray for you! I'm at one week today and have lost 11.5 pounds. I know it's mainly Water weight and will level off; I'm even expecting to gain a little once I go on solid foods but I'm still happy as can be! My doctor did a 2cc fill at the time of surgery and I have had very little appetite, but also no reflux or any other problems. YAY for balance! My pain was gone within 3 days but starting last night, the area around one of my incision sites is tender. I also have some hard lumpy spots below the incision. I'm not panicking yet, but anyone else have the same? And this is my first post!!!