Toddy

I had my band restitched and plication last Thursday and am now on a full liquid diet. While I was in the hospital I noticed they had runny oatmeal and runny grits on their full liquid diet menu. Anybody else consider those two items full liquids?

My only regret with lapband is that I was given the option of plication, but opted out!! However, if they had done plication without my knowledge, I would be furious!! For self-pays, there probably wasn't a charge, because it is still in the "study" phase, but you definitely should have been given a choice and been fully aware of exactly what procedure you were getting!

You need a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day. I take Biotin for my hair loss and it helps. Even my eyelashes have gotten a little thicker with the Biotin!!

Perfectly normal. Your body is healing right now. Give it time, the weight will eventually start coming off.

When I got to the green zone I had to finally say no to bread!! I also had trouble with dry meat, and broccoli. But really NO BREAD!! Oops, I thought it was about what food we couldn't eat. I could eat pretty much everything except bread, dry meat and broccoli, as long as I ate it PROPERLY!!!!! I could sometimes eat very thin crust pizza. It was one of those things that sometimes it would bother me and sometimes it wouldn't. Also, chili was like that -- sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Unfortunately very few people feel restriction with their first fill. Most doctors do very gradual fills, because there is swelling and irritation around the band when it's filled, hence the liquid and mushy stages after fills. The worst thing a doctor can do is put in too much at one time and then you end up where you can't eat or drink and have to have a large unfill and start the gradual fill process all over again. Everyone's process is individual, but it took me three fills to reach any kind of noticeable restriction and the fourth fill until I was in the "green zone"!

Do some research on this forum searching the words Bandster Hell. That will let you know what to be prepared for before you have enough fills to reach restriction. How many fills it takes to reach restriction is a very individual thing. For me, it was four, and my doctor is pretty aggressive.

I agree with the above posters. I was on the very fringe of being just a little over filled when I went on vacation. I ended up irritating my band during vacation and it just got worse after I got home. Ended up having to have 4 cc's removed in an ER and now have no restriction at all, even after one refill. Be patient... wait until you get back so you can enjoy your vacation.

I asked my surgeon which WLS he would recommend if his wife was going to have WLS. He said it would depend on her co-morbidities. For someone with diabetes, he would recommend either the sleeve or bypass. I have a friend with Type 2 diabetes that wants to have lapband because she has seen my success. I told to her to explore the sleeve because of its help with diabetes. Pre-band I had high blood pressure and acid reflux, both of which were totally gone within a matter of months of my surgery. I wouldn't go back for anything. Just wish I'd done it sooner! I, too, never had trouble losing weight; it was just keeping it off. Lost and regained the same 20-30 pounds more times than I even want to count! I look at lapband as my insurance policy to keep the weight off this time.

Nope, not worth it. I've had a couple of tiny sips when my husband had a carbonated beverage, and it just doesn't feel "right". Just not something I'm willing to take a chance on.

Drunk on a sip or two? Not unless you were seriously susceptible to the effects of alcohol pre-band.

This part 1 of 4 parts was the absolute best explanation for why we should eat slow:

If I didn't want to eat, I wouldn't eat, but I would make sure I had a protein drink if I wasn't going to eat a meal. I listen to my body and don't eat unless I'm hungry. I think my body knows better than a nutritionist what it needs. Just my humble opinion!

"Can I go home now?"

I've read somewhere that with the band your body gets used to having very small portions of food. After band removal, when you back into "normal" portions (and I don't mean those large portions that made us obese in the first place -- just normal) you will regain quickly. I can't remember where I read it, or who wrote it, but it just seemed to make a lot of sense to me. I have already made up my mind that if I ever had to have my band removed, I'm going with the sleeve, if possible!!! I don't ever want to have to white-knuckle diet again if I don't have to!

Yep, only concern is empty calories and possibly less tolerance since you are eating considerably less. I personally stick with wine (it's the least worst calorie-wise) and stay away from all carbonated beverages.

My understanding is that Biotin won't stop hair loss, it will just make your hair grow back a little faster. I'm 6.5 months post-surgery and I have been experiencing hair loss since about three months, and started Biotin at that time. In the morning when I shampoo, there's still a lot of hair loss, but overall it's not noticeable.

If you're having trouble keeping liquids down, you need to either go to the ER or see your doctor as soon as possible. Dehydration occurs quite quickly and IS NOT PLEASANT!!!!!

PB stands for productive burp. It is a regurgitation caused by eating too fast, not chewing well enough, or eating something that cannot pass through the band. You'll get that "uh-oh" feeling and need to excuse yourself to the bathroom to "urp" up the offending food. It can also cause "sliming" which is an excessive amount of saliva caused by when your body realizes there something that's not going down.

I appreciate your information. I like knowing that there is another option available if I ever have to lose my band!

The band is just the standard band. Plication is where they fold your stomach in and stitch it up to make it smaller. It is still in the study phase, so not all surgeons are doing it. So far they are seeing that it reduces complications from the band like slippage and erosion. Patients with plication will also likely need fewer band adjustments, and have the added benefit of losing weight faster than with the band alone.

I was going to reduce your quote to the two things that struck me the most, but as I was going through what sections to delete, I realized that everything you said was right on target and worth seeing repeated!! The two pieces of advice I like the most was, No. 1, to find the best doctor. I love my surgeon! I had a severe episode of pain (totally my fault; I was abusing my band) that sent me to the ER last month, but once my surgeon walked through the door, I knew that I was going to be all right!!! Secondly, just yesterday I saw your Dr. Paul O'Brien video recommendation and was just so incredibly amazed at the knowledge I gained from his four, nine minute videos! They should be required watching for all considering the band. I have done a ton of research, had a long one-on-one educational seminar with my surgeon, thought I had a really good grasp of the mechanics of how the band works, but after watching those videos, I learned so much more. It was very valuable to me and I hope everyone will take the time to watch them.

Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard anything about sleeping on your stomach possibly causing the band to slip?!?!?!?! I've been sleeping on my stomach since the day after surgery (I'm 6.5 months post-op). I do however only use a very thin pillow if I use a pillow at all. For me, a heating pad helped the gas pain a little bit. The gas was the primary reason I needed pain meds the first couple of days -- the incisions weren't nearly as bad as the gas. And GasX did less than nothing for me because it's not that kind of gas.

I would do it again in a heartbeat, the only difference being I would have it done in conjunction with plication! Plication is kind of like the best of both worlds, band and sleeve. The only time I know I have a band is when I don't eat properly. I can feel my port, it's kind of neat, let's me know I have a "little helper"! Do I miss eating as much? NO! I love the fact that I get satisfied with such a small amount of food!

I have chronic back pain. I didn't find out until AFTER surgery that I could no longer take ibuprofen or aspirin. They said Tylenol or nothing. Well, for me, Tylenol is LIKE nothing. I have mourned the loss of ibuprofen and aspirin more than I have mourned the loss of food!