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!