Toddy

This freaked me out at first, but my doctor makes me sit up, while the needle is still in, and drink water. If it has any trouble going down, he can withdraw some fluid right then. He's not going to let anybody leave his office that can't keep water down!

If you can't keep fluids down you need to call your doctor. Dehydration can come on very quickly and is serious.

Your body will usually let you know when there's something wrong... the important thing is to listen to it!

I didn't read that, but I would question whether the esophageal cancer was caused by the band itself or by acid reflux as a complication from the band. I know that in rare cases acid reflux can lead to Barrett's syndrome or disease or something, and that can lead to esophageal cancer. I had serious acid reflux for YEARS before my surgery. I finally broke down and had an endoscopy and fortunately got a clean bill of health, and was given a very expensive prescription medication that worked beautifully. Shortly after that, though, I decided to get the band. The first medication I was able to get rid of was my acid reflux med!!!

I can feel absolutely nothing at all but my port. If I don't chew well, I get pain in my chest, otherwise, I'd never know there was a band in there.

I kept a journal right before and after surgery. One morning I'm posting that I have absolutely no appetite, and then later that night my post is "Oh, hell, my stomach just woke up!" Welcome to the beginning of Bandster Hell. It will last until you have enough fills to reach restriction.

Okay, I just surfed around on the complications page... didn't run across any deaths, fortunately. The message I came away with is listen to your body!! One person was posting that she couldn't eat, couldn't drink and she was thirsty ... DUH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON A MESSAGE BOARD? YOU NEED TO BE AT THE HOSPITAL SO YOU DON'T GET DEHYDRATED!!! Just use common sense. After surgery my doctor sent me home with instructions to call with ANY concerns, even if we didn't think it was anything serious.

Anybody that can't keep down liquids needs to get treatment immediately. Dehydration can come on very fast and it can be serious!!

I didn't even know there was a complications section on here. I'm not going looking for problems! Of course there can be complications, but if you are compliant with your instructions and you know and listen to your body, worst case scenario would probably be band removal. Now, just out of curiosity, I'm going to go briefly glance at the complications section !

I never really had trouble losing weight -- I've probably lost a couple of hundred pounds with Weight Watchers over the past decade! Trouble was, I'd lose 30, quit WW, and then gain back 40; rejoin and start that vicious cycle all over again and ultimately ended up larger than I ever thought possible. That was the main reason I chose WLS, I knew I could lose the weight, but I wanted something that would help me keep it off for good!!

I think my BMI when I had surgery was 38 or 39. I lost nothing in the first two weeks after surgery -- and I was really struggling to keep from gaining. I really think until I had my third fill, all of my weight loss (which was slow) was due to me being very careful, and not because I had a band. With my third fill, I finally felt restriction and the weight loss picked up. I went in for a fourth fill and they didn't think I needed it. A few weeks later, I was beginning to eat a little more, and finally went in and got that fourth fill. Since my fourth fill, the weight loss has picked up again. I'm a slow loser, but it's definitely going in the right direction! I had a cruise scheduled when I was approved for the band, and I intentionally postponed my surgery until we got back. I didn't want to have a foreign object implanted and then be stuck on the ocean in case of something happening. Looking back on it now, I would have been perfectly fine, but it was just fear of the unknown.

I went on a girl's weekend when I was four weeks post-op, and none of the girls knew I'd had surgery. At four weeks I was on "eat as tolerated". Well, since I had virtually no restriction in my band, I was able to eat anything I wanted, I just ate things in a much smaller quantity. The biggest problem was that we went to Paula Deen's buffet for lunch and everyone gorged themselves but me. When we left, all the girls were moaning and groaning about how stuffed they were and I felt fine!! BUT, when dinner time rolled around, I approached them about what we're going to do for dinner, and they looked at me like I had two heads -- they were still stuffed from lunch!! Because I hadn't gorged myself at lunch, I was hungry, so I had to go to dinner by myself.

I'm struggling with the same issues. If I focus totally on how I eat, I can usually keep everything down. But if I get the least little bit distracted or eat something that is not band friendly, it's off to the bathroom to "urp"! Every time I have a fill, it takes me a couple of weeks to readjust the way I eat and the things I eat. BUT, IT'S SO TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! Saw a number on the scale today that I haven't see in years!!!!! I'm at 6 cc's and I will consider this the green zone once I get adjusted to the fill I had a week ago today.

Just looking at what you've listed that you're eating, I would first suggest to cut out the sausage, it's very high in fat. The peanut butter "snack" alone is 285 calories, 12 g of protein and 24 grams of FAT!! Way too much! You could have had a Slimfast Low Carb shake for 180 calories, 20 g of protein and 9 grams of fat. And salads can actually be awful depending on what you put on them and how much/what kind of dressing you use. My Fitness Pal is a fabulous online source for tracking what you're consuming!!

Had surgery on a Tuesday, went back to work the next Tuesday and felt horrible, but that was my last bad day. After that I was fine.

Fills within 90 days of my surgery were covered under the surgery fee. After that, I just have to pay my usual office visit copay. I had BCBS Virginia. Every insurance, including BCBS is different, and every doctors office charge is different. You will have to contact your doctor's office to find out for sure.

I would say most any soup that can be blended into a puree would be fine. If it makes reference to a cup of soup, I would say they're talking about quantity.

I had extreme weakness and some anxiety too starting on about Day 3 post-op, so much so that I spent Day 5 post-op in the ER because I was certain something was terribly wrong with me -- but there wasn't anything wrong! The problems lasted until Day 7, and then after that I've been fine. You're not alone out there. The time between the surgery and having enough fill that you actually do feel restriction is pretty tough, that's why we call it Bandster Hell. Hang in there, watch your portions when you do start eating and try to always eat like you do have restriction!

I can't have junk food in the house either!! If my DH wants junk food, he's a big boy and can go out and get it (as long as he doesn't bring it home). Kids don't need junk food in the house either or they'll end up just like us. So no junk food in my house anymore! We still have Snacks, but they're healthy snacks like string cheese. If I get a craving for something sweet, I have sugar free pudding with a little fat free whipped topping, or a sugar free popsicle. You said that "we" threw out the junk food so it sounds like you've got a supportive hubby, which is very important on this journey. Now you just need to convince him that for your health and well-being he shouldn't bring anything else back into the house. He can do like my hubby, fix his junk cravings away from home!!

The difference between being a food addict and an alcoholic is that you can live without alcohol, but you can't live without food. I think all of us on here are fat men/women looking to not be the fattest in the room! You are in good company here, but a local support group would probably even be better!

My first consideration would probably be distance from your home to your surgery center. If you don't live far from your doctor, then go home. Sounds like hubby and kids are old enough to be told NOT to bother you. When my kids were little, on the very rare occasions I took a nap, I would tell them not to disturb me unless there was blood or fire... and the blood had to be spurting, not dripping! I was the first patient of the morning and I was actually home, in my own comfy bed, before noon.

My doctor says if I want a cheeseburger, eat a cheeseburger, just ditch the bun!

I just copied my weight tracker from Weight Watchers and it was never questioned.

I love roller coasters, but haven't ridden one with the band yet. However, my doctor did say he's had patients involved in auto accidents where air bags have gone off and their band wasn't affected.

See if you can find a doctor doing band with plication. It sounds like the best of both worlds!! By the way, another band lover here, but I wish I had gotten the plication, too!!