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I've struggled a fair bit. Sometimes I do have that full sensation- I found very early on it seemed 'tight' in a morning. Having read lots on here that can be common. Some days I could eat a full meal including pudding but have to force myself not to. I'm managing to stay around 800 cals a day and it seems i have a wobble every 3 days or so. At this point it's only calorie counting that helping to lose weight but my dietician says 1-2 lb loss per week is good. It doesn't feel it when you see the big losses on here tho lol. I ate chicken(when it wasn't minced) too early and was sick . Minced chicken, poached salmon, baked potatoes(mashed no skin) and mushy peas have got me through this stage and I can have normal food from this Thursday. Oh and I've had porridge every night which is lovely and filling and helps me have a good sleep. I'm trying to plan my first meal and hope I can tolerate pitta bread. God I miss bread!!

Oops, forgot to mention I live in Staffordshire:)

Hi both. I had my band fitted 29th March so am almost 4 weeks post op. I had it done with The Hospital Group and had 4mls put in at time of surgery. My first fill will be 5th May and 2nd 31st May. My band holds 10mls and I've been told I'll feel restriction at around 7mls full.x

I should have been on 2 week pre op diet but opted to calorie count- 1,000-1,200. After the first week my co-ordinator said since I had lost 5lb I could continue. I lost 9lb pre-op altogether. I ate right until 11.30pm the day before surgery( I didn't have to go in until midday). If you've achieved a decent loss, I wouldn't knock yourself too much. I've only ever heard of 2 people go in for banding and the surgeon stopped the procedure due to the liver being too large/fatty. One of those was through here and the other was through a girl in my support group-the dietician had mentioned it. Both of these could even be just hearsay. Tried hard from now on and have fluids every hour to help fill you up . Best of luck xx

HI. I would get some more from the chemist and put them on. I put some on and changed them for more. I think I had them on for 12days on total- there were 2 sites That didnt look like they would close together without additional support.

Hi Pixie. I'm quite new to the band part of my weightloss journey and had my band 29th March. Initially I was doing well, am still finding it hard to have the amount of recommended fluids tho but my literature from the hospital tells me everyone's requirements are different. I've had a number of wobbles along the way and my dietician told me it's all part of the process. She says it's not cheating ( as cheating is achieving something without following the 'rules' ) when you give in to having something,it's more like a 'stall' and to think of it this way... many of us are lifelong dieters so how can we expect to brake habits in such a short time without a few blips along the way? Changing eating habits will lead to your tastes in foods changing/adapting too. At the moment I adore mushy peas lol. I'm not brilliant at eating in the morning but do go to bed late so I've found drinking mugs of tea in a morning is adequate and my 3 meals a day begin at lunchtime. Having my monthly 'munchies'/craving week and infrequent BM's don't help but I'm now more focused and am still counting my calories. My first fill is May 5th and am expecting 1ml to take me to 5 (had 4 put in at time of surgery) and my second will be May 31st. Good luck with your journey and thanks for sharing the Burroca tip

HI. For the first two weeks post op my teeth felt 'furry' even after a good clean. I did wonder if it was surgery related but forgot to mention it to both the nurse and dietician when they rang. Thanks for mentioning this!

Hi. It can be a shock going from daily to once every 4-5 days before a bowel movement. For me I have tried prune juice early on but have a sip of milk of magnesium daily. It still takes at least 4 days but isn't as uncomfortable as it has been. I'm 22 days post op. I do weight myself daily but am aware that since I dont have a daily BM, I can't expect the scales to go down all the time:)

Hi everyone. I'm 4 days away from my 'B'day' and am thinking about what I want to record. I'll take a pre-op pic as normally I avoid cameras like the plague so I don't have one where I'm not stood at the back of a crowd! I'm not sure what to do about measurements tho. All along I've thought I wouldn't measure myself as I know I'm big and I don't want to be reminded how embarrassingly big I got. I'd never tell other people my measurements as I find figures are a stark reality( and we all kid ourselves that we don't look as big as we actually are). Will I regret not measuring?? At 5 days my surgery co-ordinator was happy with my weight -loss on a calorie counting preop diet so I'm sticking to that until the op. I'm doing 1,000 to 1,200 a day. She reassured me that some people find it really hard to stick to calorie counting which is why the milk diet if often suggested to take the focus off food. I've had 2 sticky days where I have gone over the calories but I think they have balanced out overall. I've decided that because I'm calorie counting, any pre-op loss won't be in my overall figures as it's just like any other diet. My starting weight will be whatever my kitchen scales show on the morning of surgery. In a way I think this is just a self preservation thing- not wanting to think I got as big as I did. I'll be more than content to know I'm down to wearing a UK size 12 clothes rather than having lost 5stone( 70lbs). If I mention 5 stone loss I'll get gasps but will just be reminding myself of the guilt for getting so heavy. What's everyone else going to do? Any thoughts?

Hi. I asked my dietician last week about slippage and she said I would be very uncomfortable and be vomiting all day. A few people have mentioned their band seems tight in a morning but by the evening there desn't seem to be restriction. I'm like this on some days but others I don't feel any tightness. I've had 4mls in at time of surgery and the dietician said I won't be feeling proper restriction until I have about 7mls in my 10mls band. My support group friends have said the port can become more obvious as we lose weightx

Sorry, I assumed you were post op and replied as such. Your guilt should help get you through. The journey is well worth it x

My hunger started on day four too. I'm almost 3 weeks post op and have had many slip ups! For me it happens when I've not had enough fluid. My dietician has reassured me but do remember you are currently healing and by having the solids so early on, you are making your stomach work when it should be resting. I was told to add potato to my soups as it thickens them plus the starch will help to fill you up. It really did help. The sugar free jellies are lovely, sweet and a good distraction too. Make yourself a planner and try and plan your meals and fluids. This does help you focus. Also coming on here when you feel like you're about to have a wobble and reading the posts helps to inspire and drive you on!. Good luck ;0)

I woke up on the 4th morning after surgery and found I was on my stomach. I'd had a really good sleep! I regularly wake up now on my stomach with no discomfort. I do however feel my port might be a little tilted but after getting a few people to have a feel at my WLS support group, I am reassured that it is nothing out of the ordinary and the nurse should have no problems giving me the fills:)

Hi Everyone. I'm 3 weeks post op tomorrow and have lost a total of 16lb(9lb was pre-op). This last week I have stayed pretty much the same ( I weigh daily for the guide) but feel the scales will show a bit of a loss tomorrow. Some days I can stick to 800 cals and feel really positive but other days I could eat the equivilent of a 3 course evening meal! I've not oftenbeen feeling that full sensation at the back of my throat and have been trying to have a small evening meal but found I'm then in and out the kitchen having a bit of this then back for that. It's almost like I'm pushing myself to try and feel full. It is my time of the month tho Today I had only a cup of tea before work( bearing in mind I ate loads last night, even in bed) and arrived at a meeting with little time to eat lunch before the speaker began. The softest thing I could see was a chicken and chorizo casserole(creamy sauce) and i had 2 spoons of cous cous. I tried to shred the chicken with my fork( I'm still on mushies officially) and had only one tiny piece of chorizo (it was a little spicy). I had to eat fast and tried to chew chew chew but managed about 1/4 of a plateful in total and got that full feeling. I hadn't had it for days and days!! Not feeling particularly hungry but aware I hadnt had many calories, for my evening meal I had 1/2 small tin of sardines for tea and slowly followed this with a small baked potato(no skin). My total calories so far today are under 550. I don't feel I'll have more than 100cals tonight and am almost buzzing that I'm not in and out the cupboard. I have 4mls put in my 10ml band at time of surgery and have an appts for 2 fills in May. My dietician says 1000cals is a guide only, we all need different amounts. She told me not to focus on the amount of calories but a loss of 1-2lb per week is good. I've been told not to exercise until I'm 4weeks post-op but have bought a treadmill and from tonight will be just walking for 20mins if I don't walk to work. It had suited me to have a protein shake for breakfast and a cup a soup or other soup for lunch with something like poached salmon, mashed potato and mushy peas for dinner but after today It was a relief not to be raiding the cupboards si I'm going to eat more than soup for lunch tomorrow and see if I have another good day.x

Hi. I'm a RGN and working as a Practice Nurse at a Gp surgery. I was going to go back to work after one week but would have only worked one day before having the long Easter weekend. I'm glad I had a 12 day run as out of the blue, I had a bit of an emotional day on day 9. I had sat as a passenger in my parents car while we went to visit a relative. I think my stomach became very tense from riding over all the potholes and by the time I was home, I was washed out. I did a small chore, something broke and the tears started. Actually going back to work gave me a buzz and a better routine but sitting at my desk/computer gave me a severe backache. It happened for the first 3 days but the nurse at hospital did not feel it was band related( i had even wondered if it was due to new shoes). I changed chairs, took analgesia and used a hot waterbottle on my back. It has been alot better from day 4. Strange ;0/

HI. I had read alot on here about using a heat pad so I borrowed 2 hot water bottles off my sister and used one for my stomach and put the second on my right shouder( i didnt get left shoulder discomfort). They weren't 'painful' as such but uncomfortable so they felt nice and helped me sleep. I walked round the room little but oftenish and also rotated my arms( like making big wheel motions) a few times which also helped. Make sure you have something to help with constipation though as You probably won't go for a few days anyway but it can be uncomfortable when you do and for the following few times. I tried prune juice but am sticking to milk of magnesia which is great. Hope you're feeling better soon but rest loads and keep up with the fluids xx

Hi. It's my 3rd day on mushies and when the dietican rang me on Thursday, she said I can have some of the tiny pasta now. I bought some and cooked it up last night but unfortunately the tomato sauce I used was too sharp so I didnt enjoy it( but did finish that portion). I had no problem keeping it down tho. I stupidly tried a small piece of poached chicken after I did my son a chicken/bacon/philly cheese and bbq sauce panini at lunchtime today and that made me sick for about 30mins. I feel washed out so will be sticking to poached salmon, mashed potato and mushy peas!! I'm really hoping that chicken won't be a problem for me longterm as I'm used to having it at least 3 times every wek. I should have stuck to the rules and only had minced chicken during this fortnight!

Thanks. I did end up measuring on the morning of my surgery- 29th March. I thought I had lost the post-it I wrote on but found it. 3 days ago I measured and have already lost 2 inches off hips and 2 1/2 " off my waist(or other way round). Very pleased I did

Hiya. I had this the morning after surgery and did query it with the nurse. I looked flushed but there were sort of spots within the colouring( went up to my forehead). The nurse said it was probably down to being in the hospital environment with temperature etc. Even pointing out that I worked in a hospital didn't warrant any further checks. It did pass as the day wore on tho:) x

Hi All. I did measure from neck to foot but seem to have thrown the post it that I wrote it on!! I'm hoping I have just 'filed' it but think it is long gone:( What am I like?? lol x

Congrats Nick and welcome to the 'new banders'( or should I say 'fully fledged banders'?)! I'm 6 days post op and it really has flown by!! I've not needed pain meds for last 3 days and not actually had any pain or sickness just a little discomfort. One good thing I've found is that I am losing a lb a day since my op. I know this will change but it sure is helping give me a boost. Heat pads are great for shoulder and stomach but having a pillow in the bed one side of stomach gives you a feeling of security too. Also take something to prevent constipation. I didn't have a problem as such and knew it would be day 5 or later before 1st post op BM but I can't say it was pleasant and am drinking prune juice now to make things a little easier next time I go!

I'm also 5 days post op and had a craving for food today. I found myself microwaving a tiny potato. i mixed the middle with low fat soft cheese and lots of skimmed milk so it was like pureed food.The guilt after was awful as was the wait for pain but lucky that didnt happen and I soon got back on track. If I had come on here when I had the craving and read all the posts that remind you why you dont have more than liquids, I wouldn't have strayed. I shall make sure I switch my computer on first thing in the morning tomorrow and load the site ready.. just in case