runnyf

I did the same thing. I tried on some of the clothes I thought I could still wear but my husband helped me to decide which ones looked ridiculously big and some that I had refused to donate before in hopes that they would fit and they do! I also shopped in a department store for myself for the first time in YEARS! It was a great feeling.

My MD always numbs the area, no question or option, just does. Has never had a problem finding my port. I have had a visit 2 weeks after a fill, and that isn't abnormal. Probably wants to make sure that things are going well since the fill. Don't expect to necessarily get another fill 2 weeks later. Especially if you are doing well.

Usually the gas that they use to inflate your abdomen to do the surgery dissipates and moves toward your left shoulder and chest, thus creating left shoulder pain. Walking usually is the only thing that really helps to get that gas out. I would follow the stages of your post op diet and keep to the liquids for a long as your MD states, then move to fruit after you are able to go to solids. I think the biggest risk is taking too big of a bite and getting stuck, which is no fun. You'll be able to eat solid foods soon enough. Be patient.

I wish I would have really understood that a lot of my eating habits were mental habits, and that woud be the hardest thing to change. The LB helps with the negative feedback I need to say, no, you ate too fast, too much, didn't chew enough so I learn new behaviors with physically eating. Mentally, I still think that I need a large amount of food to feel full, and that is not the case.

I can't really eat scrambeled eggs, - even if I chew, the bite size gets me every time because they really don't break down that much with chewing. Anyway, just make sure that you keep your bite sizes to the size of the tip of your little finger, and chew 25-30 times each bite. I also had to keep a timer or used an app on my phone to take about 60 to 90 seconds between bites. Eating too fast can cause issues too. I found that 90 seconds was a good time interval with most anything solid inbetween bites. You can google how much Protein is in ___ and should be able to find pretty reliable information. Rule of thumb is that most beef cuts are about 7 grams of protein per ounce. A 4oz hamburger patty has 28 grams of protein. A chicken breast 3.5 oz has 30 grams of protein, Fish 3.5 oz has 22 grams. Venison 3 oz is 20 grams of protein.

WOW- so many powerful questions and insights. Marketingdude- I'm not that far out post op, but to answer a couple of questions you put out there for feedback.
1. I don't think that eating with a LB will ever be considered normal. What I have noticed is how quickly those without LB eat, the big bites without regard to chewing 27 times before swallowing, or the size of the bite and I don't think that how we are supposed to eat will ever be considered normal. Consider- how normal is it for adults to order items off kids menus because of portion size? How normal is it to order dinner and take 3/4 home with you? Our eating with the LB will have to become our own normal but the concept of what is normal pre LB and post LB is a journey each person will have to take on their own and find themselves.
2. Adjustment to having the LB is really a personal matter. For me, it is all about having foods readily avialable to me that I can eat and enjoy. Also, having a plan if that item at home isn't possible. Like, what are things that I can have at a resturant that I go to often and having that knowledge so you don't feel like you are condemed to a life of never eating out again or having only what you planned the night before.
3. What I wished I knew before was what all of this talk of "head hungry" really meant. For me, it has meant that when the feeling of hungry hits, which for me post LB has been pretty few and far between, my head thinks, I want this, and that, and that, and then it turns out that after about 4-6 bites I'm totally full and staring at all of this food I put in front of me that before the LB would have already been comsumed. Or ordering a item at a resturant of a cetrain size, and realizing that you probably wouldn't have even finished a small order of that item had you ordered it.
All in all, I think there are 2 things that really come into mind when going through this transiion. One is you have to find your new normal that is hidden within the old normal. Which means, your favorite resturant is still going to be your favorite resturant. For me, I had to order the same thing I did before the LB and then realize, that it was too much food, that it made me feel physically bad after I ate it, and come up with something else there that I know the next time I come, I can focus on having that item instead of focusing on what I can't/shouldn't have. The second thing is that in the beginning, you really have to think about everything that you put into your mouth. I would have never though twice about taking a bite of a sandwhich or bread, but now, It is all different. But it's become normal not to eat bread, it is just a new normal. For me, I need the physicial discomfort that eating the wrong foods or too much creates to teach my brain not to do that anymore. That's the kind of stimulation I need to say, hey dummy, don't do that again. Like a young kid touching a hot stove, they don't do that again once they get burned. I long for the time when I don't have to think about this kind of thing when eating, but I haven't given myself a time table for when that will happen.

I think the pre op diet is come kind of tourcher. My MD told me that if during that time it was eat something or someone would die, he said to eat something. I found that putting in a couple of pieces of frozen fruit and crushed ice helped with the chewing sensation loss with the shakes.< /p>

My surgery date is April 2, and I'm on day 3 of the pre op diet. Day 1-7 is 2 proetin shakes per day that are 200 caleries or less, and have 15g of Protein or more and a small dinner that has no more than 200 calories, no more than 15 grams of net carbs, and 15 grams or more protein. I was given a list of some lein cusines and smart one's dinners that meet this criteria, and it's not many. Plus they change all the time, adding and subtracting carbs as they desire. Then day 8-13 is 4 Protein Shakes per day. I can supplement with Jello, broth, popcicles, and they stressed at lease 64 oz of Water a day. Then day 14 is just clear liquids the day before the surgery. The goal is to shrink the fat around the liver and the actual liver itself because of it's position relative to the stomach. If the liver is too big, they can't get it out of the way in a safe manner to place the band. The liver is a very vascualr organ and they want it safely out of the way so they can get to the stomach so there isn't any damage to it creating more complications. That is one of the reasons that surgerons cancel sx or don't preform it once you are in the operating room is that if they can't get that liver out of the way and visualize the stomach, they can't safely do the surgery.