bandbun

Great advice from Mis and Cazzy, u shouldnt be too tight otherwise i too aso read it can cause many other problems.

I was told anything u can mash with a fork basically i wasnt a fan or pureed anything so chose food that was already soft, white fish, mashed green veg, caulifower mashed .. tasted more like normal food then .. if u do have blend then dont lump it all together blend it each individual bit , tastes better then. Cooked frozen peas are nice in a puree form

No blended foods for me either! My diet plan went from liquids to soft Proteins. During this phase I ate canned tuna, canned chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and plenty of feesh white fish.

I was self pay too .. good luck with your surgery and afterwards the hard work starts

They say that self payers have a higher % of success. Good for you.
tmf

Totally agree u shouldnt be living with a band that is too tight. U may only need a tiny unfill, i know when i was too tight 0.25 removed was the magic number and i couldnt keep fluids down then either. I lost 10 lbs in a week from being too tight, the relief was instant when i had some removed. Please dont delay get that unfill asap !

I had a full body lift, with 360 degree abdominoplasty and brachioplasty 7 weeks ago now, it went easier than i thought it would, was uncomfortable but not really painful, i had lost a lot of weight, was 58 yrs old so had a mass of saggy skin and muscles. now all i have are red thin lines where the scars are and they will eventually fade .. i saw on tv a programme regarding this laser Lipo, and yes it is a great idea for very small targetted areas of fat, but the amount of fat that can be withdrawn is evidently quite small, and u have the added problem that any lipo can create loose skin so what u gain in lipo u lose in loose skin. I saw the laser lipo done on a tummy that most people would see as a normal stomach so hard to judge how an ex overweight tummy would fare using this method.
Theres quite a few of us now who ended up having to have surgery to remove skin not so many that had lipo tho

Might not have been such a great idea moving to soft food 10 days post op, if it was earlier than u should have, what were your doctors guidelines ? this time is for healing so the stomach needs to have a more liquid sort of diet to stop it trying to digest food.
Sounds like u are doing well weight wise, keep moving and eating right and the gas does eventually go, but take it slowly and things should improve with time

It really is a decision that should come from your doctor, as its quite importat to get it right .

I am curious to know if anyone had suffered from anxiety/panic when they were overweight. If so did this change after you were banded? I have this incredibly stupid fear of letting my heart rate get elevated because I have had issues with panic attacks out of the blue and believed I was dying of a heart attack, upon professional follow up/care I learned my heart is totally healthy....but now I am slightly fearful to excercise because I don't want my heart to race. I have spoken with my psychologist about this and I receive another question as my answer; "Why do you suppose that is?" Which I'm sitting there thinking 'if I knew why do you really think I would be sitting here talking to you about it?!' I'm wondering if my fear of excercise (or any other activity that may raise my heart rate) will get better as I start to drop weight.

What others have shared is also my experience...loosing weight on your own through Portion Control and exercise is doable. The difficult part is to maintain the weight loss through maintaining a change in lifestyle.

I chose the band because I was running out of time...the diabetes time clock was ticking, and I wanted a long term success with adverting diabetes and reclaiming at least some of the health which my weight was stealing from me. The band is only a tool, you have to comply with the diet to be successful.

That also requires a life long lifestyle change, but having the band does make it easier for me to remain compliant with a healthier lifestyle and portion control.

Good luck as you "weigh" your options!

And many doctors are wrong :)
It is coming to light that one of the biggest problems with the band is age, the older we are evidently the more we are able to commit ourselves to making the band work .. who knows there is exceptions to every rule and every average ...
Grats Steve awesome job on the weight loss.

Some docotors are 6 weeks, some say 3 months , mine was 6 months .. u will need to ask

I dont understand where does it say 'all' of us never felt hungry post -op ?
This time post -op is for healing, follow your doctors guidelines over what to eat and when and u will heal fine, but being hungry is part of the healing process, i would say that most of the people felt hungry post -op except for a lucky few that felt some restriction when they awoke from surgery.
Be patient and give yourself time to heal, untill u maybe start getting a few fills u may very well feel hungry till then, some actually do gain a small amount of weight. If u dont want to gain weight when u are back on solid food u may need to restrict what u eat and start exercising. This is why this period is called bandster hell, u have a band but little or no restriction. I would suggest u discuss how u are feeling with your doctor when u return to see him and maybe see a nutritionist too.

You might get lucky and just do a small amount of exercise and it could fall off of you

You will find that as u begin to get healtheir and lose weight and not be eating junk food etc etc , u wont be anywhere near as prone to catching bugs /flu than u were believe me
Bands do not slip that often, and mostly its due to sustained vomiting/regurtitation over a much longer period of time than a short illness, bands can slip with a bad bout of vomiting, but its more likely because the band is too tight and there is a longer history of regurgitating food on a regular basis .

As a self pay patient my first year of monthly visits and fills were covered by the fee I paid up front for surgery. My insurance will not pay for any fills or anything related to the band. I have the clause which states they will not pay for any "obesity related services" on my policy.

It's all good. Slowly losing weight. A little behind my expected pace but still losing. I've found my old little friend again. He was lost for a few years but he's back and hanging in there
tmf

Sounds like u are doing sooo well .. u have 3 options, keep doing what u are doing and enjoy your coffee, reduce your coffee to just one a day treat and maybe lose a little faster, or cut it out completely and maybe lose a little more ... personally try reducing the amount u drink, u might find that works for you just fine

Good luck , u might find it can take a good 3 to 4 fills to get u close to where u really need to be, but small steps are by far the best in this process, keep doing what u are doing and u will be fine

Hopefully you do have a little restriction after the first fill, but more than likely what you're experiencing is swelling from the irritation of the needle going into the port. Don't be surprised if you don't feel anything tomorrow. Hang in there though! This process takes time as Cazzy explained.

Good luck to you all on here, i know how hard this is gonna be for you 'younger ones' it will be worth it tho, if i had my time again i would have this surgery in a flash when i was 20 something, take this opportunity to make the rest of your life what u want it to be.
This is still a medical proceedure, it isnt cosmetic, you have to meet medical requirements to get this surgery, its like people telling u not to have your appendix out, if u meet the requirements for this surgery, then u need it ..!!

a heating pad on your tummy will help, and laying in bed on your left side.

It is common to be full of gas post surgery, i know a lot have got relief from gas x strips, we dont get them here, but my heat pad was my saviour and in a few days u will find that the gas will start to move and find its own outlet

A true friend would support you whatever you decide , if u medically didnt need the operation u wouldnt be able to get it unless u were self pay, would your friend tell u not to take pills for an ailment/illness, personally i cant see any difference, maybe u need to get a new friend along with your new healthy life ..