AlleyKat

I say this with all due respect, but I wouldn't be laughing at anyone because you're wrong about what the band is meant to do and that's probably why you slipped. The band isn't supposed to be "tightened down" to prevent you from eating normally. The band is supposed to make you feel satisfied with less food for longer periods of time. It's up to you to make good food choices and stop eating when you're no longer hunger. The band isn't supposed to stop you from doing either.
Way too many people walk around with bands entirely too tight because they're expecting the band to do something it's simply not meant to do. As a result, way too many people also end up with slips because of it.

Love that quote Jean. A study can be manipulated to show pretty much whatever the author chooses to show. Remember also that Correlation does not equal causation. There are always other factors that play in to studys. It may look like the band was removed 50% of the time but WHY? Was it failure of the band or failure of the user? What happened to the people who dropped out of the study?
Also the band has come a long way with many improvements to how it is made and used. It is a relativly new procedure as well so it will take years, possibly decades before they will be able to do a study that truely reflects the success of the band.

i hadmy first fill today and i fill the same way I have 5cc in my band and am also on 24hrs liquid 24hrs pureed.
I am also super hungry right now too lol. My Protein shake really didn't cut it .
I go back every 4 weeks until I'm at my 'sweet spot'. They add 1cc each visit until I'm close and then they will go to 0.5cc and 0.25cc if necessary. They said that the goal with my current fill is to not gain any wait and with the next 2 fills or so I should start going down steadily.
I can't wait to be a success story. i feel like for the first tie in my life, I could be one.

Love that quote Jean. A study can be manipulated to show pretty much whatever the author chooses to show. Remember also that Correlation does not equal causation. There are always other factors that play in to studys. It may look like the band was removed 50% of the time but WHY? Was it failure of the band or failure of the user? What happened to the people who dropped out of the study?
Also the band has come a long way with many improvements to how it is made and used. It is a relativly new procedure as well so it will take years, possibly decades before they will be able to do a study that truely reflects the success of the band.

I spoke to my fill nurse yesterday because i was eatting more than a cup (5 weeks post op). she said to have 1-1.5cups and stop and wait an hour. If your still hungry have another 1-1.5cps. This prevents the chance of stretching your pouch by eatting too much but at the same time scocunts for the fact that we aren't properly resticted and are HUNGRY!!.

i hadmy first fill today and i fill the same way I have 5cc in my band and am also on 24hrs liquid 24hrs pureed.
I am also super hungry right now too lol. My Protein shake really didn't cut it .
I go back every 4 weeks until I'm at my 'sweet spot'. They add 1cc each visit until I'm close and then they will go to 0.5cc and 0.25cc if necessary. They said that the goal with my current fill is to not gain any wait and with the next 2 fills or so I should start going down steadily.
I can't wait to be a success story. i feel like for the first tie in my life, I could be one.

i hadmy first fill today and i fill the same way I have 5cc in my band and am also on 24hrs liquid 24hrs pureed.
I am also super hungry right now too lol. My Protein shake really didn't cut it .
I go back every 4 weeks until I'm at my 'sweet spot'. They add 1cc each visit until I'm close and then they will go to 0.5cc and 0.25cc if necessary. They said that the goal with my current fill is to not gain any wait and with the next 2 fills or so I should start going down steadily.
I can't wait to be a success story. i feel like for the first tie in my life, I could be one.

I can feel it hit my ribs when I am lying in bed on my side or stomach and sometimes when I bend. I have my first follow-up tomorrow so I'll try and remember to ask

Have you ever said, “I'm sick and tired of being overweight and overeating but I don’t know where to start.” Check out these easy do-able steps that can make all the difference.


“I'm sick and tired of being overweight and overeating but I don’t know where to start.”
That’s what a new client said. Her head was so full of diet advice, nutrition tips, weight loss ads, and beliefs about what she “should” be doing, that she was overwhelmed and feeling stuck before she even started.
Should she cut back on carbs? Start working out? Keep a food diary? Rejoin Weight Watchers? She knows she’s a stress eater, so maybe she should start meditating and eating mindfully.
She also really needs to catch up on her sleep, but her desk is a mess and she wants to spend more time with her husband….
Overload is like that and so is emotional overeating. Both can feel like tangled messes with no obvious starting point. When you are stuck in a cycle you don’t know how to stop, taking action can start to feel like it’s going to start an avalanche. Add to that the panic many of us feel when we are exhausted and overloaded that paradoxically causes us to bite off too much, and see our options as “all” or “nothing,” and many stressed-out overeaters see themselves facing a challenge that feels insurmountable.
“If I’m going to go to the gym, I really need to go six days a week and stay for an hour,” said a client who hadn’t felt she could fit in a workout for weeks.
“I need to start keeping track of everything I eat, I need to drink more Water, and I need to start eating more vegetables and stop eating after dinner.”
“I’m going to eat healthy, journal, meditate, and work out every day.”
“I’m so stressed. Nothing can change until I get a new job.”
All of these women started to feel overwhelmed before the words were even out of their mouths.
Guess what? The road to lasting change is hardly ever a major life overhaul. Creating peace with food and peace with your life almost always happens in small do-able steps. Contrary to what your stressed-out brain may be telling you, powerful change can be created from simple consistent shifts.
How do you start taking charge of overeating, stress, or that feeling of having too much on your plate?
You start by creating success and effectiveness and allowing that to snowball. The success and feelings of accomplishment are what help you create momentum—and that, in turn, creates more ease and motivation. Pick one small simple step that you can commit to for the next week. If it makes you tired or feels intimidating to say it out loud, cut the size of the step in half.
Now do it. Check it off every day, and Celebrate yourself profusely. After four to seven days, choose another step.
Your goal here is to choose a step that increases your progress and momentum one inch—not a mile. When you are getting started from a place of stress and overwhelm, your goal is to get into action, but NOT to add more stress and overwhelm to your life.
The first step should feel almost (but not quite) effortless.
Eating Breakfast in the morning
Checking in with yourself midafternoon and and asking yourself what you need
Making a list of five things you can do when you feel stressed (that are not food)

Start small. Create effectiveness, and the momentum and your progress will build. Really.

Oh fun question! My friend and I were banded a month apart and we set some fun mini goal rewards. The 1st is to go to Canada's Wonderland next summer if we are both below 200 and the other is to get our belly buttons pierced (not that I'd ever show anyone lol).
I think when I hit goal I'm going to have to have a ladies night. Go out and get new clothes, dress up, and hit the town with my bffs. I'm smiling just thinking about it...

I beat myself up a LOT. I keep trying to remind myself of what I would do before the band. My noss took us out for lunch the other day and i had half a wrap and some fries and I felt TERRIBLE about it. After I got over beating mysef up I realized before i would have had a starter, a burger, all of the fries, and possibly a desert and a couple of cokes. Sure my decision wasn't great but it's a heck of a lot better then it would have been before the band.
I SUCK at diets. I'm sorry, I LIKE food. I got the band because one thing my surgon said was to use the 80/20 rule. As long as you are good and follow the diet 80% of the time, you don't have to be perfect the other 20%, you should still be successful. it is impossible to say that you will be perfect and never faulter, and if you did, that doesn't seem like a terribly enjoyable way to live to me!

I beat myself up a LOT. I keep trying to remind myself of what I would do before the band. My noss took us out for lunch the other day and i had half a wrap and some fries and I felt TERRIBLE about it. After I got over beating mysef up I realized before i would have had a starter, a burger, all of the fries, and possibly a desert and a couple of cokes. Sure my decision wasn't great but it's a heck of a lot better then it would have been before the band.
I SUCK at diets. I'm sorry, I LIKE food. I got the band because one thing my surgon said was to use the 80/20 rule. As long as you are good and follow the diet 80% of the time, you don't have to be perfect the other 20%, you should still be successful. it is impossible to say that you will be perfect and never faulter, and if you did, that doesn't seem like a terribly enjoyable way to live to me!

I beat myself up a LOT. I keep trying to remind myself of what I would do before the band. My noss took us out for lunch the other day and i had half a wrap and some fries and I felt TERRIBLE about it. After I got over beating mysef up I realized before i would have had a starter, a burger, all of the fries, and possibly a desert and a couple of cokes. Sure my decision wasn't great but it's a heck of a lot better then it would have been before the band.
I SUCK at diets. I'm sorry, I LIKE food. I got the band because one thing my surgon said was to use the 80/20 rule. As long as you are good and follow the diet 80% of the time, you don't have to be perfect the other 20%, you should still be successful. it is impossible to say that you will be perfect and never faulter, and if you did, that doesn't seem like a terribly enjoyable way to live to me!

Well who would have thought that 6 years ago today I’d be getting something
called a “lapband”.
I had done all my research; talk to the doctors several times prior to my
surgery. I joined Canadian Lapbanders and asked a ton of questions I was in
the Lapbandtalk.com chat room every night for two months prior to surgery and I
even spoke with two patients on the phone and asked even more questions prior to surgery. I was ready to begin my lapband journey.
I can remember right after the surgery I said “What have I done myself”. I thought I was going to die from the left shoulder pain I was experiencing.
The fourth day past and going into the fifth day I was starting to feel
“normal” but little did I realize that from that day on my life, in
particular the way looked at food would change.
I kept my food journal everyday for the first four months. I wrote down
everything. Every Monday morning I would sit and re-read the information Dr. Yau gave me. I studied the menu plans I was given like I was getting ready for an
exam. I studied the notes I took from Kathy P. and Belina and thought if they can do it so can I.
Every month when I went to my family doctor for my monthly weigh-in and
measurements I took my folder with all my lapband info in it along with my food
journals for the past month and I would review my journals with my family doctor and then he would take out the measuring tape and then I would get weighed.
The lapband journey for me was like doing a puzzle. There are many pieces that
would eventually come together and form my new lapband lifestyle.
Things that have helped me work on my new puzzle.
- I listened to the doctor and clinic staff
- I reviewed the information folder given to me by the clinic on regular basis
(weekly while on the various food stages) and then twice a month
- So many people that get banded today get their binder and they read through it just after surgery and then put it on the self to collect dust.
- I kept my food journal for 4 months without fail
- I stopped eating large meals past 7:00 p.m. and now just have an evening
snack on occasion. The only exception to my rule is on Friday night when I
usually go out for dinner
Even before my journey started I started looking for support. I read
everything I could find online, read EVERY post on Canadian Lapbanders and asked many questions.
Support. Since being banded the word support has never been so important to
me. The lapband journey is a unique experience and if the people around you are
not banded they try to understand what you’re going through but they really
don’t get it. I know the reason I was so successful is because of the support
of fellow bandsters. I went to the support group meetings at the clinic,
attended the special seminars offered and I was always in the chat room. Over
the years I’ve talked on the phone to bandsters from all over, Canada, US and
even the UK.
Fast forward to today and I still say that support from fellow bandsters is
the key for me in maintaining my weight and I still have my monthly weigh-in
with my family doctor. Friends that are not banded laugh at me because I take
the GO train all over the place just to meet a group of people for coffee. Yes,
it’s an expensive cup of coffee but I enjoy connecting with my fellow bandsters as
they start their new journey or watch them reach their goal and it’s great to
share lapband stories with individuals that are looking into this new lifestyle
change.
People ask me if I think about my lapband everyday… I do (usually when it
gurgles) but it has become a part of me. I still enjoy all the foods I did in
the past (with two exceptions and NO CARBONATED BEVERAGES) but I never feel like I’m missing out on certain foods or social gatherings because I have the band.
To my fellow bandsters thank you so much for being there for me at the various
stages throughout my journey. Yes I may be crazy to travel just about anywhere
to meet fellow bandsters for coffee but again I get so much out of this unique
support group and it keeps me on track. My arm may hurt from holding the phone for too long after speaking to a fellow bandster from Calgary for over an hour on the phone but I don’t mind.
To my clinic and in particular Dr. Yau, Kathy and Nancy and in recent years
Arlene a special thank you for giving me the tools to use along the way to be
successful. Dr. Yau the egg timer trick really did work !!!
I’m not sure the lapband puzzle will ever be complete. I know I will
continue to add pieces to it for years to come.
On a final note thank you to everyone for there well wishes for the past several months. It’s been rough couple of months but I’m doing well.
Tom, Toronto
Banded July 6 06
Wt. Loss: 156 lbs

If its above the ankle bone on the fleshier area it shouldn't be too bad. If its lower down towards the bone or on the top of the foot it can be very sore. Generally, the fleshier the area, the less the pain. Its worth it (for me anyway). The worst part I find is the outline, after that the rest is a walk in the park. A great forever gift to yourself

Congrats on the tat...watch out they are addictive. I started with a smaller one and they just keep getting bigger every time I go for a new one. This is my most recent.

Your topic made me suddenly feel a lot less alone I went through the exact same problem.
I booked my first consult and he was very upset with me. He also thinks I should be able to do it naturally. Just join a gym, just eat healther. He also says I should just be comfortable in my own skin, he doesn't understand it is about so much more than that, especially my health.
I went to the consult anyway. I spent over a month trying to get him on my side and it wasn't happening. I told him I was just going to go ahead and book it and I don't ask him to agree I just ask him to support me in my weight loss and recovery. I told my Mum who is very supportive of me and I told my best friend who is banded and then just went and booked it. I came home and told him what I had done. He was REALLY upset at first.
I try not to bring it up with him too much, I stick to talking about it with the people who are excited for me. He's come a long way though. At first he said he wouldn't take me to the surgery, now he's booked the day off of work and is gettin up at 4:30am TOMORROW MORNING to take me. I made him read all the paper work and watch all the videos the clinic provided. My amazing friend came over Tuesday night to wish me luck and debated him on a couple of areas he was still worried/upset about. She showed him how well sh was doing and let him feel her port and such which I think really helped.
My only advice is to do what is best for YOU and the rest will fall in to place. Look to the people who do support you for guidence and keep reminding your husband it's not just for looks, its for health. It's for your children (if you have/want any in the future), it's so you can live the life you want to live.
Give him lots of information, make him read the studies, the success stories, and the possible risks. If you can get him to, have him go to the seminar. My husband is a math and statisics guy, I found research studies and articles in medical journals.
He's probably just scared for you. They hear the words 'surgery' and they think it's some horribly invasive procedure where you could come out mutilated or even dead.
Only you can decide what is right for you and the people we love will all come around in the end. The rest don't matter.

Oh fun question! My friend and I were banded a month apart and we set some fun mini goal rewards. The 1st is to go to Canada's Wonderland next summer if we are both below 200 and the other is to get our belly buttons pierced (not that I'd ever show anyone lol).
I think when I hit goal I'm going to have to have a ladies night. Go out and get new clothes, dress up, and hit the town with my bffs. I'm smiling just thinking about it...

I didn't stay overnight but I wore home very loose yoga pants and a baggy shirt. Today I'm wearing a loose sundress. Anything that's not tight in the tummy area that is comfortable should be good I'd also recommend bringing a pillow to put between your tummy and the seatbelt for the drive home. Hope that helps. Good luck!!

I have lost over 110 pounds in less than 6 months, so yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's the best decision I've ever made for myself.
You hit on a major point- it's not a magic bullet. Too many people go into this seriously uneducated to the facts and expect the band to "fix" them. It doesn't work that way. It's a tool, not a sprinkle of magic fairy dust. You have to change your eating habits for a lifetime no matter what type of WLS surgery you decide to have.

Had my surgery this morning! It went really well, went for a walk around the block a few minutes ago. They found a hiatal hernia when they repaired too which is good. I hace 3 incisions, don't know how long they are though. My post op diet is just Water today, 5 days Clear Liquids,5 days full Fluid, 8 days of mushies.
My husband so so wonderful and supportive of me today which meant the world to me.
Time now to rest and watcha movie!

Your topic made me suddenly feel a lot less alone I went through the exact same problem.
I booked my first consult and he was very upset with me. He also thinks I should be able to do it naturally. Just join a gym, just eat healther. He also says I should just be comfortable in my own skin, he doesn't understand it is about so much more than that, especially my health.
I went to the consult anyway. I spent over a month trying to get him on my side and it wasn't happening. I told him I was just going to go ahead and book it and I don't ask him to agree I just ask him to support me in my weight loss and recovery. I told my Mum who is very supportive of me and I told my best friend who is banded and then just went and booked it. I came home and told him what I had done. He was REALLY upset at first.
I try not to bring it up with him too much, I stick to talking about it with the people who are excited for me. He's come a long way though. At first he said he wouldn't take me to the surgery, now he's booked the day off of work and is gettin up at 4:30am TOMORROW MORNING to take me. I made him read all the paper work and watch all the videos the clinic provided. My amazing friend came over Tuesday night to wish me luck and debated him on a couple of areas he was still worried/upset about. She showed him how well sh was doing and let him feel her port and such which I think really helped.
My only advice is to do what is best for YOU and the rest will fall in to place. Look to the people who do support you for guidence and keep reminding your husband it's not just for looks, its for health. It's for your children (if you have/want any in the future), it's so you can live the life you want to live.
Give him lots of information, make him read the studies, the success stories, and the possible risks. If you can get him to, have him go to the seminar. My husband is a math and statisics guy, I found research studies and articles in medical journals.
He's probably just scared for you. They hear the words 'surgery' and they think it's some horribly invasive procedure where you could come out mutilated or even dead.
Only you can decide what is right for you and the people we love will all come around in the end. The rest don't matter.

Treehouse, that's terrible! At a minimum they should have told you WHY they were late, not blamed it on your WBC count. They would have known that the day they received the results. What are you going to do? If they were honest I think I'd be more understanding. Life happens, people get held up sometimes. But I'd be a bit more skepticle if I found out they were playing games!
Indy, thanks so much for making that list. What a great idea!

Mariaband, I'm still preop but my paperwork says not to expect any weighloss until the first fill (even though we get a fill during surgery). The post-op diet is about allowing your body to heal and not about losing weight. Your body is swollen and injured which means it is also likely to retain fluids.
Good luck! I'm sure it will happen soon

The liquid diet is a common feature of the bariatric surgery landscape, as widespread and despised as kudzu in the South. Since there’s no way around it, you might as well make the best of it by learning the reasons for it and trying the practical tips I’m going to give you.


WHY A LIQUID DIET?
Bariatric clinics use differing protocols for their patients’ pre-op and post-op diets. Why? When you finish explaining that, perhaps you could also explain the meaning of life? If you asked your surgeon or dietitian, the answer would probably go something like this: “We have adapted these procedures to suit the needs of the patients in our individual practice, based on our experience of what produces the best outcome and the fewest complications.” In the case of adjustable gastric band patients like us, you might expect the band manufacturers to dictate what are called “best practices” in patient education and care, but the fact is that if Allergan and Ethicon-Endo were to employ armies of band police to supervise every bariatric surgeon in the world, no one would be able to afford a gastric band.
However those clinics’ protocols may vary, the liquid diet is extremely common part of bariatric patients’ pre-op and post-op instructions. Contrary to popular belief, the liquid diet is not intended to torture the patient. The main purpose of a pre-op diet is to reduce the size and improve the texture of the liver (any weight loss is a plus). The liver is a big organ whose left lateral segment lies on top of the part of the stomach where the band is placed. The pre-op diet uses up the glycogen stored in the liver, shrinking it and making it sturdier, less slippery, and easier to maneuver with laparoscopic instruments. This not only makes the surgeon’s job easier and quicker, it also reduces the risk of complications for you. If your surgeon doesn’t require a pre-op diet of any type, I would have to conclude that he or she is mighty confident in their surgical abilities, but I would also want to ask them how often they have to abort a surgery or convert from a laparoscopic to an open incision technique because of problems handling the patient’s liver.
The purpose of the post-op diet is to keep you nourished while you and your upper GI tract recover from surgery. Although AGB surgery is usually minimally invasive (when done laparoscopically), it does require incisions and some internal dissection, as well as manipulation of your internal organs. All this can cause swelling. One day your stomach was fat, dumb and happy. Now it's got a collar around its neck. In order for it to digest food in any form, your stomach muscles must expand and contract to break the food down and move it along to your lower GI tract. Expecting your stomach to do that comfortably and safely while wearing its brand-new collar just isn’t wise.
So to allow everything to heal properly, and the band to seat itself against your stomach in the correct position, most surgeons require patients to follow a staged post-op diet, starting with liquids. What happens if you don’t follow your post-op recovery diet?
Food can get stuck in the stoma or esophagus and cause an obstruction and/or vomiting.
Vomiting can disturb the position of the band, which can cause the band to slip.
Peristalsis (the muscular action of moving food through the digestive system) can disturb the position of the band, and that can cause the band to slip.

So don't do it!
"But I already cheated!" you say? It's not the end of the world, but don't do it again!
"But I'm starving!" you say? That's too bad, but that isn't the end of the world, either. Not, it's not fun, but hunger is not a good excuse for cheating your health in such a major way. I'd guess that seven of ten bandsters starve their way through the liquid diet phase. If you absolutely cannot bear the liquid diet for another second, or you think you might be genuinely allergic to your Protein Shakes (which could be lactose intolerance rearing its ugly head), call your surgeon or nutritionist before you put something in your mouth that isn't on the approved list. And by the way, the same advice applies to following a liquid diet after each fill you get, so you might as well perfect your liquids survival technique now because you’re going to need it over and over again in the future.
SOME PRACTICAL TIPS FOR SURVIVING YOUR LIQUID DIET
Don't worry about how many calories you're consuming, but stay away from milkshakes, ice cream, frappes and fancy coffee drinks.< br> Drink Protein Drinks (protein will keep you going longer than sugary stuff like fruit juice).
If you don't like the smell or taste of Protein Powder, try putting the drink in the freezer long enough for it to get slushy, and/or put it in a covered beverage container. Sometimes it's the smell, not the taste, that's bothersome.
If you don't care for sweet tastes, try unflavored Protein powder (from various sources including Unjury®) or Unjury® chicken Soup flavor protein powder (www.unjury.com).
Add Unjury® chicken soup flavor protein powder to blended creamy Soups (follow the Unjury® heating instructions or it will clump up and refuse to dissolve).
Add fat free half-and-half or milk to prepared chicken bouillon or broth for a creamy drink.
Add unflavored or fruit-flavored protein powder when making sugar-free Gelatin. Check out the recipes at the Unjury website. Be aware that “unflavored” doesn’t mean the protein has no flavor, so the end product isn’t going to taste exactly like the original.
Buy your favorite soup from a local restaurant, strain out the solids, and drink the broth (Chinese hot and sour soup is wonderful this way).
Buy or make bean soups, puree and thin them with broth, Water, or milk. The pureed soup must be thin enough to pass through a drinking straw.
Add powdered non-fat milk to soups and shakes to boost the protein.
Crunch on sugar-free popsicles, slushies, Italian ice, or ice chips.< br> Don't hang around people who are eating real food.
Experiment with the temperature of your liquids - cold may feel or taste better than hot, or the other way around.
To prevent boredom, experiment with recipes for protein shakes (you'll find at least a million recipes online).
Keep busy! This is a good time to address holiday cards. Who cares if it’s the middle of June?

AND IN THE TMI DEPARTMENT…
A few final words about your liquid diet. Don’t panic if consuming liquids sends you running to the bathroom more often than you’d like. LIQUIDS IN = LIQUIDS OUT. If that happens to you, ask your doctor to suggest a safe, effective OTC anti-diarrheal medication.
And remember: This too shall pass. In more ways than one.