parisshel

My sense is that it is vital to work with a therapist specialized in body image/eating issues as part of the WLS journey. I hope you have access to one so that you can rejoice in all your hard work. In the meantime, well done! You have spared yourself some major health challenges, if nothing else. That's something to be happy about.

Run! Run fast! DO NOT SETTLE FOR THIS SCHMUCK!

Do check in and let us know, ok?

Try going in using a different search engine. For example, if you are using Firefox, try Google Chrome. Sometimes the pic uploads won't be compatible with certain search engines; I know if I use IE NOTHING works...can't comment, upload pics, nothing. (I know, noone should be using IE anymore anyway. )

9 weeks post op and I haven't reintroduced bread (or pasta). I know these are trigger foods for me so I don't want to add them back.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Standing in line to reenroll for the millionth time at Weight Watchers last fall. I just could not bear the thought of losing the weight again, only to regain it plus more. I just didn't have it in my anymore to be constantly hunger, trying to game the WW system, always needing special foods in the house or I'd deviate from the program. I left the WW Center and started my lapband research that day. Had my first consult with the surgeon on December 11th, after months of research and self-questioning to make sure I was mentally prepared for this. Surgery took place March 20th. I'm very very pleased with my decision, and so grateful to be living in an era where there is a real, viable, proven tool to help people like me. I feel like such a burden has been lifted off my shoulders...I'm really loving the way I eat now...tiny portions of wonderful things.

Oh, I feel for you. I am 9 weeks post-op and developed a toothache 2 weeks ago. Root canal scheduled for next week! Luckily I had my first fill last week so I have been on soft foods and have not had a big need to chew chew chew...which would be impossible since I can only chew on one side of my mouth. So you have all my sympathies....get it taken care of so you can be a perfect bandster and not get stuff stuck!

Luckily my bf is 10 years younger than me. Just sayin'.

It's true...you look like you are 15 years old! Great picture, CarolinaGirl!

I wouldn't say it is a safeguard for portion control, but an appeitite dimmer. I call it the nicotine patch for the Fat. You know smokers who use nicotine patches to get off cigarettes? That's what my lapband does for my appetite...it diminishes it so I don't eat too much, just as the patch blocks the smoker from wanting to light up.

If I could tell every pre-op one piece of advice, it would be this one: sit down and write out all you hate about being at the weight you are at. And then write out all you hope to obtain from lapband surgery. Then answer these four questions: What do you care about? (As it relates to living a good life) Where does this come from? (Why do you care about these things?) What is not possible in your life if you stay at this weight? What new theory will you have about your body at your goal weight? I wrote all this out, and I printed it out and took it with me to the hospital. It is also a good document to look at as you work out whether or not you should proceed with WLS. I think most of us hesitate and do a back and forth as we start seriously considering WLS. But one thing that kept me moving forward was looking at how predictive my weight loss history had been. I had reenrolled in Weight Watchers so many times since the age of 14...always lost weight with the program only to eventually gave in to the persistent hunger. It was very clear that I was not going to be among the 1-2% of people losing over 50 pounds and maintaining that loss for life. I didn't really have a big fear surrounding this decision. I know I'll be successful, so there isn't a fear of failure.

I could feel every liquid in the back of my throat after my fill last Wednesday; it slowly diminished over the weekend. Now it's been almost a week and my water goes down like it always did, but my food--I just started back on solids today--man, that's a different story. My chest is very tight as I begin to eat, but then it relaxes. So I'd say for me, it took about a week for the fill to settle and for me to swallow comfortably. But I'm very careful about bite size and I chew my solids to smithereens!

I posted about a similar situation a couple of weeks ago. I'm not at all a lapband veteran (I'm 8 weeks postop) but a couple of weeks ago I was having stabbing pains in the sternum. Like spasms, but the pain was fleeting. It seemed to be unrelated to a meal as it would occur several hours after. My band at the time was unfilled, and my surgeon suspected that there was some irritation going on as the band was kind of moving as it had not yet been filled. (I'm not sure I agree with his explanation because, like you, it seemed to be gas/bowel related.) Anyway, he prescribed Nexium and it went away promptly. I hope you find whatever it is that is causes your pain. It is indeed scary; I, too, thought they were symptoms of a heart attack.

I would keep doing what you are doing until you decide that you need that fill. I only say that because I was also like you, pleased with the restriction my empty band was giving me, with a loss of 2 pounds each week. I met all my nutritional needs, just had bloodwork done which was excellent, and was enjoying everything I ate. I followed all my surgeon's post op directives to the letter in terms of reintroducing my foods in stages. I didn't want a fill, but did not wish to be viewed as a non-compliant patient. My surgeon is quite authoritarian and is not open to hearing a patient's take on things. So I went and got my first fill last week, very reluctantly. Right now I have way too much restriction and cannot even get down any of the healthy. protein-rich, real foods I was basing my diet around. But I'm going to give it a couple of days; it may be once the fill/band settles down I'll be able to reincorporate my salads, Beans, eggs, etc. But I greatly regret not cancelling my fill appointment last week. I was doing just fine without it, and now I'm hating the way I have to eat (for the moment; again, this may change as the fill settles down.) That said, it is providing me with a rapid weight loss. There's at least that benefit.

Probably not a great thing to eat chili (pureed, but chili nonetheless) 3 days after my first fill. I never had gas pains post-op, and now I understand what everyone was talking about.

Absolutely no average whatsoever. People's morphology is different; many people have a fill placed at the moment of surgery; some doctors fill slowly (perhaps to keep you coming back in = revenue stream); some, like mine, do a more-agressive fill. Also, remember that people have different sized bands, with varying lengths of tubing linking them to the port. So a 4 cc fill in one person with a longer tubing will not equal 4 ccs in another with shorter tubing. And 4 ccs in a 14 cc band obviously is a different restriction level when compared with 4 ccs in a 10 cc band. Your fill should be tailored to your comfort. I understand the question--I read alot about fill levels prior to having my first fill a couple of days ago--and now I realize that, while interesting, you can't really do much with the information.

I didn't have coffee on the "no" list; in fact I was served a cup of it postop in the hospital! That said, I don't tolerate the caffeine content anymore---too much of a "zip" now that my calories are so low. So I drink chicory mix coffee (like they do in New Orleans!) or decaf. Otherwise: I usually eat the same thing for breakfast every day, alternating between: --two melba toast like crackers with butter and jam (lightly spread) or softened Peanut Butter (2 tsp total) or oatmeal with a bit of butter and brown sugar. I don't use light products--no access to them where I live--but I don't get freaked out about using "real" butter, sugar, etc. I just don't load up my stuff with it.

Thanks, Jean, for this thorough response. I also think that given the radiation does one incurs with fluoroscopy, it is perhaps not a good idea to do more than one fill/year this way. I'm particularly grateful to read your last paragraph, as today I'm quite uncomforable with this fill (I sense I've very sensitive to restriction). I can drink fine, but trying to get mushies down is just not happening. I will wait a few days to see if the band / stomach settles in, if not...back to the radiologist to get some saline withdrawn.

I felt this same way as you. I had an empty band and a (relatively) slow loss but I was pleased with my loss. I felt restriction even with the empty band and stuck to my prescribed portions. I did not want to get a fill, but at the same time if I didn't, my surgeon would have seen me as a non-compliant patient. (He's a bit of a jerk anyway.) I specifically ask the radiologist doing my fill for a "small" fill....like 2 ccs in my 10 cc band. He did 4 ccs, saying really I should have had 5. And today I am completely nauseous. I had to stay home from work, in fact. I sense I'm one of those people who are very sensitive to restriction and I should have listened to my instincts rather than trying to comply with the surgeon's orders. If I'm still ill tomorrow, I'm going to get some or all of the fill taken out. I don't care if I'm only losing 2 pounds a week---that's fine by me. That's 2 pounds a week with no hunger or cravings....and, more importantly, no nausea!

8 weeks post op today, 18 pounds down since my surgery. My band was placed unfilled but still I respected all postop directives and I'm pleased with my loss and my level of restriction felt by the band alone. I went to get my fill reluctantly, because I'm quite fearful of getting stuck or having PB/vomiting issues and frankly, I'm fine with a slow loss. My fills are down under fluoscopy and I told the radiologist that I didn't want a dramatic fill, something small, particularly because I travel a lot internationally and do not want to have to find myself seeking an unfill in a place where I have no insurance coverage. He told me something that I found interesting; when you get a fill of, say, 4 ccs, it doesn't mean that you have 4 ccs of saline in your band. Some of that saline is in the tubing, and tubing lengths are different. If you have more tubing, some of that 4 ccs will be in the tube and not in your band. So you just can't "order up" 4 ccs because someone you know found their green zone with 4 ccs. This is why filling under fluoscopy is so important...the radiologist can see how the liquid flows and judges a fill "adequate" based on speed that it exits the pouch, and no reflux occuring. On the summary, he noted that 4 ccs was done per my request and that ideally he would have put in 5 ccs. I'm glad he didn't do what he wanted and listened to my needs. So now I'm home, spooning down some applesauce VERY SLOWLY and seeing how that goes down. It can't be any thicker than that cursed barium, right? Wishing everyone good success with their band!

For my protein sources, I turn to beans (kidney, garbanzo, refried), hummous, lentils, loads of fish, yogurt, milk or soy milk (although I think soy milk has fewer grams of protein vs. cow's milk). I'll have some peanut butter from time to time but it's a trigger food for me. I use toasted sliced almonds on my salads, and add some cubed cheese, too. I wasn't a vegetarian to begin with but gave up meat when I got banded.

This sounds like me, too. No bread, pasta, anything fluffy, no red meat except for rare ground beef and even then it sometimes doesn't go down easily. Also just found I couldn't eat ripe peaches...too fibrous and they get stuck in my throat. Oh well. I can live without peaches.

With the new report out citing the relationship between bariatric surgeries and completed suicides, psych exams should be looking for signs that the pre-op patient is open to consulting post op should suicidal thoughts occur. The psychiatrist I saw prior to my surgery asked me outright if I was the personality type to seek help should I feel despondent after surgery (due to slow loss, or inability to adapt to my changing shape/attention etc).

I bread my fish with crushed and seasoned cornflakes. Drizzle with some oil or spray Pam on them before baking. Yum! Can do with chicken breasts as well.