Chris A

Just curious, I have my first fill coming up in March and I'm curious if a lot will change afterwards or if it did for everyone else. I'm on solid foods now or I guess I should say I'm slowly transitioning into them and so far so good. Nothing I've eaten has gotten stuck or upset me but I've ben cautious and taken things slow but I'm wondering if after my fill if things I've successfully eaten now will then cause problems for me afterwards. For example right now I have no problems with eating really crusty thin small bites of baguette bread with the doughy center removed so all I'm really eating is the crust and same thing with English muffins, I mainly just eat a really thin piece of it. Will this change after a fill? I'm guessing the fill will make the opening between my upper stomach and lower stomach smaller so it takes longer for food to pass thus keeping me full longer so will this create more problems when I eat stuff that I never had problems with before?

happened to me as well but I know my reason why. I had to remove my steri strips or whatever they are called. I don't know what it is about doing that but it makes me nauseated and gets me to feeling as if I'm going to pass out when I have to do stuff like that. Seeing my incisions for the first time will do that to me. Now that they are exposed I've no problem with it but pulling those strips off slowly one by one in the shower with the hot water pouring over me nearly made me pass out. I did damn near what you did but I didn't have time to grab a towel. I came teetering in the bedroom and told my wife "I'm about to pass out, will you please finish pulling these strips off while I black out" LOL . I think our scenarios are probably different.

I had my surgery on a Thursday, took that day and Friday along with the following week and returned this past Monday. If I could have taken another week off I would have but I didn't have enough leave banked to do it. First day back was rough. I sit at a desk all day working on financial information and by the end of the day my line of incisions were sore and my back hurt from the awkward way I was trying to sit to relieve the pressure on my tummy. Today was a little better and I'm guessing each day will get better. I do have to say it is nice to get back into my routine again and out from in from of the TV at home. Cabin Fever was beginning to set in so I'm happy to be back at work and moving again. I may hurt some from being up at the office but it's also helping me heal quicker.

Right there with you! Day 12 for me and my wife has told me there has been a few days where she has wanted to leave me for the day and go over to her parents house just to get away from my crankyness

It's funny how different and varied things seem to be from doctor to doctor. My doctor doesn't seem to be as strict as most others either. I was on a two week pre op diet but it wasn't liquids only. It was 2 protein shakes, 2 fresh fruits, and a smart ones dinner each day then the day before the surgery clear liquids only.

I use Body Fortress, you can find it at Walmart as well and it's pretty cheap. I'm so sick of drinking protein shakes though I could gag. I'm only 3 days away from starting solids and holy smokes can I not wait. I've begun getting creative and stopped drinking my shakes and have started mixing them in my yogurts and hot cereals just so I don't have to drink them anymore! I can't stand the smell of them anymore either! I'm going to by some protein powder for days when I need a protein boost because I need to give the shakes a time out for awhile.

Good luck to you. I meet my doctor face to face for the first time since my operation on 3/13 for my first fill and probably to go over a diet plan as well. I've been told by his nurse that till then my calorie intake isn't important right now while my stomach is healing. I need to just focus on getting in 60 grams of protein per day and to be quite honest I am struggling with that. I've started a food journal and I'm blown away at not only the tiny amount of calories per day I am eating but I'm also not hitting the daily protein levels I was told either. So far the highest I've managed is around 600 calories in a day with about 50 grams of protein. I felt like I ate all day long when I did that. I can't imagine getting in 1500 calories right now!

I still crave food but tiny portions are filling me up now. Anything from a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of any one thing usually keeps me full for hours now.

That's some tough love! I am dead set on hitting my goals and I'll get there but realistically I know if I don't build into my lifestyle some yummy treats for myself I'll be miserable and look at this lifestyle change as a negative instead of a positive.

Right now I am in my 5-15 day stage and I'm allowed pudding which I'm thankful for and this evening as I was enjoying my sugar free cheesecake pudding with some fat free cool whip on top I was wondering if it really mattered if I sipped on some iced tea or not. It's not like I'm eating a meal, isn't my pudding what everyone here calls a "slider food" so whether I drink or not there isn't any real value to the pudding anyways and it's not going to contribute to keeping me full so avoiding liquids before and after will have no effect right? Do you all still live by the "no drinks" rule even with junk food or do you throw that out the window when it comes to snacks?

I was told no lifting over 20 pounds and no exercise other than just light walking around the house and what not for 2 weeks. I have a tread mill in my house and I'm wanting to get back on it but I'm not going to injure myself and disobey my doctors orders by rushing things. I'm just curious how soon all of you began to resume your normal exercise routines after your surgery and how long you worked out at first when you started back up.

I made this the other day however, I left out the water and thinned it with additional spicy V8 and I also tossed in a can of cheddar cheese soup and man is it tasty. My wife even joined in and grabbed a cup of it but she got to add some corn tortilla chips to her meal. A half cup serving was just right for me with a dollop of fat free sour cream on top. Mmmmm, I'm having some for lunch right now.

nah, stopped taking the pain meds on day 3 after surgery. At least I'm in good company.

Ever since surgery I've noticed that at night I have these symptoms. I never had this issue before. I brush my teeth before bed as usual, I drink more water than I ever have in my life now but I wake in the middle of the night now with such a dry mouth and throat and my mouth tastes horrible. When morning comes the first thing I have to do is brush my teeth again, I won't go near my wife. If I can't stand my own breath I can't imagine what she would think! Anyone else have this problem since the band?

thank you all for the guidance and advice!! The support here is awesome.

just spoke with my doctors nurse. I'm doing things right I guess. I was told use some common sense obviously and if the mushy foods are upsetting to me back off which is what I did. I do have a nutritionist but sadly I can't afford to drop a copayment anytime I want to consult her with questions. A lot of this will have to come from me doing the best I can and trial and error. My wife has a little bit of nursing background so she is a big help but for the most part I can't run to the doctor every time I need some guidance. I wish I could though. Obviously I'll keep up with my band and the regular check ups with it and fills but I can't honestly say I'll be able to keep my nutritionist in my back pocket like some folks can.

I'll probably heed that advice on the meats for awhile. I seem to be fine with the thinned out mashed potatoes and runny beans. I didn't like how I felt from the meat so I am going to shelve them for a bit. I am going to try out yogurt and cottage cheese today. I think I may run the cottage cheese through the blender first though. Should I?

As others said, no meds will help the gas from the surgery however for the other gas that is a little more embarrassing *wink* I use a combo of Gas X and this horrible tasting stuff called Di Gel anti gas and antacid that works pretty good but I'd rather drink a whole glass of the barium swallow they give you after the surgery to check how things are flowing than the 2 tsp. dose of the Di Gel but it does help relieve symptoms. You can pick them up at your local CVS/Walgreens/Walmart for around 5 bucks.

Chewing Gum? I've not heard anything about that...what's the word on chewing gum and bands?

Embarrassed to say but I have gas and not in the form of a burp! Gas X has become a friend of mine now. I've never really been like this before. Maybe after certain foods but now its 24/7. It's one side effect of the lap band I DO NOT LIKE.

That is weird how it's different by region. I have BCBS Federal (Kansas City) and I only had to do 3 months worth of PCP supervised diet plus one dietician and one psych eval.

I had more pain the second and third day than the day of surgery. I think climbing in and out of my own bed made me hurt more than anything else. The first night I thought "hey, this is going to be a nothing" then I woke up the next morning and thought "well, it's not nothing but the pain is tolerable". I'm on day 6 now and still have some physical restrictions but little to no pain. Good luck to you

I am 6 days post op. I am going by the sheet I was given by my doctor's surgical nurse. I was suppose to have a 5 day post op appointment with my doctors nurse but I've yet to get ahold of her. I'm not quite sure what to think of all that. Right now I'm sort of just doing the best I can with what they have given me. I kind of feel a little lost at the moment. I don't have a lot of direction at the moment and I'm just sort of doing what I feel my body is capable of and what they listed on their 5-15 day food phase. There is no mention of weighing anything, it only lists what type of food to eat while in the phase. I am tracking total amount of protein intake and calories and of course my Water intake. Until someone from my doctors office tells me otherwise I don't really know what else to do. I'm being as careful as I can. I wish I had a little more verbal guidance right now but I don't. I'm working with the documentation my clinic provided me and doing what I can. I am going to call tomorrow and find out when I can expect my first follow up visit to be from the surgery. A little counseling would be nice. Thank you all for the advice, I really do appreciate it. This board has helped me a lot since getting banded. There is vast knowledge here

Okay well I'm not sure if my surgeons nurse is on vacation or not because I emailed her about moving off the liquid phase and into phase two of their diet which includes mushy and pureed foods on Monday and have not heard back from her. I'm proceeding on since the clinic actually gave me the paperwork to follow, I was just being a little more thorough and double checking with her before I actually started it yesterday but my stomach over ruled her yesterday when I didn't hear back and I cautiously moved on. Thus far I have tried very runny mashed potatoes and my stomach loved it as well as malt o meal. I do have to say just the tiniest amount of malt o meal filled me up very fast though. My big lesson learned came today. I introduced myself to potted meat. I handled it okay, but I think I have now experienced my first round of overeating. I went to the grocery store and I was hungry before I left. By the time I got home I was starving. I got home and popped open the can of potted meat and mixed in 2 tsp. of light mayo and slowly ate it. I did rush it and I actually stopped eating before I got to the end of the can. I probably had about 5 bites left out of the can (my nutritionist suggested I eat with a baby fork and spoon to help retrain myself with portion controls...my wife loves to poke fun at me with my Cars baby fork and spoon set!) After stopping I could feel slight nausea but I never threw up. I took some Gas X and went to lay down for awhile. Took about an hour nap and just got up a half hour ago and still don't feel all that great. This is my first experience with food since being banded that has left me feeling kinda icky. I'm thankful for not vomiting but I think I came real close. I was real close to grabbing the anti nausea pills my doc provided me after my operation. I did enjoy the potted meat and I don't think I'll give up on it, just think maybe I'll go for 1/4 of the can or 1/2 for a serving for my next meal instead. Learning portions is going to be difficult.

Ahhhh, Thanks you!