Kitt3000

Hi, everyone. I'm so anxious to be in all of your shoes!! I have the seminar next Tuesday and then I have to go through the whole rigamarole of getting this passed through my insurance. I'm praying that this will be a relatively short process.

I am getting band May 9 th 2013... I need support as advice please help me :-) I'm excited and afraid.. Tasha

Hey GG,
I know you are right after Hannaband and myself. Blessings sent your way, and I hope you are only happy excited for Thursday! Will try to post and keep you informed.

So gg,
I am asking for prayers for god to guide dr cohens hands for a successful surgery on we'd morning @ 9:30. Can you help me out?

Hannaband, I go in at 9:30 on Wednesday. It looks like it.'s just you and me kid! All Clear Liquids tomorrow! And then .....Christmas!
Keep in touch, so confident but excited as well, how are you my friend? I just had my last Greek yogurt before no full liquids tomorrow
My plan is to get a mani pedi in the morning, head to the chiropractor office for a adjustment, then do some shopping to keep myself busy and not thinking of food, tidy the house, do the laundry.
Get my long dress out to wear to the docs office, flat shoes that slide on, matching socks. Remove all jewelry, braid my hair back.
I paid for everything already at the docs office, picked up the pre and post medications, heating pad on my bed, treadmill accessible, gas x caps, could not find strips. SF Popsicles, small pillow for hugging and driving, spit cup for car if needed.
Anything else I forgot.???? What's on your list? The very best of luck to you, and I will be prayer for you surgeons hands to be skilled and blessed! Peace be with you, friend.

If you continue to tell yourself you "just can’t lose weight", you will start to believe it.
Once you believe it, you will start to live up to it. You can do it. Giving up is an option for dead people only. Accompanying the "I can't do it" is a raft of very sneaky, tricky and ultimately self-tripping excuses. Here are some common ones:
· "I can't lose weight. I'm just too tired.": Your tiredness is sourced in those Cookies, chocolates, fast foods and processed meals. Your tiredness is sourced in being sedentary all the time, from the office to the couch. Your tiredness is sugar-filled. And your tiredness as a result of these things is a bit of a vicious circle––too tired to plan healthier food, too tired to plan a diet program, too tired to get up and exercise, and on and on it goes. Wake up to the reality that bad food and little movement create the fatigue.
·
· "I can't lose weight. It's too boring to go without food.": Do your eyes glaze over every time you see the word diet or read a fitness schedule? Does "nutrition" mean "something dull people care about" to you? Are you stuck with visions of eating "rabbit food" for the rest of your life? If you see weight loss as a dent in an otherwise fun and exciting life, you've fallen into an excuse that losing weight will make life boring. This is an unfortunate excuse that blinds you to seeing the good things about weight loss (more energy equals more fun) and the fun and innovative things you can do with diets and fitness.
·
· "I can't lose weight. I don't do deprivation; it's just not pretty. Anyway, who cares, I'd rather die young and happy than old and deprived." This excuse is fallacious; nobody wants to die in agony from disease and nutritional deficiencies. It's a short-sighted attitude that sounds hip now but will definitely land all around your hips later. Lifestyle dieting is not about deprivation; it's about managing food and exercise to ensure you lead a happier and more energetic lifestyle overall.
·
· "I can't lose weight. I tried before and look, it all came back again." Sadly, most diets do this because fad diets and a diet frame of mind are destructive rather than helpful. What is important is to eat healthily for the long-term and to find a diet program in discussion with your health professional that is attuned to your lifestyle, not a temporary fix that you can only see an end for in a few months. Yo-yo dieting teaches little and actually ingrains bad habits by assuming that when the set diet time is up, the junk food can move on back in. It doesn't work like that––changing your eating habits is for life and moderation in all things becomes your new mantra, not "a little diet now, a lot of stuffing later"

Hi Chrissy,
I was so glad you posted because I was beginning to think something was wrong with me and how I have been feeling since my band surgery on 4/11. I also had a really horrible 2-3 days after surgery and although it seems to be getting better with each day, I still have those painful (what seem like a belch in my chest but never get out my mouth) times. Today I had my first real burp and I was so excited I almost cried. Then right behind it was the painful type. The pain with breathing is one of my issues also. I was actually beginning to think I may have gotten pneumonia from the surgery.....so you posting with the same problem is very assuring to me. Along with all of this, I did have a slight cold going into the surgery and that has left me with alot of mucus in my chest and coughing (which hurts like hell). But being female, I find it hard to "Hack a loogy" as my husband calls it and so I just swallow it cuz I can't get it all the way up. Hence, it adds to what is already in my pouch but doesn't get out for hours which makes it hard to eat anything. I know I am not getting in what I am supposed to in a day and when my nutritionist called the other day to check on me, I told her just that. She said to take it one day at a time and as long as I am getting in my Water, Vitamins and a little Protein, I can work up to the whole amount with time.
I was supposed to go back to work on Sunday night (I work midnights) but couldn't make it until Monday because of this flippin gas pain in my left side. I have named my gas bubble Larry....LOL. I wish he would just find a new home for good cuz I am tired of hurting like this!!!! They say lots of walking helps get the gas out and I have been walking like a fool. So hopefully a week or two and I can get on with this new life minus the pain.
My surgeons rules are Clear liquids for two weeks after surgery and then "full" Clear Liquids after that, then soft foods and then transitioning to normal foods again. Each type of food is a 2 week session. I have to say that this lack of food thing hasn't bothered me in the least and I am a food a holic for real. The last thing they said to me when I was discharged from the hospital was "DO NOT VARY FROM THE FOOD TYPES OR LENGTH OF TIME ON THEM!!" So, after hearing about all the trouble some have with their bands "so-called not working". I have decided that I did this for me and I am going to make it work. Because after all, it is what "YOU" make it and it is only a tool to help you get to where you want to be. The pain is only temporary......and because this is all new to our bodies, it is only right that they freak out a bit until they get used to it.
I wish you all the success in the world.....

Hijacked again!! Hahaha!

LOL!

Or have new people think you are amazing???

As a newly banded person, I am a little confused about this request... ????

Hijacked again!! Hahaha!

Or have new people think you are amazing???

2muchfun: you crack me up!

Wow. Glad you got the band off your stomach and the vitriolic feelings off your chest. Good luck.

If you don't think stomach acid comes up through the stoma and hit your teeth every time you throw up your fooling yourself. The damage might not show up right away. It may take awhile to erode through the enamel.
Did someone say I was being paid to post? I missed it if they did. oh well, if so, nothing could be farther from the truth. I am a dental hygienist .... teeth are what I know. I have seen the damage bulimia can cause and it's a bad situation when the damage shows up.

Bert99, based on your own unfortunate experience I can see where you might take a jaundiced view of the whole Lapband thing, but jumping on poor Hummingbird who offered understanding, concern, and a logical suggestion was a bit harsh. And as for lap band surgery being the easy way out- well, I reckon you've discovered it isn't easy at all. We still have to take responsibility for what we eat and how we eat it.
On the chance my own experience will help, I'll share it. If it doesn't help, ignore it. I am not paid by a surgeon to write nice things about the band and I am not in the "wonderful" phase of the band. It has taken me two years and three months to lose 84 pounds. I've had ups and downs and looong plateaus. It has not been easy. I don't expect it to be much easier in the future, but I have learned some things that help me through the rough Patches.
My band invariably feels tight during the early part of the day. I struggle with this, some times more than others. This week has been a particular challenge because I long for the emotional comfort of freely eating whatever I want. Of course, eating for emotional comfort eventually packed a hundred extra pounds on me.
If I insist on eating early in the day when my band is tight, the food will come right back up. If I eat too much, up comes the food. If I don't chew well enough, same thing. If I wait until I am relaxed, actually hungry (and not just wanting to eat), and then eat a controlled portion of easily chewable food- well, life is golden. Most of all I have to guard against overeating, which means something quite different back in the days before the band. Overeating now can mean two bites. I know that feeling of too much food in the pouch- it is miserable until it is gone, one way or the other.
It is a pain to have to pass up invitations to lunch because I know I am not going to be able to eat, but I've discovered my friends and family are quite understanding about my dietary limitations. We go for walks instead or get together to sew or garden or ride the horses. It is a continuing pain in the neck to not chew well enough, overeat, eat when I'm not hungry and end up having to walk around to let the food settle or actually go get rid of it in worst case scenarios. Sometimes I am better off just going back on liquids for a day or two and letting my stomach relax. Easy way out? Not on your life. But I can live with it because it is working for me.
If the band is too much of a problem for you, by all means have it removed. But the weight gain you report is not a side effect of the band; it is the result of too many calories. That's not going to change once the band is gone. Overeating is an eating disorder, just like bulemia and anorexia. Hummingbird's suggestion to find a counselor to help you deal with that particular eating disorder is a good one. Please don't discount it.
Good luck to you.

Yeah, that one minute is like an eternity aint it? I tried the one minute maybe twice and it's just too long. I try to pace myself and as time goes along you learn how fast you can eat to avoid stuck episodes. But waiting one minute would make each meal an hour long for me. I think my molars may be more efficient than some as I can mush that piece of steak in 12 Chomps. tmf

Short answer is no, no need to wait. Guzzle away. The reason we eat "Food", chew, swallow, wait, is because it takes our pouch one minute to pass most food through the pouch and into our lower stomach. Fluids pass through the band/stoma nearly instantly and give no or very little pressure to the vagus nerve(the nerve that stimulates satiety).
My appetite came back in 3 days

I want the facts, ALL of them. So when somebody tells me that the band is bad, and I should look at another WLS, my first question will be how does the problems with the band, compare with the problems of that other surgery?
I am more than willing to listen to personal experience, but anecdotal information (In my mind) ranks lower than almost all other types of information. I want to see controlled studies, I want to see information from the complete range of people who have had the procedures, not just those who post on a particular forum. I want to see bias (pro and con) eliminated as much as possible.

Oh I know! I got the worst pains from the gas during surgery too! When I woke up in recovery, they were saying I was funny because I was (still pretty drugged) whimpering about having the wrong procedure done...because my stomach didn't hurt and my shoulders were killing me! Lol

Thanks! I am 3 days out. I am just really happy that the gas pains-that my Dr failed to mention have started to subside.

And they lived happily ever after! What a great BEGINNING to your new life! Congrats!

Actually yes, you could badly mess up your stomach by not following your post op diet exactly as your doctor directed.
Stick to your post op diet and don't progress ahead of schedule or cheat. Your health and healing depends on you being compliant to your doctors orders.
Best wishes