lisacaron

Yep I got the gurgles It's an odd feeling really, but I agree with @@Bandista it's that esophagus moving the food through the stoma. I think when we chew, and drink a little bit of air gets mixed up in there with the food and other body fluids that help push the food down resulting in the gurgle. It really lets me know I have pretty good restriction right now, and that I need to have good band mechanics, eat small portions, cut things up small, chew well, and eat slowly or else!

@@Jerseydiva15 give yourself some time to allow all the steroids to filter out of your system. Steroids do a number on our bodies and cause us to retain Water and gain weight. Keep doing what you are doing, keep up the exercise and watching your intake and you will see eventually everything will level out. I have had to be on steroids before and my husband is just recently coming off of them he is banded as well, and for what ever reason they make you gain weight. You can be doing everything right and for some reason the scale shows a gain. Use your sizes and inches for a more accurate reflection on your losses for now. If your pants are fitting better and getting looser then your on the right track and your losing inches. Those numbers mean more to me then the numbers on the scale. Everyone can see how I look in my clothes no one see's the scale

@@Alaskanband The issue I would worry about is prolapse where you stomach stretches over the band. If you are able to eat volumes of food even though your at such a high restriction and you are having some stuck episodes as well, I would advise giving your Dr. office a call and going in for a barium swallow/x-ray just to be sure that everything is working as it should. My thinking is better safe than sorry.

Here are a few tips: for the "gas" pains it helps to try sipping some warm tea and placing a warm heating pad under your back/shoulder where the discomfort is. An ice pack where the incisions are will help to numb the pain especially around the port site. When you are trying to drink fluids, sip use a teaspoon or a medicine cup to sip from. Your insides are very swollen and it will take time for them heal, just as it will take some time for your outside incisions to heal. Ice pops are another great tip for something solid as well as for hydration. You will be feeling better soon. I love my band and plication!!

TMF great advice! @@toothfairy86 take it slow. Use tiny medicine cups to sip from and small baby spoon to get the nutrients in and keep your strength up. Congrats to you and you will feel better soon!!!

@@MissManda85 I'm glad that you were able to see your doctor and I hope that everything works out for you and you are feeling better soon. Something you wrote in one of your posts had me very concerned and that is that not being covered for "bariatrics" was keeping you from getting the necessary medical care that you needed. Of course I totally understand the out of pocket costs for things, and I just think that it is not fair to make someone suffer and perhaps suffer irreparable damage to their internal organs because an insurance company doesn't provide coverage. If you have a blockage to your stomach because you swallowed golf ball and wound up in an ER they would cover the barium swallow and x-ray and MRI but because you had surgery for what is classified as a disease today, they won't cover your medical needs?! I'm sorry but that just makes me very angry, and upset to think that you or anyone who goes through these experiences is sitting there suffering and possibly causing damage to themselves because of this. The bottom line is that if we need care we have to fight for it and get into these doctors and hospitals get treated, feel better and fight like hell against the cost of insurance company bureaucracy. If we need help we must be able to get it and not have to sit back and suffer out of fear. OK taking a deep cleansing breath now.....as the smoke billows from my ears.

@@CherieRyde Thank you for posting. I was so saddened to learn about Robin Williams passing. Loved him as an actor, comedian, and person! My heart goes out to his family and friends and all that like me will miss his genius on big screens and small. Depression is no joke and those that suffer from it need our love and support always.

@@bluegudren don't be upset, that is the beauty of the band. We can loosen it when we need to and get right back when we are better. My hubs was sick and had his Fluid taken out. Then taken out half way when he went in for Hip replacement surgery. It was important for him to be able to consume high amounts of Protein and medications to heal from that surgery. When I was sick with the flu, I did the same thing I had some fluid taken out because yes your stoma can get clogged up! Also I just want to let you know what my Dr. told me. NSAIDS like Advil, Motrin, and Aleve can cause stomach irritation as well and even though it's not "bothering" us it can make the belly irritated enough to swell the stoma shut. If you can take Tylenol or even aspirin as needed but try to steer clear of the ibuprofen and NSAIDS. As soon as your all better and feeling well give your doc a call to have the fluid put back in. I hope your feeling great again soon!

@@veronica g Hi Veronica, I don't want you to think that you are alone in starting over. I am sure there are many on the site who are or have found themselves in your shoes. You can start over and you are making a great start already! If you really have questions about the sleeve and perhaps getting it into "reset" mode, my suggestion is to give your surgeon's office a call and ask them if they have a prescribed diet like the pouch test or something similar that can help those who have lost their way get back on track and start again. Best of luck to you and keep on going strong!!! Your doing great!

Now that was the best research I have ever read!!! It should all be as easy as that, nothing to report

You are really lucky b/c even though my weight is down I am one of the unlucky ones who has high blood pressure genetically. I have been on certain cardiac medications and BP meds since my late 20's I was hoping they would all go away but I can't really complain much they have all been cut down to 1 pill that is a combo pill for heart rate and BP. I was hoping being more active might help but hey this is me NOT complaining. When the kids bug me now I just say I can't hear you....lol

@@JustWatchMe you know there is really something to that blood pressure thing. I have had issues with my pressure for the longest time. In my late 30's my kids kept telling me that I couldn't hear. I kept telling them it was because they mumbled. Well my husband started saying the same thing to me, that I must be having trouble hearing. I was pretty pissed off about it so I went to see a hearing specialist. At the time my blood pressure was not yet under control and Dr.'s were giving me all kinds of different cocktails of medication to get it under control. The hearing Dr. said my hearing was just fine, and that it could be an effect from the pressure. When my pressure was stable I could hear much clearer and when it was high I could still hear but not as clearly. He also said I probably was having selective hearing when it came to the kids and the hubby talking I tend to agree with him on both accounts

Congrats to you both and best of luck tomorrow!! Take it in stride, everyone is different and will have a different experience. Try not to stress about all the things you read, but try to focus on what's happening for you Come back and let us know how you are doing after your surgery!

@@Nicky Cleaver Please update your profile information when you have a chance. Don't go looking for trouble, cause you don't want to find it. Stick within the guidelines that your doctor gave you for your post op diet. If you are on soft foods make sure you are cutting bites small pencil eraser size and chew chew chew. If you were causing any kind of damage you would be feeling pain. When in doubt my best advice is always to consult your doctor. Never be afraid to give them a call even for a simple question. Filling out your profile with surgery information and posting a little more detail will help others to be able to give you better and more detailed support with any questions you might have. Sounds like your doing well. Keep up the good work and congrats on your surgery!

@@shantra Good for you! Congrats on making your decision. Let us know how your doing.

I chew gum all the time, I love my chewing gum and I know it might sound strange but it helps me think. It also saves my teeth from chewing on pen caps or biting my nails. As far as stimulating hunger I don't think it does that for me it actual curbs my hunger, and stimulates that digestive action as well as helps clean your teeth after eating if you can't brush. It can add extra air into your tummy, drinking from a straw can do that also but I still would rather drink from a straw when out and about then from a cup or glass. When I am home that's not a problem for me I would always caution not to swallow your gum or your straw or anything else that might have a hard time digesting

My funny story is that I was so zonked out from anthesthia after I got to my room they wanted me to walk. So I walked down the hallway with my hubby and then I wanted to be back in my room. Instead of the bed they put me in this BIG recliner chair. It was great I was all reclined back and went right back to sleep for another 4 hours. They came along and removed the catheter and well you know...now I gotta get up to use the bathroom from all the IV fluids...but I was stuck in the recliner! I am so short that I could not reach the handle to put the foot rest down and it was so high off the floor and with my belly incisions there as no way I was even alert enough to hop down from it. As I contemplated how long it would take someone to come into the room if I pulled off one of the leads, because the call button was clear across the room on the bed, a very very tall male nurse came to take my vitals which I wouldn't give him until he helped me out of the chair let me use the rest room and got me tucked back into my bed Then I let him take my blood pressure and temperature. Hubs was banded 3 days after me, and I was at the hospital for him as he went for surgery. When he came out our Dr. came out to see me in the surgical waiting room and told me I should go back home and rest. Only a few moments later he and the recovery nurses came back out yelling wait don’t leave we need you in the recovery room. So I moved as fast as I could and my husband was in there screaming at them for cutting off his leg! He would not stop yelling at them that they cut off his leg and his hip was in pain. I had to stand at the end of the bed holding his toes and ask him if he could see what I was holding and if he could feel my hand and that they didn’t cut his leg off he just had Lapband surgery!! He was finally convinced and calmed down enough for me to go home. When he had his hip replacement this past May I was ready for anything, but he woke up just fine no stress no screaming and best of all no pain!

This is a question unrelated to your initial question...I think you should probably postpone though I know that's not what you wanted to hear. Build up your immunity again because with the change in diet required your putting a big stress on your system before and even more after surgery. My question is...you said you had rashes...no blisters on them? hubs has had a suspicious rash and I was thinking shingles also. It was right near his hip replacement incision so I was very concerned he is 3 months post op. He went to the Dr. (one of his PCP Dr. is older then dirt and...well I just don't feel him..ya know) and they told him it wasn't shingles but gave him an oral med and cream for it...now I am right back to shingles...cause I think you can have a rash without blisters...but what do you think? Since you have first hand experience with it??

So for me, I not only told my trainer that I had WLS but I gave them a quick bio about myself. This is someone new who does not know you. They may not know for instance in my situation that I broke my foot 6 years ago and certain impact jumps cause it to hurt. So they modify they impact on those types of things so I don't have bone pain in my foot. I have some instability in my knee so we work on exercises to help strength that weakness and build it up. I gave them some background as to my nutrition and intake, as well as what my goals for "fitness" and strength training are and what I hope to achieve by seeking their services. I explained about my WLS tool, and even gave a brief blurb of "education" on what a WLS tool is, and how it's used not as a crutch or a miracle cure but as a way to help me reach my overall health and fitness level. I have one trainer who also does nutrition and as I am studying this myself I shared with her what a few of my daily meal plans were and my intake and we share some info on nutrition that has helped me in my studies. They are there to help you and the more information they have about you and what you want to achieve the more they are able to understand and help you to reach the goals you set for yourself. I have found that people in these jobs really want to see their clients reach their goals and they will really take an active role in helping you to achieve them.

@@asheyrae in the early days of your surgery your are going to be quite swollen internally and it will not be easy to eat and drink at the same time or directly after you start to eat those solid foods. So doctors will tell you not to do it, and it's good advice. The old school of thought was that drinking after a meal or with your meal was pushing food out of the "pouch" through stoma and causing it to empty quicker and there for making the person hungry again sooner. With the advancement and studies of the band it was learned that food moves through the stoma in approximately 1 minute after a bite of food is consumed so a sip of Water or beverage after that bite is not going to have an effect on that bite since it would have already moved from the upper chamber above the band to the lower chamber below the band. That said however you don't want to have food in your mouth, or just swallowed and chase that with the beverage. This can result in that pushing of food, and or "stacking" of food in the upper chamber of the stomach and esophagus and make you very uncomfortable or as others have said force the food back up and out. In the even that this does not happen it can also cause some distention in the upper chamber where it could depending on the amount of food and Fluid stacked in it expand and extend over the band again causing discomfort and further band complications. So following the Dr.'s rule of thumb not to eat and drink together is a sound one especially in the early stages of banding. Eventually you will be able to sip water with your meals, especially with the spicy ones and/or dry meats.Follow Dr.'s orders that's the main thing, and you will do great!!

So I will tell you what my personal trainer told me about cardio. Fasting cardio is the best cardio work out to do to burn fat. Fasting cardio is done prior to eating usually first thing in the morning. Since there is no readily available food to burn off the body will naturally choose to tap into the fat stores for energy and continue to burn from this store through out the day. Here is a good article on the subject. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/assessing-fasted-cardio-training.html Now for me personally, I agree with what he told me and what the article says. I have tried this for a few days...and my issue is I really am not a morning person..but I have seen the difference that week to this one. So I am working on getting my butt up earlier and getting in that morning sprint.

Toot Toot!!! Wooot Wooot and a Ra RA RA for you!!! Awesome!

This was a great article! It really is difficult for people to understand that even with all the food that is available to us today, that a person could still be malnourished. The unhealthy choices of food are abundant and often more readily available and cheaper then the healthier alternatives. Making us both unhealthy and obese at the same time. It's easier to purchase the Mars that is readily available then it is to travel to the supermarket or produce store to purchase the apple.

It has taken me really over a year to find my "green zone". My doc is conservative with the fill process and that was a good thing for me since I was able to really work on my band mechanics. Eating small bites, measuring out food, eating when I am truly hungry and not just cause I can. Just as I found that sweet spot that stopped all the hunger and cravings and volume eating just cause I can...I got sick and had take Fluid out. Then a few months of "stress" I decided it was best to be a little looser and get through all the challenges. Now I am back at that "green zone" but it is 15 months since I was banded. The time it takes is the time it takes. We are all different, some never need a fill and they are in that green zone from day one. The best advice is to follow your doc and listen to your body. You'll get there when ya get there.

Exactly at room temperature all these things including pudding and fat free milk are liquids so you can do it!!! Even yogurt is a liquid at room temp. So when you feel like "eating" sit down with one of these choices. Soup also..is a liquid my friend just don't get the type with anything chunky in it.