kacee

That's why you get a medical tag...bracelet, necklace or whatever. I got mine about 2 weeks after surgery. I don't wear it on my body, but I do have it hanging on my purse strap in plain sight. At this point in time there are still a LOT of medical professionals uneducated about WLS. I know when I went in to have my meds adjusted after surgery, my doctor's assistant didn't even know what the band WAS! Put a card in your wallet (many doctors give them to you) or carry a medical ID.

First, call your doctor and see if he suggests some meds for nausea. It also could be that you are dehydrated and not receiving enough protein. That leads to nausea, weakness, etc. Since you are so close to your surgery date, it could be the effects of the anesthesia on your body. A lot of us went through nausea initially, or within the first 24 hours or so. You could be a little more prone to it.

Just as you can lose inches but not pounds, your fatty liver may be revising itself inside and "slimming down" though you are not noticing the effects externally. When you restrict the calories, the body is going to go looking internally for more sustenance. It is probably accomplishing what your doctor is setting out to do, so I would just continue on. Don't necessarily use your scales as a success indicator.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Been there and done that! It is never a good idea to eat and then recline imediately, or shortly thereafter. I find that unless I sit up, things feel like they are going trough an obstacle course in my gut. I made the mistake a few weeks ago of chowing down on something RIGHT as I laid down for the night. WHOA! Within about 30 minutes I had sliming, pain, sour mouth, you name it. Bad move. Check that box and won't do THAT again! I make sure I have a minimum of an hour after a meal before I lay down anywhere.

Whoa, quite the opposite. If I am anything but straight up and down when I swallow things tend to go awry. I've been able to wiggle before and get stuff to go down, but there are also plenty of times I've done the wiggle dance and NOTHING went anywhere.

I don't know about your doctor's program, but chicken was definitely NOT on the plan for the first 30 days for me. The only meat I could eat that fell into the "mushie" category was "soft fish".....like fish filets and tuna. I personally would not try chicken now. I don't think I ventured to try chicken until something like my second week of solids, and then just a small amount. It was fine. I haven't had any problem with it at all (and I like the dry kind...white meat, which is harder to get down). Mushies should be just that....soft food that doesn't have a lot of mass to it. I call chicken a full blown solid.

Frankly, as far as being able to eat a lot....don't worry about it now. You are healing right now....not in the active losing stage and the band is not working for you yet. Try to keep it to a "dull roar" and cut down on the amounts....it will make transition to restriction much easier. But don't sweat it right now....

I too am a boredom eater. But I find now that I just don't head for the fridge anymore. For one thing, pre-band you can make a career out of eating and you can make it take time. After the band, when you get good restriction, you'd literally have to be going to the fridge 200 times a day, because when you DO it....it's over with so quickly. I mean, 3 bites and you're done....none of the "grazing" like before. I just gave it up because it wasn't worth it. The satisfaction for it is no longer there at all. YEAH!!!!

If you already do not use it because it is bothersome, I think I would forgo taking it to the hospital with you. You're not going to be there very long anyway. I'd say a good majority of folks are done on an out-patient basis and not required to spend the night. It's just one more thing to lug around and if you want to be comfortable I'd say no. I have a CPAP I haven't gotten used to myself. I'd only had it a few weeks when I had surgery and I definitely didn't take it, and glad I didn't. You want to be as unencumbered and comfortable as possible. That's just my two cents.

I had a stone too about three years ago. They got it out when they put me under to put the stent in. That stent was a BITCH! I was out of work for one week until the stent was removed. I think it was ultimately worse than the stone itself and I was living on pain meds the entire time. Minute it was removed I was 100% okay. Whew.

I have a 4cc band and it took three fills to notice anything and the fourth fill was just a "top off" to perfection.

No, I would say NO FILL definitely. You could easily be stuck in some other country and have an incident with your band (like the delayed reaction a lot of folks have where it suddenly gets tighter on them....two or three weeks AFTER they get the fill.) Your doctor is being rightly cautious. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't rush it.

1) How long did it take most of you to get back to work? I was banded on a Wednesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. 2) How long before your energy level is back up and normal? About 3-4 weeks. 3) Did most of you get constipated? Yes, I would think so. Just get some stool softener at the drug store to keep on hand. 5) I weigh 235lbs and my goal is 135lbs, does this mean I will need surgery to tighten things up when I get to my goal? Depends on your age and genetics. I was 218 (225 was my top weight) and my goal is 150. So far the one thing I see not going away is a case of turkey neck, but that also has to do with my age. Everything else isn't doing too badly. I am about 20 pounds from goal now. Might have a little lipo on thighs when I get to goal. We'll see....

Amy you are only in the HEALING stage. Your band will not begin effectively working for you until you have a fill WITH RESTRICTION (the two don't nevcessarily go hand in hand, at first). It's going to get a LOT easier, believe me. I got my first GOOD restriction with fill 3 and fill 4 was a "top off" to perfection. I have retrained myself with the aid of the band and I'm about 5 months out and NOT fighting anything. For me it is relatively easy. But that first 6-8 weeks can be a bugger!

During Bandster Hell (the period between surgery and the first fill giving you restriction) you will experience hunger, mostly in the first 30 days when you're on the liquid and mushie diet. When you get proper restriction you may not feel hunger much at all. I am 5 months out, and never seem to feel hunger at all anymore, and actually my head hunger is rare too. If you don't deal with hunger well....then eat. Just try to eat things that are working with the band. The first 30 days after surgery I tried to find "filling things" that would at least give me the sense of eating something solid (something with a spicier taste, or whatever). I was used to "grazing" a lot. So I grazed....instead of eating 3 Lean Cuisines (which is what I would have grazed on in my "former life" I ate 6 jello cups (at 10 cal per cup)... But no, to answer your question you are not going to feel like you are being "systematically starved". No one will hold your feet to the fire but you, but hunger has not been a problem since I got a good restriction.

Yep, a lot of that is water retention. Also, your body is adjusting to the new eating style. It will go in and out of "conservation phase" (hoarding all calories you put into your body), which will cause plateaus. If you are TRULY taking in fewer calories than you are expending, it will eventually reverse itself and the weight will start to drop off. And zounds! You could eat 3500 calories and not gain???????? Are you a 6'4" man or something?

If I tried to eat a bagel I would probably be in agony on the floor. Now that you are in the "land of restriction" you need to be VERY AWARE of what you eat. It's a fast learning curve because the consequences are pretty uncomfortable. I do have head hunger occasionally, but if I indulge, after about 4 bites it gets pretty much more trouble than it is worth. Kindof like if you love chocolate cake more than anything in the world. But you're told that in order to get some you have to hike up the side of a mountain first to get to it. You'll do it once, maybe twice, and after that you just won't respond anymore. You'll think like Pavlov's Dog... "chocolate cake = a 45 minute hike.....yuck." Then after a while those feelings of hunger just kindof trickle away....

You are experiencing the "delayed reaction" of a fill that my doctor's nurse told me about. One reason they hold off to give additional fill until a minimum of about 30 days after the last one is because some peoples' fill can "adjust itself" 2-3 weeks after the fill is given. If it causes enough problems getting stuff to go down you may need a slight unfill.

I know the cycle....drink, eat, drink, eat. That's one reason why I ballooned up. Been there, done that. Unfortunately I would venture to guess that you may cut back initially, but will probably ease back up to the current amounts before too long as your body adjusts and old habits set in. The band will not stop you from drinking or drinking heavily because being liquid, it's just gonna roll down your throat. By "pickling" I don't mean that you are soused 24/7. Your body has adjusted to the amounts you give it and compensated to some extent. However, your regular blood alcohol level when you think you are cold sober is probably borderline or more. After a period of chronic alcohol consumption your blood is going to maintain a permanently elevated level of alcohol all the time as long as you keep "feeding it". Just be aware that you are working with a lot LESS territory to inebriate after you lose weight (though I would also think you probably will not lose much weight based on habits). However, because you will be able to eat less, you probably are not going to be able to fend off the hangovers as effectively anymore.

Daily, religiously. And I log all my food online. And I compare the caloric intake (and type of intake) with the scale results. You wanna know why you are or are not losing? It's there in black and white and you can't sit there (like I hear some folks on this forum do) and go "Gee, it's been a year and I only lost 30 pounds....I can't understand why!" (people often want to think that it's that magic "bad karma" in the sky out to get them personally and make sure they are the ONLY one this has ever happened to...they're just cursed...exempt from the rules of physics, cause and effect...kindof takes the responsibility off their heads....)This is science, pure and simple. As much as we don't want to hear it, there is a valid reason why we lose and quit losing, which puts the "X" right back on OUR foreheads to get the job done....or not. I've been with my head in the sand for 25 years. Time I met my monster head on. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. Me and my scale are one.

I am a "former" heavy drinker myself (by the "standards" I fall into that category, up until 2 years ago I drank 1 to 1.5 bottles of wine a night, 24/7/365) You don't want to hear what I am thinking, and I didn't want to hear it. And no, I didn't go to AA. I couldn't abide all the "rah rah" stuff. I just stopped myself. I still can tend to overdo when I drink. I try not to drink except when I am out to eat I will have 2-3 glasses of wine (and I don't drive), so unless I am on vacation that's fairly rare. You are in your 30's and young, but this is going to catch up with you if it has not already, and that is a stone hard fact, no ifs, ands or buts. I did not notice that alcohol affected me any more after the band than before. I can still pack it away....if I wanted to. If you are heavily overweight there is the possibility that is why you are able to consume so much straight alcohol in a sitting and still remain on your feet (though I tend to think you are probably in a fair state pickling 24 hours a day based on the sheer alcohol percentage in your body.) My concern, other than the obvious, would be that if you lose a large amount of body mass and try to consume as you have been you may be facing alcohol poisoning and potential death. Well, anyway...based on your past lifestyle and intent to continue I would highly recommend: make sure you have good backup in the bar whenever you are there, draw up a good will if you haven't already and don't make any long range plans. Sorry I can't be more positive.

I'm within 20 pounds of goal now and I think I could probably have some face work done, but I don't have the money right now so it is a moot point. My neck is a LITTLE better than it was, but it still has a sag that I am not happy with that ruins my general appearance. Ah well.....

Constipation is very normal. I went through it too. Yes, try a softener. You don't want to blast some hemorrhoids....that's a major bummer.

108/60 is not abnormally low. I would say that is in the normal range. My dentist took mine the other day when I went in for a teeth cleaning and it was 95/55 and they were ecstatic (and I often have high BP). You are definitely not getting your liquids in and probably not your Proteins. That leads to weakness, nausea, dizziness, general lethargy and that all over CRAPPY feeling. Sounds to be like you are dehydrated. Start with the liquids and keep pushing them. It WILL make a difference. Get more Protein down...protein shakes and clear Protein drinks.

Protein is used by body builders to gain bulk. The body can assimilate about 24 gms of protein in a sitting. More than that should be spaced out. If you get too much protein it can be stored as fat. I have head of some doctors recommending up to 120 gm a day. That seems like a lot. I would venture to guess that you won't get to that point though where you have "overdosed on protein", because you can only intake so much into your stomach. Can you see being able to drink 8 protein shakes a day? Not hardly....not only that, but you wouldn't have room for anything else. I'd be more concerned with getting enough protein each day. I am 5 months out and about a month ago my hair started falling out (thought I wouldn't be a victim, but it hit me just about mid-September). Luckily I have enough hair for two or three people, but it is still a shock to see a full hairbrush and have to fish out globs from the shower drain. Protein deficiency is one thing that can cause this (along with rapid weight loss, surgery, and other stresses on the body). I am considering getting some vitamins for healthy hair to supplement, and stepping up my protein. I know I probably may not hit 60 gm a day.