lwaynelrde

@Stina: there you go!! GREAT news, keep us updated.

Well I must be doing something right im down to 222.8 from 238 on March 5th/228 March 14th DOS. I start full liquids tomorrow so I'm happy about that.

Stina I could barely get anything down and yes you're still hungry but have more broth ...i recommend a heartier broth..make chicken Soup home made and onlynhave the broth. What really made the diff for me was not the sodium junk it was the real deal broth...even if you buy from a local spot i think it will make you feel satisfied, I'm one month out and I can def consume more liquid than before still nowhere nearb64 oz...and don't fret over the scale your body is in shock let it heal and find it's natural fat burning state...good luck ooo and expect to eat or rather drink broth every 2hrs

Today is the first day they are open since I've been home. Will call soon.

Stina- have you called the doc? As you mention this is a expensive tool, don't take any chances... From what I've read most people can sip a few ounces the first couple of days. I would call them and maybe only drink Clear liquids for now. Am sure they will figure it out. Good luck and be positive!!
KIKA

So I am on the morning of day 5 and I'm a little concerned as there hasn't been a day where I have had my broth or a drink where i felt omg I'm so full. I had 2 cup of noodles yesterday (broth only) at 2 different sittings and both times was able to drink the entire thing which was about 8oz with no problems in 10 minutes maybe. I've only been sipping because I'm afraid to go further as i don't want to be in pain. I also finished 3/4 of a 32oz Gatorade yesterday sipping throughout the day. I felt like i could have had more. At times i feel hungry as my stomach is growling and empty, no not the gas feeling actual hunger. On the other hand plain Water seem too harsh for me to drink. I don't know what to think, i weighed in yesterday and was 1# lighter from m DOS granted it was only day 4 but i haven't eaten food in forever it seems. I was losing more on the preop shake diet. I hope this expensive tool is going to work and give me restriction, I'm just a little concerned right now but may be jumping the gun? Any suggestions, tips or replys would be helpful.

I still can barely get half a bottle of Gatorade down, as for my shakes manage 8 oz. no prob within 30 mins, Water difficult do not know why but seems to upset my tummy? But I keep drinking as much as I can which is only maybe 16- 20 oz a day. Trying hard to increase this, I can have creamy Soups now, have half cup again takes 30 mins to get this down. As for coffee, no cravings, but I do have half a cup of green tea once day. I am on my 2 nd week after surgery.

I just had surgery on Wednesday and I'm back home now, however I have a few questions.
I'm on the clear liquid diet and wanted to know how much I should be consuming, for instances yesterday on day two I couldn't even finish a caprisun,had ice cubes and had a small popsicle that's it.
Today I probably had about 6oz of gatorade and 6oz of broth and some ice cubes and that's all.
I can't imagine getting 64oz of Water in.
Also does the sipping stop or will that continue to be the case with drinking here on out?
Any reply will be helpful thanks!!!

I am two weeks out and I had a hard time getting anything down the first three days. I was not even hungry, I did how ever suck on ice chips and it took me three days to get down a hole bottle of gatorade lol! It will get easier and you will start to want to eat and drink. I still have a hard time making sure I get all my Water but I an working on it every day....good luck!

I'm almost one month out and I rarely feel hungry but rather I feel light headed and get a headache which is more a blood sugar reaction. I have to get something in pretty quick when I have that feeling.

Enjoy this time of not having hunger and try to maximize it by doing exactly what your doc said about getting in Protein and fluids. Your weight loss is fastest right at the beginning, so the less hunger you have now the better in my opinion.

I had my surgery 5 days ago and I haven't been hungry since the day before my surgery. I have to force myself to have broth, or Protein shakes every 4-6 hours. I am very thirsty so have kept up on my Water intake. Is this unusual?
Also I haven't lost anything, in fact I was 263 on surgery day and now 265? Am I doing something wrong or is this normal?

Yes, it is normal not to have any hunger initially, mainly because of the trauma and swelling in our stomachs. Make sure to keep those fluids and Protein Shakes up, though. It's very easy to get dehydrated this early on, plus you need the Protein to help with healing and to keep from getting weak. In regards to not losing weight, don't panic. Most people gain several pounds after surgery because of Water retention from the IV Fluid they give you. It can take up to a week or more to lose that. Also your body is in shock from the drastic change in nutritional intake, surgery, etc. Don't worry, the weight will start dropping off soon. Hang in there and KUP!

Makes sense to me!!

Spice,
good luck to you on your journey. I also have a lapband with plication, however, I am a revision patient. I was originally a banded in 2001. You can read more about it on the blog in my signature if you want more information. I have lost about 65 pounds so far and would like to lose about another 40 more. My band is completely empty and I plan on leaving it that way. Take care and please let us know how it goes.

I have read that there is such a thing as "innocent" gallstones. Basically, if they are not causing you any trouble, the recommendation is to leave them(according to what I have read on the Internet). WLS is a culprit (and any weight loss in general, or just being overweight in the first place) in developing gallstones, and if you already have them and they are not causing you trouble, your doc might think that there is no reason to perform another surgery unnecessarily. That being said, if you are having any trouble, I would talk to him about it again. Looking back, I realize that I was having pains from my GB as far back as January (had surgery the end of April). I just thought they were muscle pains in my back. They actually went away for awhile after my surgery (I'm sure from the reduced fat in my diet post plication). Knowing what I know now though, I probably should have had it out with my plication, as it was already causing issues. You can also try to request a HIDA scan to see if your GB is functioning. If it's not, your doc might take that into consideration and re-think taking it out at the same time, or he may still say no. I'm not a doc, but if you are not having any issues right now and you already have the stones, and your doctor thinks you don't need to remove the GB, then he probably has a pretty good reason for not messing with it.
Whatever you and your doc decide, I wish you the best of luck!

Hi there Spice,
Did my Bandication (as someone referred to it once...) on July 14. I had a GB filled with stones for a few years and my doc knew that it had to come out; at first he did not want to remove it until months after the surgery after weight loss... Apparently it's a lot easier to remove it laparoscopically if you weigh less. I was ok with that except that my insurance did not cover any type of WLS & being broke and all I thought if the surgeries are combined, since the insurance will have to cover the GB removal part, it'll help me a lot. So I convinced him to do it. Fast forward to the day of the surgery now... Went in the OR at around 9:15 a.m., expecting to be out by 11 or so... When I woke up in the recovery room, it was 6:15 p.m. Later i learned that the surgery ended at 3:30... Almost 6.5 hrs of anesthesia... It was brutal indeed & I ended up staying at the hospital for 3 days as my heartrate was high & my potassium was low & some other things due to the length of the surgery and the GB. Surgeon later said the removal of the GB was to be blamed. It took him the most as it was "gigantic" but he still managed to do it laparoscopically, for which I was grateful. He had to fix a huge hernia which obviously contributed to the lengthiness of the surgery. It took me a good month or so to shake off the whole anesthesia and a bit more to just get adjusted to the new me--I had no nausea really and took very little liquid pain med; had 0 gas pain; but did have lots of what I want to call discomfort around my incision areas in general, but that was expected as I've always been in a wheelchair (rare birth defect totally unrelated to any of this), so transferring myself from bed to chair and other places was excruciating for a while...
Look, I am not going to sugarcoat this... It wasn't easy FOR ME at all, but I'll do it ten million times over (except I'd wait on the GB removal until after the WLS surgery) again as the prize has been well worth the trouble... I've been losing an average of 11 lbs. per month. I've lost a total of 48.5 lbs. since I started this journey in June. I'm only 33 and still cannot remember the time I weighed around 204... Been fat all my life pretty much. I'm now so used to eating very little and also to avoiding carbs and all the nastiness they offer. My carb intake is never more than 30 grams per day. I try to drink plenty of Water and eat lots of animal Protein. It's been much easier than I ever imagined to avoid sweets, etc. and it's been so rewarding... Still working on my strength to be able to add more physical activity to my routine, but definitely getting there...
Having said all this said, do not worry at all for good things (really good things) are in store for you and you don't even know the beginning of it yet... Put off the GB removal until after your WLS surgery just like your doctor suggests and I think you'll be good to go.
Good luck and keep us posted please!

Ah, OK yeah, GB removal shouldn't really be necessary when performing the plication.

His name is Dr. Brett Cohen in Hollywood Florida. And he didn't say that he wouldn't take it out because I'm heavy... but rather that if the GB isnt causing any problems now then he wouldnt suggest taking it out PRIOR to the plication band, (because I'm heavy) which makes surgery riskier. And he didnt want remove it DURING because it can cause infection... So he said to leave it in and if it causes trouble then remove it at a later stage, because it may not cause trouble at all and if it does, then I'll be lighter and surgery will be less risky then to do it prior.

That sounds very odd. Who's your doc? I know it's standard to have your gallbladder removed during Duodenal Switch surgery and DS patients are generally very heavy.

Hi all... I'm about to have lapband and plication this coming Tuesday the 11th of OCt.... I've been on a full liquid diet for a few days and its been pretty easy, I'm just really scared of complications and having to have more surgeries. I have never had a surgery before in my life and I'm really nervous, I'm doing this for a better life not for a more complicated scary one. I mentioned in another thread, that I DO currently have gall stones...But my doc said he doesn't want to take out the GB at the same time, because it can cause infection in the stomach... but ChowChows story of gall bladder attacks post op followed by more surgery, well it really scared me .. My doc said that my gall bladder may or may not act up post op, and that if it does, it'd be easier to take it out if i weighed less (it'd be less dangerous) .... I'm just really nervous as it is I keep hearing conflicting things from people. Any insights/encouragement would be greatly appreciated I guess i just need a little reassurance here, from some of you veterans of the game... especially if you have had the same thing as me.