MyHighway

I had the same thing and I'm not going to lie it is frustrating. This is the time when you hear you will be losing fast at least for a short while, so when it doesn't happen it's a bummer. The thing is it seems to be pretty common to not lose right now and it is ok to be irritated at the fact that you aren't losing right now I was frustrated and still am lol but I know it will happen and my doctor promises me it will. So hang in there. The good news is while the scale hasn't moved, people keep telling me I look like I've lost weight so something must be going on

I had the same thing and I'm not going to lie it is frustrating. This is the time when you hear you will be losing fast at least for a short while, so when it doesn't happen it's a bummer. The thing is it seems to be pretty common to not lose right now and it is ok to be irritated at the fact that you aren't losing right now I was frustrated and still am lol but I know it will happen and my doctor promises me it will. So hang in there. The good news is while the scale hasn't moved, people keep telling me I look like I've lost weight so something must be going on

I am happy to report....I reached one-derland yesterday!!!! YAY!!!!! It may not b by much at 199...but I made it!!!!!

So may I ask, what do you want to get from here? I think I saw the post where you were frustrated and I wasn't sure what you wanted from the folks participating. I don't mean this rudely, I'm just trying to understand what a veterans expectations are from this site after reaching goal. Is it mentoring, continuing education, something else?
Long before I ever signed up here, I was a lurker and something I always see many of the veterans post is do what your doctor advised. Well I've had enough health issues in my lifetime to know that it is smart to do your own due diligence with any health related issues as you can help to design your health plan. I've told previous doctors about new medications, new treatment plans and demanded that they be implemented for my own betterment. I'm not going to have blind faith in my dr with my band. sometimes when we ask questions here of what people are experiencing I see veterans jump in and say don't ask us ask your doctor. I'm always thinking... We're not a bunch of dummies who are going to do whatever the internet says... But can't we ask about others experiences? In my case my surgeon is pretty liberal... Perhaps too liberal? I don't know, so I like to know more about those with more restrictions and why. It's just for my own education. In the thread where I think you were getting frustrated, I think what is confusing to newbies is that we here so many people say listen to your doctor.. But when it comes to eating most veterans seem to not follow a real diet. That is hard for newbies to comprehend. Especially after hearing listen to your doctors from all the veterans, because our drs are telling us to only eat healthy foods. Mine made me sign a contract promising to do so. Just explaining the other side of things as I don't think the vets are the only ones who get frustrated but the newbies are so desperate for info that I don't think you see as many leave because this is such a new world and we're hanging in because we don't know what else to do.
So I say this with good intentions, but may have unintentionally angered another vet.

Personally I feel that this forum is " clicky". I have tried to post serious questions and they never get addressed. Same questions get boring. I always try to find subject threads first before posting a new one. This won't stop me from coming back but it has stopped me from posting.

I do understand we need more veterans posting instead of lurking, but posting, advising and encouraging. as I stated, to those still struggling, it could appear as critism of how they are managing their weight loss. To them it is still a struggle and a diet as they are learning what to eat, how to get their Protein and avoids stalls and manage their hunger. To say just let the band do all the work is fine but one can easily sabatoge their own weight loss if they throw it all to the wind and don't eat healthy. While some banders manage their eating differently due to the band being selective about what they can and cannot eat, I'm in the green and haven't found anything my band rejects if I chew properly and eat slowly. Some on here say they can't eat Breakfast, I have no problem with this either. Just pointing out that this journey isn't the same for all of us.

If you're using your phone app, like I do, it doesn't make it so easy to go through and find past topics and frankly sometimes you want the fresh perspectives. My doctor said bands of today allow for different things from bands of prior years. Which is why he doesn't foresee problems with drinking while eating, etc. So sometimes answers from previous posts don't answer questions. So I am can understand why it could be frustrating to you all, "the veterans"; but I would hope you would understand us newbies are navigating a whole new world. And perhaps, asking some of the same questions, making some of the same mistakes, and working through some of the same emotions, daresay, that you all went through.
If I post something that seems annoying to you, then please feel free to roll your eyes and move on. If you would like to share some constructive advice, then please know I truly appreciate that help.

While your waiting for surgeons office to open... Mine told me that low calorie Gatorade will help if you are at the point of dehydration and feeling nauseous. Hopefully someone can run out and get you some and you can sip some down. The electrolytes help. Hand in there.

Hi all , this is a before and after picture , 6 weeks post op,!!

I can respect your opinion Cheryl, although I do disagree with you. I do think a forum like this can be used to talk about things like pain, etc and to get perspective from people who have actually had the procedure. Though surgeons are obviously educated they, most likely, never had this surgery. So they may not have tips and tricks that people here have. For example, I saw one thread for dealing with gas pain that discussed a yoga pose that was helping people deal with the gas pain. No ones surgeon knew that would help. That was discovered through talking to people in the same boat as you and someone figured out something that was helping others. To me, that is what this is all about.
Yes it was a newly started thread that discussed that topic and it had a lot of activity. I get that this is a hot button issue for some of you. For me I see the value Ina new thread, but I believe forums allow for the ability to agree to disagree. That's part of the beauty.
If you ever feel like someone is seeking advice that they should be paying for... Then I hope you exercise your right to move along. In my opinion, people aren't trying to use veterans in place of doctors.. It's more about talking to people with practical experience, who may have something to offer that a doctor doesn't.
I can also assure you that I will not be eating an entire pie at Christmas and seeking your input about it. I've actually never had poor eating habits, so it's also not about changing the way I eat. My weight gain was due to a medication that I took for many years. I have always eaten healthily and made wise choices since I was a young child, as that's how I was raised. I was finally able to get off the medication and my doctor recommended this path for me. With that said though, people are human. They are going to make mistakes, and sometimes they are going to come here to talk about them. I'm sure there will be a time that I will put something in my mouth that I shouldn't have and I might go here to seek support from the only people who will really understand the torture that goes along with such a decision.
I suppose why I commented I this thread is because I felt like there were comments intimating that newbies just didn't know how to play here correctly. I was hoping to remind everyone that all were newbies at one point in time. Perhaps my attempt failed or wasn't appreciated. Either way, I'm going to continue to post and be a part if this community even if the way I participate is frowned upon.

What a difference a few months make!

It is hard as a newly banded person to adapt to the new lifestyle! Many of us had tried dieting and had no success. Around the holidays is much worse! I have no willpower! If I did, I could have done this without the band. Yes, I have my doctor's instructions on what to eat and how much, but when my lack of willpower takes over....all that goes out the window! I need to keep coming back here to get motivation!

This is just my 2cents...
I think that people simply stumble onto the site. They are new WLS patients who are struggling or they are curious about WLS. Some of them have been doing research on WLS some have consulted with doctors and some have gotten the surgery already. All of us are desperate to change our lives and lose weight and some are so desperate they don't do any of the above. They don't research, they contract and have surgery with doctors they don't understand or trust and then they second guess themselves and their doctors and then they get on the internet and look for help and stumble onto the site.
So they ask questions and they admit to the unknown strangers that they are flawed and they have not listened to their doctors, they are eating pizza 3 days post op or they are vomiting non stop after eating because someone told them that's what lapband patients do.
Some are indignant and think they know it all, and some are preachy and negative and I could go on and on....but the bottom line to it all is that we are all humans in our many different faces and personalities. Some click and some rub and others chafe but we are all here for the same reasons.
That said, when I run into the poster that rubs, I try to have some tolerance. I try to step out of my comfort zone and ask myself why that person rubs me the wrong way. I may never know them in life other then words on a screen but something they wrote rubbed me wrong...and that has more to do with ME then it does with them.
The same goes for the ones that chafe, but those area's are a little harder to probe when they are raw.
I don't come here for the food, I come here for the support this site provides. The new site took a bit of adjusting, but so did my band and I can accept that and learn to live with it and even to love it.
YOU all of YOU are this site. It's not the moderator, the newbie, the Veteran, the surgeon, the doctor, the nurse or the plumber that make the site what it is, it is YOU the one reading this. YOU.
You make the site what it is, you have the power to make it supportive or to walk away from it. Gratefully there are some moderators and guardians at the gate that will not allow it to become a place of degradation and for that reason I feel comfortable enough to be able to share and participate with those of like mind and even those of adverse minds. Each of you have something to share, and something to teach and support is not real unless it comes from all sides. We need the balance to help keep us cradled in support as we grow stronger and leaner so that we may in turn cradle others in support be they new, old, soon to be or yet to be. They come here to see what YOU have to say, even if you have to say it more then once there is always someone who wants and needs to hear it/read it.

Thanks all. For those who thought I was going against drs orders.. As I stated initially. He has no limitations on drinking with the band and says his patients are able to drink with meals just fine. So not drinking is not going against my drs orders. I was just curious of the division from so many of you about not drinking and wondered if there were advantages of which I was not aware. It sounds as though most of you who do not drink with meals do so out of necessity. I will talk to my dr about the concerns some of you expressed about stretching, if drinking whole eating, etc. if I deem necessary.
Important to note that I would not go here to avoid drs advice. However, I do know that drs are human and that there are different opinions, and schools of thought with every medical condition/procedure and it is always important to educate yourself. So while I trust my doctor, I don't have blind trust and I educate myself. I think that is a wise choice.

Makes sense...IF you know for sure the food passes within that minute...depends upon how much restriction one has, etc....how does one know their food is passing at one minute???
I know for me, the food sits there before passing much, much longer ..as I'm sure it is different for everyone.....
I can take a little sip to "Test" it and know right away if there is still food there.
I have taken a drink 20 minutes after eating and had it come right back up, along WITH food, that has yet to fully empty out of my pouch....
The "Rules' I was taught very early on by my Dr., , was that everyone has to learn to "Listen" to their band, not the next persons.....because everyone reacts differently...and everyone is unique...getting to know one's band "Intimately", .so well that even a little sip of Water, a small bit of food, or whether or not you are hungry or not, is key to all this....
I also understand there are a lot of newly banded people out there that have no idea what I'm talking about.....and their bands are not even saying anything yet for them to listen to......but as you get fills..adjustments...it will if you "Listen"
It's 4am, I just took my first swallow of coffee...and my band said "Whoa, SLOW IT DOWN,,,EASY...." Remembering that this is the first thing I am swallowing this day, and always the tightest first thing. after waking.......

Sipping fluids doesn't cause me any problems unless I happen to be stuck. Otherwise, the Fluid slips right on through. My satiety level with or without a sip isn't legible. I'm one of the bandster's who prefers the band to be on the loose side. Not tight, and not real loose. Just to the point where if I forget the rules I pay for it. Works for me.
tmf

I can respect your opinion Cheryl, although I do disagree with you. I do think a forum like this can be used to talk about things like pain, etc and to get perspective from people who have actually had the procedure. Though surgeons are obviously educated they, most likely, never had this surgery. So they may not have tips and tricks that people here have. For example, I saw one thread for dealing with gas pain that discussed a yoga pose that was helping people deal with the gas pain. No ones surgeon knew that would help. That was discovered through talking to people in the same boat as you and someone figured out something that was helping others. To me, that is what this is all about.
Yes it was a newly started thread that discussed that topic and it had a lot of activity. I get that this is a hot button issue for some of you. For me I see the value Ina new thread, but I believe forums allow for the ability to agree to disagree. That's part of the beauty.
If you ever feel like someone is seeking advice that they should be paying for... Then I hope you exercise your right to move along. In my opinion, people aren't trying to use veterans in place of doctors.. It's more about talking to people with practical experience, who may have something to offer that a doctor doesn't.
I can also assure you that I will not be eating an entire pie at Christmas and seeking your input about it. I've actually never had poor eating habits, so it's also not about changing the way I eat. My weight gain was due to a medication that I took for many years. I have always eaten healthily and made wise choices since I was a young child, as that's how I was raised. I was finally able to get off the medication and my doctor recommended this path for me. With that said though, people are human. They are going to make mistakes, and sometimes they are going to come here to talk about them. I'm sure there will be a time that I will put something in my mouth that I shouldn't have and I might go here to seek support from the only people who will really understand the torture that goes along with such a decision.
I suppose why I commented I this thread is because I felt like there were comments intimating that newbies just didn't know how to play here correctly. I was hoping to remind everyone that all were newbies at one point in time. Perhaps my attempt failed or wasn't appreciated. Either way, I'm going to continue to post and be a part if this community even if the way I participate is frowned upon.

If you're using your phone app, like I do, it doesn't make it so easy to go through and find past topics and frankly sometimes you want the fresh perspectives. My doctor said bands of today allow for different things from bands of prior years. Which is why he doesn't foresee problems with drinking while eating, etc. So sometimes answers from previous posts don't answer questions. So I am can understand why it could be frustrating to you all, "the veterans"; but I would hope you would understand us newbies are navigating a whole new world. And perhaps, asking some of the same questions, making some of the same mistakes, and working through some of the same emotions, daresay, that you all went through.
If I post something that seems annoying to you, then please feel free to roll your eyes and move on. If you would like to share some constructive advice, then please know I truly appreciate that help.

I'm 10 days out. had the same thing was losing ok... Not great loss but ok... then I went up and have been there for 4 days. I've been eating all Protein and low fat so I don't know if it's your cream soup; maybe just something this stage of the game. I know we're going to hear not to weigh ourselves and focus on healing... But easier said than done

I usually wait about 30-40 minutes after eating to drink any fluids. If I going to get a stuck feeling it is usually at Breakfast.
Best wishes

I learned the hard way. I always had drink and eat seperately after surgery. I was out with friends last week at a resturant eating brunch. I had started gulping down my Water after a couple bites of Breakfast and i could not move fast enough to get to the bathroom. I had a stuck feeling and felt like i could not breathe. I stood up and turned around and everything came up everywhere.. Total embarrasement.. My advice is stick to what the doctor says.. No eating and drinking at the same time.You dont want to find out like I did.

At first, I wasn't drinking with meals because there just wasn't enough room for the food and Water. Plus, drinking with meals is supposed to wash the food out of your stomach faster - so you get hungry again sooner. Now it's just a habit. I normally take sips - just enough to wet my tongue during a meal if I need them.

OK let me be the contrarian here! I go by Dr O'brien's rules. I sip about one minute after a bite. The food has already passed through the stoma by then so no wash-out occurs. I don't sip after every bite or every meal but if I have a glass of wine I do sip.
tmf

The general views on drinking have changed radically over the last year or so. I highly recommend following your surgeons guidelines! That being said, I personally drink before, during and after most meals. I don't drink large amounts. I always sip and never gulp. I normally consume 0 calorie drinks, such as Water or tea. Studies have shown that solid meals are more satisfying in both Gastric Banded and non-Gastric Banded individuals. However, a solid meal with accompanying Water did not alter meal satiety. You can read a previous post I made on this topic. I included a link to a study by (the very famous) Dr. John Dixon on this same topic at the end of my previous post. This study says it is not as important (liquid with meals) as was previously thought. Maybe some things work for some people, and maybe less for others.
This study's results don't surprise me. What I wonder, though, is whether it really would change most surgeon recommendations about not drinking while eating. Drinking while eating can lead to stoma stretching (taking in more volume at once). Also, drinking while eating makes the meal less solid and therefore emptying faster through the band. The study finds that satiety doesn't change after an iso-caloric meal (so, e.g., three hours later the feeling of hunger might not be altered); but what about a real-life situation: during a meal that's not of pre-determined size? The person might eat more at the meal because she fills up slower if her food and water make her meal more liquid in the stoma and therefore pass through more quickly so the stoma doesn't fill up as fast. It's a bit confusing

No problems with alcohol here. Been drinking since I've been banded per doctor's orders. I drink both wine and liquor. Good luck!