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What helpful and constructive comments. Thanks friends. I guess I need a re-set in attitude and thinking.

Thanks for the note Yes, I had my surgery in Mississauga The nurse stated that perhaps because my bmi was lower that there wasn't the pressure on my stomach which is why I was not feeling a change. ??? hmmmm. I am up to about 6.2 now. Here is hoping! Comforting to know I am not the only one. Keep in touch

Thank you everybody for your encouragement and helpful comments. Had a fill and am hoping that this assists.

I am in a foul mood and really feel down on myself. The ONLY weight loss I have experienced since April after the lap band was in the first week. I wasn’t a high BMI to start with (30 bmi) so I thought it may not come off as quickly but I never thought it would not come off. When I first considered a lap band I telephoned the clinic and the dr. telephoned me back. I never did meet directly with my dr until 15 minutes before the surgery. I only wanted initially a bariatric balloon for 6 months. I thought that this quick tool may snap me back into a healthy weight and do something about my grazing (no…feasting!) from 8 pm to 1 am. The doctor, after hearing my particulars, discouraged the balloon and stated – ‘why not address this problem for life and get a lap band for your hunger for life - instead of a balloon to stop you from eating”. After considerable thought I got the band in April. Because of my lower bmi I didn’t have a pre-diet. My first 10 days of weight loss of about 10 days (during recovery) was inspiring and I was so optimistic. Not so much now. I have recovered well with no physical problems to date. I now have a fill of approximately 6 cm. For the first time during the last fill I now feel aa difference - but not in my appetite. I have some obstruction (which I understand is not what you are aiming for or what is supposed to help) with certain foods or where I take too big a mouthful or don’t chew as well as I should. What has not happened is any change in my appetite or eating habits or ability to eat. DOES THIS EVER REALLY OCCUR? I thought that this would stop my hunger – but there is literally no change in my hunger – just now a change in how quickly foods can go down. So discouraged and feel like this was not the tool I needed. Perhaps my relatively lower bmi has something to do with this but since the operation in April I have not lost any weight. I am back to dieting as I did previously. I don’t feel like I have a tool – just two scars on my stomach and $16,000 less in my bank.

I occasionally get a very sharp upper back pain after eating, I have found it particularly difficult if I am driving or sitting. Here is what I discovered. I am very large busted and wear an underwire bra. Within 5 minutes of taking the bra off - the pain disappeared. I am thinking that the underwire dug into the stomach area and the band area - causing the pain. did this help?

I am 2 weeks post surgery and am worried that my appendix may be giving me trouble. I have a dull and then sometimes sharp pain in my abdomen right side. When i walk it gets more intense - 6 out of 10. Always the same place. Could it be gas? Anybody else experienced this? It is always in precisely the same place. It is constant but varies in intensity. My post op nurse said maybe i was still recovery from the laparoscopy - but was not terribly confident. She said that given I have had this for 5 days - if it were my appendix it would have gotten much much worse. It only gets worse when I walk or after eating.

Thanks for the feedback and the cautions. I did not see the surgeon; it is the surgical nurse that sees the patients. She took the stitch out. She asked how much I was eating. I told her exactly (probably 1/3 c rice) and about 4-6 oz of meat. She did not seem at all concerned but stressed the importance of eating very slowly. She seemed a bit surprised that bread gave me no problem. She did not offer me any warnings or say I should do anything other than continue to eat very slowly and lesser portions. I have thought about what you have both said and think it makes a lot of sense. I am not concerned with weight loss until the band is filled but I haven't done all this - just to mess it up so I think tomorrow I will make a large soft stew and eat that for the week. Thanks for the tip. The only thing or discomfort I have is on my lower right side- just below my hip bone. I am completely healthy but am concerned that it is my appendix. It is a dull ache always at the same place. When I walk it gets more intense - but still localized. She said if it were my appendix and given it has lasted a few days I would have been in emergency - so she hypothesized it was just gas. I am going to post to see if anyone has experienced this and whether it is correlated with the surgery.

I am 2 weeks post surgery and have lost about 10 pounds. I just had my first post surgical visit and it went well. I was quite honest that I have not been sticking to the limited puree diet - but frankly have had no difficulty with rice, meat, potatoes, corn, and last - night - a full chinese dinner. I have also had no problem eating 1/2 a roast pork sandwich. The secret is chew chew chew and lots of space between bites. The only thing that has given me pause this week is an orange for just a mini-second. I think I am going to love this tool! I was told that there will be no fill for 2 weeks. (My surgeon puts 3-4 mg in upon insertion). The best news was that after my visit I knew I had to go grocery shopping. I had no eaten today and it was lunch time so on my way to the store I stopped at harveys and got a junior burger with tomatoes. I immediately took off the top bun and ate the burger slowly. That was 2 hours ago and I am still feeling absolutely no hunger or no desire to eat! Thought I would post this as a good news story for those afraid or those newly banded. So far - so good. It was well worth the first few days of discomfort and fear.

Thanks for the tips fellow bandits! Since I posted I had 2 large glasses of tomato juice and 2 pulverized hard boiled eggs. (Just noticed that my surgeon states no vegetable juices yet...) I am still fantasiging food but maybe you are right about keeping busy. I am bored and lying watching tv since i took the week off work The canadian spring (which hasn't materialized) has kept me housebound. -8 today. So I will sit and read all of the posts here to keep my mind occupied. How encouraging to have people who have been there help me out! Here's hoping!

I feel relatively recovered. I am so hungry. Am supposed to be on pureed foods this week. Had a jar of baby food and an egg in the last 12 hours with no problem. The issue is that I am so hungry I feel I could eat anything. I know that I am only supposed to concentrate on healing this month but I am also concerned with calories. I have lost 13 pounds in one week but feel it could go for nothing if I let myself eat the amount of even pureed foods that I want. Is this bandster"s hell? Help!

so how is it going. What you said made sense to me. The portions are smaller, convenient and there are no left overs. In my prebanded life (only 1 week ago) it would not be unusual to eat several of those dinners over an evening if they were available. I am hoping that the band will stop me from being able to do this. If it works - go for it! So - the question is - is it working for you?

I strongly suspect that the weight that we lose immediately after surgery is phantom weight anyways. What I mean by that is that it is a result of our system being completely absent of any food but Water weight. When my hubby goes on the Atkins diet and then tries to tell me after 4 days that he has lost 10 lbs I just silently roll my eyes. Because I know, from experience, that it is nothing but water and as soon as he starts to eat again, the scale will be back up. So I don't really look at the 11 lbs i have supposedly lost since my surgery as anything but an illusion which will be gone as soon as I open my "pie hole". Strike that: "my Kale and other nutritionally acceptable food hole" I really do agree that as much as we want and need to see the scale go down, this month is to ensure that the band has settled in and proper scar tissue has developed. It is only after that - that the real work starts. Easy to say....but so tough I am now 6 days post surgery. I eat a shake for Breakfast and then for lunch and dinner I eat a cup or so of the boxed tomato soup etc.. I water it down with chicken broth so that the calorie count is lower since the tomato soup is about 100 cal per cup and chicken broth is 10. I do take the isogenix shakes for the Protein. 2 scoops is 240 calories though and only 21 g of protein. Anybody know any other shakes that are less cal with more protein? No doubt about it though - I want to eat more! Whether it is head hunger or stomach hunger - it feels almost overwhelming. I am afraid to go to the kitchen. I had the isogenix around from one of my 500 prev failed diet attempts...

Thanks for the note "justWatchMe" It is really nice to touch base with people in my situation. And you are so right - it has taken me years to get to the point i am in terms of weight - we should be kind to ourselves while we take it off. Before I had the surgery I was in the grocery store buying my post surgical food. I picked up a 20 lb bag of potatoes and walked around the aisle for a minute while I came to grips with the fact that i needed to lose 3 of those bags and marvelled that my knees and ankles weren't giving me more trouble than they were. For anybody reading this or worried about the surgery I can honestly say that i am recovering quickly and apparently quite well. Am actually looking forward to this journey. That is hard to say though as the smell of the cabbage rolls my hubby is heating up wafts through the house as I sit sipping my chicken broth. I am 4 days out and need to start walking. I know. But the truth is that for the last 10 years I have engaged in NO exercise whatsoever. I bought a treadmill but 3 minutes on it baffs me out. Can't believe i admitted publically this sorry statement about myself. I know that if I really want to see a difference I need to exercise but that will be a bigger challenge for me than portion control I suspect. I have always heard - "The joy is in the ride". Guess I will have to learn that the joy is in the walk.

I am at day 4 from my surgery. I feel really good. Emotional - but not physical hunger. am struggling with 62 oz of Water I am supposed to be drinking a day - but, more importantly I am really struggling with how to consume 64 grams of Protein on a Fluid diet. I have a lot of (failed) diet food around [can you say pork rinds alla atkins, frozen dinners alla Jenny Craig etc... None of those will of course work for me in this stage. Has anybody tried Isagenix? I still have a couple of tubs of those around. I was a failure in the isogenix diet a few months ago- before I decided to have the lap band but found it tasted pretty good. How are you getting in enough protein given the limited amount of food that we can eat at this point