Bruce120

Thanks for your encouragement guys. I'm heading out to the hospital now, and I'll tell the surgeon about it beforehand. I'll let you know how it goes/went.

So this has been happening on and off since I started the liquid diet, whereas I'm struggling to take a deep satisfying breath. I've brushed it of as nothing and as a possible minor side effect of not eating. But now it came back in a terrible fashion, I've been up almost the whole night tossing and turning struggling to get a good deep breath. As I've said my surgery is today 12:00 PM, and I really don't know what to do. Should I tell my surgeon about it? I'm afraid he'll push off the surgery, and my whole two weeks of liquid misery will have been in vain. Should I not tell him? Who knows what might happen during surgery! Please help me, I'm lost!

Mistake - Double entry

Thanks much for the reply. What he says in the video, is unlike anything I've heard about the band till now. He doesn't mention anything about the pouch, or about it getting full. From his words it seems like food slips right through the band without going through the pouch, and the essence of food going through the band makes you feel full. That is something I've never heard before, and is totally new to me.

As you can see I'm getting banded on Monday, so it's a little odd to be asking this question now, but it's really something that I could never wrap my head around. I never clearly understood how exactly the band will work. I've heard and read hundred times how it works, but I could never really understand the next point. I know that a small pouch is created, and it can only hold around 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food depending on the fill level of the band. But other than that I'm not quite sure how it works. Will all my meals from now on consist from only a quarter to a half a cup of food, and then I'll feel full? If so, why all the emphasis on eating slow and chewing well? I might as well gobble up half a cup of food, get full and finished. If I have to eat slow in order to give food from inside the pouch time to go into the larger stomach (as one doctor put it to me), then what did I accomplish with the band? Hypothetically I can eat the same amounts as before simply by eating slower and giving the food time to move out of the pouch. Again, my question is, will my meals only be as large as my pouch is, and in that case I wonder why I must eat slow and chew well, or will my meals be bigger than the size of the pouch, and in that case I wonder how exactly the band will make me eat less, if I can simply eat slower and give the food time to move out of the pouch and continue to eat?

My shortness of breath subsided, so hopefully it was not related to my diet. But my stomach still feels terrible. It hurts and aches quite badly. It's very sore and tender as well. So guys, is that a normal side effect of the liquid diet, or should I get a little concerned?

It's been one week since I started my liquid diet. It's been going pretty well, the hunger is bearable, and I've been able to completely overcome my cravings. But today, I got for the first time a terrible stomach ache. My stomach feels really painful and especially feels very tender when I touch it. I've been wondering if this is a common side effect of not eating normally for so long. Today I also suffered from shortness of breath. I couldn't take a good deep breath for hours upon hours. It got so bad, that I even considered seeking medical help. I don't know if it's related to the diet, but I highly doubt it's a coincidence, since I very rarely, if ever, suffer from this. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the middle of my preop liquid diet, I know I can have clear broth, but I can't figure out exactly what it is. Is it simply chicken Soup without the chicken and the top layer of fat removed? Or is there anything else involved? Also, has anyone used the slim-fast Protein shakes? They're very good and all, but seem to be awfully high in carbs. I mean 24 grams of carbs for one bottle seems very high to me. Another thing, in my instructions it says only decaffeinated coffee till surgery. Is there any specific reason for that, or can I grab a regular cup of coffee with some skim milk? I seem to miss that the most!

Wow I'm having surgery the same day! July 14th it is! I saw my surgeon today, and we chatted quite a bit, he calmed me, and made me feel extremely comfortable about the whole thing. So far the liquid diet hasn't been too difficult for me. I eat a ton of vegetables plus the four Protein shakes, and I somehow manage to get through the day relatively easy. For me the hardest part was choosing between the lap band and the sleeve, and to tell you the truth I'm still not sure I made the right decision. But being that I'm young, completely healthy, and have a BMI of only slightly above 40, I just couldn't bring myself to cut out 85% of my stomach only in order to lose some weight. It just didn't feel right to me. Another thing that I'm a little nervous about is not being able to drink with food. I tend to drink huge amounts during the day, and I get thirsty very quickly; the thought that I won't be able to drink after eating a thirst inducing food, is making me quite nervous.

Hello y'all. I'm new to this site, and have only recently heared about it. I decided to join for some support during my journey. So here's my story in short. I'm 25 years old and I weigh in at 280 lb. I have been struggling with my weight since my early childhood. I've lost weight many times only to gain it all back and then some. In the beggining of this year, I decided that enough is enough, an I joined a seminar on weight loss surgery. To make a long story short, here I am 5 months later, scheduled for surgery in 6 weeks. The hardest decision for me by far, has been to choose between the sleeve and the lap band. Common wisdom and most people online and even doctors will tell you to go with the sleeve. It requires less maintenance, and the weight loss is much more rapid, plus you don't have nearly as many food restrictions as with the band and so on. But I, being a relatively healthy 25 year old guy, just couldn't bring myself to cut away 85% of my stomach just because I have to lose 80-100 pounds. I just felt that it's too drastic of a measure to take. So I went ahead and got approved and scheduled for the band. But now after the surgery date came in, I got really nervous about my decision. It seems that wherever I read online, people are just blasting the band. I keep on bumping in to stories how people are miserable with the band, and how many doctors and hospitals are stopping the lap band altogether due to the high complication rates and low weight loss results. So dear fellow bandsters, I could use some words of support and encouragment which will make me feel that I have made the right decision. On the other hand, I can probably still change to the sleeve if that is indeed the right path to take. So please let me hear your thoughts on the matter.