lovecats85

Ok, I know I need to ask my doc but it's Saturday. Anyways, I went to a bar tonight with my DH and some friends and I didn't drink but they were asking me when I could drink again and I don't know. When can I drink again? DISCLAIMER: I KNOW alcohol has empty calories, and I should avoid it, but I'm in my 3rd year of law school and I'm a little stressed by that and the looming bar exam so any critics will just have to accept that I AM going to have a margarita from time to time!

Ok, so I did it! 8 days out and I know this is wayyyyy TMI but several positions felt just fine! I say if you feel like can do it - do it - cuz I know I feel alot better tonight!

Ok so my 2 larger incisions are still sore. They get way more sore at night. I'm ot even sure which one is my port! I am scared sh**less of getting a port infection that I know I'm freaking myself out here but when are these incisions going to heal up and not be at all sore?

I'm a newbie but here's my input: 1. pre-op was liquids for one week (soup, protein shakes, water, etc) 2. post-op - liquids as above for one week, 2 weeks of mushy, then slow incorp. real food 3. My doc says not to fill for 5 weeks after surgery but he says I'll probably need a fill after that b/c most people don't feel restriction w/out a fill - he says when I stop losing or don't fee restrcition to fill 4. My band hold 4 cc I think - not sure - there are different bands/sizes - look arouind on this site 5. and 6. I think if it slips they have to surgically put it back in place but the slippage rate is low - like 2% 7. see #3 8. when you get pregnant or you are so tight you can't get liquids down you need a lilttle unfill (not the whole band emptied - just a little unfill) 9. I think you have to get port repair surgery (minor I think) Anyways, good luck with your decision! Welcome to LBT!

try another doc - alot say 75 pounds overweight is enough and they considered my "sore knees and back" and acid reflux and hiatal hernia comorbities - course I'm a self pay so maybe it's different.

And let me clarify - when I say burrito I meant I ate a teeny taco bell 99 cent burrito - I ate 2/3 of the filling (beans and cheese)- about 2-3 ounces. This is ok for mush right? I'm so freaked out that I'm doing this wrong but my doc said to go on mush after one week! Just wanted to clarify that it's not like I went to a Mexican Restraunt and had a 2 pound burrito 8 days after banding - I didn't even eat the tortilla! Basically I ate 2-3 oz of beans and cheese.

I'm just worried b/c I don't want to eat too much and hurt my band. Am I eating too much? Maybe 15 oz of food per day over 6 times is what I'm eating. And when I say food I mean MUSH!

I drink a little less now but I can basically drink the same way and amount as I did before but I just sip and I've actually gotten used to it now - no more gulping. I don't know how much I'm supposed to eat right now - still confused - but I'm on mush and only 8 days out. I got those 3 oz dixie bathroom cups and I use those to eat 3 oz at a time. But today I went out to Taco Bell with my DH and I ate 2/3 the inside of a burrito (no tortilla) in about 15 minutes - I take very very very small bites bites b/c I'm not good at chewing chewing chewing.

I'm so glad for this thread - 8 days has been long enough. I'm jumping my hubby tonight whether my band likes it or not!

I was banded on 9/30 and I was 229 the other day and now I'm 231. Who cares - I've still officially lost 14 pounds so fluctuating 2 lbs is no big deal. I could fluxuate as much as 5 pounds per day before banding so I wouldn't worry too much!

I'm sorry you're feeling wierd! I got banded 8 days ago and I'm loving it! The 1st few days I felt blah and my muscles hurt but I never had any trouble getting liquids down. I had a hiatal hernia fixed too and I really had apretty easy recovery. I'm already back to doing everything I did before except I can't walk quite as fast yet! I did a week of liquids but I did have some calories b/c on my "liquids" I was allowed blended soup and milk. Also I did Isopure protein shakes - pretty tasty. The first 4 days I wasn't hungry at all!!! Then watching my hubby eat kinda bothered me but I would just stick a bit in my mouth - savor the taste and then spit it out and after that I usually realized I didn't even want it anyways. Now I'm on mush so I can eat alot of stuff. You'll get over that feeling when you can have mush! Anyways, as far as regrets - let's see - I've lost 15 pounds, I haven't had reflux at all, I wore something I haven't worn in a year, and I'm back to doing everything I did before so no regrets yet!!! Good luck! You'll be back to normal before you know it!

My doc says eat 6 times per day while on mush but it doesn't say how much - just "stop when full",,, but my brain won't tell me when I'm full - it's confused by my band now, hopefilly it will get better soon. Until then, when on mushies how much shoud I eat at one time and when I start eating all food how much should I eat at one time. 3 hours ago I had 2/3 the mushy inside filling of a burrito (no tortilla) and now I'm kinda hungy so I'm having a 3 oz cup of pudding. Does this seem right, wrong or what? Also, will my brain figure out this band thing ever and start sending me signs?

I don't know any aa bandsters but my doc seems to have alot of them (everytime I go in the waiting room and even when I got my surgery everyone else is aa or hispanic). And he says his patients are mostly sucessful so I think race doesn't matter if you follow the rules and use your band.

Maybe I will end up being a slow loser b/c of this but I will not punish myself for having some candy when I'm PMSing or 1 fish sandwhich when I go to McDonalds. I know you are frustrated with yourself but let's focus on 2 things here - 1. what would you have binged on preband, and 2. my doc says 95% people have NO restriction before the 1st fill. Which means if anything you have NO restriction and still probably binged WAY LESS than you would have pre-band. If anything you should be proud of that!

I'm probably skipping the fair this year b/c I'm still sore and I can't walk that far (only one week out of surgery!) but if I could I'd eat a key lime pie dipped in chocolate on a stick - the best thing ever!!!!!!!

Exactly what La Madam said - I don't think one peice of pizza is falling off the wagon! I could probably have eaten 3/4 pizza 2 weeks ago! If I only eat one peice now I'll feel blessed!!! I hope i lose 29 pounds in 5 weeks! Also, I think you're totally normal b/c my doc says you shouldn't have a fill for 6 weeks so your band can heal but that most people feel NO restriction w/out a fill so you'll get your fill and lose another 30 lbs by the holidays!!! Good for you!

I know bandster aren't supposed to have coke (although my doc says I can have it 4 weeks out) but a swig of carbonation always makes me burp when I need too! Might be worh a try.

Good luck Niche!

Something else to consider is small towns = smaller price. My mom is getting her facelift with a wonderful Dallas doctor b/c she has severe rhuematoid arthritis and has to be an inpatient in a hospital but alot of her healthy friends went to Oklahome for a few days and all got PS for 1/2 the price of Dallas. I got my band for 12,600 by going to a doc in a suburb of Dallas - not Dallas. Locations location location. Research other states too, not just other countires if you want to save money and don't want to go outide the US.

Sure - let me know!

Once again, I am no expert but I know that re-use is common in vet clinics and I do feel I am entitled to back DeLarla up on these claims as I worked at a vet clinic for 3 years and saw/treated MANY MANY MANY infections from unsterilized / re-used equipment. It's a serious problem as it literally takes just ONE microscopic bug to cause an infection, erode your band, make you sick for months, and even kill you! Please don't think I'm all anti-Mexico and jump on me b/c I am not - I'm just saying beware of infection when you go to a country that doesn't have the same standards and laws that we do in the US. Infection is a very serious matter!

I used to work at a vet clinic and we had an autoclave for surgical tools. You CANNOT autoclave rubber or tubing - it would melt! No tubing should be reused for any reasons - not catheter tubing, not trachea tubing, not IV line tubing - NO TUBING is re-usable as you cannot sterilize it! Point is, anything used in surgery, and I mean ANYTHING should come in a never-opened sterlized package and NEVER be re-used! Alot of vet clinics don't do this and we treated so many infections from re-used trachea tubes and what not. Another point about Mexico from a law student's perspective is that you cannot sue them for failing to adhere to medical standards like you can in the US. I am not trying to put down Mexico b/c I completely understand why people go there and I know alot of people are very happy with thier Mexico surgeries, but point is, rules are broken everywhere and at least in the US you have a legal system that offers restitution or reprecussions. The Mexico doectors don't have that fear of lawsuits in thier brain - hopefully they follow the rules anyways, but in the US the "rules" are safer!

You've lost 40 + pounds in a year and I think that's amazing!

Thanks for the thoughts - it just occured to me I have been taking hydrocodone since my surgery - I am going to stop that ASAP and see if that helps!

I was too scared to go to Mexico - luckily my doc is right here in good old USA and only charged 12, 600 and did my surgery at a hospital. 12, 600 doesn't seem like too much more than people pay to go to Mexico. Anyways, I have no knoweldge on the subject but I asked my SIL who is a doc and she said health care standards are SO MUCH higher and MUCH MORE regulated than Mexico - who some say has the WORST health cre standards of all non-3rd-world countries.