meggs353

Great to check in! My highest weight was 189 lbs, and my current weight is 176.8 lbs (down 12.2 lbs). I can't remember my pre-surgery weight. I'm one of those people who dropped weight with the pre-surgery diet, and post-surgery during recovery, then immediately gained weight once I could start eating again. I never made it back up to 189, but I had to work my way down again once my band started being properly adjusted. The main thing I am working on now, 6 mo out, is my eating habits. That means, learning which foods are band-friendly, and which are not. Focusing on dense Proteins. Losing empty carbs. Working on eating slow and chewing well. Learning to listen to my body and notice a stuck incident sooner, rather than having food build up in my esophagus which then needs to come up. We are changing years of ingrained habits, and for me, it's not an easy, overnight process! However, I'm committed to make this work, so I'm looking forward to getting better and better at it over time. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Mine is to the right of my belly button (looking down on it). Many people have it between their belly button and breast bone. Some people have it near their armpit! It's usually in the location of the incision that hurts the most after surgery.

I would say that is a NSV to be proud of! Great work! And, I agree, that Macy's is overwhelming! But, boy does it have options

I would say the trick is to get to the bathroom asap. If it's not a bad episode, the act of standing and walking can alleviate minor discomfort. If not you'll be in the bathroom to bring it up. For me, if it's a bad episode, it comes right up (like the projectile vomiting the OP mentions). If it needs some help, I put my fingers to the back of my throat. It sounds aweful, and it somewhat is, but, like one of the other posters mentioned, for me the whole thing is very gentle. The food has backed up into my esophagus and is happy to quickly and easily come right back out. I started to keep a journal about my experience after WLS, and on one of the pages I track my stuck episodes. For some time it was happening to me once a day. In talking to my dr, they advised it shouldn't happen more than once a week, so that is my goal. For now I'm up to about 4 days at a time. I'm working to get to monthly, and less, eventually. This band definitely is making me learn the hard way. But no regrets! I need something like this to keep me on track. And I have faith in myself that I will get there. Good luck!

That's great news. It's amazing what a difference a small fill or unfill can make! Good for you for taking care if yourself.

Thanks for all the great feedback!

I'm wondering if anyone with a lap band has had experience or advice from their dr about how to deal with a stomach virus or food poisoning that causes uncontrollable throwing up. This has happened a handful of times to me pre-band. It's miserable, but survivable. However, now that my band is adjusted, I know I have a small opening at the top of my stomach. Not to be gross, but it would be like all of your stomach contents violently hitting a small funnel opening - I can't imagine that going well. I wonder, if this happens at night, is it cause to get to a hospital emergency room asap and see if they will unfill you? It's on my list to ask my dr next time I visit, but since I'm in a good place adjustment-wise I don't have any visits planned. Thanks!

Good for you to take care of yourself. So sorry you had this terrible problem. It goes to show, we should (quite literally!) listen to our guts if something feels wrong!

Heresdeb, you can solve the problem by disclosing what you need the needles for. People aren't going to help you if they think they are enabling you to do something dangerous to yourself. But, if you have a safe reason people might be more likely to help out. If your reason is secret, then you can't blame people for trying to help you be safe. You didn't ask for advice about home fills, but no one on this forum knows you, and you might be someone who doesn't understand the risks of trying to do a medical procedure on yourself, so people are just trying to keep you safe in case that's what you were thinking!

Most drs don't put Fluid in the band at surgery (some do though, so it's a good questions for your first follow-up). Most people also don't feel any restriction once the band is "installed". It will take some regular check-ins with your dr for adjustments before you start noticing dimmed appetite, and changes in how you feel when eating food. Once I healed from my surgery I was able to eat and drink like normal as well. I had mourned food before my surgery and suddenly found that I could eat the same as before! I felt the same way after my first fill. I kept expecting to experience this major change, and for a couple of months it didn't come. However, as I got more fluid in my band, especially recently as I've crept closer to the green zone, I've noticed I need to make major changes in my eating habits. If I don't follow the band rules of eating slowly, eating small bites, and chewing well I will have pain and stuck incidents. It's best to practice these habits as much as you can, even if you don't "need" them yet, since chances are you will need them soon!

Good luck! You'll probably notice a big change in how you feel while eating, so take it easy as you transition from liquids, to soft foods, to real foods over the next couple of days! Remember all the band rules about eating slowly, taking small bites, and chewing well.

Hi Jenny, congrats on being newly banded! My best piece of advice is to keep in regular touch with your dr regarding fills. I'm 5 months into the process and still finding my green zone. It might not happen after the first 1 or 2 (or 5) fills! You should never be so tight that you're in pain, but you should also be prepared to make big changes in your eating habits to accommodate your new band (for me, chewing super well, taking small bites, and eating slowly weren't an issue until about 3-4 fills in - then I finally needed to make those changes to avoid getting stuck). Good luck finding continued success!

Hi there, congrats on being newly banded! Try to stick with your dr's plan as much as you can. The risk of eating solid foods too early is that your body is still healing and you could risk disrupting that process if you have a "stuck" incident. Some soft food ideas are: Ricotta cheese with tomato sauce Any kind of pureed veggie Soup (try adding unflavored Protein powder to make it more filling) Hummus Refried Beans (with melted cheese, with salsa, with sour cream) Greek yogurt with pureed fruit Soft and well chopped tuna or egg salad Softly scrambled eggs with cream cheese and herbs Chili meat (without the beans) Soft meatballs in sauce Hopefully this will give you some inspiration. One of the big tricks is to make sure you're getting protein in since that will keep you full longer. Good luck!

Luvin Life - that's great that you're so organized! I could (should!) probably do the same thing in my own closet with clothes I already own. They vary from size 8 to 18 with all of the fluctuations I've had. It would help me to know what's where so I don't miss a great outfit because I didn't find it in time. I also found the Forever 21 near me has a great plus size section where I found lots of nice fitting, stylish, and CHEAP clothes!

Hi Arc - I'm so sorry to hear about your story. Something I got out of this, and hopefully others will too is that being sick and throwing up should not be a part of daily life with the band. Over time it can lead to serious complications. I'm so glad for you that you are seeing your doctor and working out a plan to get healthy. Good luck to you on your journey back to health!

Thanks Bandista for pointing out the links in your profile. I was just searching for the Eight Golden Rules page, and I found it now and have bookmarked it! I'm in the process of finding my green zone so I'm still learning what "enough' feels like. These insights are very helpful!

I hope you feel better soon! If it is an infection, antibiotics should do the trick. Otherwise you'll have to work with your doc on another treatment plan. Good luck and I hope it resolves soon.

This post is half sharing of my experience with the band, an half question (see down below!). I'm still new to LapBand, and working to get into the green zone. I had surgery in November and after about 3 weeks of healing I could eat the same foods and portions as I could pre-surgery (this is normal). After my first fill I didn't feel any restriction yet (also a normal occurrence). After my second fill I finally started to get restriction. I found that I could still eat all of the same foods as before as long as I was slow and mindful. If I took a bite of something while distracted (this happened often at work -reading emails while eating- or sometimes at home -watching TV-) I would get stuck. That food would have to come up before I could continue my meal. After surgery, and after my first fill I was gaining weight (up to a pound a week). After my second fill my weight gain final stalled and I was stable. Now I've gotten my third fill and the restriction is upped again. I'm hoping to start tipping the scales in the right direction! I feel like I finally have the band I did all of the research on, and mentally prepared myself for, before surgery. The one that changed your eating habits, made you eat slowly and carefully, and might give you some food restrictions (like doughy bread or dry, tough meat). I'm wondering, for all of you out there with properly adjusted bands, what are your favorite go-to foods? My food habits pre-band included bread at Breakfast, fruit for Snacks, and usually veggies with Pasta for dinner. I think I now might have trouble with bread, fibrous fruits (like citrus, which breaks my heart since it's one of the only in-season fruits during winter) or veg (like cooked cabbage, less heart breaking but slightly annoying since I had just cooked up a large head of it for use in some freezer meals). I'm looking for help to reshape my food habits and find healthy, delicious foods that are band friendly so I'm not relying on processed or soft foods. Thanks for any tips!

Thanks so much for the suggestions and tips! I definitely want to keep good eating habits since I know that if I don't it can lead to complications. I appreciate hearing your experience!

Sorry to hear about your struggle. It must be extremely frustrating. You might need to shop around to different bariatric docs until you find one who can help you get on track with your weight loss journey. Good luck to you and I wish you the best!

I haven't heard of that from reading these forums, and was never told it was a side-effect by my dr. I'm a newbie too (banded Nov 11), but I don't have any fears or concerns that this will happen to me. (Unless a whole lot of veterans come on here and say something different!)

I guess it's up to each person whether they want to know or not. I wanted to know because I was curious and I feel empowered by information. For me, having surgery and having the band was scary so I've always wanted to know as much as possible so I feel like I know what's going on inside me. It's not necessarily for my physical well being, but for my mental well being. If you couldn't care less, then go ahead and don't worry about it. I believe a new physician could remove all fluid to measure what was in your band and re-inject it if there was ever an urgent need to know and your current physician and medical records were not accessible.

I recovered at my parents' house and we watched all of the Marvel Avengers Series in chronological order from Iron Man to Captain America: Winter Soldier (Guardians of the Galaxy wasn't available for rent yet, but with that there are 9 movies). It was a lot of fun and you see more connections throughout the movies by watching them back-to-back. The Harry Potter movies, Lord of the Rings, and Mission Impossible series, are other fun multi-part movies for the fantasy/action adventure fan.

Doing well over here. I had my first fill yesterday (3 cc's in the 10 cc LapBand). So far, so good! I've been on soft foods, and will be for a couple more days per dr's orders. I started to gain weight recently so the fill was well timed. My next appt is Jan 16. I'll see how I feel closer to then to make sure I still need it (I'm assuming I will, since most people seem to take a few months to get things right). My holidays have been/will be fairly low key. My biggest concern is to avoid a "stuck" episode by trying to remember to eat slow and chew well! Glad to hear others are doing well too.

Yes, I think that's pretty normal. I think it lasted for me throughout my first week. I had lost weight, but it didn't feel like it yet.