needtorecover

I had a fill yesterday. Doctor gave me a half CC to fill me up to 6.75 in my band. He handed me a bottle of Water and I took a big swallow. We both heard a bunch of gurgling and I laughed because literally just an hour before I was able to drink a huge mug of coffee without a problem in a few minutes. Doctor took a quarter CC out to see how I felt and the water went down okay. He declared me "green." I didn't know how I felt about this. I thought to myself "What if it still doesn't work?" I asked the doctor what I should do if I'm still over-eating. And he said "Well, this is your soft ceiling for your fills so from here on out, if you're not losing weight, we'll need to take a closer look at your diet and exercise. It's a tool. It won't lose the weight for you." BOOM. I've heard it a billion times before (the lap band being a tool) but I didn't really think about it. I will be honest. Over the last several months I learned how to eat around my band. Good ways to do this are drink while eating (washes the food right through the band into your stomach). Especially if I'm eating cake or Cookies - a glass of milk will slide those suckers right into my stomach. Drinking alcohol makes the band feel looser so I can eat more. Being one who loves to over-eat, I did this with some degree of frequency. I'm lucky that I didn't make myself gain weight, just maintained where I was (you can only get so many calories in if you're drinking a half gallon of water to get a meal down). I didn't measure my food, didn't really think about it. I stupidly thought my lap band would just magically stop me when I got full. Well... for that to actually work, I have to follow the rules. Now that I am consciously following the rules, it's working great. I thought with the lap band I could get away with not "dieting" for the rest of my life. By "dieting" I mean measuring everything, eating small portions of healthy foods, and skipping sweets. Okay, I know people are probably reading this thinking "What the hell did you expect, you moron??" I guess I expected life to carry on as usual without thinking about food as much. But it turns out this is similar to starting a healthy lifestyle except the band DOES help in reducing hunger. But it doesn't eliminate the desire to binge. That's where self-control comes into play. Without the band, I could try to discipline myself to eat a small plate of food (one cup) and eat tiny bites and wait 20 seconds until the next bite. But I would eat the cup and still be hungry. WITH the band, my little pouch fills up and provides the illusion of fullness (let's be real, it's not actual fullness because NO ONE gets full on a 300-400 calorie meal unless they're naturally 4'10 inches and weigh 90 pounds). For this to work I need to be mindful. I need to follow the rules. And I need to cut the drinking (both alcoholic and drinking water while eating). This is pretty much the extent of the power of the lap band. It's not going to change me, but it makes it possible to change.

I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in way too long and I brought my toddler (almost 2 years old) along with me. There's a daycare center that will watch little ones from 4-8 pm so I thought I'd give it a try. LO normally stays home with his grandmother during the day so he's not used to daycare. I was sort of dreading dropping him off because I was afraid he'd cry. Upon seeing all the kids and toys, he wriggled out of my arms and ran straight for the action, banging his hands against the barrier enthusiastically to get in and have fun. Much to my relief, I signed him in, went to the gym and... it was BLISSFUL! I could listen to my music, watch HGTV, and exercise all without a small person clinging to my legs and demanding my absolute undivided attention! Ended up doing 50 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of stretching. Even better, LO had a great time and ended up wearing himself out so bedtime was much easier! All around, a major win in my household. My motivation to hit the gym has increased 10-fold.

When is your surgery? 6 pounds isn't an enormous weight gain so I don't think it'll make a big difference but you should probably ask your surgeon about it if you're worried he/she will cancel. I was stupid and went on a "last hurrah" before surgery and gained a few pounds. Got a little scolding from my surgeon and 2 weeks pre-op I cleaned up my act so I wouldn't risk liver enlargement and I was fine. That being said, every surgeon is different so you really should consult with your doctor to find out how much weight gain he/she thinks is acceptable before surgery.

If you had bypass I imagine your expectations are higher than they ought to be. The band is only a restrictive procedure - it won't prevent you from absorbing calories so the weight loss will be slower. Also, the weight loss will not truly begin until you've had some adjustments made to your band. There are some folks who get restriction just by having the band placed (I know a local lady who lost 80 pounds without a single fill). That is less common so if you're still feeling hungry do not fret! Go and get a fill and see how you feel. It'll probably take a few fills before you get to the sweet spot. The problem with the band is, if you go too tight and aren't able to swallow liquids, you're in trouble. You won't know what "too tight" is until you get your adjustments. But once you feel restriction you'll notice you're not able to eat as much as you could before, that you have to eat slower, and you have to chew better. Beware this won't prohibit you from eating sugar and junk (no dumping) and it's very easy to eat lots of candy, cake, and Cookies (as I learned during Christmas, sadly). Just be patient. Lap bands take time to work and you likely will not see instant results. Good luck!

I view my lap band as a little cop in my tummy. She stops me when I eat too fast, forces me to slow down, and firmly tells me "That's enough" when I'm full. If I don't listen to her, there are unpleasant consequences. Whereas before, I was a fast eater and it takes a good 20 minutes for the brain to register satiety. So I would eat a lot, very fast, and overfill my stomach. I've always been fine with eating the "right" foods - my problem was volume. The band prevents ~90% of my overeating. The other 10% consists of pure sweets and high-calorie liquids which I find easy enough to avoid so it's been working well for me.

Hi All - I've been suffering from wicked, wicked, WICKED bronchitis since Thanksgiving. I swear, this has been the roughest virus I've ever had in my life. I've woken up every morning for the past week coughing over a sink and hacking up mucous. In the process, I dry heave because it tickles my gag reflex so much. Good news is I think it's at the tail end (please God, let it be so) since it's all coming out. But I'm worried because I do have a lap band... is it possible to "push" it out of place with dry heaving? Would I notice a difference if it did? I can't really control it at this point... it's just how my body is unfortunately reacting to getting the gunk out. I've been taking Mucinex but otherwise don't take cough suppressants because in order to heal you do need to get the crud out of your lungs one way or another. If I should be suppressing my cough to preserve my band, though, I will reconsider. Thank you, and sorry for the TMI.

I'm in the "everything in moderation" camp. I avoid alcohol mostly but indulge on occasion. The biggest problem with alcohol, for me, is that it boosts my appetite while lessening the efficacy of my band and that's a bad combination. I always eat my Protein first and then eat bites of anything else on my plate if there's room. I refuse to follow a specific, rigid diet simply because attempting such always backfires for me and I end up binging on what I actually want instead. Of course, traditional binging now is a physical impossibility but during a particularly brutal bout of PMS I did manage to eat an entire sleeve of Oreo Cookies and a glass of milk for lunch. That's all I ate and it kept me full for several hours... Calorically it was in line with what I would've eaten anyway but it was nutritionally void of anything except sugar and fat. I am in no way recommending this, but hey, I have food issues and occasionally I slip. The great thing about the lap band is once the episode ends, I don't just say "screw it" and "go off my diet" because there is no "diet" to exit anymore.

For the puree phase I would take meat broth and put whatever Protein I wanted in a food processor and ground it down to a thinned paste. Worked well enough. I certainly understand missing food and feeling hungry but you'll get through it. I had a very hard time getting most things down the first 4 weeks post-op because of the swelling but I was pretty well back to normal after I healed. I'm a year post op and I'm still not at my "sweet" spot 100% but I'm almost there! Even though it's been slow-going for me I'm very pleased with the results. Before on standard diets I'd lose 10-15 pounds, get excited and regain it back plus another pound. At the rate I was going I'd probably weigh somewhere between 320-330 by now. I was literally killing myself with my food issues. 42 pounds may seem modest a year out but my numbers have greatly improved, I've lost a couple sizes, and I just *feel* better. Point is: be patient. You're already better off now than you would've been if you didn't have the surgery at all so there's a reason to be happy

I definitely had "last supper" syndrome. Happily, I cannot binge now even if I want to. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. There are times when I wish I could eat more and stare at my plate wistfully (like at Thanksgiving when I took a little spoonful of everything and still only ate 3/4 of what was on my plate - even after skipping the dinner rolls, which I used to take 3-4 of and smear with butter!) But really, you end up thankful that your stomach capacity is much smaller as the weight comes off Overall, very positive.

It's normal to either not lose or gain a little weight during the early months of lap band surgery. It'll take a few appointments/fills before you notice any appreciable restriction. Hang in there and be patient, and don't go too hard on yourself if you're not losing quickly.

@@Treadmillwalker I've had my lap band for almost a year (got it on December 28th!) and I've taken it very slow with my fills and weight loss. It is slower than bypass or the sleeve - though I'm sure you're already aware of that! I finally reached good restriction in August but felt like I could use a little more so I got a quarter CC in late September, then another quarter CC last week and I think it's just right now (previously I'd done 1 cc per appointment). Before reaching this restriction, I'd eat and then feel full after a few bites. But then I'd burp three or four times and have plenty of room to keep eating (because the food filtered down through my pouch and into my stomach). The last time I ate was noon (lunch) and I ate a few bites of chicken and half a Salisbury steak. I've been waiting to feel the food "slide" through to my stomach but I'm still too full to eat anything else. That was three hours ago. This, I believe, is the desired effect and I think I'll see the weight fall off more quickly now. But before I got to this point it was still quite remarkable to be full on half the amount of food I was used to consuming. Used to be able to eat a Whopper with cheese, fries, a slice of cake, and a large drink, no problem - and then eat again in a couple hours. Before my last fill I could still eat the Whopper with cheese but not be able to eat again for 4 hours or so. Now... a few bites and boom, done. Keep on keepin' on! You'll reach your restriction eventually but it does take time and patience. Really listen to your body when you eat. That is my advice, for what it's worth.

Wow, that's a crazy story! I'm so sorry you went through all that! My jaw literally dropped while reading what all you went through. I hope you make peace with your eating issues and get on the road to recovery soon.

In the past year, my cholesterol has dropped 34 points, my triglycerides plunged a whopping 114 points, my blood sugar dropped 6 points, and my blood pressure is 120/75. I got rid of 10 pounds of fat in the past 3 months and 2 inches are GONE from my waist. My pants that were once my sausage pants (you know, so tight basically like sausage casings for your thighs) are loose and comfortable. My shirts are getting baggy and my bra doesn't fill up like it used to. I am loving my lap band

I don't always hate it - generally I'm happy I'm a woman and don't resent the many, many, MANY ways we're cut a raw deal based on our biology and gender. But today, I hate it. I hate my PMS and I wish I could rip out my ovaries and uterus because their functions cause terrible, terrible hormones to course through my blood, into my brain, AND MAKE ME WANT TO EAT THE ENTIRE WORLD. Which of course I cannot do (thank heavens) because of my surgically placed band. But that doesn't make the desire vanish, unfortunately. This goes on for DAYS extending into WEEKS until it finally crescendos into an unbearable cacophony of monstrous voices telling me to jump into a vat of macaroni and cheese and eat my way out of it. I am suffering and have been suffering for 2.5 weeks now. The cacophony has begun and I am covering my ears saying "LA LA LA" to try to drown it out. I'm going to go eat my miserable little healthy lunch now.

I went to the park a few days ago to play with my 19 month old son. I was teaching him how to climb up the stairs to get to the slide and held his hands as he went down. Of course he loved it so we repeated it over and over again. At first it's kind of fun. You go up, you get on the slide, and then a couple seconds later you're back on the ground. As an adult, this gets boring after the first couple times but G wanted to keep on going so I repeated the action for a half hour. It was a good workout! Climbing, squatting, bending down, pushing, pulling up... At the time I was thinking of how good it was for my boy because he had a lot of pent up energy that needed to get out and I was glad to do it. Then I started thinking... wouldn't it be great if there was a gym modeled after a child's playground? What if there was a multi-story slide with twists and turns and drops that was really exciting but in order to reach the top you'd have to go through an obstacle course that would take about 10-15 minutes to cross? You'd have to climb walls, swing on ropes, climb stairs, crawl through tunnels... Just like a kid's playground but larger and more challenging so adults are engaged. Say you want to go on the slide 3 or 4 times and that's your whole workout right there. These playgrounds for kids are designed to work their gross motor skills. Ours are developed as adults but are rarely utilized as many of us are sedentary. It would be nice to have a fitness facility that addressed and helped us hone our abilities while being fun and interesting. If only I had the desire and capital to pursue this business idea... I guess in the meantime I'll keep playing with my son at the playground

I went to a Labor Day barbecue to visit my family and everyone made comments about how good I look and said "Wow, you've lost so much weight!" The validation was nice Sometimes it's hard to notice the changes myself because my weight loss has been very gradual.

Food: baked goods. Cookies, cakes, pies, and candy go down very, very easy with a lap band so I avoid them! I'll indulge occasionally if there's a special occasion (i.e. birthday cake or a holiday). I usually regret it because it makes me feel kind of sick after. Not used to consuming that much sugar in one sitting. Non-food: bad books. Some argue that there's no such thing as a bad book but... yeah, my choices are not stellar and are pure entertainment without the intellectual stimulation. I'm okay with that. I also love TV. My favorite shows right now are American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, all Bachelor series, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules, and Flipping Out.

Improved health is the greatest reward in this process Way to go!!!

Oh, you're talking about the post-surgery gas in your body! Yeah, I don't know what that feels like because I didn't have any problems with it. My surgeon told me I might feel pain in my upper chest and shoulders and that the solution would be to move around to get it to disburse. It'll pass soon. I don't know how it compares to a blockage but I can say blockages suck and you should do your best to avoid them suck down your shakes and hang in there. Recovery feels like it lasts forever but it'll be over soon.

If you're one week post-op, you should not be eating anything that would make you stuck... liquids should go right down and you shouldn't start mushy foods until 2 weeks post-op (that was what my surgeon told me, anyway). Getting stuck is very uncomfortable. It feels just like it sounds - like there's something stuck at the base of your esophagus. When this happens to me, it's hard to breathe and my mouth fills with saliva (lap band patients call this "sliming"). Sometimes a good productive burp will get it out and I'll feel better. Other times, I'm not so lucky and I have to run to the bathroom to vomit. Do your best to make this a rare and infrequent occurrence. It'll take trial and error to figure out your limits. It only happens to me when I (stupidly) go too long without eating and basically inhale my meal. Prior to surgery I was a volume eater and my habit was to take large bites, swallow a large amount of food, and quickly shovel another forkful in before the previous bite even had a chance to reach my stomach. I ate that way for years so when I get too hungry now, I'll lose control and think it'll be okay and I'll eat fast. Because it takes 20 seconds for food to hit my stomach sometimes I can eat and swallow 3 or 4 large mouthfuls of food before it reaches my band. When the 2nd big bite hits and puts pressure on my stomach I know it's too late because the next bite or two I already swallowed will make it too full and I will throw up. tl;dr - Don't let yourself get too hungry. When you're very hungry you're more likely to make poor choices, eat too large of bites, not chew well enough, and eat too quickly. This leads to blockages and vomiting. Now gas... that's a fairly normal feeling. A few good burps will clear it up and you'll feel better. With blockages, burping releases a little pressure but ultimately you'll probably need to vomit.

Welcome to banded living! Recovery sucks but it gets better

This is why I tend to exercise shortly before bed. It doesn't interfere with my sleep at all and my stomach is *always* roaring with hunger after a workout. But if I'm going to go to sleep anyway, the hunger won't bother me so I win! If I'm particularly hungry I'll have food dreams. Once I dreamed I was at a buffet eating macaroni and cheese, chocolate cake, and fried chicken nonstop. No matter how much I ate I couldn't get satisfied. One of my brain's many ways of rebelling against weight loss. Conventional wisdom suggests exercising first thing in the morning to boost metabolism all day. That backfires on me and I end up eating way more than I would have otherwise if I light my appetite on fire with a workout upon waking. Nope, just before bed is what works best for me. One cannot eat if one is asleep and then when I wake up, I can eat breakfast!

I detest our sizing system... but it's impossible to fix :\ Lane Bryant tried a few years ago with different colors indicating pear shaped, apple shaped, or hourglass and then numbers indicating actual size, and then tall vs. average vs. petite. Then you'd pick out your green tag with size 3 and tall legs (that was me). Didn't work out though because even then everyone's shape was so variable. I advocate we each get our own personal tailor, as that is the only way we will be well dressed That being excessively costly, I just wing it. Lane Bryant is still coming through for me (even though they're expensive) and my size is pretty consistent so I imagine I'll find a favorite shop and stick with it when I'm thin (Gap or Old Navy most likely since that's where I used to shop as a skinny Minnie). If I feel like boutique shopping I'll just try stuff on and see what happens! Hope I get there one day!

There shouldn't be any guilt or shame about being fat. There are plenty of people out there who feel like I SHOULD feel guilty for my weight because I'm supposedly a burden to the healthcare system or they think I'm just plain gross and have no self control and am greedy or whatever. But I know why I'm fat. I know without help I won't get healthy and fit because my body WANTS to stay fat. I feel it fighting my weight loss every day. It's a biological issue, and there comes a point when it's beyond your control. People can say what they want about me - judgments are pretty much restricted to strangers who don't know me at all. I have plenty of loved ones who take me as I am and that helps a lot. I don't have emotional issues about my weight... just physical. I hate not being able to keep up, having this big gut in my way, feeling tired all the time, and the aches and pains associated with obesity. I get annoyed when people tell me I'm fine as I am because I'm not. I'm mentally fine with my body and if I felt good I wouldn't try to lose weight but physically I am quite uncomfortable and fear for my health. So there you go No guilt or shame... just uncomfortable and needing to change!

Shoot! I may go the route my mom went and just have a full hysterectomy before that happens to me... She never went through menopause, really. Just takes replacement hormones since she doesn't have ovaries anymore. Being a woman is such fun. Now that I've got a good bleed going (FINALLY) the symptoms have stopped. People think I'm crazy when I want my period to arrive - my PMS is extraordinarily wicked and when the blood flows that means my progesterone-induced insanity finally goes away! Feels good to be "me" again WLSResources/ClothingExch@ - You are indeed one to envy. Full-blown PMS is absolutely no joke. I think I actually classify as PMDD. Fun fact: there's nothing I can do about it! Thanks, Doctor!