mstrina27

You know this is a good Thread... I have always said that. I lost about 100lbs before i got prego with my son and before i found out i was prego i had about 50 more lbs to loose then everything had to stop becuase i was prego.. but when i did loose the weight hell yes people are more attracted to u because of your outer apperance they feel that they wont be embarased to take u around their friends and family. I have always said I am the same fun, sarkastic, individual fat or thinner my personality wont and don't change. My level to put with bull sh** does... so Hell yes that makes me mad. I wasent good enough for u when i was fat, but now since i have lost weight it should be all good... uhhh no... and everyone has a choice and my choice is not to talk to someone in terms of relationship wise if they ignored me when i was heavier...

For me, it's my personal relationship with the Lord. I have nothing but peaceful faith and trust in Him. I was just reminded last night how I can tolerate only eating 2ozs each meal with no snacking in between. And how can those 2ozs give me hunger satisfaction? Well, I haven't had "hunger pains" at all since my surgery. My surgeon used the original Lap-band with no fill since he said it gives better restriction. I thank the Lord for guiding him to use that one. I also thank the Lord for this satisfied feeling I have. Whenever my mind wonders if I'm hungry, He automatically lets me know I'm ok and He'll take care of me!! I can't explain the peace I feel except to say, based on what I read others are fighting who were banded same day(s) as me....I haven't had the hunger/cravings that some of them are fighting.

I wanted to share this with anyone who is interested. It is info that I got from my doctor. Thought it may help those who are in the first few weeks, like me.
BANDLIFE... THE BEGINNING (FIRST 4 TO 6 WEEKS)
Healing
Key points about healing

Take it easy, because your number one job in the coming weeks is to heal.



You'll also break from some of your old habits and take on some new ones.




How does the band work?
The band is connected by a thin tube to an access port. Your access port sits just under your skin.
Almost all surgeons leave the band empty after placing it because your stomach is swollen from the operation. There's already a natural tightness around the "stoma" (the opening between the upper and lower stomach). If the band was filled, food would have a hard time passing through the stoma. As the swelling goes down, you'll most likely need an adjustment (or a "fill").

Healing do's and don'ts
Right now, your stomach is sewn over the band. As you heal, the tissue around your stomach will form scars, which anchor the band in place to help keep it from slipping. As your band settles in, there are some things you can do to make sure it doesn't slip:




Do NOT do any heavy-duty exercise or lifting (like kids or bags of groceries) in the first few weeks after surgery. You don't want to strain yourself.



DO get up and around as much as you can. After surgery, keeping your blood flowing will help prevent blood clots or pneumonia. Go ahead and take a walk. It will also help move some of that gas you're probably feeling in your belly.



DO stick to the liquids-only diet as long as your doctor asks you to. Typically, this lasts for the first 2 weeks because eating things that can make you throw up or make your stomach churn as it tries to digest thicker food can cause the band to slip.



Do NOT take a bath, swim, or soak in any Water until your cuts are healed over. You don't want to run the risk of getting an infection. Most doctors say to wait at least 1 week. But ask if it's OK to shower.



Do NOT smoke after surgery. Smoking slows down the blood flow all over your body and slows down the healing process.




The general rule about healing is "slowly but surely."
Going back to work
Most people go back to desk jobs in about 1 week, sometimes sooner. If your work is more physically demanding, you'll want to take more time.
If you feel tired or feel any pain, do NOT push it.
During this time you should call your doctor if something feels wrong. Call if you:




Notice that your surgical area becomes red, unusually warm or tender



There's drainage oozing



You have a fever of 101° F or higher



Have serious belly pain



Are dizzy



Are short of breath



Have bad nausea and are vomiting




If you need to go to the hospital, tell them that you have a LAP-BAND and show them your patient ID card. Then make sure they call your surgeon.
Eating and Drinking
While your stomach is healing, you have to be extra careful and extra gentle. You'll have to start listening to your body in a new way to see how it feels and what it needs.
There are 3 eating phases following your procedure, and you should speak with your doctor about how long each one should last for you.
Phase 1: Clear liquids
These are liquids that you can see through, such as:




Water



Sugar-free juice without pulp



Tea



Strained broth





Do NOT drink anything carbonated. Sodas and seltzer water can bloat and stretch your pouch.
Stick to Clear Liquids as long as your doctor instructs.
"Full liquids" are things like skim milk, low-fat yogurt without chunks of fruit, blended Soups, Protein Drinks, and anything low-fat and low-sugar that you can sip through a straw. Some doctors will keep you on full liquids for the first 2 weeks. But the amount of time in any one phase can vary. So find out what your doctor wants you to do.
Phase 2: Soft foods
This includes foods that are low-fat, moist, and mushy. You want to stay away from anything chunky, chewy, stringy, or solid that can get stuck inside the stoma. Your masher, food processor, or blender will come in handy.
Good breakfasts are:




Cooked cereal



Eggs



Ripe bananas




Lunches and dinners include:



Low-fat cottage cheese



Soft broiled fish



Mashed potatoes





In this phase you'll need to take really tiny bites and chew them well. You want to make sure your food goes down easily. But successful weight loss won't happen if you stay in this phase too long. Soft, mushy foods that are high in calories or that you are eating all day long can keep your weight on.
Phase 3: Solid food
Regular, solid, but well-chewed food that's high in Protein stays in your pouch longer and gives you a full feeling sooner. Your doctor may or may not want you to eat solid food before the first adjustment. Please ask so you know for sure.

Drinking
You want to stay hydrated, so drink water in slow sips. Cold water can cause your stomach to spasm, so try water that's room temperature or warm. When you move into the soft food phase, get into the habit of drinking between meals and not before, during, or right after you eat. You don't want to wash food through your stoma.


What's Next

Even though your goal is to lose at least half of your excess weight in the first year, do not expect to lose much weight during the first 4 to 6 weeks. Some people do lose weight, but others don't. Don't get discouraged if you don't see the pounds fly off right away.
As the swelling goes down in your stomach, your stoma will naturally widen and you may not get that full-feeling signal. You'll see big changes once your band is fine-tuned with a fill or several fills, and once you're eating solids, especially protein, you'll feel full faster.
Right now it's most important to stick with your instructions, ask questions if you don't know the answer, and pay attention to how you're feeling.

dlynnmarie & Jenn1969,
You are both feeling what you are suppose to feel. I had those same feelings. Drink what you can and don't worry about it. You will know when you can tolerate more liquid. If you force liquid down, it might come back up or you will have an awful feeling in your stomach. Just do as much as you can and walk, walk, walk. Walking helps heal the body and gets things to flow again.
I hope my post is helpful to you both.
Best regards,
Ms. NeNe

I had mixed feelings reading all the replies to this post. As bandsters, we have one large and important factor in common. WE ARE ADDICTED. To food, to feeling good, to the guilt, perfectionisism, etc. So you had ice cream. Well, ok. It WAS a silly and un-healthy choice considering how recent your surgery was. But you admitted it as well. That shows dedication and honesty to yourself about this journey. I don't subscribe to the theories that everything can be considered a liquid if blended, mushed or chewed enough. If that was the case, I would have been the 1st one in line to shove my cheesecake into a blender.
Its true that beating yourself up will only have negative impact on how you feel about this entire experience. Its also true that PLENTY of people have done worse. What matters is if you do enough every day to be proud of yourself. That's all. You may not lose as fast as others, you may not get enough Protein or enough walking, or whatever. But if YOU can tell an improvement in mind and body, and if YOU are already living healthier then before banding, then be proud of that and move on. I was banded exactly 2 months ago today, and I've had Dairy Queen several times. I've also lost 25 lbs and only "treat" myself when I earn it. There is a big difference in cheating and treating, and the healthier your relationship is with food, the easier it is to see.
I'm no expert, just someone who wants to give the level of support I got from others, so here are my parting words. If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always got.
Heal your body. Your mind will catch up.

Yes, it seems you learned the hard way. I expect the pain only happens when we don't treat the band with respect, or do the right thing. I'm sure you realise now that crackers and Protein bars, and bites of burgers don't really fall into the mushie food category.
The mushie period is there for a reason - to help your stomach heal - you don't want to work it too hard - its likely still swollen from the surgery.
Take it easy - good luck - and keep away from those non-mushy foods until your doc says its ok (no matter how good you chew).
Also, eating too much at one time can cause the pain (so I've heard - haven't experienced it for myself yet :->)

It's so interesting to me that I found this thread tonight....I was about the post the same thing! I think my story is so similar. I've kept off 50 of the 100 I need to lose, but I have been banded since October 05! I have had to come to terms with the fact that I have sat in the same 2-3 pound cylce for over a year. I let my long work hours and many responsibilities just take me out of the game.
As far as eating, I have a relatively tight fill, but I manage to eat around it in small amounts, or late at night. I have slowly eaten full size meals until my stomach hurt. It has scared me to think that I could be damaging my body with an addiction to food. How sad it is to realize that I have found a way to "beat" the band...I wish I could try this over again.
So here's what I'm doing to change: I'm hitting the high Protein liquids for a few days. I'm going to check in with my surgeon (it's been a year!), and I'm going to exercise daily again. We have two choices after what feels like a big failure: you can choose to GIVE UP and fail further, or you can stand up and say I AM BETTER THAN THIS! I DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS.
So I guess this is a resart for me. Care to join me? You have another month until it's officially summer. How much can you accomplish for yourself between now and then?!?
Blessings to you this season. Go live victoriously!
-Jon

Because you are exercising you are probably gain muscle and losing fat even though the scale isn't moving. Also, try a cheat day everyonce in a while. I usually try once a week to once every two weeks. Don't go nuts but have a little more. It really gets your metabolism going again. I usually lose at least 2 lbs after a cheat day.
Hope this helps.

The night before I was super nervous and didn't sleep a lot. I went from feeling excitement to scared to nervous back to excitement.
I was scheduled to arrive at the surgery center at 8am. My surgery was scheduled for 9:30am. When I arrived, I was a self pay so I spent the 1st 15-20minutes taking care of the bill. Then they took me into an office and I signed a bunch of forms that explaind the risks, authorization for blood etc. My surgeon poked his head in, met my husband and said he would see me shortly. I finished with the paperwork and went back into the waiting room.
The surgical nurse came to get me and told me they would prep me and then my husband could join me when they were done. I went back to the day surgery area and the first thing they did was weigh me. I was down 12 pounds with the preop diet so I was thrilled. Then it was off to the bathroom to change clothes and give them a urine sample so they could do another pregnancy test. I changed clothes gave them the sample and then they put me in a bed. They gave me slipper socks to put on, very sexy I might add. Then the doc came in and asked me several questions and verified everything on my Bracelet. While that was happening the nurse was fishing for a vein for my IV. She gave me a shot of something that really burned before she put the IV in which hurt more than the IV. The IV came out before she could secure it so she went underneath my arm on my rist, repeated that process got it in and secured. Then they gave me 3 different types of medication. Some antibiotics etc. Then they gave me a shot in the stomach of blood thinner. I had heard this was really going to hurt and burn. I didn't even feel it. The IV hurt more than that shot. Then they put these new feet things on me that keep the circulation going during sugery and prevent clots. No long stockings like them much better than the stockings. Then it was hurry up and wait. I had about 5 minutes with my husband and then it was off to surgery.
When I got into the OR they told me I would move to another bed and then they would start to give me the drugs to relax me. That is the last thing I remember, I was out. The next thing I knew I was in recovery and really needed to go to the bathroom. I asked if I could go. The nurse helped me to the bathroom, I went which was the first of 3 tests to go home. When I came out of the bathroom they put me in a wheel chair and wheeled me over to a kinda sitting area. They gave me some stuff for nausea as I was a bit nauseated and then gave me some ice chips. Second test for getting out. My husband came in and I spent 15 minutes or so eating the ice chips and chilling out. Then the nurse came in and asked me if I wanted to get dressed, I said sure and my husband helped me put my clothes on. The nurse went over all my incisions and talked to and gave me instructions on them. I have 6 incisions. 5 really small ones and 1 that is a couple of inches or the port incision. Apparently while I was in surgery my husband was getting a class in taking care of me. He signed more stuff than I did on instructions etc. Once I was dressed and able to keep the ice chips down I was ready to go home. I arrived home by 12:30pm. Not to bad.
Felt no pain at all, took pain medication and liquid tylenol and tried to get comfortable. Slept most of the afternoon and my husband kept the pain medication flowing, had no problems swallowing anything. I sipped though. They also gave me this thing I was supposed to breath into every 15 minutes. Was supposed to keep the air sacks in my lungs open. I didn't do this as I was sleeping, I did it a couple of times.
I had a very hard time getting comfortable as I am a side sleeper. Hated laying on my back. I stayed propped up and would reccommend this highly in fact if you could sleep sitting up in a chair for a few days that would be ideal. I walked as much as I could tolerate and did experience slight gas pains first day. The Gasx strips did the trick and I haven't had any problems since.
The main pain I have had is from the port site. I have had redness and lots and lots of pain in that area. When I move I can feel pain in that area and getting up and down are the most painful parts. I was hoping to return to work on Monday following surgery but my port was still way to sore. I came back today and other than a bit of weakness feeling, all is good. Everyday is 100% better than the day before.
Hope this post helps as I studied these the most pre surgery so I would know what to expect. You are welcome to ask me anything and I will answer if it will help.
Happily banded....

Well I made it and I will describe the details of my event on yesterday, May 1st to get my lap band.
1. I presented to the Dallas Regional Hospital at 6:45 in the morning. I had done all of my pre-op things the day before. I was taken back to the Day Surgery area where a nurse prepared me for my day's journey. Of course, I had to disrobe and get into one of the SEE MORE gowns. She attempted to start my IV x 2 attempts and could not get a vein. I did not have a Foley catheter for this. My vital signs were taken and another history was obtained to be sure they did not miss anything in RE: meds, past illnesses, complications from previous anethesia, etc.
2. After clearing this area, I was transported to a holding area right outside of the surgery suite. It was about 9:30am at this time.
The CRNA-nurse anesthesist came and talked to me and started my IV there. He asked me about my tolerance of anesthesia and my past medical history and meds that I was on,he was delighted to find out that I only took one prescribed medication for hypertension. A surgical nurse also talked to me and asked more questions, again to assure that nothing else was missed in RE: my personal history and my tolerance of anesthesia in the past and allergies to medications. She also asked me I needed to use the bathroom before I went into surgery. I was given a dose of Versed and taken into the actual surgery suite. All present; assisted me in transferring to the surgical bed and a mask was placed over my face and that was all that I remember. :thumbup:
3. I woke up in the recovery room and was told to cough and deep breathe, vital signs were taken as ordered every few minutes. When I became alert and all seemed well, I was taken back to the same nurse I started with in the Day Surgery area.:thumbup:
4. After I was there shortly I was taken to radiology to do a Upper GI with Gastrographin, to see where my band was. I had to drink several swallows of this vile stuff and the radiologist watched it go down. The radiologist notified my doctor that my swallowing was fine and that the liquid was going through the band . I was then taken back to the Day Surgery area. After all was well and I had used the bathroom and ambulated a couple of times, then I was told I could go home. I was discharged at about 3pm. I was given discharge instructions. My surgeon had already given me my pain med prescription- a Stadol Nasal Spay that works well.
5. The pain is compared to doing an excessive amount of sit ups. That is it. I feel bloated from the gas they inserted, but moving around helps that. Continue to cough and deep breath even after you get home, that helps clear the anesthesia from you. Use a pillow for splinting, so you can do good deep coughs and clear your lungs. I have staples in the small incision areas and they are covered with Band Aids.
But so far, so good!:thumbup:

You know there is power in words... and when u said that "You will consider monday as your new birthday" A light bulb went off and I am there right with u. Turning points in your life are always marked with a date. Who says you can't have 2-birthday's.. ahhh I love it... and congrats...:thumbup::grouphug:

If all of your friends are vomiting there is a reason for that because its not the norm. You vomit if you eat too much or if your band is too tight. It is a tool to help yout hrough your jouney to healthy. You remain in control of your food intake and changing your relationship with food. It helps you make the right decisions about food because your not hungry. If your not hungry you can make the right choices. The decision is ultimately yours but complications are limited and you can can always get it removed if you don't like it. I haven't seen anyone on these blogs talk about not like it. Just take a deep breath and have a good discussion with your physician. This is all about YOU...

There was a one page insert in our local newspaper (Sacramento Bee) on Monday the 14th. It was advertising a research study for obese people with bmi's from 30-35. The telephone number to call was 877-303-5264 and the website is Band3035.com
When I clicked on the link, it took me to the website for a very reputable bariatric surgery group. The surgeon locations I found were in northern and southern California. My PCP said last week she had read in one of her Internal Medicine journals about this trial and also one dealing with lap band surgery in obese teenagers. Hope this is useful information!