timarland

Thanks for the response - we'll see how it goes.

Got my band in 2008, just had my fourth or fifth fill (can't remember exactly) as I've gained about 20 lbs in the last 6 months. Just got a 1/2 cc - wasn't feeling much restriction before, but the Dr. did it under fluoroscopy and 1 cc stopped the contrast too much. Anyway, I've always been able to get back to eating pretty quickly after fills - even had some removed last year because I felt too much restriction. Anyway, had the fill Thursday afternoon, and last night had some Soup - potatoes, bacon, etc - quite good actually. Since then, everything hurts when I eat it. I can feel the food/liquid hit and pass the band, and it hurts. Just having liquids today. Some more acidic liquids - orange juice, wine, etc, hurt my whole esophagus - almost like GERD. Based on some quick searching, this sounds like swelling after the fill, which I understand might be completely normal. However, I'm a little concerned that even it's just swelling, this would be the first time for me. Any thoughts? Thanks!

So here I sit, about 1000 calories taken in (still on blended/mushies) today. I'd like to have a little dessert, but I also need more Protein. Anyone have good recipes for high protein Desserts? Thanks!

Thanks for the answers and encouragement guys. The sound of pizza makes my mouth Water.... I did come up with a pretty appetizing recipe today, based on one I found here - sort of satisfies an italian food craving: 4oz imitation crab (or real if you want blow money) - chopped 1/4 cup ricotta cheese 1/4 cup egg beaters 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup pizza/spaghetti sauce Mix it all up, throw in the microwave for 1.5m. The way I count it, about 250 cals and 15 grams of Protein. Not great, but not bad.

Hey guys - I'm one week post band, and continuing to adjust to the liquid diet. I start blended foods tomorrow, so I'm pretty psyched. However, as I continue to salivate over foods that I can't eat yet, I wonder if I will ever be able to eat them again. I realize that everyone is different, but are there some common foods that become problem foods after the band? Here's my list of foods that I love that I'm very anxious over the possibility of not getting to eat ever again. Now I understand many of these foods are not the best nutritionally, and should not be part of a bandster's daily diet regimen. I also understand that the occasional cheat is inevitable, perhaps even advantageous for the dieter. Calamari Spicy foods (hot wings, jalepeno poppers, etc) pizza Flour tortillas Steak Popcorn Shrimp It's a relatively short list, but important. At least to me.

After studying a few threads (perhaps not enough), it seems like many people have a phased diet of liquids/mushies/regular food. The guidelines provided by my doctor provide 4 stages - liquids/blended/soft/regular. My question is, what's the difference between blended and mushies? I would like to leverage many of the good recipes provided here for my post liquid phase, but without having this question answered I'm concerned about what I should really eat. Here are some examples from my blended diet phase recommendations: Blended cottage cheese Pureed meats and eggs Whipped potatoes Pureed fruits Blended yogurt Pudding Blended soups Here are the examples from the soft diet phase: lean chicken/turkey fish eggs low fat cheese cooked vegetables crackers low fiber ceraels soft potato, no skin canned fruit toasted low fiber breads By quickly assessing these lists against the mushies stage foods commonly referenced on LBT, it seems my blended stage equals a typical mushies stage. Any thoughts from the experts?

It likely would have gone through a straw fairly easily - maybe a little too thick. Thanks for the definition of PB. My doctor's regimen is Clear Liquids for day of surgery (or hospital stay), then full liquids for week 1.

Banded Wednesday, healing fine (I think). The 4oz suggesting serving size for full liquids hasn't been filling me up. I've bumped up most servings to 5-6 oz, with no problems. So..... I'm super hungry tonight - went to the grocery store today - figured out that Cream of Wheat is farina. Thinned farina is on my liquid diet list. So I made one package of the instant kind - used 1/2 cup (4oz) of milk to cook, then a little more milk to thin it out after cooking. It was SO good. I ate it all. Now I don't feel good - I think I ate too much. I didn't throw up, didn't PB (still don't know what that stands for, but I think I know what it is). I burped quite a bit though. Question is, how do I know if i did any permanent damage to the band, my stomach, etc?

That's not bad. Does that include all the pre-op testing?

I'm in technology consulting sales, so much of my work can be done via phone and email. I'll be back in front of customers Wednesday after my first post-op appointment. How much is your procedure in CO?

I'm feeling ok - soreness isn't too bad. Incisions are a little sore. I'm a little off I think due to lack of calories. Hard to go from 3000+ to 700.... The process was fairly quick - about 5 weeks from start to finish.

I had mine done this week at St. Alexius in Hoffman Estates. Dr. Rantis of Suburban Surgical in Elk Grove. $17,500 all in - surgeon, pre-op testing, hospital stay. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Hey eat2live - with that much lost in such a short time, are you having any problems with loose or excess skin?

I will look for the samurai. Thanks for all the responses! I'm going to try a whey bullet today - 3 oz, 42 grams of whey Protein. Read on another post it qualified as a clear liquid.

RestlessMonkey - the clear liquid diet for a week is insane. How did you do it?

Thanks for the quick responses. I think I'll have a little thinned milkshake before bed to pump up calories AND Protein.

I was banded Wednesday afternoon, and I'm working my way through the week one full liquid diet. I am a little concerned about calorie count though. I haven't seen much about calories in the info packet i received from the doctor, so I'm not sure how much difference it really makes. I stayed overnight in the hospital, and was on Clear liquids all yesterday. Today, I've had: 4x4oz servings of Ensure 1x4oz serving of strained Cream of Mushroom Soup 1x2oz serving of apple juice (to mix in crushed meds) By my count, this is about 557 calories. In a previous failed dieting attempt, I suffered through the Optifast program - which I believe provided about 1000 calories per day. Question is, am I getting enough calories? I am somewhat light headed and have a splitting headache. Thanks.

I got banded yesterday as well. Same problems. Fairly painful incision sites as well.

I'm getting banded in August, and trolling the boards to determine my future food possibilities. I really enjoy making my own fruit smoothies (usually strawberries, bananas, bluberries, and flax seeds) and also my own veggie smoothies (carrots, spinach, banana). I've noticed some posts that home made smoothies may not be so good with the band. What's the deal? Thanks!

I'm new to the boards, and I apologize if this has been covered before. I am working on insurance approval for banding, and I'm trolling here to determine food and nutrition specifics for life with the band. I am a big believer in Fiber - mainly from grain based sources like hot and cold cereals, but also berries (blue, straw, etc) and ground flax seeds. As I've read through these posts, fiber seems to be somewhat controversial as a good food for the banded. Any ideas on what can be tolerated with the band? I know it's different for everyone, but I'm just looking for experiences and perhaps some guidelines. Thanks