Jodi_620

I am not sure about the bulging. I had a little swelling which I was told was fine as long as there is no seepage or severe redness. Pain is normal. I had almost no pain with the other four incisions but the port-site incision was quite painful. Although it improved every day, it took about a month to completely go away and even after that, certain movement could cause a little pain.

Yes, I had hair loss too. My shower drain was backed up twice during that time. I would run my fingers through my hair and get an alarming clump of hair and was picking hairs off my shirt for weeks. You are right at the peak of the typical time frame for hair loss. Hair loss typically starts 3 months out, (in your case, it probably started with slight shedding in early January). As long as you are getting enough Protein and Vitamins, it should slow then end within 3 months (or for you, early April). Even though you have been careful to get your vitamins and protein, there is a third possible cause for hair loss and the only treatment is time. Your body has gone through a huge change in diet and a surgery and it is probably in survival mode. It has shut down processes not necessary for survival (hair being one). It should recover soon and hair loss will stop then you should notice new growth. Try not to stress out, I know that is hard when you ar finding handfuls of hair but too much stress may slow down recovery. My doctor assured me that in all his many surgeries, not one of his pateints went bald due to post-surgery hair loss...all recovered and regrew the lost hair. I recommend you try a "Hair, Skin and Nails" supplement too-something with around 3000mcg of Biotin. I can't say for sure that taking it helped stop my hairloss but I can say that as my hair has grown back, it has become very thick and healthy.

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ebar822, 3-4 seconds sounds about right.

I had no apetite for the first full week. I had to force myself to drink. I drank in small sips as much as I could manage to avoid dehydration, sipping on Water, broth and just a little Protein shake. I did not measure, I just sipped throughout the day. After that the swelling went down and I was just fine. At that point my appetite came back and I was sooo hungry with one more week of liquids and two weeks of solids to go.

This is a common topic here and it seems like this addiction affects us differently. Personally, besides when I was on vacation I don't think a morning has gone by since banding that I didn't weigh myself. I do it every morning right after I get out of bed and use the bathroom. I have also been known to weigh myself multiple times a day. It has helped me to understand how things like eating, exercising, hormones/TOM, drinking water etc. affect my loss. It keeps me accountable. So I think it is a important part of my program. If frequent weighing is causing stress and weight fluctuations are just making you want to give up or you are using it as a tool to see how far you can stretch your limits then I would say it is time to give it up.

I have never experienced this. 9 months out I think you shouldn't still be experiencing discomfort with or without movement...I would definitely mention this to my doctor.

Hunger is perfectly normal. I just don't understand why doctors are not explaining this stuff to their patients. So many people come out of surgery expecting to immediately start seeing results. You will not start using the band until you get a couple adjustments. You are in the healing stage right now. You will hungry until you start adding solid foods back to your diet but you simply can't do that until you've given yourself time to heal. It may take a few fills until your really see the effects you want. It is hard but we've all been through it, take it one day at a time and before you know it you will start seeing results. Count your blessings, I could only have liquids two weeks pre-op and two weeks post-op. I couldn't have yogur, cottage cheese or cream soups until the third week after surgery!!

How long have you been on a plateau?

I have a desk job too. I had my surgery on a Friday, went back to work 1/2 days the following Thursday and Friday then back to regular schedule the following Monday. I did still have some discomfort but I was did OK, have some loose clothing ready (clothes that will not irritate the waistband area). Taking short walks around the office a couple times a day helped.

Just curious, are you measuring since starting the workout program. I was not losing pounds either but I was losing inches. When I go to workout they don't just weigh me, they measure me too. I am coming off yet another plateau so I know how frustrating it is. I don't have any answers but know that it happens to most of us.

Truly amazing!!! Congratulations!!!!!

Me too...LOTS of noise. At your stage it might be gas in your digestive track. As you start to digest, the gas starts rolling around and making noise. I had a lot of that for the first couple months. It would happen a short while after eating. To give you something to look forward to , Now that I am an further along and have a lot of restriction it is a different kind of noisy. It happens while I am eating or drinking and it is sort of like the sound my kitchen sink makes when I pull the plug and the last bit of Water gurgles down the drain...same concept.

Just be careful which brand you choose. Now that the FDA has approved it, some of the big companies have jumped on the Stevia bandwagon but have added chemicals to it to make it taste better and not so much all natural. Good choices are "Stevia in the Raw" and "Sweet leaf". I would pass on brands like "Truvia" and "Purevia".

I have been using Stevia. I wouldn't say as flavor goes, I like it better than the artifical sweetners but it is natural and better than no sweetener at all and does not affect my blood sugar. Now that the FDA has approved it, it has been easier to find on store shelves.

Here is a link for some great tricep exercises. Exercises for Your Triceps Mine are really bad too. I am working to tone them up.

We have all been where you are now. You even just might gain a little when you start soft foods and solids but that is OK. You got the Lap Band to help you lose weight, it is inside you waiting to be used but you have not yet begun to use it. You are healing right now, after surgery you probably have some internal swelling and fluid retention. Your body is stressed and trying to heal. Don't focus on weight loss just yet, get in the proper nutrition and work your way up to solid foods as directed and let your body do what it needs to do. You have made extreme changes in diet and your metabolism will need to reset itself as you add solids and more calories. Once you start getting adjustments then you will start using the band and then you can expect to see the weight come off.

I had that too, it eventually spread across the entire front of my waistband area and went away after about a month. The large incision is where your port is. The port and tubing were sutured to your muscle wall amongst muscle and nerve so this sensation is normal.

Absolutely, no doubt...in 9 short months it has improved my life in so many ways.

Yes you can have too much Protein. Protein is not stored by the body. It uses what it needs and then our liver breaks down the rest, the end product is urea and the kidneys excrete that. If you consistently take in too much it could cause Kidney stress. Too much could also lead to decrease in calcium=osteoporosis, slowed weight loss, etc.. Another issue is that excess protein is believed to increase your risk for some kinds cancers. Excess would be 30% more than your daily recomendation which varies by age, sex, activity level etc. but generally RDA is 60-70 grams. So, there is no real benefit to taking in excess and in the long-run, it could actually lead to health problems. And like Jacqui said, as bandsters, eating much more than the RDA doesn't leave much room for the other essential nutrients. I have always tried to get the 60 grams the my surgeon recommended. There was a while after surgery where I was taking in a little more due to hair loss but that was just for a short period of time.

As far as my surgeon goes, barring any complications it was my choice. As far as my insurance goes, I was approved for 23 hour stay. Personally, I chose to go home. The hospital policy was that once I could go to the bathroom then I could be released. I had terrible nausea and it took an hour or two to get that squared away. As far as how long the surgery took and timing, my brain was pretty fuzzy so I can't give that info. I had to be at the hospital at 6AM, I sat around and waited a while and it took a long time to get checked in and settled into my bed. By the time I met the surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses etc., got my bloodwork and IV's and all that stuff, I would say it was closer to 9 by the time I actually was in the operating room. I was home around3PM. The hospital kept telling me that my insurance approved me for overnight stay and they had a room held for me but I prefer to be at home. I have no regrets with that decision.

Yes, bread is common problem with bandsters. That is because it tends to swell up in your stomach. I can eat it but I have to take the smallest bites and turn it to a slimy mush in my mouth and somehow that takes away from the pleasure of eating it. Depending on how restricted I am at the time I can handle flatbread, wraps or tortillas pretty well. I haven't tried rice yet. I also have had problems with fibrous veggies, I can't eat the stems on broccoli and I had a terrible experience with brussel sprouts. Apple skins and dried apricots are a no-no as well.

You're welcome jojo. Just wanted to ease your mind and let you know that: At your stage, it may just take a fraction of a cc to get you on track Most bands can take a little more than the specified (in your case 10cc) limit. Also, since it has been so long since your last fill, your level may have gone down over time leaving you with a little more room to work with. I am not exactly sure why this happens (evaporation maybe?) but it does

Yes jojo, you are probably ready for a fill. That is the magic of the band, if ever we start to regain the weight we can just go in for an adjustment to help get us back on track.

You're welcome Olivia. The first few months were really the hardest for me but once I learned to identify what I needed vs what I wanted, it did become easy and I am no longer obsessed with food (other than my TOM eating frenzies :confused:.) If you ever need support or someone to talk to, feel free to PM me.