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Welcome to LBT, Kimberly. I couldn't agree with Humming Bird more. There is no way that getting a gastric band or other WLS is giving up on yourself. I was self pay as well, and my band is worth every penny, and I'm worth it as well. I think it's a rare individual who makes the decision for WLS without trying multitudes of diets before making this decision. To me, it was accepting the fact that I needed help, and there's no shame in that. The recidivism rate of regaining weight after dieting for the morbidly obese is staggering. Some studies show it as high as 98%. You'll read this over and over again on LBT that the band is a tool, but you have to work with your tool. It's not a free pass to indulge in high calorie foods, for one thing. Although it might be possible to get to your goal weight without exercise, I haven't heard anyone say they've done it. Gastric banding is not a passive WLS option. With the band, to lose weight, I make very healthy food choices (my meals consist of 1/2 cup servings three time/day plus 1/2 cup snack), so making healthy choices is a must. I had to break the habit of grazing (which is how I ended up obese). Others had to learn not to eat huge meals. So, this is not to say that WLS is the right answer for you if you're not committed to it heart, mind and body, but it can be the best investment in yourself and for your family that you can make.

For me, ideal restriction is that I can eat almost all foods comfortably and the restriction doesn't diminish quickly over time. (That has to do with losing the fat layer around the stomach too). Also, not eating teeny tiny bites and not chewing to a liquid mush and no pb'ing or sliming. That's not to say I won't make an occasional mistake and swallow something too fast, but it's my mistake, and not a routine occurrence because my band is too tight. My doctor leaves a 4 oz pouch, so three 1/2 cup meals, in addition to a 1/2 cup healthy snack, keep me satisfied for 4+ hours. It took me a long time to get to that level of restriction, possibly do to my anatomy or who knows what, I had to get more than 9cc of saline in my 9cc band. Also, along the way, there were short periods of good restriction (sometimes a week to a month), and it wasn't as if I went from no restriction to ideal, but it took several fills to get me there. Once I get to my goal, and go on maintenance, we'll try to find the fill level that allows me to eat one cup meals while not gaining weight. Well, that's what I consider ideal restriction. One of the best things about the band is that it's adjustable, so what I consider ideal may be different from someone else, but we can, to a certain extent, find our own sweet spot.

Here's a good article (a little on the technical side though) that describes why some people have shoulder pain after laparscopic surgery. shoulder pain following a laparoscopy

Libby's right. You'll still be able to drink wine. You're not supposed to drink with your meals, and some people experience pain when drinking with a meal, but others don't. So, chances are, you won't get a negative response from it, except for all the additional calories. I'll have to warn you, that if you have a food addiction, some people transfer their food addictions to other addictions like alcoholism. If you think you're possibly a borderline alcoholic or if you exhibit addictive behaviors, you need to seriously address this before surgery. Good luck to you, and I hope it all works out for you.

I also went to sleep on my back and woke up on my left side (port) first night after surgery. I never had trouble sleeping on that side, but the port area did remain tender for a couple of weeks, and then sporadically for awhile after that. I had to laugh at myself about sleeping on my side. After I had lost maybe thirty pounds or so, I woke up feeling pain on my side, and I figured I'd lost enough weight that maybe my port was going to start bothering me when I was sleeping on it. After I fully woke up, I realized I was laying on my right side, and what I felt was my rib cage. I guess it'd been awhile since I'd had that sensation..lol

Another option for your mac & cheese craving could be cauliflower (cooked until very tender) & cheese. It's not the same, but I also would hold off on macaroni.

Staying VERY well hydrated between meals is probably the biggest help for me in not needing to drink during eating. The second is the knowledge that I'll have longer satiety by waiting to drink. Not feeling like I'm starving between meals is such a freeing feeling, that I really don't have a desire to drink. Positive reinforcement is a good thing. When I'm home I make sure I drink a large glass of Water before meals. When I'm out, and the water is on the table, I drink small sips, but altogether, not more than maybe 1/4 cup in total. The doctors have said in our support group meeting that if you must drink during a meal, drink small sips and not more that 1/4 cup, and that works for me.

I imagine your doctor will give you a fill at your appointment since your weight loss has slowed to less than 1 lb/week and you're able to eat large portions, unless your portions were very small prior to surgery. It is possible to lose all your excess weight without a fill, but it's unusual. I think it would be helpful to measure the size of your meals so you can give your doctor an accurate gauge of the size of the meals you're eating. Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

You need to put the ticker link in your signature. Go to your control panel (User CP, which is on the upper left) then go to Edit Signature and save it there.

I'm sorry that your grandmother died in such a tragic way. You may have answered a lingering question I've had as to what might be different in our anatomies to cause someone like me to need such a higher amount of fill to reach their sweet spot and someone else to have trouble just taking in fluids at 2cc. I know some has to do with fat around the stomach, but at a certain point, that fat should be minimal. Esophagus size just might be the reason.

I have the 9cc Realize Band, and I had to take it up to 11cc to get optimum restriction. Even at that, I have very few foods that give me trouble (namely stringy vegetables - celery for one, which I don't care to eat anyway, so I feel pretty lucky).

The six month diet is almost always an insurance requirement and requirement from the surgeon. (At least I've never heard of it being a doctor's requirement, but you never know). If you're self pay, like I was, it really depends on your surgeon's schedule and yours. I had a meeting with a nutritionist who went over our pre-op diet, post-op diet, and general meal plans. I called to make an appointment with my doctor the day after I went to his seminar. After my appointment with the surgeon, it took just a little over two months to get on his schedule for surgery. I could have gone a week earlier, but I couldn't swing it that week.

This thread has so many great suggestions, but this is such a different way to use Greek yogurt, and sounds really tasty!! (although I've never heard of labneh) For anyone who needs extra Fiber, Greek yogurt is a great base for high fiber Cereal, and the bulkiness and bulk of the fiber cereal seems to really help it keep me full longer.

You may need two or more fills to get to good long lasting restriction. It's just been a week since your last fill, so you may find that you feel more restriction during your second week (that happens to some people). As you lose more weight, if there's fat around your stomach as you lose that fat you're band will become looser. If your doctor recommends you measure your meals, be sure you do that so you don't overeat. I'm at my "sweet spot" and I still measure because I could eat more than my prescribed meal size, but the amount I'm allowed to eat gives me satiety for several hours. Some people are more sensitive to their band than I am, because I have very few problem foods, and I could eat 50%, maybe even 100%, bigger meals than my doctor recommends. Don't expect to fill full in the traditional sense, and in the way you may be used to. It's a feeling of *not* being hungry that stays with you. The band is a tool, but it's a tool we have to work with. I know you don't mean that you expected to eat junk and lose weight, but because of the limited amount of food we're eating we do have to make healthy food choices to stay healthy. I don't consider this a traditional diet because I'm not hungry, let alone starving, as I've felt on so many diets over the years. I see it as a lifestyle change. I eat healthy foods (I don't consider an occasional treat as cheating either), much smaller portions, and I exercise. Please try not to be so hard on yourself. You've just had one fill, and it sounds like you're going to need a bit more to have restriction.

In the exam rooms at my doctor's office they have a LAP-BAND® ad shows the band taming the hunger lion. When I'd get a fill, that's what I was aiming for (well, it was promised to me by that darn ad..lol). Some of us have more fat deposits around our stomach that others, so as that shrinks the band becomes loose, and others have anatomies that just required more tweaking of the band to get good restriction. So stay diligent with getting your fills, and you should get to a point where your restriction is sustained rather than here today, gone tomorrow. I had to end up getting a pressure fill under fluoro (my doctor does those fills for Realize Band only, and he uses a gauge to get an exact measurement of fill pressure). It took around 11cc in a 9cc band (:frown:) for me to finally get restriction that didn't go away after a two to four weeks. I was scared I would be the one who didn't get restriction, but thankfully, I have it now. He said he had a few other patients that needed to be taken to the pressure I'm at, but I believe most patients hit their sweet spot at around 7cc to 7.5cc.

That's great that you're doing better today with the hunger. I'm glad your work is keeping your mind off of food. Keeping busy works for me too.

You might not get a huge reduction in hunger after your first or second or more (if you're like me), but each fill was a stepping stone getting me closer to where I am now. I eat my doctor's prescribed three 1/2 cup meal plus a healthy snack, and I feel satiety that lasts four hours or longer. So, along the way, each fill helped with portion and hunger control, but I found the restriction to be fleeting. It took me several fills to get to where I am now. For some people it takes only a couple of fills and a lot less saline. Before my band, I was hungry all the time and fighting the urge to snack. Now, I rarely think about food between meals.

I never had to go on clear liquids only. It sounds really harsh. I wonder if your electrolytes are out of balance. Are you allowed drinks like Gatorade, or can you have chicken/beef broth? Isopure makes a Gatorade like protein drink that I drink when I need a protein boost. Some people don't like them, but I think they're pretty good over ice. I hope you can go on full liquids Tuesday.

Not that you ever want to come close to that experience again, but if you don't have them, buy papaya enzyme chewables. I rarely have problem with meat, but by far my worse experience was with some very tough restaurant chicken (thank goodness it was takeout). Being that I was inexperienced with getting I stuck, I swallowed the chicken bite rather than spitting it out. Big mistake. Thankfully, I had the papaya. I chewed a couple of them - I was grasping at straws - and they worked like a charm. I've had a couple of other times when meat has just felt too tight, and rather than soldier on (learned my lesson) I took a papaya enzyme and it worked to break down the meat. I have papaya/pineapple enzyme chewables from Trader Joes, but I think most Vitamin shops, possibly Walmart, and several places on the internet sells them. They're very inexpensive, so if they don't work, you haven't spent a lot money for them. I probably haven't used one for six months, but I still carry them in my purse...just in case.

John, I didn't realize you were a new bander, but I think I remember reading your posts before about just recently being banded. We all heal at different rates and once your swelling has subsided, your band is probably somewhat open unless you had a fill during surgery. If you're feeling extremely hungry and your liquids or mushies seem to be going straight through and it's been more than a couple of weeks past your surgery, I would make a call into your doc to see if you can maybe add a little something to your diet. I believe the doctors have to be very careful about giving a blanket okay to add more to everyone's diet because beforehand they don't know which patients will heal fast and which won't, plus they know if they added saline to your band during surgery. It wasn't until about four weeks post surgery that I started feeling gnawing hunger, and the NP worked out a menu that helped me get to my six week's fill without compromising my diet.

I've read statistics that say band slips are less likely to happen because their being stitched in, so I would say it's still possible to have a slip. That's one of the reasons I was so careful to follow my post-op diet instructions. I wanted the stitched area to heal firmly. I think that an overfill over a prolonged period of time can lead to a slip. I've also read that chronic overeating especially when accompanied by pb'ing can also lead to a slip. However, I also think it can just happen regardless of how careful you try to be. I can take the best care possible of my band and if something happens down the line, at least I won't have myself to blame. Are these facts or band myths?

I just wanted to say that this is such an inspirational and informative thread. Chele, the way in which you accepted the great advice you've been given is the biggest reason this thread will be helpful to you and to others who are struggling. It's obvious that you are willing to do the work it takes to be successful. I wish you the best of luck getting back on track. This thread is an excellent example of the best of LBT.

Mickey, at least it's an incision at your bra line. I've read that some women have had their port placed there! I read that prior to my surgery, and it prompted me to ask the surgeon where my incisions would likely be and where he placed the port. I know at least one woman said she had to have a second surgery to have her port moved. Good grief, you'd think they'd know better. I hope your incision heals quickly and you that you can start to wear your bra comfortably. About the sutures. I had one that popped out too, and I was told I could cut it myself if it was really bothering me, or I could come in and they'd do it. I put alcohol on my skin around the suture and on the scissors. Then I pressed down gently to make the suture stick up better, and snipped it. The place where the suture popped through stayed red until I clipped it.

I smash up the berries (blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries) but I'm only adding a small amount, and I also buy the Greek yogurt w/ berries sometimes. I have to get my fiber in, so I mix in Fiber One another high fiber cereal. I also think adding a bit of cereal makes the yogurt stick around to help with satiety. I'm not adding huge amounts, but just enough to add some flavor, bulk and fiber. I have Protein powder that I add to it, but no more than maybe two tablespoons (I just scoop a little into it) for additional protein if I think I'm a little under in a day. I bought little 1/2 cup storage containers, and as long as I don't overflow it, I know I'm good. I like the flax seed meal too, but I've never used it in yogurt. I sprinkle it on salad or add to my chili, for instance. I'll try the honey and flax seed meal next time in yogurt. That sounds good. (Your doctor is the same as mine, but others recommend one cup meals. I just try to follow my doctor's recommendations the best I can.)

I totally agree with elcee. I'm in this for the long haul, and I pretty much live my life as usual (actually better, now that I'm so much more active), only I eat smaller portions. I love having left overs to bring home for another couple of meals when I eat out, but I sure don't mind leaving them behind when it's not feasible. I don't drink more than one glass of wine because it goes straight to my head, but when I want, I enjoy a glass of wine with my meal or a cocktail on occasion. I never was a big drinker, so I probably drink as much now as ever, which isn't a lot.