kiz

Just wanted to add that I like the way said that. As I read this thread, it's what I was thinking, but I wouldn't have been able to say it as well.

My instructions were liquids only two hours prior to a fill. As far as getting sick or having pain...not at all to both questions. I've had several fills, and they've always been quick and painless.

Restriction doesn't feel like that, but it's too early to tell for sure if you're too tight because you might have swelling. If you were able to drink Water right after your fill (we have to drink a small cup before we leave the office) there's a good chance it's swelling right now. I would stay on liquids for three days (I was instructed to stay on liquids for two days, but an additional day was added when they thought I had been given a bigger than normal fill), and then try to add soft foods, and stay on those for two days. If, at any time, you can't drink liquids, or if you start to experience reflux or vomiting, go back in for an unfill. You don't want to be too tight too long, even if it is swelling. Better to get to a good restriction level slowly than to irritate you stoma. If within two weeks, you can't add back in solid foods, you should call your doctor too. That was pretty much my instructions from my doctor. However, if you just feel miserable, I wouldn't wait it out. You can always add more Fluid back but at a little slower pace.

basketball

Maybe you could request a sample from the company if you have time before you're supposed to start the pre-op.

There are sub-groups on LBT. You should be able to find the month and year you're having surgery, and if nobody has started a thread to pick a name, you can do it. Generally, there's a consensus of several likely names, then someone starts a poll to chose one. At least that seems to be the usual way it's done.

Mapquest, but only because there's a direct link on my browser. I more often rely on my GPS now, but she's led me wrong a couple of times, and she's kind of bossy.

I haven't seen that at Starbucks, Suzanne. Sounds good, but I always have to add a packet of Stevia to cut the tartness, or it does taste a lot like sour cream. One packet does the trick for me. I also usually add a spoonful of sugar free preserves which would cut the tartness factor down considerably. I might throw in blueberries, All Bran (Bran Buds work best), and vanilla flavored Protein powder if I need a little extra protein that day. Come down to Richmond sometime, and I'll make you a special..lol

I've only bought Oikos and Brown Cow with 0% fat. I don't think I've seen the non fat free, but maybe I'm just a creature of habit.

I just bought Oikos at Kroger today, and they had it on sale for $1.00 and they didn't expire until March. I'm not sure if Kroger sales are national or not. I try to buy it ahead when I find it on sale, but I think it's worth it even when I don't. It leaves me feeling full much longer than regular yogurt, and the extra Protein is a nice bonus. I buy the plain and dress it up myself.

Before you pop a nail off, call and check. We were told no dark polish, but acrylics were fine. As others have mentioned, just follow your own doctor's pre-op diet. The same for your post-op diet too, although if you prefer the unjury Protein drinks to the ones your doctor has recommended, I'd ask if you could switch. You might want to have the nutritional information available for Unjury when you talk to him, in case he's unfamiliar with them. I was supposed to have three shakes/day during my post-op, but again, that varies, so your plan could be different. It seems there's as many instructions as there are doctors. Also, I'm not sure with the post-op, but I remember that with pre-op, people with higher bmi's were supposed to drink an extra Protein shake every day, so it is really important to know the diet your doctor wants you to follow. Best wishes to you for your upcoming surgury.

The doctor never was able to pull the amount of Fluid that they had recorded as giving me, but it was in the 1 cc range. I was told that they just aren't generally able to pull out 100% of the fluid. I don't know if this is true, because they always seemed to measure pretty closely, but a nurse who is a friend of mine (not a nurse from my doctor's office) said that with these type of saline fills they don't always measure as accurately as you might think. Based on the size of your band, it looks like you have the Lap Band. I was told that several people with the Realize Band (the one I have) seemed to "lose" fluid on checks, and partially that was based on it being a "low pressure" band, and the fluid not as easily pulled out as the Lap Band. 2.5 cc does sound like quite a large discrepancy. I hope you don't have a leak. However, if I were to ever have a band problem, that or a port flip seem to be the easiest to fix and requiring of the least evasive surgery. Good luck, and I hope you get good news when you go back in for a check.

You should check with your doctor, but with mine, if you can't tolerate solid foods within two weeks of a fill, you should go back in for a small unfill. There are some people who have trouble with certain problem foods, but it sounds like your issue is more across the board.

Thanks for sharing! It's an important reminder that we need to listen to our doctors, and just because we feel like we can eat larger portions than we're told to, we shouldn't. Gaining weight isn't the worst thing than can happen from consistently overeating with the band.

It looks like the no's have it so far, but we're not talkin' (lol). So, I'll jump in. I'm not into naming things...no name for body parts, cars, etc. My band is pretty quiet anyway. Unless I do something kind of dumb, like continuing to eat when I can feel things aren't moving well, I rarely hear a peep from it, so I guess that's a good thing. I've enjoyed reading your band names and why you've picked them though.

I really admire you for taking such an active interest in your girlfriend's health. I'm sure none of us had surgery to trade one health problem with another. Writing down her meals, and what and when she feels like she's going to lose her meal is a terrific start. (There are bandsters who have something called "first bite syndrome" in that they sort of clamp up after the first bite or two, but then can resume eating normally). Having these details in writing will be very beneficial to both her and her doctor when she goes in for her next appointment. Also, if she doesn't have one, she should ask for meal guidelines from her doctor. The Realize Band web site and I'm sure the Lap Band web site as well as here on LBT have very good suggestions of meal plans, if in doubt. The way most doctors explain the band concept is that one shouldn't feel physical hunger for 3, 4 or sometimes 5 hours after a good solid meal. My doctor recommends 4 ounce meals, because that's the size he leaves the upper pouch. As elfiepoo has said, she eats 8 ounce meals...it varies. Others say to eat until you feel satiety. So, it's always good to have a clear understanding as to what your doctor recommends what and how much you should be eating, and based on that, when we need an adjustment.

First, I have to agree 100% with the others that getting sick is not part of having a band. It might happen on occasion, and I believe some people are just more sensitive than others, but it should never be routine. I really don't believe that this is a problem with the number of times she chews her food or the size of her bites, because, from your description, it's happening far too often. Also, this is not a starvation diet, and as you described, that's exactly what it has become. Second, I hope she discusses these problems in detail with her doctor. I can't imagine why she would get another fill at this point, and although I don't know the particulars of the situation, it sounds to me like she actually needs some fluid removed. As was mentioned, a too tight band can lead to major band complications. One being slippage. Also, sometimes bandsters are under the misconception that the tighter the band the better, but as food becomes less tolerated, solid healthy meals are replaced with easy to digest slider foods which are often higher in calories. For instance, the cheese cake you mentioned. Not that a bandster ought to never have a few bites or even a piece of cheese cake, but it shouldn't be used in place of a meal. Our meals are much smaller now, so we need to be able to eat good nutritional foods.

That's a good question. My doctor and I are on the same page with this, and that is, chew well, but don't overdo it. This is a common issue for bandsters, and it has also come up during my band support group meetings. It is counter productive to the band to chew until your food is virtually in a liquid form, however, it seems some people, even with very little fill, unfortunately, can't tolerate their food any other way. I suppose preband days, I would sometimes swallow food while still in a bit of a "chunk", especially something very solid like steak. You won't do that with the band more than once, because it's unforgiving that way. Part of it depends on how tight your band is and how your body reacts to banding, and although my band should be tight by fill measurement, it's not tight at all. Some things you would naturally chew more than others, but that's the same as anyone. You're probably right about adding tomato to chicken and causing it to be more liquid consistency. If you measure, I suppose that may cause you to feel hungry a little sooner, and if you don't measure, it may cause you to eat a little more than you generally do. The tomato is great for you though, so I'd opt for the tomato anyway. I feel like if you try to stick to solid meals most often, these things equal out in the end.

I agree with Twighlight, but it might be worth a check with your insurance to be sure. My doctor includes a short period of band insurance with Blis with his self-pay contract. We had the option of buying the insurance ourselves for longer coverage, but it was pretty pricey.

I don't know which band you have, but I was an outlier, in that I needed more than my band "max" fill level to keep good and sustained restriction. I have a 9 cc Realize Band, and it wasn't until my fill level was past 10 cc that I finally had perfect "for me" restriction. My doctor checked the pressure my band was under, and while the pressure is on the high side of normal, it's still in the normal range. He said he had a few other patients who needed my level of fill before they had restriction. My last fill was several months ago, and while I can tell I've lost a little of the restriction that I had, it's a very small change. My band is not so tight that I can eat normal foods and lots of foods bandsters sometimes have trouble with such as steak and soft yeasty bread. I also have never had reflux of any kind, and I've only slimed a handful of times...all related to user error. I'm definitely not too tight. I don't know what you can do with this information, but your doctor is not working with you on this and it's not your fault or your weakness that you don't have restriction yet. Is there anyway you can change doctors? I wouldn't know how to go about doing that other than to start making phone calls explaining the situation. Also, there's FillCentersUSA who will do for band patients. You'd have to check their web site to see if there's one reasonably close to you. I'm sorry your doctor has taken this hard stand about your fills.

Adding my congratulations. I'm very happy for you and all you've accomplished.

I was self-pay, so it was my choice, plus about $5,000 (if memory serves me) for the overnight stay, so I definitely chose to have my surgery and go home. I wasn't at all nervous about not staying the night. The nurse that helped with the pre-op program said she'd recommend as short as stay as possible, primarily due to infections that sometimes get passed along in hospitals. If something had been amiss with my post-op tests, I wouldn't have been released the same day. I was very glad to be in my own home to recover. I followed all my doctor's instructions, and I was comfortable at home throughout the afternoon and evening and slept very soundly that night, only waking up once. All situations are different, and I certainly understand that some people might prefer or need the overnight stay, but for me, I was much happier and comfortable at home.

Some insurance companies require an overnight stay, so you don't always have a choice, but unless you have extenuating circumstances that might cause you to need to stay overnight, going home the same day is completely doable. I had surgery in the morning and was home by early afternoon. I was very happy that I didn't have to stay the night. However, I had an uneventful recovery, didn't have young children to care for, and my husband was home to help me out as needed.

Your welcome. I know I had a lot of questions at the get-go too. I went to two seminars with different surgeons, and there was a clear choice in my mind, and I went with that doctor. My seminar was in June, and my consultation was scheduled for a few weeks later..so late June early July. I could have surgery in late August, but I had a scheduling conflict, so I moved it to the first week of Sep. I am absolutely thrilled with my results. I'm on a plateau now, but I *never* thought I'd be this close to goal weight after struggling with weight gain and then obesity for the last 15+ years. I've gone the Weight Watchers route more than once, I've gone to a weight loss doctor for phentermine twice, and, of course, I've tried to lose weight on my own several times. All these attempts were met with failure. With the band, I eat normal foods; just much smaller portions, and I don't drink with my meals. I go to the gym for rigorous workouts 3 - 4 times/week. I went into this, not merely to lose weight, but to improve my health. That's one of the reasons exercise is such an important component to me. I didn't add it just to help with weight/inches loss. I want a healthy heart and increase in stamina. I'm planning to hit 50 yrs old with a body that matches my mind and attitude, and I'm getting there.

All my pre-op tests were including in my self-pay contract except for my psych exam which cost $100. I had: blood work, upper GI, EKG, and routine tests such as bp/temp/pulse/weight.