ChristineXtreme

Well it looks like you can ask anything in here so I thought why not. I’m 4 days post-surgery and was pretty happy to have my first BM on day 2 since I had no desire to add constipation pains to everything else. I was afraid with the anesthesia and hydrocodone in my system I would have a problem. Following the advise of my nutritionist I started using Benefiber in my food and drinks on day 2 (2 tsp 2-3 times per day). I have found that the diarrhea is not what I desire either. It’s usually explosive and urgent. Please advise, is this common and for how long can I expect to have diarrhea? Is this just during the liquid diet stage? I start soft solids next Wednesday so will that help? Do you all use Benefiber to regulate you right after surgery and for how long post surgery? Thanks! :ohmy:

I want to purchase the Magic Bullet blender/chopper to use in preparing my foods. I have seen others on this site talk about this product and it sounds perfect for our food preparation needs. If anyone owns a Magic Bullet and would like to give us a review that is welcome. You get 2 products for $99 but I only need 1 and could afford $50 + shipping a lot easier than $99 + shipping. Would anyone be interested in going in with me on the purchase? We could split the cost of shipping as well. I know that the item(s) will need to be shipped twice but it’s still a good deal if I can find another person to split the cost with me. The URL is http://www.buythebullet.com/whatyouget.php please let me know if anyone is interested. Thanks!

I’m a SCUBA diver and I was banded 6/18/08 and didn’t dive until September 2009 not because I was waiting on purpose, but because the opportunity did not present itself. I have searched the discussions on here and only see positive posts on SCUBA diving. No one seems to have had any issues like I did. I went on a live aboard boat trip where I was diving 4-5 dives per day and eating after each dive. I experienced a severe blockage of some type and was not even able to keep down fluids for the last 36 hours of my trip. My impression was that maybe the pressure from the dives compressed the ring and made the passage so small that nothing could get through. All of the dives were 85’ or deeper. I am heading to Hawaii for 11 days of diving in November and I’m considering having my fill reduced for the trip. I’m going to talk to my doctor about it to see what he thinks. Has nothing like this ever happened to anyone else on this forum?

I’m a SCUBA diver and I was banded 6/18/08 and didn’t dive until September 2009 not because I was waiting on purpose, but because the opportunity did not present itself. I went on a live aboard boat trip where I was diving 4-5 dives per day and eating after each dive. I experienced a severe blockage of some type and was not even able to keep down fluids for the last 36 hours of my trip. My impression was that maybe the pressure from the dives compressed the ring and made the passage so small that nothing could get through. All of the dives were 85’ or deeper. I am heading to Hawaii for 11 days of diving in November and I’m considering having my fill reduced for the trip. I’m going to talk to my doctor about it to see what he thinks.

I’m a SCUBA diver and I was banded 6/18/08 and didn’t dive until September 2009 not because I was waiting on purpose, but because the opportunity did not present itself. I went on a live aboard boat trip where I was diving 4-5 dives per day and eating after each dive. I experienced a severe blockage of some type and was not even able to keep down fluids for the last 36 hours of my trip. My impression was that maybe the pressure from the dives compressed the ring and made the passage so small that nothing could get through. All of the dives were 85’ or deeper. I am heading to Hawaii for 11 days of diving in November and I’m considering having my fill reduced for the trip. I’m going to talk to my doctor about it to see what he thinks.

I need some advice from banders that have been around the block a few times. I am 9 months out and have reached what I believe to be my sweet spot a couple of months back. When everything is good I eat just the right amount and can tell when I should stop. These days are great. But then about every three days or so I experience stuck food. I know I am causing it by maybe eating somthing that gets suck easily like bread or by not chewing my food well enough so I don't really need to know what to do to stop it from happening. I guess I just want to know if I am alone? Are most of you experiencing food getting stuck at least once a week on average?

Wow great message string everyone! It is so great to have a place to come and relate with others going through the same thing I am. I just got my first fill yesterday. I'm on liquids for two days then soft solids for a day. I can't wait to see if the first 3.5 cc's are going to do much good for me. What I did to make it through band hell was had my daughter hide the scales in the house. I didn't want to know how I was doing because I knew it was going to get me down. So I consider yesterday the beginning of my weight loss journey. We will all look back on this period and laugh one day soon! It's been a hard ride but the pay off will be worth it!

Hi Jules, I feel for you! You are not the only one who has gained. I lost 8 lbs after the surgery on 6/18 but gained 5 lbs back after returning to normal food. I have a very hard time staying at 1200 calories. I get my first fill tomorrow and I am sooooo excited. I can't wait for the benefits of this band to start kicking in. I am not like most of the people on this site. I have VERY LITTLE restriction without my first fill and can eat almost as much as I use to. Christine

My surgery date was 6/18/08 so I have been banded one week today. I’m in phase 2 (soft solids), and no fills yet. I’m curious what the average calorie intake is for folks that are post surgery and have not had their first fill yet. I’m averaging between 800 – 1000 calories and some days I’m going closer to 1200. I just don’t want to gain before I get my first fill.

Same here... I'll be on vacation week 6 and I'm going to beg for a fill on week 5. Wish me luck.

Several of us appear to have been banded on the same day, 6/18/08 so it was suggested, and I agree, it would be nice to have a thread just for us to keep each other posted on our progress and issues. So I thought I would get the ball rolling. I am back to normal activity and doing great. I kayaked 4 hours today and I'm ready to try riding my horse tomorrow. I feel great and things appear to be healing right along. Exercise and sex have not been a problem either :thumbs_up: I still have not been back on the scales since 6/22, still have no idea where my daughter hid them and I like it that way. I see the doc Wednesday for my follow-up and will see how things are progressing then.. I'll try not to be disappointed if I have gained some of my pre and post surgery weight back. So if you were banded on or around 6/18 chime in and let us know how you are doing and what been going on with your body.

Welcom James. Sounds like you are doing great! I need to pick it up some on my exercise. Are you doing any weight resistance training yet? I know it's critical to add that into our workout routine so we can build that much needed muscle so we can burn more of our fat while at rest. I have a total gym at home that I use for my weight resistance training. I'm only doing about 15 minues of cardio (stationary bike) and 10 minutes of weight resistance. I need to work up slowly to at least 30 minutes of each.

Welcome Luu. Okay I'll keep the sex on the down low. You have had other issues with the hernias and nausea. I have not had any nausea thus far so I'm very happy for that. I happy you are feeling better today though! Keep us posted.:wink_smile:

I agree Fins. There does seem to be a lot of us all banded on the same day.

Hi Kathy, Well I still don't know where my scales are. I have not been on them for 3 days and I plan to stay away for as long as I can. I know my doctor is going to check my weight Wednesday when I go in for my follow-up so I'll see then how I'm doing but I am afraid I might have gained some weight back since going on real food. It sounds like you are going great though. I just cleaned all the stuff off my exercise equipment since I was using the room for storage and I'm going to start kicking butt.

Tara, I'm not sure how you are only getting 500 calories a day. I get 386 calories from my two daily Protein drinks alone if I use juice and 406 if I use milk for my Protein Drink. Are you still on soft solids or are you eating regular food yet?

Can someone please tell me what "slimming" is?

I didn’t have dry mouth so I have no advice about that. I went back to normal activities on day 3 after surgery without much problem. I got tired a little faster but just tried to take it easy. First BM was on day 2, just like another person posted… liquid in liquid out. First week I just had a lot of cream soups and great smoothies. I was in my hot tub on day 5 after surgery… no problems. No straws… causes gas. Someone already told you about the ticker. Sounds like you are on track with the pain meds. I stopped them all together when I returned to work.

Chewing gum causes you to swallow air... so it's not recommended.

OC I lived on cream soup, some jell-o, protein smoothies, water, and very little baby food (didn't care for the blandness of it). I also had apple sauce and popsicles. That's about it. So that's really all you need to stock up on. Good luck to you, and congrats on getting approved. It took me 2.5 yrs of jumping through hoops to get BCBS to approve me. It's all worth it though.

I know what you mean. I researched my band on this site a great deal and came up with about a dozen questions for my physician from information I found on here that I wanted to confirm. He was so impressed with my questions and said I asked the most intelligent questions of any patient he had ever seen. I credit this great site as my source. It really has been a Godsend!

Well when I spoke to my doctor today I asked if we could do my first fill next week when I go in for my follow-up, he said "no way", which is what I expected him to say. He said 6 weeks which would be July 30th but I leave on vacation on July 29th. So I am going to beg for him to give me my first fill a little earlier. He only comes to the office close to me on Wednesdays but I figure I'll drive anywhere to get a fill. I'm wondering if he is going to say he wants me to be in town for a few days after the fill incase I have problems. I HOPE NOT. Because that would mean I would be forced to wait until week 8 when I get back from vacation! Noooooooo :Angel_anim:

Good for you!!!! Well maybe I'm a bad influence for you Zoe. I was on liquid diet for about 6 days... was told to do it for 7. I was on soft solids for 1 day... was told to do it for 7. Now I'm eating normal food. I did decide to call my doc and make sure I wasn't going to mess things up for myself in any way. He said that's fine so long as I can keep it down and I'm not having any problems. I feel great. I'm eating only about 1 - 1/2 cup of food at a time. 3 meals/day and the Protein drinks in between. I don't know how my weight is doing since I had my daughter hide the scales but I feel okay. Calorie intake is staying close to 1000. I also decided I'm going to start trying to exercise tonight. Just something small at first, but I know I'm ready to have sex again, so if I can do that I should also be able to exercise a little too. On the soft diet I was planning on eating a lot of baked potato, eggs, etc. I know every doc is different so I'm sure yours has a good reason for the diet plan he has you on. Besides you will most likely lose more weight before your first fill than I will.

Well I had my daughter hide the scales from me... Best move all week! How did you do yesterday on your hunger Zoe?

I was thinking that since the weight loss is not as fast as by-pass surgery that maybe it would be possible to exercise and keep the skin somewhat tone. Am I totally off base here?