lellow

It's to shrink your liver and different drs have different views on how strict they will be with you. I was a low BMI patient (35 on surgery day) and I was told by my surgeon that I didn't need to do a wholly liquid diet as he didn't expect that I'd have an issue with a fatty liver. That's his risk to manage. But the way I see it iis f that's the person cutting you up you probably should listen to them as to what they'd like you to do to prepare for surgery. They want to optimal result for you so I reckon just do your part to enable that too.

Hey all, I've been busy, been reading but not posting. Nothing much to report here. I hear about restriction and tightness from some of you and I'm like 'I can't even remember what that's like!'. I have 5.5cc in and I have some 'tightness' if I eat rice too fast but aside from that, still not a heck of a lot. I've still got swelling issues from the port revision, and my belly seems to go up and down with no reason. I've got another appt with my surgeon on Friday and I'm hoping for some reassurance and another fill, because frustration for me is starting to peak. I am really struggling with food and hunger at the moment and I really hate it. And with the swelling, exercising is difficult so it means my scales are starting to creep up, and that's always depressing. It's only 2-3lbs but it feels like a slippery slope to me. I'm not eating much compared to other people but more than I usually eat, and I'm not exercising, and this is the result. Sigh. Ok gonna take my grumpy self off back to work now...

Heating pads are THE BEST for shoulder pain. And the gassiness in your tummy (that causes the painful burps) can be helped with peppermint tea. I thought my lapband surgery wasn't too bad, but I just had port revision and that has kicked my butt, and it feels like I'm never going to feel normal again. But I know it's not true. You do heal, you do feel better after a while. So just take it one day at a time. Pretty soon, you'll look back and you'd have had your band 3 years, like me.

I had a healthcheck for work yesterday and it turns out I'm the healthiest person in my company of 80 people. My blood sugar levels, my blood pressure, my cholesterol, everything, is perfect. I can't imagine what those would have been 5 years ago before my lapband surgery. And when the nurse practitioner asked me what I ate and I described my regular day's worth of food to her, she almost fell over. She asked me how I possibly could eat that little and how I even had enough energy with so little food. She then started saying that I surely must not be getting enough nutrition from what I ate. Well, apparently not, because I aced the healthcheck, and my current lifestyle makes me healthier than 79 other people in my office. The proof is in the pudding. And it absolutely highlights the fact that I actually have to eat FAR FAR less than a 'regular' person to be this thin. And I exercise more than most people to be this fit. So for anyone who tells me all I needed was to eat less and move more, I say, you know what? Until I got my lapband that didn't work. Because I've lost the weight now with the help of my band, so it obviously wasn't because I was a glutton or bone ass lazy. I just needed help with portions. And you can't argue with my success now, can you? So until you've been in my shoes, you can keep your uninformed, unecessary and, to be honest, rather freakin' ignorant comments to yourself.

My ex husband and my brother are both personal trainers. I have heard for years (as has my overweight younger brother) about how I should just exercise and eat less, and I'd lose weight. The thing is, it's not that I was ever too lazy to lose weight. I would lose, then I'd gain it all back. It was so depressing feeling so out of control. So I got the band. And I exercised and ate well, and I lost weight. And just as I lost most of my weight, I got 'restriction' with my band, and suddenly, without effort, I was maintaining the loss, and losing even more. I wanted to get to a BMI of 27, I got to a BMI (at one stage) of almost 20. That's a size 0 - 2. And being from Australia, I did not do any psych evals. We're not required to a lot of the time here to be approved my insurance. I got approved over the phone on my first call, just by telling them my weight, height and my family history of obesity related disease. Just because it isn't hard to get the surgery doesn't mean you can't do what needs to be done to make it work for you. If you want this, do it. Stick by your decision and work it. Lose the weight and change things. There are so few things you can control in life. Choose to control this.

I've maintained my weight loss the last almost 4 months with no restriction but I think if I lost the band I'd gain some back. Maybe not all but some. I fight hunger all the time. I had hoped the band would have helped re-wire my brain but it hasn't. Even now my tummy is growling. I couldn't even really remember what that felt like before when my band was still working. Knowing what I know about myself now if I ever lost the band I'd revise to some other WLS. But if you're doing it all on your own heidi then I get why you don't feel like the band is doing you any good. For me the band did a lot of it.

I had po I got my port and tubing replaced last Saturday and now, hopefully, the leak is a thing of the past! I was losing about 1cc a week from that leak, but the last time my dr checked all the Fluid he put in at surgery was still there. He put 4cc in my band at surgery and another 1cc a few days after, but I'm still miles away from being anywhere near restricted enough. So I'm in bandster hell all over again. I'm working not to gain but damn it's hard work!

See, the great thing about the band is this: if you can do all the right things to lose weight, you're likely going to succeed with the band. Why? Because it takes a while to get to restriction. I lost the majority of my weight while not in the green zone. I worked out, ate well and the weight moved. Like it did every single other time I dieted and exercised. But where I'd lose before, and then either get sick, or get busy, and fall off the 'wagon', with the lapband, falling off the wagon when you have restriction is pretty hard to do. It wasn't until my leak, and having zero restriction, that I've realised how much the band does for me. I am struggling now with hunger and working really hard NOT to gain. I hate how freakin' hard it is. The band made it easy. THAT'S why I have a band. That's why I want to keep my band. That's why I'm getting regular fills again now my leak is fixed. I want my hunger to go away, I want my band to help me maintain my weight without me obsessing about food and hunger like I have been this last few months. Because doing that forever, the obsessing, is not only tedious but is driving me mental. So yes you can lose the weight, but with the band I eat the equivelant of a 5 year old and never feel hungry when I'm in the green zone. That's how little I have to eat to be this thin. I know I personally couldn't do that for the rest of my life without the help of the band.

I have 5cc in a 10cc and have little to no restriction. I've had my band long enough to know that sometimes it's takes a while to get to the point where you have enough fill in to keep you satisfied for up to 4 hours and I'm definitely not there yet. I had my last fill a week ago and I'm going back this Friday. And I will go back every two weeks (if I can get an appt) until I achieve some restriction again.

I personally think it's ruder for someone to pretend that it'll be ok when you may be causing yourself real harm by going against your dr's orders. And you know what? It's not like I haven't done it myself (more than once) so I think I'm in the right place to tell someone who is cheating to stop doing it, for their own good. You're hungry? Hell, so were we ALL at that stage. It's not called bandster hell for nothing. Eating solids when you're not healed is like picking on a wound that's still raw. I'm NOT going to tell you it's ok. But if you still want to do it, who am I to tell you not to despite the advice you've been given. You own your own decisions, good or bad. I personally would rather someone was blunt and told me to stop doing something that may cause damage than tell me it's ok only to find out later that it made me need a revision. To me, support isn't all heart and flowers and lies to make you feel better. It's about telling you the truth so you know not to do it in case you cause yourself harm.

I was pretty good six weeks out, but I have to admit, I still had a few swelling issues even then. But if all you're doing is relaxing by the beach, how could you go wrong? It sounds awesome!

I got an unfill for my lower body lift but not my BA, so I think it depends on the surgeon. Though I did get unfilled for my body lift, between the pain of the op, the hospital food and just generally trying to recover, I did not gain weight. My body lift surgeon said he did not want me reacting to the anaesthesia and not be able to throw up if I needed to, so he wanted me unfilled. Plus he wanted me to be able to eat, as he thought that it facilitated healing. Maybe other surgeons aren't as conservative?

elcee and heidib, that's crazy, both of you. elcee, I hope it settled and you're ok now. Heidi, I hope a slight unfill helps you. I personally couldn't remember being so tight I couldn't hold anything down, so when mr dr put 8cc in just before my op and I could barely drink, it was a trippy feeling. I am now reluctant to ever get that tight again. I got sorta kinda stuck on rice last night. I did the chicken dance and it went through. But I only have 5cc in my band now, where I didn't even feel anything previously until I had at least 6cc. I seem to be feeling it faster this time around. Which is weird. Good, but weird.

This is just what I reckon: noodles and rice tend to bloat. If you put noodles or rice and stand them in some hot Water, they double in size. This can happen when you eat it and it will bloat above the band and make you feel stuck. But potato chips are sliced thin and because they've been fried, I guess, they don't seem to bloat above the band, and I reckon the high fat content makes it easy for it to just slide past the band.

Hell yes it tastes good or we'd never have gotten heavy lol. But it tastes just as good with one bite as 20 bites. That's what I figured out over the years. (Except when I have chocolate shhhh)

Even now without restriction I have changed what I consider 'a lot of food' to be. I could probably put away a whole pizza easy before and still have a tonne of dessert, and now if I have 2 pieces, I feel like I have had HEAPS. I was telling a friend that I don't have restriction at the moment and am eating heaps, and she said, ummm no you're not. You still eat like a bird! That's the good thing about the band - with time, it helps you reassess how much food you actually need. For that, I'm glad, because it's helped me maintain my weight despite the band not working as it should right now.

depending on your level of restriction, you may feel tighter for a few days after the flight, so I tend to carry some Optifast (or whatever shakes you use) on the plane just in case. If you do feel tight, nurse your band with liquids for a few days until you are feeling back to normal. It doesn't always happen for me, but it has on occasion, mainly when I was in the green zone.

Try softer Proteins, like fish and tofu or chicken thighs cooked for a long time. Eat slowly, chew well. Take your time. I never counted calories, avoided carbs or made a note of the amount of Protein I ate. I kinda let the band do all the work as far as portion control. And I lost weight. So eat well and maybe don't worry if you're not getting the whole 70g in.

I never even saw this the first time round that you posted. I just had port and tubing revision due to a leak. Mine was slow and it got worse in the last few months. I actually thought this surgery was tougher on me than the lapband surgery. I know it sounds weird but it seemed to me. My tummy got really swollen for 6 days and I looked like an alien was going to burst out of my belly button. But I'm about 8 days post op now and it's almost back to normal, thank goodness. Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I too lost a lot of my weight prior to getting into the green zone but I always say that getting into the green zone was what made maintaining my weight a walk in the park.

I got stuck for the first time at 6.5cc. I could eat anything I wanted. I continued to get stuck on and off from then until I hit my green zone at 8.5cc. At 8.5cc, I literally couldn't eat much even if I wanted to. And I was just about never hungry. Being stuck doesn't mean you have enough fill in. It means you're eating too fast or eating things your band may not tolerate (I could not eat rice but could eat Pasta while in my green zone). Being in the green zone means a little bit of food will keep you satiated for hours. It means you only eat a little bit to get satiated. It means you can't physically eat more than that amount of food. The band has not failed you. You have not yet failed the band. Gets fill(s) and get the band working the way it's supposed to. What you're describing does NOT sound like you're in the green zone to me.

hey Xavier, good you decided to join us here! I love that some of you, who I've become familiar with through the rest of the forum, are finding a home here. How is everyone going? Today, with my tummy down to almost normal, I actually experienced some restriction for the first time since my op. I hardly ate anything today - I was busy, I got out of the house for the first time since my op (that wasn't just going to see my dr) and I forgot to eat pretty much all day. And I wasn't actually hungry. Then I got to dinner, ate about 2 cups of risotto and felt full. Makes me wonder how much of my eating the last few days has been from boredom. But I was healing so I'm disregarding my diet from the last few days. With my partner out of the country for work, my friends have been dropping me food off while I was recovering, or I'd make something quick, and mostly it wasn't a huge consideration for it to be low fat/cal/whatever. I also kinda grazed all day because there was so much food! But after today, I'm going to start paying attention to my hunger signals again to make sure I'm not eating just because. Having you guys around has been really motivating, so I'm so glad you're all here, btw.

The statistics for the band is an average weight loss of 60% of excess weight. This generally includes those who lose more than 100% of their excess weight or more (like me), those who don't lose at all, and everything in between, whether from not doing what they need to to lose weight, or from band failure. Gastric banding surgery still is the most performed WLS in Australia, and automatically covered by most insurance companies (in that you don't have to 'qualify' aside from having a BMI of over 35 with comorbs or a family history of obesity-related disease). This is because, a lot of the time, it works to reduce weight enough to get the patient to the point of being less at risk of obesity related disease. Does it get them to a normal BMI? Not always. Can it? Sure! How much you lose, if you're working your band, and your band is working, is up to you.

I didn't think it did either. But I think coz of my skin colour, he was really working that needle to make sure the ink 'took'. Plus it appears the surgeon who did my body lift put my port and tubing very close to the skin because, I guess, i didn't really have much fat by then. So it was waiting to happen, I guess.

Pfft. That definitely sounds like insecurity. My ex used to say much the same thing, but funny no one else seemed to think I was a bag of bones...

I didn't get restriction until I had over 8cc in a 10cc band. I started feeling it only at about 7cc. I currently have 5cc after port/tubing revision and I hardly feel a thing. It's like I don't even have a band. I know it will take a while for me to get restriction, but I have the benefit of my previous experience so I know not to be worried. I can see how not achieving restriction yet might be frustrating for some of you though, because you don't know when that will be for you. But don't assume you've wasted your money yet. You just might be someone (like me) who takes more fill to get there. It doesn't mean your band won't ever work.