RestlessMonkey

Good for you going. You'll get refilled soon enough; better you are ok and stopped this before you got dehydrated or slipped or something.

I grew up in El Paso (desert) so we didn't have much fish and when we did it was breaded and fried! BUT...it beats starving! I cheated my first time by losing "my way", not my docs way. I did atkins...had steaks/beef instead of turkey chicken fish, had cheese, used some butter on my veggies, and even had a patty melt and fries for my "last meal" (oh brother I think of that now; how stupid!) And fruit wasn't on my preop diet at all. I do eat some now but especially now that I'm restricted and doing as doc says (Protein first, then veggies, THEN fruit) I often don't have room for it. My doc says no Snacks, either. I CAN eat it...just can't work it in right now! SO I did lose 15 pounds in 3 weeks and was pleased! (and that is a good loss!) but I ate too much fat, and so my body didn't pull it from my liver like he wanted. Yeah just ignore those twinkies. They aren't worth it!

Apparently like everything else, we're all different! I think having to have an x-ray would be a nuisance and a waste of my time, some swear by it!

You CAN eat that way because the opening to your stomach is generally not any smaller, or if it is, the amount isn't enough to restrict you. Can you not hold a belt around your waist and it not be restrictive? Until you cinch it up, it's just "there". Same is true of the band; especially with the new AP small and large choices, most of us wouldn't even know we HAD a band if not for the scars and the bills...until we get restriction. So yes, you'll be able to eat like you always did, most likely, until you get enough restriction.

My doc always has me do liquids for a day or two after a fill, does yours not require this? Because if your band and stomach are agitated from the fill and then you eat and PB etc...you are not doing yourself any favors! Restriction is WONDERFUL! But you may want to go to liquids only for 24 hours and then start with a mushie.

Ok you got me! That ALMOST made me spit my Water on my keyboard! :thumbup: I'm a font of something, anyway! :w00t:

What do you eat for lunch? What do you drink throughout the day?

I don't know personally. However I'd think that your surgeon would want to work with your cardiologist and the anesthesiologist to make sure everything's copacetic! If they all give the green light, though, then you should be good to go! And of course the surgery would be, as far as I know, the only time it would be an issue!

I don't think it's "better" necessarily; my doc does mine just fine without. He says he can tell because of the resistance putting Fluid in. (makes sense if you think about it) He hits the spot easily and my port is tilted... if you have an inexperienced surgeon then I can see how fluoro would be better. Just depends on your situation!

I think you HAVE to talk to him about it. Once he can articulate why he's against it, you can address it. Mine worked in a GI lab for years and figured I'd have issues like bypass patients do. He was adamantly against it. However he's an open-minded guy and knows I have a good brain too, so agreed to go to the seminar with me. My surgeon was wonderful for the seminar and afterward spent about 30 minutes talking to my husband (who is an RN) about all his concerns. We left there with my husband as enthused as I was! Until you know why your husband is against it, you're in the dark. If it's a willpower issue there are stats (and your past attempts) to back you up; fact is only about 5% of people lose weight AND KEEP IT OFF (that's the kicker) with diet and exercise alone. Ask him if you needed a heart pacemaker would he think you were just not showing willpower? NO! He'd want you to get help. Well, this is like that. If he's afraid you'll get thin and leave him, tell him maybe! J/K You need to find out why, address it as best you can, and go from there.

Depends on you, your surgeon, your situation. If you think you'll be ready, you probably will be.

I take a great multi and was still low in thiamine and vitamin D so please realize just taking a vitamin doesn't mean everthing is ok. Ask your doc if it could be related to a B vitamin deficiency or some other (or better yet ask your nutritionist) If it is just post surgery the odds are it's related to the diet you're on (and I don't mean a "diet" but how you're eating and hydrating) If it's neuro (nerves) an xray probably won't show anything. Get the nutritionist involved.

I actually didn't eat quite as much as before but that's not saying a lot! I mean, going from 4 fried pork chops to 3 isn't a huge difference! I gained weight from the 3rd week post op until just recently when I finally got good restriction...not a LOT of weight but I wasn't losing. I wasn't dieting, either, to be honest. I got the band for that restriction and it took me a long time to get it (my doc is great but I think a little TOO conservative) Restriction makes it all do-able, though, and while i did GAIN (I mean zounds I lost 42 pounds in 7 weeks), I didn't gain like I would've had I "crash dieted", lost 42 pounds in 7 weeks, then gone back to normal. Even unfilled the band helped keep the gains slow and small... So just take it one day at a time and do the best you can. The restriction makes it all worth it.

So you are going to a surgeon who will not tell you what size band you have, how much is in it, how much he puts in each time? You know legally you have a right to that? I'd get my medical records and go to another surgeon, at the least. Was he this way prebanding? The band usually doesn't fail, it's user problems (and that includes the doc) but it can have a leak. I'd seriously just switch docs.

I'm not a transplantee...but I do take 27 blasted pills a day (and only about 5 of them are prescription! the rest are "supplements") So I feel your pain. I can't take most of them on an empty stomach but honestly once I've "eaten" the pills won't fit! It's a bummer. And not all pills can be crushed or dissolved in liquids. Maybe your pharmacist can help?

Ok, why did you write your surgeon? How much do you have in your band? How much does your band hold? Does he (or whomever does your fills) withdraw all the saline to make sure none of it is leaking out? How long have you been banded?

Good for you! You've had a dreadful time! Now you get to be excited!

You are normal! You just have a medical condition. I have thought, in the vast scheme of things, that being fat is way better than some things that could go wrong. And honestly I'm not kidding or exaggerating about the "success" stats with diet/exercise alone. It works but doesn't win the war. That takes more weaponry. You are smart to do this now, before more time slips away.

Do tell them that if someone cancels you'd take an earlier spot! I'm glad mine didn't take so long. Thank goodness from my (required) seminar to my first banding was just 1 month but I didn't have to do a sleep study. Hang in there!

Definitely call your doc. You may need a different protein shake or some anti-nausea med. Does water impact you the same way?

when was your surgery? it could actually be a vitamin deficiency are you taking a good multi per your doc's orders?

I have a 14 cc band and got fills as follows: 1.5, then to 3.0, then to 4.5, then to 5.5, then to 6.25 (too tight for my stressful final semester in nursing school) then unfill to 6.0 and now fill to 6.5 (way better now that I'm out of school and can "think" about what I'm doing) Everyone is different; and you don't "really" need to know what sized band I guess. Some don't care but it's in me and I want the info! So my first/biggest fills were 1.5 and I didn't feel it at ALL until I hit 5.5 in my band. It will depend on your doc how much you get but most don't really feel much different after the 1st one.

How long does it take you to drink the 2 oz? what happens when you try to drink more? And the gas...if it's external (pumped in during surgery) the things like Gas X won't help because it's not IN your digestive system, it's outside around the organs. What helps with that is time. Your pain med should help. If its internal then gas x strips will help you break it up and burp it out.

To me, bandster hell was the time immediately post op when I was truly STARVING and could only have liquids (the first week I didn't even get Protein shakes) It lasted until I was finally into soft foods. I think hell is what you make it! LOL but we all suffer some post op either as I've described or later on. And PB means "productive burp" which is a nice term for a painful occurrence. Once restricted if you eat something and are too full or didn't take a small bite or chew well enough, the bite of food just sits at the top of your pouch. If it won't GO DOWN it has to COME UP. It's not vomiting in the sense that you don't have stomach bile etc but it usually is unpleasant and can hurt a little (think of feeling like you swallowed a golf ball and that feeling doesn't abate readily) Most of us have this happen occasionally, some do it daily (NOT a good idea...not good for the band) and a rare few avoid it alltogether. It's just one of those things we deal with in order to have the band (and people who don't know think this is the "easy" way! SNORT)

If you're asking me...(? LOL) I had to drink 2-3 Eas Carb Control AdvantEDGE shakes a day and have 1 meal with 3-4 oz of lean turkey chicken or fish and some green veggies, plus 64 (at least) oz of Water each day. Period. No Snacks. No butter no breading no lemon on the fish nothing. I cheated and dropped 15 pounds in 3 weeks but once in surgery my liver was too large! (SHAME on me!) so I followed the doc's diet to the letter and lost 17 MORE pounds in 17 days (I was shocked) and that time my liver was sufficiently down. I didn't like the shakes either but I can do anything for a little while. Once I had the nasty experience of coming to in recovery and being told "You didn't get the band dear your liver was too big" I became a believer. You may want to try that short term to kick start things. My doc said the point is to cut fat so that we pull it from our bodies and for whatever reason that diet makes the body pull it from the liver first (easy spot to get it, I guess) You SHOULD do what your doc says but it shouldn't break the bank, either! I liked my diet because it was easy. I had shake, shake, and then a gorton's baked fish patty thing (they CALL it a filet, I have my doubts) and some green Beans or lettuce. At least I didn't have to worry about what to eat! LOL It is worth it. I lost so much so fast I felt like a different person. It was amazing.