RestlessMonkey

See your primary doc. You don't say how old you are but losing should either not impact it, or help it, not hurt it, regardless. Unless you are exercising and undereating so much that you are fatigued all the time, something else may be going on. Go get a check up.

From my surgeon, (and my experience) to be successful with the band you need to 1. chew each bite at least 40 times 2 eat each meal in 30 minutes...don't take longer to graze through a large meal 3. take very small bites 4. eat protein first, then veggies, then fruit, then pasta, rice, bread, grains, 5. DO NOT SNACK and 6. Dont drink any liquid 15 minutes before, during or 15 minutes after each meal. If you can do all of that, you will be successful with the band. Once you have restriction you physically CAN NOT eat fast or take bites that are too large or not chew well. At the least you will be uncomfortable for a while before you vomit back up the bite that is too large (or poorly chewed). At the worst you will hurt yourself, or turn only to foods that go down easily, (slider foods) and overeat. Either way is not good. If you can't follow those rules, the "band will fail"; but actually it won't, you will. It's a tool and you must use it. If you aren't ready or willing, it won't do you any good. If you think you can do all that, either return to your surgeon and be firm about your desire for the band, or find another surgeon. If you don't think you can do that (not everyone can; there's no shame in that at all) then the band isn't the operation for you.

I didn't even get tested because I told my doc (this was 5 years ago when I complained of fatigue) that if I DID have it I wouldn't use the mask. He said ok. SO I understand where you are coming from. (My mom died from emphysema, on oxygen. My dad was in a wreck, rear ended by a woman who fell asleep at the wheel and he died on the ventilator. So I have a "THING" about breathing equipment). Having said that...DONT keep things secret from your doctor. That's assinine, that's self destructive. It's childish, too. Either tell him straight out your case is MILD and you won't use it, or use it for 3 weeks as he requires. Really, you are a big girl. You don't need to lie and sneak around your doc; you are paying him.

I read on here about BUNCHES of people who cheated on their preop diets with no bad effect, so I cheated on mine. (not badly, I still lost a good chunk of weight!) BUT when I came to in recovery I was told "you didn't get the band, dear, your liver was too large" That is a HORRIBLE feeling and not worth indulging in any food. I followed my doc's orders TO THE LETTER and lost a bunch MORE weight and got the band 2 1/2 weeks later. So my advice to you, regardless of what you read on here, is DO WHAT YOUR DOC TELLS YOU TO. Don't cheat. You may "get away" with it; but if you don't, the results are dreadful, shameful, and expensive.

WHY did he say you weren't a good candidate, if you don't mind? Need that info to help you....

Be sure and check the V8 for sodium; even the low sodium V8 has an excessive amount. People who don't have issues w/salt are supposed to keep it to 2300-2400 mg a day;if you are "salt sensitive" then it's under 2000. V8 (even the little low sodium ones) takes up a big chunk of that.

You'd be surprised at how many people start that 6-month diet and decide to NOT get the band. It saves the ins. company money! No idea on the questions; good luck though!

If you DO gain, don't obsess about it. Once you get your tool (the band) working again, the weight will come back off.

Yep, I don't understand either. I THINK you are wanting someone who's had vertical sleeve gastrectomy for at least 2 years? Is that it?

I slept straight the first night; but I wanted to "straighten out" while I still had the good hospital post op pain meds on board. Because of that it was easy to straighten out. As you heal you can form adhesions that make it more painful to straighten etc and I didn't want that trouble so figured it was easier to just straighten out at the start before they formed. I'm glad I did it that way; I was sleeping on my stomach by night 2 and never had any issues. If it hurts, take your pain meds and straighted up anyway. Use a pillow to brace your incisions if you need to; that can help. You'll be glad you did.

When you have a gain that drastic overnight, it is almost ALWAYS water retention. Don't weigh daily so that those fluctuations won't make you disheartened. Plus you were just banded 3/9. The first 6-8 weeks should be more about healing than weight loss.

Please call them if you are unsure. When I lived in a dryer climate I occasionally got a little blood in the mucus when I blew my nose. It also happens occasionally now if I have had a sinus infection or upper respiratory infection and have been blowing my nose a lot. It is impossible to diagnose a person online, though; and you are safest to just call and ask. It can't hurt; they have heard questions way less worthy.

You just need to do research; perhaps get some books on gastric banding from your library or book store. Lap band and gastric bypass are very different surgeries. Good luck on your research!

Yes it's normal. If you think about it, it will make sense. The band is sitting around your stomach, much in the same way you can loosely hold a belt (if it's big enough! :cursing:) around your waist. Until you tighten and fasten the belt, it's just there. Same is true of the band. It took me 5 fills (over 5 months) to finally feel any restriction. You have to just give it time.

It varies. I had almost none. In recovery they were going to give me 2 mg of morphine and i just took one...rejected the pain pump. rejected the "Q ball" (or whatever it is) for pain I took the prescription pain med twice, on day 2. That's it. No big deal for me

Plus who said you can't eat bread? You're in diet mode. You need to move beyond that. My doc says to goal is to be able to eat anything, to make healthy choices most times, to not snack, and to eat 3 small meals a day. and you lose. YAY. Bread (and pasta and rice) are all part of that.

I've lost about that much in 7 months and know I'm not a failure; now that I have restriction (love my doc but he is VERY conservative) the weight is coming off. I don't calorie count or weigh or yada yada either...I do make good choices (usually) I do eat protein first, I do have to chew well and avoid liquids during meals, I struggle mightily to NOT SNACK. and TAH DAH I am losing 2-3 pounds a week now. Yay. You have to get the right balance of restriction, good choices, etc. OH and I exercise too at least 3 days a week. It makes a big difference.

I drink a shake. I can go up to 6 hours without food anyway. Eat before your shift, have a shake during, a meal later.

How many hours do you work in a day? I have an 8 hour "shift" at school (nursing student) and I just take a protein shake (same brand my doc told me to get for preop) It does the trick. I'm so busy I'm not hungry. If you are really that busy (and I know it gets that way) you won't be hungry either. The way you think about food will change. Unless you go 12+ hours or more (in which case, block off some time to eat.) you'll be fine! OH and I can't snack or have anything to drink either (big no no at the nurses' station) and I do ok. Occasionally when I'm getting water for a patient I'll chug down a glass, and yes liquids go down fine. It's actually easier than preband, for me.

I don't know if any of you read this, but per an (online) article I saw in the New York Times, our govt is sending national guard to border towns because of violence in Mexico. I guess he (Pres. Obama) mentioned it in his speech tonight (which i did not see; I was in school). Anyway...take care crossing the border. Unless we have federal troops in downtown Boston or Oklahoma City, what's happening to our Southern Neighbor is a whole different type of violence. Please be prudent and remember the drug dealers causing this ruckus won't think "OH that's a van of american tourists....don't mess with them". I don't know exactly WHAT drug dealers think, but I doubt it would be that.

I think you need to discuss this with your surgeon. Depending on how many days you are post op, a BIG issue would be the threat of blood clots. That's always a danger for anyone flying, and it is magnified in post op patients. When you have an obese post op patient, the threat ratchets up even more. If you MUST fly I'm sure your surgeon can give you drugs or directions to make it safer for you....and your surgery date may be far enough from your flight date to make it a non-issue. As to the band itself; while I've read about some who have issues, you will probably be ok, especially if the flight is on a commercial (pressurized) airliner. Ask your surgeon about that, too.

If you can't eat anything but what you listed, of course you are TOO tight and need an unfill. Call your surgeon and discuss it tomorrow! The point of the band is to eat healthy (aka good variety) and what you've described is not healthy.

How much restriction do you have? That's the deciding factor, IMHO...although to be fair to yourself, if you had an accident in December and don't have much restriction and have "only" gained 3 pounds in the 3 months (while dealing with the physical, emotional and financial impact of the accident) I think you're doing darn well. This is something only you can decide. It's important that you get adequate (healthy) nutrition while you heal. Are you up for adding restricition onto your plate, so to speak? IE Following your surgeons rules no liquid while eating chew the dickens out of food tiny bites etc? If you already have good restriction, a fill won't help. If you don't...well, you're in for a surprise. It might be too much to deal with. Only you know that for sure!

My only problem with the papaya enzyme (or the meat tenderizer/water mix, in fact) is this: If it works to dissolve meat, chicken, or pork, it will also work on my esophagus. No thanks. I just try to not get stuck and when it happens, wait it out. No fingers down my throat for me (it never has worked for me) and liquid...OMG I thinbk that would strangle me. The one time I forgot and got a swallow of water to help something go down, the water plopped out like I was a fountain or something. SOMETIMES my husband whamming me in the back between the shoulder blades helps whatever move on through, but not always.

Are you nauseated? You need to tell your surgeon about this NOW! :huh2: He'll give you something to stop it, most likely; if it's especially violent it can be hard on the band.