RestlessMonkey

My surgeon has his patients promise to not get pregnant for a year post band ... he feels it's dangerous. It doesn't pertain to me but I think why get the band to get pregnant right away...have the baby THEN get the band...or have the band, lose and get healthy and THEN have the baby! :biggrin: You don't want to lose while trying to grow a little one! The band won't stop you from having a healthy baby. As to the skin....Odds are if you lose a lot of weight there's going to be skin. Whether you have bypass, the band, sleeve, do weight watchers, get stranded on a desert island, whatever...you remove the fat, the skin will sag. How badly depends on many many factors including your age, how long you've been fat, your skin type, your nutritional status, etc etc. Skin is an organ so people who work out to tighten it are misinformed...the muscle UNDER the skin tones up, but the skin will do what it will do. For many young otherwise healthy people, it's almost a non-issue. For someone like me who weighed 400 and is 54, I'm facing plastic surgery. But it's better to be saggy than fat. Hands down.

I'd say that you will need to avoid boiled chicken for a while, if you're sure you chewed well, had small bites, didn't drink with the meal, and so on. Its not uncommon ... you just had a fill. Now that you've vomited your stomach and esophagus are probably irritated and I think most docs recommend just drinking fluids for a day, then back to mushies and soft food, and advance as tolerated. Try the chicken (it is a problem for some) again in a few months!

I don't have any idea if your band has slipped but if you are throwing up after every meal and feeling pain each time you need to call your doc.

I just about NEVER go against a professional's advice...that's what we pay them for. They study a lot to get that degree. And I'm sure the Nutritionist told you that caffeine can cause ulcers. It probably can...but it is very very very rare. Most ulcers are caused either by a bacteria (H. pylorii) or by excess stomach acid over time. Caffeine CAN stimulate the stomach to produce more acid (so can lemonade, for that matter...or orange juice) but from what I've read, the evidence does not point to caffeine causing ulcers. Having said that, if it irritates your stomach, avoid it! You may be one of the people it DOES impact negatively. In fact, caffeine can actually be good for you and right now they are doing further studies because people who drink a lot of it...like 6-8 cups of coffee a day, are less likely to develop diabetes type II. So don't go against your doc's advice...or at least, find out the reasoning and then see if it applies to you. I've been drinking unsweetened iced tea since I was about 4 (50 years now) and don't have an ulcer yet. My dad drank at least 2 pots of black coffee a day and never had a digestive issue...that's anecdotal of course and not scientific. My point is, within reason, do what works for you. Since my doc said to avoid caffeine because it is an appetite stimulant, and because it does not stimulate my appetite (one of the few things, apparently, that doesn't LOL) then I drink my unsweetened tea, and my 1 cup of coffee each day. HOWEVER! I make sure I get at least 64 oz of plain water too. Dolphanatic...I think decaf coffee MAY have more acid than the real stuff...? Check it out. I would hate to think of you having Decaf to avoid an ulcer and ending up with one because of the extra acid! Again..I'm not a pro here, just another consumer. You'll of course do what you know is right and I don't mean to be an enabler! :biggrin: Here's a link to a study published in JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/246/3/248

It won't hurt you to go without the full amount for a week or two. As you heal you'll be able to fit it in more easily. Until then, just relax and do the best you can. The stress over it is probably harming you more than the lack of 40 g of protein each day!

Caffeine isn't bad for the band. For some, caffeine is an appetite stimulant (for others, it's a suppressant, and it's been in OTC diet pills for years) If it doesn't stimulate your appetite, it's fine to have. Carbonation doesn't hurt the band, but it can bother your pouch and stomach. It hurts me when I drink carbonated beverages. It's best to avoid carbonation, or to at least let it go flat first. We don't need the internal "expansion".

Hello and welcome!

Just hang in there. As my doc says, we are re-learning how to eat. It takes a while. I've found that if I drink while I eat it hurts like the devil, if I have the hiccups they hurt a little, and that if I get that "swallowed a golf ball and it won't go down" feeling, having my husband hit me (open handed) on the back between my shoulder blades often dislodges it and I feel better immediately. There's a learning curve to it! And I did want to reiterate (if you actually LIKE grits shudder LOL) try them again in a few months. My doc says often a food won't sit well initially but if we give ourselves time to adapt to our new situation, that they can be successfully reintroduced later. So if you love grits, you may very well be able to eat them on down the line.

Good luck! :biggrin: Remember to line up after care locally or plan to travel back to your operating surgeon frequently during the first year...aftercare is as important as the band itself (something I've learned by having the band; didn't really know that before. I was so focused on getting it, didn't really think about HAVING it! )

Vomiting is true vomiting from your "lower" stomach. It has stomach acid. PB is more like a baby spitting up...no acid, just mucous and the offender. It happens because your esophagus spasms. When food sits at the opening of the stomach and won't go in, it has to go somewhere, so it comes back out. That's PB and it stands for Productive Burp. Slime just refers to the copious amount of mucous produced when something is stuck. Usually if you PB it means you ate too fast, didn't chew well, or are over full. I'd avoid grits for a few months, if I were you. If you have a bad session of being stuck, most recommend going back to liquids for a few hours to a day to give your stomach a chance to settle back down. Good luck!

Check out Dr. Kirschenbaum in Aurora Co. I have absolutely no personal experience with him but from reading these boards encountered his name frequently. He WAS doing the surgery for under 10K. I don't know if he's good or any of that, so you'll need to check it out thoroughly. You might also try google...googling "Lap band surgery for 11,000" etc

Essentially no it won't happen. You will find an occasional person who thinks it has but usually there is some other issue...ie they don't really have that much fill, or they have a leak, or some such. If you think about it logically, there's only so much room in there. Once they place that band around your stomach and tighten it, the hole gets small. You get restriction. Allowing for various swallow strengths and eating styles and stomach configurations, you will alway eventually get restriction with the band (realize or lap band) So don't worry.

Nicholeinaz...first, I don't think there IS a 15 cc band. It's possible, but in all my research I've never heard of that. Second, that is a very aggressive fill schedule...are you sure they put that much in with each fill? Having said that, some foods go down more easily even with restriction. Personally for me, crumbled hamburger and taco shells are "sliders". Have you tried roasted chicken for example? Can you eat it like before? IF so you need to talk to your surgeon. If you are 2/3 filled (in whatever size band) and feeling nothing at all...(you may not be "there" yet but you should feel SOMETHING) then you need to be checked out! Good luck! I personally refuse to diet and while I am on board with "good choices" and exercise, I haven't counted a calorie nor measured a bite of food. I gained back some post op but once I got restriction (my fill doc is way more conservative) I am losing again. So gaining isn't unheard of, but not feeling restriction if you are so filled is rare. It CAN happen, but it's rare. Confirm your band size, confirm your fill level, then meet with your nutritionist if your doc feels everything is ok.

That will be totally up to your surgeon...but I'd guess at least 2 weeks (allow for steri strips to fall off)...if not more. It will depend on how he closes you up and estimates your healing time. :laugh:

It depends on your insurance! Welcome and good luck!

I think people become morbidly obese for many many different reasons. While your situation doesn't resonate with me, I'm sure there are others in a similar boat. My issues also, I'm sure, would sound familiar to some. I don't think there are any easy answers to obesity; I think it is hereditary, biological, habitual, emotional, and everything in between (one reason it is so hard to "treat") I did do a year of behavioral therapy to try to get at the root of WHY I overate and it helped cement my desire for the band; hopefully your insights into your behavior will help keep you on the band path! And for the record, although that wasn't the point of your post, I am sorry your mother was cruel to you. That is a shame. Good for you rising above it and taking care of yourself! :laugh:

My seminar was very informative. Of course, logically, since they are all different...that will vary. Same is true of "speed"...partly it will depend on requirements of your insurance (if you have insurance that will cover the band) and partly will depend on your surgeon and his/her schedule. Pregnancy...my doctor requires we sign a form promising to wait at least one year post band to attempt to become pregnant. Since that was not a concern for me I didn't ask him for more info. However, again logically it isn't good to try to lose weight and carry a baby at the same time. Good luck to you!

Your surgeon should not have pressured you. People lose up 65% AVERAGE of their excess weight by being banded...and at 3 years out, weight loss for the bypass and the lap band is comparable. People can gain with either surgery. It IS a personal decision, and I don't want to attempt to sway you any more than I feel your surgeon should have. I will tell you I have a higher BMI and I chose the band because I did not want my stomach cut up and my intestines rerouted. I worried about what would happen to me with an impaired digestive tract as I age (and older people don't utilize what they eat as well) Plus I know of many many side effects with bypass (for example the stomach is sewn shut but still produces acid etc...the thought of it floating around in there closed off and still "working" gave me the creeps LOL) The band can be removed and in most instances, leaves no ill effects, should a need arise. Bypass...CAN be reversed, but it's dicey And finally my husband is an RN and worked in a GI lab for years and told me flat out we'd have real problems if I decided to get bypass because he's seen the bad side effects that can happen (and often do, unfortunately). Both surgeries should not be undertaken lightly. Both surgeries help people. Both surgeries can be negated by eating improperly, and both carry risks. You need to decide which is right for you. A high BMI should NOT be the only factor.

My surgeon also waits six weeks. Rarely you'll find one who will fill at 4 weeks, but lap band guidelines says 6.

If you have a cold (virus) antibiotics won't help it. AND I know you're disappointed but you don't want to have problems with oxygen while under anesthesia! The point is to get through surgery and be healthier! It will happen for you!

I had surgery on friday and back at class tues. afternoon (I'm a nursing student, not a teacher). I felt good but wasn't as sharp as I thought I was...I say take a week. That's the minimum lap band recommends. A few people are ready earlier (and I thought I was. i felt ok but my thinking was fuzzy and I didn't even realize it...and no I wasn't on pain meds LOL) You are having surgery and will be on liquids...give your body and self a time to start healing and adapt.

You're best to ask your doctor. Mine had a specific preop diet "shake" he wanted me to have...it wasn't slim fast. But you need to do what YOUR doc tells you to.

I didn't ever ask my doc about gum (not a big gum chewer) but I think it's because, once you're restricted, what if you swallow it? AND...even if you NEVER swallow it, people do. In fact, the minute you say you NEVER WILL...odds are you will! :confused: For me, just not worth it. I know they can probably go in and get it, but I just would rather not have to go to the ED because I swallowed gum and it plugged up my stomach.

I'm really shocked you get to eat chili so soon, Shellb! Docs must be really loosening up for some of you. That's great. I didn't even get protein shakes until week 2, let alone chili (blended or not).

I think you'll do great! :confused: