RestlessMonkey

Stella.. Don't know about being hit but like the OP said...you'll likely be fine unless it's a hit hard enough to have really harmed you even without the band. In other words, a hit that would rupture something else in there might hurt the band, but otherwise, no. A good surgeon can answer that for you completely! As to the diet...guess what? After the Preop diet (if you have one, and if you do it's important that you follow it to a T so brace yourself) and the postop diet (which is even MORE important because it allows your stomach to heal around the band, where it's been sutured into place, and allows your esophagus and digestive organs to heal and settle down, to "get over" the trauma of surgery) then if you diet or not is totally up to you. Some are rabid bean counters and weighers and charters and will say their way is the only way, and they are probably right, for themselves! Some "keep an eye on it". Some just try to make "healthy choices". Some just go about their lives. Once you are restricted (reread that because it's vital and not stressed in the seminars etc) you will be able, if you follow the rules, to be satisfied with less food and stay satisfied longer. What you decide to eat is up to you, and if you want to calorie count and weigh and journal and balance you certainly can. If you just want to "eat less", that works too. The band doesn't really DO anything but sit there at the top of your stomach. You really do work it. You have to go in for fills and work with your doctor and his team to hit your "sweet spot" where you can eat what you want, just not ALL you used to. Some like super restriction but that's really not too healthy. (trading one extreme for another, in my most humble opinion!) You choose what you eat, you choose to follow the rules (like not drinking liquids with your meal) It's a tool. Everyone uses it a little differently but in most cases, if you work it, it works for you!

Hello and welcome! The answers to all your questions: It depends! Number of appts required and time to complete depends on surgeon, other consults, what YOUR insurance requires, etc. Preop diets are very individualized and vary by surgeon and patient. They range from "easy" to "I'll starve" and in time from 2-3 days to over 3 weeks. Some don't have one. How soon you are able to return to work depends on the work you do and how quickly you recover, which again varies widely from person to person Your best bet is to go to a local seminar. That'll get you started!

Respectfully, did you read this post? If so then you know the answer! Please contact your surgeon.

If anyone asks I tell them I got the lap band. I'm happy to have it, proud of doing it, generally pleased about it. Besides, it IS diet and exercise.

Hello and welcome! Some wake up hungry (I surely did!) some don't (lucky people!) Just follow your docs post op diet exactly and you'll be fine. A warning...it will get hard to do as you heal and feel better, but stay strong!

Hmmm...on the chart on my surgeon's office wall it says "RED ZONE...only "easy" foods go down, can't make healthy choices.." So I'd say you are too tight. WAY too tight. I know some choose to use the band the way you are, but for me, I think it's imprudent. Why shouldn't you be able to eat protein? You're in control; I suggest you make an appt with your surgeon ASAP and get some of that fill removed.

The guaifenesin in mucinex thins your secretions, making it easier to cough them up and kind of "preventing" congestion. It isn't a traditional decongestant. It won't interact with your band. Furthermore, traditional decongestants (which cause vasoconstriction and can increase your blood pressure) shouldn't impact the band. Carbonation does mess with us once we're banded, as you know. Depending on which mucinex you take (they have different formulations now) you should be ok, but an "alka seltzer" type cold rememdy would probably not be your best choice.

I'm a nursing student...not working yet but do have clinicals. My doc said many of his nurses go back after 1 week off. I truly don't think anything less than that would be prudent if you have an active job, which you MAY. The bending, any lifting over 10 pounds, etc will be hard...AND remember at first you only get liquids so your energy may lag a bit.

I too was told that and I too did NOT have that issue. In fact I drank 32 ounces of water IN THE HOSPITAL before I went home, just 3-4 hours post op. Once they determined it was safe, I drank it. No one tackled me and took it from me (I would've fought, too...I was very thirsty! LOL) I think honestly from my post op readings (books and internet) that in the old days, bands were one size fits all and some people really did have swelling and inability to swallow post op. Now they have more "give", different construction, different sizes (for example I have the new lap band Ap LARGE) and so there isn't as much trauma or swelling post op as there was in the "early" days 2-3 year ago! Please call your surgeon Monday; you MAY need a test or two to make sure everything is ok in there. Don't feel guilty; you aren't the first to eat "ahead". Just make sure you're ok, STOP IT!...and move on!

You're 18 days post op...how far will you be when you have the pizza party? AND more importantly, what stage diet will you be on, per your post op instructions? MOST important is that you follow your doctor's guidelines on that. IF you are cleared for all food, then have some pizza and/or a wing or two. IF you avoid the chips and dip, and eat and chew VERY slowly (per bandster rules) with no liquid before, during etc per your doc's orders, you may surprise yourself to find you are full much more quickly, eat much less, etc. Some will be HORRIFIED that I say eat Pizza but I guess it depends on your lifestyle. You're young; you're not going to go the rest of your life without pizza or a chicken wing or GASP a brownie or some such! The band is for life; it's not a diet. As one friend of mine puts it (who is losing weight like there is a sale on!) "I did NOT have surgery to eat cardboard". So quit thinking "temptation, evil, bad". Just have a little. You'll feel happy and proud of yourself. The band puts YOU in control, not the pizza. And one WARNING: Many docs say "NO GUM"...because once you have restriction, if you do swallow it, it can get stuck. Then you have a trip to the ER to have it removed. Not worth the trouble. And even if you NEVER swallow it, sometimes we forget and do. Just have some pizza. You won't go to hell or gain 100 pounds, really.

I posted an answer to this on your other thread...odds are you'll be fine, longer answer there! Good luck!

The BEST thing you can do is calm down about it. Only your doctor will know; he'll probably want you to do a cardio consult and have a cardiologist clear you for the surgery. PVC's aren't uncommon in young women and tachycardia can be caused by nerves. It depends on whether you have A tach or V tach and how extreme it is, how many PVC's you're "throwing", etc. Again odds are a cardiologist will clear you! So don't panic, be calm, things will work out!

There isn't really a "normal", but what is "normal" for you and your surgeon! Yes without much restriction it is almost as if you did not have a band because food flows through your pouch into your stomach "almost" as freely as it did before the surgery. My doctor does the first fill at 6 weeks (or later) and then every 4-6 weeks after. He just will not do them sooner than 4 weeks apart. His take on the research has him coming down against aggressive frequent fills, but some surgeons disagree and DO frequent aggressive (or just one BIG) fill. If you're following your surgeon's guidelines, you're doing what's normal for his patients....and eventually you'll come in for a landing on your sweet spot. It's hard to be patient, but I see my Doc's point...time to practice and adapt without PB'ing, being unable to swallow my own saliva, no panic, etc. And so far I can still eat anything, but I AM filling up on way less and really not grazing or snacking any more. Hang in there!

I'm sorry for your loss! The lap band is a great tool but guess what....you do it "on your own" with it, too! Inasmuch as you are in control of what you eat, if you exercise, how much you eat, if you follow the "band rules" etc! It DOES take care of physical hunger, but that emotional or "head" hunger still rears it's ugly head, if you have struggled with it in the past. You CAN eat around the band (unfortunately things like ice cream and milk shakes and chips and candy and nachos go down pretty easily). Having said that, it IS a great tool. If you can control the head hunger and the snacking then it keeps you full and satisfied for much longer! SO I don't mean to be negative, but straight forward...if you work it, it works. And yes, it does not have the same issues as by pass....nor is it as invasive or "final". It's a great thing, in my opinion! :grouphug: Attending a seminar or two (each surgeon is a little different etc) will get you started! Good luck!

You need to call your surgeon. When we eat our stomachs churn to aid in digestion and you may have done some damage. Hopefully you're far enough out that isn't the case, but there's a reason we're given post op diets, and healing is that reason. Please call Monday, let him know what you did (not to confess and be punished, you understand, but medically he needs to know) and take it from there. And...stop eating until then. I know it's hard; many many of us suffer through it, but we made it, and you can too.

You'll need to say what city you're in if you want some help. I assume you aren't willing to travel since you aren't going back to Mexico for your fills.

For once, Mine's a little more lenient! LOL 1 day liquid 1 day mushie 1 day soft then normal. That is, if I EVER have restriction! :grouphug:

What I like best about the band (well, one thing!) is that we control it. You don't have to be so tight that you can't eat most foods. Some people choose that path but personally I think it's risky to be so restricted that you can't drink cold water or whatever. According to what I've read, being that restricted can just set you up for failure because it's hard on your body AND you. You'll find your happy medium!

That's lucky for you! People who ARE put on a specific preop diet, however, need to follow their doctor's orders. That's why we pay them the big bucks! :grouphug: I had my surgery successfully on 8/29 after doing exactly what my doc told me (and lost 17 MORE pounds, which shocked me! pleased, but shocked!) !

You don't really NEED to know the capacity as long as you're going to that doc and he knows! But if you're curious, you can always ask. I THINK lap bands come in 4cc (old style), 10cc and 14cc. So if you're in the larger one, 3cc's isn't too much. I sure couldn't tell it at all when I had 3cc's, but then we are all different!

I think for my anniversary I'd want something other than a meal out, then. A shopping spree? A movie? Gemstones and gold? anything but food! :grouphug: Hope it all works out for you!

I have 4.5 cc in my 14 cc band and yes I can eat everything including untoasted bread. I don't have carbonation because it isn't worth the trouble (sip burp BELCH sip burp BELCH) but otherwise, I'm fine. I occasionally get REALLY uncomfortable if I forget to chew well or take a LARGE bite, and I too am eating less. (Had lunch today at noon, and am hungry now) My doc says he wants me (all his patients too) to be able to eat anything but just be satisfied with less.

I wouldn't, and that's because I think I'd use that to "tinker" so I could eat more. I wouldn't mind physically doing it (nursing student...I'm a tough monkey! LOL) but feel that the temptation to mess with it would be almost overpowering to me.

Welcome! What is your band capacity? I have a LapBand APL...it holds 14 cc's So 3 is a "little" aggressive, but not too much. I have 4.5 ccs in mine so far (doc is NOT aggressive!) and feel a little restriction sometimes. What is happening, though, is that I'm full faster and stay thatg way longer, so I'm getting there! Good luck to you!

Do you have allergies? Could it be that? It's ok to take an allergy medicine if you have them and have taken it before (just follow your directions for nothing by mouth etc before surgery, of course!) Otherwise, you've done all you can. If you are too congested or have a fever, they'll delay it. (but that's for your safety; you want to come through it all fine!) On the bright side staying well hydrated (with LOTS of water) will be good for you! :grouphug: