RestlessMonkey

My doc numbs first but I don't really care...a stick is a stick. However since that's his routine it's easier for me to just go with the flow than, each time, say "no lidocaine". It's no biggie; I'm so happy to get the fill (looking forward to more weight loss etc) that I wouldn't care if he stuck me 10 times.

Soup isn't really a great bandster meal just because it tends to...go through. No feeling of satiety because it doesn't stay in the small pouch! My situation (1 husband, 1 cat, no kids) is so different from yours my menu won't help you but at 11 months post op my husband and I eat the same things. I just eat less. When I am really in "lose weight" mode that is more Protein and green veggies, when I am more relaxed it's just whatever. We don't buy much fast food but it's just preference. I can't eat more than 1/3 - 1/2 of a chick fil A(for example) and my huband doesn't need to eat my leftovers but lord knows I can't just toss it! Just one thing my nutritionist told us: if you eat rice or Pasta, cook it WELL...no al dente (because it continues to absorb liquid, as you know!) Some people can't eat bread, or white chicken, or this/that/the other (you name the food there will probably be someone who can't eat it!) but many of us don't really have any issues (I'm one of those lucky ones). You'll find what works for you. My doc told me "assume you'll be able to eat anything and the odds are you will". Say you were having chile cheese dogs and fries. I'd eat probably 1/3 - 1/2 of a chile cheese dog, 2-3 fries, and be done. I'd eat the bun. (well, that 1/3 - 1/2 of it) I wouldn't pick that though, because more protein dense meals keep me full longer. Fried chicken? I'd eat part of a breast or thigh (including the skin) Macs and cheese? I'd probably pass...or have a small spoon full and find some meat/chicken/fish to fill me up. You'll find it is easier than any diet you have ever tried, I bet.

Got it! I probably misread...hunger is making me faint (almost dinner time here LOL) A pillow to brace your surgical sites on ride home lip gloss or balm because your lips will be really dry easy slip on shoes (you'll be up walking A LOT) A comfortable bra, easy on shirt (some like button up but over the head worked fine for me) and pants/skirt liquid tylenol for at home (not the hosp) Mp3 player good book or some magazines hair brush If you wear contacts they'll make you remove them before surgery even if they are the kind you can wear for a week (or whatever) and then discard...just be warned most of this you probably already know good luck! I bet you are VERY excited!

The stats quoted are an average. That means some lose ALL, some don't lose any. It's up to YOU how much you want to lose. The band is a tool only; you're the one working it (and the weight loss). So...the answer is "however much you want to."

Your surgeon should've already told you if you'd be expected to stay overnight. What did he say?

What does your liquid diet cover? Did you get info from the doc? I'm sure he didn't just say "go. have only liquid. here's the bill" LOL it's different depending on your doc. what does yours SAY?

Don't you get tired of weighing/measuring your food? I did that for WW and realized that if I had to do it the rest of my life I'd go MAD! (well, mad-der! LOL) I have weighed or measured things a time or two for curiosity but how much I can eat is fairly consistent and I don't measure, count, weigh, anything. I guess that's one of the great things about our bands; we can work them in a way that works for us. Sorry, too. No thread hi-jack intended.

I came to in recovery hungry. No lie, no kidding. not emotional hunger, not head hunger, true physiologic hunger. That was the down side. The upside was that i felt great, I felt normal, no gas pain to speak of, slept on my side in bed night one, on my tummy night two (my norm) etc..no heavy pain meds needed, no problems getting my liquids in etc. But the point is we're all different. being hungry isn't abnormal during this stage, neither is not being hungry.

Call during office hours unless you feel dizzy or loopy. :thumbdown: I had no problem drinking from the start and in fact drank probably 20-30 ounces of Water in the hospital before they let me go home that evening...(and they were doling it out. MAN i was dry!) so I don't have any personal experience that can help you... Not to be crude but one way you can tell if you're ok is if you are urinating 3-4 times a day (at least).... and is your urine super concentrated? super concentrated can be a sign of dehydration... initially you have excess Fluid from the surgery you're getting rid of and that can help you a little. 64 ounces is the usual healthy minimum though. So yes, call your doc tomorrow if you can't get that in. He may have filled you some during surgery and need to remove some, or may feel it's just normal swelling/healing and want you to just monitor it...? but you should be ok till tomorrow, just use your judgment

You're probably fine but do call your surgeon tomorrow and make sure (hard to "diagnose" over the internet and besides I'm not a doc anyway! LOL so no diagnosis from this chickie) Odds are you're just really soon post op and your stomach is kicking up a ruckus. I didn't get anything but clear liquids when I was at your "days post op" stage so I can't tell you from personal experience...

I have never had any trouble at all with shrimp...breaded or not. Call your surgeon and ask; let him decide for you based on how you're healing etc. And...Linda bless you woman to chew to toothpaste consistency? I think that is probably a safe, good idea but ick! :thumbdown: I'm lucky; I don't have any food issues and chew to a smooth (but not toothpaste-like LOL) consistency before I swallow...:scared2: Love my band.

I like the therapist idea too. I went to a behavioral therapist who specialized in "eating disorders" (I didn't have bulimia or anorexia but obesity is a disorder) and she really helped me get a LOT of insight into why I overeat, and how to stop it. It was really groovy.

Probably. you're losing weight so your internal configuration might have changed a little. Now when you bend over your port isn't cushioned by as much fat. Check with your surgeon though, to be sure.

I don't know. Personally (no kidding here) I am always SO PUMPED when a little bit fills me up! I got the "eyes bigger than your stomach" but I also got "humph ... "she" eats like a man" about females who ate huge amounts (keep in mind this was the 50's, ok?) When I can eat a few ounces of steak and a small portion of green Beans and be satisfied I feel downright DAINTY. I LOVE it. Maybe you just need to look at it differently? I tend to think of food as fuel (and yes I've intentionally worked at that) and it makes a big difference.

call your doc monday and ask, to be sure. Note how you're feeling so you can describe it. Full liquids is a little aggressive for so soon post op but if that's what your doc told you, then you should be able to do it. I think maybe it was too thick; could you get it through a straw? Your doc should be able to tell you but again, if you're following his orders then odds are high you are ok.

You need to follow your surgeon's post op diet to the letter, and if the diet is unclear, call and ask if you can have creamy soups. They are all different and tailor them to match their skill level, their patient's, their experience with recovery/complications etc, and so on. So we can't really advise you, or at least not safely. Your doc's office should make that call. :thumbdown:

Sliming is mucus produced by the goblet cells in our mucousal lining. For bandster purposes, the mucus is usually produced to help us expel something that is someplace where it doesn't belong...IE stuck in our esophagus. Not to be gross but it's similar to having a runny nose...body producing mucus to help get rid of something our body sees as "other". If you chew well, don't overeat, don't take bites that are too big etc you can generally avoid it.

I think most of us have issues of some sort or another or we wouldn't have weight problems. I don't think of myself as a food addict (having been a nicotine addict I see major differences in how I treat the two) but I didn't get to 405 by treating food properly, either! :thumbdown:

LOL! The superior anesthetic, IMHO

I agree with much of what has been "said" here... 1. Make SURE you get 64 oz of Water in daily. A dehydrated person=tight band 2. Most PB incidents are caused by operator failure...not chewing well, bites too big, eating too fast. Most ... but not all. Check your basics If these two things don't make an immediate positive difference, then 3. Call your doc. It is NOT good to vomit frequently, and its one of those things where if you address it quick it's a little problem but if you let it go on too long can become a BIG one. good luck! P S I stay well hydrated per my docs orders and can eat my meals AM, PM, whenever. That avoiding a meal early on is often a symptom of being dehydrated. Start your morning with 16 oz of water and then a meal. It may not work for everyone, some people do have schizo bands and I think it may be hormonal (total guess, not science) but hydration works for most people.

You should be concerned because you can get dehydrated VERY quickly and end up in an emergency room on an IV. Get 64 oz of water in at least and if you can't, call your surgeon ASAP.

Call your surgeon tomorrow and tell him...you'll probably have a liquid type post op diet too and it's really imperative you follow it...so see if you can get this nailed down now! AND FYI...this period is vile but really worth it! Hang in there! (can you ice them and then them some?)

My surgeon told me that once it became an issue for me (port sticking out) it would be his honor and privilege to address the issue...so it seems there's something they can do, if they want to (and we want another surgery) once all weight is lost.

I think this is probably different for everyone so I hope more people address this for you too. For me, I initially went through about a year of behavioral therapy on my own before I got the band (or even decided to get the band) So when I say I tried everything I kind of mean it! :thumbdown: I learned a lot about myself and my eating from that. I also started to, well, divorce myself from all the emotion of food. I wasn't ever one to "eat my emotions" although some do, and I don't mean just that. But the idea of food being "good" and "bad"...or of ME being "a good girl" when I eat healthy and "a bad girl" when I don't. It's just food, that's all. That really helped me. Once I started to think of it as fuel, it becomes easier to choose the quality stuff because I get more bang from it. I've used a car analogy before so let me indulge here. Gas is PRICEY. Are you going to go the the time trouble and expense to buy gas that makes your car backfire and gives you about 1/2 the miles per gallon? Nah that's just crazy. Yet, we do it with food. We'll eat Cookies instead of Protein and veggies. The cookies don't provide good nutrition, they can make our sugar crash, we get hungry again too soon. Why? Because we like the cookies? But, don't you like the veggies too? And don't you like feeling good and having energy? So why the cookies? Why indeed? The band really REALLY helps me with this, because it removes physiologic hunger. I used to get truly physically hungry a lot. The band helped me see the link between what I choose to eat and how I feel afterward. Nutritious stuff usually gives me energy for hours and I'm not hungry. Cookies taste good but they are low grade "fuel". They are an indulgence because usually I want to eat and then get on with life. Cookies= sluggish performance and engine knock chicken and veggies=high performance, smooth accelleration, long time till next fill up. That sounds simplistic but it's sound, at least to MY experience. Now that I feel the difference, I can only turn to the cookies for so long and I get exasperated. I'm pretty "new" to this so I'm sure it will evolve and change. But removing all the emotional "ties" bonds and descriptors for food helped me redefine how I use food. It's a process, but I think it's working.

Sure! I was shocked when they gave it to me, then they showed me my uric acid level (11.??) and I was astounded (I didn't have any symptoms thank goodness) It does the trick for me and there are days where I pretty much eat only steak and a little bit of greens (this won't do for the long haul and I plan to branch out but right now the doc is watching me monthly) so I hope it works for you too! And you'll work the band the way that works for you...you don't have to eat meats all the time!