RestlessMonkey

I use frozen dinners but don't fret over whether they are "diet" or not. Just get the ones we want. Although usually I do a more atkins-esque diet and those just don't fill the bill.

Refried beans! Old El Paso Refrieds, Traditional style (very low fat). LOVED them. They kept me alive. I also soaked crackers in Soup. And I used my adorable pink mini food processor to "mush up" things like spaghetti and meat sauce, roast, etc. Mushies were wonderful.

I'm not even vaguely embarassed. To me the embarassment was to weigh 405 and not do something about it. As you can guess, I tell. Even the little cutey guy at the local pharmacy counter knows and is a big supporter! :thumbup: I have had only positive words and encouragement. No one has asked me "why not just exercise and diet" I am lucky, or blessed, or something. I have a fairly friendly outgoing personality anyway and i guess that makes a difference. Some things ARE private of course, but for me, the band just isn't one of them. I'm proud of it, happy to have it, glad to educate anyone who will listen about it.

The stomach DOES curve to the left but the band should be placed superior to the curve and still be midline....or just BARELY to the left. (just want to make sure I tell you the right thing) But still ask your doc if in doubt. It's impossible to diagnose over the internet and besides...I am not a doc or a surgeon, just another bandster. I think I've given you accurate info but YOU are the final authority on yourself. If you think something is wrong, it may very well be. Push your doc for answers.

The band is around your stomach centered midline in your torso. It's probably a couple fingers below your xiphoid process (tip of your sternum, below your breasts) so no, the band isn't on your left. For some of us the port is there (mine is) your's apparently is on the right. (google anatomy and check out the stomach and that will give you a visual) I think honestly you need to not fret about it. If you're really worried have your doc do some tests. Because my port is on the left, as I healed (and it takes a LONG time to heal...6 weeks or more) I could occasionally feel twinges. Since it's sewn into the muscle I didn't think it was any big deal. Since your port is on the right (you are sure? or guessing?) the left pain can't be your port...but it has only been a couple weeks. If you have no fever, if it isn't sore to palpation (touch) and the area looks ok, it's probably nothing but ask your surgeon if you are in doubt.

Ask your doc. Honestly if you're restricted you may need an unfill (depending on your surgeon) I have a prescription of phenergan on hand for normal nausea but I know that some bugs don't care what you have...things are coming UP. Violent heaving over several days isn't a good thing. Your doc can tell you if he wants to unfill you or thinks that's just wasteful.

You've waited this long, what's a little longer? (devils advocate here) Actually there are pros and cons to conservative fills vs aggressive ones. My doc is conservative and I did get exasperated but now that I can eat anything and am at my sweet spot I see his logic. No reflux, no issues, can chow down on untoasted white bread...BUT I'm full quickly and stay full long. I think that's partly the conservative fill schedule..gave the old body time to adapt. You have to do what is right for you though.

If we remove all the emotion from this thread, the facts are that eating solid foods too early post op is a major cause of slips, either immediately or on down the road (when you are a year out and think "why me?") The OP asked "DID I HURT MYSELF" (paraphrasing) and the answer is maybe. CAN I EAT OR DO I HAVE TO WAIT 24 DAYS. Do what your doc tells you. We have different post op diets. People, our surgeons are different. They have different skills. Populations eat differently. (My city is one of the chubbiest in the nation, for example) If your surgeon says "have a cheeseburger on the way home if you want, you'll be fine" then you probably will be (and you don't need to post about it on here...your doc has given you the green light!) If your surgeon says "only Water for 7 days" then do that. The hunger drive is STRONG. It is a basic drive. And some of us aren't properly educated beforehand about how important it is to allow our bands and stomachs and ports and so on to heal. So we are STARVING and we eat. We don't know it will hurt, we just know it hurts to be hungry. There's a difference between lack of education and complete disregard for consequences; most of us just don't know. When we digest our stomachs churn like little washers (as it has been told to me). That action can, depending on how healed you are, tear loose sutures that hold the band in place. You end up back in the ER with a slip (it's happened...I've found posts on here that address that) or you may loosen the bond forming between your band and stomach and set yourself up for a slip later on. Will this happen to everyone? NO. Do you want to chance it? Only you can answer that. It's a roulette wheel with your band and your health. On the one hand...the pain of hunger. On the other...the chance of a slip now or later. Once you know that, decide. If you MUST have permission to "cheat", ask your doc. See what he says. You may get to advance early; you may be told to come in and get checked out, and then re-educated about the importance of following the diet (I've read both reactions) Google this, ask your doc, if you doubt.

It took me a LOOOONG time (conservative fill doc) BUT I know I'm there...I can eat about 1 cup of food (I can eat anything...white bread, chicken, you name it) and am full on that food for about 6 hours. I don't snack. I feel great. I drop big old chunks of weight and then maintain for a while; I've lost just over 40 pounds since 5/7 when I hit that happy spot, so I know it's working well. It is wonderful to be full and not hungry all the time. I LOVE it. It is very different from how I felt before that last fill. To me I think it's kind of like being in love. You know when you're little and you wonder what it's like and people say "You'll know" Well...you'll know when you hit that sweet spot. You won't be hungry and you'll be satisfied with way way less. I know to some a cup is too much, but I'm still pretty large (and have 7 more cc's capacity in my band) so, since right now I can eat anything and am losing, I'm happy with that 1 cup limit. I can reign it in as I get smaller and require less calories. Groovy!

Darn I LOVE tough love. I was so ready to lay it on you. Then I read your post. You don't need tough love for this; it's life. You need to quit looking at the band as a diet. What foods are inappropriate in your home? Toss them. Stock up on the good stuff and eat it. If you need a fill, get one. You lost 60 and gained 10...ZOUNDS. You're still down 50. Isn't that just great? You're almost half way to goal, one year out. That is MARVELOUS! That's way better than me! Ok: I'll be tough now. Quit whining. Quit feeling guilty. It's just food. You ate the wrong stuff; you didn't commit perjury, murder, embezzlement. OK? Put it in perspective and MOVE ON. Being harsh with yourself is pretty useless. Use that energy to do something positive instead...like going to the grocer's for the foods that helped you lose that 60. And call your surgeon on Monday if you need a fill. And quit thinking of the lap band as another diet. It isn't. AND...if you truly feel that you are dealing with life issues inappropriately by eating, then go to a behavioral therapist. Seriously. They are marvelous for that type of thing.

Where is your port?

jtrda it is an "incentive spirometer". Breathing thingie also works! It is very very important to take deep breaths every hour post op...for one thing, to prevent pneumonia. No kidding...that's a big issue for ANY surgery, for ANY person. So make yourself breathe deeply even if it feels sore. AND if you are short winded like the OP, you may need to call your doc or go to the ER. A pulmonary embolism is a danger...they are not common (that's one reason they stress the compression hose, the walking, the blood thinners, etc) but they do happen. That's a call a doc should make, not people on this board (like ktwmn63 said ... her doc took her inability to breathe very seriously and did some testing to make sure she was just healing). So don't treat it like it's nothing. Better safe than sorry!

Yes I woke up hungry too. They told me it's "head hunger"...UH NO! I know the difference! (I had a year of therapy to help me sort that out! LOL) Honestly? I figured the postop diet was a few days in a long life. While I knew I couldn't eat that way forever I felt like I could do it for a few weeks and so I did. I didn't expect to get any pleasure, nor much nutrition, from food during that time. I did strain chicken noodle soup for the broth...also a couple of progresso Soups (the ones for ww?) again I strained, had the broth, husband got the "goods". I got to start mushies at week 3, soft foods (like baked fish) after that. So I lived through it; it wasn't fun though! I wasn't kidding about calling your surgeon. You should tell him you ate and how much it hurt, just in case. Truly. And tell him you are starving and can't stand the soup (or whatever) and see what he tells you, ok? We're all different; just because I drank Water mostly and got through doesn't mean you should have to do that. Just don't cheat, get your doc to help you. That's what they get the big bucks for! :tongue2: Hang in there! It gets better!

It honestly depends on your surgeon, you, your band, how much fill you get etc... I know often here in the US it takes several fills for that "sated" feeling. My doc's average is 6 months post op, before you really start losing and have satiety on a small amount of food. Some surgeons fill more quickly and there are pros and cons to that. Just realize being hungry now is normal. It's not a diet, it's a process and it really is a new way of "relating" to food and weight loss. So keep the faith. If it doesn't happen for you Tuesday, it WILL happen.

Good grief! Good luck, ok? It is important to not get pregnant early on, but many people want to lose for just that reason. I wouldn't think ins. could get THAT personal. I hope they approve it!

I couldn't eat mushies until week 3 and by then I was pretty healed and it didn't hurt. If it still hurts on Monday call your surgeon and ask.

I've lost the majority of my weight since 5/7 when I FINALLY hit my sweet spot. I will be dead honest with you. I can eat any single thing. I know, because I've tried. I can eat pizza. I can eat white bread. I can eat steak. I can eat chinese. I can eat macaroni and cheese. I can eat about 1 cup of "whatever" and then am done. If I PB it is because I didn 't chew well. I do not cut my food into tiny bites. I eat bites about 1/2 to 2/3 of what I used to. I chew each bite about 40 times. (I don't count each time...just occasionally because I'm curious by nature!) By then if it isn't mushy I spit it out (don't mean to be gross, just honest. Sometimes steak has gristle that won't chew up, or sometimes chicken skin is too gooey) I feel great. I eat out, I eat what my husband eats. Tonight I had baked fish and squash with parmesan cheese. It was really good. I find that if I choose more dense foods like steak, I stay full up to 6 hours. If I have something like a bean burrito (and I can eat about 1/2 of one) I get hungry sooner. SO...I usually choose things like the fish, or steak or chicken. BUT I can and do splurge sometimes. Some foods are "slider" foods (for me Cookies, nuts, chips) so I try to avoid them usually because they dont' keep me full long enough and cost too many calories. I can have them if I want, though. I think you may need to review the mechanics. Are you getting 64 oz of Water each day? Are you chewing well and taking small bites? If the answer to those questions is yes, then you are too tight. Get a SLIGHT unfill. try again. It took me a good deal of tinkering to get where I am. For some, 1 cup is still too much, but I'm happy where I am right now. I can eat anything, I get full quickly, I feel great. I can always tighten up when my loss stops. But the life you describe isn't one, IMHO. The band isn't supposed to force you to exist on yogurt soup and cheese. My doc said his goal was for us to be able to eat ANYTHING but eat less of it, and lose. He said some patients have trouble with white bread or stringy red meat or dry chicken, but most can eat anything. I'm the poster child for that. Your life would depress me. I don't think it's what you signed on for; get your surgeon and the nutritionist to help you. You've suffered long enough, I'd think!

It totally depends. My time from seminar to surgery was just 1 month, and I have insurance. Some are fast, some take longer. :tongue2:

Diets without the band and losing with the band are two very different animals. What's hard, following your 3 month diet? Is that an insurance requirement? Many of us have "preop" diets to shrink our liver, lasting anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, and I've heard of 3- and 6-month diet requirements for insurance before they'll approve surgery, but never heard of a 3-month preop diet. Is this just a confusion of semantics?

I've never heard of that as being an insurance requirement...usually if you have a BMI of 35 and 2 comorbs (or 40 and 1, or are 200% overweight...) you get the surgery. Did YOU ask tricare why you were denied? I know my doc is adamant about no pregnancy for at least a year post op or he won't do the band. Is it your doc who is worried?

YES it can cause potential problems, like a slip. If you ate anything (especially so close to your surgery) ahead of your post op diet, you may have caused your band to slip. food makes our stomach churn. We don't feel it but it does. There's a reason for the strict post op diets; they aren't to torture us nor are they to jumpstart weight loss. They are to allow the band to heal into place around your stomach. Most of us are starved during the early post op phase. Even the lucky ones who start out not hungry develop a ravenous appetite before its done, usually. So you won't be the first, but you need to call your surgeon, tell him your symptoms, and how much you ate. I don't mean it as an act of confession...he's your doc, not your mama. BUT he needs to know so he can decide if you need to get checked or just should be monitored. Ok? Good luck.

I have great restriction. I am full on about 2-3 oz of steak or chicken and stay full 6 hours. And I DO NOT take 30 min to eat. I wasn't told to stretch my meal for 30 minutes. I was told if I was still eating at 30 minutes, to STOP. I agree, if it takes you 30 min to get 2 chicken nuggets down, quit eating nuggets and get an unfill! That's not the point of the band, and you are running the risk of problems down the road, being that tight! UNLESS--you can eat other foods easily and chicken is the only problem? I would reconfirm that you are supposed to make a meal last 30....I know we're all different but I do know I wasn't taught that, don't do that, and am losing well.

I got past the "surgery is weak" thing WAY before I got to the point you're at. Firstly, diet and exercise work for about 5% of the obese population. I don't know about you but those are dismal odds; I wouldn't place money on a bet like that. Further, do you think pacemaker patients think "wait, wait, my heart should beat on it's own. This is CHEATING I am WEAK" uh, no. Medicine has failed the obese. Right now, surgical intervention is the best treatment (check the stats). I got tired of doing the same thing (dieting) and expecting a different result. So take a deep breath and calm your inner voice. This isn't the "weak" way out. This way takes courage.

I just edited my post (you are FAST, woman! LOL) but good luck, ok? I think you'll figure it out and get things back on track in no time.

Then...therapy. A behavioral therapist helped me immensely. We overeat for MANY reasons. We aren't one supersize fits all....but a therapist can help you recognize what's causing your behavior and help you figure out how to stop it. Good luck! :tongue2: If your doc can't recommend one, or you don't like the one your doc recommends, try one who specializes in "eating disorders". We always think of anorexia/bulimia when we hear that, but overeating to the point where we need surgery to correct it is also an eating disorder. I think you're smart to realize it and I hope you get help quick!