RestlessMonkey

Here's the one I got from here.... 5-day POUCH TEST Each day, at least 64 oz of Water Limit caffeine DAYS 1 and 2: LOW CARB shakes, broth, REGULAR OR CREAM OF Soups sugar free Jello SUGAR FREE pudding DAY 3 CANNED FISH, BAKED FISH, eggs DAY 4 GROUND meat, SHELLFISH, LOBSTER DAY 5 WHITE MEAT POULTRY BEEF STEAKS PORK

DONT ORDER!!! It's been posted on here and essentially just gets one back to basics...I THINK it's 2 days liquids and 2 days mushies and then regular food. Let me see if I have it...if not you can post and ask for it!

Many surgeons don't want to take on another surgeon's patient...regardless of the reason. It can be like inheriting someone's mess. However that doesn't mean you can't find a good doc and Parrothead gave you some good leads. :thumbup:

Does this strike you as total hypocrisy? It does me. Don't know him OR you...but I can't help but wonder if he prefers you fat (for HIS ego) and is running this line of BS to keep you that way? Just my 2 cents, for whatever that's worth!

Good for you! I wouldn't think it would matter so much but it does, and as you get closer a little goes a long way. If this fill doesn't do it, keep at it. Proper restriction (the sweet spot or green zone as my doc calls it) is just almost a miracle. Keep us posted how it goes for you!

My surgeon presented several weight loss surgeries. His patients pick; I guess if he feels we aren't suited to a certain type he'd suggest a different one, but he didn't bat an eye when I asked for the band. I LOVE it. Now that I am restricted (Please note that...reread it...NOW THAT I AM RESTRICTED) I am losing well. Before 5/7 of this year though, even my unfailing optimism had almost begun to flag a little. Getting to the proper restriction may be a long process. For me it took 8 1/2 months. ANYWAY actual approval for me with tricare PRIME was 2 days. I went to a seminar 7/25 and had my 1st banding attempt (I messed that one up) on 8/11. Successfully banded 8/29.

Just a point to ponder; the main purpose of the band is to form a small stoma creating an upper pouch separate from your lower stomach, causing you to feel full faster and, because of the delayed delivery of the food from the upper to the lower stomach, keeping you full longer. Until you tighten the band and form that "restriction" the band is just pricey plastic sitting there. Would you put on a belt and not buckle it up? and if you just had it on but not buckled, would you be shocked if it didn't hold your pants up? In a way the band is like that. Proper restriction is a big KEY factor. Once you get it, you'll know. Until you hit it, you may very well struggle. Its only part of the answer, good choices and exercise, not drinking while eating, are all part of the miracle that can happen, but without restriction the rest are just chores to practice. So go get a fill (or two, or more) if you need them. Make the band work.

I don't have the realize band but I know restriction is key to success for some of us. Many who lose from the start will diet and "white knuckle" it until restriction kicks in; I didn't do that and have lost 2/3 of my total loss since my 5/7 fill when I finally experienced "the sweet spot". AND one thing I know; the closer you get to restriction the less fill it takes so the poster who has 7ml in her 9 ml band shouldn't give up. Just keep at it. For me, 1/4 (.25) of a ml made a HUGE difference. That is all it took, once I got close. Hang in there.

Everyone's experience is different. My doc told me, way back at the start, that the goal would be for me to be able to eat ANYTHING post band that I had eaten pre-band, but that I'd eat less and be satisfied longer. Low and behold, that's exactly how it has happened for me. I have not found a single food item I cannot eat. I don't choose certain foods because right now I'm going for the maximum nutrient value and length of satiety, but I CAN eat anything. And at 405 being fat was WAY WAY harder than the band. Sounds to me like you are, at less than one month out, forgetting that you are in a healing stage. You've forgotten to look ahead. The band isn't for everyone but you thought it was for you; I think you're being too hard on it and on yourself. Give you and your band a chance. And guess what? If you meant food was your best friend...it was a back-stabbing beotch. It's not a friend, it's just fuel.

Because of my uric acid levels (never had gout) my doc prescribed a 3-month course of allopurinol prophylactically. Call your surgeon tomorrow.

What actually cuts the heat in things like red peppers is salt. However you don't want to keep the salt shaker handy, either. :thumbup: I live in San Antonio, I still eat really spicy foods, I just don't drink when I do. You really do adapt. I don't know about the heat in other ethnic foods but I'd think you could just tough it out.

As you get restricted it will become easier. Put your beverage away and set a timer if you need to. If you stick to it, it becomes second nature. I thought it would be REALLY hard; it isn't. In fact....my doc says to wait 15 minutes after a meal (all are different in this, as in many things) and I often go an hour or more without even thinking about it.

I was. I thought I'd be his "only" on friday at about 8 am and ended up the hospital couldn't do my surgery until 2 or so (no staff? sounds odd but that's what they said) ANYWAY it was no big deal. I still went home that night. I just slept a little later. What's a couple hours? Nothing.

Makes sense you might stretch it...liquids take up volume and if your stoma is closed or slowed with food, then the liquid will trickle through...but so would food, so who knows? I just know my doc told me not to, and I don't. If you "forget" then move your beverage to another area, or cover it with a plate or something. Personally if I drink while I'm eating it hurts like a son of a gun (I'm well restricted) so I don't.

What you eat when you are trying to lose and what you eat when you are in maintenance are different. And honestly you CAN eat candy. They may not be a good choice for weight loss or nutrition but for many they are slider foods (depending on which you choose). So work the band and your lifestyle the best way for you. If that means spending money on diet candy then go for it. I prefer the occasional bit of the real thing. In fact I ate 1/2 of a fun size snickers tonight. :tongue2: I have done diets where I had to have special or branded items and for me it just wasn't sustainable over the long term. It got to be tedious, in fact. So do what works for you, whether that's Atkins Candy or M & M's. Or ... no candy while you're losing.

No psychologist worth his salt will think you are "crazy" because you are on anti-anxiety medicine. You need to calm down! :tongue2: The three hours probably means you'll have to take some type of standardized test like the MMPI. Answer HONESTLY. (it will trip you up if you don't). Then you'll probably meet with the psychologist to go over it and s/he will try to assess your readiness/preparedness/success with the band. Frankly some people are NOT suited for it, most are. So just take a deep breath (or two) and go be yourself.

I have great restriction and thankfully can eat anything. But my doc filled me slowly and advanced me slowly...that might have really helped.

Exactly Jachut...you are right..nothing wrong if it WERE easy! LOL I'd be all over that, who CARES what people say. At one point in my past I thought WLS would be like trading one "affliction" for another...that I would just be "hiding" my difference. I had to really work through that. Obesity is an odd state. I'll be happy to leave it.

I did not drink with one for about 2 months post op. Especially right after healing the last thing I needed was gas, and straws can cause/exacerbate that. I use one now, though, because I have very sensitive teeth (gum disease).

Not all surgeons will do hernia repairs, so it's best to check with your doc. :rolleyes2:

I agree talk with your surgeon, and Look DEEP inside you. We all get hungry and have made bad choices in the past or we wouldn't be here, ok? But you know you're told "do this so you can get the band" and you say "Ok I WANT The band" and then you go and cheat. Why? Were you just NOT thinking? Was it habit because you were in diet mentality? Or do you NOT really want the band? Am not trying to play head games with you! :rolleyes2: I cheated on MY preop diet and didn't get the band. Talk about instant focus!! But you said "cancel" your surgery, not postpone it while you get on track, so that made me wonder. If you really want the band, call your doc and fess up. It's important to follow the preop diet but VITAL to follow the post op (and for me that one was even harder because it was "to heal"...vague compared to that band dangling before me as motivation for the preop one) So once you know the eating was just thoughtless, diet mentality, a slip you can correct, and your surgeon says ok, then go for it. OR you may have some ambiguity that he can help address, or you may need to think it through some more. Just understand you aren't the only one who ate something wrong preop. Use it as a learning experience call your doc, and take it from there.

Probably not depends on the placement. Check with your surgeon.

I have to say TANITA. That's the brand many WW sites use, that's the brand of the pricey one at my surgeon's office, and that's the brand I have. Mine weighs to 440 and is super accurate. You know how they say "if you get on a digital scale and weigh, then get off and then get back on it will weigh differently"? Mine NEVER does. My husband and I test it from time to time with some weights he has and it is ALWAYS right. never varies. Mine are Tanita HD 351 and they are on amazon right now for about 85 (I've had mine 3 years and paid 65 for them; so worth it) but if you don't need a scale that goes to 440 (thank God I don't anymore) then most any tanita brand will be reliable and accurate. Good luck!

But...fat people ESPECIALLY can think (not ALL do, but many) that if only THEY dieted/did the right thing/were "good" that something like weight loss surgery would not be necessary, and shame on you for throwing all that and going ahead and doing it! I don't think it's always intentional, but it is judgmental, and it springs I think from an internal secret fear. How often do you or have you heard people say "I cheated" or "I was good today" or "Today I was bad" when referring to eating? It's not just emotion, it's bottom line hearkening back to that "good people aren't fat" idea that was big in the 60's, 50's and before...partly the old mythic "gluttony is one of the deadly sins" thing. Again I don't think many fat people who are against surgery would readily agree with my idea, but if they really searched and looked deep, they'd have to give it some merit. AND partly it's lack of education. People see obese people drop weight really fast after many WLS and they assume it's easy. Again, faulty logic. But since when are people logical? Either way, you're doing marvelously and you know it wasn't easy and you and I and thousands like us know it is a smart decision. Personally at 54 after doing diets for literally almost 40 years I am almost ashamed it took me so long to think...ok kiddo this isn't working. Now what? LOL We'll face that type of "weight loss discrimination", though. It's just all part of the "quick fix" we've opted for (mild sarcasm there!)

I don't understand that mindset either. I THINK it's honestly tied to a residual belief that being fat is a character flaw, and getting surgery is a "quick fix". Of course, neither of those things are true, but misinformation abounds in this information age. Some of us are enlightened, some still struggle in the dark.