Knny79

When people ask me about them, I tell them I was in a gun fight and won! I too would rather have scars than a big fat everything.

CONGRATS!!! I think every bandster needs to feel that. Puts the fear of food back into you that you lose after being banded a while. I wish more stuff would stick for me. God please let the chocolates I sneak every now and then get stuck!!! lol

I was always told to do liquids for 2 days after fills. From what I understand, you get a fill and some swelling after the fill. Which makes sense from what you described.

I've just started having REALLY bad acid reflux tums and prevacid everyday...its the worst!

Tell them the truth. Even if you've lost one pound and kept it off, you're doing better than you would have without the band. You are sure doing better than 99.9% of the people who are dieting. Tell them the band works slower than other weight loss surgeries, which is better b/c we dont have as much loose skin! Always a silver lining.

I think that until you have the band in, you wonder if you will be successful. TRUST ME once the band is in, you have to work hard to gain weight.

Your weight is going to go up and down, but unless you get crazy, it will continue to drop. I didn't follow the plan to the letter, but have lost weight. It will be a year next month and I am down nearly 50 pounds. Now, had I stayed away from sweet tea and fried foods and other goodies, I would be a lot lower. I know this, and I am ok with this. What I noticed (since I am also a daily weigher) is that I would never go over my highest weight for the week. The next week it would be even lower. It's up to you how fast you want to lose and how strict you want to be. We get this surgery because we have very little self control. The nurse often tells me, "You're not supposed to eat that!" Oh well Im losing and making little changes. Don't fret over a pound here and there. Once the fills begin the weight will drop (unless you splurge on milkshakes daily LOL)

I just had my gall bladder removed on Friday. I was told I developed gall stones because of the band. A certain percentage of people get them after being banded due to the amount of weight dropping so quickly or change in diet or something. I wish I had known about this before the banding. I thought my band had broken loose and was floating around in me. GALL STONES SUCK!

stick with it you'll be fine and glad you did it.

The area where my port was sore or tender longer than the rest of the holes.

I didn't exactly follow all the rules. I'm a bad patient! Is Tuna and string cheese considered a mushie?? Soup doesn't get stuck because there is a lot of liquid with it. You may need to puree the things that are getting stuck and see if that helps. Slowing down and chewing more would also be advisable.

I too had "last supper" filled with all of the goodies that I shouldn't eat after the band. I still eat just about anything I want (in smaller portions) except soda and bread. You will find that it's not as hard as you think. I ate some sort of sandwhich with soda EVERYday. I'm still amazed I don't miss it.

I took Monday through Friday off and was plenty well enough before that to go back. However, I wasn't chasing or picking up kids. BE CAREFUL!

*Do you guys ever fear you're going to "mess" it up? I'm not sure what you could mess up, but its a fear of mine. I'm always afraid I'm going to eat too much or something too big and make the band slip. It hasn't happened. *Is the sliming and getting stuff stuck, is that frequent? Does it happen forever? How do you cope with it, especially in public? I've never had anything stuck. I've never slimed or PBed. I never got or haven't yet gotten any of the bad things associated with the band. *Speaking of in public, how do you eat with out being noticed when you're out with coworkers or friends? I'm a very open person, so EVERYONE knew I was getting the band. I love going out to eat and it costing soooo much less!!

I always enjoy reading what Jachut writes to people. It's very informative. The only suggestion that I didn't see on here is journaling your food intake. I use myfitnesspal.com. Journal everything that passes your lips and see just how many calories you are taking in.

I think my port site was the last part of me to stop being sore. It wasn't unbearable, but it did hurt. Now nothing hurts, but I think I'm getting gall stones. I've heard that those can develop after getting this surgery BLAH!

You tell me... Twice now in the past week I have a strange pain. It starts in my back below the right shoulder blade. It's dull and slow. It moves across my back and then to where I assume the band is. Last time it lasted about an hour. No position gave me relief. The remaining pain meds gave no relief. Is this what being stuck feels like? Is it gas? It was so bad I was headed to the ER the other night, but it quit right before walking into the ER.

I'm getting my second fill on your surgery date. You should expect some pain on week one and gradually get better from there. I had my surgery on 10/27/08 and I've lost nearly 20lbs...some people have lost more...some less.

I feel that there are certain changes you have to be willing to make and changes the band will force you to make. I love food too. The thought of giving up Coke and bread was scary. I love them both and usually had them together. I am AMAZED at how easy it was to do without either. You can sabotage the band. Eating and drinking high calorie things that slide right through will cause you to gain weight. The band will force you to eat less. Remember weight loss is all math, and the band helps in the subtraction. In the past I was a 20 mcnugget kind of guy. Now, 6 fill me up. That is 500 calories or so before and 200 now (not sure if those amounts are correct). You get my point. You've started jumping through the hoops...keep jumping. You can always change your mind before they give you the gas :tongue2:

If Medicaid will pay for the surgery, you're good. You'll find on this site that there are a range of preop and post op diets and directions. I don't know of any special foods you'd have to buy. You're doctor will give you directions on what to eat before and after surgery, but it's mostly liquids, mushy food, and then solids. It's your regular food that you are eating just in varying levels of consistency. Good Luck!

I can only echo what everyone else has said. I don't follow any diet (high protein, etc...). Losing weight, no matter which method you use to do it, is simple math-burn more calories than you take in. The band helps by forcing you to take in smaller amounts. For example before the band I would eat a 20 piece chicken mcnuggets, large fry, large coke. Now I eat maybe 6 nuggets and I'm about to burst. I also don't drink soda...not as hard to give up as I thought it would be.