2muchfun

The band is a lot of work and requires you change your eating habits to healthy foods. Can you do that? Can you avoid high fat processed food? We mostly eat fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and chicken. Lots of salads. Sounds like a diet but it's not. Since we can't eat as much we try to eat healthier foods. And for heavens sake, do not consider the band as a panacea. The band will not help you shop for healthy food, it won't make good choices for you if you are a fast food junkie, it won't reach out and take that bar of chocolate away from you. It will help you to feel full or more satisfied with less food if you follow the rules. The band is a much slower method than the others. You may lose 30 lbs the first month and 50 through the 2nd month. But then it will slow to a crawl. 2-6 lbs a month after that. Sometimes months with no progress. Some are lucky and lose consistently every month. They're in a very small minority. This could be the hardest you've ever worked to lose weight. Not necessarily because you feel deprived, but because you will be changing your life as you know it. And it may sound fun and exotic, but it's traumatic, humbling, but deeply rewarding. Glad to see you have seen a light. Keep walking towards it. tmf

His mindset is a difficult one to overcome. Even fat people believe that crap. So they keep dieting and lose and then gain again. I've lost 50 lbs and my daughter made a comment last weekend that obese people are just too lazy to eat less. To keep harmony in the family I ignored the comment. If your insurance won't pay because it's not part of your employer's plan, you're out of luck. If it's because you have a low BMI, you may be able to have the surgery but you will have to have co-morbids to qualify and a willing PCP who will go to bat for you? tmf

Keep the scale. If you don't know you're gaining weight, how can you pin down the offending food? How do you know if you're making headway when you don't know where you are? It's probably fluids you're retaining. Especially if you are consuming a lot of sodium or any carbs? Relax, it's a very very long journey and no need to fret over small speed bumps along the way. tmf

Under normal l circumstances you should be able to see a surgeon in a week or two depending on if you can find one who can fit you in. Medical groups are paid and rewarded to keep their costs low. If they know you're moving they will probably make it difficult to accomplish your goal by November. But, if you do move, who will fill you? That can be a difficult hurdle in some parts of the country? Having had surgery already, and knowing what I know, I'd be very careful about having this surgery if I was moving. It would depend on where I moved and if there are docs there who will advise and fill me? Post surgical care is as important or more than the surgery itself. Of course, you want a competent surgeon but after surgery is very very important. tmf

I've posted this before but seems appropriate here. This is a comment from a bandster that I lifted somewhere and don't recall his name: " In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old b***h layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!" Don';t fret the little 2 lb weekly or even daily bumps. It's most likely just your body retaining fluids. I can gain 4 lbs in one day if I eat too many carbs or sodium. It eventually comes off so no need to be concerned. tmf

Liquids or at least something soupy. Your throw-up was what we call PB for productive burping. Usually your esophogus fills with flem/saliva which we call slime(ghostbusters!). It's there to help the food pass through but if the chunk is too big, a little PB will work. Don't alway rely on PBs to get you through. We have one forum member who has been PBing for years and it stretched her esophogus out. Sadly, most of us take much longer to get the message. I got stuck just yesterday. I probably have at least one stuck episode a month now. Distraction is the enemy. tmf

Updating my ticker is always a treat! tmf

Another starry eyed bandster meets reality. Many bandsters ignore the warnings and advice of the doctors, nutritionists and support goups, in favor of the utopian ramblings of the very very few who meet extreme success immediately after surgery? I somewhat recall a year ago as I was going through the seminars, doctor visits, support groups and reading this forum that the weight will come off slowly. But I don't recall anyone mentioning "Bandster Hell"? I've commented on BH numerous times and probably will in the future. I lost 12 lbs the first 30 days. Then nothing for the next 3.5 months. It took me 6 fills and 6 months to finally get to the green zone. I started losing weight again in my 5th month. Slowly, very slowly losing weight. 40-50 lbs of weight loss by November is unrealistic for most of us. If you weigh 350 lbs, it's possible to lose that much but only because you're carrying around about 40 lbs of excess fluids trapped in your fat cells. So you can lose weight but not necessarily fat. Your band is not tight enough most likely and won't be for a few fills. It happens to almost all of us. You will have hunger problems until you get some restriction. B-52 is a forum member and he always says: "Until there's restriction, it's just another diet"! This is so true. So, almost all of us have been where you are and many of us were disappointed the band didn't start to work miracles immediately. I know I was. Brace yourself for a long journey but a journey worth taking. Hang in there, it will get better, slowly. tmf

Just an FYI: I'm not going to be as supportive as the others. Sounds to me like your doctor may be right? First, 20 lbs in the first few months is awesome. "Only" should not apply to 20 lbs in 2-3 months. You say you can eat whatever you want and you are always hungry? I'd need more information but you won't lose weight if you eat whatever you want? There is a right way to eat with the band and it sounds like you weren't eating that way. I'm reading between the lines of course since there is so little to go on? Were/are you exercising? I see many bandsters post comments here where they seem to find reasons to fail on the band. Being dissed by their doctor is a popular one. The doctor's comments to you may have been accurate, we can't know, we weren't there to hear the entire conversation. He must have said that for a reason? But it hardly sounds like a reason to quit? You're going to need to have a thicker skin if you want to succeed with WLS or any diet for that matter. It does sound like you want to get back on the bandwagon. That's a very good start. Go back to your current doc and tell him how you feel and ask for his help. Follow his guidelines as close as you can. If you do, he won't have a reason to question your bariatric integrity. You're not a failure, yet. tmf

Sore muscles is always good feedback isn't it? Let's you know you're pushing your body beyond it's normal limits. tmf

It's normal for you to have some swelling around the band area shortly after a fill. That's why they want you on liquids for a few days. Until your stomach aclimates to the tigher band you may have difficulty passing foods or even fluids. If you can't stay hydrated you're probably too tight. tmf

First, you need to stop buying processed foods. And if you can, throw what you have away. tmf

It may take 2-6 more fills before you get any restriction. That's how it works for many/most of us. One fill rarely gets you to the yellow zone. I had 6 fills before I made it to the green zone. Your experience is similar to many. I'm not sure what you were expecting to "feel" like if you lose 20 lbs. 20 lbs is a great achievement but you may not feel lighter or have more dexterity for many more lbs? Maybe 70 more lbs. But you should be celebrating the loss of 20 lbs of excess weight. This WLS isn't a quick fix. It's going to take a couple of years to get close to your goal weight if you are a normal bandster. tmf

Whatever I want but I've changed my eating habits so it's mostly healthy foods. No fast food and very little of anything that begins as white. Small portions of flour products, much smaller dairy and no sugar. But that's all by choice. I can eat whatever I want as long as I'm mindful of how big my bites will be. tmf

Yes it is. As I've lost weight it's become more pronounced. Not a bad trade-off imo. tmf

I agree with you. As long as you aren't experiencing any pain why not? You're supposed to be active, right? tmf

So, why haven't you gone in for a fill? Seems like that's what you need? I took 5.5 months to lose my first 30. tmf

You really should not be eating solid foods. If you get stuck, you could ruin your surgery. What did your doctor say to eat? Most of us are on liquids for a week or two and then soft or mushy foods for another 2 weeks. It's not a matter of keeping food down. It's the fact that you haven't learned to eat like a bandster yet and if you get food stuck and you throw up. Thowing up causes your stomach to go into convulsions and your band is sutured into the lining of your stomach. The sutures could tear away and then you would have to have surgery again. I know you're hungry but this is a time to obey the rules. Drink more shakes or if you have to, try some egg drop soup. It's very satisfying. And, call your surgeon or nutritionist. tmf

Just below you is a post from someone who is 3 weeks post op and she struggles to eat 500 calories a day. She's never hungry. You sound so much like me and many others who have posted here. I was starving. Sometimes the surgery can cause a lot of inflammation around the band area. This makes it difficult for many to eat. I think I had a good surgeon as I never experienced any swelling and wanted to eat from day 3 on. Yes it's normal and yes you must obey the rules. I've seen posts from people who didn't follow the rules and getting stuck this early could be disasterous. Drink your protein, drink your broth, heat up some Lipton noodle soup and only sip the broth. Nibble on sugar free popsicles and crystal light. Welcome aboard. tmf

Never happened for me. I was starving 3 weeks out. I could eat all I wanted but fortunately the band reigned me in. tmf

Your lapband journey will be filled with peaks and valleys. It's not a steady consistent stairway to skinny heaven. There will be plateaus, setbacks and many victories. Here's a quote I read a few months ago. "In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old b***h layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!" Pay attention to your dreams, ignore your fears. You're wasting precious energy fretting over milk that has never spilled. tmf

Congrats to both of you. Why don't you fill out your profiles so we can help you when you come online? The pre op diet can be brutal so don't be strangers. tmf

ONEderland, here you come! tmf

Did Metz or his staff direct you to one of the support groups? There used to be one at St Joseph's and there's always one at Skyridge and Swedish. Swedish is always 2nd Monday of every month. Ask his staff if they recommend one of the support groups. You have some unique issues and it might be good to air them out and see if anyone in the group has had similar issues? These groups are very informal and they are very receptive to new and soon to be patients. Good luck and welcome to the board. tmf

So good to see you taking control of your future. Wise decision. tmf