♥Amy♥

Most people get a fill. Most surgeons wait 6 weeks after surgery to do the 1st one and then after that it depends on you and your surgeon. Some surgeons are non negotiable when it comes to fills. They will only do them once every 4 weeks where as others will let you be the judge. Most surgeons do that because sometimes it could take a couple weeks for a fill to kick in. I did read of one person on here who has never had a fill and has lost a lot of weight but that's not the norm. I am one month and one week post op. I get my very first fill next Friday! :scared2:

Lap-Band surgery is much much less invasive than gastric bypass which makes it less painful, less complications and there's a much quicker recovery time. With the fills, some surgeons use a numbing spray or a local anesthia before giving you a fill. Im sure if yours didnt normally you could request it. And I havent had a fill yet but from what I've read most people dont feel bad after a fill. I don't think it's normal to feel bad afterwards, anyway. If they do then something isn't right. Lots of luck with your decision!

I would call and make sure it's supposed to be 2 weeks of "clear" liquids and not "full" liquids. Clear liquids have no protein in them. I dont see how anyone could do a 2 week clear only diet. Full liquids are protein shakes, fat free sugar free pudding, fat free yogurt...stuff like that. I know all surgeons have different requirements but that's just plain torture. I would definitely call just to clarify. :scared2:

If you had asked this 2 days after my surgery I would have said no. I was pretty uncomfortable and I couldnt get the percoset down and had to get liquid pain meds from my surgeon so I went a day and a half without any pain meds. But now, yes. Definitely! I wouldn't change a thing, except to have maybe asked for liquid pain meds before I left the hospital. :scared2: I dont think I would do anything differently, either. I was told to do a one week pre-op diet and on my own I decided to do two weeks of nothing but Optifast which I'm glad I did. It really jump started my weightloss. I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out :wink: Just make sure you follow your surgeon's pre-op and post-op diets to the T. If you're gonna do this you might as well do it right

Oh how I love Miralax. It's saved my behind. Literally! :thumbup:

I had called my surgeon's medical assistant/office manager on monday March 1st to let her know I had finished with all my pre-surgery work-ups and that she could submit my stuff to the insurance co. She informed me that she would submit everything first thing the next morning and that I should hear something by the end of the week/begining of the following week. The next day she called and said "Hi Amy, it's Laurie from Dr. Mehta's office. Do you want to have surgery March 24th because you were approved?" I was speechless! I couldnt believe it was happening so fast! And I thought for sure she was going to say "Just kidding! You were denied!" Not that anyone would ever do that to someone but I figured with the way my luck was it would. LOL Call your surgeon and good luck! :eek:

I've gotten so many! My lovely step-mother who has always been jealous of me for different reasons (I was pretty much raised by her. My mother passed when I was almost 2 and she came along when I was almost 4) and would constantly be putting me down one way or another. When I was about 7 or 8 and not in the least bit fat, actually I could have probably stood to put on a couple pounds, said to me when I went to take one tater tot off the stove off the pile she had left for my dad "Get your hands off, you fat pig!" I was also accused of eating things that I didnt eat. She would say "Oh c'mon, Amy. You think if no one sees you eat it that you won't gain any weight!" WTF? :biggrin: She also used to tell me when I was an overweight teenager that I should lose weight because "fat girls don't get boyfriends. They spend their Friday nights alone." When I was getting married, before hand she had told me that she and my father would buy me my wedding gown but I needed to lose weight first." And get this, she was always at least 100lbs overweight if not more. I've also gotten the "You have such a pretty face. If only you'd lose weight." When I was in my senior year of high school someone told me that some jerk asked my boyfriend at the time if he had "Porked that whale yet?" I was a size 13/14. I weighed 175lbs and I was 5'5" I also have a slightly upturned nose and one kid used to call me fatty pig nose and he would take his finger and push the tip of his nose up. The funny thing is he didnt even need to do that. You could see clear up his nose at all times it was so upturned. I dont even think his nose had a bridge!

Weren't you the one who was trying to rig up a story about a cruise to cover up your surgery?

Yay!! So happy for you!!

It really depends on what your muscle to fat ratio is when you get to that weight. Someone at that weight who hardly did any exercise to get to where they are might wear a bigger size than someone who works out frequently. It's hard to say but maybe someone else knows something I don't.

Same here minus the heating pad. I would lay on the recliner slightly on my right side and that's where I stayed. I took about a week before I could lay on my bed. We bought the cushiest recliner we could find and for me, it was like sleeping on a cloud.

I've had that happen. Just make sure you are taking tiny bites and chew chew chew. Chew it until it's pretty much a liquidy consistency and you won't have that happen. I thought I wouldn't be able to eat fish because of that problem. The first time I tried I slimed and then some of it came back up. I waited a few minutes, took a smaller bite and chewed it like crazy and then swallowed and then I was able to finish the rest of my portion.

That's so great! You must feel so awesome!! :thumbup:

Congrats and lots of luck!

Congrats and good luck! :thumbup:

I apologize if my post offended you in any way. That was not my intention. I'm the kind of person where if I don't care I don't bother. I wasn't trying to be "preachy" like TonyBison said and I wasn't trying to pretend like I knew you. Because I was in your shoes I wanted to help and in my opinion, sugar coating stuff like this is no good. When it comes to something as serious as surgery and all that comes along with it you need to hear things straight up. I'm glad you made the decision to postpone your surgery and work on your issues beforehand. I'm sure a good majority of us have gone through and may still be going through what you are and it's good a thing you're seeking help for that. The band is only effective when used correctly. It took me a couple years to be able to be in the right place to do this otherwise I would have had it done and still failed at it. OK I'm giong to shut up right now. If any of this came out wrong I apoligize. Please know that it all comes from a good place. :thumbup:

Your posts never cease to impress me, Besty! :ohmy: That is exactly how I approached my pre-op diet. I was only told I had to done one week and I did a self-imposed 2 week liquid only diet. If I was hungry I would have one extra shake or I would have some egg drop Soup or a fat free chobani greek yogurt. That seemed to help some but yes, I was pretty much always hungry, too. I accepted that I would be especially after the way I was used to eating. If you really want this surgery and want to be healthy for it and lower your possible risks during surgery you will want to do this right. "Cheating" is what got us here. You have to work to get the band and you will have to work with the band after you have it. The band will not do all the work so you either need to buck up and get the pre-op diet done or maybe think really hard about having the surgery. It's never going to be easy and "cheating" after you have the band could have some serious implications, also. Dont mean to be hard on you but if anyone says they cheated and still had the surgery and came out the other side ok it doesn't mean you will. Everyone is different. The person who cheated and was ok may not have had to shrink their liver much, if at all. Don't go by what other people's experience was with their pre-op diet because not everyone's will be the same as yours. And if you're looking for someone to tell you it's ok to cheat some of the time then yes you are looking for someone to enable you.

Where can I get this magical green tea you speak of?! No sweetener? I have to try it!

Wow! Those are two big fills! How much does your band hold? Congrats on the loss! That's awesome! :thumbup:

Thanks! :thumbup:

With most surgeons they will not give a fill until you are at least 6 weeks post-op. The original poster did say she was only in her 3rd week. She can't go for a fill for another 3. My only advice to you is to make sure you're getting lots of Protein. I am also 3 weeks post op and it hasn't been so bad for me. I eat Chobani fat free greek yogurt, FF cottage cheese, FF ricotta cheese with a little bit of tomato sauce and then heat it up, I eat tuna fish or chicken salad from a can with a little bit of light mayo. Just make sure you mash it up good and chew it well. I make my own hummus which is much lower in fat than store bought. One can of garbanzo Beans drained 3 tbsp of lemon juice a splash of fat free chicken broth two garlic cloves and paprika add all ingredients in a food processor or blender except the paprika and blend until smooth. after add a dash of paprika for flavor and salt and pepper to taste. It's delicious and it's only about 2 grams of fat for 1/2 of that recipe. It's so good that I can just eat it with a spoon. :thumbup: I drink 2 Protein shakes that contain 35 grams of protein a day. I get them from the Vitamin Shoppe. Not sure if you have one near you. But if you do go in and get the Pure Protein shakes they sell in a single serve can. Theyre already mixed. You just need to put them in the fridge to chill. I like the banana cream ones. I havent tried the choc or vanilla yet. I'm going to pick those up today. Nutritional info on them is: Calories 150 Fat 1g Sugars 1g Carbs 1g Protein 35g And one keeps me satisfied for quite a while. Just make sure your meals have a good amount of protein in them and you'll find you'll be less hungry in between meals. Good luck!

Thanks! The first few days are rough. Believe me. But keep reminding yourself why you're doing it and it does get easier, believe it or not. If you're hungry in between meals drink lots of water. If you cheat then you're prolonging how long it will take to get easier and possibly upping your risk of surgery complications. My pre-op diet was pretty strict. I only drank 5 or 6 optifast shakes a day with the occasional egg drop soup or maybe a fat free chobani greek yogurt. Nothing else. And if I had soup or yogurt it was in place of a shake and not in addition to the shakes.

When is your surgery? I was told I only had to do a one week pre-op diet but decided on my own to do two week and I lost about 15lbs on that.