LonghornGirl

after a fill I do liquid for that day, then mushy for a day maybe two then back to solids. my doctor said the longer you stay on soft foods the harder it will be to get back on solids. he basically said by the 4th day his patients should be eating. remember mushy foods go thru the band easier and therefore you can eat a lot more of them which can cause weight gain. p.s. this was a good poll!

Banded on Oct 7, 08.......:sad:

I asked my doctor were everything was located and he said that the "pouch" is on the left side (where the underwire would sit on a bra). The port is further down just left of center and the band itself is right of center. I was hoping you would describe the pain I have. After eating, within an hour the area around my port is protruding, which is weird. Gotta ask Dr. F about that when I go back. Hope you get your issue worked out and best of luck to you!!!

Why not try and locate a women's shelter and donate them? Those shelters are a place for women and families to start over and clean clothes are a part of that process for alot of them. Your local police dept can give you the number *but maybe not the address as many of the residents are in hiding from abusive companions/spouses*. The person who answers the phone will be able to tell you what they take/need (and will accept other clothing as well i.e. kid's clothes) Just a suggestion

had first fill today (surgery 10/07)... they cleaned the port area and then the doctor just said relax... a little sting when the needle went in and then a bit of pressure while he was injecting the Fluid... did it under fluoro and then I drank about an ounce of barium and could see it go thru... he then pointed out to me where my band is and showed me exactly where my "pouch" is located... now i'm on liquids for today and then back to mushie food til Saturday... the best part is I could have a steak this weekend!!! trust me it was less painful than a stick in the eye! Best of Luck to you

tyler is a haul from dfw but if its all you can get... you could try dr smith or dr ferrera in ft worth off of I-30 (exit forest park) they are in the park plaza building on the northwest corner... 817-850-1100... don't know if they take Mexico banded patients but its a ton closer than tyler or paris... good luck!!!!

20 days post op here and still don't know when I'm hungry... and since I can't tell I have started measuring/weighting food... i can drink about 5 oz of protein shake for breakfast but since i don't like milk so much i'm not sure that i'm full or just disgusted with the milk so i stop... taking extra care w/ the foods that i'm choosing also... if it doesn't fit in to a 1/2 cup, i don't eat it... i hope this gets easier soon... also not exactly sure when i'm full so when i finish with 1/2 cup i'm done... don't want to get sick! anyone know if you ever are 100% sure about these things????? the first week post op, warm liquids were way easier and made me feel better... i got Lipton Cup of Soup in Cream of Chicken and it was just enough to make me feel better... also if you are still having gas pains or the air bubble feeling in your chest ask yourself when your last BM (bowel movement) was? if its been more than 2 days, ask your doc what laxatives he is okay w/ you using... it might seem odd now but trust me, if that is the problem, you will want to get that taken care of quickly. best of luck!

my doctor (who teaches and trains other doctors to do lapband) said most ppl go right back to eating after a fill and that it can cause quite a bit of pain. he said that once a fill is done that patients should go back to fluids for one day, then soft or mushy foods for a day then gradually get back to where you were eating prior to the fill. he said most ppl rush back in to eating and this can cause the "stuck" feeling. just remember to eat tiny bites, chew chew chew and then chew a little longer. he also mentioned you shouldn't drink while eating as this forces the food thru the band not allowing your pouch to get full or to send the msg to your brain to stop eating. the more you drink the more you can eat which also stretches the pouch out (and it can't retract to its original size), so it doesn't do what its supposed to. just some helpful info (i hope)

before i was banded I spoke to the local restaurants that we frequent and asked about whether I could order from the kid's menu once my surgery was done. granted 2 of the 5 restaurants we go to are family owned but I got a YES from all of them. 1 of them doesn't have a kid's menu and suggested to me that when ordering I should say 1/2 order and they would take $3 off the full menu price. not once did they tell me that I had to show proof of surgery (scars or card). these are the type of places that bandsters should cultivate and partronize, not the chains that don't care or aren't ready to change to meet the needs of their customers. i'm not saying we are "disabled" or anything but you only have to look at the sheer number of ppl who use this site to see that our numbers are growing and eventually the food industry will take notice. someone i know just opened a restaurant and asked for my feedback on how they might handle lap band patients as customers. i told them my experiences with the other places and they picked the 1/2 order, $3 off. i'd be willing to bet not all OGs are going to hassle you but if they do, make your choice: order full menu, split a meal with someone or find somewhere else to eat. the choice really is yours!

my doctor's order are the same as the post above... you have to kinda start over for a few days but it is just giving your stomach time to adjust... I had to have a de-fill just a week after surgery and the needle stick was not horrible and it was cool to see the barium go down thru the band... seeing it made me feel better knowing the band was good and in the right position... best of luck

after I had completed all of my insurance requirements (stress test, chest xray, nutrition class) the dr office faxed the info. I got a letter just under 2 weeks later from insurance saying yes. I have United Healthcare.:biggrin:

my DH brought me my medicine the first day so to be honest I didn't read the pamphlet or the bottle and still haven't actually looked at it to see if it had the warning or not.... hopefully future bandsters will see this and won't go thru the pain some of us did... does anyone know if there's a way to get this post as a sticky so that it will stay more visible to the newbies????

if you haven't gone poop, you need to start working on that... my doctor said that having a BM would help decrease the pain... make sure you take what he/she reccommends if you need help... don't get in my situation and not be able to go for almost 10 days and be in major pain... walk walk walk and drink plenty of Water (whether you need assistance with the BM or not)... Best of luck to you sweetie Signed, Been there (Renee)

I was close to a pack a day before surgery and was told not to smoke 24 hours before surgery which was difficult (I ended up smoking 3)... the first day and a half wasn't hard because I was resting and it was hot outside (we don't smoke in our house) and I couldn't stand getting overheated... now its almost 2 weeks post op and I have realized that I do smoke alot less (maybe 1/2 pack or less per day)... its hard to quit doing something that you like and frankly I like to smoke... haven't drank in almost a year but never was a big drinker... a night out with friends I might drink 2 beers (I was a cheap date) and I gave that up b/c my son who was 12 at the time asked me to so after my birthday party I just didn't drink anymore... now I've given up double meat double chez burgers and greasy yummy fries so I feel like I've given up 2 outta 3 of the things that I enjoyed and its difficult to give up everything! I think one day I will just stop smoking and that will be that but until that day comes I'm going to enjoy my one and only vice! lol