Losing_It_In_Texas

These topics were posted in the fill section, but it doesn't seem like many people post there and I would greatly appreciate any help answering these questions. Does it seem unusual to already have 7.6cc's in a 10cc band after 2 fills? #1. My doc is pretty aggressive, or at least he said my fills have been aggressive. I had my first fill 1 month after surgery and he put in 5.6cc, then I went today after 3 weeks of starving and he put in another 1cc. he said my 10cc band had a "prime" in it at surgery of 1cc, so that would make a total of 7.6cc. Will the fills be incrementally smaller from now on? I'm concerned that I only technically have room for 2.4cc before I'm totally filled. has anyone else experienced an aggressive fill dr like mine? Please help!! #2. I just posted a similar question regarding fill levels, and I'm just curious about people who were banded around the same time as me...9-22.08. Do you have restriction yet? At what volume did you first fill restriction and how long did it last between fills? Thank you in advance. __________________

There actually might be a thread in the Food & Nutrition forum...have you checked there? Looks like the replies you have gotten are pretty much what I ate during that phase. I too couldn't handle the blenderized foods...sounded nasty to me and I made it thru that phase without using my blender once. Someone on here also told me a recipe for "noodleless lasagna".....its simply fat free ricotta cheese topped with spaghetti sauce of your choice and some low fat mozzarella cheese on top, then bake till bubbly. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I had that one night, it was the first time I felt satisfied since my surgery. best of luck to you!

LOL....I hear ya!! i was the exact same way for the first 2 weeks after surgery until the scales stopped moving and I was PISSED OFF.....AT EVERY ONE!!:eek: My husband took the scales and hid them and he only brings them out on Monday mornings for my official weigh in then he takes them away. This has worked out so much better for me and will probably be better for you too. Now I can actually see the weight loss. I guess I was expecting to see weight loss everyday...lol.

I just posted a similar question regarding fill levels, and I'm just curious about people who were banded around the same time as me...9-22.08. Do you have restriction yet? At what volume did you first fill restriction and how long did it last between fills? Thank you in advance.

My doc is pretty aggressive, or at least he said my fills have been aggressive. I had my first fill 1 month after surgery and he put in 5.6cc, then I went today after 3 weeks of starving and he put in another 1cc. he said my 10cc band had a "prime" in it at surgery of 1cc, so that would make a total of 7.6cc. Will the fills be incrementally smaller from now on? I'm concerned that I only technically have room for 2.4cc before I'm totally filled. has anyone else experienced an aggressive fill dr like mine? Please help!!

I paid $15,000 in Austin and get unlimited free fills for one year, then they are $50 each after a year.

I didn't do anything blended....I just couldn't stand the thought of pureed food, but I did mush up the beans in Campbells Bean & bacon soup and had that. I love bean soup anyway, so it was sort of like "real" food to me. Best of luck to you!

The Benefiber I used was a box of individual packets that you mix in with drinks. It was completely tasteless so that it didn't alter the flavor of what you mixed it in.....just didn't help me so I stopped using it.

About a week after my surgery, I was sooooo depressed and was acting like a total bitch to my DH. I'm not a big cryer (thanks to Lexapro), but there were several nights that I just cried my eyes out and was convinced that I should have never had the surgery. Granted I was still in some physical pain at that point and that was at least part of the problem. But I remembered my surgeon and nutritionist had warned me that I might go thru that, so that helped. Also, I had met a lady in the waiting room before my post-op appt that said she was very emotional immediately following her surgery but hers lasted about 6 weeks, mine was only about a week. IMHO, it is normal, or at least not abnormal to feel that way...don't lose faith. About your appetite - mine was exactly the same. The first week or so I had no appetite at all and I thought...cool, this is working. Then shortly after that it came back with a vengeance and it seemed like all I saw were commercials for food and I was practically drooling over them. It was luckily about that time that my doctor moved me to mushies and I could have FF refried Beans and very thin mashed potaotes....I thought I was in heaven and they really satisfied me. It really does go by quicker than you realize right now. In a couple of weeks you'll stabilize and you won't be obsessed with food so much...hang in there:thumbup:. All in all, everything you have posted I went thru myself but it has all leveled out now and I'm thrilled that I have had this done for myself and you will be too...just give it a little time, and it'll be okay....I promise!! Happy lap band journey to you!!

I tried Benefiber at first too, but all it did was give me gas. The apricots worked better than anything else I've tried...hope they help you as well!!

I was bloated for about 2 weeks, so don't give up hope just yet....mine went away very gradually. My stomach is still being the slowest to show weight loss, but the bloating will begin to go down for you soon I think. Good luck to you!

AWESOME!!! I'm so glad they worked as well for you as they do for me. I saw a post where someone suggested prunes as well....I, personally, cannot stomach prunes which was what my primary care doctor suggested. So when my surgeon suggested apricots I thought yippee....I can handle that. Good luck on your lap band journey!

I was banded on 9-22, so I am definitley no expert but the first few days after surgery I too had diarreah (sp?), but then I became severly constipated which has only just begun to right itself. I wouldn't worry too much about loose stools as long as you are staying hydrated...don't wanna get dehydrated. I got my ticker from The Ticker Factory but you can do a web search for weight loss tickers and there are lots of other websites for them as well. Best of luck with your new band!!

It doesn't give me gas, but it could be different for you...hopefully not though. Hope it helps!

I don't know about y'all, but I was suffering from MAJOR constipation after my surgery on 9-22-08.....I mean like I had only 2 BM's in a month. When I went in for my first fill on 10-22, I told my surgeon about it and he recommended eating 4-5 dried apricots EVERY morning with my breakfast. I was skeptical at first since I had already tried Miralax and Milk of Magnesia to no avail. Let me tell you, the apricots have worked wonders for me....I am now going at least every other day....WOOHOOO!!! TMI, I know....but maybe this will help someone else who is suffering like I was.

1. Not being able to cross my legs 2. Not being able to cut my own toenails 3. Not going anywhere with my very outgoing husband because I'm ashamed of my weight 4. being paranoid of eating in public....."look at the fat lady eating all that food" 5. Wearing the same 5 or 6 outfits because thats all that fits anymore 6. Shopping at Lane Bryant.....even though I do like their clothes

I have loved reading all of the stories. It seems there is one main theme here.....no matter what the reason was that we were overweight, we have ALL chosen to take our lives back and to no longer be victims to our demons, whatever they were. AND, we are longer victims of obesity and that is what matters most!! Great job everyone...keep up the good work.:biggrin:

Like everyone reminded me when I was having trouble getting answers out of my surgeons office....he was paid to perform the surgery (either by you or your insurance) and part of that payment is follow-up care. I ended up calling my patient advocate and complained to her that I wasn't getting questions answered in a timely manner and that seemed to change things quite a bit. BE PERSISTENT!!! IT IS YOUR RIGHT AS A PATIENT!! You will find lots of good, practical advice on here but your Dr. should have the final say since he knows your case personally, or should anyway. Best of luck and congratulations on your new band!!

That makes good sense....is is doing what it is supposed to. Tonight was only 3 oz, and I'm stuffed....I had 4 oz of meatballs on my plate but couldn't eat the last one. That is so foreign to me and thats what I guess I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around....not eating EVERY thing on my plate...even a much smaller plate. But I freakin' love my band!!! Thaks so much for the responses.

I had my first fill on 10-20...5.6cc. I am slowly beginning to get hungry again between meals....like after only 2 hours or so. But I am feeling comfortably full after only 4 oz of food, sometimes its less than that. I went ahead and scheduled another fill for next week because my doctor said when I began looking for food in between meals then I needed more fill. Does that make sense to anyone? How did you know when you were ready for another fill?

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the words of encouragement.....thats what I think is soooo special about this entire forum:thumbup:. I have been grazing tonight and making some poor choices but I am just so hungry tonight....ugh. I think I'll call my doctor tomorrow and see about a fill pretty soon. This is the first night that my hunger (true, growling hunger) has been insatiable and it scares me a bit. Take care everyone.

Hello everyone....I am relatively new to this forum. I was banded on September 22, 2008 in Austin, TX by Dr. Mark Sherrod with Southwest Bariatric Surgeons. I began posting shortly after my surgery under Post-Operation Q & A because I didn't know this particular sub-group existed....my bad. Not to bore y'all with the details, but just so you will know where I am on my journey. I had my first fill on 10-20, 5.6cc in I believe a 10cc band. Still losing weight fairly well, but am beginning to experience hunger between meals...after probably 3-4 hours. Can't decide when/if to get another fill before Thanksgiving. What do y'all think??

Wow....lots of good responses here. Though our stories may diifer in some respects....and some may be worse than others, hopefully it won't be too painful to tell your story. I think we have all been very hard on ourselves in varying degrees and beginning our weight loss journey together is the beginning of the healing phase for ALL OF US!! Big hugs and high fives to us all!!!!!!!!!

I thought this might offer some insight to how we all became overweight in the first place and will hopefully be sort of cathartic to tell our story. Here's a synopsis of mine: I was "normal" weight (118 lbs) my whole life till I entered into a 5 year mentally abusive relationship when I was 30, I am now 47. I say it was mentally abusive because he always wanted me to be thinner, monitored my food and constantly compared me to other women that were smaller than me. I began dropping weight till I was hovering around 100 lbs and people were constantly asking me if I was sick. Granted, I was a mental wreck at that time and had major counseling over why I would let someone treat me that way. Over the next 12 years, I set about eating what I damn well pleased to pay that a**hole back for the torture he put me thru. Showed him, didn't I....LOL!! I am now happily married to an extremely kind and good man who has loved me thru thick and thin, or more precisely thru thin and thick. He never uttered a word about the fact that I went from overweight to obese to morbidly obese in the 11 years that we have been married. It was 100% my choice to take control of my life back and get the lapband and he has been wonderfully supportive...even in that first couple of weeks after surgery when I was cranky and hungry ALL the time. It has five weeks since my surgery and I feel better, mentally and physically than I have in a very long time. Best of luck to everyone on their weight loss journey.

I have lots of tuna salad, chicken salad (with shredded chicken), lean beef chili, baked fish. I made reduced fat King Ranch Chicken casserole last night that was yummy but I was wary of the chicken chunks even though they were very tender and I ate very slowly and chewed like crazy. I know you must be excited to be on normal foods again...just take it slow and enjoy!!