SunnyRachel

What I notice is that it will happen either after getting stuck, or I'll have a really good day when I can eat quite a bit (at least quite a bit to me!) without getting stuck...but then if I'm not careful, the next day I have a soreness even just drinking my Protein shake. My doctor compared this to walking on a sprained ankle. He says I have to let it rest, so I take it easy on the texture of food I eat until I'm feeling better. He has me taking daily Prilosec OTC. If it happens a lot, I would ask your surgeon if maybe Prilosec can help you too, or something similar. Mostly, I am still learning how to eat. I was banded in November and still getting used to this new life. I have good days and bad, but it's getting a little bit easier. You are doing great!! I wish you continued success and motivation.

Try it slowly your first time out to see how you do. I thought I was doing find the first time, but an hour later it kicked in. Sometimes the "stuck" feeling can be delayed. It can be tricky to chew it well, so tiny bites are best. I LOVE COCONUT SHRIMP!!!! ha ha ha ha

Realizing does not equal Accepting. Every person has the power to change their situation. Perhaps this is your moment to change your situation for the better... or perhaps you are just not ready for that, but it's in your hands. Take care. Good luck.

I didn't notice this new feature before, and I'm happy to find a forum just to discuss Dr. Currie. I have been very pleased with my experiences so far with the Weight Loss Clinic. I have a lot of work to do yet, but I am very pleased with the good result I have received so far. Dr. Currie and Dr. Wieger have always listened to my questions and given thoughtful answers. I feel very comfortable being in their care. Thanks, Dr. Currie!

Oh, that's just mean!!!! Soda was my biggest vice before the band. I don't miss it. The pain is just not worth it. :thumbup:

I experienced a thinning post-op that had me concerned because everybody told me to get my protein and that wouldn't happened. What I found out later was that it happens quite often, and my surgeon related it to hormonal changes of losing weight. The thinning stopped recently, after just a couple of months, and it seems my hair is getting back to its normal, thick, annoying status...but I won't complain this time; I'm just happy to not be tangled in loose hair when I put in my conditioner.

I'm wishing you lots and lots of strength! You can do this. I don't think we ever really realize how deep our behavior is until we put it under a microscope like this. I think your attitude and honesty will carry you so far. I wish you all the best and thank you for the inspiration.

It sounds like your favorite word is "can't". I'm sorry you are having trouble. I hope it is resolved soon for you. If you take the word "can't" out of your vocabulary, perhaps you would have better results. It's hard to pull yourself up sometimes when you are so down, but who else is going to do it but you? Best wishes.

Yay, Deekel!!! You can move forward, no matter which path you choose! You can make a change for the better for YOURSELF! I'm so glad you see that, and I hope nobody will interfere with your determination again. Keep us updated! Take care!

I would say only a few times during my whole journey, no more than five. There really isn't that option in the poll. When I had the most trouble was when I was filled too tight. I had an adjustment to remove just a little bit, and it made a big difference.

I weigh myself on Sundays. Yesterday I got on the scale like always, but this time my husband got on the scale right after me. He is 6'2" with long, muscular legs. He seems to only have some weight in his belly...but I always look at him as the skinny one. I watched the scale think about it...then POOF! His weight was identical to mine!!! I thought it was so funny! I was 280 when we met, and if he ever offered his jacket when I was cold, I could never zip it. Today, approaching our Ninth Wedding Anniversary this week on the 17th, I can go into the closet and wear one of his shirts, and it will fit loosely! I can't believe we weigh exactly the same. Now if I can just have legs like his! ha ha ha ha Thank you, lap band!

I weigh myself on Sundays. Yesterday I got on the scale like always, but this time my husband got on the scale right after me. He is 6'2" with long, muscular legs. He seems to only have some weight in his belly...but I always look at him as the skinny one. I watched the scale think about it...then POOF! His weight was identical to mine!!! I thought it was so funny! I was 280 when we met, and if he ever offered his jacket when I was cold, I could never zip it. Today, approaching our Ninth Wedding Anniversary this week on the 17th, I can go into the closet and wear one of his shirts, and it will fit loosely! I can't believe we weigh exactly the same. Now if I can just have legs like his! ha ha ha ha Thank you, lap band! :thumbup:

I think that the emotional side of this decision is the hardest thing to overcome... not only what you fear others will do or say, but also your own doubt. We all doubt ourselves. We all worry that we will fail again. I think that this is really what's behind our trouble with deciding who to tell, if anyone...we wonder what THEY will say or do IF we fail again. You have to believe that you will not fail this time. It's hard to see it that way, but unless you believe you will succeed, it just makes these other issues more complicated. Once you believe in yourself, it all just slips away out of your head. You can easily find yourself saying, "Who cares about what they think?! I'm finally happy!" I have toxic people around me too, and they know nothing... even seeing me lose weight -- and not one compliment comes out of their mouths. There are times I think it will be hard to keep it my business and not theirs, like family get-togethers, but it has been okay. I just eat what I feel like and am capable of, and it is so much less stressful than answering, "Can you eat that? Should you eat that? How much can you eat?" If I felt they asked questions like that for their education rather than to police me or judge me, I would be open about it and gladly answer. Sadly, that's just not how it works with some people. You don't have anything to prove to anybody. It's hard to see that right now because you are so full of emotion and fear and doubt about things. I felt that too. Once I decided though that I am not a failure and that it's okay to need the help that the band offers, I started feeling really good. I get excited about every little victory, every little change that I make, and these concerns about other people have been fading away quickly. I won't say they are completely gone... but I feel too good about the positive change I've made that I no longer feel like I'm a slave to anybody's judgment. You can do anything! You just need to believe it. It will happen. I wish you all the best.

Thank you! I think that's exactly it...one day it's good, and the next day that same food can be bad. Someone needs to make that a sticky in the FAQs. :thumbup:

**hugs** You're welcome! You can do this! I didn't think I could, but I am doing it...and you will do it too. You will amaze yourself when you see how strong you really are when put to the test.

Oh, it's such an individual thing! I felt restriction right away after surgery with only 3cc in the band. I went up to 4.5 and really felt it...then I still thought I could eat too much, but when adding just .5 cc, I was way too tight and was having lots of bad "stuck" moments to the point of vomiting. I had a little bit taken back out. I think slow is the way to go...it's hard to be patient, but it sure doesn't feel good when you get that little bit that puts you over the edge. Blech! You are doing great! Congratulations!

Mostly you want to avoid tough skins like those on apples, and the part of the orange that is really stringy. Congrats on your progress!!!

Congratulations, Tammy!!! Your attitude is so great, and I believe you can do anything too!! I wish you all the best and look forward to following your progress. Take care!

Hi! Congratulations on all your hard work and your scheduled surgery date!! Your doubts will continue, and it's only natural. I will tell you that you will probably also have moments after the surgery when you question yourself again and your decision. That's the human thing to do, right? What's really the hardest part is not being able to see into the future. When you are standing here right now, you want results now. We are all driven by the "now". It is much too hard to look beyond that and see the bigger picture. We somehow think there is a finish line and that it has to be soon -- around the corner...just in reach. What helped me is this: 1. I had to abandon the idea of a finish line. I had to tell myself that any amount of weight that I no longer had to carry around on my body would be a welcomed help. So the statistics said I should have lost 150 pounds, but I knew that taking any extra burden off of my heart and my bones would be so much better for me. Even if it was just ten pounds that I never put back on... what a difference! I wanted to not gain weight anymore. I was watching it climb. I needed to stop the gaining, but the more I tried to lose weight, the more I gained. 2. I had to look back and admit the truth. Since I couldn't see the future, I looked back at my past -- I keep journals... and I found myself writing the same entry over and over again... it started out with, "My goal is to lose 10 lbs. a month! I can do this! I will be healthy this time next year!" Next year always came for me, and I was either in the same place, or worse off. So I had to get real with myself. I looked in the mirror and said, "Yeah, I know I feel like a failure because this feels like the last resort, but face it, I can't do this alone!" If I could do it just with my own willpower and determination, I would have already. An orthopedic surgeon looked at me and basically said, "Yeah, I know your herniated disk is killing your sciatic nerve. I know you can't sit. I know you are miserable. I can't operate on you though and give you relief because you are too fat and will just herniate the disk again anyway." I was so mad! But that's also when I knew I had to stop this from getting worse. I had to look at my past and decide that a year is going to pass anyway... am I going to let it pass full of pain and broken promises...or am I going to admit that it's okay to ask for help? I am the kind of person that needed this help. My own common sense was not strong enough to stop my hand from putting a fork full of food into my mouth when I didn't need it...but the band IS strong enough to stop me now. So people say it's not a quick fix... I disagree. Yeah, you are not going to just melt away into your ideal BMI in a blink of an eye. BUT.... I HAVE quickly been fixed in terms of my relationship with food. I see food differently. I don't feel out of control just at the thought of eating something good. I am more conscious about what kind of food I'm going to eat so as to get the most out of the little space I have for it to fit in. I am carrying less weight today. I feel so much better. I am a work in progress. Getting the band did not take the pounds off... getting the band taught me how to forget seeing food left on my plate as a bad thing...and actually listen to my body for a change. Personally, I needed that. I can see the big picture now... time is passing still, but I actually am changing. My point is this: Sometimes we need to approach things from outside of ourselves. Throw away preconceived notions from past weight-loss attempts. The band is not just a treadmill that you got excited about in the beginning but just ended up collecting laundry in the corner. It's not just a Weight Watcher's membership that you started off great with but then stopped going to the meetings or counting your points. Those things are tools that you can walk away from -- sure, you feel a tug of guilt, but what's really going to happen to you if you miss meetings or don't hop on that equipment? Who is going to come to hurt you or punish you? The band does not let you walk away from it. It is there 24/7 in your body reminding you to make healthy choices every day. Yes, it's scary. It's hard. It's a life change. It's a commitment. It's a tool. It's a meanie if you treat it badly...but it won't let you turn your back on it. It won't let you give up. It won't let you try again on Monday. It's every moment...not "Oh well, after the holidays!" It will kick your butt until your brain learns what to do and you no longer say the word "diet" in that way again. You are just living in your new normal and not having to put much thought into it. Can you fail? Yes. Will it be easy to fail this time? No. This time you really have to intentionally fail. This time it's not just you had no time or got distracted or there was always a good family BBQ -- this time you had to ignore and blatantly go against all you have tried to accomplish. To me, it is really hard to intend to fail. So the real question to really ask yourself is: Is this what I NEED? You already know the answer... but now just listen to it and believe in the answer. You can do anything, with or without the band...and I wish you the best! One thing is for sure...you have lots of friends here to be by your side!

I've actually found that chewing slower has turned me off to many of my old favorites. Things I used to eat quickly and in quantity don't taste very good after you've been chewing it for quite some time. I realized that I never really experienced the food I was eating before the band. I think Dr. V's post touches a little on a point that I do not see much discussion on here. There is a switch in practice when a newly banded person moves out of the post-op phase, and psychologically, that switch can be very confusing. At first you are guarding against damaging your newly-formed pouch and irritating your traumatized stomach.... then there's that moment when you have to eat the chunkier foods and let your pouch get full for a little while. I doubt that I was alone in feeling torn in two during this time. Occasionally, I still feel conflicted about it. It is so hard to balance on that fine line between full/satisfied and uncomfortably ill. Then if you do get sick from a meal...you panic and baby the pouch again until you seem to be tolerating things again. Sometimes you never try that food again, and you are missing out. It just isn't something that you can learn from a manual or post-op instructions. Anyway, I appreciate the post for pointing out that chewing to liquid is not reasonable and quite difficult to obtain. It would be helpful though if more-experienced bandsters and/or physicians/psychologists could share some advice or tips with newer bandsters on how to get over this mental hurdle -- this fear of damaging the pouch while you try different foods again after the post-op phase. It's discouraging when discomfort sets in and your first thoughts are, "Oh no, I broke it, stretched it too much, or slipped my band! What now?" How do you also get over the fear of trying a food again once it's caused you pain the first time? It's so hard to tell whether you've chewed something enough. I think the biggest challenge though is all in the mind. Any ideas?