TheB

Congrats Jerry!

After I mix mine, I usually sit it in the fridge for a while and the air settles out of it. But to directly answer your question, drink everything that comes out of the blender- the only reason it seems like more than 8oz is because you're introducing air to the mix. Hope this helps.

Yeah, my doc's assistant told us: "once your feet hit the floor in the morning, get something to drink." Makes it easier for breakfast to go down (and everything else- I try to get my 60 oz's of water in by 2pm and have little trouble the rest of the day).

Congrats MustLooseIt! I had the same thing happen...was feeling dizzy and lightheaded if I stood up too fast. Went to my regular doc and my BP was low! He decreased my meds by half and it really helped! :w00t:

I was also banded on 2/11 and I'm down 86 lbs. I've had 2 fills (6.8 cc's ina 14cc band). Of course I just came back off of vacation and gained a few pounds from that, but I'm back on track and starting to drop again. Of course this all has copme with a lot of exercise and watching what I eat, but that goes without saying. :sneaky:

Mine always just feels like a small pinch and then nothing. No real pain to speak of.

I've used 1000 calories as my guideline through all stages since my surgery. Works well for me.

Heya Jul, My surgeon put in 5cc's intially and I think that helped quite a bit in the early stages after the surgery (had no bouts of "Bandster Hell" at all). I was never hungry, ate only what I needed to and adjusted well. Of course I have a 14cc band, and I only have 6.8cc's in there now (after 2 fills), so I have plenty of room for more fills, but so far it's all worked out great for me. No complications, no side effects.

I was banded on 2/11...only lost about 10lbs per-op. I'm 5 1/2 months out about have dropped about 80lbs so far. The last month has been rough though, since I needed a fill and had to wait 3 weeks for it...which caused my loss to slow, then had some dental issues that sidelined me for a few weeks...but I'm back on track and still very happy with the results.

I was banded on 2/11 and I've had one fill near the end of March (added 1cc bringing me up to 6cc's total) and I'm down 72 lbs. I acheived one of my personal goals (lose 70 lbs by my July vacation) so now I'm working on my next personal goal of being under 300 lbs by my September vacation- only 13 more pounds to go for that one! Yay!) My doc has taken me off of my acid-reflux medicine entirely, reduced my blood pressure medication by half and I'm waiting for the blood test to come back to see if he's going to reduce my diabetes medicine. Overall I'm really happy with the decision, feeling great and satisfied with the money I spent and decision I've made! :thumbup:

I think if you are throwing up blood you should go to the emergency room immediately and not wait for a doctor visit.

I was told I had to have one. The EMT's need to know that you have a band, because if they insert a nasogastric tube into your body to administer meds or something like that without knowing it could puncture your stomach pouch and cause some major problems. In fact the back of my bracelet reads: Gastric Lap-Band w/ abdominal mediport no ng w/o scope. My advice is to get one even if your doctor tells you you don't need it, just in case. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I also use

I think this may be because of the sticker shock...I mean, personally, I've tried other programs as well, and while they aren't cheap, they also don't require you to plop down $10-20,000 all at one time up front (in many cases). It's more managable to drop a hundred bucks here and there over the period of months/years and not really mentally absorb the overall cost of what we are trying to do as opposed to having to shell out thousands of dollars all at once. I think that really hits home for those of us who are self-pay. I know it was for me...having to pay out of my own pocket is a constant reminder of what I have commited myself to and really drives me to succeed. For me, it's about taking responsibility for the money I spent and trying to make sure I get every dime's worth out of the procedure. Of course for all of us there is an emotional and physcial investment we make, and that in and of itself is generally enough to motivate us to succeeed. Anyway, just a few thoughts as to why the cost of previous programs may have been easier to accept as opposed to the cost associated with the lap band surgery.

I was good to go on about the 5th day. Just took it easy and was careful.