Melissannde

Be sure to ask your doctor before self medicating with Motrin (Ibuprofen) or any other NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug) such as Asprin, Bufferin, Anacin, Motrin, BC powder. Many surgeons think that these medications can contribute to band erosion. If they let you have them, it's often in very low dose and with a PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) such as Prevacid or Prilosec also taken with them. It can't hurt to ask and might hurt to do it on your own. :/

I used to keep one or two in the freezer as an emergency choice, but no longer. 1) too much sodium. Even though I have no b/p issues, I don't want to retain extra Water over a Lean Cuisine. 2) most have rice or Pasta or potatoes or such and I try very hard not to eat white starchy carbs. If you want something to keep to fix in a hurry, look at the Contessa brand on the stove meals. There's one that's just chicken and veggies. If you leave out the sauce or put the sauce on the side for others to add as desired, the Contessa is very healthy. And there's another one that has Rice, but the rice is packaged separately so you don't have to use it unless you want. I also found something recently called "Skinny Chix" which is unbreaded chicken nuggets with sauce.. again the sauce is separate and can be used or not as desired.

I've also been told that if you smoke, or if you EVER smoked, that that will have an adverse effect on how the skin bounces back.

What's weird is that here, you can buy at a farmer's market (during warmer weather), but non of the farmers grow organic. To get organic I have to buy from the grocery store, and they have precious little choice. And it's getting worse... I talk to the produce manager and politely complain, but his hands are pretty much tied to what they want to send him. No organic meats locally. At least that I'm aware of.

I was at a WLS conference this weekend and the dinner speaker, Dr. Garth Davis (of Davis Clinic in Houston and one of the doctors in Big Medicine) was promoting a vegetarian diet, non gmo, and organic. I'm working myself that way.. maybe someday I'll make it there.

I've been told that Slim-Fast has too much sugar, but seriously I have not read the labels. I use Syntrax Nectar for my post-workout drinks. It's 90 calories, 0 sugar, 0 carbs and 23 grams of protein. It comes in lots of different fruit flavors and some richer, more desserty flavors too. I mix it with something flavorful.. like powerade zero or coffee or whatever seems appropriate. Just mentioning this in case you want to try something other than slim-fast. www.si03.com or www.netrition.com for the syntrax nectar (make sure you look for the nectar.. they have other stuff that isn't appropriate for our needs). The egg with oatmeal sounds like a good idea.

I had a type of pain during the 2 week post op period that was only soothed by food. I didn't know if it was hunger or not, but yogurt cured it. Mine happened at night. My stomach would be so empty and would only let me sleep if I ate a spoonful or two of yogurt. I ended up taking a carton of yogrut to bed with me and would eat a spoonful whenever the pain would wake me up. The yogurt would soothe the pain enough to let me sleep a couple of hours and then I'd wake up again. I went through this all night long. I told my nurses about what I was doing, and although it's not really the way bandsters are supposed to eat, it was during the healing phase and they were OK with it. If you haven't talked to your doctor or nurses about this pain and what you're doing for it, may I suggest you do so.. just to be sure that it's ok with them. Hope you feel better soon. And yes, this pain/hunger did go away for me. I don't recall how long it took, but not all that long in the overall scheme of things. Best wishes

Granted my kids are college aged, but I cook Lean, Green & Clean (by that I mean lean Protein, lots of veggies and try to use non processed and organic ~ but I'm not rigid on the organic) and they eat whatever I provide. Last night I made pot roast, but with turnips instead of potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, parsnips. Brussel sprouts on the side. There was a bit of grousing at no potatoes, but I ignored it and they ate it. I weighed/measured out my 3oz of roast, 6 brussel sprouts and a little of the veggies from the roast and if my husband was banded, that's what he would've gotten too. He's doing Atkins, so he kinda/sorta eats like I do...just more meat. If banding is a fairly new occurrence in your life, it may take a little time to adjust to the "no processed" foods. Might not want to cut them out cold turkey for the child, but slowly find better substitutes. Good luck to all of you!

Very recently discussed on another thread. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/123219-caffeine/

Yep.. I get a flu shot as soon as they are available just for that reason. And we keep phenergan suppositories in the fridge, just in case. Girl (Boy) Scout Syndrome.. being prepared.

Trish, call your doc this morning and tell them what's going on. I don't know if they'll want you to come in for an unfill right away or if they will want you to take a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) such as Prilosec or Prevacid for a few days and see if it helps, but call and see. I think I'd consider going without the OJ for a bit and see if that helps. It might be too acidic for you since banding. Probably a good idea to have had soup for dinner. Does warm tea seem to help the issue any? Are you getting enough Water? Are there other stressors in your life right now? Allergies? Just trying to think of outside causes that might make you tighter besides menstrual cycles. Let us know what the doc says. Hope you feel better soon.

I don't love my band, but I really really really like it. I've had a wonderful journey with just a few learning episodes (getting stuck, etc.). About 100lbs gone in my first 7 months.. 180 lbs at 22 months out. It would be cool if I could be at minus 200 by my 2 year anni, but that might be pushing things a bit too hard. Very normal to be nervous and have cold feet. You might enjoy/appreciate this list. SUBJECT: Stages of Banding by Jessie H. Ahroni, RN, PhD Discovering the Band Wondering if this is for me Investigation Doing serious research Joining a support group Getting hopeful Finding a doctor Shock at the price Deciding to do it Making the arrangements Wondering if you made the right decision Getting nervous Going ahead with it Waking up and wondering what the hell you did to yourself Post-op discomfort Month of liquids- not being able to strictly adhere Wondering if you've been scammed again Seeing a little success Getting your first fill Changing your eating habits Seeing more success Getting second fill Really losing Seriously changing your eating habits Being totally euphoric about your weight loss Changing your thinking about eating Wanting to tell every fat person you meet about the band Realizing you really can't eat Worrying about nutrition Learning to eat healthy and wise Finding other ways to meet your emotional needs Realizing it takes a long time to lose 100lbs Trudging along My clothes are too big Buying new clothes Oops, I bought too much too soon...now these are too big Buying more clothes Getting near goal Enjoying all the compliments Feeling successful Getting aggressive Not taking crap from anybody Realizing you can be assertive without steam rolling everybody Finding balance Wondering what comes next **There are other stages and everybody does not go through them in the same order or even go through all the stages. Some people might have stages to add....and there is some looping back and forth. But these are common stages that most Bandsters go through.

Pot roast is easy in a crockpot. I put in a big piece of meat, approximately 3lbs worth, dump in a bag of frozen pearl onions, a bag of frozen baby carrots, onion Soup mix if you want, a can or two of tomatoes (if you want), put the lid on and turn it on low. I used to start this at about 7am and by the time I got home late afternoon, it would be done. You can also add frozen green Beans. For the people in the house who still eat potatoes ( I don't eat them now, except in very tiny amounts), I boiled them separately after getting home. Potatoes would cook to mush in a crockpot I'm afraid. A few links to get you started. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/recipe/4018473/Crockpot-Recipes/ http://www.bariatriceating.com/BEsearch/ <<<< put "crockpot" in the search box. http://plusizedbarbie.blogspot.com/2010/10/crock-pot-italian-wedding-soup.html

Not unusual for fills to have a delayed effect. Back down to liquids for tonight, and consider drinking warm liquids too (herbal tea is good, or even warm Water with lemon). Tomorrow, you can do a Protein shake again for breakfast if you like.. or you can try something soft, like yogurt or cottage cheese. Or you can wait for lunch to try soft foods. Whichever you choose, try drinking something warm (coffee, tea, etc.) a little bit before you eat. Warmth can loosen the band just enough to let you eat. If this doesn't work and you continue to have issues with food coming back, call your doctor. In fact, you may want to call them when they open anyway and see what they advise. I've been slightly too tight before and the warm liquids usually does the trick for me. But if your fill is uber tight, you'll need to go in for a tiny unfill. They usually just pull a fraction of a cc back out and it fixes the problem. Sorry you're having issues. Hope you feel better soon.

Banded 03/09/09 Weight Day of Surgery 383. Weight on Sept 3, 2009 = 299.6 Today = 202. Yetta2u: 16 lbs in one month is really good. That's 4lbs a week, way above the 1 to 2lbs a week average they tell us to expect. Keep following your doctor's guidelines and the weight should continue to fall off.

During my 2 weeks before my first post op check, I had stomach pains that would not let me sleep (and not very good pain meds.. I envy you your lortab.). I got a cup of yogurt and ate just enough to ease my tummy pains so I could sleep. I had to do this every couple of hours during the night. It's not really the way we're supposed to eat post banding, but sometimes you do what you have to do. I would go ahead and call the doctor's office and talk to them about your discomfort/pain now.. why wait another week to be hurting?

Practice before banding. And cut your food into small bites before you start eating. I was banded while my DD was away at college. When she came home, she commented "wow you take small bites". I watched her eat and it was kinda repulsive to see the huge bites she shoved in her mouth (and she's a tiny girl).

Regular old crunches and bicycles help. Yoga and Pilates also work the core (abdominal) muscles and aren't too strenuous. Pear shaped is good, it protects our hips and is much less dangerous to our hearts than apple shaped. Not to say that we shouldn't try to get smaller, just trying to point out the positive.

I'm not doing anything all that special. I work out almost daily for a minimum of 90 minutes (things like body pump, rpm, yoga/pilates, step .. not all on the same day!!). I weigh and measure 99% of what goes in my mouth. I keep a food log over at www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate, and I'm totally, brutally honest with myself when I record my food. I keep my band a little on the loose side, I don't want it so tight that I can't eat normal foods. I cook most of our meals, we eat out generally once a week. The things I cook are lean and green. Mainly chicken & turkey, Some fish, little red meat. 4cc's is a lot to have taken out. I'm not surprised that either of you are hungry. Can they start putting Fluid slowly back for either of you? I had a small fill (.2cc's) in April, which made me too tight. In May I had that .2cc removed. then a visit with the NP in July and she didn't fill me then because of the unfill in May. I struggled a bit, but pushed through with exercise and lots of Water and I had extra veggies at meal times. Finally got more fluid (another .2cc's) in September and weight loss started back up again. Another .25cc's in December and it's working again. I go in fairly frequently and get small tweaks to my band.. I think that's key for ME. to keep it tight enough to diminish hunger & cravings, but loose enough that I can eat solid dense Protein & veggies. It's a fine line to walk. Want2BThin asked what I eat in an average day. Here's what I had yesterday: 6am, 2 cups coffee with my Vitamins. 7am 1/2 cup of steelcut oatmeal & apples, 10am 50 calorie packet of Beef Jerky, 12Noon Syntrax Roadside Lemonade 3pm 3oz Rotisserie Chicken 1/2 cup Green Giant Healthy Vision veggies. 7pm 4oz Ground Sirloin patty (90/10), 1/2 cup Steamed Veggies 9pm 3 Wasa crackers, 1 laughing cow cheese wedge, 1.5 ounces avocado, 1 crystal lite candy, 11pm 100 calorie Chocolite Protein Bar. Totals for the day: 1106 calories, 101 grams protein. A bit too much protein. I should cut back somewhere.. My schedule is a bit weird because I drink protein after my workouts and that puts my lunch later because I'm just not hungry for a while after drinking the protein. Usually I eat a full cup of oatmeal for Breakfast and add a turkey sausage link. I just wasn't that hungry yesterday, so I took advantage of it. The beef jerky at 10am was to combat a lack of energy I've been feeling during exercise. I'm also doing a rather intense boot camp that meets T,W& F.. so yesterday was an intense calorie burn.. 800. Needless to say, I'm tired and sore today.. but in a good way. Just keep going back for your fills, don't depend on the band to provide "restriction", but rather let the band dim your appetite so that you can have better control. This is what works for me. Persistence, not perfection. I still eat tortilla chips when we go out, but I try not to keep them at home. Hope this helps some.

My doctor said he would not tell anyone they couldn't have their coffee. He does want us to watch what we put in it. It's the sugar & creamer that can make coffee a poor choice. I use non fat dry powdered milk instead of coffeemate and Torani s/f choc. syrup in mine. Delicious and I get a little bit of Calcium. As to dehydration: I don't totally buy that. This is what a Mayo Clinic nutritionist has to say about it: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661 I think the thing to do is to see how caffeine affects you personally. If you find it makes you hungrier.. cut down. If you can't drink it without tons of cream & sugar.. then you shouldn't have it, or limit your consumption. If you're drinking more than 2 or 3 (normal sized) cups a day, better drink some extra Water too. These are JMO, YMMV

Being able to eat a bit more and nibbling and increased head hunger are actual signs that you might need a tiny increase in Fluid in your band. Not having a cycle in 2 months is a bit worrisome. If this continues, you need to schedule a visit with whoever does your gyn care. An excessive build up of endometrial lining can over time lead to very serious problems. (I know.. btdt) And this might also be contributing to the scales going up. Protein is good, but sometimes when I get the need to chew, but I'm not really hungry, I try baby carrots or celery or something like that. Those little Sunburst yellow tomatoes are very good. Hope this helps a bit.

I have oatmeal every morning. Steelcut oats is low glycemic, holds you a long time and has Protein in it. The brand I use (Bob's Red Mill) has 7 grams of protein. Not a huge amount, but enough. I add chopped apples to mine and also eat a turkey sausage link. However, if you're getting hungrier sooner after Breakfast than you'd like, try something else. If you're using a sugary instant oatmeal type, try switching over to steelcut. It can be made overnight in a crockpot so it's easy to have ready first thing in the morning. I thought whoa Nelly on the Starbucks smoothie too, but looked it up and while it's hefty in calories (http://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks+vivanno+smoothies+fact+sheet.htm), it's not the worst choice in the world. I'd have it made with skim milk.. or even better make my own at home and bring it in a thermos. I like the idea of having something from home and putting the $4.00 in a kitty to save up for a fill. You're doing pretty well, a little more forethought and planning ahead will help you do even better! Maybe take an apple and some string cheese with you to work for those late afternoon hungries? Keep on posting, we want to know how you're doing.

no I haven't had this craving, but now that you type it, it sounds good. Wonder how limes would do .. DH usually keeps them in the fridge. Oh, I better not, the salt would make me retain water. phooey.

Mattie, I hope I can express this correctly. I'm not as eloquent as some others on this forum. It's not necessarily the amount of fill given, it's the willingness to listen to the patient, help them evaluate where they are as regards "the green zone" (which is probably about the same as the sweet spot that others talk about), and adjust the band (fill) accordingly. And keep in mind that while for some people it is the volume they are able to consume, it's just as often the dimming of appetite. I can still eat just about as much as I could prebanding.. if I tried. I don't try. I eat my measured portions and stop and am satisfied. It's not feeling full, it's a different feeling. My apologies if I've typed this to you before. I think I've been on the forum a bit too long today. Plus I'm a bit tired from boot camp. Have a great evening!

In the little bit of research I've done I read somewhere that while the bypass uses malabsorption, eventually the intestine which is not bypassed, learns to compensate for.. it starts absorbing like the bypassed intestine was designed to do. Therefore caloric restriction begins to fade. This happens sometime after the first year after surgery. So if the RNY patient doesn't learn to make better choices in that first year, they may be in for a rude awakening. We had a person at one of the support groups lately who was a bypass that had regained and was going for a band now. Called Band Over Bypass or BOB.