julia19642

I had stomach surgery, not carpal tunnel surgery :redface: He was fine until i could either "do my thang" on top.....or until his huge belly didn't slap my incisions. Be creative. Do what doesn't hurt. I guess i wasn't given any instructions from the doc on that one, so we just played it by ear. (and no....no pun intended)

Congrats on moving forward with some exercise. A year ago, i was nearly bedridden with sciatic pain. I started going to the beach and "power walking" in waist high water (at the recommendation of a friend who also had sciatic pain). I'm a complete believer in water walking. Cured what ailed me. During winter, and even with alot of people at the indoor pool....just walk around them. Nothing says that you have to walk in a straight line. Kids splash and power swimmer swim around you, but GO FOR IT. Water exercise has done a world of good for me. I hope it works for you too.....don't let others that are there for fun, or die-hard swimmers get in your way. You have every right to be there, just as they do.

Ok....i SAID i was going to bed, but had to read back through what people had posted....AWESOME RESPONSES !!!! I hope you read back through all the great advice given....mine isn't the greatest, but alot of people have given opinions from all sides of life. Well done gang.

I haven't read all the posts, because i only have a few minutes before it's bedtime. I just read your post. My sister has my dad's genes....she's tall and skinny. Before she went into rehab, (right after she found out i had the lapband)....she punched me in the stomach. She was in rehab the next day and is still in there. She has only written one letter to my dad and she signed it...."your daughter, the pretty, skinny one". Honestly....when they have "issues" with your choice of a healthier life, then it's THEIR problem. If you're semi-close with your sister, then things will work out eventually.....I was very close to my sister, but she "got some 'splaining to do, Lucy". I feel that your sister might harbor some jealousy that maybe you can do something that she can't or isn't able to do (insurance, co-pay, balls, etc). When I sent my most recent pictures to my family, from my birthday party......one of them wrote back and said "who's the skinny, pretty one now???". Take your journey, accept that they have issues....if you're close to her, then i'm sure it will all work out, but only if they get their own issues worked out first. Family.....ya just gotta keep loving them in spite of their issues. Be well, my friend.....

I've turned into a chipmunk. My satisfaction is good healthy food, but having my mouth stuffed with food has been a huge mental loss for me. So now, i make my healthy, tasty food, but stuff my cheeks full. That DOESN'T mean that I don't eat small bites. I can take 10 minutes to finish a mouthful of food. But i take 15 bites of food in one mouthful, then relish the fullness of my mouth and swallow little bits at a time. Now THAT'S weird....but it works for me and takes care of the "mental mouthful" that i crave. For some reason, i haven't missed food. I've cut out the bad stuff and am really enjoying healthy tasty food with lots of fresh herbs, etc. It's the "mouthful" thing that makes ME look like a freak. But hey, we all gotta do what we gotta do to make this band work for us.

You sound like you're so near your sweet spot. I was amazed that i was hard headed for a month, went on liquids, etc, then after a few days of liquids....the first bite of real food came back up. It wasn't an "annoyed band". It was simply that i needed 1/4 of a cc taken out. I'm back to normal eating, no puking and might...MIGHT just be at the right spot. If you're following your "user manual" and eating properly, and it doesn't stay down.....get an EVER SO SLIGHT unfill. Don't be hard headed like me and think that i can play around with making it work.....i lost a whole month of losing weight because i didn't want an "unfill". Blamed it on stress, user error, whatever....i blamed it on everything except needing an unfill. Unfill was yesterday....today has been GLORIOUS....i'm eating like i should be eating. Don't wait...don't play around with mind games with yourself....if you're following all your MD's rules and it doesn't stay down.....get some out !! I think he took out 1/4 cc and it made all the difference in the world. It takes some "tweaking" to get to the sweet spot when you're real close to begin with. Listen to your body, follow the eating rules......get it unfilled if you need it.

I came home from running errands today (and getting a slight UN-fill) and the dog had dragged out 4 leashes and left them in the hallway right as i walked in. That was a reality check....lol. I got him so addicted to "power walking"/occasional sprinting that this past week, i've been a touch slack. Forgive yourself and move on. Make the proper choices in healthy eating....those scales will start moving the right direction again. My scales went up a few lbs in the past few weeks, but only because i was too tight, and too stubborn to get an un-fill. Eating too many things that went down wayyyyyyy too easily. Forgive and move on. That's what I'm doing too. :thumbup:

I had very very little pain after my LB surgery. But as a veteran of 8 abdominal surgeries, I've had some that were real "doozies". Walk walk walk. It really helps the healing and pains. He can even hold a pillow over his belly as he walks and moves around. I noticed that the more I sat in one position, the more it hurt to then move. Just use a pillow from bed and hold it tight against the belly when walking...or even turning over in bed. I just remember being very sleepy post-op with lapband....and I felt that I was too sleepy to even walk, but my darling friend and my darling husband forced me to walk (per MD instructions). My advice....hold that pillow tight on the belly when walking around...it really does help. Best wishes.....

Simple answers to your questions: 1. scars. Mine are quite small, the largest being 1 inch at the most and are settling into a nice color. Judging from my appendix scars from a year ago, they'll be a nice white, not noticable colour by summer. (which is coming up soon in Australia). Here's a link to members that have been brave/kind enough to photograph their scars at different stages: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/scar-stages-share-yours-6117/ 2. QOL: I puke occasionally, and sometimes my head says that i want to eat more than my pouch can handle. Quality of life....hmmmmmmm. compared to that fact that i couldn't go up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing, and was isolating myself from people because i didn't want them to see me fat. I can sure put up with a few "user errors" in return for being able to finally move around and be happy with what i see in the mirror. My best friend was afraid that she'd lose an "eating buddy". When we go out, i just get an appetizer and push it around my plate for an hour....she barely even notices that i don't eat much....she's more interested in the company. Don't sweat that part too much. Good luck and enjoy the ride !!! :seeya:

Welcome fellow Aussie !! I seriously HATED the pre-op diet....especially since my best friend was visiting from the US. She's a gourmet chef. Talk about "pre-band hell". You'll survive this AND the post-op stuff, it's just a bit difficult at times, coz our head can still tell us what it THINKS it wants. I was a bit lethargic on the pre-op liquid crap for a few days, but that passes and i'm soooooooo glad that my head hunger and bad eating habits no longer rule my life. Now my only worries are my newly arrived wrinkles from losing weight. :scared2: What a great worry to have though. Much better worry than not seeing my boys grow up coz my fat and co-morbidities were killing me. Hang in there girlfriend !!!! it's well worth the ride

Hey from Melbourne !! Congrats on the weight loss pre-surgery....and a HUGE congrats on decreasing the insulin levels. Glad to hear that your surgery went well and recovery is progressing nicely. Welcome to LBT....a wealth of information and sometimes a world of conflicting advice :thumbdown:

I flew from Melbourne Aus. to Dayton OH, USA then back again. The whole trip is 30 hours from my front door to my parent's front door. It was 2 months after surgery. I followed proper eating and drinking habits without a single problem. I didn't notice any changes in the band. I guess everyone is different though. :wink:

Your sister is lucky to have a patient advocate such as you....someone to help her research the major life change that she is deciding upon. *thumbs up to you and your sis* I've been banded since April and can honestly say that when i follow the rules of eating....i can eat anything i want. Nuts, bread, Pasta, rice, steak.... It's the nutritional changes and portions that have caused my weight loss. It's LISTENING to your body... For some reason, i no longer crave sweets or fats. I have no idea how big/small my band is, or how much Fluid is filled. I want to go completely on how i FEEL. I'm blessed to have a doctor that listens to me and my questions/concerns. The ONLY time i vomit is when is have "user error"....either i eat too fast or too big a bite without chewing properly. As i said...i still eat exactly what i want (lovely savory food), but the portions are much much smaller. I'm not losing weight too quickly or too slowly in my opinion. Banding was the best thing i've ever done for ME !!! And i can still out-burp all of my brothers which i have done since childhood. (the first few weeks after surgery, it's hard to burp, but heck...after that, i still RULE !! ) When you direct your sis to this website, please keep in mind that each person is different in their needs, weight loss percentages.... and each surgeon is different in their requirements. This website is a wealth of information, but a world of conflicting opinions. If she goes ahead with it....she's going to have to weed out the useless information. Her nutritionist sounds like an alarmist to me....someone who gives the worst case scenerio. Gather information wisely and ask questions....there's a wealth of information to digest. The band is NOT an easy way out....it takes time, patience, exercise, dedication and best of all....good doctors/support group. Good luck on your sister's weight loss journey

I was banded on 4/14/09 or somewhere near that....i don't remember....i was in a "liquid diet freaky state". I recall my darling doctor telling me that i must never take my Protein in a liquid state again. chew chew chew. We're not big on the "massive protein" thing over here in Oz, but more into a balanced diet and chewing REAL food. I haven't done liquid diet stuff, protein slop in almost 5 months now.....and praise be to God.....i haven't needed it. Sick of it? Uh, yeah, that's an understatement. 5 months later, i'm still sick of it !!!! :w00t: (even though it was only pre-diet, it was pure hell). Hang in there GF.....and this too shall pass (not literally, as that gets very infrequent as the liquid diet goes on and on and on). The results are soooooooooo worth it !!!!

Just writing to reassure you that just because the first fill was difficult doesn't mean that the rest will be. My first fill was a nightmare and left me in tears. The doctor didn't realize that he had blunted the needle on the rim of the port and each time he tried to reinsert it into the port, it was like a fish hook tearing inside me. Bless his heart, he was so comforting when my tears started flowing....lol. Each of the next 5 fills (he's conservative and just does a little at a time) has been a breeze. But like you, i was literally shaking when i went in for the second one. I almost needed a "chill pill" just to get me into the office. Sending you some nice relaxing thoughts that your next fill will go as easy as #2-5 did for me.......try not to worry too much......