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Not all of us go through "bandster hell". After surgery I was on 2 weeks liquid, 2 weeks mushy, 2 weeks soft but it really wasn't that hard. With the liquid stage I was allowed as much as I wanted so if I was feeling hungry I just ate(drank) some more. I was allowed things like Soups, custard, yogurt, jelly etc. Yes it gets boring and it felt great to be able to go onto mushies but I can't say that I was ever starving. I had my first fill at 3 weeks - yes it was only a tiny 1 but every little bit helps.Again with the mushy stage I was allowed to eat enough to satisfy my hunger. The focus post surgery is about healing more than weight loss. Remember that and you will do fine. It does make a difference having the band. It may be mental, I'm not sure but I know that I have never been able to stick to a liquid diet previously. Knowing that I was getting a band and that each of the food stages including the preop(which is the worst) were finite made it far easier. You know that none of these stages are forever. You can see the end and you know that you have a tool that is going to help enormously.

I have just had a hysterectomy . My periods were all over the place - shorter gaps, longer bleeding, heavier etc. In fact of the last 83 days before my op I was bleeding for 66 ! Nothing to do with weight loss - it was age, hormones and apparently severe endometriosis. The joys of being female and of getting older. Hope you sort out what is causing your problems and that you find the best solution for you.

Sometimes a little bit of what you fancy does you the world of good. Why deny yourself everything you love forever. To me the band was about no longer dieting which means that I should be able to eat what I want not what my diet sheet tells me. You may want to count calories and factor the treat in. You may want to do extra exercise. You may decide that you are going to have a fun sized chocolate bar instead of a family sized chocolate bar. However you do it is up to you. Success is about what you do 90% of the time , no one is 100% perfect.

I gurgle so loudly other people can hear it. It is especially loud when lying in bed at night.

Pain from overeating is usually felt in the chest - close to where your heart is. I can't picture why overeating would cause your port to hurt, it's not like the port is inside or close to your digestive system but then everyone seems to have a different experience. I also don't know how you managed to force a food ball down with Water. For most of us it doesn't work. Drinking when you are stuck either causes sliming, more discomfort or PBing. It is possible that you have pulled the muscle that the port is stitched to. This apparently is quite easy to do. You may have even ripped some stitches. It is doubtful that you have done any serious damage but if you are worried then you should consult your Dr. I would also advise caution about getting too many fills too quickly. You do not want to end up too tight. Remember restriction is not about the band stopping you from eating too much, or restricting what type of foods you can/can't eat - if you go looking for that you will end up being too tight. Restriction is about being a able to eat a smaller portion of healthy food as recommended by your Dr and not feeling hungry again for approx 3 hours afterwards. If you can do that then you are where you should be. The majority of the control has to come from your head - the band is only a tool that will assist you by helping to control your hunger.

Every surgeon is different, some even put some fill in at the surgery phase. My first fill was at 3 weeks.

I saw something about this technique on a UK TV program called Supersizers go. When you watch how they did it it was pretty gross. Most foods you couldn't possibly chew that many times as they would dissolve before then. meats it could possibly work. I remember as a kid my mother would tell me to chew 30 times so I didn't choke. If it works for you great but I couldn't imagine actually counting each chew. Man that would be laborious!I also find that if I chew that many times my food loses its labour, instead of appreciating the taste I get jawache! I think if you simply concentrate on chewing well that should be sufficient.

It sounds good. It mentions that it is a tool. It outlines some of the people it is not suitable for and also outlines some of the risks.

Of course you should celebrate. You are doing exactly what you should be doing.It is not a race to see how quickly you can lose it - remember you didn't gain it overnight either.

I remember thinking someone else had a weird Dr as they had been told 3 minutes between bites. 10 minutes is ridiculous. I would swap Drs. If yours seriously thinks that is how to eat with a band then he/she doesn't know much. It is important to eat slowly and to wait to make sure the bite you have just swallowed is sitting comfortably and not stuck before taking the next one but 10 minutes between bites is a joke.

It is hard to give the correct advice . What works for one person does not always work for the rest. Theoretically if you are consuming less calories than you are expending you should lose weight. If i was to comment on your sample menu it would be to say that to me it looks to be pretty high in fat and low in good carbs - veggies etc. Some people find they can lose eating the same type of food as previously but smaller portions. Others find they need to do a high Protein /low carb type diet and still others have to cut out almost all carbs. What have you tried so far? Are you being honest with yourself? We would all like this to be an easy ride but for most it isn't. Most people have to make conscious decisions as to what to eat/how much etc. Many people find that logging their food helps them whilst for others this does not work. For many exercise is the key and without you will probably not lose what you want to lose - yes some people lose without exercising but they are the lucky few not the norm. Even with arthritis there should be some form of exercise that you can do. Swimming is good for the joints, supports your weight etc. Don't expect that losing weight will solve your hypertension. I am normal weight and have to take a daily pill for high BP. The reason for it still being high is unknown and that is true for many people. Even though you don't feel as though you need a fill you should still go back to your specialist for support,encouragement and to check that everything is OK. I hope you find the key soon. All the best.

Maybe it is not too tight, maybe you have a slip. I hope not but still a good idea to go and get it checked out.

That's good but heart attack pain is not always felt in the chest. It can cause pain in the back, arms, shoulders, neck, jaw.......................... There are numerous instances of people that think they are suffering from indigestion as they have suffered with it for years and it then turns out to be a heart problem instead.At least you are going to see your specialist so hopefully everything will be good.

What makes you sure it is your band. You thought you were having a heart attack and you could have been. You should get that checked out ASAP.

I don't have a sweet tooth I have sweet TEETH!

Sorry to hear this. At least you get to keep all your happy memories. Think of this as another page you are turning in your Quest for better things. I hope you go from strength to strength.

You need to go and see your Dr urgently. Not being able to drink Water means you are way too tight. Plus the reflux at night is not a good sign. Do not ignore these symptoms because it can lead to far worse problems such as a slip etc. Please let us know what your Dr says and that everything is OK.

Laughing at the post complaining about a period that lasted 7 days. That sounds like heaven to me. My last 2 periods lasted 25 and 40 days respectively! I am now day 6 post hysterectomy so no more periods for me . YAY. I don't think the band actually had any effect on my cycle though , just one of those unfortunate sideeffects of getting older.

Sounds as though your Dr may have put some fluid in the band during surgery. This may be making you feel too tight and uncomfortable.If it doesn't improve call them , they may need to take some out.

PS. How to lose weight quickly - get some parts removed! LOL Down to 49kg this morning. I'm sure it won't last but i'm changing my ticker whilst I can.

Melody I love the grass story. I can so relate. We have 5 acres and our grass does not look neat and tidy. We try but it gets away from us sometimes. Hummingbird good luck with the fill, Osmosis is the correct answer from what I have been told. Wondering what is making the elephant noises on my roof!

Thanks for all your kind wishes. I got home yesterday and as far as I know everything went well. I was incredibly impressed by my gynae, my anaesthetist and the provided pain relief. I generally feel very nauseous after anaesthesia and this time felt none at all. The first time I felt even mildly sick was Sunday evening just before Dinner! I was the first person to be operated on Friday morning and apparently my op took a long time. The Dr found severe endometriosis as suspected and adhesions from previous caesars. I had been told way back in my 20s that I had what is called a unicornuate uterus and the gynae confirmed this. What was interesting was that the Dr could not find my left ovary. Now at various times I have been told I have or do not have one. E.g 2 internal ultrasounds could not find one but I then later went for a test where i got a letter confirming this ovary had been found! prior to the surgery it was suspected that I may have a cyst on the left ovary but when i was opened up there wasn't one! Confused - yes me too! I had the usual drips, catheters(yuck ) etc after surgery and also had a painbuster device that was delivering local anaesthetic directly to the op site. This must have been doing wonders as I had little or know pain apart from some mild backache and a lot of that could have been due to lying in bed.O2 was taken off Fri night which made it a bit easier to sleep and drip/catheter removed Sat.I was pleasantly surprised by a number of people visiting on Sat.Sun (Mothers Day) the family came in and brought me a present. My daughter had already given me her present as she was so excited. It is a photoshoot at one of those studios where they do your hair and makeup and then charge an arm and a leg for the prints! I am excited but also wondering what on earth we are going to wear that will look half decent. We went and got hubby and son decent jeans a couple of weeks ago and that in itself was a major mission! My biggest gripe about the hospital was their apparent lack of understanding about band related eating. I went in with fluid still in my band and expected that i would be given suitable food. On admission they asked about diet so I told them I had a band and they said oh that is just the DUST??? diet and gave me what looked like a normal diet sheet. I picked what I thought would be the most suitable and easiest to eat items. E.g porridge, quiche, veggie lasagna etc. Fri night after the op they brought me soup, sandwich and jelly and ice-cream. I thought it was a bit weird but was in no fit state to query it so I ate the jelly and ice-cream. Sat breakfast I was given juice - when I queried this I was told I was only on fluids but then the nurse fetched me some porridge. Lunch soup, sandwich and jelly and ice-cream again. When I queried this I was told that I was on a light diet and this is the light diet. HELLO - since when has a sandwich being light for a banded person? Yes I can eat them sometimes but I struggle and they are not the easiest option. I certainly wouldn't be able to eat one with soup and jelly etc. after complaining I was brought quiche - if that is what you can call it! So I ate soup and the inside of a small quiche. Sat night I got - wait for it - yes you've guessed - ANOTHER SANDWICH. Their solution this time was to swap it for a chicken potpie. I did manage a few mouthfuls of chicken but not many. Sunday I got my requested breakfast - yogurt and a slice of toast but at lunch it was back to the dreaded soup/sandwich. By this time I was ready to throw it at someone. I ate the soup , jelly and then they offered me roast pork. HUH. After I have already had soup and jelly I don't think so. The problem was that with only liquid in obviously that was all that was coming out. I was unconcerned but the nurses were getting worried. Sat night they gave me Metamucil to no effect. The easy solution would have been to design a light diet for someone with a band not adopt the one size fits all approach. Sunday night I got told I had to take a laxative. I wasn't happy but it is a bit hard to fight in hospital. At about 7pm they gave me some gross tasting stuff called lactulose. I got the most agonising cramps ever and felt like I was dying. The only good thing was because I was suffering so did they. I kept ringing the bell. I tried walking, heat packs, they gave me more meds nothing helped. At changeover one of the poor nurses that had only just come in bore the brunt of my anger as I just let fly. It wasn't her fault but hopefully the message got across. At 12pm when I was still pacing the corridors in agony she phoned down to emergency and got me a sleeping pill. That was a Godsend - I woke up at 6.30am, still in a little pain but not as much. The stupid thing is that them giving me the stuff did not have the desired affect - if they had listened to me in the first place they would have understood. Dr came around yesterday and agreed that I could go home. YAY. Apparently that is faster than usual for an abdominal hysterectomy but she was pleased with me and the way i was moving etc. Hospital does have its advantages (the bell, having your drugs brought to you etc) but it doesn't measure up to being at home and being able to sit/lie where you want, eat what you want etc. My only challenge now is to remember to take it easy and to learn to ignore all the dirt that i can see. 2 of my friends are coming to visit this afternoon so I am looking forward to that. Sorry if I have bored you all to death.

This board never ceases to amaze me. How something can turn so quickly and get so nasty is incredible. I know someone who's first surgery was cancelled because she did not stick to the preop diet her Dr ordered. She did her own thing and had lost some weight but when she was in surgery the liver was found to be too big and the surgery put off for a couple more weeks. The best advice is always to listen to your Dr and ask LOTS OF QUESTIONS. I don't like taking anything at face value, I like to know WHY. If you don't trust your Dr then change Dr's but be very wary of advice on an internet forum. We have no idea who is posting the advice, what their qualifications are and what their motivation is. That does not mean that we should not use forums such as these for support as that aspect is invaluable but it should never replace the advice of your own Dr.

I still eat cake etc. Life goes on after you have your band . For me getting a band was about being able to live a normal life and have a normal relationship with food and not be constantly on a diet. I eat what I want but generally make healthy choices. A little of what you fancy can do you good. But you have indicated that a little would put you out of control. Maybe you could do something fun like going for a massage or pedicure or if it is a mixed group pick some kind of activity like bowling or mini golf etc. Whatever you decide I hope you have fun.

Is it the band you can feel or the port? Being able to feel the port is quite common. I would have thought feeling the band which sits much higher than most people realise would be really hard.