OnTheWay to Thin

I can't eat flour tortillas, soft bread, most potatoes, anything that is very doughy, I can eat rice in small quantities with sauce or other items, all meat seems to be ok, as long as it is not dry, some chewey pasta is a bit hard to eat. Also chewey cheese is not a good thing! It is a learning experience and seems to change at times depending on if I am tight or loose at any given point.

I dont think the money is the issue other than a lot more people would do it if they could find a way to pay for it or if their insurance covered. I was lucky my insurance paid, but I am not letting someone cut 5 holes in me for nothing! My friend was self pay over 22K she had to borrow from her 401K and is very aware with each paycheck of the cost, but she is having a harder time than I am. It depends on mindset and truly how many food demons you have.

I so agree with you, I have lost enough now that when I went shopping this weekend I went to penneys, I fit a size 20 pants and size 1 x top! wow that was cool and so much cheaper, I bought cords, at LB they would have been 40+ per pair, at penneys they were 22 each, tops were 10-15 each, cant wait to get to large and size 18!

This is from the gas they use to blow your stomach up so they can see inside during surgery, so gasx does not help... but movement does as your body has to reabsorb the gas to get rid of it... it does get better, I promise.

Have you taken him to a seminar with you? I did that with my husband and it made all the difference in the world. This is not easy, but it is successful if you work at it. There is lots of frustration in the beginning waiting to get to the right fill level, but if your main issue is overeating, i.e. portion control, then the lapband is an awesome tool. That was my issue. Since my 6th fill I am now at about 6cc and I have awesome restriction. I can eat most anything I want (excluding bread and tortillas) but just a much smaller portion. Also a PB is a pretty good behavior modifier, it gives you immediate feedback that you pushed it or need to slow down. For the first time in my life I feel like this will work and stick and that is an amazing feeling. Good luck to you.

I totally understand, I have lost over 40 and no one at work except the one friend who knows I had the surgery has mentioned it. I saw my brother last week who had not seen me since right before the surgery and his first words were WOW. I think in this politically correct world sometimes people are afraid to mention something like weight, in fact in managers training we are cautioned not to as it can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings. Dont worry about the comments or lack thereof, just enjoy your wonderful success.

I was with you until last week when I finally after 6 fills hit my sweet spot. So hang in there, i was so frustrated but it really does start working once you have the correct fill level. Keep trying to eat as healthy as you can and get your fills, some just take longer than others to get there. I am at 6cc in my band if that helps, I had surgery 5/28 so it has taken me 3 1/2 mos to finally feel like I am heading in the right direction.

Fill number 6 seems to have hit the spot! I went shopping this weekend and bought jeans in size 20! down from 24! then stepped on the scale this am and was down several pounds since last wednesdays fill... so maybe, fingers crossed this will stick for a while. other NSV's: Had to move the seat up in my car today. Had to buy new shoes, the old ones were too fat for my new thinner feet.

I have lost between a microwave and human leg! LOL what a crack up.

OK had fill # 6 yesterday, I am now at 6cc, but when she pulled the fluid it was not as much as she thought I should have had so I am not sure why. She said normally with a leak it all goes out and I was missing about 1 cc so she may have miscalculated. However, I have restriction back now YEA! She put me up to 7 but at 7cc I could not keep water down so then we backed down to 6cc. This feels like it did in the beginning so I hope it sticks for a while... At my doctors office it is hard to see the doctor because he is always in surgery so I normally see his PA, but, if this goes away again, I will be insisting on seeing him next time... fingers crossed..

I have told very few people. 1 Friend at work, who is having sg too but telling everyone it is female issues, and a couple of non work friends then my brother. The thing is that each time I eat around someone that knows it reinforces why I did not tell everyone. Was at a party last weekend, there was some Snacks, some corn chips and salsa, cheese dip, that sort of thing, I took 1 corn chip with salsa and ate that, only 1 and my brother says can you eat that? We went camping with a friend who knows and she either always comments about how little I eat or that she is impressed that I was able to eat more than the last time she saw me eat... I dont need food police, this is hard enough without all that and frankly it is no ones business.

Thank you all for the encouragement, I go for fill # 6 today, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be close to sweet spot finally! Funny though, last weekend I was wearing a pair of jeans that used to be too small, now they are too big, my husband says we have to get you some new clothes. I said why? He says because you cant keep those up and your butt is showing. Not a problem I have ever had... LOL

I have had 5 fills, not quite to sweet spot yet, get my 6th fill today, but so far I can eat anything I want as long as I take small bites and chew well. Of course that does not include calamari as I consider that ewwww... LOL

I am so glad to see you back! I have missed you.. Those are great motivators! I am going for fill # 6 today, so still trying to get to the correct spot!

Hi I will try and answer as best I can... Pain is a very individual thing, I have had gallblader surgery before and tonsils and I did not think it was as bad as either of those, but I am older and have gotten used to pain I guess. I took pain meds for the first 2 days home and then at night only. They helped me to sleep.. I checked into the hospital at 8;30 am and was home by 1:30 the same day but every doctor is different on how long they hold you. I had my surgery on Thursday, worked from home half days Monday/Tuesday, went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday for 6 hours and was back to 8 by Friday. hope this helps.

gone are the 24's and 22's, just getting into the 20's, have gone from 3 x tops to 1 x... whoo hoo, have had to move the seat up in my car a couple times, and have had to have my glasses adjusted cause they kept falling off my face. Monday is for going through the closet, I have bought several new things, and a few that I am not in yet for incentive. I cant wait until i can get into 18's and larges but have a while to go for that one.

After the first 2 days I was allowed to go to strained soups and then after 7 days thicker soups that would fit through a straw and applesauces, sf pudding, yougurt, mashed fruit with fruit juice to make it thinner, i added chicken broth to all the soups after blending to make them thin enough and used fruit juice on fruits and puddings... also milk, and protien powders...

Good lord your surgeon is a jerk or at least whoever answers the emails is, I would call them and explain the situation, if you are not keeping anything down something is wrong...

I have had the weirdest time... After my first fll I was at 2.5cc and had good restriction, after a couple weeks it started to back down so I went for fill 2, well she removed the fluid to measure and put back in 3.5 and somehow things shifted and I lost all my restriction, have been going back every other week since and I am at 5.5 now but still dont have restriction like i had in the beginning. I am discouraged... but remember what it was like when I had restriction so I keep trying to get to the right spot... hopefully soon.

If you cant get your calories in drink some of the protien shakes to help add calories... yes if you go too low your body will refuse to give up any weight...

You are also less than a month from surgery and sometimes as your body heals it just zaps your energy. Make sure your protien and liquid content is up and give it some time. Make sure your calories are at high enough too, if you are under 1000 calories then this will also cause fatigue.

It will slow down then you will wonder where it went, it is likely that your exercise is kicking it up a notch. Just make sure you are getting enough calories and protien and lots of water.

At 19 days since surgery it depends on what your doctor has you on. Are you back to full diet or supposed to be on mushies? If you are back to mushies... there are things on the chinese menu that you could do. There are lots of dishes that have a fair amount of sauce, like almond chicken, if you were to take the breading off the chicken and cut it very small and use the gravy, and chew really really well that could become mushie... This is a long term process and you have to understand that there are times when your food does not match up to others... On pizza I doubt at 19 days that it would be a good choice. Sesame chicken is probably not a good choice, but think about small amounts of b b que pork with a sauce, ask for a side of either sweet and sour or the almond gravy they use for almond chicken. Also do you like any vegetables? Hang in there it does get easier...

It all depends, the amount of fills it takes is different with everyone. I had restriction after the 1st fill, but it went away after a month, (fat between the band and stomach made it loosen up). Since i have had 3 more fills and am finally feeling restriction again, but not quite enough yet. I suspect 1 more fill (that is a total of 5) will get me there. Hang in there, it is a process and it takes time.

Yes and it is totally normal. Especially for those of us that have not told god and everyone we had surgery for WLS. It does get better you learn how to fit into the social setting without calling attention to what you are or are not eating. Hang in there...