coltonwade

Are you telling people your "dieting" at least ? Your going to have to try a few things I think . I dont know that I would call ahead . btu this is what I do . 1. Order from the kids menu . 2. Order a "Regular' meal and get the 2 go box WITH The meal but half the meal in the to go box before you even eat it . 3. order an appetizer . 4. eat wht you can / want from the regular menu and leave the rest. If you do that i would HIGHLY Suggest as soon as your finished telling the waiter to take your plate ! Honestly Its none of anyone's business if you take a doggie bag home or not . But they are going to see that your losing weight. So saying something like " Im tryhing to eat less or eat better" is a good option for ordering differently . Would i go order half a slice of cheesecake ? If that's ALL we were eating ? Probably . But I would not make a habit of it . HTH Mindy

You MAY Have sleep apnea then . But the test will show. All people who have sleep apnea snore BUT Not all people who snore have sleep apnea if that makes sense LOL Just take it as it comes. IT wont affect your surgery if you have sleep apnea Mindy

I would be glad to help you out. I'll send you an email

How long between your meals do you get hungry ? When i first got my fills I got them about every 6 weeks or so even if I was still losing weight, If i could eat a lot i got fills. Mindy

My nose runs when i get full . Its very bazaar. LOL It took me a little while to figure out that's what was going on . But it does. Not all the time but most of the time. Im gonna loose brought up a good point , could be restriction from swelling still from surgery . But I would enjoy it while you have for as long as you have it. When you go to your doc , talk to him about it , tell him what you can eat and what you cant , if anything and the 2 of you should be able to decide if you even need a fill. HTH Mindy

The first 6 weeks post op is ALL about healing . from the liquid stage to the mushy stage . up until you get a fill. some of the best advice someone gave me ( Many people i think on the boards) was DO NOT worry about losing ANY weight the first 6 weeks because your ONLY Job is to HEAL . You have the rest of your life after you get a FILL to lose . And they were right. Honestly the first week I did not even want to do anything but drink Water. I wont lie , its not easy the better you feel . The better you feel the more your appetiite comes back . But what i had in teh back of my mind is my band ripping out of my stomach if i did ANYTHING my doc told me not to . Sorry if that's nasty but tha'ts what i did and honestly still do . The first fill since i have to do 3 days Clear Liquids 3 days liquids then 3 days mushies 3 days semi solids after EVERY FILL ( Yes EVERY FILL ) I got very sick from migraines. I asked my doc, is it possible to do anything different because I need something in me to ward off migraines, he said " Sure thanks for asking first you can do full liquids all 6 days " so that's what i do now . Anyway , you can do the liquids , it will be fine , you will be fine. NOW I can do a month of liquids no problem. make sure you get LOTS OF Protein in , protein in the key . HTH Mindy

I personally did not experience this but I have heard of others who have. Do you know what size band you have ? I know sometimes docs fill the bands for surgery some , for instance a 10 cc band a doc might but 1 or 2 cc's in when a patient comes out of surgery . Also some patients get restriction from the band itself. It does sound like you do have some restriction . How much are you able to eat at a time and how long before you are hungry again . ( how many hrs between meals ) I know i need a fill when i can eat more than about 1/2 cup of food at a time and/or my weight loss slows down . Sometimes If im comfortable w/ the way my weight loss is going and i can eat quite a bit i'll hold off. Initially i got a fill about every 6 weeks. Hope that helps a little Mindy

I would not be too worried about it . Anything that would be serious that would cause the insomnia they would catch . Just insomina would not , i dont think hold up your surgery . If you do have sleep apnea you want to know about it anyway . Do you snore do you know ? try not to worry to much about it , i know its stressful. i worreid about EVERYTHING before surgery . :thumbup: Mindy

I am sure every doc has their own opinions of this. But my neurologist told me most people do not just have insomina . Meaning its usually a symptom of something else. In my case it was sleep apnea/depression that was causing it . So if you have insominia you might want to talk to your doc about it to see if there is anything behind it. As for disquialifying you for surgery ? I would think not . If anything if they find out you have sleep apnea it would be "helpful" as far as it being a co morbidity . HTH Mindy

NO ONE Is JUDGING ANYONE. What we are ALL Trying to say is this .. We HAVE ALL Been there. WE ALL KNOW How hard it is. And if someone had told me " Its ok go ahead cheat you will be fine " what good would that do me ? I would MUCH rather someone tell me what I need to hear rather than what I want to hear . Is doing liquids Pre op hard YES . Its VERY HARD, Frankly its MUCH harder than to do it Post op . IS there a "nicer" way to put the truth ? I suppose so . But Do not get mad because you feel that we told you the truth and not what you wanted to hear. NO ONE is perfect and NONE Of us on here feel that we are because we are further down the rd than others. I know for myself I Listened to the vets because they HAD BEEN THERE !!! I dont understand getting mad because we were straight forward ? Mindy

You are right. We all slip up . We have all been in the same shoes. Answering questions, Addressing concerns, ect I am all about , If you look at my other posts you will see that. However I WILL NOT GIVE SOMEONE PERMISSION during the post op phase to cheat . I WONT DO IT . It does NO ONE ANY GOOD. Those of us who are a little further a long might just see things a little differently ? Did I go about things in a way I should not have ? Maybe ? However What would I should have I have said differently to the OP ? I cant relate to cheating 20 days post op . Did I FEEL LIKE Sure . Did i NO WAY . Do I eat crap i should not eat NOW a yr out SURE ! BUT im not going to endanger my band by doing that 11 months out . So honestly , Please if you could tell me what , w/ out giving someone permisoin to go AMA or cheat i could have said differently please tell me , I am open to suggestions. I do sometimes say things wrong. Mindy

LOVE my band , BEST Thing i ever did in my life !!! The first few months were not difficulut. Just "different" . Getting use to the rules . The best thing i can tell you is to CHEW CHEW CHEW practice the chewing and small bites nearly a yr out I STILL have problems rememering that . After you get your first fill you may or may not notice a change ? It depends if you get restriction from the first fill. I Did . Others do not. I have noticed those w/ the larger bands tend to take a bit longer for the fills to kick in . I have a 4cc band . I got restriction my first fill . Foods i cant eat . Bread rice Pasta Breaded things like chicken , fish Wine , I have a small amoutn every now and then but im not a big drinker. Ask away , feel free to email me if you like as well MIndy

Where do you think the beating and guilt is coming from ? the doc or the boards ? Just curious ? Yes they do need encouragement . However the OP did not come here for encouragement or advice. To be honest I cant find where she even asked for advice. She asked for validation and permission that what she did going against medical advice was "OK" . Veteran bandsters are NOT going to give her that ok . Or at least I wont . It does her or any other newbie NO GOOD. Recently there seems to be an influx of newbies asking for this. I wont sit back and say " OH there there honey you will be fine go ahead eat the steak " Because all it takes is ONE OTHER Person seeing that and they say " THERE YA GO I CAN DO IT " I WONT DO IT !! Its irresponsible. If you come here and say " I screwed up my gosh im sorry " I will tell you your human move on tomorrow is a new day " But the OP NEW She did and joked about it . I dont find it funny ! at all ! The OP as far as i could tell was not asking for either. As for it coming from docs. Your right they need to do more of it. But honestly its not really their jobs. If you are lucky enough to have a doc that does that great. But most dont because its not what we pay them for. Im not coming down on " you " Just in general answering the question . Mindy

The thing is that what ever you do in my opinion you have to run it by your doctor. If your on liquids and you are getting sick and feel you need more you HAVE to ask your doctor. My doc allowed me Protein shakes from day one IF I needed them because I get migraines from lack of eating. I did not need them BUT I knew they were there if i needed them . To up your diet w/ out asking your doc I think is irresponsible. As for lack of discipline ... I did not KNOW How much will power i Had until i had this surgery . If i a person does not have the discipline to listen to a doctor for 3 or 4 weeks to make sure their life or their band is safe then your right maybe they did not need the band !!! You can call it what you want . But if you had cancer and your doctor told you to go on chemo for 3 weeks to live would you go AMA against that ? Probably not. These orders our docs give us are just THAT Orders. The docs do give a little but ASK FIRST . My doc requires 6 days liquids after each fill. The first time he told me this before surgery I thought he was INSANE . NOW I could do liquids w/ my hands tied behind my back for a VERY Long time . no joke. The first weeks post op its NOT About sever RESTRICTION its about HEALING. Its about allowing your stomach to heal and the band to anchor so it does not slip . I do not know how much plainer to put that. Our docs are not trying to torcher us . They are trying to have us succeed. Mindy

You will probably find out what size band you have at your first post op appt. If they dont tell you ask , they will tell you then . There are several different size bands from a 4 cc to I beileve a 10 cc is the largest But I could be wrong . I want to say there is a 15 cc ? But I am not sure ? But just ask your doc they should tell ya . Mindy

Congrats !! Its great you have taken the first step . it was the best step and choice i made in my life ! Good luck Mindy

Sure .. I have a 4 cc band . When I got my first fill it was 1.4 cc , pretty standard fill. I was fine no problems . My second Fill I believe was .5 cc . I got tight right away . So we took some out . ok. No problem . I had my third fill , .5 (again pretty standard or "Normal" not too big) went home and a few days later I was too tight again . So after this my doc determined that I am sensitive to fills and that those are too "large" for me. So now i get .25 cc's or less when i get fills. The reason I cant tolerate them is because I have had migraines for so many yrs I throw up very easily . So when i get stuck I throw up , instead of just getting stuck . So my esophagus gets swollen very quickly and easily . 3 weeks ago I had a total unfill. I had gotten stuck and threw up , my stomach and or esophagus got swollen and i began to not be able to keep things down , by time i got in to see my doc ( a few hours ) i was unable to keep liquids down . So he totally unfilled me to allow me to heal completly . Again goes back to how easily i become swollen . My point for you : I love my band still. Even though i have had issues. I have lost over 100 pds in 10 months. I take the issues as they come. People freak when they have to get unfills, unfills are not big deal. I WILL admit I freaked a little bit w/ the total unfill , but im ok now im even remaining unfiled through my vacation . which will leave me unfilled for 2 months nearly . I have gained 4 pds . But im good. It would be a shame for you to have gone through the surgery and NOT get fills. You might as well have them take out the band now , becaues your band is USELESS w/ out a fill ! It wont work . I can eat 100% normal being total unfilled which is what you will be able to do w/ out a fill once you heal from surgery . Basically you will be going on will power . So what's the point to go through surgery to go on a diet again to lose weight ? when you dont have to ? So i suggest if your nervous about fills, which is understand able , if your doc wants to give you say 1 cc fill the first one ask him to please give you .5cc's . It might take you longer to get restriction but you will probably feel better. Until your comfy w/ how fills go. Do you know what size band you have ? Sorry this is so long . Love Mindy PS feel free to email me . click on my name and hit email

I just sent you a private message. I think its good to also post the not so peachy side of WLS . Everyone is SO different and people need to know IMHO all sides of it to be educated and know what can happen to them . thank you for posting . Mindy

I would have double checked that w/ the doc before ever going by that. What the hospital gives you and what the doc WANTS you to do are 2 different things . Hospitals give standard discharge orders for patients regardless of the docs orders in most cases. So be careful following orders different than what the doc said even if it was from a hospital. not saying that's what you did but its a good point and something that happens often and a reason for confusion Mindy

I think that might be the problem is not enough direction on WHAT you can eat. pureed foods is quite a broad "statement" and with so many docs having so many different " interpretations " of that people come here looking for suggestions. I had a very good list if i remember of what i could and could not have . If people do not have that then I can see how it might be hard. Good point Jachut Mindy

Did not mean to offend you . However I am not one to tell people what they want to hear either. What I said and meant was If the rules were something that you were not ready to follow maybe it was not the right time for the surgery ? we all have to get to the point that we are ready for this in order for it to work . If you feel your at that point great. I Will NOT tell anyone " You will be ok for breaking the rules " Espically " Weeks post op . I honestly am not sure what your asking ? Not being rude , are you needing recipes for the pureed diet ? I can help w/ that . Mindy

Actually I look at the rules as to be followed for the rest of my life. Not drinking carbonation , not drinking while or after you eat. those are all things that can seriously affect your band . But that's just me Mindy

I agree, The rules are there for a reason . ESPECIALLY POST OP . You just had major surgery and your going to take it upon your self to decide its ok to go against medical advice of someone who spent 12 yrs in medical school ? That confuses the hell out of me im sorry . Im a rule follower as well. Why ? Because someone who know's better than ME Made those rules for a reason . Not following the rules w/ the band even if its "Not your style" is not only not a joking matter but will cause you to lose your band at some point. I dont understand why or how people can say " OH I did it and Im fine , I caused no harm " HOW Do you KNOW That ? Harm could come a month a yr down the rd from something that was done today . Not following the rules can cause your band to errode, slip and cause you to lose it !! Sorry to seem rude but I just do not get this train of thought ? Maybe that's just me . I feel it does no one any good to say " you should be fine" Because I Dont if you could not follow the rules or were not ready then maybe it was not time to have the surgery ? Just my thoughts Mindy

LOL This is funny to me too . My fills dont kick in for about 3-7 days . My doc told me that they can take up to 2 weeks to kick in . Sometimes i wish they would all get together and get their sh*t straight and cohesive !! Mindy