ElfiePoo

Take *small* sips of Water. If you can't get it down, then call your doctor right away. Dehydration can kill you. If you can keep the water down with small sips, I'd give it a bit. You may just have temporary swelling from the fill. .

The honest truth is that every doctor's postop requirements will be different...just as their preop diet requirements were. My surgeon had no preop diet other than the day before surgery. By two weeks postop he had me back on regular foods. Based on that I doubt you've done any harm. Right now, I'd just try to make good food choices (McDonald's wouldn't be considered a good one :redface:), make sure you drink your liquids and try to start creating good habits along the guidelines you'll have to follow when you start getting fills and restriction. Make good food choices. Drink your Water. Try to avoid snacking on junk food. Contrary to some opinions, there is nothing wrong with a mid-meal healthy snack. I eat 3 main meals and then between my meals (and mid-evening) I have 3 more small 'meals'. Usually these are just a low carb, low cal Protein shakes, but sometimes, in the evening, if I really am wanting to chew on something, I'll eat 2 oz of cheese with a couple melba toast rounds. Basically, my mini-meals are protein boosters. They keep my blood sugar stable and keep me from being hungry and/or craving. .

I'd guess the ever increasing rate of obesity in the U.S. is part of the answer...but also I think the weight requirement was more of an insurance requirement. Doctors tend not to be as strict. If I could have had this surgery when I was 180 pounds (back when I was 25)...and gaining every year at a steady rate...I would've done it and gladly paid for it myself even though I only needed to lose about 60 pounds at that point. .

Glad it worked out, Jax. Kudos for being proactive. .

The inside joke in the industry is that anyone in the field of psychology or psychiatry is a loony toon themself and that's why they went into the field to begin with...to understand their own problems. Now, that's not true of me. I went into clinical psychology in order to understand my whacko family. :thumbup: .

Oh darn...I said my other post would be my last and here I went again. Well slap duct tape on my fingers and kick my soap box back into the closet. :thumbup: .

ROFL...probably not. Actually, what I've found most interesting about this thread is how people look at this whole process. Not one person responded to my query as to whether they would bring KFC into their home *knowing* it was their partner's weakness and *knowing* that their partner was on a very low fat diet because of heart disease and a high risk of heart attack. I'm assuming they wouldn't because they care about their partner and want them around for a good long time. Based on many of the posts here, it seems many don't see this same connection between our obesity and our life span. Instead, it's something less and expecting our partner to support our new healthy lifestyle in order to prolong our life is seen as an unreasonably demanding 'whim'. Make no mistake...our lives are shortened by decades because of obesity and the health complications that arise from it. Let's not make it less than it is.

Yep, I can relate totally. To be honest, I was not totally honest with the shrink. I knew exactly where they were going with some of their questions and deliberately lied because I knew I'd be flagged even though my honest answers *should not* have been a cause for concern since some of the events/feelings/etc. were more than 30 years ago. I do know that if this psych eval comes back in a negative way, you can get a second evaluation and dump the first one. Although if insurance is paying for it, you may have to pay for the second one. I did. /.

OMG...now that's a visual I'm going to have to live with all day. Everytime I start chuckling, my husband is going to give me odd looks and I'll have to reassure him that 'no, honey, I'm not laughing at you.' LOL.

From reading the forum, it's not unusual to get an overfill at some point on the way to restriction. .

I'm sorry if you get so insulted by something so simple No, you're wrong. I would not be insulted. LOL...whatever, HB...whatever. .

ROFL...before or after gnawing on the wings? At 1 week postop I would've eaten the dining room table if it smelled appetizing. Now at almost 4 months postop, and restriction, I have to say that nothing much bothers me anymore. A friend of mine is 6 months postop with restriction but she has a real sweets addiction. Sweets of any kind are not permitted in her home because she'll eat them if they're there. When she goes out, she just keeps telling herself to 'hold on...almost home'. When she's home, she controls her sweets obsession because she lives 30 minutes from the nearest store and having to go out and drive that far is enough to control the obsession. I can't even imagine having to deal with that because as most of us have found out, sweets tend to be sliders so it's all about willpower. The band doesn't help at all. .

I am ROFLMAO. I thought this said 'Crackpot Ranch'. Sounds like a great recipe and if it's a keeper, it will go in my cookbook as Crackpot Ranch chicken. :thumbup: .

Yes, I've noticed that many use the excuse of 'telling it like it is' or 'tough love' when they're being insulting...as if that makes it all better. Telling me (or anyone who feels like me) I'm a food diva and making more out of it than it is, is insulting. I'd bet you would be insulted if someone told you that they lost weight without the band and you could too but you're making too much out of it. We all have issues with food. Your issues are not mine and mine are not somebody elses. If our partners cannot be supportive of us, and we have no expectations of support, it doesn't speak much for that relationship. I'm sad for those people To the OP...you are not being unreasonable or selfish to expect your husband to eat at Hooter's next time. I would very clearly explain to him what that aroma of those wings do to you and ask him to eat them at Hooters, please. I would guess if he's a supportive, loving partner, he'll do so. He probably had no clue how they affected you. My husband didn't until I told him. He still doesn't quite understand my relationship with food, but then his entire family is normal weight and none of them have a dysfunctional relationship with food. .

So now someone is a food diva because a certain food tempts them to the point of having to have it or obsessing about it until they do? We all have issues with food...even you or you wouldn't have been overweight and would not have needed to be banded to lose the weight. This issue is obviously not yours, but let's not be insulting towards those whose issues are different than yours. As for 'not making more of it than it is'...please...someone...feel free to raise your hand and tell me that being banded had nothing to do with health and everything to do with vanity. I would guess that with rare exception, everyone that has been banded did so for their health. And if you think we are not in the same boat as the person who must go on a low fat diet or risk a heart attack, you obviously have not done your research. I would no more think of bringing a bucket of KFC into a home where someone must be on a low fat diet for their health, than I would expect them to bring one of my most favorite foods into my home when I'm also struggling to deal with the same health issues. .

As I said to HB, if that works for you great...but if it doesn't, then not so great. I not only hope my partner will be supportive, but I *expect* him to. Otherwise, he isn't my partner. Partners support each other...that's what they do...and if they don't, they aren't a partner. They're just someone who happens to share my home...like a roommate. No, I don't expect him to forgo food, but I do expect him to not bring things into the house that he knows will possibly sabotage me when the simple thing to do would be to eat those things where he bought them. Again, if your partner had to go on a strict low fat diet because his health was so bad that he was risking early death by not doing so, and he loved KFC, would you bring it into the house knowing that once he smelled it, he'd be craving it until possibly he just 'had' to go out and get some of his own? The same applies to us. If we don't take this weight off, we risk early death. A 'partner' who would blithely bring home food that he/she knows may sabotage you is someone who cares about their own desires more than your *needs*. My husband and I attended a "Marriage Matters" seminar awhile back and I remember the speaker talking about honoring our spouses. That if we honor our spouse, we can be assured of a lifelong, happy marriage. His simple definition of 'honor' was to put our spouse's *needs* above our own *desires*. After reading this thread, I realize how blessed I am to have a husband who honors me and one I honor in return. 'nuff said on my part. .

I have BC/BS of MI and they approved me 2 days after I had my psych eval, which was the only requirement they had. Oh they had the usual 'proof of previous attempts at dieting' (WW, etc.), but my surgeon's office filled out all those details after I told them I'd tried every known diet that came down the pike and had no clue what month or year I tried them. Getting the psych eval took longer than anything else because most psychiatrists wouldn't do just a one time evaluation and there was a longer wait for an appointment at the few who did. However, from seminar to day of surgery, it was only 6 weeks. .

Every doc's requirements are different. Mine did not require any special preopdiet other than liquids the day before surgery. .

At one month postop I felt like I had a tumor growing on my stomach and it was misshapen. At two months, not so noticeable. At 3 months, I can't see it at all. Most days I forget it's even there. .

I moved from Carnation and Slim Fast to EAS Protein shakes because of the protein. Carnation and Slim Fast have a fraction of protein and it's the protein that will keep you satisfied. .

or in another state, etc...please keep in mind that just getting the band put in will not give you restriction and until you get restriction, it will be as if you were not banded. Yes, there are rare instances of people losing weight without getting their band filled, but this is *extremely* rare. Yes, there are rare instances of people getting minimal fills and only 1 or 2 and having restriction and/or losing weight, but again, this is very rare. From reading this forum, it takes most of us *several* fills (which will depend on how aggressive your fills are) before we reach restriction. I had 6 or 7 aggressive fills over a 2 month period (at 4 weeks postop and then every 2 weeks) before I reached restriction. I mention this because I've seen a number of posts from people who get their surgery outside the country and then are unable to get all the fills they need because they can't afford to fly back as often as needed. If this is the case, then make arrangements for your fills somewhere closer, but do make arrangements. Otherwise you're going to be one of those unhappy people who just can't understand why they've only lost 25 pounds 6 months after surgery...or worse, gained back everything they've lost and blame it on the band. It won't be the band that is at fault.

Every doctor is different. Most of the presurgery supervised diets are insurance requirements, not doctor requirements. I had no presurgery diet other than liquids the day before surgery. Same with after surgery. It runs the gamut from 'liquids for one month after' to 'back to solid foods in days'. I was back to regular foods 2 weeks after surgery. I will say that in the 6 weeks prior to my surgery, I lost 14 pounds and without dieting. I just started becoming more conscious about what I put in my mouth. That was also spending a week hitting all my favorite places because I didn't know how soon I'd be able to eat there again. Little did I know that I'd be able to eat there 2 weeks after surgery and until I got restriction (almost 3 months later!). .

I've gone out to 'eat' lunch with friends many times in the past and never ordered anything more than a cup of tea, either because I was dieting or because I'd already eaten but still wanted to get together with them and enjoy their company. Our whole group has gone out and done nothing more than order tea and coffee although we're fairly concientious about not taking up a table if the restaurant is busy. If there are empty tables in the restaurant, then it's no big deal...and we usually tip the waitress quite well for taking up one of her tables in either case. It's not rude at all to expect the restaurant to deal with dietary needs. The restaurant is there to cater to their customer's wishes. If they don't, they won't be in business long. My husband says I'm a high maintenance customer. I don't eat whatever they throw before me. If I order medium well steak and it's not right, I send it back. If my food arrives cold, I send it back. If I've requested that they do not salt my food and it's obviously salted, I send it back. I'm paying...I have the right to get my food the way I've requested it. In a few instances where I had special dietary needs, I called the restaurant ahead of time and asked if this would be a problem. It never has been. As a general rule, they are more than willing to work with you. .

If someone kept turning down my invitations, I'd probably quit asking as well. Keep in mind that they may not totally understand the restrictions you're under now and may have made some assumptions based on your refusals. If you truly do want to go places with them, call them up and invite them to go shopping, etc. Personally, though, I tend to avoid rude, inconsiderate people...even family members. I have little to do with most of my mom's side of the family for this very reason. Oh, I'm polite to them and I don't avoid family functions, but I don't seek them out to do 'friend' things with either. They haven't really acknowledged what I've done except to say, "Oh...you have a band? Good luck with that." in sort of an offhand way. My husband's family members, on the other hand, are always asking how I'm doing, congratulating me on my weight loss and/or asking if there's anything special I need when I'm invited to dinner. Now that I'm coming up on 4 months postop, my band or 'special' needs are hardly mentioned because I've never made a big deal out of it to start with. I just avoid those foods I can't eat and eat those I can. .

Actually, rapid weight loss puts you at higher risk of losing your gallbladder. So there is a 'danger', I suppose. But I agree with you about all the 'experts' saying you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs per week. Anyone who says you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs per week obviously has not done the math. The more overweight you are, the faster you will initially lose. The more sedentary you are (assuming you are doing what the experts say and exercising every day or several days a week), the faster you will lose as you begin to move and exercise. .