Journey482

I'm about six weeks out, had a 2 cc fill at my two-week postop check, and I can basically eat anything I want, and as much as I want. My only issue is if I don't chew well, it just sits there and has to come back up (the equivalent of spitting out a bite of food, not vomiting per se). But other than that I have no restriction, and I do get hungry. Plus the usual overeating cravings are still there. I've done okay with not giving in to cravings overall, but it is frustrating. I've said before, I thought I was well educated before the surgery, but really didn't know it would take possibly three or four fills (hence three or four months!) to get to the point that the band is doing its stuff. I have my second postop check this Wednesday, 4/28, and hopefully will get another fill. I haven't gained but the scales aren't showing much of a loss either... although my clothes are really showing signs of being too big, so I'm taking that as a positive sign. Hang in there - at the very least you know from reading all this that you're not alone.

WOW at y'all being 300 lb and wearing a 22/24. At 5'6" and 299, I was wearing a 30-32 top and felt that showed too many "rolls." On the bottom - jeans, etc. - I needed a 26, or even a 24. But anything like a dress I'd have to buy larger because I'm busty and my upper arms are fat. I am wearing clothes now, after losing about 30 pounds, that I wore before I lost... it takes a good 20-30 pounds for me to tell a difference in clothes size. Things are more loose, but I still don't think I could actually go down a size and be comfortable. Is that because I lose in such an even distribution as opposed to some people where it all comes off their butt, bust, etc., first? I remember dieting once with a friend at work; I'd lost about 40 lb, she had lost 30'ish, and EVERYONE noticed her weight loss daily because it all came off her butt, which was her biggest (literally) "asset."

I'm about four weeks out from banding, had my first postop check at two weeks. A few days before I went for that visit, I developed this really hard bulge right above my belly button. I had an open cholecystectomy in my early 20s, and the port incision was over that incision, so I was really afraid I was getting a hernia. When I got to the doctor's office, he said I was feeling the port. I got a fill that day and he found it with no problem (although I had a couple of coughing fits, he said they actually helped push he port up into his hand; no clue where they came from). Anyway, I think your doctor will probably be able to find it, and worst case scenario is that you might have to have your port filled with the help of fluoro. The doc will find it, don't worry!! Might be a little more trouble for you, but worth it in the long run!

I've only had one fill and don't have any restriction at all, really, but I have noticed if I eat too quickly and/or don't chew, I get the hiccups. I mean LOUD hiccups, like if I'm outside they echo so I'm sure the neighbors can hear! I assumed I was swallowing air when I ate too fast.

This isn't a powder, and not sure if it's available in the U.K., but at my support meeting this week, some "veterans" said Sam's has a ready-made protein shake called Premier that has 30 gm of protein and 1 gm of sugar (they didn't mention calories). You can get it at premiernutrition.com (I just googled). Actually it might come in a powder too, not sure. I use Unjury; the unflavored can be added to pudding, Jell-O, etc., and changes the texture a bit but not the flavor. The chocolate and vanilla shakes are much better than the whey protein I had bought before surgery.

I am three weeks post banding and I'm not losing much either, a pound or so. Tarajim, I don't think it's that we newbies are expecting a miracle or think that we won't have to work at it. I honestly didn't realize that real restriction doesn't come until two or three fills later. I thought I was well informed, and I have a great support system with my doctor and his staff; but I didn't realize that in the beginning it IS basically willpower. I'm not complaining! And whatever I lose before I hit my "sweet spot" will just prove my determination, so I'm actually good with that.

You've had major surgery!! Just because you have teeny tiny incisions on the outside, your insides were still probed, prodded, cut, sutured, etc. They still had to go through the same layers of tissue to do the banding as they would through an open incision, but just through a smaller cut lengthwise - depthwise, it went to the same place.

Does anyone know which - if any - "Cool Whip" type toppings are good to use? I saw a recipe somewhere for the cottage cheese/orange Jello-O dessert, with crushed pineapple. The sugar-free Jello-O is okay; I could figure out how much cottage cheese and pineapple would be in each serving and incorporate that into my daily requirements of dairy and fruit, but the recipe also calls for a container of Cool Whip. Not sure what to do with that, if there's another recipe somewhere that doesn't require the Cool Whip, or if there's some Cool Whip-py topping I could use in this. I don't see my nutritionist for another month and can ask her then, but meanwhile I figured one of you veteran bandsters could help me! I don't know if the "light" Cool Whip is okay. Again, if I can just find a recipe for the Jello-O, cottage cheese and pineapple without the Cool Whip, that would suit me fine!

I just posted about this same thing a day or so ago! I was banded March 16, had my postop check March 31. Most of what people think is restriction (according to my doc) the first couple weeks after surgery is really just the fact that you have a lot of swelling in the tissues. I apparently healed pretty quickly, because while I am never really hungry, I was like you - I could drink down a Slim-Fast or protein shake, followed with a bottle of water, etc., without any discomfort at all. So on day 15 post banding, since I wasn't feeling anything at all, I got my first fill of 2 cc. I still feel no different at all, although when I failed to chew really well I did have a "spitting up" episode yesterday morning. I don't feel full when I eat, but I don't feel hungry when I don't. I'm just trying to eat the meals they've told me to. At this point I'm having trouble imagining what it must feel like to eat something and know I can't eat any more, but I guess that day will come! We're pretty much on the same track here, timewise and how we're feeling. It will be fun to watch our progression!

I was told not to take anything bigger than a birth control pill. My directions were to crush them and take them in a couple teaspoons of applesauce. That was quite a treat during the two weeks of liquids only! I think a big part of crushing them is to make sure it slides through the band and gets into your digestive system instead of sitting on top of the band and dissolving there. Some meds might not make you feel "stuck" but could cause problems (ulcers, etc.) if they sit at the top of the band and dissolve there. I worked with a doctor once whose son had an ulcer in his esophagus from dry-swallowing an aspirin at night. He didn't know it didn't go down, it ended up sitting there and causing a perfectly round little ulcer. And check with your pharmacist or Google your meds; not everything can be safely crushed, but is made to dissolve slowly in your stomach.

Jen, actually in the "banding bible" they gave me, it said something like sip on liquids, you should try to get down 8 oz every hour or so... and I commented to the doctor that I could easily drink 8 oz in five minutes and then another 8 oz, water, Crystal Light, whatever. Obviously he expected me to have something going on rather than to be able to drink continuously with no feeling whatsoever. "Restriction" might have been too strongly worded. You're right, the wrap and pickles weren't "mushy" but I am careful that what I eat is giving me the most protein for the number of calories, and if I were counting calories per se, it would still be too low. I guess I expected to get stuck or something on my first "real" food in almost three weeks. In retrospect, I think I just chewed really well; I posted separately this morning that I had the same thing for lunch and didn't get stuck, exactly, but had a little heaving episode and lost a bit of food - because a dog I'm fostering was trying to get out of the fence, I swallowed quickly to call her back, and had an 'episode.' About 30 mins later I finished the wrap without any problem, just chewed it much better. Thanks for the positive input... I've struggled all along with getting enough protein and calories, and it's harder now for some reason, so I probably have pushed too hard to get to a regular diet.

Why am I eating? Umm, because according to the diet plan given to me by my doctor last week, I'm supposed to eat three meals a day, I'm supposed to be eating 5-7 servings of protein a day in the form of meat, eggs, dairy. Slim-Fast has a lot of carbs and 10 gm of protein; I can't drink enough Slim-Fast in a day to get 60 gm of protein without getting a LOT of carbs in (the low-carb options aren't on the shelves here yet after the recall, apparently). At the risk of sounding whiny, frankly the If you keep it up, you're going to be one of those posts that say, "I'm 2 months post op and have only lost 2 lbs....what am I doing wrong..." comment is a huge - and incorrect - assumption on your part. I posted because I was trying to find out if 2 cc, two weeks post banding, this is what everyone feels, not to have people tell me I'm on the road to failure.

I made a post last night that I seem to have no restriction at all; I ate some chicken salad on a tortilla and then some dill pickles and nothing seemed to give me a problem. In retrospect, I think it's because I chewchewchewed it. Today I had the same thing for lunch sans pickles, was outside with lunch and doing fine. We're fostering a dog for the week and she was trying to get out from under the fence. I swallowed quickly so I could yell NO at her and call her back up to the deck, and immediately got sick. I just leaned over the trash can in the kitchen and immediately got it up. About 30 mins later I finished the sandwich, chewing carefully, and no problem. It taught me a couple lessons: yes there is something going on in there; and yes you do need to CHEW carefully! Maybe I should rename myself Master of Mastication, lol...

I understand the poster who said the first few days are "withdrawal," but I don't necessarily agree. In the beginning you're so revved up and READY, I didn't think about cheating then. I was so relieved to be just two weeks pretop!! That isn't to say I didn't cheat a bit on the postop "liver shrink" I was on... although I'm a sweets freak, I didn't want anything like that, nothing deep fried. I absolutely CRAVED tomato soup and a salad! My two weeks preop consisted of a Slim-Fast for breakfast, one for lunch, then a Lean Cuisine/Healthy Choice for dinner. So towards the end of my two weeks, I finally swapped out the Healthy Choice for tomato soup and a salad - still relatively healthy (compared to McDonald's fries!). The NP at my surgeon's office said if I felt like I had to have something different, the soup and salad were good choices. I would wonder, too, about your wife's commitment to this surgery. It won't make her thin; she is going to have to work hard at this. There is a lot of time, money, and though the surgery is safe, there are always risks. Though eventually we move on to "regular" foods, we will always have to practice portion control, healthy choices - a life change for me, and most of us (or we wouldn't be here). I didn't have to lose a certain amount of weight before surgery, but if I had gained (especially during that two-week strict preop diet) my surgeon would have been postponed the procedure. You could always give in to her requests, let her do what she wants the next two weeks, and let her pay the consequences her final preop visit.

Oh I'm not really eating what I shouldn't. I doubt I'm getting 600-700 calories a day - I'm just not hungry. I saw someone say in a post that they were kind of relieved to have something "stick" a little, because then you know something is really going on... I guess I'm there. (Like when I FINALLY got pregnant, I couldn't wait for morning sickness and to barf the first time, because other than that, I didn't feel any different!) The chicken salad was the only semi-no-no, and I did measure it out. I'm not taking in many calories, but I was so busy today I just didn't have time to eat. I was so careful this morning, made mincemeat (ha) out of chicken and was so careful chewing even then. It just doesn't seem to matter! Oh well maybe it means I'll get another fill at my next visit too. I'm ready to get this show on the road!