marjon9

There is one other thing that is significant in this discussion. That is, after you are banded your food preferences will gradually, naturally change, and thus your list of "favorites" will change. And it is important to remember that this is not a matter of deprivation, it's a matter of true preferences gradually changing. Some people find that they really miss pizza, or some other specific thing. But for the most part people with the band find that they are not deprived and can enjoy a wide variety of foods. And, as Julie mentioned, you can control a lot of it yourself by controlling your restriction. The main point to remember, though, is that a banded person does not spend life suffering from endless unfulfilled food cravings.

I think that almost everyone has "second thoughts" and "doubts" etc. once they closer to being banded. It's completely normal. If you feel serious doubts you can always postpone things. But just keep in mind that you will always feel this way just before surgery, no matter how many times you postpone it. It just comes with the territory. And as for feeling excited, you'll probably have those feelings too.

This seems to be a general rule for lap banders. The idea behind it is that water makes the food go through your stomach more quickly, which sort of defeats the purpose of the lap band. With the band, you feel full for quite a while on a very small amount of food. That's the whole point of the band, so that you can eat just a little bit but still feel full and not suffer. But if you drink water with your meals, the food goes through much more quickly, so you get hungry again much sooner.

There's a bit of a difference of opinion on the forum concerning the definition of PB. Quite a few people agree with bitteroldhag that it is pretty much like throwing up. Then there is another faction, that I am part of, that does not have that same experience. To me, when I PB (which I call a "productive burp"), it is not like throwing up because the food comes right back up in the same condition as when it went down. It is not mixed with stomach digestive juices, so it does not taste bad. And when I PB I don't have the same sort of stomach convulsions as when I vomit. So to me it is completely different. In any event, when you eat too fast, or don't chew enough, or eat too much for your new little stomach pouch, or eat the wrong food, sometimes it won't go through the narrow part of the hourglass that your stomach has become with the lapband. So, the food has to come back up. In general, I don't find it particularly unpleasant, but people say if you do it too much it can cause the band to slip. As a final point, I would say that a PB almost never happens in a way that you can't control. You start by feeling a sort of a golf ball in your chest, and then you go to the rest room when you feel like it and let the food come back up. It is not something that is likely to embarrass you in a public situation.

It seems that all questions about what you can and cannot eat or drink must be answered individually. In general, you can eat or drink anything you want with the band IF you can do so without problems. People say they can't eat bread because it is a gummy thing that tends to get stuck in the little hour glass opening we have after the band is in place. Same with rice and Pasta. But some people can eat these things even with the band, and there is no reason not to eat them if you can do so and still lose weight. As for types of bread, yes, whole grains are less gummy so they tend to go down more easily. Toast is also less gummy and people find that they can tolerate it a little better. But remember, even if you "can" eat bread or pasta, it's probably not something to eat a lot of if you want to do well with the band. Our stomachs are much smaller after the band is in place. In order to get proper nutrition to stay strong and healthy you need to us that small space wisely. If you fill it up with Wonder Bread you are going to have a hard time getting in the nutrients you need. And, as a back drop to this whole discussion, in general you need to do what your doctor says. If the doctor says "no bread," then you should avoid it for that reason.

I think the fish theory has to be taken in context of how the fish is cooked. If you bread the fish in beer batter, deep fry it, and pile on the tartar sauce then it is probably not going to make it onto the bandster's Greatest Diet Hits. In general, eating broiled fish with no butter is probably a lower calorie Protein compared to fatty meats. For me, though, the band is not about dieting. The band is about NOT dieting. I intend to eat more or less what I want, just a lot less of it. Fortunately, what I "want" to eat is usually real food, not ice cream and Doritos.

Congratulations!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: I really think you did the right thing. For the next month or so you still need to focus on healing so take it easy on yourself and don't expect huge weight loss right now. Soon enough you'll be healed up and on with your bandster journey. Good job!

I know it feels like an inconvenience to deal with this, but it really is for the best. sleep apnea is serious. Your air passages close up and you stop breathing. After a period of time you wake up gasping. This not only ruins the quality of your sleep, but it puts a terrible burden on your heart. In the past I was tired a lot and I knew I did not sleep well, but I did not think that much about it. I snored really bad also so my wife would go sleep in another room quite often. One day she said to me "you know, you stop breathing at night sometimes for, like, 30 seconds, and then wake up gasping. I think you ought to go see a doctor." I resisted for a while and then I went, had a couple sleep studies, got diagnosed, and now use a CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) machine. I feel much better now and no longer feel like I'm going to pass out in the afternoons from exhaustion. As another poster said, once we lose weight we may no longer need the CPAP. This is a good thing, and it will evidence that health is improving even more. But for now, if you have apnea, you really do want to know. It is truly a very serious health problem.

I had a couple dried apricots a week ago, chewed them really well, and they got stuck anyway. For me the solution on this type of problem is just to bring the offending item back up via the old "PB" routine. I know this seems like throwing up to a lot of people but to me it is quite different and not that unpleasant. So I just drink a little Water and bring it back up. So far I have not had anything get stuck that I could not remove by bringing it back up. To dissolve the food inside you you might try Papaya Enzyme from the health food store or dissolved meat Tenderizer. These things work for some people. Good luck working it out.

Eric, I'm no doc but I'd be very suspicious about this diagnosis from Dr. Joya. If Dr. Joya himself performs these alternative surgeries, I'd be doubly suspicious. It may be that some people's bodies literally do not "take to" the lap band, but I don't remember seeing that particular "complication" discussed on this forum before. It may have been, but I have not seen it and I've read quite a bit on this forum. In any case, it seems to be a very rare complication if it does happen. But either way, it seems to me that there are other options that should be considered before you reach that conclusion that your body is rejecting the band and you need to have your internal body parts removed and rearranged. One place I would consider starting is to get another doctor, if at all possible for you. There is a limit to what Dr. C can do by responding to posts on this forum. I believe you could use a second (and perhaps third) opinion here. I would do that asap if at all possible. Stay hydrated in the meantime (as you are already doing). Good luck to you. I know this has got to be pretty distressing.

Many times people post on this forum asking if they can have one thing or another: popcorn, wine, bread, gum, coffee, Rocky Mountain Oysters, or whatever. I think that the general answer to lap band questions of this type is, you can eat it or drink it if you can eat it or drink it. In other words, each person is different. If a beer goes down OK for you and you are still losing weight, then you can have a beer. People generally say that anything with carbonation is not a good idea, because it can stretch your pouch, or it can cause things to get stuck, or whatever. But yet there are still plenty of people who drink the occassional diet coke and don't seem to have any problems. And plenty of people on this site acknowledge that they drink wine sometimes. In fact, many people say it helps loosen up their restriction so they can eat solid food without getting stuck. For some people this is a big benefit. So I don't think the alcohol itself is necessarily a problem per se. It's the carbonation and calories/carbs in beer that would be the problem (if any). But again, there is no general answer here that is going to solve the problem. The bottom line is, if you find that you personally can drink beer, then you can drink beer.

This may not be much comfort to you now, but the fact is our tastes change after banding. We tend to stop wanting things that don't go down well. We are sort of like worms in the T-maze. Once we get shocked a few times when we "turn left" toward bread and rice, pretty soon we just prefer turning right, if you see what I mean. This may seem depressing right now if you are craving bread, but in the long run it's probably a good thing.

Some people take longer to heal than others. I was also a slow healer. Try to do some walking, that helps speed the recovery, and do your best to drink Water and get in some Protein. These things really will speed the recovery. Try hard especially not to let yourself get dehydrated. There is nothing else that can really be said except that this rough part will be over soon. It's hard to believe, but it's true. You'll turn the corner soon and then you'll just be living the bandster life without all this difficulty. Hang in there!

Can we get Robert Redford to do the movie?

Folks, I'm starting to get a little worried about Jack. I ran into him the other day and he was buying a Superman outfit. On the back was embroidered the phrase: "Lap Band God." If we are not careful here Jack's head will gain back what he lost from his belly. :heh:

I agree completely that this information would be useful. The problem is, the band has not been around long enough to get that information, especially in the U.S. The Aussie's have been doing the lap band for about 10 years now, as I understand it. Some of the Aussies on this forum have had the band over five years. That may be the most long term information that is out there.

My surgeon is Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver. He's a very experienced laparoscopic surgeon in general, with about 75 or 80 lap bands done by now. He charges $9950 total for everything. If you want some information on him do a search for Kirshenbaum and you'll hear a lot of positive reports. The link to his web site is at the bottom of my post. The surgery is also about $25,000 plus in my area (Washington D.C.). I agree that is completely outrageous. But you don't need to pay it. Things worked out really well for me going to Denver.

Remember, gastric bypass is about rearranging the plumbing. Just intuitively it seems so likely that this would eventually cause problems. The lap band is not a permanent change of the human anatomy. It is nothing more than a belt. It may turn out that this causes some unforseen problems, but the logic of it would seem to indicate that this procedure is so much less risky.

When I get stuck it almost always turns into a PB. When food gets stuck my body immediately starts to generate the slime. I imagine this is true for everyone since I have no amphibian in my heredity as far as I know. Pretty soon my poor little golf ball-sized pouch is filled to the brim with both the food and the slime. And it just keeps getting more and more full as the slime continues to form. At that point there is no way the food and slime is ever going to make it through my restricted little hour glass opening. The only way out for me is up. Fortunately for me this experience is not all that unpleasant. I don't really mind the PB experience. And the good thing is the pain and discomfort is over almost immediately. The only reason it bothers me at all to PB is because people say it can cause a slip.

You have a much more difficult situation compared to me, and you have my sympathy, but in a sense I am also somewhat relieved to read your post. I was banded on 1/17 and I still have so much restriction I can only drink liquids on the morning and, for some reason, in the evening. I am usually able to eat solid foods at lunch time. Like you I have never had a fill. I was starting to get worried that there was something wrong with my band. I know I can't rely in any way on the diagnosis given to you that your band is OK even though you are totally restricted, but at least it is good to know that this is possible for a person to be restricted to that degree who has never had any fills. I know that you did not post about your situation so you could provide comfort for others with significant restriction, but it turns out that your story did bring me a little peace of mind. Good luck to you in getting it sorted out. And it's great to hear that at least you are having totally amazing weight loss right now. In a few weeks or months you'll be under 300! I'm just 14 pounds away from that now myself. Good luck to you!

They did have a bulletin on Amazon about someone named Missy being blocked from the site. Could that be you?

As the original poster recognizes, figuring out when you are full is a) different when you have the band, and important if you want to avoid some serious pain/ PBing/ potential health problems. This issue has been quite interesting for me because I have struggled with it so far. You know the saying, "the definition of insanity is when you continue to do the same thing but expect a different result." By this standard, apparently I am insane, because I have eaten past the point when I knew I was full on quite a number of occassions, each time somehow expecting that I would not suffer the usual result. :loco: Before banding I always used to wolf my food. It's hard to get out of the habit. When I come home from work now I am often quite hungry. I just dont feel like using a baby spoon to eat a small piece of something in 22 bites over a 30 minute period. I still sometimes just start eating like I did before: big bites, minimal chewing. The first bite or two usually goes down OK, and then by the fourth or fifth bite I feel the golf ball in my chest and there is no turning back: pain is in my immediate future. :doh: Well, I am happy to report that, much like the worm in the "T" maze, I am finally beginning to alter my behavior in response to pain. Maybe there is hope for me after all. :flypig: You know how that song goes: :music: :note2: "I fought the band and the ... band won! I fought the band and the ... band won!" :note2:

janiee, I'm just curious, are there some good times with your husband as well? How long have you been married?

I don't mean to hijact the thread but I'm just wondering about these Campbells soups. To be honest, I don't like regular Campbells soup much at all, or even "Campbell's Select". I find the Progresso and other brands much better. Yes, Progresso and other brands are a little more expensive, but since I now eat so little it seems OK. Are these Campbells Soups you are mentioning better than regular Campbells? Should I give them a try? (Soup at Hand, Restaurant Quality? etc) Thanks

I disagree with this to some degree in the context of having the band. Before being banded I used to drink a lot of water because I felt thirsty and wanted to drink it. Now, I find that it is very hard work to drink any significant amount of water because I have a lot of restriction. Sometimes at the end of the day I think back on how much water I had that day and it is very little. Yet I don't remember feeling thirsty. When I felt thirsty during the day I had a few sips of water and then I didn't feel thirsty anymore. But at the end of the day, on days when I did not pay attention, my total was like 6 or 8 ounces. I think this can be a problem for a lot of reasons, including the risk of kidneys stones. I also disagree that water does not flush anything from your system. Urine is a bodily waste that contains items that are "flushed from your system." And the transportation system in your body for these kinds of wastes is water. If you don't drink enough, you can definitely have problems eliminating harmful wastes. I don't think that drinking a lot of water is necessarily a miracle diet solution for losing weight. But I do think it can be a little dangerous to tell people who have the lap band that they should just drink when they are thirsty and not worry about it. I think when you are banded you need to really pay attention to your water intake and drink enough to avoid dehydration.