lindkind

I am a week post-op today from band to sleeve...so far I believe this is the best decision I could've ever made. I was slow to heal and ended up staying in the hospital for 4 nights. As soon as I got home I was in my feet staying busying and walking and tending to my 2 daughters. Staying a little sore so I think I need to take a step or two back. I went into surgery on the 7th @ 236 and today I weighed 228. I am not having cravings like I did post-op band. I feel as though I can breathe easier if that makes any sense! I'm following the post-op diet very strictly. I just started full liquids today. A total of 1.5servings whey Protein mixed thin, half Water half skim milk. Blue bonnet is the best imo...I had 1 oz of thin grits with the fat free butter spray, I had a fat free yogurt Popsicle which was very yummy and felt good going down in my sore tummy. Still sip water and apple juice ...don't feel like I drank enough today. I have noticed I produced a lot more gas than with the band. I take tiny sips of everything so I haven't had any vomiting. I can feel the liquid begin to "pool" in there so I immediately stop. I honestly feel great! I have to take heparin twice daily for 10 more days due to a previous history with blood clots, but other than that couldn't be more pleased! We bought a treadmill and my family is very supportive and has made the decision to make healthier choices in their diet. So much easier to do this when everyone in your home is onboard and supportive!!!!

My surgery aw moved to 1:30 and I still haven't gotten to go back!!!! Very tired and it's not helping the nerves!

Is nasogastric used during most all sleeve surgeries? I'm scared of that.

Congrats! Hope to see that you are home soon <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Best of luck!

@peace...good to know. Will definitely try that. Was wondering whether it would help me to take a laxative prior...may just do that

I'm scheduled for 10:30 Friday am. Have to be there at 9am. Surgery is at Baylor Medical in Frisco with Dr Cribbins. Is it common practice for nasogastric tube with this procedure?

Oh ok...I've heard of them making it a common practice to give lovenox just prior to surgery but not a month after unless you are at risk...guess better to be safe than sorry though...I know you will be glad to be done!

Thank you! I had a cold too and had to take a zpak last week and it ended yesterday...still a little stuffy but much better than I was. Hope you feel better!

Sept 7th on my way to Plano now for surgery Friday! Sooo anxious!!

I'm having surgery Friday and due to a pulmonary embolus I had 10 yrs I will have to do the lovenox as well...but survival rate for a repeat pulmonary embolus patient is rare, so I'm all about some shots! It gets old and your stomach gets sore.

I'm on my way to Plano. Pre-op appt in the am and surgery Friday morning! Super excited but nervous about anesthesia. I'm having a revision. Lapband to vertical sleeve. When I had lap band, in recovery I had to be given epinephrine...maybe too much anesthesia? Any pointers from anyone? Current weight 237. Hope I do great with it and don't over eat!! Anything I should ask surgeon about bougie size and suturing? I heard it all makes a difference...my dr is dr. Cribbins

I have gained back all but 10lbs of what I have lost since my surgery Oct. 3rd. I have a 14cc band and I have 9cc in it. I'm so disgusted with my band i don't know what to do. I feel really restricted during the early parts of the day and can't eat until late evening...then i totally pig out bc i haven't eaten all day! people tell me i look like i've lost about 50lbs and i'm indeed somewhat smaller(2 dress sizes), but i'm still 244 lbs!!! I called to get another fill 4 weeks ago and the office tells me their fluoroscope machine is broken. Called back a week ago and the only man that fixes it lives in ms and is flooded right now(due to great mississippi river flood). so still no fill...but the thing of it is i feel restricted...all day..night time i can eat whatever i want. i joined a gym. i feel better exercising in the mornings, but still no weight loss. I am so frustrated. Can't seem to get the junk out of my house. not getting the support that i need from my husband. i have 2 young daughters that need to eat healthier too, but its hard to make that transition. the surgeon i used is actually 5 hours away, but i'm debating on whether or not to go see him personally or is there something i can try first? i have no insurance. i paid 11k for my surgery and i pay 200 bucks every time i get a fill. i'm thinking what a waste at this point! if anyone has any words of encouragement or suggestions, i'm open to them!

Thank you so much for that! I do have others at home. I have 2 daughters. 10 and 6. my husband is off working right now, but he can eat whatever and never gain. '' i have always kept Snacks in the house for them until recently(past 3 months). i started buying sugar free pudding, yogurt, granola, baked chips opposed to greasy regular ones. they seem to be adhering to that ok. im not able to eat anything at all during the day and i think thats where my night problem comes in. im so hungry by night that i just crave whatever(but lets just say i'm not craving broth and veggies!) i have a weakness for Cereal. even special k or cornflakes...i will sit and eat 2 bowls and not even be that hungry. i am craving mostly starchy foods...i just wonder if there is some sort of herb or supplement i can take to curb the starch cravings and to help night hunger(other than being prescribed a sleeping pill? At this point i'm just disguisted with the matter. I'm going to call around to different clinics where i can go to get fills also. i feel as though where i am going right now is not the best place for support at all. When i go they just compare my case to others and tell me it's not that bad...not what i want to hear at all!!!! it seems so easy for others to lose it fast. i don't want the weight to just fly off, but i want to see progress also. i know the lapband is only a tool and the most of it has to come from yourself...but i just don't feel like things are just right with my body...like there may be some cravings and/or different things i can do to help jumpstart the weight loss. are you familiar with supplements that can help? some i know take B12 inj or take acarbose(sugar blocker)...i definetely don't want to take a stimulant such as adipex!...not when i just spent 11K on this! that's another thing...i paid for this out of my pocket and im feeling like it was such a waste!!!! now comes the guilt of spending that much money along with the guilt of being fat!

I do understand the frustration! I was banded on Aug 13th, and lost about 10 lbs post op on liquids and mushy foods. Between my 1st fill in Sept and my 3rd in January I gained and lost the same 5 pounds. I was hungry all the time, and breaking down and snacking at night. I told myself that since I "could" eat 3 pieces of pizza that my band wasn't working and I kind of gave up a little. I didn't really gain, but I certainly wasn't making losing progress.

I knew as soon as I sipped Water after that last fill that it was different. I could FEEL the Water sip slowly draining from my pouch. I hadn't felt that at all yet.

Also in the past month my fiancee found out his cholesterol was insanely high... so high and off the charts they couldn't calculate it. He's spent the past 8 months thinking he's been supportive of my diet needs, when he hasn't been at all. There was still snack food and junk food in the house. He was still ordering pizza and chinese food and getting ice cream multiple times weekly. Although I wasn't eating as much as I had before I was absolutely having little bits of all of that. I would tell myself the band wouldn't let me eat more than I should... I was deceiving myself. I knew that none of it was OK to have so often. a piece of Pizza once a month.. OK. 2 or 3 pieces of pizza a couple times a week... NO. He's also a big night time eater, and as I struggle the most after 7pm it was killing me. I'd be tired and what little willpower I had through the day had been eaten away. He'd want me to make something at 9 or 10 pm.. basically a 2nd dinner. So I was constantly around food and preparing food and eating food.

Now we're on a very strict diet and he's sticking to it. Bringing his cholesterol down is very important... his dad has had 2 heart attacks. As bad as this may sound, his bad cholesterol has been great for me! He isn't bringing junk food home. He isn't ordering out. He isn't eating all night. I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals, packing them for both of us for work, making sure we have healthy Snacks for the kids to eat too... no junk for the kiddoes either... high cholesterol runs in his family, not taking any chances with the girls. He's actually lost 10 pounds in the past couple of weeks and is very excited about it. I'm down almost 10 in that time too....

So... what I needed for success has been the band being at the right place, AND the home being in the right frame of mind. I need absolutely nothing in the house that I can or want to snack on. Even with restriction I'd eat a bowl of ice cream if it was in the house.

Get the junk out of the house. If there are others in the home who really want it, have a chat. They can pig out all they want at school or work or out with friends, but the home is healthy food... and not a lot to snack on healthy or not. Even doing this for a month or two- to get into the swing of it- will help. I know that if I can stick strictly to a diet for a month it's so much easier to say no to the bad foods. I turned down pizza and wings last week at work! from the BEST pizza place in town. No birthday cake either. I know I'm not ready to even have those things in small doses... because I do think I understand now that food is an addiction for some people. I am one of them. I get a taste of chocolate and I'll do what it takes to get more. I would hide it so nobody else could have any. i would eat junk in secret so nobody would see me... if they didn't know it didn't count. Cereal is a HUGE problem for me. Thankfully our girls are strange and hate most cereals so we just don't need them in the house. It makes Breakfast on school days a pain, but it keeps me from ahving 2 bowls of cocoa puffs while watching Grey's Anatomy.

I'm no expert on all of this, but I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds over the past 20 years... ever since I was a 150 lb 5th grader and went to Weight Watcher's camp. I know that food is an addiction. People without this problem can't understand it. Just like I can't understand an alcoholic's need to drink constantly... I don't really care for alcohol much anymore. One or two glasses of wine a month are fine for me. But I accept that some people can't say no to the drink. Can't say no to a bong or crack pipe. I can't say no to my problem foods when they're around. It's how I made it past 300 pounds.

So. If you're feeling frustrated try ridding your home of everything you'd snack on or eat too much of. Others in the home may whine at first, but it actually will be better for them too in the long run! and it doesn't have to be forever... but ask them this. If your husband/wife had a heart attack and you HAD to follow a low sodium/low fat heart healthy diet... you'd do it, right? So why isn't it important enough to support you and your weight loss? The thing you underwent surgery for? I couldn't get him to understand this until he had to change his diet for his health, and he's since apologized for not being as supportive as he thought he was being.

Having my band in a nice spot of restriction has helped. I can't eat very much at one time right now, but having no snacking options has been a Godsend.

I am soooo frustrated!!! I got my lapband october 3rd 2010. I have had 4 fills since then. i've only lost 30lbs total. i feel a restriction in the mornings but as the day progresses the restriction releases and i'm able to consume almost anything if i chew it well enough! I'm having terrible late night cravings for things like crackers, Cookies, Cereal...I feel like such a failure that in 6 months I am only down 30lbs!!! I have actually gained 5 lbs in the past 2 months. Will this change for me or did I make a huge mistake? I want to get this weight off so badly. Don't know what to do. I have 100lbs to go and I don't feel like this was a good start. I need words of encouragement or something. I have a 14cc band and I already have 8cc's right now and only 30lbs lost!! What happens if I reach that 14cc's and have only lost 40 or 50lbs??

I was banded in August 2010. Fills in September, November, and January... last week I opted for no fill as I am finally FEELING IT. For the first 7 months I thought I had made a mistake... that it just wasn't going to work for me. I didn't feel "restriction", I was always hungry-- even more hungry sometimes than before surgery. Then I got my 3rd fill in early January... about 2 weeks after that I was sure something was different... and I had a very difficult couple of weeks. It was like a crash course on the band. I knew you had to chew and eat slowly and not drink while eating... I knew that, but I hadn't experienced that need. I thought I was chewing well and eating slowly- and compared to pre-banded I was... but not near what I was supposed to be! I had a lot of stuck episodes, pb'd a LOT for a couple of weeks... it's hard to re-re learn how to eat. But I finally feel like I'm where I should be...

2 months ago the thought of only eating 3 cups of food a day... 3 1-cup meals... I didn't know how anyone did it! Now I'm doing all I can to get those 3 cups in. I bought toddler plates for me... the little plates with dividers. Perfect size... a big spot for my Protein, and small spots for veggies adn whole grains. I haven't been able to finish that plate in weeks.

I've lost 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks... more than I've lost since september.

So... if you're feeling frustrated because it's not how you thought it wuold be... hang in there. :-)