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hi everyone! so i have been banded for 2 whole days now! i still dont have much of an appetite, so i am still trying to make sure i get enough hydration and Protein in... is anyone else having this problem? also, does anyone have any Protein Drink suggetions? i cant find the one they gave me i the hospital... if anybody has any other suggestions to help fight gas, id love to hear it! gas-x strips and warm Soup have really been saving my life...

I up my protein I'm taking 10,000 of biotin every morning I only wash my hair Mon, Wed,& Friday but I have been losing lots of hair this Monday will 3 months post op... Any thing I should b doing

Hmm, I am almost 3 months out and have had no hair loss. I have read some lose some don't I did see some threads about special shampoo/conditioner that people used. I think your best bet is to keep that protein up and make sure you are taking all your vitamins daily. The dietitian with my program says if you follow the requirement you shouldn't have too many problems but she also said some people just lose some hair and biotin can be taken but wont necessarily help prevent this. From reading threads, most people have hair problems somewhere between 3-9 months and then it slowly resolves. I have decided that if my hair gets bad I will cut my hair shorter and go from there.

I start my prep diet Wednesday, and I'm actually going to spend some time this evening cleaning out my pantry and fridge. I plan on getting rid of everything in the pantry except canned veggies and some fruits, Soups, cooking essentials, sf Jello, and crystal light. I am also basically going to clean my fridge and freezer out of everything except lean Proteins and I Can't Believe Its Not Butter spray. I'm going to costco first thing in the morning to stock up on Premier Protein shakes and frozen chicken. I also need to get sf popsicles and broths, but I plan on getting those from the grocery store because I don't need giant Costco sized packages. I also just ordered some unjury Protein powder for post op. I live alone, so I don't have to worry about keeping stuff around for family, so I think it will make it easier for me to avoid temptation.

The pain is not so bad -- I'm hoping today will be my first day without any pain medicine at all, and I took a small victory in being able to wear a bra today. (oh, simple pleasures) I've gone on to Protein drinks which have helped a little with the hunger. I attempted some oatmeal yesterday that didn't go down very easily at ALL so I've been a little worried to try anything thicker than my Muscle Milk Light. How about you? Also, I added you. Secret group ftw!

Yea, I've seen it on the news quite a bit here recently (the option of banding for teenagers). Honestly, I wish it had been available as an option when I was younger. My knee joints would be stronger, my skin wouldn't have lost damn near all elasticity and my overall perception of myself would likely be better. That said, I realize that it isn't anyone's fault but mine that I'm in the situation I'm in. I seriously lack will-power and have rarely exercised as often as I should, for extended periods in my life. For the most part, the doctors I've met here in Oz don't seem to be in it for just the money. The band doctors where I go seem to genuinely be in it because they want to help people to live a better life. As such I would hope that, should this option be available to persons under the age of 18, the same tests and what not would be performed on them as I had before the procedure. If they proved not to be a good candidate for banding, I would assume the surgeon wouldn't operate. Of course, I've been wrong before lol.

I take it your mother is the one paying for the surgery? I would make an appointment to meet with the surgeon and bring her along. Your surgeon should be able to discuss with both of you all of the scientific evidence that shows it verges on impossible for a morbidly obese person to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain that weight loss without surgery. If she has already met with the surgeon and gone over all of the evidence, then I guess just spend a lot of time talking with her. Tell her exactly how being so overweight makes you feel and impacts your life. I know for most of us there is a lot of shame and self-hate involved in that sort of discussion - if that is true for you, dig deep and keep talking. She's your mom and I am sure she loves you and wants you to be happy, but she's probably scared of the risks of surgery. Explain to her that sleeve surgery has the same risk of complications and death as gall bladder surgery -- she wouldn't be demanding you just keep suffering in pain if you needed your gall bladder out, right? She would accept the risks (very small!) and you would get the surgery you need to end the debilitating pain. Well, for most of us, being morbidly obese inflicts severe pain as well, we just mask it better. You can also talk with her about all your previous attempts to lose weight. Help her to see that you have tried, and struggled, and you need this tool to be successful. If your mother still doesn't want to pay for the surgery, that's her right -- check into self-pay options (there's a great board for self-pay patients here) and see what you can do to save up or finance it. Depending on where you go, it might be less expensive than you think. Good luck to you!

Hi Molly! Hope you're feeling better I'm 24 (Starting weight 114kg/251lbs) and I had my sleeve done on oct 9, it's been a little over a week now and I'm pretty much recovered. I now weigh around 105kg/231lbs. I'm just worried about scarring! Instead of sutures, my surgeon put derma-glue on it and it's healing well. The first day was hell with lots of gas and plenty of black out moments.. A nightmare. But it got progressively better as the hours went by and I was discharged on the 2nd day. I've been able to drink over 2 litres a day and get my Protein in and I can't wait till I can eat puréed stuff! I can already feel some of my clothes hanging a bit loose I started walking 2 hours a day, 1 hour at a time after the first week. Exercise has become easier cos there's less of me to lug around and do stuff. That part I definitely love. Time to build a new body and start living! My surgeon told me the highest weight loss would be within the first 3 months post surgery, so we need to work our butts off during this period to lose as much weight as possible before it slows, and I intend to do just that!

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. The plan I was given to follow was: Weeks 1-8: 2 ounces of food per meal x 3 meals per day Weeks 9-15: 3 ounces per meal Months 4-6: 4 ounces per meal Months 7-9: 5 ounces per meal Months 10-12: 6 ounces per meal Months 12-18: 7 ounces per meal Months 18 and beyond: 8 ounces per meal One other point. Protein shakes do not count against your meal allotment. I would blend in a half a banana into my Protein shake and the half a banana does not count against my meals. [but don't take this to the extreme.]

First of all, Congrats! I was banded on 10/6, so I'm a little ahead of you. I was not hungry for the first three or four days. After that, I got a little bit of an appetite, but a little Protein shake would satisfy me. I added a little Fiber powder to my shakes to avoid the constipation thing. As for being a bit loose, you have to remember, you're only taking in liquids and most likely have been for a week or more. You may also have a lactose issue, especially if you are making your shakes with milk. A lactose enzyme pill can help with that. Your appetite does come back, I am in bandster h-e-double toothpicks right now. I can't wait for my first fill. I was hoping to delay it until after the Thanksgiving holiday, but if my surgeon says I can have a fill tomorrow when I see her, I just may do that.

You can try the Protein powder w. Water. Maybe as a last resort. I find that kind of gross but it might tide you over. If you have a backpack or fanny pack I would plan to bring some foods with you. Pack and plan to be away all day and take in what you can. They can question you if you want but you have a medical reason to bring in your own food. Keep your eye out for soft stuff you can eat-- Soups, etc but you'll have to basically depend on your food stores. Take a cold pack to keep your cheese, etc cold at the bottom of the bag. At least you'll have something to snack on until you're off of the grounds and back at your car where you have food you can eat. Make some egg salad or tuna salad and stick it in a ziplock and keep it cool with an icepak or in a cooler in the car. Also see if you'd be able to leave and come back. You could go to your car and have something to eat and go back. At 2 weeks out though I don't think you'll be all that hungry, but I know very little about the duodenal switch only that the sleeve is part 1 of it and based on how I felt at 2 weeks out, some Snacks should be okay. I LIVED on pintos and cheese from taco bell during the fist few weeks. Even now I will go through there for some Beans and cheese.

Yes I am on there but as the name GIA (middle name) because I dont want my dysfunctional insane family to see my personal live on facebook lol. I'm starting my liquids tomorrow...I ordered my favorite food as my last big meal tonight but ended up throwing it out because it was way too salty. Im gonna start on premier protein shakes tomorrow

I actually had to switch dr's. My original one was pretty much scamming my insurance and kept having me come in and billing for bs stuff. I am PPO, so when I got the bills, I knew either I wasn't there or nothing was done like stated. I started 10/31 with my 6 mo. nutritional. New dr I saw 4/28 & 5/15 so he had 2 extra visits on there), it was submitted 5/28 & approved 6/3. I called Blue Shield Thursday to talk about the last dr, and they told me. And today when I faxed over my pcp approval for the surgery, she set everything up. And said I just need 1 week of protein diet.

Hi all, I'm new here - just started the process toward getting a sleeve with Kaiser Permanente in Southern CA - but I'm already wondering about food options. I know that, even now, I sometimes get in food ruts and make the same 4 things over and over and it gets old. After the surgery my food options will be so limited anyways that I dont want to feel further limited by my lack of creativity. Help me out. What are your favorite things to eat? Especially in the first months before I can really eat with my family again (but obviously with portion changes and carbs left out). And if anyone else is doing Options at Kaiser in Panorama City starting next week - hi!

After surgery your meal volume will be incredibly small and as a result if you did not consume Protein shakes, your body will suffer because of a lack of protein. Your muscles will begin to deteriorate and shrink. The two important qualities of a Protein shake it that it contains a minimal amount of sugar and that you can tolerate the taste. I used Muscle Milk Light (vanilla Creme) powder. It is 210 calories, 25 grams protein, 2 grams sugar. Also after surgery, your taste buds will change. So even though you might find it acceptable now, be prepared to experiment with other brands if you need to. In order to keep the cost low, once I locked onto a type of protein shake that I found acceptable, I ordered it by 26.5 ounce plastic containers over the internet.

beef broth was rough but a low sodium chicken broth went down quite well. Hot tea has been great I've been able to start having some creamy liquids like creamed Soups but I have to strain them or any chucks really reak havoc. The warm creamy foods have helped. The surgeon also said to start trying thin cream of wheat which has made me feel so much better as it sticks with you for a while. I really haven't been too hungry. The problem I'm having is the Protein. The Protein drinks are horrible and are turning my stomach. I say that but right now I am hungrey and weak but some of that is from driving 3 hours back to my house today. When I can rally, I'll head to the kitchen and have a little something. By the way, today is my first day with no pain killers at all and that has been nice.

For me? Follow the protocols. After they remove your stomach those first 3 months are first a healing nightmare and then quickly becomes so fun with losing so fast. Then our tummies really heal and people's bad habbits can come back. For me I avoid it by just focusing on my protein and water goals. But I do it by making really awesome, delicous dishes at home. I currently make (and these are all low carb, high protein meals): Chilli Tandoori chicken Butter chicken Chicken Teriyaki Maryland Crab Cakes I took the time to practice and try stuff out. If I didn't like something or it didn't go down well, I brought it into work and gave it away. I spent a good month sourcing recipes, trying them out and now I have delicious protein meals that are SOO much better than anything I'd buy on the fly. I don't even CRAVE the stuff I'm not suppose to have cause i"m just excited to eat the awesome gourmet food I made. That and walking 15 minutes at 10:00 and 3:00 as well as a half hour at lunch. Those are my absolutes. Doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing, unless I'm on jury duty or something. I walk briskly at those time. Not a stroll, I'm out to MOVE. Finally, Stairs. I run up any flight of stairs I can. At work we have a flight of 16 steps. I do sets of UP & Down at least 3 times a day. Usually I come back from my brisk walks and end it with a set of 3 on the stairs. It doesn't really take that long. I invested the time on the front end for the recipes and now I have them down pat, can buy the ingredients with ease and throw together my meals for a whole week in a few hours. I make sure I walk 3 times a day and take advantage of the opportunities to move when they are presented. I've been fairly successful so far, I'm dropping inches consistently and then lbs are a little less predictable but our metabolism doesn't like to lose weight at this rate and will fight us from time to time. Overall this whole process is simple, but not easy. The way to make it easier on ourselves is to commit to the post surgical protocols. Good luck! I'll say this, the 1st 8 weeks were a nightmare for me, I had the VGS, Hiatal hernia repair and gallbladder removal. I hit a massive regret and depression wave around week 4 or 5. I cried my self-pitying eyes out and let myself feel all those emotions. Then I picked myself up again and haven't looked back. Nobody is gonna have a EASY time, but it will be faster and more fun if you follow the diet instructions and watch your body reveal itself to you. I am now happier than I have been in years but it wasn't a cakewalk getting here. So try to keep your head up, eyes on the prize and remember to allow yourself to feel all of your emotions and deal with the psychological stuff that comes up so you can enjoy this new life you are birthing for yourself.

I've crushed and mix them in small protein shake. Seem better than to have to deal with tummy pain.

My two faves are my fitness pal and spark people. Spark people's food data base is pretty large and has ever food u can imagine as well as it counts calories burnt during exercise as well it gives the option to provide you with a menu and a work out routine. there is also livestrong which i hear is great and loseit.com

First I would like to say this is a great site. I stumbled across it researching LB pre op information. This is definitely a journey nearing the end. My insurance required 6 months of supervised visits. My final visit was last week. Documents submitted to UHC yesterday. They say it takes 2 wks for approval. I've received clearance from the surgeon. Hopefully by the time I finish my pre op I can get scheduled. I'm hoping for a July date I'm on day 2 of diet and it has been difficult. Like most threads I read its relatively the same 2 high Protein shakes and 1 healthy meal. Yesterday I was hungrier than a stray dog! Today I was a little more prepared w Jello and beef Jerky to snack on. I'm trying to hang in there!

I was sleeved on august 18th and i have lost 26lbs. But i have been stuck since the 30th.. i haven't lost anyrhing since then and it's driving me crazy! I get in as much protein as possible. I drink a ton of water everyday.. when i eat it is small amounts and i am pretty active. I don't know what I'm doing wrong..

Hi guys, So I had my first email consultation with a surgeon regarding gastric sleeve surgery, filled out a few forms regarding my health, previous weight loss attempts etc . My sister is a doctor and she's really against me having the surgery because a) she's says I'm too young (27) and be she's concerned about the risk of developing esophageal cancer later on. Have any of you read up on this or had similar concerns? It's making me reconsider my options.

Hi Everyone, I was wondering if any of you have allergies to soy and dairy? I had surgery (Gastic Bypass) on Dec 22. and knew it would be hard because of the allergy intollerances to soy and dairy but figured I would do ok with egg white protien and or brown rice protien or even bean protien. But as it has turned out I can not do any of them...I am struggling to get in Protein and was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how you dealt with it? I am able to eat half a slice bacon or half an egg at a time, but as you can imagine, I can not get in enough protien that way, as I juggle trying trying to get in enough Water versus the food! It has been a long haul and I am worried I am not doing very well... Any help would be greatly appriciated Thanks Shi-

Hi Sheila I had my surgery 2 years ago and while I was lactose intolerant before surgery I found that after surgery I don't do well with a lot of soy either so I've turned to alternatives like almond milk. I know this doesn't help when it comes to Protein supplements but maybe that would be a way to get some extra protein. Good luck, Samantha

Can you drink another protein shake. Drink some more water and keep yourself busy. This will pass, the HA is most likely stress related and low intake of carbs. This is just my opinion, I am not a medical doctor.