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Next week will be # 5 of 6 for me! Since I started my 6 mo doctor supervised diet - it's opened my eyes on how to eat better! I try make my meals a well balanced meal - (which I never did before) and watch my portion sizes. I've completely cut out junk food, and have weaned myself off of caffeine. I'm taking the weight off slowly. I weighed myself on my bathroom scale this morning and I'm down 15 lbs since January. The best piece of advise I can give you is - if they required a food diary from you - use MyFitnessPal.com! I print off my monthly diary of food & exercise to take with me for each appointment. That way my NUT can see that I'm staying on track and it makes it easy for her to provide me suggestions on things I need to change in my diet.

Do you take it off daily? Where did you get it? I did not get one at the time of surgery either and I may try it . I am already 5 weeks out but catch myself trying to protect my tummy.

yupper, i did......chewable iron, b12 and adult vitamins and also my calcium.....i stopped 1 week prior per my surgeons' instructions and started up day after surgery.....(your dr/nutritionist will give you the info on the vits you need). hope this helps.

Awesome! I have my 2 week post-op appointment today, and should be moving to pureed phase as well. I am really looking forward to it!

It sounds like you are at the front end of the process so I will discuss the steps along the way from my experience. I attended an introductory seminar at a hospital that specialized in bariatric surgery. In this seminar, the various types of surgery were discussed, I underwent an initial screening, I met with the surgeon and selected the surgery, and I met with the liaisons on insurance. Insurance is an important consideration for this type of surgery. My insurance required that I undergo a 6 month medically supervised weight loss and exercise program in order to qualify. So I began this program. I underwent a mandatory psychological review to see if I would qualify. Many of the weight loss problems have a psychological component to them. I began attending free bariatric surgery support group meetings once per month. I began to diet and exercise on a daily program. I went cold turkey on caffeine and carbonated beverages. I had been on a 6 diet-coke per day habit for many decades. I went through a week of terrible withdrawal syndromes after I went cold turkey. After 6 months my insurance indicated that I qualified for the surgery. I underwent a one day pre-op physical exam to uncover any physical problems that might endanger my operation or recovery. These uncovered a few problems, so I underwent a second round of pre-op exams with specialist in their respective fields to resolve these issues. I attended a one-day training session that went into fine detail about the surgery, the vitamin/protein/fluid/meal volume allocation after surgery. I underwent a RNY gastric bypass operation 17 months ago. I lost 110 pounds. I am now at 150 pounds. My diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, frequent urination problems, profuse sweating have all gone into remission. In clothes, I went from a size 3X in shirts down to a size small. In pants, I went from a size 46 down to a size 33.

I know exactly how you feel, but once you have the surgery food won't matter much to you....at least not for awhile. I'm 3 weeks out and haven't been hungry yet. I have to set a timer to remind myself to eat every 3 hrs. or i'd go all day without eating. Now I am able to eat the same things I used to, but I can only eat 1/4c. so I make better choices now in order to meet my nutrition requirements. I used to be a huge ice cream fan, ate it every night....but now, don't even think about it. Don't think of any sweets really. I had one piece of chocolate and I was good, didn't crave more, didn't really do anything for me. I had the surgery due to diabetes, which was gone the day after surgery.....and now I'm down 21 lbs. last time I checked and I no longer feel like I'm a stroke or heart attach waiting to happen. It truly is the best thing I've done for myself. You will feel the same, I'm sure. Just remember, is food or your family and life more important??? Good luck on your journey, everyone here can and will support you when you need it.

Everyone definatly goes thru the stall, sometimes you lose 1,2 pounds a week sometimes you won't lose none than next you know you dropped 10 in one week.

Medium!! Isn't that awesome?! Congrats! My NSV is size this week too. I finally couldn't take the bagginess anymore and took myself to get some shorts, wearing the same size 24 capris that I was wearing last summer-- but were getting ridiculously baggy. I have been losing a lot recently, so I didn't want to spend a bunch on new clothes that might not fit next month, so I went to the salvation army store and searched high and low for shorts and capris that I liked.. I could only find one pair that were size 20 but looked smaller, I got 4 size 18 and 5 in size 16 so I would have some stuff on hand. I got home and tried everything on-- the 18's were the perfect fit! And the 16's are closer to fitting than I ever thought they would be. I can see them on the horizon

Hi: You may want to post your question on makemeheal.com There are alot more plastic surgery patients there. Personally, when I had my tummy tuck I had some lipo too. I had to wear a compression garment for a long time. I'm pretty sure that is standard practice with a tummy tuck, not sure about with just lipo. When my surgeon did the lipo she did it in the mons area too and that part was very painful for a couple of weeks. Hope all is well with you. Sue

Same here. I've been going out to dinner alot this week and will do so for the next several days. I look forward to it because the band (as long as I listen to it) helps me to taste and enjoy without eating to excess. I don't miss the overeating...I focus on enjoying what I do eat and enjoying the much slimmer version of myself. I don't find it that challenging at all. In fact, I've had a blast this week so far and expect to continue it...there's nothing to fear as long as you approach it correctly. So far I've had Turkish last Sunday, Greek last night, Indian tonight, and will enjoy Japanese on Thursday night and Italian on Friday night. I don't expect a loss this week, but I don't expect a gain either. This I can live with..and hope to for years to come.

I thought this would be a good idea! I already keep a journal, just for myself. But maybe this would be informative for someone else. I am 41 yrs old, housewife, mother, massage therapist. I have been on the weight roller coaster for many years now, ever since I got married at age 21, which will be 19 years this July! I gain, I lose, I gain back...usually more than I lost, but not always. Over the years my "top weight" had gradually increased. Eventually I went up to 260. I was miserable. I wanted to go to massage school. I worked hard again, and dropped 65 lbs by the time school started(thanks to Quick Weight Loss Center). I maintained well through school, being busy helps! But during my internship, which was spotty as far as time, I started gaining again. By the time I had my license and was out working, I had gained 30 lbs! I was barely hanging on until I got very sick. I got walking pnuemonia, which set me back. I also gained a lot of weight. Then I was in a car accident, hurt my leg real bad. More set backs, more weight. Got sick again with the pneumonia and several bouts of bronchitis. More weight, less motivation, less physical strenth. It went up from there, finally topping out at my most recent highest ever-- 293.5!! . So then I had the mentality of "Why fight the battle when I am going to lose the war? What incintive do I have?" Just get used to being fat, and eat what you want. Why bother? Ok, fine... but.. being at that weight was ruining my life. I was only operating at 50%. I did not have the energy or motivation to go out and find work (self-employed). This hurt my relationship with my DH. He wants me to work and bring in $$, especially after all the $$ I spent in school and CEU courses afterwards (I had 52 CEU hours in my first year of license, I was a real go getter at first, before I gained the weight). I also had several other things be affected... my sex life (almost non-existant), I could not run and play with kids, I was too embarassed to go swimming with the family and would sit out. I used to ride horses all the time, my life passion! Nothing occupied my mind more over the many many years more than horses! Now I was too fat to ride. I would have to ride a draft horse! Even when I did ride a horse that could handle my weight, I felt too unbalanced, unsafe. If the horse was to take a quick turn, being spooked or something, I would come off, hit the ground HARD! I ride on streets. Asphalt is NOT forgiving! I stopped riding when I was about 260. I wound up driving miniature horses. They can pull me in a cart just fine down the street! So I have been doing that for a couple years now. However, if there was to ever be an emergency, and I needed to hop out of the cart... good luck with that! My weight prohibits me to act fast and quickly, safely. So I got scared about that, and eventually quit driving as well. And of course, there is the usual depression. I started hating myself, hating any skinny woman I saw, hating that even at Walmart I was having trouble finding the size I needed.. XXX. I had to go to specialty stores. Myfeet gave me major problems, which lamed me up more. At one time I was borderline diabetic, according to my doc. I started to explore differnt ways to get rid of this weight more permanetly. I came across the LAP-BAND®®®®. I ray of hope entered my life! Could this be the magic bullet? I have used tools in the past to lose weight, like the Metabolife, Weight Watchers, QWLC, etc. The support and help I got from these really helped! I needed soemthing like that again, but something stronger, something that would stay with me always. A constant motivator. The Band seems to be it. I had to give it a try. The big things that were holding me back to get it was money, and pursuading DH to let me get surgery. He is very protective of me and highly values me. Dosn't want to lose me to some complication and be left raising my now 2 kids alone. My insurance would not pay for it. I dropped that insurance and got another that the sales guy told me they would do it. I let almost a year go by, and then I tried to do it. They would not, he lied to me! Luckily I had gotten some inheritance from my grandmother this past year. Now was my chance! I decided I could pay cash for half, and Care Credit the other half. Now DH had to be convinced. By this point, he realized I am so affected by the weight, something has to be done, so he finally agreed after I educated myself and him about the whole thing, and the risks. I met once again with True Results (I I talked with them a year ago when I was first intersted). On the scale I was 293.5. I commited to doing it. I came in for the pre-op talk with the surgeon. I had already dropped about 10 lbs, because I was now determined I was going to do this one last time, and was eating better. He told me about the pre-op diet. I had 3 weeks before surgery. I was very faithful to the diet and had no regrets or strayed from it. Once I set my mind on something I want, I go get it! I just had to mentally prepare myself for this battle and war, once again, hopefully for the final time. Itwas working! Ilost a total of 30 lbs by surgry day.. April 14th 2010. I was already feeling better and stronger. I started working out again at Curves (I had a membership that I had carried for a year without going!!) Then the big day arrived! I did not think I was nervous. but apparently I was. That morning I felt shaky, and a bit light headed, some nauseousness. I thought I was sick, and would not be able to go! But then I figured out it was nerves! I settled down a few hours later. I took the kids to school, came back, and showered with the special soap they required. I was there by 9:30am. The hardest part was not drinking! My mouth was very dry. I would take baby sips of water, just enough to wet my mouth. I filled out papers, gave a pee sample (to prove I was not pregnant), got the IV in, the Heprin shot, the wonderful gown on, all that. Then I said goodbye to DH. I woke up in the recovery room. Very woozy, and sore. They had me get up and get my clothes on, quite a chore! Then they got me inot the xray room and swallow barium. The xray showed that the band was too tight, nothing going through! So I had to lie on a table while they pushed around on me (OUCH!) to find the port. Then I guess they took some out. Did the barium again, now it was fine. They finally got me into the car on to the house, DH driving. I was quite sick at my tummy by then, and dry heaved a few times (ouch!). I could not drink anything. DH called the nurse and they called in a prescription for a supository. He also got the liquid Vicodin. The Vicodin would not stay down. I just had to deal with the pain until the next day. I eventually felt better by nightfall. I just went to sleep. It wasn't the best night sleep, but it worked. Next morning I felt Ok for drinking something. I had a protiend shake, and some broth. Then I took some pain meds. They stayed down, but did not do any good. Call the nurse! She said to take liquid Motrin in between doses of Vicodin. Eventually that worked, by nightfall, the pain was getting less. I forced myself to walk around the house off and on. I took the Gas X. Next day I was walking around outside in the yard. Next day down the street to the stop sign and back, a couple of times! I was still quite sore. Rolling over at night in bed was painful too. I could only sleep on my right side for a while. Then I could tolerate my back. Now I am about to be able to sleep on my left, but it still pinches and hurts sometimes. Getting up from achair or bed was very painful too for a while. Now it is no big deal, just some minor pain (I am 8 days post-op today). My shouldr has started to hurt again. So that bugs me. Today though, has been my most painfree day! But 2 days ago, it was a bad day! I was hurrying out the door to take kids to school, now that I could drive again. I must have drunk my smoothie too fast, something. I got on the road and felt nauseous, weak, yucky. I started thinking about the surgery. Thinking about the pain i was experincing, and how I was stuck with this thing inside me, unless I got another operation. I do not know if I somehow psyched myself into feling like this, or what. I tried to think of other things. After dropping the kids off, I hurried home (2o minute drive). the feelings of sickness got worse! I really thought I would have to pull over and either puke or call for help. I was really scared. I did not know what was going on!:sad: It was a real mental battle for me to get home OK. Then I ran to the bathroom. I never threw up, but I did have loose bowels. I took a supository and went to bed. Two hours later I was OK. I was weak, but not sick at my stomach. I took it easy the rest of that day and the next. I was worried the next day if I would start feeling like that again. I did not drink a smoothie before leaving. I just took water with me. I was OK, just drained. Now today I feel great!:wink2: Better than ever! I also got to start soft foods, like soup, and yogurt smoothies! That has also helped the stomach rumblings I sometimes have, hunger pains! I was not really hungry, but my stomach said it was ! That feeling of your stomach turning in on itself, growling, squiching around! Not fun! Anyway, I am glad I have done this, so far. It has been a bit more of a recovery than I was thinking it would be, unexpected pain, soreness, etc. But I have been assured by many that this too... will pass... and be a memory. So I hold onto that and continue to follow instructions closely and try to not over do anything. This is a good excuse to pamper myself and take the time I need to heal properly. Until next time my friend!!:smile2: ps.. my goal is 170!:wink2:

Welcome! I also had to do the 6mo program for my insurance. I had my doctor/surgeon appt, psych, and dietician all in the same day since the surgeon is 1 1/2 hrs away from me. That was done and out of way the end of Aug. My 6 months was just up last week so I'm waiting for ins approval.I love this forum and have learned tons!! Hoope all goes well for you! Good luck!

In case anyone has questions about traveling & eating with the band I wanted to simply share my latest trip. 4 weeks after surgery I went to Thailand. I had already progressed to normal food (my doctor however wants us to avoid starches, rice, Pasta, potatoes, cereals, breads - etc for up to 6 months). However, it's Thailand and while there's lots of grilled meats & fish - there is a LOT of rice! Yes, I ate rice. No, I didn't have any problems with it. I did talk to my doctor about the trip - we decided that it would be OK to eat what I could. I would then focus on a "proper diet" when i got back. I packed some Protein shakes & protein snack chews in case i had any trouble with the food (ended up throwing eveything out 1/2 way through the trip to make room for things I purchased instead!) In the 2nd week of the trip (5 weeks post-op) I was able to eat more and more. It was interesting in that it was very inconsistent. Some meals I'd eat a cup or more of food. Others I'd be stuffed after 1 or 2 chicken or pork satays (about 2 ounces). Overall I know I ate too much as I seemed to be full too frequently. I think it's pretty normal that as our stomachs heal we may be able to 'handle' more food than we should. Afterall, it's the band and we have to work on our diet more than with some other WLS. I don't think I lost any weight on the 2 week trip (hard to tell as travel always bloats me & it's now that time of the month). My clothing is definitely looser though. Overall, my energy level was fine the entire time. I have my first fill on Thursday so looking forward to continuing this journey.

Hello, my name is Holly and I have finally started my journey today! I had my first surgical consult on 2/20 but it seems official today after all of my radiology tests. Today I had my chest x-ray, upper GI series, abdominal and pelvic ultrasounds! I feel like I should be done but this is only the beginning. I scheduled all of my tests rather quickly as my surgeon suggested. Do most people just get all of their consults and tests out of the way? I still have all of my consults to do, psych and pulmonary consults are at the end of the week and the rest are in the month of March. In order to obtain approval from my insurance company I need to have 6 months of appointments with my Dr. in addtion to the consults and tests so I'm hoping to have my surgery in July or August, can't wait! I'm glad I found this forum, it seems like a great place for any questions I may have along the way.

Well, it all just sucks right now. The third week is one of the hardest. Ok, so it sucks. You have two choices--do nothing, do something. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get determined. You got this. You can do it. Remember, you still have all of those hormones running around....bound to make you feel discouraged.

been on Zoloft since 2008 and while I had some weight gain it was not the cause of all of the gain.. I am still on it, and losing fine.. 58ish lbs in 6 weeks. If it works for you don't change it. It was very hard to find something that worked for me.. I was also on welbutrin but have stopped taking it because depression isn't an issue right now. Zoloft I take for anxiety and it takes the edge off so well for me I don't want to stop taking it just yet.

How did everyone's eating plans go? I did not have the day off so I didn't go to any picnics or BBQs...I did, however, have a craving for BBQ and stopped by a BBQ restaurant to pick up a to-go meal. Of course, I will be eating it the rest of this week. I am only about 3 weeks out, so maybe I shouldn't even have had this mini-meal at all..I had a grilled chicken leg (no skin), about a teaspoon of sauce, and about three bites each of green beans and baked beans...here is a pic (this is on a saucer so it looks like more than it was)...I was actually surprised I was able to eat that much, and it's kind of scary..I am full, though, from it...what do y'all think?

I was just switched to a 3-11:30pm shift for three months. I am an animal control officer and drive around all night. I take my lunch and snacks with me, but find myself eating all night long it seems. When I was on days I ate about every 2 hours and i would stop eating around 8-9pm. Now I feel like I want to eat something every hour. I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then snacks. When I get home at midnight I eat something to make sure there is something in my stomach to take meds. I am wondering if there are others out there that are on the evening shifts and when do you eat. I am a year post op and have met my weight loss goals. At this point I am trying to maintain.

I was thinking Lap Band when I went for my first visit with my surgeon. After he went over three options with me. Sleeve, Lap Band, Gastric. We decided on the Sleeve and I could not be happier with my choice.. He said he hardly does any more Lap Band's and the Sleeve was a good option for me. Its been 8 weeks, and I have not had one issue.. Good Luck on your Surgery, you will do great..

I'm 6 weeks post op and have generally been tolerating things well however I have had a tendency to get things stuck. In the past 48 hours anything starchy I eat is coming back up. I have been able to keep a few meals down and all liquids stay down. I do tend not to wait a full half hour before I eat to stop drinking and I have used straws. I know I need to stop. If anyone has any experience with getting stuck or throwing up I'd like to hear it. I know this is all a learning process. I'm seeing the doctor on Thursday to discuss having my first fill and right now I'm wondering if I could tolerate my band being smaller considering I'm getting stuck and such as is...

Hi everyone. Well I am 10 days post op and I have struggled a little with the pain and the trauma this operation had on my body. I took a week off annual leave and ended up taking a few extra days off (sick leave ) as I really did underestimate the recovery time and trauma this op has had on my body. I'm 29 year old female and I have had 2 kids naturally with no pain relief so I guess you can say i have a high pain threshold and I'm not just being a sooky la la.. Lol I was feeling ok I guess you could say today and I went for a short walk at the plaza. After returning home, out of nowhere this pain hit me on the left side like nothing else! This is on the left scar (the biggest of them all). It was like a pinching and pulling feeling like I was being stabbed from the inside out! When I hunch over it goes away.. Same when I lay down or sit. It's like it never happened. I stand up and it slightly comes back then it's there again! I started to get scared and called my GF who had the band done 1 1/2 yrs ago by the same dr as me. She knew exactly what I was talking about and said the exact same thing happened to her but only once. It went away for her over night but it was one of the worst pains she ever had and yelped so loud her husband freaked out! Are any of you guys having or had the same pain/feeling? If so what did you do about it? How long did it take to go away Do you have any tips or suggestions for me how to cope Does anyone know what it is or what is happening to cause this pain? It's not as bad now as it was a few hrs ago so hopefully this will only get better from here. I would love anyone to comment if they know anything about this or have experienced anything like it Xx

I think I've had that pain you mentioned. For me it is the port. It was the most pain I had from the surgery. It hurts back when I reach for something, cough, sneeze, blow my nose, etc. I had to wear an abdominal splint for months. Got it at the pharmacy. It really saved me. I'm 8 months post op and still have pain there. My doctor told me he doesn't know why but he could inject anesthetic and some steroid to settle the inflammation. I haven't had that done yet. I find that each week the pain lessens. I hope one day it will be gone!! If I get sick and have to cough, I will definitely go for the anesthetic!

Yes, all of that is normal. I am 5 weeks out and it is still a bit hard there. Depending on how heavy you were, you may or may not feel your port. It is nothing to be concerned about as long as there is no rash or drainage coming from the incision, you shouldn't worry.

Thanks it makes me feel better to know I'm not alone. I will try my best to stop the moment I feel I may be getting stuck and be sure to take tinier bites and chew more. I'll be seeing my surgeon next week to discuss further. I'm still unfilled.