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Hi All, I had my first fill yesterday, and my dr did it under an xray, and immediately I felt full without eating. Unfortunately later on I got a headache, because I didn't eat and eventually started to vomit. The weirdest thing was that I was "HEAVING" and nothing came up, until about the 4th heave, where very little fluid came out. It was a bit scary. Today is a bit better, and I am not eating as much, but am scheduled to go back for my 2nd fill in 3 weeks. Just a question.. Is the first fill normally where you would feel fully restricted, or does it take about 2 or 3 fills? Also, my doctor instructed me that mere walking was not enough, that I had to get on a "TREAD MILL" to maximize the weight loss. My surgery was on 1.23.07, so I guess I should get started. I did Join the gym and am scheduled to start tomorrow, at an attempt to do 3 days a week. Any advice on starting out on the fills? I am just so anxious to see some true weight loss I don't know what to do!:help:

I was also on that preop. I had 2-3 sausage links in the morning and for lunch it ranged from lunch meat rolled in sliced Colby jack to a BLT minus the bread (used iceburg lettuce as the bread). dinner was mostly chicken grilled with green Beans, spinach or salad with very little dressing. I still eat that way for the most part. Most of my weight loss this far (~22lbs @8wks) happened in the two weeks preop an the two weeks post op. Hope this helps! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I'm in law enforcement and was recently banded. After 6 weeks post-op, I'll be considered "fit" for duty. A band should not impede you from entering law enforcement provided you meet height/weight requirements (which I did when I was hired - I gained a large amount of my excess weight after a nasty injury).

A little history: I have been having "stomach" problems (constipation, diarrhea, stomach/back cramps) since the middle of August. I have had a full GI work up (EGD, colonoscopy & small bowel follow through) and my GI tract is perfectly normal/healthy, with the exception of a med. sized hiatal hernia that is being repaired during my banding surgery. My PCP and Gastro. Dr. feel it is female related. I saw my Gyn. today. He suspects endometriosis and I'm scheduled for a laparoscopy on Nov. 19th. My band surgery is scheduled for Nov. 2nd. Should I wait on the band surgery and hernia repair? It stinks because my hernia is quite the little devil and gives me trouble at least a couple times a week and I was really looking forward to getting that thing taken care of. I just wanted to see what most people thought. Thanks for any feedback!!

I agree stress can cause it to be tight one day, or if you are really bloated, or perhaps you irritated it with something you ate previously. I was feeling that last week quite a bit and feeling like I may need another unfill. I also noticed I was having a lot of sinus issues and an ear infection. Now that the sinus and ear pressure passed, my band seems to like me again. Glad you are taking it easy and it passed.

I was just banded 2/7 at Orange Coast Memorial Hospital, Dr. LaPorte's practice, but Dr. Ali specifically. All ok so far but only have lost 3 or so lbs so far. How about you? Robin, Mission Viejo

I've been on atkins for 2 weeks. Surgery is tomorrow. For 2 days, I've really wanted a Dr Pepper. I don't usually drink sodas but for some reason, that's all I want. I just found out that Diet has NO carbs!!! So freakin excited!!! Since sodas aren't really possible with the band, this totally made my day =) LOL

Just as you can see from the above posts, everyone is different and every doctor is different in their instructions post-op. My doctor, specifically, said to sip slowly (only 1 ounce every 5 minutes). As I've gotten further into my post-op phase, I have been able to drink much faster (faster than my doctor requires) and I haven't had any problems. I don't do large gulps of Water, however, but I will take several sips at a time without hesitation. The only time I have slowed down (besides my initial post-op weeks) was after my first fill because of swelling. I've heard that drinking to fast can actually cause the pouch to stretch; but, just as everyone says, liquids pass right through the band, so who knows. Play around with it and see what you're comfortable with!

I am scheduled for sept 3rd. So excited. Been changing my diet for the past two weeks so pre op diet didn't shock my system so drastically . I started eating slowly and stopped drinking beverages during meals. I have to say not drinking water or vitamin water zero was harder than I expected. Thank god I stopped drinking pop a year ago. I am officially suppose to start preop on tues but have just decided to start a day early for ease of my routine for work. I've already lost seven pounds pre- pre op. it's been great to hear everyone's experiences. Good luck all

Oh yes!!! The last meal.......to be honest, now I can't even remember what it was. I kept getting a low grade fever(due to sinuses allergies weeks before) and went off my pre-op diet because I thought they would not do my surgery. :ohmy:I then got another letter from my PCP saying I was fine. So I was back to the pre-op diet. Although, there were no amount of pounds that I was required to lose. You have a great attitude. I am sure you will be fine and reach your goal. :blushing:

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Hi thats great i also was on a cruise 2 weeks ago but i put on 2lb and i thought i did well [lol] but i lost it again last week, well done you

Please forgive me if this is already a topic in another forum. I couldn't find any information on it. I can barely get any food down until mid-afternoon, and even then it's not really substantial (a couple of bites maybe). I know that it's important to start eating early in the day, and throughout the day, so that I'm burning calories as I take them in. By the end of the day though, I'm really hungry and I'm trying to cram in 2-3 small meals. Any suggestions?

Went into hospital at 8:30 am and sat and waited until almost 1pm when they brought me into the OR. I had zero nerves or worries, just ready to get in there. After surgery I was OUT of it. Nurses or whoever told me when I was in my room they would not give me pain meds if I was going to sleep as the pain could not be that bad if I was able to sleep through it. I was so out of it I didn't care at that point. Woke up a few hours later with the worst abdominal pain ever and was ready to kill the pain med lady. She seemed to take here time getting to me... The next few hours went by and every time a nurse asked if I needed pain meds I told her to fill it up. I wasn't going to pass again and deal with what I did earlier. Pretty much slept on and off until about noon the next day. I had a lot of abdominal pain (gas) and nausea. Did not vomit at all but it sucked holding it back. I did not want to know what the belly pain would feel like hacking anything up. I had a lot of phlegm so coughing that up was bad enough. Did my swallow test and that went well other than the taste of the liquid. Started sipping water and broth and that also went well. Walked as often as I could when I was awake. Had my last dose of pain meds friday around noon. Nurse offered one last shot but told me I would have to wait an extra hour before discharge if I did, I passed. Did get a shot of the nausea meds though. Got home after 7pm Friday evening and pretty much sat on the sofa and fell asleep. Woke around midnight with nausea and gas pains but just went up to my bed. I had an old foam cushion that I cut to sit on an angle and put my pillows on that so I was almost in a seated position while sleeping. Woke at 4am with the same nausea and gas pains and was kind of out of it. So I just sat in silence and tried sipping my water and clear protein. Took until about noon for the nausea to subside but the gas pains were still there. I did figure out that If i stretched my neck looking straight up and breathed deeply in and out while having the gas pain it would sometimes release in a burp or just air bubble escaping. That works wonders and I've been doing it since. They sent me home with liquid Tylenol with codeine and I took a dose of that late evening just because of the belly soreness and sore back, hip and knee joints. Was just enough to take the edge off. Got down about 40g of protein and 60oz of liquids. I did way myself just to see and I was up 2lbs from surgery date, expected. So woke this morning and feel so much better. No nausea very little gas pain but still have to make sure to sip my liquids. Don't think I'm hungry as it just feels like belly soreness. Havn't had a meal since Wednesday morning. Joint pain has gotten less and belly soreness is lower. Already down 8oz of bone broth with protein which by the way tastes horrible. The most bland watered down taste ever and the clear protein drinks have the horrible fake sugar taste. But If that's the worse of my problems I'll take it. I see some of you are having protein shakes, is that part of the clear liquid diet or just approved on your program? It's not on my list of "ok's". Anyway, Thanks for listening/reading. Sorry for the super long post and BEST OF LUCK TO ALL ON THIS WONDERFUL JOURNEY!!!!!!!!

Do any of you go to support groups? I went to one last week and it was a "newbie" class (2 - 12 weeks post-op only). It was basically just questions and answers. The down side was that out of 24 patients there, only 2 were bandsters - the rest were gastric. I felt a little bad at first because the gastric people had lost such GINORMOUS amounts of weight already. But the leader reminded me that you cannot compare the 2 surgeries, and I knew that - but it was hard. They are supposed to start up a bandster group in the near future. I hope they do because I could definately see a difference in the questions being asked. Just wondering if anyone else goes to support groups and what they think of them.

Wooo Hooo Corgi!!!! -17 in 5 weeks???? I wouldnt say thats slow!!! Keep up the awesome job!

Yes, I went in for my op last fri and the nurse told me that once the restricted diet was over I would be starving as my band was not filled yet. As for lossing weight on the pre op and post op diet......... WEll, yeh, like I haven't eaten proberly in nearly 3 weeks. on clear fluids right now, the weight is dropping off me but I fully expect to put some on when I can eat more. I've not had the band fitted to loss 25 llbs a month I want steady eddie! that way it should hopefully stay off! Jx

Hi, I had the lapband put on on may 17th. I lost 9 lbs in the liquid only stage and now Im eating again and already I have gained back 3 lbs. I havent had a fill yet. but Im feeling depressed. I can eat like Ive always been able to eat. the only difference Ive found is that some foods are hard to get to go down, basically some meats. Is this normal. when do people start to feel full on small amounts of food? Im being careful not to drink with my food. I guess I was just hoping for no hunger! thanks, Julie:phanvan

I had my sleep study last night. They told me that I would have a split test. They would do the sleep first and then halfway through switch over and work on the mask. I did pick a mask. How ever the never did to the mask. They said that my numbers were below but that I had several issues. They were notsure if I needed a C-pap, V-pap or Bi-pap etc. Not really sure what all of it means. Will have to wait for the doctor. I have some questions for every one 1) How many people have been put on the diffeant type of Pap machines? 2) How long after surgery was it before you could be taken off and did you have to have another sleep study? How much weight did you loose before getting off of the machine. 3) Did any one have jaw surgery instead of using the machine? I have read some information about this and just wondering. Chris Pre Band St. Louis

Thought I'd share my miserable story of a lesson learned - I got my band in November of 06 and it took about 3-4 months for fills to start having an effect. Two weeks ago I had an adjustment to 6.5cc's - This seems to be my sweet spot. Went to Jackson Hole ( a great burger joint) in Bayside, Queens on Sunday, and kinda forgot about my band... HUGE mistake, as a chunk of burger got stuck... bad. I proceeded to PB in the restaurant bahroom twice, then on the ride home on the Clearview, TNB, 95 and the Hutch before the chunk got unstuck. What a horrible, horrible experience, but lesson learned. So far I've lost 70 pounds and feel great, but must re-concentrate on not just how much I eat, but what I'm eating. Well, that's my story... food for thought! :biggrin1: André

Starting phase two of liquid diet. I get to eat tomato soup and other cream soups today. I found butternut squash soup, low sodium tomato, and I made some thinned out pureed pinto beans, too. I can barely eat a cup of thinned out soup and I am full which I wasn't really expecting. I figured it would go right through. Next week: cream of wheat and soft scrambled eggs!

Hey! You're getting banded the same days as me. I also have a pre-op diet but it's only for 1 week, not two. I definitely get what you mean by emotions being all over the place. It's very exciting but defniitely nerve-wracking too. :thumbup:

How soon after surgery did you start running? I am only 5 weeks post op, but ran prior to surgery and am missing it. Hoping to be able to run soon.

So I have been speed walking three miles a day for the past few weeks. Today I decided to jog. It was not hard and I could do it just fine unlike before. HOWEVER my loose skin and the fat left in my stomach and thighs is bouncing so bad if feels like a weight pulling me down. Is there anything that you can recommend to stop this from happening? Thank you!

I have heard many times before in my pre-band diet life that you shouldn't eat under 1200 calories a day because it throws your body into "starvation" mode and you start storing all your calories. Now, I've seen a lot people on here eating quite a bit less, and most days I eat a lot less. However, I haven't really lost weight in the past few weeks. Should I be trying to get in more calories? I get all my protein in.