hey girls, I have been seeing several posts from people who were banded late July, I was banded July 30th and some of you are having a tough time or just seem like you need someone to talk to. It seems like we are all going through the same thing so I am not sure if this will work but starting a thread for us to talk about how we feel, what we are doing and what worked for us. Right now, I am still in discomfort, it comes and go's throughout the day, I had a rough morning but just woke up from a nap and feeling better. I have alot of gas pain today and having a hard time getting down my liquids and protein. I am starting to get hungry today as well and already tired of soup and protein drinks. I feel like if I just had something more with substance It would be better but than again I dont want the pain that will come with it when I still have issues with liquids. I am trying to give it time cause I know it will be better in a week or 2 or maybe even a couple more days. I did take a walk up the block this morning and drank some broth but after that I felt bad and got alot of pressure and gas pain so Im still trying to figure out what the heck Im doing here!! Alright ladies ( and gentlemen) just thought it might help to start here....

Hi!

I was banaded July 14th. My port incision is still sore and I still have gas pains in my left shoulder from time to time. I went back to work after 12 days and I wished I had another week at home but I survivaed.

I'm feeling more like myself now and I'm walking every day.

I saw my doc on yesterday and was informent that I already have 4cc in my band.

We I feel full I stop eating, this is my first week on pureed foods. I've prepared or bought regualr foods and chewed alot and took small bites.

My doc said that was the best advice he could give me was to take small bites and chew while. He said if you take a regular bite or large bite and chew good it is still a large amount of food to pass through the band.

Every day gets better...

I have to change my username...My name is actually Klisa, but my email addy has always been 'lisa with a k' (get it?). People understandably keep calling me Lisa and I keep thinking they are talking to someone else. Duhh...I just put in a request to change my username so I stop getting myself confused! :blushing:

My whole family knows (aunties, cousins, etc.), and my closest friends know, but I haven't told all of my co-workers and extended friends. I mentioned it to someone during a conf call (they were inquiring about me being out for surgery and hoping everything was OK and I'm not the best liar so I told the truth) and I could tell by their response that they didn't really know what to think about someone purposely doing this to themselves. It's my assumption that people who have never had a weight problem themselves or been really close to someone who has had one would never understand why we wouldn't just shut our mouths and stop eating so much. I wish I was one of those people who could do that! My hubs has the will of steel and I am often envious of that. That's just not my strength though!

The glued incisions remind me of the cheesy Halloween wounds that you buy and put on your forehead or wherever. I always thought they looked so fake, but now my incisions look just like them! Ha!

I made my Hubs dinner again tonight...crisp, green salad, mac n cheese (going for easy) and a filet mignon. I thought I was going to die cooking the steak. I always freeze them in 2's so I actually cooked 2 of them, though one was tiny. I took about 3 bites of the steak, just enjoying chewing/tasting them but then spit each of them out rather than swallowing them. Kinda gross, I know, but it got the 'need to chew' out of my system, gave me a bit of the steak flavor & my dogs enjoyed the leftovers (I know, once again, gross). :cool2: I left my hubs to eat alone and I worked for a bit and then when he was done I heated up some of my soup.

Just think, y'all! We've made it through another day! Whooowhooooo!

hey all

i was banded on July 28 and i feel good except for the pain on the left side. i have been taking demerol when i need to get up and do things as the pain gets to me.

I am on liquids now and mushroom soup never tasted so good. My problem is I dont want to get up as i have no pain when laying down so i prefer to stay in bed.

My surgery was 3000 miles away from home so i had a 4 hour flight about 20 hrs after surgery. I hardly remember it as they gave me a good shot of demorol before i left hospital. I started working the day after surgery. I am lucky that i work at home so i just lay in bed with my laptop lol

i am actually doing that right now lol

Anyway, i hope everyone keeps the faith as I think this is a great tool and is exactly what i needed to lose my wieght.

xo Debbie

I was banded July 7th, so a little bit earlier than the rest of you. Today is 4 weeks out for me and I am getting a little better emotionally. It was really tough at first and I did cry...sometimes alot!!! I was and still am mourning the loss of food. It was what I turned to when I was sad or happy and it made me feel so good!! The bad thing is during this hard time I can't turn to food. I am completely addicted to it and until I can overcome that it will continue to be something that I struggle with. Other than all that I feel really good. I still get hungry and I can't wait for my first fill on September 8th. I am getting it later than normal, because I go on a 2 week cruise this month and they didn't want to fill me before I left because they weren't sure how I would tolerate it. Otehr than that I am so glad I found this site and I am looking forward to hearing about everyone's journey!!!

I was banded on 7/22. I felt fine after the surgery, went home about 2 hours after I woke up. I got home and the gas in my shoulder about killed me. I injured that same should about 2 years ago and now all of that pain has come back. My largest incision has been hurting and itching for the last couple of days and I'm not sure if thats a cause for concern or not. I am having a really hard time with the liquids. I have never drank alot so this in really a challenge for me. My family LOVES to eat really good meals and have always depended on me to make them and now everyone in my house is miserable, because if I have to eat Soup EVERYBODY has to eat soup. I got hungry around day 8 and just wanted some chicken! It has been hard to make so many lifestyle changes and I'm not sure that I was ready. I am an emotional eater and have been going thru some things with my husband and its hard to not be able to turn to food to make myself feel better. I started back exercising on day 4 and by day 9 I had lost 10 pounds since surgery!! I was so excited until for the last 3 days I haven't lost any.... What's up with that? I'm taking in probably 400 calories a day and doing 2 miles on the treadmil a day. I'm confused and it makes me want to give up already. I am so happy to have this site to give me some encouragement!! Good luck to everyone.

If your not eating enough cals to stay out of Starvation mode and get enough Protein at least 60 - 70 grams/day to maintain muscle mass ( and keep your hair BTW) you are not losing fat but mostly Water and muscle. The average woman needs 1000-1200 cals/day to keep your body from thinking its starving and slowing down your metabolizem. Do some research, that is the facts.

I do feel your pain, only banded the 15th myself. gets lots better for pain and eating after 2 weeks for sure. Pretty much back to normal except for the hungry part. No fill till I hit 6 weeks so am planning on a LLLLOOOONNNGGG August.

dman

So glad to see so many posts! I had a rough day yesterday all day had bad gas pains and sharp pains in my chest barly got anything down yesterday but today, day 5, I am feeling much better,however, have not eat or drank much of anything but water yet. I know thats bad but Im so tired of feeling crappy. Today the hunger is starting the first real hunger Iv had and If I see one more popey's or KFC commercial Im gonna break the TV!!! everywhere I look there is food. One poster talked about her turn to food and I realized today how much food was a comfort to me. I liked to eat and sit in front the tv and eat and I liked hving the option of running through a drive through and getting what I wanted. now I dont have a choice I really cant eat any of that..or my chest might explode and i kinda got 'scared' to the fact that when I dieted in the past I always knew I could eat that if I really wanted but now I really cant..so just wierd feeling today..realizing how much i liked to eat..not rocket science I guess:) im sitting here trying to eat some yogurt and after 2-3 bites I already have that pressure and pain through my chest an shoulder...I would think I could at least eat and drink some by now without pain after a few sips or bite!!

Isn't it funny just HOW different the instructions are from different docs? I was told that they were going to do my first fill at 3 wks...some people are waiting so much longer...6 wks, etc. (aside from the lucky person going on the cruise, I wonder what the docs' differences in opinion on when to get the first fill are due to?)

I'm kinda bummed that I am supposed to get my 1st fill after 3 wks because that's just when I would be introducing solids again. I suppose the 3 wks can be pushed out based on when an appt in my area is available (does anyone else's docs seem to do a circus circuit, travelling all over?)...but then I guess it would be good in a way because it won't give me much of an opportunity to go hog wild before I'm heavily restricted again.

Today is the roughest for me so far. I woke up headachey and not wanting to bother with another dang Protein shake. I made myself one...a larger one so that it has 40 g of protein...I wanna get the 'pressure' to get in the protein over with earlier in the day so I don't have to think about it later. The Water is much more appealling to me though.

All in all, the first 1/2 of the day is way easier than the last part. The latter part of the day would be when work is done, I'm starting to make dinner for myself and the hubs and then we get to enjoy it together in front of a favorite show. I loved that. Obviously I can still make him dinner, but it's not near as much fun when I don't have a full plate of delicious food vs him having one and me having...soup...again. But alas, we will make it through this period...Think about how quickly time goes...Heck, we're well over half way through 2010 already...The next few weeks will soon be a dim memory...a 'remember when that sucked so bad?!' thought.

I remember when I got my braces when I was about 36...Thinking about how horrid it was (I had to have a tongue guard so I talked like Elmer Fudd forever)...and now they are off and I am so happy that I have nice teeth that I'm not so ashamed of (mine were truly monsterous)...In retrospect the time went so quick...but in the beginning it was hard...All things 'worth it' are hard for a while. Just makes us appreciate it all the more later.

We can be proud of ourselves later...That we DID this...That it sucked at times, but we DID IT. We'll be healthier & happier in the end...

And our asses will look better in jeans.

I was banded July 19th and im hungry HAHA If we all keep the end result in our minds then we will make it with a breeze (easier said than done) Good luck to you all :tongue2:

I was banded July 29th and feel lucky that I haven't had much pain or discomfort. Even right after surgery in recovery I felt pretty good and only agreed to pain medicine when they moved me to the outpatient recovery area and for the 1 hr ride home. The worse part for me that I have no energy. I took the dog for a walk around the block and then needed a 2 hr nap to recover.

Like most of you I'm also getting pretty tired of just liquids, but have been glad that I can also have yogurt (without any chunks). I just want something to chew - I try to trick myself by using a spoon for just about everything except juice. It also helps me to take smaller portions at a time, because I tend to gulp instead of sip when drinking.

This is a great post! I was banded 7/26 and went back to work this past Monday. I feel no pain at all and can actually sleep on either side, which is a small victory after last week. My incisions were glued and look like they are trying to heal.

I am hungry and sooooooo over these damn Protein shakes and Soups. I need some tuna, mashed potatoes, fish...I could go on for days...needless to say I can't wait for the mushies to start this weekend.

The best part of my first week after the surgery was the fake restriction better known as swelling but I suppose my swelling has gone down because I am ready to eat some REAL food.

Good to know I am not hungry alone.

I told my nurse i was starving and she suggest more protein drinks in between meals BLECH Seriously she could have said try having a piece of coconut creme pie in between meals LMAO This hunger wont be so bad after our 1st fill im sure

Lol@ Tracie.

The funny thing is that I swear the food stages are mind games to make us appreciate food because I would go bananas for a peice of chicken and some veggies right about now. I don't even want junk food...

The chicken stage is where i am and honestly that is the best meal of the day.

My whole family knows (aunties, cousins, etc.), and my closest friends know, but I haven't told all of my co-workers and extended friends. I mentioned it to someone during a conf call (they were inquiring about me being out for surgery and hoping everything was OK and I'm not the best liar so I told the truth) and I could tell by their response that they didn't really know what to think about someone purposely doing this to themselves. It's my assumption that people who have never had a weight problem themselves or been really close to someone who has had one would never understand why we wouldn't just shut our mouths and stop eating so much. I wish I was one of those people who could do that! My hubs has the will of steel and I am often envious of that. That's just not my strength though!

I have similar problem, when someone I dont really care to explain to tell them I have been banded I just tell them I had an "abdominal" surgery and most of the time they assume it was for a hernia, I dont correct them and let them think it. works good for when I have to tell them I cant lift something too, they just think its the hernia thing.

You are correct about the overweight thing, being addicted to food and explaining it to someone that has never been overweight. I rarely even try.

kinda like explaining to us guys what it is like to have a baby we just dont get it! Sorry ladies that is just the way it is.

dman

I was banded on Thursday, July 22nd. That first day I was in some pain but even by that evening I was starting to feel a little better. Mine was a required overnight stay, which I was grateful for as I don't think I was ready to go home until the next day. The first couple of days were hard. I cried a few times. It was hard to even get water down, let alone the 4 ounces of soup broth. But then after a few days it got easier and by like day 5 I was actually starting to feel hungry. My stomach was growling so much it hurt so day 6 I went ahead and started week 2, which was grits, oatmeal, yogurt, etc. The grits were like heaven! Even though I could only eat a little at a time it was so nice to eat something that tasted good and I was also happy that I was actually hungry. I ate grits and oatmeal for a few days with a couple of protein shakes here and there. Then I decided to go ahead and "graduate" myself to mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs. Yippee! I was actually eating! But after 2 days of mashed potatoes I decided they really weren't helping me to lose weight, nor providing the protein that I needed. So I moved up to cottage cheese, even though that was a week 3 food and I was still only a couple of days in to week 2, I went ahead because I wanted to eat protein rich foods so I could stop drinking protein shakes as they were grossing me out and I was having to force them down. The cottage cheese went well so this past weekend I decided to add tuna salad and crackers. I am such a rebel! But those went fine. I am always very careful to take very small bites and watch the clock and take 2 minutes between bites and that seems to really help. The water has been easier and easier to drink, I think I am finally up to getting around the 64 ounces in each day. I had lost a total of 15 pounds from the 3 day pre op liquid diet and not eating after surgery, but now I have gained 4 of those pounds back. Which is crazy to me since I eat no more than 6 ounces of food at a time and I really do only eat 3 times a day. Yesterday I had one scrambled egg and some grits for breakfast, I know it was a little more than I will be able to eat once I get filled, but still way less than what I used to eat. Plus, I drink nothing but water. Lots and lots of water. For some reason the more I drink water, the more I crave it. (I never used to drink water, only soda and tea) But I know once I get my fill, hopefully the weight will start coming off more quickly. I went back to work 6 days after the surgery and I can say that right now I feel great. No complications (knock on wood) and things seem to be progressing on the food chart quite nicely. This weekend I am going to eat some lobster and crab legs. I can't wait! So there is light at the end of the tunnel ladies! Don't get discouraged. It will be here before you know it. Good luck to all of us that decided to take this journey!