My name is Tammy, and I am 2 weeks post-op. I am a mother of six beautiful children and married for 15yrs. I had my surgery done on NOv. 3rd, 2010, by Dr. Johnson, who is here in my town. So far, Since my beginning, I've lost a total of 18 lbs.

YAY me.....LOL:thumbup:

My name is Tammy, and I am 2 weeks post-op. I am a mother of six beautiful children and married for 15yrs. I had my surgery done on NOv. 3rd, 2010, by Dr. Johnson, who is here in my town. So far, Since my beginning, I've lost a total of 18 lbs.

YAY me.....LOL:thumbup:

Congrats on your success so far! I wish you the best of luck on your journey. If you ever have any questions feel free to ask me. I've been banded for almost 4 years so I've learned a lot.:thumbup:

Best of luck Tammy. You are well on your way to a brand new banded life!

I was banded a few weeks before you - on 9/17/10. I had my first fill on 10/28 - 3cc in a 10cc band.

It's a whole new adventure once you start to eat regular food. Much more challenging, but certainly worth it. I've lost 24 lbs so far. Not as much as others but I am not complaining.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Maxi

Thank you, I will do that. I'm still having alot of problems with gas, and I don't know if its because i've already started eating some foods. Did you have this problem also?

Thank you, I will do that. I'm still having alot of problems with gas, and I don't know if its because i've already started eating some foods. Did you have this problem also?

Hi Tammy.

First off, congratulations on losing 17 lbs! That is awesome!

Yes, I did have gas issues but mine was mostly right after surgery. It lasted for several weeks, which means it still happened during your current period. I found that walking around, more than anything else, helped to relieve my gas. I tried Gas X strips because it was highly recommended by LBT but it did not relieve my gas as much as just walking around. I still have most of the strips left because I stopped taking them.

The gas does get to be less of an issue as I move further and further away from my 9/17 surgery. Some days I have no gas at all. My food related gas pain is not as strong as my pre-op gas pain. For instance, I did not have the pain in my shoulder with food but get it in my belly, which makes me feel gassy and full. Sometimes I even get loose stools associated with the gas. I hope I was not too graphic!

BTW I found out that I am lactose intolerant which accounts for a lot of my post-op gas pain, particularly when I have Protein shakes, which I make with fat free milk. Sometimes the lactase pills don't seem to help or I forget to take them in time and, hence, the gas pain and diarrhea!

Are you having gas that is as strong as your post-op gas? Is your similar to my type of food pain?

Let me know if you need anything else. It is so great that we can check on each other to make sure we are on track!

Maxi

Hi Tammy.

First off, congratulations on losing 17 lbs! That is awesome!

Yes, I did have gas issues but mine was mostly right after surgery. It lasted for several weeks, which means it still happened during your current period. I found that walking around, more than anything else, helped to relieve my gas. I tried Gas X strips because it was highly recommended by LBT but it did not relieve my gas as much as just walking around. I still have most of the strips left because I stopped taking them.

The gas does get to be less of an issue as I move further and further away from my 9/17 surgery. Some days I have no gas at all. My food related gas pain is not as strong as my pre-op gas pain. For instance, I did not have the pain in my shoulder with food but get it in my belly, which makes me feel gassy and full. Sometimes I even get loose stools associated with the gas. I hope I was not too graphic!

BTW I found out that I am lactose intolerant which accounts for a lot of my post-op gas pain, particularly when I have Protein shakes, which I make with fat free milk. Sometimes the lactase pills don't seem to help or I forget to take them in time and, hence, the gas pain and diarrhea!

Are you having gas that is as strong as your post-op gas? Is your similar to my type of food pain?

Let me know if you need anything else. It is so great that we can check on each other to make sure we are on track!

Maxi

Yes, I'm still having the gas in my shoulder as well as in my belly. I actually couldn't sleep in my bed for the first 6 days, cause the pain was so intense. My nurse told me to get out the recliner chair and just lay down, and I wish I would of done that, cause I really began to get relief from the gas....sorry hubby....LOL. I take the chewable gas x tablets, but like you said, sometimes it doesn't work as well.

I'm beginning to eat regular food now, and I sometimes feel like the food is getting stuck in my chest, so I have to wait it out, before I can continue to eat. Not drinking is the hardest part for me, taking a sip of something I feel will help, but it a big NO NO. I haven't had to drink any of the Protein drinks yet, but I know eventually I will.

One thing I do hate is the crushing of all my meds, I swear it sometimes takes all my might not to vomit, but its disgusting...how long will it be before I can get off these stupid pills?????

OK, enough for now, I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you...lol

TAmmy

Wooo Hoooo! I'm sched. for 11/18/10....Can't wait till I'm six weeks post op..lol....Keep up the good work!

Wooo Hoooo! I'm sched. for 11/18/10....Can't wait till I'm six weeks post op..lol....Keep up the good work!

Hi T Bone.

Congratulations on almost being a bandster. It will be here before you know it. Best of luck with your band journey.

Maxi

Yes, I'm still having the gas in my shoulder as well as in my belly. I actually couldn't sleep in my bed for the first 6 days, cause the pain was so intense. My nurse told me to get out the recliner chair and just lay down, and I wish I would of done that, cause I really began to get relief from the gas....sorry hubby....LOL. I take the chewable gas x tablets, but like you said, sometimes it doesn't work as well.

I'm beginning to eat regular food now, and I sometimes feel like the food is getting stuck in my chest, so I have to wait it out, before I can continue to eat. Not drinking is the hardest part for me, taking a sip of something I feel will help, but it a big NO NO. I haven't had to drink any of the Protein drinks yet, but I know eventually I will.

One thing I do hate is the crushing of all my meds, I swear it sometimes takes all my might not to vomit, but its disgusting...how long will it be before I can get off these stupid pills?????

OK, enough for now, I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you...lol

TAmmy

Hi Tammy.

Be mindful of how you are eating if the food feels like it is getting stuck in your throat a number of times. It probably means you are not cutting your food into small enough pieces and/or are not chewing properly and slowly enough before swallowing. When I first started to eat solid food, I had several episodes of food getting stuck, including one episode of "slimming". I did not throw up. When I get it, I stop eating and wait for the feeling to pass. I haven't really done anything else during any stuck episode except look like I'm in pain, while sitting at the dinner table.

I have to cut my food into really, really small pieces. Insanely small pieces! Then, I chew thoroughly and eat slowly between bites. Since I started to do this, I've had no more stuck food. I've even been able to eat steak using this method! I thought I would never be able to do that again! Once I get the meat small, I cut it again. I was surprised at how small my pieces need to be. It seems to have worked for me as long as I pay attention when I eat and make sure I follow these rules. I have not had an episode of "stuck food" since I started to do these things.

I hope you do not get a "slimming" experience with your "stuck food". It's not fun. Nor is the gas pain fun!

BTW I'm also surprised that I can swallow all of my pills without cutting or crushing them. My high cholesterol pill is flat but is a somewhat big pill and I can take that pill without cutting or crushing it. Just be careful the first time you try it. I bought chewable Vitamins since those pills come in very large sizes. I HATE the taste of crushed pills. Yuck!

I bought a pill splitting because split pills taste better than crushed pills. I needed it because my high bp pill, which is small anyway, was cut in half by my md as my blood pressure was low at my last md visit. It looks like my bp pill (a small one) will be the first one to go! I had lost about the amount of weight you lost (18 lbs) when I visited my md. I think it has more to do with our bmi than our weight. My bmi was about 33.6 at the time. My high cholesterol pill (which is big) was untouched by my md as my cholesterol blood value did not move with my weight loss! Go figure!

Maxi

Thank you for the suggestions....I will definitely try them out. I don't know if this matters or not, but I don't normally eat Breakfast, and as a matter of fact, i've not eatten any all week. I don't normally start to eat anything til around lunch time. Do you think this will effect my weight loss? I am just not hungry most mornings, and if I am, I just drink a cup of coffee, and i'm fine.

You take your pills whole????? They told me I had to crush all of my pills or take the liquid form. I'm waiting for the day, when they tell me, no more pills.....boy oh boy will I be happy:thumbup:. They get stuck in my teeth, under my tongue, and make me gag, even though, I crush them....YUK:cursing:

Thank you for the suggestions....I will definitely try them out. I don't know if this matters or not, but I don't normally eat breakfast, and as a matter of fact, i've not eatten any all week. I don't normally start to eat anything til around lunch time. Do you think this will effect my weight loss? I am just not hungry most mornings, and if I am, I just drink a cup of coffee, and i'm fine.

You take your pills whole????? They told me I had to crush all of my pills or take the liquid form. I'm waiting for the day, when they tell me, no more pills.....boy oh boy will I be happy:thumbup:. They get stuck in my teeth, under my tongue, and make me gag, even though, I crush them....YUK:cursing:

Hi Tammy.

My doctor told me the same thing as you were told - that any pill that was bigger than a tictac I must crush or take in liquid form once I get the band. My high bp pill is smaller than a tictac so I knew I would have no problem with that pill but my high cholesterol pill seems BIGGER than a tictac. It is not as big in width but seems bigger in length (diameter). I decided to try to take it whole to see what happens. Well, nothing happened - it went down! All this time I had been splitting it in 2 (tastes bad but not as bad as crushing it). I was able to swallow it whole without splitting it. Maybe this will change as I get more fill. But, in the meantime, I'm enjoying taking my pill whole.

Remember that I am not talking about massively big pills like vitamins. Those I take in a chewable form. But you can look up the size of my pill. I take simvastatin 40mg. See if your pill is around my pill's size. Simvastatin appears to be bigger than a tictac, although it is flat. Maybe being flat makes the difference?

I also don't always feel hungry at breakfast time either. Occasionally, I skip breakfast but I usually try to eat something, albeit something light. I always try to get some sort of protein in during every meal, which makes breakfast somewhat challenging for me. I've been having Arnold whole grain thin sandwiches (100 calories each) with 1 wedge of Laughing cow light garlic cheese spread (35 calories). It seems to hold me until lunch and I get 1 oz protein. I heard you may jeopardize losing weight if you skip breakfast altogether so I try to almost always have at least a small breakfast. I rarely have coffee anymore, particularly around mealtimes. I find it so hard to get in drinks around a meal since I can't dink less than 5 minute before eating and until 20 minutes after eating. By that time, I no longer want the coffee and the meal is over!

Let me know if your pill goes down OK if you try your pills whole. I also hate the taste of crushed pills. I had them when I was in the hospital. Yuck!

Maxi