Hello...was banded on 11/24...feel great and have gone back to work. Yesterday, while blending some chicken, I cheated and took a bite before blending. Today I just ate some grilled chicken and apples without blending. I feel like this is not supposed to happen. I expected to get sick but to my surprise...NOTHING!...

Has anyone had similar experiences?

Yes I did...After about a week I could eat (I think the swelling goes down for most people by then) and I have NO restriction till I get a fill (6 weeks post op)...Basically I'm on my own so I'm following Weight Watchers till I get my fill...I can eat anything and have a normal portion no problem...I could over eat if I don't be careful.

Hello...was banded on 11/24...feel great and have gone back to work. Yesterday, while blending some chicken, I cheated and took a bite before blending. Today I just ate some grilled chicken and apples without blending. I feel like this is not supposed to happen. I expected to get sick but to my surprise...NOTHING!...

Has anyone had similar experiences?

Thank you for the response....i guess that I just have to be strong for now...its about healing now, not necessarily about losing weight...right??

Good luck!

Hello...was banded on 11/24...feel great and have gone back to work. Yesterday, while blending some chicken, I cheated and took a bite before blending. Today I just ate some grilled chicken and apples without blending. I feel like this is not supposed to happen. I expected to get sick but to my surprise...NOTHING!...

Has anyone had similar experiences?

The point of doing the liquids for 2 weeks, mushies for 2 weeks, and then slowly back to solids is not because you can't physically eat solids until you've had your band for 4 weeks (your band has no saline...you could probably eat an entire pizza or a huge bowl of Pasta if you wanted), its because your stomach is still healing. So anytime you put any kind of food at all into your stomach, your stomach churns in order to aid the digestion process. As the band has just been placed around your stomach, the sutures are healing and that churning has the potential to loosen the sutures/disturb the scar tissue that is forming and help your band slip. The more solids you put in, the more churning it will do, and the more you are at risk for complications. Most people can eat the same as they did prior to banding after surgery, because there is no saline in the band (some doctors do put a small amount in at the time of surgery, but if yours didnt, there is nothing there). I would get back to your post op diet asap.

Just out of sheer curiosity, if you were expecting to get sick, why did you eat the chicken? I think I was beyond terrified of throwing up for the first 3 months, I didn't eat anything that would even have a tiny percent chance of making me sick. Just wondering...

I say follow the rules if you are already breaking the rules now what about a month from now? Or 6 months what will you be eating? The Doctors are not being mean but are helping you heal. You have all the time in the world later to eat what you want. What happen to will power?? Come on you can do it. You seem to lose the most during the first 6 to 8 months so no cheating.

Cheri

I did eat solids 2 weeks out, but was choosing soft foods like fish and soft cooked veggies. i noticed that soon thereafter i stopped losing weight. lately i seem to be gradually going down again. its tempting to be able to have good tasting food after a long stretch of liquids. i think there is a lot of good advice in the anwers above mine. I will go back and read them again.

Yes, I had the same issue. I was banded on 11/16/10 and I started eating solid foods three days ago. I have saw my surgeon yesterday (I don’t get my first fill until 12/17) and she said just try to stick with softer foods so my stomach can heal. So I have been eating a lot of eggs, tuna, baked fish, potatoes and soft vegetables along with the Protein shakes. So far everything has been great – no nausea or vomiting. I was also afraid of getting sick.

I know the one post asked “why would you eat something if you thought you might get sick?”

Well, in my opinion everything has the potential to make you feel sick post-op. Your diet changes, your body is changing and the way your body receives certain foods will change and just because I could tolerate certain foods pre-band doesn’t necessarily mean they will be tolerated post band. Part of the process is re-introducing foods into your diet in stages (just like a baby) and you won’t know if it will make you sick or not unless you try. So at some point, whether it is 2 weeks post-op or 3 months post-op you are going to be faced with the possibility that something you eat may not agree with you!!

Best of luck

I went in for my first post-op visit yesterday, 12/3 and got a clean bill of health. I spoke with the nutritiionist about my liquid diet and how I was ready to gnaw my arm off. She said that since I was doing so well I could graduate to pureed foods! That wasn't due for another week, so I was glad to hear that. Even with the pureed foods, I was very hesitant to eat - not wanting to cause any unnecessary harm to my stomach. I ate some tomato bisque - it was delicious!! Because it tasted so good (it was rich) I thought I'd get an upset stomach. Stomach churned for about 5 seconds, and then it stopped. I guess it was reacting to the change.

I really love coming to this site because you get so much insight from others (in a caring manner) and you also learn a lot about the do's and don'ts. You all have been wonderfully supportive to folks like me!!

I've also hear much conversation about getting (wanting, needing, gotta have) fills, I inquired about it at my visit, and it was explained very well to me that fills are not encouraged unless you are outside of the "green zone." If you get too many fills too soon, then much later or when your weight loss slows down and you really need the fills, you are nearly at your capacity, then what? That made a lot of sense to me. I will not be rushing my fills, especially knowing that right now, I'm still healing and should get through that process first. If I am doing all the right things (wise food choices, excercising, drinking plenty of water), and still feel hungry, then it's probably time for a fill. A fill is not a "cure-all" but a necessity only after you have done your part.

Looking forward to the day when the weight loss will be due to good food choices rather than from the liquid diet. Now that I'm being weaned off the liquids, I suppose the test starts NOW!!