Someone please help... How can i find out if I have damage the band by starting on solids food to soon? I feel awful.. And I wanna start over. I have not had any issues with my band and eating but I just found out that I should have stayed on my liquid and creamy diet a lot longer than 8 days. I don't have any pains, I just feels really like I have messed up big time.

Don't panic! Doctors vary dramatically on how long people should stay on liquids before moving to solid food. If you have chewed the food well, have no pain and are feeling fine then you probably are fine.

Ring your doctor to confirm it is not so bad

If your doctor told you you were supposed to be on liquids/soft things longer, well, go back to them.

If you think you were supposed to be on them longer because of what you read on here or from another source..ignore that and go by what your doctor recommends.

In either case, DON'T PANIC.

As Mrs. Firth said, doctors vary greatly on their post-op eating instructions. Just call your doc/nutritionist/dietician/nurse.. someone at the bariatric practice you use and talk to them. Don't worry, they've heard it all before.

I agree with Melissannde. If your doctor has a plan for you other than what you are on now - go back to it. What your surgeon says to do is the most important. As long as you didn't eat something crazy at this stage, you probably didn't do any damage. Just do your best to stick to your surgeon's plan.

Postop diets vary quite dramatically. Some are right back on solid foods within days, some within 2 weeks and some doctors keep their patients on liquids for a month.

I asked my surgeon why such drastic postop diets and he said it's because many surgeons just use the same diet for banding as they do for bypass and sleeve. The bypass and sleeve require such a drastic postop diet because they've literally cut into your stomach and it needs time to heal. According to my surgeon, such a drastic diet is not necessary for the band.

That said, if you're having trouble sticking to it, talk to your doctor and tell him/her. You may find they'll move you along faster through the stages. That's happened to a number of people here.

.

Thanks for your help I really need it... I was banded by one of the best surgeons in houston, but his after care sucks. There is no meetings, no one to call for guidance unless ur willing to pay every time. So I used this site for all my after care help. I will have my 1st fill on 4/15. The sad part is I don't even know what kinda band I have.

Some other online support options:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HoustonareaBandsters

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/SmartBandsters

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DFWBandsters

Support is really one of the mainstays of banding. If you don't feel like your doctor is supportive enough, you could change. There's lots of choices in the Houston area. I met two doctors from Houston when I attended the TABS conference in January of this year in Dallas. I don't know how they are on a doctor/patient relationship, but I enjoyed talking to them one on one. One was Dr. Davis and the other was Dr. Vuong. Dr. Vuong was really interesting.. he's very big on support. Requires that his patients attend support group or he will not do fills. And he has Saturday meetings too.

I don't go to my doctor's support group every month, because of various reasons. One is that the leader of the group rubs me the wrong way at times and another is that they are held at night and I live an hours drive away and I don't like driving after dark. I do most of mine online at the yahoo groups.

Make a list of questions before your appt on 4/15 and take it with you. You are entitled to know what kind of band you have, how much Fluid is in it from the time of surgery (if any) and how much they put in during any fills. You are also entitled to a copy of your surgical report if you want one.

Best of luck to you.