Almost 2 weeks on mushies. Started slowly incorporating soft food. Able to eat Sashimi easily. I love raw fish, so to me, I can live off that. I am chewing things to the point of oblivion. I have had no ill effects what so ever. I am just curious to see how many of you started slowly putting in soft food during your mushie stage? I can't be the only one.

I realize I have no fill at this point. I am working with a nutritionist and keeping my calorie and Protein intake at good levels (1200-1500 calories and 85 grams of protein). I get my first fill on June 22nd. I would prefer to get less of a fill and really have more of the psychological effects of the band rather than the physical (getting stuck freaks me out). I already can only take in a fraction of what I used to have at each meal. What do you think is a good fill amount to help me with my goals?

I don't know the answer to your question, but I am with you!!! I would rather have less restriction if possible.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I am with you!!! I would rather have less restriction if possible.

Yeah, Hearing all the horror stories of bands being to tight kinda freaks me out.

i am to be on mushies for one week then on to soft foods for one week then regular foods. i get my first fill on june 17th and i cant wait. i want to know what restricion feels like, but i dont want the whole throwing up thing. that scares me to death as well. i have nothing in my band right now so everything goes down pretty smooth. my appetite varies from day to day. i wish i could go back to the three weeks when i didnt have an appetite, but i know those days are over my doctor taylors every fill to the patient as i imagine your doc will. so i guess it'll be a waiting game till then. lol keep up the good work i've been following your journey!

My doctor requires 4 weeks of clear liquids followed by 4 weeks of full liquids. After that, you gradually add foods as tolerated. He won't do your first fill until you are through that first 8 weeks. There is no "mushies" stage with him.

I was on mushies for 2 weeks but my instructions included tuna salad, chicken salad etc.

As far as fills go, I keep a very loose band by most people's standards - I am able to eat sushi (chewed completely and swallowed in stages) and bread if I choose to. I have only had one fill since my surgery in December and I currently have 5 ccs in my band. At this fill level I do get stuck occaisionally and have PBd a couple if times but every time it happens I can point back to something I did wrong...eating too fast, too big bites, etc.

I was on liquids one week. Mushies were supposed to be 3 weeks. It included fish, cottage cheese, and yogurt. I found that 1.5 weeks into it my appetite returned with a vengence. I started to eat solid foods slowly and very well chewed. By 3 weeks post op I was eating very thin, small slices of meat (about 1 ounce + 1 Teaspoon of gravy to make is moist). By 3.5 weeks post op I was able to eat an apple with the skin removed. I am now almost 5 weeks post op. I can eat just about anything as long as I chew it very well and only eat about 1 cup of everything combined. I just had sushi (6 pieces total) for the first time post-op last Saturday for my birthday. I was a happy camper!

Ahh! Sushi or sashimi sounds like heaven right now! I'm on week two of three of mushies and I'm definitely ready to eat some more soft foods. I haven't really strayed too far from mushy food except for some chicken and tuna salad that could have been a little more pureed. Sashimi would be so satisfying. It sounds perfect. The portions are small, the protein is good, and low in calories overall. I'm so jealous right now! lol. I bought some artificial crab meat the other day and it's just sitting in my fridge. I don't know why I thought I should buy it, because I know it's more of a "soft food". Maybe if I chew it really well...

my mushy stage included cottage cheese, tuna salad, egg salad and i've had salmon with a lot of yogurt dill sauce on it yesterday and today. Mashed taters..i graduate to meats, etc. at the next stage in 3 weeks

As long as you're folllowing guidance of your surgeon and nutritionist (assuming they are familiar with the band diet) then you should be fine. My preference is to take it slow rather than rush this cause we had freaking surgery!

sounds like you're losing weight and doing well.

BandedKitten

Vicky, I am impressed by your progress with minimal fills. I noticed you are almost half way to your goal. You go girl!

I was on mushies for one week. As for fills, I'm 5 months post op and just had my first fill Wednesday. Prior to that I was satisfied with what I ate and stayed that way for 4-5 hours. I started getting hungrier the past month, so finally got my first fill. My doc only put in 0.75 cc. So far it seems to be helping. I too, like you am kind of freaked to be to filled. I have yet to really get stuck, have had a few instances which I felt like I didn't chew enough and felt it go down slowly and slight pain, but don't think I was actually stuck. I really don't want the band to ever tell me no, I can't eat that, I just want it to curb my hunger, so I don't think I'll ever have to much put in. And like I said what was put in seems to be working right mow

Vicky, I am impressed by your progress with minimal fills. I noticed you are almost half way to your goal. You go girl!

Thanks! I am one of the lucky ones who felt restriction from the beginning...even when I got my fill, I was not having a problem with portion sizes but I was getting hungry about 2 hours after eating.

There seems to be at least two different ways I see doctors giving fills, and I seem to really like how my doctor did mine as compared to many of the others. He puts the needle in and has us sit up with it there. He puts in X amount to start and then has us drink water. If we feel it is no different than before the fill, he puts in more. If it's still the same, he puts in more. He puts enough in to where the water actually backs up in your pouch. You can feel it, and it's uncomfortable. He then knows that you are too tight, and then takes like .2 ccs out. He takes that amount out until we feel our swallows of water go down again without any problem. After that, he puts that last amount back in and out again, just to make sure we're feeling the water go down right. My first fill, I was unsure of what to "feel" and said I felt the water getting jammed up when I really didn't. I just kinda thought I might have felt something. When he'd ask if I felt a difference, I started to just say yes or no based on, I guess my imagination, lol. I say that because with my second fill, I truly felt it. The water being held up in the pouch was a very real, uncomfortable feeling. The band being unfilled, and the water I drank being passed through without issue, was a much different feeling. My doctor has me do non-hot liquids the rest of the day, mushies the next and you can progress back to solids whenever you can tolerate it. As for puking your food back up (PBing), it's really not a horrible experience. It's not fun, but it's not like puking. It's weird, but much more tolerable in my opinion. Good luck with your fill. I feel your fill amount should be unique to you, not a predetermined amount. I have had two fills and I'm sitting at 6ccs and some change in a 10cc band.

I went to my post op appt today and even though my doctor has a list of foods to eat or not eat...clear liquids, soft foods, etc through day 16 post op, he told me today I can eat anything I feel comfortable eating. He said if I try something and can only eat two bites...back up a little. I am so excited!