Had my first doc appt yesterday. I was surprised to hear some conflicting information from what I have read on here as well as various websites about Lap Band. Mainly, the info about what to eat after the surgery (once you start on solids). I have been reading that you want to go with soft foods pretty much all the time...surgeon says the firmer the better, softer foods will go right past the band and you wont fill as full as fast...you just have to eat slow enough so that food doesnt get stuck because you are shoveling it into your body so fast, it doesnt have a chance to digest correctly...makes sense.

Other than that, most of what she said coincides with much of what I have read online...either way, shes the doc, and ill go with what she says lol

I was hoping, based on what I have seen on here, that I would be able to have surgery by my birthday (end of March) however, after the tests and appts i have to do, it will take 6-8 wks for insurance approval, its state insurance, and so they are wayyy backlogged, then she said she usually sets surgery date about 6 wks after the approval is received. So that puts me somewhere around May, end of June the latest.

I do have my psych appt made for Feb 6, and I will call monday and get the chest xray and cardiology stuff done...so at least the ball is rolling and hopefully the next few months fly by, im super excited and soooo ready to do this.

You will find every surgeon seems to have their own diets they recommend. The only thing they all seem to agree on is a high Protein diet. A good example: I had my surgery on Jan. 6. My aunt had the same surgery the day before me with a different surgeon. She was eating mashed potatoes and soft foods by the end of the following week. Three weeks later, I'm still on liquids and will be for another week.

The same goes for pre-op diets. Some surgeons start you on Clear Liquids prior to surgery, some surgeons have no pre-op diet.

Once you're all healed up and on normal food, it is going to pretty much depend on what works for you. I figure once I finally get real food again next week (oh my gosh I'm so excited for real food lol) it's going to be a trial and error process to find out what works best for me and my body.

Best wishes to you

I think perhaps you are confusing the healing period and your eventual long term "diet". After surgery you progress from clear liquids, full liquids, soft mushies (cottage/ricotta cheese), firmer mushies (canned chicken), solids. Once you are on solids you should eat firmer foods. They will stay in the pouch longer. Anything that is liquid or mushie slides right through. Think of the band creating a funnel. Anything that will flow through a funnel will flow right out of your pouch.

My doctor has the same philosphy. If you eat mainly soft foods, the band wont work like it is supposed to. By eating meat, your stomach has to squeeze numerous times to get the food down. This squeezing is what sends impulses to your brain to tell you that you are full. I am still waiting for that to happen for me!! I eat my protein first, veggies and 1/4 cup starch at dinner. I still get hungry about 2-2.5 hours after eating though.

I have all my "pre surgery" appts made for my tests and evaluations...should have them all done by end of next week...thought for sure would take me a month to get them all scheduled, but everyone had openings that worked perfect with my schedule. So this will bring my expected surgery date up a little closer..so im totally excited.