Hi,

I am very new to all of this and I need some help and advise.

I had my surgery June 5th and everything went great, I am on no restrictions and I started walking 2 days ago (1mile).

My questions are these:

I am eating more then I thought that I could, I am scheduled for my first fill July 19th. Is there something wrong? Is my stomach stretched? Do I need to see my Doc and be xrayed?

I lost a total of 16 pounds in the first 1.5 weeks and now nothing. Do I need to exercise more. I am so scared that there is something wrong because I am always hungry! I have not cheated as far as the type of food, I am still eating fruit Soups and chicken and drinking alot of Water. But it seems like the portion and the how frequent I am is eating is wrong.

Please help me figure this out, I am trying so hard and I don't want to fail again.

Thank you

Vicki

Congratulations. I was banded on may 31st and lost 17 lbs so far. The first 15 came off so easily that I can only assume it was mostly water. The last 2lbs were a struggle. Nothing is wrong, from surgery to your first fill your going pretty much by will power..... Or so I've been told

June 5 was ur surgery date then you should still be on liquids and mushy foods.

You are not doing anything wrong! It just takes me. I remember being able to eat A LOT for a couple of months. You just have to do the best you can. The first six weeks are for healing . Maybe now you can begin getting your food choices in order....protein first, veggies, whole grains, Water and Vitamins.

Good luck...you can do this!!!

Your not doing anything wrong. That is normal.

I swear I'm going to create a default answer to this question that pops up 2-4 times a day.

You are still in the healing phase. You probably won't find that your band is a good tool until you get enough fills to find restriction. Until then: It's still just a diet till there's restriction!

You may be one of the lucky ones and don't need fills, never hungry and lose weight easily. NAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Here's a phrase you may not have heard in the seminars and nutrition counseling sessions. "BANDSTER HELL"

Your band has very little saline in it now. Your Dr did that on purpose because you are in the healing phase. He will fill it as time goes along. Until then, you have a large hole between the upper pouch and lower stomach. You will feel like there are days that you can eat anything you could have eaten prior to surgery. And you may feel like you are hungrier than before. Make good, healthy food choices at this time because you may be in "Bandster Hell" for some time to come.

Congrats and welcome.

tmf

What you're going through we often call "bandster hell", because your band has little or no restriction so you're stuck white knuckling it on will power alone until you get a couple fills. Most can eat just like they could before surgery until they get some restriction, so what you're going through is totally normal.

It may take a couple fills, but restriction will come. Best wishes to you

Thank you Thank you! I feel so much better after reading your posts! I was so scared and I really thought that I was going to fail again.

I had my first fill two weeks ago and still have no restriction.

You have to hang in there and do the best you can.

You are doing fine, so don't worry.

Until the band starts getting fills its just along for the ride. i required 5-6 cc in a 10cc band to get sufficient feedback from the band for me to say the band was doing what I thought it should and that took about 6 months. Peer pressure and high expectations create unrealistic personal goals, and when the expectatios are not met, feelings of failure crop up and then we start to look for a reason why we are not losing like others on this boardf. Try to set your own short term goals and for pete sake do not use what people say or do on this board..... This board has its uses for support and information but not comparison!!!!! This journey requires patience and full knowledge of the procedure and its ups and downs which is not happening at the physicians office. Do your own research,ask questions get answers!!!!! Remember patience!!!

Thank goodness for this forum... I've had one fill, felt what I think was restriction for about two days and then it went away. My surgeon prewarned me that I was going to feel that. He said it was completely normal. My second fill is at the end of August and then I will have 5 cc's in my band. All that I can say is "wow! This takes patience!" I'm eating less than before surgery, which is great, but the scale definitely doesn't move quick enough. I'm not gaining though, so I'm not freaking out... Just waiting patiently for my fills and trying to make the smartest choices that I can based solely on will power. I think I would definitely feel like I've failed if I wasn't able to read so many posts from people that have already experienced or are currently experiencing this.