Hi there, i am a little over a week post-op. My surgery date was 6/7. I am struggling with a few things. My doctors orders are 2 days clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks pureed food, 2 weeks soft food, all open foods. I will also have my first fill 4 weeks post op. I am one week out, just went to my 1 week post apt on friday and they told me that everything looks great, seems to be going great. between the two week pre-surgery diet and the past week i have lost a total of 15 pounds. Here is my delima, i am starting to go crazy, i am so hungry, i can not help but eat food. I have broke down this past weekend and i have eaten some foods, mac and cheese, oatmeal, cottage cheese, french fries. I am stuck because i have only eaten about a cup of these foods at the time, and had no issue eating them at all. I should still be on full liquids, and should not even start pureed foods until next friday. Will this eating hurt me? Will it stretch my pouch? Will my doctor know? Is it safe? When is it safe to start eating without messing up the band entirely? Can i continue to eat some soft foods? I have also taken a stool softener because i have not been able to go to the bathroom since i have eaten real foods. I would love any and all feed back! I am just starting to seriously worry...

Thanks~

Katiecakes: I was banded 6-18-12 and dont get a fill until 7-26-12 . Hang in there. My nutritionist said you are able to eat normal amounts because there is no restriction yet without a fill. Unfortunately it is all willpower without a fill. When I started getting hungry I drank more Protein shakes, Jello, sugar free Popsicles, yogurt and eventually cottage cheese. My weightless is at a standstill and I assume will be until my fill. I'm down 24 lbs since pre op diet started, which I'm fine with. It's a marathon not a sprint.

I was 2 days liquids, 2 days mushy, 2 days soft the regular. All doctors are different but u should do as ur sr suggested. I have not felt any discomfort eating but I know when I am full take care!

You have received much excellent information on your original post...and I sincerely hope that you will really read what others have written.

The band is a tool, it's not going to work for you unless you use it properly. It's very self empowering, because ultimately you will be the one who determines the degree of success you will have on your weight loss journey. And that level of success will be determined by your diet compliance.

This is a journey, and not an event. I believe that just about every member of this forum has had to cope with hunger. You learn how to manage it, or you will fail with your band. If your surgeon advises you to follow a liquid diet for 2 weeks, you do it, or you communicate to their office how you are feeling and ask for additional instructions.

It's dangerous to one's health and well being to compare yourself to others, especially the differences in medical instructions. Different physicians will have their specific protocol for their practice. You don't have to like it, but accept that there are valid medical reasons for their instructions. Until you become a physician, I would avoid making your medical decisions as they relate to your band. Your health and weight loss success depend on it. I do advocate that everyone become proactive in having a voice in their medical care, but that means to be an informed consumer and ask questions.

Understand that you will need to depend on sheer willpower and determination to manage your hunger until you have some restriction with fills. You can eat around the band, but just because you can does not mean that you should. If you are not loosing weight, yes, your surgeon will be asking you questions about your diet compliance. And, yes, the surgeon will know if you have not been compliant with the diet.

This journey is not supposed to be punitive, and I hope that you do not get into a situation of shame and guilt feelings about what you have already done. Just become informed and compliant, and do your best every day to remain that way.

Good luck...

Please try to follow the rules to make sure your band is ok. I know it can be difficult til you get a fill, but it is so important to follow those rules:)

Thank you all, i understand what i have done. I understood before i ever started this post. It seems as though re-assurance to eat only what the dr has said is helping a lot. I just needed a little boot in my ass to tell me to listen to them! lol I'm having a very hard time, but am willing to try. I unfortunatly have tried to talk to my dr, but when i express my issues with his nurse, she tells me it same normal spcheal that everyone gets, and will not take it any further. I have had issues with my Dr's nurse and i believe that adds extra worry to me, i feel as though i cannot call and just get a one on one help. I get the same old same old that she tells everyone, and not a real word from my Dr. I'm trying to take this one day at a time, and thank you all for being here!

Katie... I am glad you felt comfortable enough to come here and ask. But like you said... you knew it was wrong. What is done is done. Don't beat yourself up over it. Just jump back on those liquids!!

My surgeons discharge orders were really lenient. I actually just wrote a post about it on my blog. I am not sure if it was because my band was just repositioned vs newly banded... but I decided I wanted to give my band the absolute best start I could. I want to make sure it is healed, and strong, and the sutures and scar tissue are secure. So I adjusted my post-op diet and am restricting myself much longer than he requested.

I am on liquids right now. I am lucky that my hunger has stayed away since surgery 7/9... and only just today has started to ebb back. Drink Protein shakes! They will fill you up. Drink Fluid as often as possible. This period is HARD. But you will be so glad when you make it out on the other end. Make yourself proud! This is your new beginning!!!

A great article on ths site, to put this in perspective is "what's so bad about Cheating?"

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/page/index.html/_/healthy-living/whats-so-bad-about-cheating-on-the-post-op-r78

My favorite excerpt is "

"While it’s true that surgeons’ eating instructions vary widely, you signed on with your surgeon, not your best friend’s. Presumably you chose your surgeon because you and/or your insurance company believe that he or she is well-qualified in laparascopic bariatric surgery. During your psych evaluation, you affirmed that you understand what the surgery involves and that you can and will follow instructions. You nodded when the shrink asked if you’re ready to make all the lifestyle changes needed for success. You nodded when the dietitian asked if you understood your pre- and post-op eating instructions. You scribbled your own name on a sheaf of release papers to indicate that you were informed about the risks involved and despite those risks, gave your surgeon permission to perform surgery on you.

In addition to all of that, you spent weeks or months jumping through hoops to prove your need for bariatric surgery. Perhaps you suffered through a six-month pre-op diet. You had lots of medical tests and evaluations, most of them not much fun, because you were so eager to get your weight loss show on the road. You had surgery, suffered some degree of discomfort from your incisions and gas, and finally heaved a sigh of relief because all the struggles are over now.

But then you discovered that there are still more struggles to survive because of that stupid post-op liquid diet."

Ive been telling myself that over and over again, but when i see other people at the same stage as me being able to eat everything mushy, and me not being able to is hard. Also, being put through the ringer by everyone online who is doing perfect, gets too you.

Keep in mind this is still an online forum, not everyone who professes to be perfect really is! Not everyone but there are some who might very well be tossing the do as I say but not as I do theory while eating a cupcake/tastycake and drinking a soda pop.

Try to follow the doctors orders because like they said it is truly for healing, and not the weight loss at this point. You will also after fills and such have to go back on a liquid only for a day or so, followed by pureed foods. How many days will depend on your doctor, and there is variations of the diets/restrictions between surgeons.

Overall try to not compare yourself to others because that is one way that is going to drive you nuts!! We all lose at various speeds, my doc is happy with one lb a week! Good luck

STOP EATING MUSHIES AND SOLDS!!! Yes they can hurt you. I was on clears for 7 days. Yes it's sucks to have your family eating when you can't. They however won't be the ones having to explain to the doctor that yes your band slipped but it was because you were eating solids weeks ahead of schedule.

Some ideas. If you are allowed Protein shakes drink more of them. It would be better to have more calories of foods you are allowed than to eat Mac and cheese. Two, add Mrs. Dash Non Salt flavorings to broth and smooth Soups before heating. This will add a lot of flavor.

I am not trying to be mean spirited. Your body is recovering from surgery. If your friend was detoxing in rehab would you bring them beer? Of course not.

Hi katiecakes, I was banded on 2nd July, so two weeks ago. My first week I was on all liquids, my second week I was to introducing mushies and my third week, progressing to solid food by the end if it and next Tuesday I get my first fill. As you have worked out each surgeon is different with a different set if rules. My surgeon here in Australia is a leading pioneer in lapband. He also told me the day after my surgery that now they give you a fill at the third week as that's when most people start to feel hungry again. I know personally I started to feel the hunger yesterday which is exactly two weeks after being banded. I ate some Protein rich food, chicken mushed up and it got rid if my hunger for the rest of the day. I was only able to eat a very small amount but it was enough for me. I honestly don't think you have stretched your pouch as once the swelling goes down we are all able to eat as we used to. As others have said its now about control, it's going to be a tough journey but if we can try and get our head into the right frame of thinking its half the battle won, it's going to take time as we can't do it overnight. If what you are supposed eat is not enough please call your surgeon and discuss with him how you're feeling and he may very well tell you to eat mushies earlier than when you're supposed too.

We are all fighting the same battle and at times we will fail but what is important is to get right back up and keep going. I wish you luck in this lapband journey!!

I just want to encourage you that it will get better. I see that you have gotten a lot of advice, but similarly to Summerrian my doctor had me do one week of full liquids, then one week of mushies then I could start solid food. I am not saying not to listen to your doctor, I just wanted you to know that as you have seen some doctors don't have you wait so long to start mushy food, so I doubt at two weeks post op that some mushy food is going to totally ruin your band. With that said of course only your doctor knows what is best for you and really only he/she can give you that advice. I really just wanted to encourage you that this phase will soon pass and you will be on your way to better days! Keep you chin up and keep trying to follow what your physician says as he has your best interest at heart.