I had lap band surgery in July. I was assigned to the surgeon in my hometown, but got changed to a surgeon further away since my hometown surgeon had to have shoulder surgery. I was very pleased with my substitute surgeon, but his office was too far away to keep going & not miss a lot of work. I paid a big transfer fee to get moved back to my hometown & be able to not have to miss work.

The thing that I find strange are the different instructions. One surgeon said it was okay for me to have my Diet Coke & the other surgeon said no to any carbonated drinks. One surgeon said no popcorn & it wasn't a problem for the other surgeon. This is just a couple of differences. There are other differences in diet & lifestyle.

One surgeon says mushy food after a fill. The other says liquid diet after a fill.

One surgeon numbed my skin before a fill & did it himself. He also didn't use an x-ray for the fill. The other surgeon uses an

X-ray & no numbing. The fill is done by a technician & I drink something during the fill.

I think that I've been on both extremes. I just find the differences very interesting.

I'm okay with both. I will do what it takes!

I don't know why there are such vast differences but I have noticed them too, based on what others say about their surgeons. As for the x-ray with fill, they didn't use it on my first couple of fills but after that they did, because it's really just guesswork with a non x-ray adjustment.

I am not a super strict rule follower in general, so I've tried to learn what the reason is behind any rule and what others have experienced, and then decide what to do. For example, I've heard the no popcorn rule but many people eat it without problem and I have tried it without any problem. I have had some carbonated beverages but find that I don't really like them anymore.

I think it's important to listen to your surgeon but there's nothing wrong with taking a chance on a rule you've heard different things about if you've researched it.

We all learn from each other's mistakes and since this is a new learning process for all of us, some may choose this path and others will try an alternate path. Two different doctor's from maybe two different medical schools taking different paths. Use this forum and see what others have been told. Is there really much nutritional value from a diet soda? Is it truly harmful? We can all answer these questions. We will all grow from our new process and our new journey together. We all choose a different path, when we decided with our doctor's/ dietitian's help in choosing lapband, sleeve or other.

Best wishes and Keep the faith.