Hello everyone. I was banded on April the 4th and still on the liquid diet till Wednesday. I have been so hungry, I thought that the band was soppossed to curve hunger. Is it just because I am on strict liquids?:confused:

Welcome to Lap Band Land!! What you are feeling is normal. After one week I felt very irritable & wanted to eat everything in the house. I had to leave home several times because I just couldn't stand it. I'd cry & ask myself what I did to myself.

The band won't curb your hunger until it is filled; which is usually at 6 weeks. It's a long wait, but well worth it. Right now your tummy is healing & it's pretty important to stick to the liquids. We all feel for you!! Hang in there. It only gets better!!!!!

Thank you for your reply. I am so glad that I found this web site! I dont personaly know anyone who has the band so I feel like I am all alone right now. It has been so hard these past few days not being able to eat. I have 4 kids that I still have to cook for and I did'nt think that it would be so difficult to be around food and not be able to eat it. I know that this is going to work I have already lost 18 pounds!

Congratulations on your weight loss!! :cheer2: I am 12 days post op and could not take the hunger. I stayed on strict liquids for 10 days and lost 12 pounds. During this time I was also so Very Tired :notagree . However, I then had to EAT :hungry: . I had a very small bowl of small curd cottage cheese with ketchup (all mashed up), pudding, and liquefied mashed potatoes (not all at once of course) over the last 2 days . This made me feel much better, but also gained 2 pounds . I am also walking about 1 1/2 miles a day and thinking this will offset the weight gain from eating. I so hope I am not endangering my band but needed something more than broth.

I only have 50 more pounds to lose and I am sure this will take me longer to do, but I am So glad I chose the band as my weight lose tool. :confused: If anyone wants to comment on this choice please do so, as all advise to this newbie is greatly appreciated! :D Keep up the Great work all... :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

p.s. Oh yea...almost forgot (or didn't want to confess, I also had a chocolate bunny... but will try not to let that happen again....)

Tess,

I did Clear Liquids for a week then full liquids for 2 wks then to mushies. Don't forget on full liquids you can have pudding which can be filling!! Liquids dont' last nearly as long.....it's a tough time!! But once you start eating more mushies it lasts up to 5 hrs before your actually hungry....so it does get better. Plus go distract yourself and don't "obsess" with your belly....boy I sure did at times and I still struggle with all these new feelings/sensations! Just keep focusing on the 18lbs!! WOW!!!! That is AWESOME!!!! Great motivation!!! Go take a walk!!

Karen: Be careful!! You don't want to hurt your new surgery. If you are walking at a leisurely pace it's ok. They told me not to even sweat the first 4 weeks.....I slowly have worked my way up now that I was released yesterday. They also told me to not worry about the first 6wks weight until the fill....but of course, I'm focusing on the scale....have had to make myself only get on it only once a week....I really don't want it to control me!! It has in the past. And....10lbs is NOTHING to sneeze at ..it's 1/5th of your wt loss need!!! Good Job!!! :confused:

Praying the Lord helps you both!!!!

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -31lbs

I was hungry when I woke up from surgery! Congrats on being banded. Yes, liquids aren't very satisfying...however, once you begin mushies you will fill a bit better. Banding will curb your appetite once you are on hard Proteins and properly restricted.

Good luck, Shawn

Hi,

I guess I'm a poor example, as I am :hungry: hungry...down in the :cry dumps, and haven't lost a SINGLE lb. !

I was actually SUPPOSED to have the Gastric ByPass, because my "downfall" has always been my major addiction to sweets, and ICE-CREAM, in particular. Then...lo and behold, when the Dr. noticed that I hadn't written down all of my meds. on the sheets I had filled out, (I left a little note there, saying "Too numerous to write down! Ask me in person!") he said, "Ok...what gives with the meds?"

I pulled out a HUGE cosmetic bag full of meds. and once he started checking all the labels, he sighed, leaned back in his chair.....and said, "Ooops! :opps2: I think we have a problem." Due to the fact that most of my meds need real gastric juices, from the actual STOMACH, to be absorbed, properly....there was no way I could utilize these meds, with a Gastric ByPass. And, since most of them, were meds I could not just STOP, "cold turkey"....but were, in fact...not only necessary to my well-being, but also pills that if I WERE to stop, would require a l-o-n-g period of time...in order be "weaned" off of them! So, if by some miracle, my primary physician COULD find a suitable alternative, I would, none-the-less, have to be weaned from the current Rx's.....v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. And, again, it would have to be a substitute, which did exactly the same thing, the ORIGINAL meds did, but which would NOT need the stomach's gastric juices, to get the job done!

Arranging all the bottles, into little groups, on his desk....Dr. Rumbart finally said, "In your case, we both know, that with your sweets and ice-cream addictions, the IDEAL surgery for you, and the only one I can guarantee will work, would be the Gastric Bypass. He went on to say, "This is because, with the lap band, you will still be able to eat those things, which caused your problem with obesity, if your will-power should fail you."

I looked at him as though he were crazy;:eek: "WILL-POWER???" And, before I could continue, he said, "Yes. I know. You are thinking...since will-power has NEVER worked for you in the past...why would it work for you THIS time???" We just looked at each other :paranoid , across his desk....for what seemed a very long time. I could see the empathy in HIS eyes, and I know, that he could tell how I was feeling, since he could obviously SEE the tears begin to spill out of my eyes and down my cheeks.:think

He was so nice...as we continued to talk...and as I TRIED to regain my composure. After we had talked for a long, long time...about the pro's and cons.....he could see that I was totally frantic...and so :noidea: undecided. So, finally he told me to think about it, really, really hard...overnight, because my although surgery was already scheduled for the next morning, he would be more than willing to change the date. Did I think that I could really AVOID eating sweets and ice-cream, egg-nog and cheese-cake, forever and for always....all by myself:ban: ? Because, he hated to do a procedure that he just wasn't sure would be effective, for me ;ie: the lap-band.

My mind just continued to race; I had traveled :plane: so far. I had :blah: BEGGED :hail: my husband, to provide the funds, for what I considered to be my "last and ONLY chance" at losing the weight that had been plaguing me for years. We couldn't afford to do it, in the States...as we are retired and on :money: fixed incomes. And, truth be told, even having it done in Mexico, was not something we could really afford, either. His first reaction, was to :rant: rant and rave, and tell me, I must be :der: crazy. He was really, really :mad2: angry...that I would even think :confused: of such a "selfish" thing, and especially :flame: angry when I told him that I had been :phone: checking this out, working out all the details, without talking to him first! But, I :argue: argued that if I hadn't done the :typing: research, first...with facts and figures, to show to him, I wouldn't have stood a chance! He would have just said, "NO!", and that would have been the end of it!

Finally, after much :hail: pleading, on MY part...and then a few days of not speaking to me:zip:, on HIS part, I summoned up the courage :yield: to ask, again. To my total surprise, my husband finally agreed to give me this "Last Chance", and spring for the GBP. "On one condition", he said. "You have to PROMISE me, that you will die, :rip: on the operating table!" (You know....there's ALWAYS a "catch" :doh: with him!! Although, that wasn't exactly, the response I'd hoped for :ohwell: ....I thought, "Hey...whatever works for YOU; whatever gets the job, DONE!" :peace: :amen: !

Now, I was faced with returning home, with NOTHING having been done....OR, taking the wild leap into the daunting "Will-Power" Zone, again. A place, which for me, has ALWAYS been fraught with failure.:phanvan

My wonderful Dr. had a friend of his, a psyciatrist, talk with me for several hours. (This would NEVER happen in the states!) I finally decided...to change the plan, and take a gigantic leap of faith....(in myself) and switch to the lap-band.

Have I been eating a healthy meal-plan, since my operation on the 22nd of Mar.? Nooooo. :spider: I've been existing on sugar-free Jello, sugar-free popsicles, Isopure, and sugar-free Popsicle Brand Fudgesicles. Can't have broth, because it seems as though all of them have too much sodium, which is a killer for me, since I have severe lymphedema. I have also had at least one of those little YoPlait, low-fat bottles of yogurt, as a treat each day.

Maybe the lack of weight-loss, is due to the fact that my new sugar-free popsicle addiction, means I eat about a dozen of them, a day! Not good. Not good.

I spend hours trying to keep my mind off of eating....but am finding myself, too weak to really excersize. I do try, but only last about 15 minutes, before I just "poop out"!:notagree Also, I have severe balance issues. I tend to topple over, quite often...and so, have been in a wheelchair, for some time, now. Well, as luck would have it, on my 2nd or 3rd day home, I took a rather nasty:faint: fall, as I was trying to go down the stairs. Not Good. I can no longer feel my port, and my Dr. here, could not find it....even on x-ray.

Anyway, that's my story...thus far. I'm pretty down in the dumps, about the whole thing....and am honestly wishing, I had just gone ahead and had the Gastric ByPass....and worried about the medication problem, later. But, I took my shot, and now I just HAVE to make this work.

:help: I would sure appreciate, any words of inspiration...or advice...from anyone out there.

Hope to hear from some of you, long-time bandsters....or even better, maybe from those of you who are just starting out, like I am. Did I mention that I was banded on the 22Mar2006?

Thanks for listening....

Nonny