Can ANYONE tell me why it takes the stomach so long to heal? Why you HAVE to be on liquids for the first couple of weeks (other than to lose weight). I would like a REALLY DETAILED explanation and I can't find one. HELP PLEASE??!!?

:hungry:

Hey, I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know how miserable I felt on the clear liquid diet. Congratulations on your first 8 days! (And for choosing a great doctor)

Ok, I'm looking around for the erosion and slippage police as I say this....

But...I have always believed that the liquid and mushy diet is a scam to get us to lose more weight so doctors can brag to their other patients about the rapid weight loss. I was eating completely regular foods 5 days post-op, and my doctor said it was fine as long as I wasn't hurting. He said some people heal faster than others.

So, for what it's worth (hopefully not a lot), you have my permission to do whatever it is you need to do.

Thanks to the both of you! I totally agree. I've been eating ritz crackers, pudding, jello, devel's ham, a french fry, a peice of chicken. I couldn't help it! But all of it felt fine before, during and after. I'm trying to be good.........but I can't be all the time! If so, why would I need the band, right??

The band is actually stitched onto your stomach. When you eat solid food your somach has to churn to digest it. You want the stitches to heal and anchor the band firmly.

if you think you know better then your doctor, by all means eat solids. Just know that you have no one else to blame but yourself if something goes wrong, and the doctors and insurance has absolutely no obliation to fix you or pay to fix you because you did not follow physicians medical advice. I work in the medical field and i have seen Doctors drop patients for not listening to them.

But really you have to ask yourself. If you don't have the will power to follow through with medical advice now, How are you going to manage to follow any of the bandster rules your doctor gives you?

Trust me, i know how hungry you are, but its only a couple weeks. You aren't going to die (even though it feels like it at times) and you will feel better for it in the long run. I lost 11lbs in 2 weeks on the liquid diet. So which would you like 11lbs or maybe more off or a moment of food satisfaction?

You sound just like I did post-op. We started at about the same weight, too. Here's something else I should have told you -

Since it looks like you've healed quickly and can eat normally, you will be really surprised once you feel restriction for the first time. For me, it took 4 fills to know what these people had been talking about. If you can eat anything now, you probably also won't be chew chew chewing and eating slooooowly until you experience that first restriction. I say, eat however and whatever you want while you still can. But when you start getting fills, remember to chew and wait 1 minute between bites. Or just keep doing it the old way and learn the hard way like I did. :eek:

Can't give you a detailed explanation, but what if you were banded and were super tight right off? If you ate real food and started to PB your stiches could come out because they're not entirely healed yet. That's the best reason I could think of.

Hey, I know the liquid diet REALLY sucks, but I remember feeling SO GOOD at the end of my liquid diet - not necessarily because of the weight loss, but because of the detoxifying nature of drinking only liquids. I felt SO detoxified and full of energy. So I'm glad to have gone through it, but it wasn't easy. I fee your pain!

8 days out and your are eating that much..... Im not being mean but STOP!!!!!!! please your stomach has to heal... NOT lose weight HEAL!!! it just been poked at stitch a band to it... yeah its not ready to eat. Dont worry about losing weight right now... worry about healing.. Get back on Liquids... follow your Dr. orders!!!!!!

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Wow, it's amazing how judgmental we can get and how easily we forget how hard that post-op stage was.

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Wow, it's amazing how judgmental we can get and how easily we forget how hard that post-op stage was.

i don't think anyone has forgotten how hard it is. However we aren't doing anyone any favors by supporting them to do something that is not medically advised.

Welcome to Bandland anyway!

Since it looks like you've healed quickly and can eat normally, you will be really surprised once you feel restriction for the first time. For me, it took 4 fills to know what these people had been talking about. If you can eat anything now, you probably also won't be chew chew chewing and eating slooooowly until you experience that first restriction. I say, eat however and whatever you want while you still can. But when you start getting fills, remember to chew and wait 1 minute between bites. Or just keep doing it the old way and learn the hard way like I did. :eek:

Yes, I did have the pleasure of reading your experience in San Antonio! I should add....GREAT ENTERTAINMENT reading that thread. :eek:

I really haven't been pigging out here people!! I tried one ritz cracker, 1 french fry, 1 peice of chicken while eating some REALLY GOOD chicken Soup. I have stayed on the fluids for the most part. However, I have 3 boys and husband who love to eat junk food right in front of me all the time and it's truly torture. Whenever I'm fixing my 4-year old Snacks, well, I can't explain in words how difficult it is for me to drink my apple juice and chicken broth. I have tried choking down some Protein drinks. Yuk!

I thought, if I posed this questions, hopefully someone would provide me with a valid and educated response that would scare me into being good. I've already considered the swelling, stiches, surgery, etc. I need to be frightened into compliance, get it??

Suggesting that Danielle didn't do her research is really unfair, considering the tone of her original post. I don't think she was asking for permission to cheat, just seeking some reasonable explanation for the ridiculously strict diet. *I* was the one who introduced the idea of giving permission to cheat.

As far as encouraging behavior that isn't medically advised, I'm not really comfortable with that characterization. Like I said, my doctor gave me permission to eat whatever I wanted when I felt ready to. Another prominent doctor in my area only requires a 24 hour liquid diet followed by a 1 week mushy diet and then a regular diet thereafter. Just because some doctors with whom you are familiar advise differently doesn't mean it's the only way.

I see a lot of paranoia on here about slippage, erosion, eating the wrong stage too quickly, and I think it's important to get a less stringent view point as well. I "cheated," I'm alive, my band is fine, and there's no tragedy.

I shouldn't have called you all judgmental. It just bothers me when I see this kind of "mean mommy" backlash toward others who aren't perfect bandsters. And I think it's a little offensive to suggest that someone who eats A french fry and a piece of chicken was banded for the wrong reasons and needs to rethink her goals.