how long did you wait for real food?

[GoingforGoal 1,734]

In light of some recent posts, I felt compelled to start a discussion on LBT forums and what you can expect.

At large, there are 3 phases to wls. The initial research preop phase, the postop losing phase, and the maintenance phase. Within each of these groups, you will find like-minded and not so like-minded individuals who are here to share their experiences and their story. Most of us speak to our level of experience. Anyone with over one year of being banded is probably the most qualified to give advice, however, anyone can contribute. Some individuals have additional experiences and knowledge sets unique to them which can serve us as a lbt community. Examples include those who have had complications, those with medical training/education etc. There's also those who have limited knowledge/experience, but yet still want to support and guide those with even lesser knowledge and experience and to reinforce their own learning.

When you post to the LBT community, you will get a wealth of information in response. However, some of the responses can be terse, irrational, unfounded, misguiding or simply confusing/contradictory to other responses. It is your responsibility to gather all the information and determine what is appropriate to make an independent decision on vs something that should be discussed with your physician. It is also your responsibility to determine who is misleading you and not. This is not a medical resource center, you are speaking to individuals of different levels of education and experience with the band. This is true for emotional vs educational posts as well. Some responses are supportive, some are keeping you accountable, some seem understanding and some seem accusatory. Sort of like real life right? No one is monitored here. You can speak freely without being overtly offensive. However, negative feedback is sometimes warranted. In order to grow in your journey, honesty is best. It will hopefully help you thwart negative behaviors and instill good ones to ensure success. Please do not expect positive support all the time. Tough love has it's place and is exercised on occasion.

Now, this post is also to address accountability. And I wish to take this from a 'oldies' perspective opposed to a newbies perspective. You will come across many 'oldies' who have had their bands for years. We deliberately come to the lbt site for continual support in our maintenance phase, but also to help newbies with a wide spectrum of needs ranging from general understanding of the band as a mechanism to how to live day in and day out with their bands. Most of the topics discussed on lbt is repetitive. The answers become more and more concrete as everyone becomes more educated on the rationale for the answers given. But there are times when a person's post can simply be a huge red flag. The response to these type posts typically become terse real quick..and here is why:

1. We wish to educate wls patients and want to prevent unsafe posts from serving as educational posts for others in the learning process. It only takes one poor post to misguide an individual in their journey. Bandsters will do anything they can to negate the wrong information simply to inform and educate.

2. We want everyone to realize that there are very real consequences to not following band rules. Too many people are becoming too lax with their rules and it's resulting in terrible complications that could be prevented. Posts that hilite poor band habits can also yield terse comments. This comes from an angle of accountability. The worse thing we can do is allow someone to leave feeling as if their decision was a small mistake, no big deal, nothing to worry about..its ok, you'll do better tomorrow. Let me reemphasize the very real consequences of these decisions and who has to live with those complications. It serves us better when we receive honest feedback that helps us adjust our mentalities and behaviors for the better. Support posts are great for those down and out days, not the posts where someone has identified a behavior that could put their life at real risk.

It is very easy to receive negative or honest feedback as an insult. But please realize, most of the posts come from a place of understanding and support. We are very scared for people who seemingly have very little knowledge yet have a band. It's a scary combination. For those banded for years, you see the same repetitive mistakes and ultimately complications and/or failures. We are here to support you through this process with refreshment of the band rules, tricks to the trade, and support you through obstacles. We do our best to provide you accurate information and some of us (raising hand) have spent over an hour researching information for fellow bandsters to ensure they get the right information.

Somehow this gets convoluted into others perceiving this feedback as "rude, cyber-bullying, offensive, unsupportive" etc. I think if you invested in reaching out to some of these oldie bandsters and knowing their experiences, how much they contribute, the typical responses they offer..you'd be pleasantly surprised that these are some of the most caring and supportive individuals investing a lot of their personal time for your benefit alone.

Being apart of this community, for myself, has been both rewarding and infuriating at times. As an RN I see people post inaccurate medical information all the time and it's simply irresponsible. Please refrain from 'educating' people by saying things like "I heard" "I think" "It might be". If you do not know the answer for certain than please refrain from answering at all. The forums are a wonderful way to communicate and get quick responses. But don't feel compelled to answer all of them if you cannot contribute a safe and accurate piece of information. But by all means, if you have the answer, help your fellow bandsters so they can make wise decisions or become better eduated in their band and the band lifestyle.

Thank you for listening. Wishing everyone a safe and successful journey.

[GuyMontag 1,264]

Guymontag........

PS - You are correct that I am not you. Thank the heavens. I think we can all agree that we are glad on that point.

Ooh nice bit of Internet bullying there... Shame on u..

If you think I'm an Internet bully then you might want to log off now...

PS - I'm not the one calling you names and acting like a drunk chick in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

[renewed_mind 7]

They want you to wait because you're swollen inside' date=' and because your stitches have not healed. If you eat solid food, it will sit in the pouch above your band (as it's supposed to) and go down slowly. However, putting pressure on the band before you have healed means there's a very real chance that the stitches will tear right through your stomach tissue, causing your organs to tear, and the band to shift or slip...

Organ tissue is different than skin. It stays moist all the time and doesn't heal as quickly as skin. This is one of the reasons the sleeve is a riskier surgery than the band. With the band, you just have stitches, but when they cut your stomach open for the sleeve, the staples up at the top don't always fuse shut, and your stomach juices ooze out through the wound.

So the post-op diet is intended to make you wait till your swelling has gone down, your stitches have healed, and your body has gotten used to having a foreign object in there before adding pressure and irritation to your organs.

I was on liquids for two weeks. I was supposed to be on mushies for two weeks, but asked my doctor (after being on mushies for a week) if that was 100% required because I was getting hungry a lot. He said it was, but after doing a checkup and a fluoroscope on me, said that my band was so wide open that he would approve my eating a small amount of mashed fish a few days earlier. But that was the only food he was willing to let me eat earlier.

I'm rebellious and don't like to follow rules, but also don't want to hurt myself. So I've been selectively following the rules that relate to my not hurting myself, and figure the ones having to do with calories and weight loss are on me. So sometimes I have candy. Sometimes I have juice. And I figure if I lose weight a little slower, that's ok with me because this is a long journey...

That said, I messed up.

I was told that you shouldn't drink with meals. My doctor was VERY clear about that. But I thought the reason was so that you didn't push food through your band quickly, thus causing you to be hungrier earlier... Ok, so most of the time I didn't drink with meals, but sometimes I did. I even asked the nutritionist once if that meant I could never have wine with dinner again and she said it was fine to sip a little sometimes...

But OOPS!!!

I didn't know that the reason was not just about pushing food through faster, but ALSO so that you didn't increase the overall volume of food above your band. Because I wanted to drink, I only heard "it was fine." I didn't hear "a little" or "sometimes" because I wasn't listening for that...

And now my pouch is dilated. Not a lot, just a little. And I caught it early so the doc said it should go back to normal after I do a few things... But I really do wish I had followed the rules on this one and not tried to pick out what I wanted to hear, and what I thought the reasons were. I'm not a doctor. What the hell do I know?

All I know is that i got this surgery because I wanted to lose weight. And I have lost a lot of weight!! In fact, if I never lost another pound I'd still be happy... But if I gain it all back I will not be happy. And if I stretch out my pouch, cause slips, and mess up my internal organs, I will end up right back where I started...[/quote']

Did they put fuild in you band right out of surgury or not? Because I dont have a pouch yet my band has no Fluid in it whatsoever

[srudd82 1]

Renewed_mind, I feel your pain. I just had my surgery last monday and was starving after being on a liquid diet for the week before. I didn't go full solid food but I did "mush" on wednesday after my sugery because i wanted something besides sweet Protein Shakes and Soups so bad! I didn't have any problems with it at all. I'm still doing mushy foods after almost two weeks and don't get nauseous or anything. Just listen to your body. Take a bite wait a little and if all goes well continue. Everyone's different and you will gain sucess in your own way. Don't let people piss you off just scroll past their comments and keep going. Also, so I'm not a person thay didn't answer your question...my doctor's office said it was to get your stomach used to eating solid foods again and let the swelling go down before you fill it with solids. Hope thus helps some. Good luck!

[GuyMontag 1,264]

http://picardfacepalm.com/

[renewed_mind 7]

I have a friend that keeps stretching her pouch out because of drinking with meals. I too bend rules sometimes but I tend to learn that they are there for a reason. Fortunately you are now able to adjust your eating and drinking and get your pouch back in shape. That's a valuable lesson learned and one that I think many people disregard out of all of the rules. Thank you for sharing and for your informative post.

I made sure it went down day one with liquid because I wasnt sure but since I spoke with them and was told it was more for the benifit of not getting nauseated and pukeing rather than anything else it was fine and since then I still act as though my food is being held in a pouch and slowly filtered through so I dont drink before during or for 30 mins after I eat and I make sure I chew really well... so that part where I thought it would be a hard adjustment hasnt been so bad I catch myself reach for something to drink while eating every now and again though lol

[GuyMontag 1,264]

Or maybe this...http://imgur.com/2YeDA

[SashaWLS 412]

Did they put fuild in you band right out of surgury or not? Because I dont have a pouch yet my band has no Fluid in it whatsoever

Nope, I didn't have any Fluid in it during surgery.

[renewed_mind 7]

Renewed_mind' date=' I feel your pain. I just had my surgery last monday and was starving after being on a liquid diet for the week before. I didn't go full solid food but I did "mush" on wednesday after my sugery because i wanted something besides sweet Protein shakes and Soups so bad! I didn't have any problems with it at all. I'm still doing mushy foods after almost two weeks and don't get nauseous or anything. Just listen to your body. Take a bite wait a little and if all goes well continue. Everyone's different and you will gain sucess in your own way. Don't let people piss you off just scroll past their comments and keep going. Also, so I'm not a person thay didn't answer your question...my doctor's office said it was to get your stomach used to eating solid foods again and let the swelling go down before you fill it with solids. Hope thus helps some. Good luck![/quote']

This is exactly what my doctors office said they didnt want me to eat solids and get sick and puke putting all that pressure on this fresh stuff that I was already in pain over but since I handled it well it was no biggie ..... thank you very much for a normal rational and nice responce with an answer to the question instead of an irrational rude criticism of me and basically saying im dumb and have no clue what im doing I appriciate that

[GoingforGoal 1,734]

Did they put fuild in you band right out of surgury or not? Because I dont have a pouch yet my band has no Fluid in it whatsoever

Just for clarification purposes, you do have a pouch with or without Fluid in the band. Your band was placed around the upper portion of your stomach. This new stomach that was created is what we refer to as the pouch. Here is a picture to give you a visual.

Also, the fact that you are not supposed to eat solids to avoid vomiting is only a small part of the long list of whys. The primary reason is to not further inflame an already inflammed area. This is what leads to slips, erosion, and occlusion (or complete closure) of the stoma.

Yes our doctors give us different guidelines, however, they are not extreme polar opposite guidelines. An aggressive doctor may wait a 3 weeks a conservative doctor will wait 4 or 5 weeks before introducing solids. Not a day compared to a month.

Instead of fighting us, accept that we too have been banded and most of us have lived with it through fills, some have had complications (and can give you testament of why you don't break the rules) and have a real understanding of the band and the risks inherent with this apparatus.

This is a forum for learning, not throwing f bombs and being hostile. We consider ourselves to be a community. Most of us end up finding some genuine friends here. Take it or leave it, that's your choice. But an open mind is a must.

[SashaWLS 412]

I didn't have any problems with it at all. I'm still doing mushy foods after almost two weeks and don't get nauseous or anything. Just listen to your body. Take a bite wait a little and if all goes well continue. Everyone's different and you will gain sucess in your own way.

I would like to recommend that you ask your doctor what to listen for, when you're listening to your body.

[SashaWLS 412]

This is exactly what my doctors office said they didnt want me to eat solids and get sick and puke putting all that pressure on this fresh stuff that I was already in pain over but since I handled it well it was no biggie ..... thank you very much for a normal rational and nice responce with an answer to the question instead of an irrational rude criticism of me and basically saying im dumb and have no clue what im doing I appriciate that

[lellow 1,713]

I guess I'm a little taken aback by your reaction OP. Perhaps everyone misunderstood your intention: did you only want people to tell you it was ok? That you weren't potentially doing enough damage to yourself to not only cause long term problems, but perhaps even kill you? If that's what you were after, I'm sorry I offered any advice and I would have stayed out of this thread if I knew that to be the case.

I don't know you, you certainly don't know me, so except for the fact that you're a fellow human being and I don't like seeing others get hurt, I don't actually have an investment in you or your success. I only know my own success and the lessons I've learnt along the way the last 5 years. I made mistakes too, and if I can help someone NOT make those same mistakes, I try to. So I give advice freely, but whether someone takes it or leaves it is no skin off my nose.

If you want to eat now, and believe your hunger is somehow worse than anything any of us have felt, well ok. It sounds like nothing anyone can say will convince you otherwise anyway. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Lori123 170]

I made sure it went down day one with liquid because I wasnt sure but since I spoke with them and was told it was more for the benifit of not getting nauseated and pukeing rather than anything else it was fine and since then I still act as though my food is being held in a pouch and slowly filtered through so I dont drink before during or for 30 mins after I eat and I make sure I chew really well... so that part where I thought it would be a hard adjustment hasnt been so bad I catch myself reach for something to drink while eating every now and again though lol

There are so many posts to this thread I may have missed it, but does your doctor know you are eating this soon? I think I speak for alot of people on here when I say none of us probably chewed really well right off the bat...it's something you have to learn and it can take time. Some of us had to learn the hard way when we didn't quite chew well enough. I'm getting that your doctor did NOT prepare/ educate you on the lapband. Many basics you should already know, beginning with you DO have a pouch. Your doctor should have shown you a model or picture of where the band sits. You are not stupid, don't think that. It IS a very serious thing that your not following the instructions regarding the diet . Go to lapband.com. Lots if great info there.

[Lori123 170]

Guymontag your a hoot!! I love John Luc Picard!! Lol