well, everyone, i am back. i went to the molding clinic in Tijuana, mx. i survived it and it wasn't that bad. i did have some things that concerned me about the place once i got there, but overall the experience was okay.

i got the inamed band (they offer you the johnson & johnson band-which is NOT approved in the united states) and it holds a maximum of 4ccs. well, the surgeon placed the band (surgery was a breeze he said) and filled the band with 3ccs. that was a shocker to me, but he says that the amount of ccs he puts in the band is determined based on how many ccs would make the band have a tight fit on the stomach. so, for me, 3ccs did it.

so, i am back and doing well. i have lost 13.2 pounds since i had the surgery on 6/29. i seem to lose everyday. i am not ever hungry. here of late i have to remind myself that it is time to have something to eat. is this normal? i mean, most times i don't want to eat or drink anything. i feel very guilty when i open a can of Soup and just have 3oz and then don't have a desire for that particular soup again. i mean, i don't even want it in a couple of days. they told me i have a 3 oz capacity holding stomach now, so i never have more than 3 oz at a time and i usually wait a couple of hours (at the very least) before i have anything else again. even liquids. my fiance feels i should start a liquid Multivitamin. i also bought an Isopure drink that has 40g of Protein in it for the whole bottle. which is a 20 oz bottle. i have yet to drink the entire bottle. i had 3ozs of it yesterday. i am on full liquids now but nothing really interests me. i guess i am just wondering if my experience is normal. the people from the clinic said it is normal for me to have a lack of interest in food and that i am "losing weight beautifully" and should expect for my excess weight to be gone in about 6 months and that i can expect my rate of weight loss to slow down in about 3 months. that seems kind of crazy to me. thus far i have been following the rules as to what to eat (when i eat). i am too scared to try something that i am not supposed to have because i don't want to do anything to cause the band to slip. also i can feel where my port is. a hard round thing is what it feels like. my fiance called me a "freak of nature" for having some manufactored piece of plastic hanging in my body after he felt the port. but, i know he was just joking. he was originally not with me having the surgery, now he is all proud of me and everything for the process that i am making.

Its normal not to be hungry at first. I did find it odd that they filled you so quickly! Normally they wait until the swelling from surgery goes down, but different strokes for different docs i guess.

I take a Flinstones chewable Vitamin w/iron once a day :biggrin1:

SOme doc's give you at fill at surgery and some, like mine, make you wait several weeks before any fills start. I don't know that there's a right or a wrong to this - it's just how they do it.

I also was not hungry for about 10 days after surgery. Then when the initial swelling goes down, my appetite came back. I don't eat like I use to - but I can eat a more "normal" size portion with no problem. I am so looking forward to my first fill!!!

So, IMHO your perfectly normal

Terry