:help: I am from Pa. I had my surgery in Baltimore Md. 2 weeks ago and I feel so stressed because I think I failed myself. I am 61 years old ,253 lbs. on 11-21-06 and today 12-5-06 I am 247, because I felt so hungry in my 2nd week I have been having some solid foods. I hate myself for cheating, but I ate and didnot feel any restriction at all, and I probably have ruined it for myself, help me with some info ,if I can salvage my surgery,please. thank you , makemelean in Pa.

I can sooooo relate...I did the same thing I have cheated all the way through my lapband journey...I still eat too much now but I am still loosing weight allbeit not as dramatically as some others with the band but enough to keep me satisfied that I haven't totally ruined everything...When I had lapband i thought it was going to magically fix ALL my problems but it actually takes hard work on ourr part as well...We do have to be careful... Dont get yourself down...just have a better day tomorro!

Dear Fab thank you for responding so you think I have not ruined my surgery and I will be so careful from now on. Congrats on your sucess keep in touch makemelean

i'm sure you're taking in SO MUCH LESS food now than before--right? how are you feeling after surgery? I haven't had surgery yet--i finally have the meeting with the surgeon this Thurs---i am very nervous about the whole thing--can you tell me you feel "ok" after the procedure? are you back to work and walking around ok and able to pick things up??? how are your incisions feeling? i'm sure you ARE hungry--but if you couldn't eat something--your stomach would be telling you that.

do you find you feel somewhat full on less food????

anything you can share---i would love to hear!

best wishes,

girlin

nyc

:help: I am from Pa. I had my surgery in Baltimore Md. 2 weeks ago and I feel so stressed because I think I failed myself. I am 61 years old ,253 lbs. on 11-21-06 and today 12-5-06 I am 247, because I felt so hungry in my 2nd week I have been having some solid foods. I hate myself for cheating, but I ate and didnot feel any restriction at all, and I probably have ruined it for myself, help me with some info ,if I can salvage my surgery,please. thank you , makemelean in Pa.

MML,

I hope the other postings have made the point that you haven't ruined everything yet. But please be aware that eating solid foods this early in your recovery can have some unpleasant implications down the road. Some of the reasons for keeping to liquids and progressing to mushies, soft food and finally solids is to keep the stomach from having to work really hard in the post-op/healing phase. This helps prevent irritation to the stomach as well as the esophagus. There is a potential to overfill the pouch and cause it to stretch out of shape.

The main thing that should be happening in the first six weeks is healing. Weight loss, while desirable at any time, is not the goal right now. As the swelling in your stomach goes down you will feel less and less restriction and find you can eat more. Until you start getting fills, you will have be extra vigilant to avoid overeating.

Each one of us had to deal with the hunger in the early days; you are not alone in this. Did your surgeon give you eating instructions - how long to stay at each stage? If you're not sure, call their office back and ask for that info and tell them that you are starving. They will give you advice about what you can safely eat now. In general, you are less likely to be starving if you keep your Protein intake high along with your Water intake. Invest in some Protein powder supplements -type protein into the search window and you'll get lots of recommendations. I personally prefer whey protein to soy, but you get lots of information and can make your own choice. Likewise, there are many recipes on this forum for tasty, protein filled food at whatever level you are eating.

I hope I don't sound like I'm preaching to you. I just think that if you have gone through the effort and expense to get banded, it pays to be as smart as possible in order to get the best results. No one wants the feeling of having failed again. This band is a cool tool, but it can't do the work all alone. It needs to have a commited human.

I wish you the best of luck and a smooth recovery. Please check in and let us know how you are doing!

Jo Ann

:straight

i'm sure you're taking in SO MUCH LESS food now than before--right? how are you feeling after surgery? I haven't had surgery yet--i finally have the meeting with the surgeon this Thurs---i am very nervous about the whole thing--can you tell me you feel "ok" after the procedure? are you back to work and walking around ok and able to pick things up??? how are your incisions feeling? i'm sure you ARE hungry--but if you couldn't eat something--your stomach would be telling you that.

do you find you feel somewhat full on less food????

anything you can share---i would love to hear!

best wishes,

girlin

nyc

dear girlinnyc I wish you the very best with your surgery, I breezed right thru it and 3 days later I was cleaning and decorating for Xmas. I took a pain pill twice and an anti nausea pill 3 times just to be sure I would not vomit. My little incisions healed very nicely and I dont even feel like I had surgery. One thing I want to make you aware of is the anti nausea medicine Zofran, my Dr. wrote a RX for 30 pills the cost was 834.00 dollars and I only used 3 pills. I was lucky my insurance paid for it but I feel like it is a terrible waste, so ask your Dr. to order 3 pills with a few refills if you need it. If I would have known the cost before hand I would have never had it filled. I am eating a lot less than I used to and am losing weight slowly. I had to stay in the hospital overnite because of my heart so I went from Monday nite at 10:00 until Wed. at 1:oo until I was able to have anything not even ice chips in my mouth, that was tough. Before they let you leave they do an xray ,you drink a chalky liquid and they look for leaks and band placement, that was yucky. Good luck to you and get back to me any time and maybe we can keep each other on the right path, good nite from makemelean

Thanks Makemelean!

glad to hear you're recovering so fast! that is good news. and losing weight slowly--is the only way it comes off for sure and for good!

I will keep you posted as to my schedule. tomorrow is the dr. consult--then they write the "letter of need" to my insurance co, which must give an answer within 30 days--then a surgery date is scheduled. i'm nervous--i have a paid-for, scheduled vacation to Mexico the 2nd wk in february--so if this doesn't get done soon--i'll have to do it afterwards. i'm anxious to get started already!

best wishes,

girlin

nyc

I did the same thing and was balled out by my doctor. Please be careful and follow the doctors diet as you can slip your band. Particularly since you are in the healting phase. Don't be hard on yourself. Just get back on track. Good luck, you are doing great.

:)It's a mind game like any other addiction... we are addicted to food... i am being banded on nov 28th and am very scared of my own mind...i love food i love to eat...not for hunger but because it tastes so good... you have to pray everyday to fight that urge...i'm on day 4 of my liquid pre-op diet and fight minute by minute...but i want whats best and healthiest for me.... i'll be scared to eat too fast afterwards....i'm reading too many bad stories....just take it easy....on hour at a time if you have to... you can do it...you made it this far....its 8 months of drs and insurance hoola hoops to jump through for me....hopefully the rest is just smooth sailing and good news....