Is there anyone out there that is from New Zealand. I have just joined this website - thanks to another friend who told me about it. I was just wondering if there were any other kiwi's out there. I have just had my banding op on the 8th March 07, so it all rather new for me. Just gone on to the mushy food stage and excited about that. Some normal food that I don't have to drink - YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Flax,

Yeah had the band done on Thursday, home Friday feeling like I had just done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson but slowly feeling like the old me. I feel like I am having trouble swallowing and when I do drink I feel like I have a bick sitting in my chest. When I take deep breaths it hurst and I still have shoulder pain and in my collar bone so I hope these are normal things for the first few days. I am sure things will get better as the days pass. I was eating some tomato soup just before and thought I was going to throw it up the lump in my chest felt so bad so I stood over the sink trying to burp and just saliva came up. Took a couple of quick eze hoping that might help me through it and sure enough it made me feel so much better. Might give the tomato soup a miss for a while. You are doing so well with your weight loss and so are you Tracy (sorry to hear you haven't been too good). I hopped on the scales this morning and I don't think I have lost any weight since having the band put on but hopefully I will start to see some results soon.

Anyway I go to see the Doc and dietician Thursday 10th so hopefully it will be all good. He gave me 3 weeks off work so I intend to make the most of it.

Keep in touch.

Deb

Hi Deb, Must be the tomato, I had some canned spag last night and it did the same to me. i have lost 41 kg now, cant remember my password to update my ticker. In no time at all you will be plummeting towards that 70 kg. Isn't it exciting?

You are doing awesome Flax ... wow 41kg ... your goal is so close!!

I can not wait to get to goal!

Hi all. Great to see a NZ line up. I had my op in Chch on the 10th July and will be having my first fill appointment this week. I have been really hungry this last week and feel i could eat anything i liked if i went wild! Is this normal. i can't wait to get some restriction on my hunger again. i have lost 8kg since i started the pre-op diet but have put on 500gm this last week!

Yeah, it is normal, nothing to worry about at all. 8kg is an awesome start. We all tend to lose alot from preop diet and immediately post op. That period until the first fill can feel like forever and i know i worried terribly i would put it all back on. (that didn't happen though).

i can't say i felt hungry ... though i did feel like i could eat as much as i wanted. i guess the key is making the good food choices.

It wasn't until my second fill that i felt real restriction. i am now at a point where i need more restriction due to weight loss.

It can take a while to find that "sweet spot" with restriciton. A really good indication that i read in the lapband book i was given ... you should beable to eat 1/2 a cup of food over 20mins and feel full. It said you need to eat very slowly, putting your knife and fork down between each mouthful and never finishing whats on your plate.

I have found that a very good techique to use, early on i would (rather hubby would) dish me up much larger meals and a life time of habit would see me trying to eat it all. Now i dish up less than i think i will eat ... about 1/2 a cup of food ... and go with that. i haven't suffered from malnutrition ... despite what others may think will happen only eating that amount of food! i am fading away though ... but in a good way.

All the best on your journey. If you can join a support group, it is hugely beneficial ... we have one here in HB. Otherwise find good people to keep in contact with ... as it is very encouraging to know what you are feeling and experiencing is really quite normal.

keep us posted!!

Thanks for the great advice Tracy. i'll let you know how i go. One more question for you? Did you tell everyone you have a band or have you quietly lost weight and everyone thinks Weight Watachers is working this time? Apart from my closest friend and family i have kept it quite but not sure how i will handle going out for dinners etc when my eating is restricted.

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the site and Congrats on taking the step to being banded. I was banded on 26th June this year and to date have lost just on 20kgs. I feel great and I am sure you will too as the weight just drops off. I got my first fill on the 6th of August and OMG I thought I was alright when I left the doctors surgery as I managed to swallow water or I thought I did but found out once I got home I could not even swallow my own saliva. The water must have only gone down as far as my pouch but because I swallowed such a small amount it probably didn't feel like it was still sitting there. The doctor put 3mls in my band (not very much when you think about it - not even a teaspoon) but it was too much for me. Felt like I literally swallowed a brick. I sat up all night and tried so hard to catch a few zzz's in the recliner as there is no way I could lie down. I rang the surgery 1st thing the next morning and had 1ml taken out - instant relief.

Since then I have been fine - I can still manage to eat about a cup of food very slowly. Am due back to the doc's on the 8th September but if I still have this restriction I am not getting any more put in. Trick to eating I have found is slow and steady - don't get distracted and start talking etc as you tend to forget how fast you are eating. Anyway best of luck with everything and I am sure you will be fine with the fill. My doc said 99.9% of the time he can put 3 mils in and people are great with it. Trust me to be the .01% that wasn't.

Thanks for the great advice Tracy. i'll let you know how i go. One more question for you? Did you tell everyone you have a band or have you quietly lost weight and everyone thinks Weight Watachers is working this time? Apart from my closest friend and family i have kept it quite but not sure how i will handle going out for dinners etc when my eating is restricted.

Hi Chris,

i didn't tell anyone for along time. I had a few close friends that knew but that was all. i would just say when people commented ... i am eating less and exercising more. It wasn't a lie ...

Now though i am more comfortable with it and just tell people ... but it has taken me a long time to get to that point. i was really insecure about what people would think, that they would think that i am taking the easy option. Though those close to me have seen it is not the easy option.

As for eating out ... i still struggle with it. i almost always end up over eating when i go out ... as i feel like people are watching how little i eat ... and to be honest, a few of my friends comment on how little i eat now. Compared to before, i used to shovel food into my mouth, i have always been a fast eater!

As bad as it is ... you can become quite skilled in the art of reguritation ... in the event of over eating ... though not a recommended practice by any stretch of the imagination.

i can't offer any good advice about how to deal with social events, especially sit down meals ... other than do what you do at home, eat slow and don't finish your plate. It really is a tricky one.

hey everyone, am new to this so am not too sure if this is going to go to the right place!

I am in the process of getting a band, havn't got a date yet but have been for a few appointments and have got the psych this week, but am really excited and hope to get it done soon to be on my way to better days :biggrin:

It is quite scary reading everyones problems with the pre and post diet is it really that bad????

Also I havn't told anyone except for my mum and 1 of my friends that I am getting it done, what is the consensus on this?

hey everyone, am new to this so am not too sure if this is going to go to the right place! :thumbup:

I am in the process of getting a band, havn't got a date yet but have been for a few appointments and have got the psych this week, but am really excited and hope to get it done soon to be on my way to better days

It is quite scary reading everyones problems with the pre and post diet is it really that bad????

Also I havn't told anyone except for my mum and 1 of my friends that I am getting it done, what is the consensus on this?

i didn't find it too bad. It is just one month out of your life ... not much really!

There are ways to make the opifast taste better.

Yes it does get tiresome after a month of drinking shakes ... but trust me that the time immediately after your surgery, you don't want to eat really anyways!

I would do it all again for the outsome so far.

Tell whoever you are comfortable telling. i found most people were very supportive, there have been some less supportive along the way but that means little now i have lost almost 1/3 of my total body weight and over half of my excess weight! Totally worth it!

Good luck with your journey and keep us posted on how you go.

Thanks Tracey for the response.

I am finding it all so confusing, I have been for all the pre appointments and now just waiting to find out a date, I am just finding it difficult making that final decision about which surgery to go for, I have been pretty positive about the band most of the way, then I read something or talk to someone about the sleeve and get all confused, wondering if I am making the right decision by going with the band (clear as mud).

I have just trawled through this site, which is great, the American forums alot of people talking about reflux issues, and being unable to swallow alot of things, and it being a major struggle, has anyone on here found this too, also for those on here who have had it for a while now, how are you finding it, has life gone back to normal (ish)

i don't have any reflux issues ... and i don't think anyone in my support group does either.

things i do struggle with are ...

eating in the morning. If i try and eat in the morning it gets stuck ... then i am unable to eat again until later that night or the next day. my mornings are now protein shakes.

i am unfortunately one of those people that struggles with alot of different foods. Perhaps it is fortunate though ... because it makes losing weight easier!

i don't eat bread very often now, i can't eat most takeaway food ... especially mcd's burger king, fish and chips, pizza ... all the bad things. They all get stuck. i don't eat alot of red meat ... however i never really ate it before so that is not too much of an issue for me.

i am not going to sugar coat that it has been easy ... cause there are days i want to cry and just be normal!! It is huge changes to make, a life time of habit to break! i forget to eat slowly, i forget to take little bites ... i have to work really hard to eat the way i need to.

However it has been totally worth it! i would do it again if i had the choice. Most days are ok though.

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would check and see if anyone else lives around the Palmerston North area and how you guys over the ditch get on with having your fills done - how far you have to travel and how much it costs. I am about to return to Plamerston North to live. I has my op done in June and at the moment have 2 mls in my band. The surgeon I see is only about half an hour away from where I live and the fills for the first year are all covered on my insurance but if I come back there I want to know what I will be up against.

Can anyone shed some light on the subject for me. Ta

Deb

Well i live in hawkes bay and i am filled here. The closest to me otherwise is Hamilton ... very nice people i have been to them when my surgeon was out of the country.

Hi All, I just wanted to reintroduce myself, I haven't been into this site for a while and was pleased to see how the NZ thread had grown, there wasn't one when I first joined but I loved this site and it has got me thru so much!

MY STORY- I was banded April 2006 by Dr Fris, 106 kg on surgery day, got down to 80kg, it was a long, hard road with a lot of PB'ing and frustration........a bit due to having to adjust to my new life-style. I was single at the time and got very nervous in social situation having to eat in front of people or on dates.

Then in April this year after meeting a wonderful man I got even more frustrated that we couldn't eat much together and finally told him, the first guy I had ever told about my surgery, he is a wonderful, supportive man and coincidentally we became engaged 2 days ago, 1st of September......yipeee!!!! But back to story....so I had a big deflate as I wanted to share cooking meals with him etc, enjoy romantic dinners.....and enjoy my overseas holiday with him and my family without embarrassing trips to the toilet.....understandably, I put back on a lot of weight but was ok until I realised I was obsessing too much about food again and stuffing myself silly. I couldn't fit my work uniform again and realised I wanted to have a family soon and didn't want to be this size but more healthy and happy, a side effect of the weight gain was I started to get depressed about the extra weight and it affected my love life and I wasn't about to lose this wonderful man who has entered my life.

5 weeks ago I reinflated the band, went ok at first, but didn't really lose, and was eating too large portion sizes, went 2 days ago to get a small fill..........geez what a drama, had to go back to docs twice (luckily I only live 10 mins away from Dr Fris and get unfilled, still a bit wary at moment, have finally managed to get some food down but gurgling a little still, hoping it will settle in next couple of days or else it is back to Dr on Monday, so now ironically back to fill size from 5 weeks ago.....

Anyway sorry for long story, just wanted to give my details.......

I think I am going to have to adjust to eating more band friendly but I am so blessed to have finally found someone to support me in all this and who understands.

Hope to hear from you all soon

Kind regards

Fiona