I was told, Im ruining my surgery

[hotpink_bubbles 0]

Alright so i was banded on March 13th. I started solid foods about a week and a half - two weeks ago. I can eat just about everything i was able to eat pre-banding, except much much much less. Tonite for example we had pizza. I had one tiny slice of pizza, and 2 very small breadsticks. I had that at about 8pm tonite for dinner. It is now 11:30 and my stomach is starting to growl again and im hungry so i went out into the kitchen to get a breadstick, they are small, like an inch by like 3 inches long....wow thats a HUGE breadstick right? Yeah so anyways, i was eating it, and my dad says you know your just going to ruin this whole thing. Meaning im going to ruin the surgery because i ate a damn breadstick. I eat no more then 4 cups of food a day...about 1 cup and 1/4 at each meal. I havent even had that today. For lunch i had a lean cuisine meal and a small banana. For dinner i had the pizza and breadsticks. Other then that i havent had anything. Im due for my first fill on the 23rd, and i dont plan on eating any of that after i get my fill, id be WAY too scared of something getting stuck. Its not like im going out and indulging in horrible foods. I cannot believe he would say that to me, after all i have been through. I was on liquids for 4 weeks straight because of the surgery and the fact that i got a blood clot afterwards. So i was on stage two a hell of a lot longer then i should have been. Am i really going to ruin it all by eating a damn breadstick, one damn breadstick? Im feeling pretty rotten right now like i made a bad choice by having this surgery and that im ruining it all and that im this horrible bad person because i ate that. I just need a little reassureance. Its so so so hard when your parents of all people tell you your ruining it because you ate something, when they sit there and eat 4 slices of pizza and like 8 breadsticks...wtf? Anyways, im only 20, all of this has been SO hard on me, but im fighting day to day with everything i have to get through it....needless to say, im set back a little bit now, i feel like never eating again because i will just ruin it all. Any and all input is welcome, please do give it. Thanks for listening to me.

~Hotpink~

[ELoo 0]

Shoot, if you are bad for eating a bread stick then I have doomed myself to hell already. I was banded one day before you and I have been eating way more than 1 cup of food. I've been eating like I did before the surgery. It's sounds crazy but I sometimes I forget that I'm banded. Don't beat yourself up over what you have eaten. Seems to me that you are doing pretty good.

[DiscoDiva 0]

Hi, Just wanted you to know that I have been able to get more than I thought I should, yes even pizza. LOL I haven't had a fill yet either. I was banded on Feb 14th, but one week later I ended up with Deep Vain Clots also. Is this what you had? I spent a Week in the hospital and then I needed to go to a nursing home because I could't do things for myself and my family all work. So after being there for a week I got clots in my other leg, so I was there for 3 weeks total. Not a fun time for me at all. I still am not up to being my old self. Still very weak when I try to do things around my house.

Did your dr tell you what caused your clots? I am still not sure about mine. Just wondering how you did with your clots and if you could give me some details that might give me some insite to my problems.

Keep your chin up I feel the same way you do about being able to get. Maybe we will do better after 2 or 3 fills.

Debbie

[bosteph 2]

I don't think that you've ruined your surgery because you ate 3 breadsticks and a slice of pizza tonight.

That being said...

Really take a hard look at why you chose that snack. I think that somewhere down deep you feel guilty about your choice regardless of what someone else said to you.

I know that changing habits is hard. The good news is that one time will not completely derail your efforts. It is important that you be honest with yourself about what you are eating. You stated multiple times that you ate "1 breadstick", but in reality you ate 3. I am not judging you, just restating the facts as you presented them for perspective.

Now...

Move on - the breadsticks are done and over. Get up and move to work them off. Make a commitment to yourself to make better choices. Sometimes you will and sometimes you won't - it's up to you.

Don't let the misguided comments made by others impede your future success. You are the master of your own destiny. Take control.

[hotpink_bubbles 0]

Ohhhh i so hope so. I had a large blood clot in my right lung. Im not sure where it started, either the leg or groin. It is dissolving. The doctors said it was the largest they had ever seen, they were amazed i lived through it. I was in the hospital for 5 days, 2 of those days in ICU....so werid being in ICU awake and alert without a tube down your throat. I am on coumadin now take it every day 3 mg a day. I get my blood checked a lot, and im going to a blood specialist to try to figure out how i got em. They figure it was a complication from the lap band surgery. Im not sure, just scared to death, hoping to live normally now. I feel back to normal now. Its amazing how much better i can breathe now, and how horrible breathing was before i went to the ER for the blood clot. Sooo weird. Sorry about your ordeal, you deff went through much more then i did. I hope your doing well now. Well good luck to you, and im glad im not the only one who can eat everything in sight. I get my first fill the 23rd, cross your fingers that it makes me eat less!!!! Good luck to you and thanks for the reply.

~Hotpink~

[Kat817 19]

Hi Hotpink-

I wouldn't stress too much about what you already ate---but use the way eating the wrong thing made you feel, and try to make a better snack choice next time. It is the best any of us can do, and believe me, we all have our "breadstick stories!!!" I am sorry your Dad is not being more supportive.

While you really do need to watch what you are eating for the purpose of the band and weight loss, right now the most important thing you can do, is follow the eating guidelines for taking your Coumadin! And faithfully going for your PT/INR checks! There are foods with high Vitamin K that you need to be avoiding---that should be your #1 priority, then once you get the blood clot issue resolved, if you can add some of that back into your band diet, fine, if not---you'll just have to work around it.

My DH had diet guidelines the entire time he was on blood thinners. Be very careful with them---do not even chance a PB. My DH was put in a life threatening situation, from vomiting---he tore his esophagus where it enters the stomach---it was bad! They told him throwing up with blood thinners is a dangerous thing. So with that in mind, proceed slowly and cautiously with your fills, and eat mindfully. Pay attention, and do your best to avoid a PB.

Some of us know what you are going through, and know it isn't easy. But neither was going through the most of our lives obese---so you getting it done and taking care of it now---is such a wise decision! Hang in there, get your health under control, then your weight---and you will have such a great jump start on life!!!

Kat

[faithmd 14]

I agree with those above me that said to move on from the breadstick and the pizza. You don't have good restriction (from what I understand) yet since you haven't had a fill, so feeling fuller sooner will change. The larger question is, as asked above, why you chose to eat the bread stick and pizza in the first place. The band isn't going to make you lose the weight on it's own, it requires you to make choices, different choices, in what you are eating. I understand that people say they can eat anything they want, but in smaller quantities, and lose weight that way. That's wonderful, but I also think that this is a time for me to make dietary choices and changes and stop eating the pizza and the ice cream and the chips, etc. I have stopped eating these things for almost two months now, in preparation for being banded. A member said in another thread somewhere that they didn't eat the foods they used to because with the decrease in amounts of food that can be eaten with restriction, they wanted to enjoy and get the most nutrition out of the food they can eat.

Just something to think about.

And a question, was your dad only referring to you eating pizza and breadsticks as being why you are "ruining" your band, or was he meaning that you shouldn't be eating these foods yet. (No, I don't think a slice of pizza and a little bread is going to hurt.) You mention that you have been eating solids for two weeks now. That's two weeks after banding? I'm curious if your doctor's program moved you to solids so quickly as most I read about have you on fluids and full liquids and mushies and soft foods for about a month to six weeks before having you introduce solids. That is for the band to heal in place. Since you've been banded you spent a few days in the hospital, and it sounds like you were intubated (on a ventilator) for a couple of days, so all in all, of the days since being banded that you have eated, you have progressed to solids within about ten days of eating.

I'm glad you are continuing to feel better and the clot is dissolving.

[Jachut 487]

I'm one that has lost all of my excess weight down to a normal BMI by eating whatever I want just in smaller quantities. It does work - but it wouldnt if I made poor choices all the time.

You're not an idiot. You know that pizza and breadsticsk dont make that healthy a meal but I'm guessing you also dont eat them for Breakfast lunch and dinner day in day out. The occasional fast food meal is perfectly OK. There is NOTHING worse than dieting and having others judge what you choose to eat.

I dont believe you need to improve your snack choices necessarily, that was today, tomorrow you might choose something completely different. In that situation if someone said that to me it would piss me off, people ought to try not to do that to you - and especially when they're hoeing in themselves. I dont quite know what you'd do about that, I'd tell em to shut up, lol.

You arent ruining anything. I'm guessing one small slice of pizza and a couple of small breadsticks is WAY less than what you would once have eaten. I think its a victory, not a failure.

[waterlily1072 5]

Why were you eating solid food at 2weeks post op?!?! Most docs tell you at least 2 weeks liquid, 2 weeks mushies, two weeks soft solids, then at 6 weeks solid food. They have us do this for a reason, so that our stomachs can heal and the band can "seat" itself around our stomachs. It is very important that you adhere to what your surgeon gave you for post op instructions. What you choose now can affect how likely you are to have a slip later on. As for your dad, he is not your surgeon nor is he your conscience, do what you know to be right. I know the post op is difficult because you are hungry but it is sooo important.

[November Lily 0]

Am I reading a different post to some of you? I believe Hotpink said she was on liquids for four weeks after the op, only now has she been on solids for two weeks. Seems that she is doing this right - or am I mistaken?

"I was on liquids for 4 weeks straight because of the surgery and the fact that i got a blood clot afterwards. So i was on stage two a hell of a lot longer then i should have been."

Hotpink, I really would not worry about eating one piece of pizza and a few breadsticks, I imagine you used to eat alot more. Yes they are not the best choices but often there is no other choice or simply it is ok to treat yourself occassionally.

Dont stress over it, or what your dad said, you are not ruining your band. Just make better choices tomorrow.

[faithmd 14]

Am I reading a different post to some of you? I believe Hotpink said she was on liquids for four weeks after the op, only now has she been on solids for two weeks. Seems that she is doing this right - or am I mistaken?

"I was on liquids for 4 weeks straight because of the surgery and the fact that i got a blood clot afterwards. So i was on stage two a hell of a lot longer then i should have been."

No, I read that part, too. To quote HPB:

"Alright so i was banded on March 13th. I started solid foods about a week and a half - two weeks ago."

I think she may have meant that she was on liquids for two weeks pre-op, plus two weeks post-op. So my question to her was if her doctor's program moved her to solid food two weeks post-op. Most don't.

My reason for asking that was because I was wondering if her father was chastising her for eating the pizza and bread sticks (which I think one or two on occasion is fine), or if perhaps he was meaning she'd ruin her band because she's eating solid food too early.

[juliegeraci 7]

It sounds like you are trying to eat like a bandster. You are eating too much food though. I can only eat about 1/2 of a cup at a time. Once you get good restriction you shouldn't be able to eat more than 1 cup of food. I can only eat 1/2 of a slice of pizza then I have to wait to finish it. Good luck with your fill. Julie

[mylapspirit 2]

hotpink bubbles:

When you had the surgery did the surgeon give you blood thinners to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis? They would have been shots in your tummy ( I think)? I am just surprised at your complication because you are so young.

Also, don't beat yourself up over the breadstick. You are only human and allowed to make a few mistakes.

[hotpink_bubbles 0]

Okie wow well to answer the questions, I was banded on March 13th.....and I was on complete liquids for maybe 3 weeks or 4 weeks im not sure i know it was a LONG time, I guess i added it all up wrong that i had been on Solids for two weeks, sorry about that, It sure feels like its been that long. I left the hospital on stage 3, liquids plus Protein drinks, there were 3 stages after that, and they each lasted a week. I never progressed, I was told to stay on stage 3 (if i said it was stage 2 earlier i was mistaken too, sorry bout all the mistakes, i was dead tired when i first wrote that lol) anyways, I was told to stay on stage 3 and it lasted at LEAST 3 weeks, nothing but liquids and for my surgeon that meant no soupds no nothing but stuff like tea and Water and crystal light. I went and had my first ever post op check up because i was in and out of the hospital so damn much on April somethin or another, and he told me that day, Casey you have been through so much, go ahead and go on to solids, your ready to do that now, So i said ok. At first i started out with stuff like refried Beans and cottage cheese, moved up to meatloaf and eggs, and if that all went down good i would try something new. The ONLY reason i ate pizza last night, was because it was the only thing we had at the time, did it taste good? No, id it satisfy me? Nope. But it was there, i was hungry, so i thought what the hell its not going to kill me. This whole time i eat a lot a lot of cheese, and Beans, and i eat tuna fish on crackers and stuff like that....Im not some junk food aholic or anything like that. It was just the comment that "your going to ruin this whole thing be eating that" that pissed me off so bad. Its like shut the heck up before i would have eaten 4 slices of pizza and god knows how many breadsticks.....so i am eating a heck of a lot less then that. Im not gaining weight, and Im not losing weight, Im staying the exact same and i get a fill in like a week so i think i will be fine. As far as did i have the shots in the hospital, Yes i had those shots in my stomach, the blood thinner ones, I had the leg pumps on, I had all of that. Believe me you arent the only one that is shocked that i had a blood clot so young....it was so big of a blood clot they are amazed i lived through it.....comforting... lol. It was like the day after i got home from surgery i started to not be able to breathe, staning up from sitting down would take my breath away, and I went into the hospital a week after my surgery for dehydration i told them about not being able to breathe then, The just said ohhhh thats from the surgery you will be fine, A week after that im in ICU with a blood clot in my lung....soooo i dunno. No i wasnt intubated at all, thank god for that.....Its just been sooooooo up and down. My surgeon calls at least twice a week to check on me, which im glad he does, i dont know of any other surgeon doing that....at least not the surgeon himself. Anyways I agree pizza and a breadstick were not the best choices, but it was all that was there so i ate it. Today i had a lean cuisine, and some cheese, thats all ive had all day, for dinner im having meatloaf and some kind of veggie i unno yet. So no i dont eat that stuff all the time, it was a one time thing and it didnt even taste as good as i had hoped. Anyways, I hope that clears it all up for you all, sorry if there were an misunderstandings about the time frame.....i flunked math class i cant add 2 and 2 lol. Thanks all for your replys..Have a good day!!!!!

~Hotpink~

[dpingl 0]

People really don't understand the principal behind a Lap band when they say things like that. Its your total life style. Not a breadstick, not a cheat ONCE IN AWHILE. I am not a fast looser per the BAND. But I am so much healthier. I have went from a 18/20 to some 14's in better clothes. I was banded in NOV of last year. I do still drink my red wine. I do still eat a pce of Whole grain toast @ Breakfast, I ocassionally snack too much. I exercise 5 days a week and eat healthy. Its a lifestyle. I have my hair and I am now on NO MEDS! Life is so GOOD! Only 20#'s but 3 sizes! I am happy. Don't complicate this. Because the band is a tool not a miracle. If you have bread sticks ( WHOLE GRAIN BREAD sticks would be a much better choice) WALK 40 minutes not 30 the next day. Remember you have to live like this the rest of your life!