I just went to the seminar last week and am in the process of getting insurance to cover my lap band. What I really want to know is what to expect. Is it a lot of pain after the surgery? What can you eat at various stages? Do you ever get to eat "normal" foods? Is there a lot of gas/vomiting? How about diarrhea or constipation? I know, this may be gross, but I'm just really trying to get a true picture of what to expect, ya know? Thank you for your help. I've been reading around here on the forum and have learned a lot of great info. Any help you can give would be awesome.

As far as pain after surgery goes, you will be sore for about a week. My biggest problems were getting in and out of a chair, and sleeping on my left side(that is where my port is). Also, you will have gas pains from the anesthesia. Walking will help move it along, and Gas-X is good. As far as food: The first week or so you have to stick to clear liquids--broth, juice, jello, etc. The next phase is full liquids--protein drinks, cream soups, smoothies, etc. Then you will move on to mushies--cottage cheese, yogurt, more soups, mashed potatoes, things like that. Basically anything you can mush up in a blender. Then you slowly add solid foods--and that is just trial and error. You just have to try things to see how well you tolerate them. I never had a problem moving from phase to phase, but some people do. You should be able to eat normal foods, and if you can't, there is something wrong. You should not be vomitting, unless you are too tight, and if you are, you should get unfilled a little. Too much vommitting can cause your band to slip, and that is bad. You may have trouble with constipation, because it is hard to get enough fiber in. I take a prescription called Glycolax--it is an odorless, colorless powder that you mix in water or any liquid. Take it once a day, and it keeps you very regular--no diarrhea, just regular. I hope I was able to help, and good luck.

Everyone is different but for me, yes there was a lot of pain -- much more than anyone said but I'll be the first to say I'd do it again in a heartbeat! How quickly you succeed depend on the fills you get more than anything. I was lucky and got a good tight fill my first time (2.6 cc) and had lost about 35 pounds in around 4 months - then had to have an unfill due to a stomach virus causing swelling I couldn't shake. After a month unfilled, I maintained but then had 2.8 CC's put in, which was too tight and again had to have an unfill... Then put 2.5 cc's and now I'm at about 2.2 CC's which is a 'maintenance' fill for me - it's been a lot of fills and unfills and adjustments but don't be shy about that. it seems like there is no one thing that works for everyone, so you really have to be patient and pay attention to your body. I can eat just about anthing but have a lot of trouble with some things... tuna from a can is difficult fo rme, but chicken from a can is great! I can drink beer, most cannot. I can eat salads, most cannot. I can't do bread unless it's a good hearty wheat and is toasted to a crunch. I can do rice just fine, potatos are difficult, french fries nearly impossible. Chips are okay, cheetos go down good, and for some reason I've always been able to eat popcorn when nothing else will go down... and lots of it! I can't eat yogurt or applesauce (go figure) but protein shakes and meal replacement drinks are very good... I can eat most vegetables but have to be careful with them. Good luck to you! BTW, I was banded August 31 2005, at 212 pounds. I now weight 158 - holding for about a year now - I'm 5'10" and went from a size 16-18 to a size 8 - -- you can do it!

Chicken is one of the easiest things for me to eat, but turkey is almost impossible! Shellfish is great for me, but fish is difficult -- again, no rhyme or reason! I cannot stress enough the importance of walking after surgery to help the gas pains -- do it when you don't think you can from the minute you wake up...

Thank you very much for your input. I really appreciate it!!!

I am due to be banded on July 9th I can't figure out what to expect as far as weight loss goes. I read these boards and see rapid loss my Doc says 1 to 2 lbs aweek is good one person up here lost 90lbs in 90 days.

some up here have taken almost a year to drop 45 lbs I understand ANY loss sustained for a period of time is a triump and I am not knocking anybody

I just don't know what to expect ya know. what is average? yeah yeah I know.... individual results may vary:D:D

how many times have we heard that one