Good morning all,

I had my surgery on 5/22/08 and did the whole liquid diet till day 7 and then am now on the "mushies" stage till day 30. I have found (in my sick head maybe) that there are actually alot of food that can "become" mushy (that should be a whole other thread :thumbup:). The first couple of days eating mushies I found that I was getting VERY full VERY quickly. Like after about 8-10 bites or less.

NOW.........it seems as though I never even had the Lapband??? What the heck is going on here? I know that once the swelling goes down that you start to feel hungry again and nothing really tends to get stuck, but I really didn’t expect it to be this quickly. My port is still sore when I push it, so to me that means...maybe...that I am still a little swollen?? So I should still get full quicker??? My mind is beginning to play tricks on me BIG TIME!!!

Back to the fill question.... I am not scheduled to get my fill till 6/24/08, which would be 32 days after surgery (I want it NOW!!:thumbup:)

How soon did everyone get his or her first fill??

Also, has anyone had or having the above situation?

All replies are very much appreciated!

By the way, I have lost NOTHING since 8 days after surgery....

BOO HOO!

I am going on my 2nd month my doctor wouldn't because he wanted to see how I did with my meds crazy I think. So my surgery was April 11,08 and still no fill hang in all docs are different. Your in banster hell.

Ohhh...that's what they call bandster hell. SHEESH! This sucks!!! I am going to call him on Monday and see what he says. I was self pay ($15,000) and I know that I am probably being a llittle impatient, buttttt.....sheesh, it seems way too soon to me. But what do I know?!?!?!?! lol

Jana, continue doing a good job of choosing the right foods. I was on a plateau for 2 weeks (banded 5/13) even with eating less than 500 calories a day. In the last 2 weeks, I have bumped up my exercise (30 min cardio, 30 min weight machines) 3x a week and some Water aerobics (3x a week) and voila! the scale is moving! I am down 29.5 lbs....wearing size 14 pants....more to go!

Stick with it! You're worth it!

Try to have patience! Your body is still healing and it has been through some trauma with the surgery. My surgeon doesn't do fills before 2 months after surgery (I know they are all different), but it seems like if you were just banded late May that it may be a little soon. Your plateau once you started eating a few more calories with the mushies is normal. I definitely had that and actually gained a little weight. But, I focused on what my doctor said to focus on...letting by body heal properly by following his instructions. I didn't obsess with the fact that I had gained a few and that I wasn't seeing the scale move back downward for a little while. But, as my body adjusted, I then started losing it again. Now, I'm not quite 3 months after surgery, and I've lost 45 pounds! I like the advice my doctor gave. After surgery, your focus should be on letting your body heal. Once your body is healed, then your focus should shift to learning to eat the right way. What he didn't tell me but that I have learned is that when I followed his advice, the weight will come off! Iknow you want the instant gratification, but if there was a magic cure for our obesity, we would have already taken it.

I was banded on May 12th and will not have my first fill until June 24. My doctor will not give you a fill before 6 weeks. Hang in there it will get better!!!!

Good morning all,

I had my surgery on 5/22/08 and did the whole liquid diet till day 7 and then am now on the "mushies" stage till day 30. I have found (in my sick head maybe) that there are actually alot of food that can "become" mushy (that should be a whole other thread ). The first couple of days eating mushies I found that I was getting VERY full VERY quickly. Like after about 8-10 bites or less.

NOW.........it seems as though I never even had the Lapband??? What the heck is going on here? I know that once the swelling goes down that you start to feel hungry again and nothing really tends to get stuck, but I really didn’t expect it to be this quickly. My port is still sore when I push it, so to me that means...maybe...that I am still a little swollen?? So I should still get full quicker??? My mind is beginning to play tricks on me BIG TIME!!!

Back to the fill question.... I am not scheduled to get my fill till 6/24/08, which would be 32 days after surgery (I want it NOW!!:driving:)

How soon did everyone get his or her first fill??

Also, has anyone had or having the above situation?

All replies are very much appreciated! :incazzato:

By the way, I have lost NOTHING since 8 days after surgery....

BOO HOO!

I feel your pain, my best friend and I were banded May 9th and both are in the EXACT same situation as you.

Every line of your post made me say, me too, me too, me too!

As far as fills go, you are in a better boat that we are. Our surgeon doesn't fill for 6 weeks. We have fills scheduled for 6-27 which is actually 7 weeks post surgery (i think i need to give them a call to reschedule for a week earlier, what the heck were they thinking?):tt2:

The week after surgery we were happy dancing as the weight dropped at a rate of a pound per day. Unfortunately that stopped around day 8. What really sucks is that we've both creeped up and down by 2-5 lbs. I've recently begun low carbing so that I can keep hunger to a minimum and keep my calories down. Otherwise, I think that at this point I could eat ANYTHING, so I'm trying not to allow myself to.

I'm finally back down to my lowest since surgery (for the umpteenth time). Actually, I'm down one more pound.

I'm going to start some exercising today to see if I can speed things up.

About the port site...mine hurt for a looooong time. But, I don't think that can be used as a guide for what your stomach has going on. I think my stomach swelling diminished quite a bit earlier than my port site healed. I could have downed a double cheeseburger at week 3. Thus, the low carb switch ( I just ate the meat and cheese) :huggie:

Good luck to you, I hope your bandster hell doesn't continue on after your first fill. I've often heard that it can until you hit the right restriction. Not trying to be a downer, but these are things that my doc just didn't share before hand.

I knew weight loss would be slow and gradual, but I expected the slow and gradual to start and continue after surgery. Not start fast and halt, indefinitely. I know many will say that my 16 lb. loss (9 post surgery) is great since that's 9 in one month. But I say the heck with that. I would rather have lost it gradually over the month than to deal with this! I feel that instead of being able to continue doing what I'm doing to lose, I'm having to figure out HOW to lose and/or keep from gaining. I haven't gotten to the point where I feel that "this isn't working for me and I could have done this without the band, and I want a refund!"....because I know that when I get a "good" fill, the band will work for me. I guess it's just frustrating to know that it's just chillin' in there not serving a purpose, yet!

I feel like I was armed (by my doc and staff) with a plethora of valuable information. But they forgot to make mention of this little bitty thing we call BANDSTER HELL!!! AAAaaarrrggghhhh! (And I know that they knew this was coming!)

Sorry that my reply has turned into a full out vent session, I really just wanted you to know that your experience is very common and that you are not alone. :sad:

Keep us updated! Good luck and stay strong!!

I was banded May7,2008 ,I went in for my 30 day post op checkup last Week and all was well so my doc scheduled me for a fill tomorrow because I ask for one.I have lost only 4 pounds since my stitches came

out at week one but a total of about 19 pounds and I can eat almost any thing except bread and pasta.He dont normally give fills till 6 weeks either so call and ask what do you have to lose but a few more pounds or maybe a big fat NO.

I was banded the same day you were & am getting my fill the day before you.

I still have to be careful getting things down. I haven't been physically hungry yet.

My doctor gave me 3 rules: eat healthy foods, always eat the Protein first & don't let yourself get hungry - eat every 3-4 hours. I make up a cup of food at each sitting & slowly eat all of it. I don't get the feeling of 'oh, that's enough', but I don't feel hungry either.

I am not up to full strength yet. I still find myself week for at least the first half of the day. I am likely not getting enough calories in per day.

Edited June 8, 200818 yr by *Love*

Me toooooo! So glad to find your post. I am sorry to hear anyone is sharing the frustration but feel so much better after reading yours and others! I was banded May 15. I went in after two weeks and managed to work out a fill on June 16. I had lost about 19 pounds but got on the scale this morning and had snuck up a few. ACK. Scared and so discouraged ...which is why I ended up looking for support.

I can and could eat anything and everything! I find that sometimes I eat too fast and then cough it up (so to speak) but other than that it is hard to even realize that I have the band. I am getting back into bad habits and of course the easy stuff to eat is the BAD stuff - sugars, starches... you know. Anyone who thinks that surgery is the easy way out has not had any experience with this. Over and over again we have to remember its only a tool and there is still a lots of work to do!

We will do it! I am hoping a fill will help me! You too! Good Luck!

I was banded on May 15th and I'm scheduled for my first fill this Thursday, June 12th - exactly 4 weeks from date of surgery. I have been going through the same thing, being hungry.... but I just really really want to lose weight so right now, until I get the fill that gets me to that "sweet spot", I am following the same 950-1100 calorie per day diet I was on before surgery, and it's not any harder than dieting ever was -- that is to say, no fun, hard to push myself away from the table, lol.

I do find that if I really over-eat, I feel some restriction.... I can tell it's different from how I used to just feel full if I ate too much. I'm talking about feeling very over-stuffed on the kind of portions we are served in restaurants, whereas I usually didn't leave a restaurant feeling that stuffed. I don't feel full unless I over-eat like that though. I'm looking forward to feeling that full on smaller, healthier portions.

I'm losing slowly.... I lost 10 pounds on my own before the pre-op diet, another 10 pounds on the pre-op diet, and another 10 since surgery.

I can only say what everyone else says... hang in there! It will get better, for both of us!

Hey Nancy.. we were banded on the same day and heyyy i will get my fill the same day also... Mine came with a fill so I can honestly say I am not nearly eating as much as i use to eat, and even when i want to over eat I can't... I know i need this but when something is reallllllyyyy good your brain just says keep on eating keep on eating.. but now my stomach is like dumb ass if u keep eating your are going to be in pain...lol.. so i stop before i get to that poing... but it is a day to day struggle... let me know how your fill goes on thursday...

I am sooooo glad I am not the only one out there with this issue. I got on my scales this morning, and was shocked that I had lost 3 pounds since last Monday. Nothing really feels looser, so I guess I lost the weight in my big toe. lol...

Anyway, thank you all who have responded...I think this is the best site since sliced bread!

:tongue2:

I was banded May7,2008 ,I went in for my 30 day post op checkup last Week and all was well so my doc scheduled me for a fill tomorrow because I ask for one.I have lost only 4 pounds since my stitches came

out at week one but a total of about 19 pounds and I can eat almost any thing except bread and Pasta.He dont normally give fills till 6 weeks either so call and ask what do you have to lose but a few more pounds or maybe a big fat NO.

My doc has made it very clear that his policy is no fills before 6week post op appt. NO Matter what!

well then all you can do is wait,it will pass quickly and the fill day will come and go besides I had my first fill today and it hurt like hell but I have a small port my Doctor said and it is moving,I was crying when he told me but he tried again before he said I would need surgery to fix it.Thankfully he was able to get it the second time so I said filler up doc and he gave me 3cc's.I hope when your day comes it will be easier for you so just wait a little while longer it's gonna happen.