I was banded Sept 30th. I am now 18 days post op and "supposed" to be on a pureed diet. I have lost 10 pounds so far but 7 of them were the first week after being banded. Today I had some sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for lunch (mooched from co-workers Chinese take out) and 4 Fig Newtons. I'm hungry, I am gagging on Jello, and I am afraid I am going to fail or damage my band as I am supposed to still be on purees until 6 weeks post op.

Also, I saw my regular PCP Wednesday because of pain in the area of my left kidney. After testing my urine for various things (all negative) she thinks its muscular related since it started after surgery. While it is not constant, when its active it freakin hurts! I wonder if something is inside me or if my kidney was "knicked" during surgery as this does not feel like muscular pain.

I was scheduled to see my surgeon for my 1st fill on Nov 3 but because I am working that day I had to r/s to Nov 10th :smile: I have the Realize lap band and I wonder if I should ask him to give me good amount of saline with my first fill.

Does anyone have any advice for me?? HELP!!!

I was banded Sept 30th. I am now 18 days post op and "supposed" to be on a pureed diet. I have lost 10 pounds so far but 7 of them were the first week after being banded. Today I had some sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for lunch (mooched from co-workers Chinese take out) and 4 Fig Newtons. I'm hungry, I am gagging on Jello, and I am afraid I am going to fail or damage my band as I am supposed to still be on purees until 6 weeks post op.

Also, I saw my regular PCP Wednesday because of pain in the area of my left kidney. After testing my urine for various things (all negative) she thinks its muscular related since it started after surgery. While it is not constant, when its active it freakin hurts! I wonder if something is inside me or if my kidney was "knicked" during surgery as this does not feel like muscular pain. I was scheduled to see my surgeon for my 1st fill on Nov 3 but because I am working that day I had to r/s to Nov 10th :smile: I have the Realize lap band and I wonder if I should ask him to give me good amount of saline with my first fill.

Does anyone have any advice for me?? HELP!!!

Listen, this is what i did. i called my dr. and said i may kill someone in my family or a stranger if i dont eat. i am f*&^ing hungry!!!!! they told me to begin my next stage early and that was the end of it. same thing with my adjustment. i cannot not eat food for 7 days and be hungry to the point of vomiting only to gain back the weight after i put whole food in my mouth. dont listen to me or anyone else on here call your doctor and discuss it that is what we or our insurance companies are paying thousands of dollars for and that is what i do. i have heard of dr.'s that make their patients eat before they return home after a fill so everyone is different. good luck i am starving right along with ya..........

I was scheduled to see my surgeon for my 1st fill on Nov 3 but because I am working that day I had to r/s to Nov 10th :frown: I have the Realize lap band and I wonder if I should ask him to give me good amount of saline with my first fill.

Does anyone have any advice for me?? HELP!!!

It's day 21 now. I am supposed to be on liquified purees for a week and in 1/2 cup increments? Why??? I am so hungry I get nauseous at times. Why only 1/2 cup if my band has no Fluid in it yet? Why chew to the point of liquidification but not drink while eating?? I can, and do, eat a full packet of oatmeal? How can 1/2 cup of food 3 x a day keep me full if I have not even had a fill yet???

My "kidney" pain comes and goes. I saw my PCP and also called the nurse practicioner in my surgeon's office as the surgeon is on vaca. The NP said maybe it is referred pain from my surgery but I really don't think so. OMG. I am so afraid of failing.

Good Morning,

I am still on mushie and also very hungry. I am eating about 1/2 cup of food every 2hrs. When two hours comes I am starving. Iam making good choices. 1 egg in am,protein drink,yogurt,cottage cheese, I have processed chicken and mixed with mashed potatoe and on the side a little butternut squash. That was all a total of 1/2 cup.

I am walking about 5 1/2 miles aday. But I spread it out once in the am and pm. That really helps keep my mind off being hungry. Where is your kidney pain? I have a pain on my left side in front that really bothers me when I walk. Dr. said it was muscle tissue from the port.

Why are we limited to 1/2 cup of food when we have no restriction? The point of the band is to help with hunger. If there is no restriction how can I be expected to eat just 1/2 cup of food and not be hungry??

Until you have restriction, you will be hungry. At this point, practice the bandster rules eat band-friendly foods, and count calories like crazy... once you have restriction, you'll be glad you had the practice! :biggrin:

OMG! That pain is unreal. I am 3 wks out and have been eating almost anything sm sm amts. and Chewing them lots. I had trapped gas last week and thought I was going to die. I blew up like I was 8 mo pregnant. Luckly I went to the doc that day. SIMETHICONE AND A HEATING PAD. I do not do well with jello. Try sugar free pudding with the unflavored protien powder in it. blend it well. You do not have to use the whole scoop. just keep track of your protien. If you are doing ok eatiing little bits it should be ok but remember eating anything with a lot of fat goes down great. They want us to eat low fat and sometimes it doesnt go down without some pain Good Luck

It is interesting how every doctor seems to have different post-op instructions (frankly, I also got different instructions at the hospital than I got from the pre-op class and the nutritionist!)

My doctor has us on two week liquid (Soups, etc.) then two week mushie. After four weeks, "normal" food is allowed.

I too (two weeks post-op) am starting to feel the hunger. Today I've already had several bowls of Soup and cheated by having a small piece of chocolate and it is only 1:00. I think I can be strong until my two-week follow-up (in a couple of days) but I'm looking forward to the mushies.

I agree that I was expecting to have more restriction at this stage (I'd forgotten that the first restriction isn't until after the first fill), but I'm hoping that I can just diet (and not gain weight) until then.

Edited October 20, 200817 yr by Betelnut
More info for clarification

stephyd

I needed to hear that because I'm at that 10 days post-op stage where you are hungry as heck and are scared of everything including being hungry, overeating, band slippage, etc. I figure if I got through 2 weeks of a pre-op liquid diet, surely to goodness I can exercise a little restraint and common sense until we start filling my band and taming the hunger beast, so to speak.

Stephyd, I did not have to do a pre op diet. I would like to know why we have to limit our portions to just 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food per meal when we have no restriction. I can see why for the first few days (I really couldn't eat much right after surgery) when we are swollen and sore but 3 weeks out???

We have to limit our portions so we dont stretch out the pouch. Dont you feel full after 1/2 cup. I feel full but after 2 hrs Im hungry again.Plus it really does help us for future adjustments. Because we wont beagle to even eat 1/2 cup at first. At least this is what I have heard from co workers who have had the surgery. It will better..... Any walking really helps.........

No, you will not fail! Keep the focus and stay with the guideline. You do these progressions because you are in the healing stage of the band, adjusting to your body. You don't want to risk to stretch out your pouch and suffer later. Then when you do get the fill, your pouch won't have that 'sweet spot' where you would be restricted enough. Drink LOTS of Water. it helps curb your hunger. Also, if you are seriously hungry, have a Protein shake...it will help too.

Hang in there...I have one week from today before I can have solids. And I can't wait to have food!! My last solid food was Oct 5.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! Hang in there!!! don't jeapardize your band after all the money it took for you to do this...ok?

as hard as it is gonna be im gonna stick to it

protein,protein,protein...with the water in between, the protein helps to keep you from being hungry...get some protein bullets from GNC and drink them, at least every two hours and then have SF fudgsicles, popsicles, broth, jello in between...i mix the bullets with a drink mix (1/2 a 42 gram bullet) with a drink mix. I had sx 08/06 and for the first while I felt like I could eat a horse, but once I started getting the protein in, it helps to get rid of that feeling...hope it helps.

Please forgive this if it sounds cold, cause it's not meant to... I am in the same boat as you...I've had 2 fills in my realize band and as of yet, have no restriction...but, I am telling myself this...I didn't get here overnight and I didn't get here by being hungry either. maybe I need to get my body adjusted to that "not full" feeling. Is it possible that after such a long period of Overeating, our bodies begin to confuse "stuffed full" with just "not being hungry" and then we set the full to another level? I mean, I know that I could eat 6 pieces of toast and two eggs and that I gradually got to the place where my body thought that amount of food was normal for it to feel satisfied. I guess what I'm saying is thatmaybe we are expecting too much when we desire for the band to completely take away that hungry feeling. Maybe we need to reset our minds...I don't know, maybe I'm full of it...In any case, I know that the protein is what kept me on track early on, now, not so much. If you keep a diary of what you eat in a day, you will be amazed at how few calories your body is living on right now.

You're fine. Just try to stick to the diet from here on out, but if it didn't cause a problem when you ate it, it is very unlikely that you damaged anything. I am guessing the pain in your kidney area is due to a stitch of the way your band sits. I had a pulled stitch from sitting up too quickly in bed, and sometimes the pain radiated back to that area.