Questions re: Flying post-op??? Binging???

loopylou · July 30, 2005

Hi guys,

I am getting my band on monday and flying from NW Australia (the middle of nowhere) to Perth (Capital of Western Australia) to get it. My surgeon is really nice, but I am worried about flying home post-op as he says I will only be in hospital for 24hrs. The way the system works here is that I can get free flights there and back but only if I leave immediately after being discharged from hospital - so I can't even pay to stay in a hotel for a couple of days or I lose my flight. My concern is being in pain, feeling sick, wind pain and generally embarrassing myself on the way home. Has anyone else had to fly after surgery? How did you cope? Any advice would be most appreciated as I find I am more worried about that than anything else!

I also had a question about binging, from most of the posts I have read many of you do not binge at all (and for those post-band you never did). Well I do, quite often. I eat alot and I eat emotionally. I stuff food down as fast as I can, not enjoying it and not tasting it, but desperately trying to calm myself. I am hoping that the band will make me slow down and have to stop much earlier. So many of you seem like you are so disciplined, and I am scared that I will not be. Am I relying on the band to be my discipline for me, am I making a mistake??

loopylou · July 30, 2005

Hi again, I realised that I posted this in 'introductions' and then didn't introduce myself!! Please call me Loulou, I am 31 weigh 261 and I'm 5'7. I live in Westen Australia with my DH and cat Freya. I have been overweight since I was 4 and I have an emotional attachment to food. All through my life people have tried to get me to lose weight; parents, friends, partners etc. I have rebelled from this by eating and eating and eating. And now that the world has finally accepted my right to eat, and accepted my unmissable bulk, I cant stop. I am going into the operation with hope, I keep telling myself that "I have chosen this", no one has forced it on me, and I own it and all the consequences good and bad. I want to be healthy, I want to be strong, I want to emerge from a trail of devastating failures to sparkling success and hope. Am I expecting too much from my band and not enough from myself??

NJChick · July 30, 2005

Hi Loulou !!

You might want to post this on the General Discussion board where it will probably get the most attention. Maybe one of the moderators can move it there for you.

Hugs !!!!

(sorry I can't help, haven't been banded yet)

Alexandra · July 30, 2005

Hi Loopylou,

I can't answer the question about flying, but bingeing behavior is something you will need to take a close look at. Banding will provide LOTS of negative reinforcement against that behavior--if you eat too much or too quickly the food will have to come back up simply because it cannot go down. But that's not true of ALL foods; soft foods like pudding or ice cream can usually be consumed in preband quantities if we want to.

The worry is not so much that you're going to damage your band or stomach--although repeated overeating can result in an enlarged pouch or slipped band--but your emotional attachment to food may prevent you from really accepting the new behaviors the band forces upon us. Any weight-loss tool can be sabotaged, so you really need to work on the emotional aspects of overeating as well in order to get what you need from the band.

That said, your "I am hoping that the band will make me slow down and have to stop much earlier" is exactly what I used to say. I didn't bolt my food out of emotional needs, just long habit, but the effect is the same. And YES, the band helps slow me down and makes me stop eating long before I would have otherwise.

Yet it's up to ME to be satisfied with that early stop, and to realize that my band is controlling my portions because I have proven unable to do it myself. Learning how to do that took time and acceptance, and a determination to find other things to do when my brain still thinks I should be eating. The physical barrier to overeating does nothing for overcoming the mental or emotional drive to eat more than we need, and that's the "head work" we all have to do. It can be done, indeed, but it's not something that happens overnight.

loopylou · July 31, 2005

Hi again, thanks for your considered advice and thoughts I am off in 1hr to catch my flight. I am excited and nervous, I think I may wet my pants so I better go make sure I packed an extra set of knickers!! I will see you on the other side and let you know how it all went!!

DevilMayKare · July 31, 2005

Hi guys,
I also had a question about binging, from most of the posts I have read many of you do not binge at all (and for those post-band you never did).

Whoa! Never binge? Surely you jest. I think most of us are probably bingers. I'm not sure how easy it is to get to 300# without binging! I STILL feel like I binge--but the difference now is a binge consists of eating a whole piece of toast (or maybe TWO cups of yogurt) instead of a whole loaf of bread and a whole pint of B&J's. Oh, my binge monster has jumped out from under the bed a coupla times--but you'll understand the downside reeeeal fast when you've experienced a 30 minute, choking, slobering, heart-cindering PB.

Binging just isn't a viable option anymore--Thank the Lord (& Inmad).

debbie527 · July 31, 2005

loopylou my thougts and prayers are with you . good luck. be strong. let's us know how it went.

Jessiebear · August 1, 2005

Hello Loulou!! I wish you the best! I was a binge eater / emotional eater too! I'll be honest. :rolleyes I still have occasional bouts with it. But it's nothing compared to the way I was preband. I find I just don't have an appetite. My stomach actually growls at me!! And when it does growl, nothing really sounds good to me. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. At least I hope you will! I'll be keeping you in my thoughts & prayers!...........Jess

loopylou · August 10, 2005

Hi guys, I am back! Well what an eventful week!! I had my surgery on the 1st (last Monday) as planned and everything seemed to go well. I felt a bit sore and sorry for myself for a couple of days and my doc gave me permission to stay in Perth for 2 nights before flying home as I was so worried about the flight. But on Wednesday night I was having trouble breathing! I was re-admitted the next morning after a barrage of tests with the diagnosis of blood clots in the lungs!! So I spent the next 5 nights in hospital having daily blood tests and twice daily nasty injections Thankfully though I am now home, I still have to have blood tests every 2 days and I am now giving myself the injections once a day which I am getting used to (I find it better to do it myself!). The flight home was uncomfortable but I think that was due to wind pain - do you think that is likely a week post-op?? But my breathing is much better and didn't have any scares of that nature on the flight. So apart from frightening my DH and family the only other real problem is that my doc will not let me have a fill until I am off the anti-coagulant drugs in 3-6mths time!! I am a bit sad about that and worried that I will eat too much between now and then - I still seem to be able to eat a large amount, I am only 10 days post-op should I be able to eat 2 cups of mashed potato??