cckcsharp

Thanks Clynn..I am gonna restart my protein bars tomorrow. I hope it helps!

Kim, I remember Dr. Miranda saying "make sure you eat breakfast or everything you eat the rest of the day will go straight to fat." Now I have to be honest in saying that I have NO IDEA what she meant by that and I didn't ask her to clarify either(wish I had asked for a better explanation.) But she said make sure you eat something for breakfast, no matter how small, or your weight loss will stall. This just might be the ticket for you. Even though you have strong restriction in the morning, try a protein shake, even if it's half or a 1/4 of the shake. I haven't had my first fill yet and I am at the point where I can eat more than I would like. I have found that if I drink the protein shake for breakfast, it kicks my hungry for several hours into the day.

I also have heard from several sources throughout the years of my weightloss journey that skipping breakfast sends your body into a DAILY starvation mode. I have always struggled to eat breakfast and it seemed throughout the years, the more I have skipped breakfast the more weight I have gained. It's a terrible habit of mine and I truly believe my choice to not eat breakfast all these years has cost me most of my weight gain. And even though I know it's wrong, I still struggle to break this terrible habit. So try to eat something small for breakfast everyday and see if this helps. I am really trying to work on this myself, too.

Hey Trudy what bravery to come confess. Admitting it is the first step. I too struggled as you did until my 2nd fill last Friday. I had no restriction and fell into old eating habits. I think it is so important and way overlooked in the education of pre-banded patients how the weight loss works. Yes you lose on the pre-op diet. Yes you lose during the first 3 weeks, for goodness sakes your only on liquids. Some people even regain or stop losing once they start creamy soups or go back on real food. This is so normal. Any weight lost during the those weeks of near starvation are a great start. But then things slow down for alot of people. Not all mind you but certainly a good portion of us. It is not explained that you will have no restriction until your 2nd perhaps 3rd fill. You may have some transient what I call "teaser"restriction just when you come off the liquids and maybe a little after first fill. With the first fill many experience a delay in restriction if they are going to get it, perhaps 4-7 days and then you have some. We all get psyched up to lose alot of weight in the first 3 months and my experience and from what I have read alot of others really don't start to lose good weight untill later than we might hope for and truly want. It does not make us a failure. Having the band is what will make us winners in the long run. When we have restriction then we can truly use the tool to it's fullest potential and really lose the weight. Hang in there for this exciting time to come....it will.

Now about asking your doc to give you more of a fill. DON'T DO IT!!! Let the experience of a professional make the decisions here. Have you read my horror story of the 2nd fill. I didn't even solicit a "large" or generous fill they just put it in at the OCC. Within 24 hours I could keep almost nothing down. Occasional sips of water, only in the evening. Also only in the evening I could get down some gatorade but that was it. I woke up choking at night from my own spit backing up several times. I got weaker and weaker and more dehydrated. I was ready to buy a last minute ticket for $600 bucks to go back to the OCC. Had they just called me back after several messages left . I was very fortunate to fine someone an hour from home who would take "mexican" bandsters. She unfilled me, let me go eat and rehydrate, and then I went back and got refilled, .25 cc less than what was found in the band. I lost 10 pounds in 5 days. Not the way to lose weight. I was only able to eat liquids until yesterday (1 week total) and I missed 2 days from work and it has taken it's toll on my health. Bigger is not better and it can potentially be very dangerous and at the least miserable. I was told, especially with blind fills which is what I had for the unfil, that they must do smaller more frequent fills for your own health and safety. Period. Don't talk them into something you really don't want or know what may happen with too much Trudy it's not worth it. Patience is the key here and yes it sucks but it's for your own safety. Bands that are overfilled run the risk of also causing esophageal erosion if left in too long and then you have to have the band removed!! YOu don't want that now do you? Also chronically overeating will stretch out the esophagus causing much trouble as well.

Now I am not trying to scare you but just tell you my experience and what I know at this point about fills. Don't be hard on yourself for the overindulging. Just make today a new day, try to do better, drink more water and let the past go. You can do this but it might take longer than you had planned. I know it is for me.

Julie, thanks so much for explaining it in this way. Makes such perfect sense to me now. I too am in that phase where I am waiting for the first fill and struggle to eat right while I wait. The weight loss has slowed for me as well. But reading your post helped me understand and feel some comfort about the situation. Thanks a bunch

YEAH HEIDI!!! I am happy for you and I agree that every small victory leads to that great bug victory. So awesome, girl.

No, I have nothing from them except the food plate from Dr. Miranda. I wanted things in writing but I have nothing and wish I did. I only ever heard that pineapple and asparagus were bad.

Same here. And the food plate the I received actually pictures carrots and either BROCCOLI or CAULIFLOWER. And now the pineapple is just more news to me. Didn't know that was bad either. Is this for same reasons as broccoli, or is pineapple bad for another reason.

jessica,

I have several things in writing from Dr Ortiz saying to avoid fibrous foods, and broccoli is specifically mentioned. Have you looked through the literature they have given you? I also have a refrigerator magnet with all the rules that OCC gave me. Don't they do that anymore????

I just looked through EVERY single paper that I have EVER received from the OCC either before or after surgery, and NOT ONE says anything about fibrous foods and broccoli. In fact, if you look at the post op diet they sent me home with, there is a picture of the plate and what you should eat. In the vegetable section, the pictures appear to be carrots and either broccoli or cauliflower. They actually chose those vegetables to display what you should eat!!! So no, I have never received any literature from the OCC on this subject and no, I did not get a refrigerator magnet either. I am a total freak about details and I had already read line by line every piece of paper that I received from them. I doubled check just to make sure that what I am posting is correct. Also, no info about the esphogus either and I consider that to be very vital info that I should have received as well.

I only have a little time but I'll try to clarify

First of all stop freaking out. It was explained to me that no matter if you have restriction or not the pouch is only 1/2 cup size. When you eat more than that the food backs up in the esophagus. Stomach acids are produced to start digesting these foods and it's that acid in the esophagus before the food gets passed through that causes the trouble. The acid "burns" (for lack of a better term) the esophagus and then it scars and the scar tissue builds up and the live tissue gets less and less and then there's trouble. So it was very clear to me from this provider to never eat more than 1/2 cup. My plan is to wait at least an hour and then have more if I feel hungry. She emphasized more frequent small meals throughout the day. This makes way more sense to me than only 3 meals a day and no snacks.

Re:vegetables. There are certain foods that are known to be ones that are tricky for bandsters. I think this is when you have restriction though and not from the get go that you need to be very careful with these foods so they don't get stuck. This becomes more important after you get restriction though so no need to think you've blown it by eating broccoli. Any food that slide down easy for example ice cream do no harm to the band. It's the caloric content that isn't good.

I will write more tomorrow if you need more clarification. I sure didn't want people to get panicky about what I said. You should always listen to your care provider and follow their guidelines but I was just wanting to share my "new" guidelines. There are many schools of thought on "the rules" so we each must pick and choose what its best for us.

Now relax Jessica, all will be fine.

Thanks Julie,

I am just so nervous about screwing up my band somehow. And I am glad you shared your info about your visit even though I did get a little nervous. That's not because what you said, it's because I have an anxiety disorder.

Your clarification was perfect. It makes sense and now I get it.

I also wanted to let you know that I agree with you about flouro not being needed on the first fill. I had mine scheduled with flouro and actually called today and re-scheduled without it. That actually moved my fill up sooner so now I get my first fill in just 2 weeks. I had thought exactly the same thing that you said about flouro, but I kept hearing that flouro was so important on the first fill. It seemed to me, that flouro was more important along the way to ensure that things were still doing well. My Dr. here gives you the choice and just charges an extra $150, so I am going to wait and see if I think flouro is needed on other fills. I truly appreciate your sharing your experience, advice, and opinions. Your right, we all have to take from it what we think is best for us. But as a new bandster, I value everyone's advice and opinions. And then I will shuffle through everything I have heard and decifer it for myself as I go along the way and gain more experience with the band myself. So thanks for sharing. It's been very helpful to me. Sorry about the anxiety.

Okay I am asking this to everyone, instead of just Julie in hopes that someone can help answer a few questions.

Julie's visit to the fill centers proved to be very imformative to me as well as to her, but I still have some questions???

First: Julie mentioned that eating more than 1/3 -1/2 cup of food at a time can cause esphogus errosion. Why is this? I intend to follow the rule, I would just like to understand why it causes this. And did I understand correctly that you should only eat the 1/3 -1/2 NO MATTER what restriction you have? Or in other words, the errosion can occur to any patient who eats too much?

Second: Julie mentioned things like brocoli, cauliflower and asparagus need "special attention." And also stated that this is something that we already know about. Well....I had never heard this before and feel a little disappointed that the OCC did not cover these topics in more detail or at least give us some literature to review. I searched all over the internet researching the band and NEVER came across this rule about these vegetables. I felt sick when I read Julie's post because I just ate a BUNCH of brocoli in the past few days. So as a new bandster freaking out that I will do something to screw up the band, this only made my anxiety worse.

So what is the deal with these particular vegetables? What causes them to need that special attention?

Hearing about these things for the first time after being banded 33 days ago, has really frustrated me. I just feel like this is very vital information that should be shared with a patient from the beginning. And after reading Julie's post, I again went to the internet in search of lapband info that I had not previoulsy heard of, and found basically nothing new. And you can ask my husband, I am a freak about researching things.

I think you have the smaller band. I have the 4 cc band and I believe somewhere on my card or surgery report it also said AP like what you are describing. So I think yours is the smaller one. But you can double check this with whom ever did your surgery.

Vix,

sweetie I am giving you a big hug right now. I am so sorry for this trouble and pain you are going through. I have never had anything as severe as your situation, so I cannot totally relate, but I have had smaller things that lasted what seemed like forever and going to several doctors and getting wrong diagnosis. So I can say that I know how frustrating this can be and I am sure it's much much worse for you. I will keep you in my prayers and be sending well wishes your way. You can get through this. I know it seems like it will never end, but you can do it. Try another Dr. and for heaven sakes demand pain killers.

I am confused, how come you don't already have a fill appointment schedule. You must have been banded around the same time as me, which was Aug. 29th. I am "eligible" my first fill as early as October 10. Only 9 days from now. So you should be getting that fill scheduled right away and getting it done soon. I am in the exact same boat as you. The last week I have been having PMS and my restriction is going away and this is a bad combo. I am definetly eating more than I want to, but still less than I used to. But I understand your predicament because we are in the same spot. I have my fill scheduled for Oct. 22. I could have gotten a sooner appointment but I was trying to see how much I could do on my own. Big mistake. Wished I had scheduled it sooner. Now I have 3 weeks of fighting everyday to keep from gaining back any weight while I wait for that fill. Get your's scheduled right away.

Julie I am sooo glad you got yourself taken care of. I am let down by what the OCC did to you also. That really is a huge let down to hear that.

But I would also like to say that I am waaayyyy jealous that you live in Oregon and got what sounds like is an awesome fill provider. I was really impressed with her unfilling you to eat and re-hydrate and then having you come back. This means extra time and effort on her part, so I am really impressed by this. And it sounds like a very medically sound decision that she made as well. I am glad you are on the path to better days. Man, I wish I lived in Oregon. My sister lives in Portland. Maybe I plan a trip to see her and get a fill in Salem. How much did your fill cost you?

Tara, I am one month post op and yes it's normal. My scale keeps going up a few down a few. So I can't change my weight loss number from 35 yet. I think it's best to put away the scale. Focus on following the bandster eating rules. Get your water in every day. The creamy soups with all that salt can cause water retention. But guess what one of the best cures for water retention is? Drinking lots of water. I couldn't believe this when I read it, but it makes sense. If your body is low on water, it will actually hold onto water and cause bloating. But if you drink what you need everyday, than your body will let go of the excess and only keep what you need. I actually put this to the test and can say that it worked 100%. Drink 64 oz of water a day at least. I know you are only 3 weeks out and this might be hard. At one month, I just started being able to get down my 64 oz. But try your best every day. And don't worry about the scale right now. Let yourself heal. If that number goes up a little, it will eventually come back down with some more on top of it. By the way, I only lost 10 pounds in all three weeks of post op. So your doing great.

Oh sweetie, I think when you are feeling so frustrated and overwhelmed it's easy to think the whole world is against you. Sometimes I post things and get tons of responses and sometimes just a few. I think it depends on a few factors. One is the time when you post. Weekends are slow. Also, remember that our questions are new to us, but old to people who have been here for a while. So sometimes I think people just get tired of answering the same questions over and over again. I am new too, and everything is new to me. But even in the short time that I have been here, I have seen the same questions get asked repeatedly. This doesn't mean that you did something wrong, though. New people will always join the group and the same questions will continue to circulate. This is a normal part of these online forums. It's not that anyone has something against you. Seriously, I think it all comes down to timing. And you never know when that time is. There are just certain times when there are more people on the board, and sometimes people are more in the mood to chat.

You are an important part of the group and your questions are important and valid. Just not alot of people chatting tonight.

As far as your situation goes, I am only banded a month. So I am not sure. The one thing that I have researched is that keeping your calories at about the same level every day is a recipe for plateau. And that seems what you are dealing with. The way to un-do this(according to research) is to stagger your calories every day. Say you normally eat about 1200 cals a day. That would be 8400 cals a week. Well, with the stagger method, you eat 1400 than the next day eat 1000. You alternate every other day. At the end of the week you have eaten 8600 calories. Basically the same amount as eating 1200 per day. By staggering your calories, you keep your body guessing and confused. This helps avoid those stinking plateaus. So give it a try for 3 or 4 weeks and see if it helps. Also, drink lots and lots of water. At least 64 OZ a day. I can't believe how much this tip has helped me. And lastly, your body may just be taking a break from losing weight. Take a week off from "trying" to lose weight. So what if you gain back a pound or two. Just take a break if you need to. Then go at it again head strong after you have given it a weeks vacation. That may re-fire up your body into fat burning mode. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying go on a crazy eating binge for a week. Just eat normal and don't think about counting calories. I am not saying this is the right solution nor has it been proven effective. I am just merely making a suggestion. If you have been working hard at losing weight for several months and have reached a plateau, than maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a weeks break and see what happens. I have not experienced a plateau yet. So I am just offering suggestions based on things I have reasearched or what I would think of trying if I were in a plateau. And I am sure that it's just a matter of time before I get there too. And these are some of the things I would try. Oh yeah, forgot to mention exercise. I hate it too. But it's obviously an excellent solution to helping get through a plateau. So there's another idea. Hope this helps. We love you and are hoping the best for you. Sorry about the rough time you are having. You can get through this and succeed.

Awesome job. You look totally fab!!!

Stormy,

I just went through this and I totally understand what your saying. My stomach felt sooo upset. It started the day after surgery and didn't go away for several days. What fixed it?? I ate yogurt. Maybe it was cheating, oh well. I ate it slow and even tried to thin it out in my mouth(that sounds a little gross) But my stomach felt like it was on fire and the yogurt soothed it. I am sure the milkshake had the same affect for you. The only thing I can say is that I would try not to choose the milkshake too often. Try yogurt or fat free sugar free puuding. The calories are far less. And what you said about water. Before my surgery I was drinking like 96 OZ a day of water. I am have just started to get back up to 64 oz a day. I seriously drank maybe 8 oz of water a day for those first two weeks because I just couldn't get anymore down. You will be okay. There is fluid in the soup, protein shakes, pudding, yougurt, etc. So you are getting enough to survive until you can work up to drinking the right amount of water. And all I got was about 300-600 calories in the first 2 weeks too. It will graduaully get better day by day. You will start to eat and drink more until you get to the point where you actually wish you couln't eat as much. That is where I am now. So where you are at now, goes by in a blink. Rest and take it easy the best that you can. And don't weigh yourself when your on your period. It will only make you sad. I never never never weigh during that time because the scale is always higher. Wait until it's over and then check the scale. You will be surprised at what you see. And don't compare yourself to your husband. Men always lose weight faster and easier. I promise that it does get easier and you will start to feel better. I honestly thought I had made a mistake in those days following surgery because I felt soooo crappy. But each day I got closer and closer to feeling better and you will too. Your doing awesome. Just keep on truckin and this will be over before you know it. Best wishes, sweetie.

I saw an episode of "the view" where they had a plastic surgeon on as a guest talking about this very procedure. It seems a little too much for me. I am not sure I even believe it really works. But yes, it is for real. Doctors really do perform this g-spot enhancement.

OK, I'm sorry I held off before - but the body fat guy.... Come on now - we're pretty smart people, that's why we researched, choose Dr. Ortiz and got our lap bands. A primary healthcare practitioner?????? with a background as a Registered Massage Therapist, is telling us about the Myth of Loose Skin......

If you are an obese person, have been for a while and want to spend money on this - go for it. Before you do, have a true consultation with a doctor. Many young people have elastic in their skin, they do - its what we have when we're younger, and if you haven't stretched it out too much for too long, you might be able to bring it back in. However if you are obese and older and you've been there a while - most likely not. (If your not obese - you might still have hope - wait, exersize and see).

I believe in long term studies, and backing by science - this is a slick website with a lot of shiny shit – the kind I hate because it generally takes good peoples money and gives them nothing in return.

Do your homework first – consults cost nothing, and sorry to vent but its annoyed me for too long. I work for Doctors who do a lot of good in the world and are involved in the studies to help people (no not about loose skin) but the kind that makes a difference. This aint one of them.

But if you like shiny shit - go for it.

Lisa, I love love love your post. Thanks so much for posting. My family thinks I am going crazy because they always see me sitting at the computer laughing to myself. They just don't understand all the dang funny stuff I read from this group.

But seriously, I checked out that link and thought exactly what you just stated in your post. Just another scam to make money in the weightloss industry. Tummy tuck, I am on my way!!!

Whenever women lose a significant amount of weight, I have heard anyway, that this dramatically increases their fertility. I am done having kids, so I was very afraid of this happening. So afraid, that sex is not on the menu right now.

But seriously, congrats. I know it's a shocker when you find out your pregnant and it wasn't planned. I have been there before. But it will eventually sink in and start to feel okay. I did the crying thing every 30 seconds too. But eventually you will see that this baby came at just the right time and it was meant to be. I don't know how pregnancy and the band works. Sorry I can't offer any info there, but best wishes to you and your upcoming "bundle of joy"

Carrie, I am so happy for you and you so deserve this. How did things go with your unfill?

Darn it, Cathy...You are making it very hard for me to catch up to you

No seriously, 50 pounds is so awesome and I am really happy for you. Way to go girl. I am really impressed with your success and determination.

Now slow down, so I can catch you

Has anyone received a copy of their surgery report before???

The bariatric surgeon that I found here to do my fills, (just learned that he will do flouro for an extra $150, so I can choose blind or flouro) anyway, he said he would also treat me in the event of an emergency but would require my surgery report to do so. How do I get this or who would I even ask for this? I don't plan on having an emergency, but I just want to cover that base just in case there ever was an immediate true emergency that I could not get back to TJ in time for.

Same thing happened to me on my second fill. I did soups and soft foods for about 2 weeks and would try bits of stuff here and there until I could tolerate it. I never ate more than a few bites. I am so glad I did not get an unfill. You do get swollen and it takes some time to go down. I found out what foods worked and what foods did not. Breads-never. pasta's -just a few bites. vegitables- are pretty easy as are fruits. Meats-some good others not so good. No steak or dry chicken. My meat has to be moist. I eat my veg's first than my meat because my meat fills me up to fast. I do a shake or yougurt for breakfast. It has helped me to stay more intuned with my body. I listen to everything it says. Yesterday I went to Mcdonalds with the kids and I got them the chicken nuggut meal. My daughter was not to hungry so I endded up eatting 3 nuggets and I started on some fries. I found out real quick I still can not do more than 5 or 6 french fries. I do not know why fries are such an issue. I can eat a hugh salas and than some protien, but eat just a few fries and I am going to pb. I do miss my fries and I try them every now and than to see if they will work ,but they never do. I guess that is a good thing.

You know yourself if your eatting to much. My doc said every time you get a fill you have to learn to eat all over again. You might just need to change what your eatting and how much of it your eatting. It might be that you need an unfill. I would just hate for you to get one and then wish you had not because you have no restriction. Just be careful.

Dawn, I am a new bandster and found your post to be very helpful. Thanks, I really like your approach.

I am 4 weeks post op and my scars are already fading. I want to point something out. I had my appendix removed by regular surgery(one big incision) several years ago. That was one big thick purple line on my lower stomach. Today, you CANNOT even find the line. Seriously, I can't see it at all. I am sure if I really looked for it, I mind find a hint of it. Yes is was about 15 years ago when I was a teenager, but that was a big scar. These lapband scars are much much smaller and they should fade faster and easier than my appendix scar. Also, I had a scar on my "boob" from chicken pox that I got when I was 12. Obviously my boobs grew since I was 12. And the scar grew right along with them. It got to almost the size of a quarter and it was totally noticable. Well, now I am 31 years old and you can't even see it at all. Almost like it never happened. So I have learned that scars do fade over time. I bet within 5 years or so, you will barely be able to see these scars. And remember scars start out purple and pink and eventually fade to your skin color. I am sure this is not all scars, but in my experience with scars this has been the case. All the scars on my body faded to my skin color and practically dissappeared. If you want extra reassurance, then try some of the creams out there on the market for scars. But wait until your incisions have completely healed. I think you will be fine, sweetie. Good luck.

I've had 5 fills now and each and every time the needle goes in an entirely different spot. So.....seems like it moves somehow or my insides are moving.

Well, there goes my idea to have the port spot tattooed for easy locating.

Carrie,

Let us know how it goes after your visit. Then we can know that your okay. Good luck.