vangirl

That's a great idea, I should stick some protein powder into my coffee, and try warmer liquids in the morning to help get those pills down.

Thanks Jude and Amanda, it is always helpful to receive support and information here. Well, I had an interesting experience this morning. I was taking my usual morning medications, and for the first time, I experienced a pill getting stuck (capsule, about half the thickness of a nonchewable multivitamin). NOT a fun experience at all! Thankfully it went down after about 20 seconds, but those were very long, scary 20 seconds! I was not able to PB it up, though I tried. I decided to have a Cafe Mocha in lieu of breakfast (I know, bad choice, but I was afraid to begin the day with solid food and forgot to bring a protein shake to work). I was able to purchase a nutrition bar with 10g protein for lunch, and was able to get it down with chewing slowly and taking smaller bites. No stuckage there. I wonder if this is what people are talking about when they describe increased restriction in the morning. Quite a strange, changeable, unpredictable thing this band! I honestly have no idea how it will be tomorrow.

Hi Amanda, I too have ravenous hunger towards the end of the day (although this was true pre-band), but I am just a couple of days into my first fill, and so haven't found the level of restriction that you (and a lot of others on here) are describing. Did the restriction kick in right away or did it take some time? I am feeling like I don't have enough.

So I had my first fill (not at OCC), and now have 3ccs in a 10cc band. I've had a couple of days to get used to it, and while I do have some sense of increased restriction, I haven't yet experienced the 'soft' signs of fullness (e.g. hiccup, runny nose) or any of the hard signs (e.g. PB'ing, sliming). I am also hungry again 2 hours of eating. Just one time, I felt some chicken go down too slowly because of not chewing it well enough. I am being extra careful about eating, but I'm again wondering if it's more willpower as opposed to bandpower that's keeping things under control. Is it too early to tell? I can go back to him for an adjustment within two weeks without paying extra, so I'm wondering how long I should wait before coming to a judgment about how much restriction I have.

Check out Northwest Fills management to see if there are any fill places listed. Otherwise, I might suggest going over to the Canadian forum at lapbandtalk, as there are a number of people in Ontario that post there, and they might know. -vangirl

Wow Amanda, that sounds like you have some pretty good restriction there. How is your hunger? Are you still craving stuff?

I had a bit of wine around Xmas, and a couple of cranberry-vodkas at New Years. No problems, but I definitely got way more tipsy from the two drinks on New Years than I would have in the past. I had my surgery end of Nov.

I'd definitely be interested to see how your experience is at NW fills management. It'll be interesting to see how it goes with the dr. here. From what I've read on another forum, I might have been mistaken in my assumption that doing the fills under fluoro allows the dr. to see the port before sticking the needle in. I think that they stick the needle in first (meaning they have to feel around for it first), and then the fluoro is used to see how liquid goes down through the band. I could be wrong, so it will help to hear from others what actually happens here. I too am wondering if my band has tightened, hence the pain/increased sense of restriction. Or if my body or stomach might be inflamed at the moment.

So I decided to go to a local dr. for my first fill rather than going back to OCC (for various reasons), but he does them blindly (i.e. no fluoro). I have a lot of stomach fat, and despite poking around the area, I haven't been able to feel anything that feels distinctively like a foreign body inside me (although I certainly feel it inside me). I'm just wondering how he is going to be able to find the port when I cannot. Is there a certain trick to this? I tried doing a sit up, and that didn't help. I'm starting to get nervous about my first fill on Friday, and I don't know if he is going to numb the area first.

My period went all wonky too, but during the four weeks when I was on the post-op diet. My period came ten days early, and then I had another mini-period two weeks afterward. Thankfully the next one came after my surgery, so I didn't have to deal with being on the rag in the OR with all those handsome docs.

Lol, I remember when being able to fart (as well as have a bowel movement) was a cause for celebration. I don't think that I was able to pass gas normally again until about 2-3 weeks after surgery. My advice would be patience. Know it's all going to get better, and many solutions don't work for everyone (GasX did nothing for me). But it WILL get better with time as your body heals. And the body is a remarkable thing that way.

There was a great article on here about how to have a great fill, and I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know where it is?

I've been noticing the past few days that when I wake up in the morning, the band feels a bit sore. Is this abnormal? I'm about seven weeks post-surgery now, and haven't *felt* the band since my initial healing period, so I'm starting to get a bit concerned about that. It's also harder to drink water again. Also, I've been poking around and I cannot isolate my port anywhere! I'm going for a 'blind' fill this week to a local dr., and I don't know how he's going to be able to find it if I can't!

Congratulations! Welcome to the land of the banded, and to a whole new life!

I haven't logged in and posted in a while, so thought I'd give a bit of an update. I am a little over six weeks post-surgery, and I am thankfully healed for the most part from the surgery. No more gas pains and I can sleep on my stomach again! Yay! I do feel the port in me, and sometimes I have to adjust my sleeping position because that can pinch. I've been able to use the treadmill but not the exercise bike because it hurts my port. As for appetite/weight loss, I discovered within two days of starting the solid food stage that my appetite returned with a HUGE vengeance. I guess after being so good and disciplined (and yes, deprived) for seven weeks, that all of that pent up hunger/cravings came out pretty intensely. I was frankly very surprised by this, and after some huge guilt over that, I've just accepted it and moved on. The Xmas holidays haven't been easy, I have eaten the goodies, and am afraid to step on the scale. However, I've decided not to beat myself up over it, and am looking forward to my first fill next week. Although I can eat normally (and unfortunately can overeat as well), I do feel some restriction. The restriction is not enough, however, to prevent overeating. Hence the need for that fill. Having said that, I am eating less, overall, than pre-surgery, and even though I haven't stepped on the scale in a couple of weeks, people around me are noticing my weight loss. I also feel it from my sides, face, upper body, and just in how loose my pants are. I know I've lost weight, whether that shows up on the scale or not. In the beginning, while on the pre-op diet, and also on the post-op liquid diet, I would get very discouraged because I would be so good and disciplined, and yet would lose weight at a much lower rate than others have posted. The 10lbs in 10 days type of weight loss was pretty much not going to happen for me. It helped when I finally came to accept my own weight loss and my own body's intricacies and eccentricities and basically adjusted my expectations. As long as the scale goes down, I am ok with however long it takes. In fact, I know it is better to lose weight slowly, as it gives my body a chance to adjust to the changes, rather than lose a bunch, put my body in shock, and then plateau. And of course risk gaining it back. I haven't had my first fill yet, so I think that will really start to tell the tale. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out whether I should have a last meal. I never had my last meal before I went on the pre-op diet, and now that I can eat normally again, I'm torn between staying the course and giving into my indulgence one last time before I get filled and can no longer eat the way I am right now. -vangirl

I've had no problems eating anything, although I haven't had my first fill yet.

Hi Anne, I agree with one of the other posters that if you haven't had your first fill, you will be surprised at how much you are able to eat. I haven't had my first fill yet, and since starting solid foods, I feel like I can eat normally. Otherwise, I would suggest just politely explaining that you had a big lunch earlier, and so you'll probably only be able eat a small appy or something. I completely understand about not telling others about the surgery. I've only told family and some close friends (not all). When I went for an Xmas potluck party, I was still on the liquid diet, and all I told them was that I'd had surgery recently and could only eat liquids. One of them asked me what surgery I had, and I just said that I would tell them about it later. The others did not ask me about it at all. -vangirl

It's so interesting to read others' experiences. I completely recall everything right up to getting onto the operating table. I know that I was feeling the effect of the ativan (the pill they put under your tongue), because I would have been way more nervous without it. I remember them strapping me down to the table and one of the doctors talking to me about my field of work. I remember looking at the lights above. The next thing I remember I was dreaming, and when I woke up, I saw the lights again. I could feel them brushing something (glue?) onto my incisions and remember feeling some pain from them. I remember them asking me if I could move, but because I couldn't, they lifted me onto the hospital bed and wheeled me into my room. I remember the movement of my breathing was hurting my incisions so I asked for more pain medication. I don't know if they gave it to me or not, but I remember sleeping for a couple of hours and being woken up by one of the nurses to start walking. Oh how I loved that initial sleep after the general anesthesia. And that remember clearly that awful feeling of having to rise up and get up out of bed. *ouch!* I remember the young handsome Dr. Acosta. Actually all the doctors were good-looking!

Hi Amanda, I feel like I'm in the same boat as you. I was fine for the first three weeks and two days, and then all of a sudden after starting solid food, all that hunger, cravings, and old bad habits have come roaring with a vengeance. I keep thinking about my first fill now, and am praying I don't gain any weight between now and then, let alone lose any. -vangirl

I've been working really hard today to try and not mix the drink/food, with some success. The food intake is still too high though and the cravings are all over the place I don't know what's happened these past three days that I suddenly lost control where I had so much control over the preceding seven weeks. I don't know where this sudden resurgence of hunger has come from. On the post-op liquid diet, I rarely felt hunger, and it's shocking how it's returned to levels I used to have before the surgery. I'm almost wishing I was back on the all liquid diet, because at least I had some control then.

Ok, I have to confess, I have NOT been good these past couple of days (days 3 and 4 on the solid foods stage). Since getting that cold, I've reverted back to a partial liquid diet, but the problem with this is that I'm not following the order to not drink liquids with solids. I'm drinking so much liquid and water regularly throughout the day to flush out all of the sickness from my system that it's very difficult to follow this rule. I think out of all the rules about the lap-band, the no-drinking-while eating is going to be the absolute hardest to follow. I can't stand the taste of food in my mouth after I've eaten. I just have to wash it down with something. I have no restriction (or rather, I can feel something, but it's insufficient to stop me from eating/drinking) and I'm eating bad stuff and too much of it. The problem is that since I figured out that I can eat and drink at the same time without problems, I'm just doing it. It all started with a food gift basket given to me as an Xmas gift, with crackers, cookies, chocolates, etc. and I'm amazed at how quickly the old habits returned after being good for seven and a half weeks. Yes I tried to justify it - I'm sick, it's Xmas, I've been good for seven and a half weeks, etc., but the bottom line is I didn't follow the rules, I allowed myself to succumb to temptation, and I feel terrible as a result. I'm scared of gaining weight now. You don't want to know how much I ate these past couple of days. It's like I needed the food to be gone just so that I wouldn't eat it, and this is exactly what I used to do pre-band. I'm definitely looking forward to that first fill now. I guess I don't have as much self-control as I thought I did.

I too was feeling sorry for myself when I would read about other people who were in little to no discomfort after surgery, and who also lost a whole lot more weight than I did in a shorter amount of time. Even at the clinic, the others were up and walking hours before I could. Every person is different and progresses at different rates, but the common thread is that no matter where you are at, it does get better! I'm three and a half weeks post-surgery, and I'm finally at the place where I can lie on my left side again (but not too long). Not able to sleep on my stomach yet, so sleep is probably the biggest challenge right now. I'd say I'm about 85-90%. But I agree with this advice, to take it easy and listen to your body.

You know, it's interesting, every time I see a significantly overweight person walking down the street, I feel like I want to share with them this great secret, that it is possible to get control of this. Now, for me it is so early in the game for me to be saying that, but I feel a sense of relief having this band, knowing that I will never go overboard and no one can accuse me of overeating or overindulging on bad foods again. It's wonderful to feel free of those diets and diet fads, knowing I have this thing inside me that's going to help me develop a better relationship with food over the long term. It's much more than just a physical journey, and those diet fads just don't realize that. When I've read posts from people who have been at this for months and years, the consistent theme is about changing dysfunctional patterns and getting to the roots of emotional eating, and the band helps you do that because you can't give into those cravings the same way as before. I'm really looking forward to having this monkey off my back finally.

Congratulations Anne! Doesn't it feel great to be on the other side, and know that what people have been saying here is true Glad to hear your journey home was ok, and keep posting here on your progress! -vangirl

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. What a great place this is, to get support for whatever issues arise! It's like a second home to me now. I'll definitely rely on warm liquids now rather than cold. I think I do feel the swelling, as I woke up this morning feeling some restriction that wasn't there yesterday. And yes, my cupboards are stocked with broth! I had hoped I'd never have to have them again (blech!) but you never know! Thank goodness for the protein drinks too. The idea of getting chicken breast down just seems so unappetizing at the moment, with my sore throat and the swelling. One positive thing about this is that it prevents me from going overboard on the solids for at least a few days.