Lap Band Support Group

Went to my first post-op lap band support group meeting last night. There were only 3 of us there along with the psychologist Jackie, who runs the meetings. One lady was a year and a half out and the guy was only two weeks out. The lady has lost only about 70 pounds in the year and a half and still needs to lose more. She has had issues with GERD in a big way, and has had about 9 fills over that peroid. Jackie told us they actually have patients who have lost nothing after being banded. They go for one fill, don't lose, get discouraged, then never come back. Can you imagine? So, I mentioned I am worried about gaining some weight back during this period of no restriction, and Jackie then asked me "Well aren't you staying on the plan?" And I had to answer truthfully, that I am not. I am pretty much eating like I used to before surgery, with a few exceptions and of course my quantities are somewhat more limited.  So, today I am back on "plan" and paying attention to what I am eating again. I need to start writing what I eat down too. Do you guys do that and find it helpful?

Jackie did ask the other woman if she was happy with the band and on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best) how she would rate it. She said she would give it a 4, and knows she would have never lost the 70 lbs without it. 4 is good in my book, better than average.  So I am keeping the faith and looking forward to my first fill on Jan 27.

Restriction in the New Year

I need some restriction in my head and my band! It seems I am pretty much eating almost as much as I was pre-band the past few days. I have no restriction other than the band itself and as long as I chew things pretty well, everything seems to go through OK. And my portions are much larger. I did have a bad experience yesterday with a corn muffin. Came home and wanted to have a bite of something with some tea before getting ready to go out for NYE. The muffin was a bit dry even though I had butter and maple syrup on it and I (unconsciously) took a bite without chew, chew, chewing and it got stuck. Wow did it ever hurt. So, I stood up and moved around a bit and took a few sips of tea and it passed. But boy was that a reminder that I have to be fully aware and conscious of everything I put into my mouth from now on. That is the reason for being banded in the first place right? My first fill is scheduled the last week of January, so I am really concerned about how I am going to control my calories-portions from now until then. I am really stressed and sad about my darling Dad too. I see his health deteriorating so quickly and I am a stress eater so I am afraid I will sooth and comfort myself with food in the coming months. I have lost 15 pounds and don’t want to screw that up. I would even be happy if I could at least maintain it until my first fill. This is the New Year and a new way of life for me, so I am going to concentrate on goal setting and being being aware of what I am doing regarding food and what I chose to eat.
How did you guys get through this time? Any suggestions? Hope you are all well and wish everyone the best in the New Year!

New Years Week~ 1st Post-op Visit with Surgeon

I feel like I am eating like a human once again. I am not sure if this is good or bad because I am reverting to some of my old eating habits, although I did eat a small chopped salad (mostly lettuce) yesterday which was refreshing and crunchy. My portion sizes are much larger now too as is my appetite! So I need to remain diligent until my first fill.


I see my surgeon for my first post op visit tomorrow. I will be exactly 18 days post op and I am wondering if he will give me a small fill. I think he normally waits until 6 weeks post op, but since I am tolerating food well, and eating more, and hungry every two hours, perhaps he will get me started. I will let you know what happens. I will weigh in tomorrow too. I don’t feel like I have lost any more weight since surgery which is about 12 pounds down total since the pre-op diet.

The things I am having a hard time with at the moment are (1) drinking enough liquid. I am lucky if I can get in 32 oz a day. I have never been a big water drinker, and 64 ounces seems like more than I can handle. (2) My protein is coming in around 40 grams a day. Need to keep working on that too to get to 60. I also see the dietitian tomorrow. My other issue (3) is writing everything down in a food journal.

In the back of my head, I keep thinking like I have every other holiday season in the past, I will start my diet after the New Year! Some habits are hard to break.

Good luck and Happy New Year to all of you this week and I will let you know if anything happens at the surgeon’s office.

Christmas Week and 11 Days Post-op

I am about 11 days out and finally starting to feel “normal” again. The last two weeks have been kind of uneasy and strange for me. I guess it is my mind and body reacting to life with the band. I had a major meltdown one night last week with my husband…big crying spell. I think it may have actually done me some good to release it and get it out. I was crying for lots of reasons. I cried about being banded and told him I regretted it and was sorry I did it. That I hated my life and missed my best friend “food”. Are you all rolling your eyes right now and saying, WOW what a baby and a “drama-queen”? But hey, that is how I was feeling. I was also crying for my Dad, because he is ill and I see him changing day by day. I know there will be more of the emotional stuff to come, so I am going to try and prepare for it by making sure I go to the support group meetings and keep up with everyone’s blogs. My husband made me feel better and said “hey if it doesn’t work, you can have it taken out”. Not that it is an option or even a thought in my head right now, because I haven’t really even started with this journey. But just knowing I have that option makes me feel a bit better. Choices right? Since then, my mood and spirits have been getting better, Thank God! Even I didn’t want to be with me!


So I am still eating pureed mushies and really getting tired of it! My diet mostly consists of cottage cheese, crushed lentil soup, ricotta with marinara, cream of wheat, Greek yogurt. I also roasted some eggplant, onion, and marinara and then pureed it and that was really good. I’m still supplementing with protein shakes too. BORING!! And the worse part is I AM  GETTING REALLY HUNGRY ABOUT EVERY 2 HOURS! Who has the time to eat every two hours??? Is this is what is meant by Bandster Hell? It should be called Banster pain in the ass.

I have been working at my day job every day since last Tuesday for a few hours a day but tonight I go back to my part time job at Saks and I am really excited. I have been there part time since 1991, so I cannot imagine not being there during the holidays. I am really looking forward to it. I don’t make much money, but it is worth it for the discount and I love the people I work with.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas this year and I also hope we all have a very healthy, prosperous 2010 with great weight loss results for all of us!

Day 3 and more questions for you professionals out there!

Thanks for all the great advice ladies. Much appreciated. I got in about 30 oz of liquid yesterday and only about 10 grams of protein. Today I expect to do better. I am moving around the house a bit more, doing some light laundry, but not lifting anything. I am also doing my breathing contraption thing. Did you guys go home with one of those too? To help expand your lungs? I can only get up to 2000 ml, but I will keep at it. The pain today is tolerable. I have not taken anything today except a .25 Xanax and my Prozac. I more than anything don’t want to let myself fall into a depression, especially since I am feeling a bit remorseful at the moment. The Lortab Elixor tends to be a depressant too. So I am only going to take it as I need it. Now I am starting to feel very bloated and gassy. So, I am letting it rip girls! Warning: Funny but gross: when I had gas the first day I came home, well, let’s just say it was a PF (like a PB…if you catch my drift) Sorry had to share. Anyway, since then nothing. Must have been all the IV fluids in my body. OK, so I have one really weird thing that I am noticing. My tongue is kind of coated and white. Like it has a film on it. And whether I brush or not, it is still there. Does anyone know what this is and what I can do to get my normal pink tongue back? I also feel like my stomach is very distended and bloated and sticking out as if it is being pushed from the inside…is this gas? Not in my shoulder, but in my upper stomach. Also burping a lot. Normal?

Home and Banded

Greetings fellow lap-banders. Ugg. Surgery and hospital part of this thing simply sucked for me. I woke up thinking, what the hell did I do with my body and WHY? Surgery was at 3:00 on Friday and I finally came home last night (Sat) around 9 pm. It is good to be home, that is for sure. I do not understand how some people do this as an outpatient. The pain at this point isn’t too bad other than in the port site where it feels really tight and sore. They sent me home with liquid vicodin and even at half dose it makes me want to sleep. So, I am trying to stay off it as long as I can.

I just spoke to my sister who is the queen of elective surgery (literally) and she said that every time she did a new procedure she felt the same way. Then once she started to recover she felt better about her decision.

My goal today is to drink liquids to keep hydrated and to try to get 20 grams of protein in the form of protein shakes, Greek yogurt or HMR soup. Wish me luck! Any advise you guys have for me this first week is really appreciated….so please write and add your 2 cents!! Thanks

TOMORROW IS MY BIG DAY!

Just got the call from the hospital telling me to be there at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Surgery is at noon and they have the operating room for 90 minutes. So this is it guys, it is finally time! I called a good friend who is a big shot Dr. in Chicago HERE and he said it is an easy case and I shouldn’t be worried. He also said one of his co-workers at the hospital had the surgery and is doing well and has lost about 80 pounds. I felt a bit better talking to him.
I want to send out many thanks to all of you for all of your encouragement and support through the process of getting ready. Your thoughts, inspirations, stories, successes, humor, openness, and the many pictures you have posted are the reason I got this far. I don’t think I could have done it otherwise. Thank you for welcoming me into your blogs and I only hope I am as successful as all of you are.
So, with that being said, wish me luck, say a prayer and I will be back on-line as soon as I can.

Much love,

Linda O