You replied on the April 08 surgery post. I really need to compare notes with you. I seem to lose a 1/2 pound a day and my RNY was 4/16. Starting BMI 42, 242 by surgeon scale day pre-op (246 my scale) and now at 230 my scale. I too am worried my weight loss is low and I swear I am doing everything right!!! What are you eating/drinking and how much are you exercising? Has your surgeon even given you clearance to exercise? Kim

I am now 13 days post op, Friday night I noticed a large warm bump developing around the bottom 5 staples on my stomach, during the night It drained out and then now it has been seeping (ligh****ery blood) ever since through and between two staples. I keep it covered with a gauze but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I am suppose to get my staples out wed.... sandy

Peggy: I'm noticing a difference in taste as well and don't have a lot of appetite. Yay! If it lasts the rest of my life, I am fine with it. Although I will miss my food friend, I can easily say goodbye and let myself find a new "taste" to love, like a hobby. Again, i'm calling this the new me rather than the old me who would eat darn near anything and lots of it. I would not worry a bit about it. If you are eating fish and chicken, your protein intake is not terrible. It seems a lot of these doctors are concentrating on lots of protein, and I think it is more to keep hunger to a minimum and energy high rather than the hair loss aspect. Honestly, when I think of it, and the junk i ate all day on a regular basis, I had no clue how much protein i was getting then, and I am betting it is nowhere near what I am getting now. I'm sure, most of you are like me, having read many books on why we are fat, etc. I'm doing a lot of concentrating on "am I hungry" right now. I'm giving myself permission to be the new person who can actually say "I forgot to eat" and if i'm not hungry, "I don't have to eat" people. Beneprotein has a powder out that has 25 calories per scoop. You can sprinkle it on anything, so if you are worrying about your protein, put it on everything, and start living rather than concentrating on food. I had to order mine on line. This band was a gift, so let it do its work and you have some long needed fun now! I have not been on the scale yet. My followup appointment is Tuesday, and again, I am having fun noticing changes in myself rather than letting the numbers scare me each day. I have been fat since kindergarten, am now 43. One more year of 1 to 2 pounds a week is a walk in the part and I am not going to obsess about the numbers. My skin is changing for the better. My clothes are looser. I get tickled when I think that the next time my family wants to go to Burger King, I can be happy with a kid's meal and maybe not even fini**** instead of ordering a Super Size meal and wish I had more. I love having a bowl of sugar-free jello and not finishing it! I love looking about me and seeing regular-weighted people and thinking to myself that in about a year I am going to be one of those! I look at stores around me and get tingly all over knowing that soon I can walk into any one of them and buy something off the rack! Lets face it, we all have a deep-imbedded fear that this Band or Bypass is going to fail and we are going to go back to despair and sadness. Concentrating on food is what got us all to our most out of control and heaviest, so of all things we can trust, we know for a fact that concentrating and obsessing about food for sure does not work. Now we get the gift to just concentrate on us and let the band and bypass worry about the food for us. For any of you that have been fat long as I have, it has been said that for every bad name someone called us as a kid to knock down our self-esteem (especially if family), we need 1,000 good names to fix each one. I'm still in the millions of good names needed. Relax and Enjoy - We deserve it! Best of Luck To All! C.

Hi Karen, I had my Lap Band April 16th also and I have done great. I am down 23 pounds and I have my first fill May 28. I have no restrictions yet. My doctor said my stomach is still healing and I will do better after the 28th of May. I just found this web site and I will be learning what I can do on it. Good Luck....

Hi Karen, I was banded April 15th. I has some gas and no pain. My problems began about 3 days after I got home. I was on pureed foods and no matter what I put in my mouth nothing tasted right. Things are much better now. I've lost 23lbs. since April 1st, same as you through diet. I go for my 1st fill May 15th, that's also when I can start my regular diet. Now as far as creating a profile and such, if you go to the help section you will see everything there. There is a tutorial page as well as instructional video. All of the instructions are very good. Hey, where in New Jersey do you live? I lived there for a little while on 2 separate occasions, once in Farmingdale and once in East Hanover. Well, got to run, take care and good luck. Peggy