I need reasurrance..PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Hi, I am pretty much a lurker. But I have a concern that made me kind of come out of hidding. Does anyone ever feel like because they cant feel their pouch anymore that it has expanded? It used to be that when I ate I would feel a tightness in my chest that, silly as it sounds, was kind of reassuring for me. Like letting me know that my pouch was still there. I dont feel that anymore. Is that normal? I dont eat anything other then campbells condensed chicken noodle soup or campbells cup of soup packets (although today i made low fat, low cal chicken gumbo). Basically my ENTIRE DIET consists of soups (long story). I usually can eat about 1 can of soup per day (i usually leave a lot of the broth and end up throwing it out) which has 150 calories per condensed can of soup and 1 packet of cup of soup mix (50 - 90 calories per pack depending on the flavor). so i usually consume about 240 - 400 calories per day. However I noticed today when i was eating about 1/2 cup of my gumbo that that tightness in my chest didnt happen especially when i eat a piece of chicken. do I have anything to worry about? I am down 93 lbs but in the past week or so i have been stuck and am getting very frusterated. i drink a lot of water mainly because of the sodium in soups. so i drink about 101.4 (3 33.8 oz bottles of water) per day. Why am i not losing. I on have abou56 more lbs to go before i meet my goal and am wondering what i am doing wrong. Now i know that i need to excersize, by the time i finish working, pick up ALL my chilins, cook them dinner, do the homework thing, get all the baths taken, pick up the mess they made after they came home from school (i cant stand going to sleep when my house is a mess), I take what little time i have left for myself. so i really dont excersize that much. So I am looking for reasurrance. Am I still okay?????

You really may want to consider eating more. I don't actually know much about the VGB, but with the other surgeries you are really supposed to get in at least 1000 calories a day average, (between 800 and 1200). Your body is probably freaking out that it's not getting enough and holding on to everything that it can. Your pouch could be loosening up a bit, but if you are only eating one can of soup a day, I wouldn't really worry about it being stretched... but your surgeon can check it out.

Didn't your surgeon or dietician tell you what you need to be eating? Soups should be something you should seldom eat, because there's not enought protein in them. There is also no way that you are getting the MINIMUM of 50g protein with your calories being so low. You should probably be getting in at least 600 calories a day, although most likely, you should take in even more than that. As for that feeling of fullness that used to come so easily...As time goes on, your pouch will become healed and able to relax a bit. It will take you more food to get full, although soups may never do the trick. I can eat anywhere from 4oz (of meat) to 8oz (of mushier foods) on a regular basis. Some days I overeat (darned food issues) and wind up puking, but rarely am I ever "starving." Give your surgeon or dietician a call. You need to some major guidance! Pamela -66

I think the the "rules" might be different for Vertical Band Post-Ops. Those of us with RNY do not absorb as much of the nutrients because of the way our plumbing is re-routed. I don't know much about VBG surgeries but I do know one thing, they don't dump like we RNYers do. The dietary rules might be a little different. I think we might be wise to refer the poster to the VBG memoboard. She might get good advice there. Melissa

Why are you only eating soups? Didnt your dietician give you a healty diet to follow. Canned soups have very little nutritional value. Escpecially the creamed ones I heard to stay away from. Soups are like a liquid and are going to pass through you more quickly, so you wont be full as long. You should be eating solid food, meats, and eggs, and cheeses. Then veggies. and lastly healthy carbs, staying away from breads and pastas. If you continue along the road you are on, you anre going to become malnurished. I would speak to your Dr. or dietician about this and change your eating habits right away. Good luck! ~Debra