2-wks Post-OP Lap-Band and eating like I used to

I am 2-weeks Post-Op Lap-Band and I am eating like I did Pre-Op (ie. last night I had a salad, steak, french fries and buttered toast and a Reece's peanut butter cup). I did have to go to the bathroom and throw up once, because I over did it. Have I seriously messed up my pouch? My Dr. never enforced the importance of liquids and pureed after surgery. I saw my Dr. once after my surgery and haven't talked to him since. I have kind of been dissappointed in my post-op follow up from him. A dietician visited me in the hospital and handed me a sheet of paper saying to have liquids for three weeks post op and then she left. That is the only instruction that I was given. I was under the impression that I could eat what I could tolerate. I have only lost 12 lbs, and that includes a liquid diet 2 weeks pre-op. I payed for this surgery out of pocket and am scared that I have reduced the success of my Lap-Band by not following a strict liquid diet. I will admit that I have never been very compliant to diets, but if I had the willpower to drink only liquids and eat pureed, I wouldn't have $15,000 for a restrictive WLS.

Hi, You are only 2 weeks out. This is very normal what you are experiencing. You can not expect to feel any restriction until you get a fill. Your first fill is usually done 6-7 weeks after your band is placed. GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DOCTOR...SORRY TO SAY THIS JOURNEY WILL BE VERY DISSAPOINTING IF YOU DON"T KEEP REGULAR VISITS WITH HIM TO GET YOUR FILLS!! This is when you are to allow your band to heal. Pleae try to be careful. You want to make sure that band heals well or you will be setting youself up for complications down the road. Since you are self pay..let me tell you..you don't want that! Please follow the rules you will do more damage that you want. Let's hope once is ok..don't do it again. Take good care an start over today. It's ok

If no one has told you before, I'm telling you now .. the first 6-8 weeks are for healing, not weight loss. Any weight you lose before your first fill is *bonus*. Repeat after me. Your Band was stitched into place, and scar tissue has to form to hold that sucker there for all time and eternity. You do NOT want to be throwing a bunch of solid food down there for your stomach to have to digest .. that's the point of the post-op liquid diet, to let your stomach rest and lie still for healing. You can do a lot of damage by not knowing the whys and wherefores of post-op life. You say you don't have the willpower to do liquids and purees. Sugar, find some, or you may have just blown $15 grand. It's only a few weeks out of your entire life. You can do this. Do you post at the LapBand forum board? You can learn a lot there. Get back in contact with your dietician and get a more detailed protocol on what you should/should not be eating. They owe you that much. Email me if you want. I'm an old hand at this. j

Sorry to hear about your struggles....I'm scheduled to have lap band w/Dr. King in late October...self-pay also. It has worried me about being hungry afterwards also....how was your 2 wk preop diet? Did you follow it to a tee? I've had my initial consult w/Dr. King and the nurse didn't tell me about 3 weeks liquid...only casually mentioned that I'd be back on solids much sooner than RNY and prob could progress to mushies in 2nd week. Hope you get this post and followup to let us know how things are going. Best of luck!

Your instructions were for 3 weeks of liquids. Sounds pretty straight-forward to me. I wouldn't get the impression from that that "I could eat what I could tolerate." You need to let that band heal firmly into place. As I'm sure you're aware, there are some sutures anchoring it (they pull a little flap of stomach tissue down around the band and sew it down) and it's really important to not make your stomach churn and work during this very important healing phase. Your pre-op research also must have shown you that most new post-ops have little to no restriction with an empty band and tha*****pically takes 3-5 fills to get properly adjusted. You should call your surgeon's office about your follow-up appointments. You should have had one around 2 weeks out and should have others about once a month until you're properly restricted. If you feel the instructions you were given were inadequate or unclear, call your surgeon's office and demand more details. Don't just rely on folks to hand you things...yes, that's their job, but we need to be proactive with our healthcare and make sure they do their jobs. This includes making sure you're getting your followup appointments. You committed to following your surgeon's instructions when you decided to go ahead with this, and you committed to making healther choices (so get the junk out of the house if you can't resist it...even a saint would have a hard time with some sort of junk, so don't tempt yourself...make it easier to comply by having only what you're supposed to have in the house...if you have other family members, tell them no junk in the house, don't eat YOUR foods that you need right now and insist they be thoughtful about eating in front of you.) Jessie Ahroni, one of the most experienced fillgivers in the US, a long-time veteran bandster (7+ years) and author of a great book on banding that everyone should have, says often: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should". They don't band our brains, just our stomachs. Our bands will never make our food choices for us. That's our job. Get tough with yourself...the healing phase isn't easy...no one should ever claim it is, but it's REALLY important for the long-term health of your band. Allow frustration. Totally normal. And stay away from the scale right now as it's not about losing until you're properly restricted. Remember, the target rate of loss with the band is 1-2lbs/week on average... You can do this. Nancy -156