Thursday, January 7, 2010

What A Wonderful Question

I was perusing Lapband Talk today and found a great question being posed by a potential bandster. The question was:

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you BEFORE you got your LAP-BAND?

Good question right?

I am interested to hear your answers.

For me, as I have stated many times...I was under the assumption (and remember I did my research and took my required nutrition classes from the doctors office) that after surgery, I would only be able to eat about one ounce of food or broth, and that would satisfy me. They even give us little one ounce cups to take home.

No one told me that after I healed I would be as hungry as a horse and be able to eat like a cow. No one told me that until restriction, I would have to rely on willpower!

If someone did tell me, perhaps I didn't hear them. But I was surprised and I think it is important for bandbabies or potential bandsters to expect bandster hell.

So what you? What do you wish you knew or had been told?

24 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this Amy. As a prebander, I have read a lot about bandster hell on LBT and I'm glad I know to expect it. I'm hoping I don't freak out when it happens to me.

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  2. I feel like I had a pretty good handle on things, but I do wish someone had really drilled it into my head that I might wake up starving and never have that swollen restriction after surgery. I was hungry within hours of waking up and it never subsided. Like stomach growling, headach-y, feeling faint hungry.

    Amy

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  3. I was going to post the same thing you did. I read about bandster hell but it didn't really comprehend, especially since I lost 25 lbs in the few weeks following surgery, had no appetite and couldn't even finish a cup of food. Now that I am 3 months out and in bad need of a fill, I finally understand what bandster hell is.

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  4. I completely agree -- Bandster Hell is the thing I'd want to know. Also, on a related note -- the fact that if I didn't have a fill, I'd be able to eat like normal.

    One of my biggest pre-band anxieties was about totally giving up the ability to eat the way I had. And, I was worried that I might hate it. If I'd known that without a fill, things would be pretty much the same as before, that would have made me less anxious.

    Great question!

    Catherine

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  5. I had heard about Bandster Hell, but I didn't really understand. I really thought that after the first fill you would feel something. I didn't expect to have to do months of DIETING without any help.

    I also wish my office would have told me how many bandsters they have. The surgeon works out of two offices and mine is only 6-7 months old. Since the surgeon does 25 surgeries a month I expected my office to have at least a couple dozen by now. Nope, they have 5. There are more to come, but the small number makes a difference right now. My NP hasn't done many fills, the support groups are small (1-2 people), and they are using more "book learning" than practical experience when it comes to dealing with bandster issues. Good thing is that I am getting good 1 on 1 help :)

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  6. I think you got it exactly right. Since I am still stuck in Bandster Hell at the moment, I think it is the one thing I wish I had known or at least been warned about!

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  7. Great question - these answers will help me!

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  9. I wish someone had told me about shoulder pain. I am 3 months out and still having shoulder pain whenever I am too full or tummy growling hungry.

    It was so bad in the beginning that I thought I had a pinched nerve in my neck. My husband would rub and rub and it wouldn't subside at all.

    Fortunately, I now know what the cause is and I try my best to keep myself out of both of those danger zones.

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  10. Dito on what you said. And that it could take months to get to restriction. I am over four months out and will be five by the time I have my next fill (and hopefully some restriction). I don't think I am the norm as I had complications, but I do think folks need to know this could happen.

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  11. I did alot ALOT of research as well but Bandster Hell was something that I was never aware of until like a week before surgery and I was like IM GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT LONGER to feel something, AND my doctor is very strict about not doing the 1st 3 fills within 6 weeks of eachother so I was stuck there forever it seems.ALSO another thing is that when you are in that lonnnnng bandster hell and you are told to take small bites and you know you dont have to so you dont and then you get to this amazing restriction that requires you to take these small bites that you were orgionally told and you forget becuase its been so long you spend alot more time pb'ing everything back up! anyhow im off my soapbox. LOL. but those are the 2 things that I wish someone would have told me and warned me about.

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  12. I rescind my original comment.

    I'm going to change mine to "I wish I'd understood that everyone's experience is completely unique."

    People can tell you they were or weren't hungry post-op, they had restriction after 1 or 10 fills, they PB all the time or have never PB'ed, they can eat bread or they can't, they had no pain post-op or were in pain for six weeks. And so on.

    My experience has been quite different than a lot of what I read. I wish I had accepted more fully that while I might find commonalities with others, my experience would still be different in many ways! Then I might not have been so upset about being hungry from day 1 post-op. Although the upside is I don't really consider this time bandster hell as I've been essentially hungry since starting pre-op! HAHA

    Amy

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  13. After reading all these posts I wonder why dr.'s don't prescribe diet pills for the period of bandster hell. We all know that diet pills don't work long term but they do work short term and it would get people through this period without all the hate and discontent!

    - Shannon

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  14. I agree with the other posters about Bandster Hell. It's taken me almost 6 months to get ANY restriction and I thought for sure I'd be full right away...um no way.
    I also wish it had been DRILLED into my head before surgery about not drinking when I eat. I would have started practicing months before so it wouldn't have hindered my progress as I struggle with it now.

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  15. Great post Amy and great comments. I can't wait to know first hand. I've read so much about the process, but don't know if you can ever really be prepared. I read every book available on child birth, but when the moment came...Holy Cow! Only time will tell.
    Tessie
    "Band me Baby!"

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  16. I agree with Amy's "I wish I'd understood that everyone's experience is completely unique."

    I thought I would be a rockstar! I always read about the people who lose weight without trying; I spent four months in the 270s. I read about people who were at "maximum restriction" after one or two fills; I need another and I've already had...five?

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  17. I agree with still be hungry even after a few fills, not realizing it will take months to find your sweet spot.
    And I am going to be vain here, HAIRLOSS lol in all the wrong places lol

    http://betterbanded.blogspot.com

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  18. Oh yeah! I'm with Nicole. Banster hell I could handle - it was hard but doable, but the change in our hair in both loss and substance sucks. Mine still doesn't look as good as it did before going in.

    I think another thing is - for me - is the confusion about getting these fills right. Getting to that sweet spot is damn hard and it's the waiting in between to get there that does my head in. I just want a smooth ride and I'm not getting it. I guess I will just have to learn patience. Not my best attribute!!

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  19. i agree with the Other Amy and Banded Girl. I wish there were less people to compare myself to. lol.

    i also wish something told me that i wouldn't wake up skinny. it is not like they did and of course i knew i wouldn't but i am getting very inpatient....lol.

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  20. Oh I don't really understand what you are talking about :( can you explain to me with easy words ? I'm sorry to ask such stupid question but my english is not as good as I'd like ! I will visit my surgeon on the 18th to chose a date !! thanks for your help ! ladidine1974@yahoo.fr

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  21. My doctor did not set a goal for me - he let me set the goal and when I told him 160 (I'm 5'6") he said, "whew ... I'm glad you chose something realistic - some of my patients choose goals that are so unrealistic." Now, having said that, when I reached 160 it was for a fleeting moment as I continued to rapidly lose weight and now maintain my weight at 140-142. Reaching 140-142 seemed impossible to me on surgery day. But now I'm at that weight and I think, "well goodness, why didn't I think I could achieve that?" By the way, the life insurance tables say my optimum weight is 137. I think you should weigh whatever makes you feel the most comfortable. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  22. I am such a baby bandster (just 5 days post op) that I cannot say there is anything I WISH I'd been told before. That could be a function of 3 months of run up to the band and constant and obsessive reading of everyone's blogs.
    I guess I was surprised by just how painful and disruptive the surgical recovery was for the first few days. I can finally say that at the end of POD#5, I am beginning to feel like myself again.

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  23. Thanks for all the great comments. I am one month banded but feel I have been pretty prepared especialy by all the info in these blogs...thanks

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  24. There are two things I wish I would have been told...
    1. How to handle people who ask you EVERY DAY..."how much have you lost now?" And when you answer, they say, "oh, I thought you would have lost more by now!"

    2. How SLOWLY the weight loss is in the beginning. I'm four months out from banding, and I've lost about 40 pounds. It sounds like a lot as I write it, but it's not a major change. I think I expected to be able to wear a bikini to my first follow up...

    Love your blog, Amy....thanks for being the voice of honesty and reason!

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