Hi Time4pam,
Welcome to LBT!
I am rather new at this. I have been banded for about 6 weeks but, I think I can answer some of your questions.
The "sweet spot" as I understand it is when you have the perfect amount of saline in your band so you have the perfect amount of restriction. You can eat the amount of food your doctor (it seems to vary from 1/2 -1 1/2 cups of food) at a time and will not be hungry until your next meal.
Some doctors require a pre-op diet while other's don't. In general, obese people have very fatty livers and the pre-op diet is to help shrink the liver which needs to be retracted during the placement of your band. Many doctors have very specific pre-op diets. My doctor just wanted me to lose at least 10 pounds. He didn't care how. The other surgeon in the area has his patients go on a diet of 3 slimfasts per day and all the vegetables you want.
The surgery itself was relatively easy for me as was the physical recovery. The post-op diet (which also varies by doctor) has been a little challenging. Once I made it to mushie foods, I did ok. The liquid phase was tough!
Most doctors will not give you a fill until you are 4 - 6 weeks post-op. Some people go longer because they have proper restriction with no fill. I know I will need a fill because I am eating more than 1 cup of food at a time and I am hungry again within a 2 - 3 hours. When you can eat too much and you don't stay full, it is usually time for a fill. As you lose weight, your stomach gets smaller and the band loosens up which causes less restriction.
This is a great site to do research and I'm sure you will have more questions as you get farther into this process. Good luck with your journey.
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