Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.
BariatricPal

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

The Bitter Bandster

A blog by btrieger in General

  • Entries

    27

  • Comments

    173

  • Views

    6,697

About this blog

The Bitter Bandster, a weight loss surgery blog by btrieger on BariatricPal. 27 entries on surgery, recovery and progress.

Entries in this blog

Panniculectomy done and the healing has begun

Well, I hope my surgery days are finally over.   I had my panniculectomy on Friday morning and everything went well.   I had an umbilical hernia corrected simultaneously. The surgery(ies) took just under 3 hours and they removed almost 7 pounds of excess skin and my belly button.   When I first woke from surgery, the pain was about an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 but that lasted less than a half hour when the pain meds kicked in. It's been about 2 and a half days since and I haven't felt th

My Heart Attackiversary

A year ago today, a pain in my forearms woke me up and it was so bad I couldn't get back to sleep.   It felt as if somebody was holding my arms over a campfire and I could not pull them away. I tried running them under cold water and even took a cold shower trying to cool them down.   After a few hours, I gave up and decided I should probably go the hospital and maybe they'd give me a pill to make it go away.   I'd never been to a hospital in the area. So, I used my GPS to find one. I e

A year in review

After years of contemplating surgery; it was one year ago today that I first met with my surgeon, Dr. Kim.   I was about 200 pounds overweight; my 45th birthday was fast approaching and I felt like shit.   I told Dr. Kim that I wasn't one of the confused fatties that he was used to seeing that thought surgery was a panacea. I was an educated fatty. I had done my research. The LAP-BAND® was the tool that would help me keep the weight off if I did my due diligence and lost it through hard

It's time for the butcher (a.k.a plastic surgeon)

Down 151 pounds since last year and I am making arrangements for my pannulectomy.   I called around last week and prices were ranging from $9,000 to $16,000 for a tummy tuck. I was asking about tummy tucks because I didn't want to try and pronounce pannulectomy.   I had a consultation with a plastic surgeon yesterday and was quoted $4,870. He comes highly recommended. The price is a lot less than I thought because he said I can get 40% covered by insurance if I have my umbilical hernia f

Just looking for an excuse to brag

Five months since surgery and almost 11 since I started the process.   My weight has been bouncing around between 220 and 223 for about a month. Go figure, my next mini goal is 219 (99 K).   I still have my eye on 170 but if I never lose another pound my competitive side may be a little disappointed but the rest of me is ecstatic about what I have achieved.     * I am sucking in my gut and the bathing suit hides the dolap but we should all be afforded a little cheating.

Yes, I'm still alive

... and doing great. I've lost a total of 121 pounds since September 18 and 26 since being banded almost 3 months ago.   I've been away from this site for a while because I have OCD and got caught up in that retarded Farmville game on Facebook. The weather here has also been great. So, I have been spending a lot of time outside, walking the dogs and cavorting with neighbors.   The weight loss has slowed from the 3 pound average loss I was doing weekly but it is still dropping. I even

Yep, the band is there and working :(

I'm an offical bandster!!   I went to lunch with a good friend at a japanese hibachi restaurant. I ordered the salmon; scallops and fried rice.   I Had a small salad and some broth before the meal.   The fried rice gets put on my plate first. I ate about a quarter cup of that with no issue.   Next comes the scallops and salmon. I ate a small piece of salmon, about a 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. I chewed it well but wouldn't you know it, the first bite gets stuck. No big deal, I'll just force i

epiphany

It just dawned on me in the past few days that I experienced an epiphany either with the heart attack in September or somewhere along my journey here.   I've had a few dozen people thank me lately for comforting them or being inspirational to them with my positive attitude.  All the while I was thinking, "Boy do I have them fooled. If they only knew the real me."   The more I thought about it, the more I realized that they were seeing the real me and the only one I was fooling was myself.

I'm banded and don't feel any different

I'm almost disappointed that my surgery was uneventful and boring.   It was kind of like my C-section only this time the doctor didn't pick me up by my legs and slap me in the ass to get me breathing.   11:10 AM - Checked in the hospital 11:20 AM - Got brought a room to strip and put on a johnny 11:40 AM - Nurse inserted IV as prep 1:10 PM - Rolled to OR 2:20 PM - Woke up in recovery room feeling bloated 2:40 PM - Walked to x-ray and drank barium 3:20 PM - Was sent home  

Last pre-op post, Today's the day

Well, I'm either in shock or this is really no big deal to me.   I'm having surgery that will change my life forever about 6 hours from now and I had absolutely no problem sleeping last night.   I made it through 22 days of shakes without being hungry, moody or cheating. I have another 14 days of shakes starting this afternoon. I wonder if that will be just as easy.   Not drinking water for the next 6 hours is going to hurt. I should be nice and parched by the time I get to the hospita

On the final leg of my journey to bandom

Had my pre-op appointment at my surgeon's office yesterday. It was just another lecture on what to expect. I didn't get much out of it because you people already told me everything.   Then went to the hospital today where I will have surgery next Tuesday for a pre-op there. Once again, pretty uneventful. Gave blood and peed in a cup.   I should be excited and/or nervous but I am not. I just want to get it over with.   I haven't eaten real food in over 2 weeks and it is going to be at

Post-op instructions tomorrow

I have an appointment tomorrow with my surgeon's office to get my post-op instruction; sign my life away and most importantly, get my prescription for pain killers.   I hope the pain killers don't run out before I have surgery. :frown:   Only 8 days and 38 more shakes until surgery. Time is flying by now. It's been 2 weeks and I still love the shakes and they are satisfying my hunger.   I was hoping I would be down triple digits before surgery but I guess I am going to have to settle for

Back on for March 2nd!

This is turning into a friggin' soap opera and I hate drama.   I called my surgeons office today and spoke with the office manager and before I got a chance to whine or threaten, she told me that the girl I had been working with was gone, "she just didn't work out."   I said, "good, she screwed my plans up. I should have been banded a month ago."   Then she told me that I must have been the patient that complained about her and that I should have complained sooner.   I would usually fee

Don't know where this is taking me but I am along for the ride

It's day 8 of my pre-op, Optifast diet. I thought about giving up when I got the bad news on Friday but I didn't.   I have been drinking nothing but these delicious Optifast shakes for 7+ days now and I have not been hungry. Yesterday, I actually had to remind myself to drink one for breakfast and every 3 or so hours afterwards.   My weight is dropping at rates that would make Biggest Loser contestants jealous. I've lost 9 pounds since last Monday. That is insentive enough to keep goin

Ready to call it quits!

Got a call from my insurance company this morning telling me that I was approved and would be covered 100%.   Great news.     I just called my surgeon's office to ask if they knew I was approved. They said they knew but there was a minor complication.   My surgeon was no longer operating in the hospital they were scheduling me at and they don't know which hospital will replace it.   I asked how long she had known this and she said she just found out this week. I told her it would have

Pre-op day 4 of 21

I've been living on these Optifast protein shakes for 4 days now and I love them. It is like having desert 5 times a day and I have not been hungry...yet.   Better yet, I have dropped 5 pounds in the past 3 days.   I'm down 81 pounds since I started and I am showing no signs of slowing down. I'm feeling better than I have in years and should be close to 100 pounds down by surgery.   I finished cardiac rehab yesterday. I started on October 12th weighing 346 pounds with a body fat perce

Pre-op shake 1

Well, the day is finally here. I started my 3 week pre-op diet this morning with a strawberry Opti-fast shake.   This may come as a shock to some but I thought the consistency was great and is was delicious.   If the chocolate and vanilla are just as good; I am going to have no problem drinking 5 of these a day.   We'll know by the end of the day how well they suppress my appetite.     * Gained a pound since yesterday and I am not going to kill myself over it. I will probably lose 3 t

Getting closer!!

I finally have a date!!   February 30th (March 2nd)   I start my 3 week Opti-crap diet on Monday. It won't be a breeze but if anyone catches me whining about it online, please feel free to lambaste me like I want to do every time I see somebody whine here. A lifetime of health is worth a few weeks of inconvenience or discomfort.   My roommate is going to stick around an extra week so I don't have to bum a ride from anyone else. Hopefully he won't change his mind because I am not cookin

Getting frustrated!

My paperwork was supposed to be submitted to Aetna on January 6th but my cardiologist did not indicate that I could stop taking my blood thinners for a couple of weeks prior to surgery.   My surgeon's office said they would call him the next day; get the ok and submit the paperwork.   I called Aetna on the 13th to see how things were progressing and they said that they haven't seen the request. I figured, "oh well, maybe they couldn't reach my cardiologist."   I called Aetna again on the 2

A third of the way there!

I should have had my date 2 days ago but my cardiologist left something off of his release. Hopefully that will be cleared up by next week.   This morning the scale said 300. Not only do I love round numbers but that means even without the band I have lost 1/3 of the 195 pounds I had to lose.   Last week I was having second thoughts but I am gung ho to get my band now and it better keep me from ever seeing 300 again. I am figuring I will be 285-290 by the time I get it and around 265 for m

Having slight second thoughts

I got on the scale this morning as I do every morning because I never listen to the little voice that says once a week is enough.   Well, anyways, it said 305. I am down 60 pounds, 15% of my starting weight since I started this journey.   I am NOT dieting. I am eating the same things. I just cut the portions a little and am logging everything. I don't go to bed hungry like I always have on other diets.   I have NOT been working out. I have been walking and doing a teenie bit of runnin

Pet Peeves

I have my final pre-surgery nutritionist appointment on Wednesday and my paperwork is being submitted to Aetna after my final pre-surgery consult with the surgeon on January 6th.   I have been reading these boards almost religiously since September to get an idea of what to expect. Surprisingly, it seems that many of the people that been banded have more questions than I do.   I've put together a list of pet peeves I have on this site. If one or more of them sounds like you and you are off

Psych Eval and sleep study yesterday

I told the therapist way more than she needed to hear. It was just a lot of stuff I needed to get off of my chest and she didn't seem to mind.   I used up the whole hour and she had to schedule another appointment on Friday so we could finish.   The sleep study wasn't much fun but it beat trying to sleep with an IV in like last weekend.   I think I got about 2.5 hours sleep in the 7.5 hours I was there. I have a hard enough time trying to get comfortable in bed without wires all over the

Bodybugg - useful or just another expensive toy?

I've got OCD and you don't get much more compulsive than me. Whether it be gambling, shopping, drinking or eating, I have little control.   I also have a thing for statistics.   So, when a friend of mine showed me her Bodybugg and the numbers it keeps; I immediately went online and ordered one.   It came Wednesday and yesterday was my first full day of stats. I am a little skeptical about the results.   Calories burned: 4,887 Calories consumed: 1,726   That is 3161 more calories bur

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.