AquarianCrab

How on earth did you manage that? It's been over 2 weeks since I was banded and I'm still hurting!

What kind of wrap do you use?

It's also available at Amazon.com at the same price.

I'm also antsy to get cooking again. About 3 months before my surgery I started teaching myself how to cook healthier - making mac and cheese from scratch instead of using boxes, for example, and I'm missing cooking.

I was also banded on the 10th. My problem right now is that I'm absolutely dying to chew. I'm in the middle of my mushies week, and craving anything I can sink my teeth into. My teeth actually hurt from not being used. I start soft foods on Sunday, and I've already got my new recipes ready. I've been eating oatmeal for Breakfast with a scoop of Protein powder mixed in, and that is holding me well to lunch. I've been eating Soup for dinner, but it's not filling, and I get hungry again in the evening. Also this week, I've been having headaches. I haven't had headaches since I was PMSing - and I had a total hysterectomy in 2002! My husband has been good. He's a human stick figure, so he can pretty much eat anything and not gain an ounce. He hasn't brought any real junk food into the house, but he has made a trip to the convenience store and come home a half hour later with the smell of McDonald's on his breath.

I told my husband, because I was worried about how he'd feel about it. He likes meaty women, and has always told me he didn't care how big I got as long as I was happy and healthy. Well, I've been happy, but now I'm not healthy, so he is supporting me. I told my sister because we're close, and she works at the hospital where I'm having the surgery done which could be a plus if I run into a problem. After much nagging from her, I relented and told my mom, who has been hounding about my weight relentlessly for the past 30 years. She has even gone so far as to snatch a deviled egg out of my hand at a barbecue and told me I didn't need to eat it. Now that she knows, she hasn't said a word to me about my weight. My sons are another matter. When I first mentioned the possibility, they were adamant that they did not want me to do it, and insisted that all I needed to do was eat less and exercise more. Easy for them to say. Other than that, I've told no one. It's just none of their business.

If you need a machine, by all means, do it!!! I know of three people who fell asleep at the wheel while waiting for their sleep study. I have severe sleep apnea (56/hr) and have been using a bipap (double pressure) for about 8 years. It made an extreme difference in my life. Before the bipap, I'd barely make it home from work and collapse on the couch and fall asleep. I don't know how I drove home sometimes. I'm so used to my machine now, that I barely know it's there. My husband much prefers the hum of the machine over my snoring and gasping for air, and he doesn't care at all what it looks like on me. (My cousin's husband, on the other hand, told her he wasn't sleeping with an alien). Once when we left to visit my husband's family out of state, we were 2 hours into a 7 hour drive when he asked if I remembered to pack my machine. I hadn't, and he turned around to go back home and get it. On the rare occasion when our electricity goes out, neither of us can sleep. Anyway, don't mess with this. It is dangerous.

I'm scheduled for Jan. 10th. I was all excited until the date was set - now I'm getting cold feet, and wondering what on earth I'm doing. I have severe sleep apnea (56/hr), diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, and take 8 pills a day. All of my doctors swear that if I lose 150 pounds it will all go away. But the thought of giving up some of my favorite foods for life is killing me almost as much as eating them is. Does anyone else feel like this because all of the posts I've read so far seem to be from people who are excited and super-ready?