BlairE

Wow..... I think I need to print out this page and make it my morning read as a reminder each day what "NOT" to do.... All I can say is YUCK!!!! It sounds awful but at least now I won't be so scared if (and probably when) it ever happens. I guess you just get to a point you are so comfortable that you forget you have a band. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, they are forever imbedded in my mind...lol.

What I love about this site is I can be brutally honest with my weaknesses and get good advice from everyone on how to help myself.... I am scared to death, did I make the wrong decision ... I was banded on the 28th stayed over night b/c of sleep apnea so yesterday was my first day home. I am suppose to be on a clear diet but I am so hungry I have been eating little bites of stuff here and there. I know this can't be good but don't know how to get my head wrapped around the idea of the band. How bad have I hurt myself and the band by eating the little things???? I am scared I am going to mess this whole opportunity up..... Any suggestions from you guys would be sooooo appreciated. Only on Clear liquids at the moment but I think I can go to Protein shakes tomorrow which I am hoping will alleviate some the these weeknessess. Thank you again for any suggestions.....

Yes you are right ..... no one understands what it feels like to be in pain each and every day of your life knowing there is no relief in site. I have had Fibromyalgia for the past 12 yrs. and was just banded on the 28th. The Fibro is the main reason I got banded, the extra weight was making the pain so much worse. One thing that has REALLY helped me was cutting out all carbs before I got banded. I just ate Protein, fruit and veggies and "wow" what a difference it made in my pain and especially my energy level. Its not easy though, it took about 4 days and by the third day I had to go to bed for the day bc of the detox pain but once I was past that it was amazing how much better I felt. This actually is a good thing to do along with the band anyway since carbs are not good for any weightloss. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH TAKING CARBS OUT OF MY DIET HAS HELPED.... the only carbs I get now is natural ones through fruit and veggies. I use to take Lyrica as well but ended up putting on more weight which defeated the purpose of taking the meds since more weight meant more pain. I do take an anti depressant though which helps with the anxiety....As far as exercise goes I have tried it all trying to see what works best with the least amnt. of pain.... the stationary bike at my gym works great. After a 10 min. warm up just riding casually I do 30 second intervals where I go really fast then slower for the next minute. This pumps up your heart rate really good and b/c you are sitting down its less stress on your back and legs. Start out slow and work your way up to at least 30 min. total. As hard as it is I try to keep mentally focused on not letting this disease define who I am, I was very depressed the first few years after being diagnosed but eventually realized that I need to take control or its going to win. Do I have bad days.... you bet yah... but part of the battle with this disease is mentally not allowing it to define who you are as a person. Hope some of this helps you..... we should keep exchanging posts to see what is working for each other.....take care

Its early Monday morning and I was banded on Friday morning ! Came home feeling fine for the most part but don't get me wrong there is pain in the area between your ribs and belly button. I feel like I have been kicked in the gut, did a million sit ups and add the pain you get when you have a really bad sunburn which makes the skin burn.... combine all 3 of these and thats what I am feeling.... fortunately its manageable... keep up with the pain meds and there timing and walk a lot. I started walking the halls within the first hour in my room and continued each and every hour. I think thats the reason I didn't get the gas pains. Now coming home was a bit harder mentally than I thought. The affects of anesthesia don't fully wear off for about 72 hours is what I was told so my judgement was way off. Its like my mind said.... O.k. now that your banded you don't need that stupid pre op diet and I started nibbling on everything, I was out of control for a bit and luckily didn't hurt the band or myself. It made me realize I still had a big battle in front of me. I wish they could also take out taste buds along with banding me.... if food didn't taste so dang good I would be in a lot better shape...So I sent my husband out and he got box after box of popsicles and every time I feel a need to snack I grab one. One thing thats made it harder is I detest soup broth... I have had it a bit but Yuck....can;t wait for the mush stage.... otherwise I have been sleeping a lot over the weekend but in the morning its back to reality with kids and school. Don't be scared about the surgery itself.... that was not a problem. It was handling it emotionally once I got home..... you have waited so long for this to happen and now that it has you find it hard to adjust, well at least I did for a day or so.... If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask..... Blair

I was instructed by my doctor that if I start throwing up that i am suppose to call asap, the vomiting could make your band slip. My doctor said he would prescribe phenergram to stop the vomitting, its a supository. Then you should stick to clear liquids and shakes for a couple of days to let your stomach heal.... good luck!

I need to do a retraction on my previous post... I had read on here in another post that it eventually lessens over time and unfortunately passed on that info w/out checking it out for myself. After reading what seems like 100's of articles I can't find anything pertaining to it decreasing over time. To be sure I am going to call my doctors office tomorrow and discuss it with them if its a possibility, especially if you wait a year between check ups ..... Sry , I should have checked out the info for myself before I posted....

Its 5 days till I am banded, my hubby has been a jerk all day (he gets this way before I have to have surgery.....nerves) so I came here to see whats going. I am so glad b/c this was the first post I read and have sat here lmao.... each and every one of these stories are so funny, it could be a Dave Letterman top 10 list .... things spouses say after weight loss.... thanks for putting the smile back on my face.

then make the decision to do it for yourself..... when he starts to say something say what every child is told ..... if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all. What doesn't make sense is he wants you not to eat the bad stuff but yet he brings it into the house. Do you think that underneath it all he doesn't want you to succeed b/c he is afraid you will change towards him. When I first started the process of getting banded I told my hubby that when its done he can't bring it in the house anymore to where I can see it. His response was... "why, I am not the one getting surgery" ..... so I took him to a support group seminar. There he heard from other patients that it just wasn't me but many ppl who have the same issues. He seemed to go out of there with a little different attitude but I am not getting banded until Jan. 28th so I will let you know how it goes....

I am 5'4" and 250 and the nurse was telling me the other day that I need to get down to 240 before I could have the surgery..... why do I need to lose weight? I know i have to do the special diet before hand to shrink my liver and I should lose weight then but just curious if anyone else had to do this...

I have not heard it called "boot camp" but I am required to attend an all day Pre-Op appt. as well. I am out of Florida Hospital Celebration(Orlando) and the day includes classes on nutrition and exercise, hospital pre registration,meeting with the Doctor and an exercise physiologist to test my metabolism. All this lasts about the same amount of time as yours does. I look at it as a good thing, they are being very thorough.

I had read a previous post about a week ago from a young lady who had done exactly what you are thinking about.... she went back on to her parents policy b/c of the new laws. When you have them check there coverage make sure you ask whats covered as of Jan. 1. At first she was told her parents policy didn't cover it but her mom then went to her HR dept. and found that as of Jan. 1 it was a covered benefit. The ins. company then realized they made a mistake and gave her wrong info. She is now approved. As far as your seminar goes, until you get your ins. issue settled go in under the pretense of self pay so you can get in the door and see what they have to say. I think they just want to see how serious you are about following through the whole process. If you have no insurance options they have many programs available for people to use for self pay. They don't expect you to pay the whole amnt. up front if thats what you're afraid of...Good Luck!