Exude

The time has come! Monday is the day my life will change forever. I am 23 and weigh 309 lbs. (after dropping 19 lbs. in the last 1.5 months from doing whatever I could to do so). I am hoping to get down to 225 or so since my ideal weight is 170 for my 6'2" height. I have done "pretty good" when it comes to my two week liquid diet. There were bouts at times where I did have to have solid food, which made me feel completely guilty. I hope that this doesn't change my outcome as I hear many people on here don't even have the liquid diet requirement. Any thoughts on that? Any last minute advice for me? I especially want to know how I should treat my last day before banding. I am required to do a fleet enema at night and not drink red liquids during the day. So I assume I can have Soups and the like since they're brown (mmmm french onion)? I will definitely try and drink a ton of Water though! NPO after midnight. So, just seeking advice for a soon-to-be bander! Thanks! -Jason

Two-week liquid diet. I have been eating cream of wheat for Breakfast and some EAS Advantage (Carb Control) shakes through the day. Oh, and some pudding. - Jason

Whoaaaaaaa, can I eat pickles?!

I am a college boy, and I know there are some young bandsters here. When was YOUR last drink before your surgery?

Can I even eat a 0 calorie pickle?! Lol...

I'm from MN as well! I am getting my surgery done March 5th, 2007 at St. Joseph's hospital in St. Paul. It is part of the Healtheast system. Good to see fellow Minnesotans . -Jason

...are sitting in front of me. I'm on my 2 week liquid diet and am STARVING! Sigh, I don't know how you guys do it. Though I am staying strong... -Jason

THANKS for all the posts everyone! I just got back and my doctor said he will REPAIR the hiatal hernia AND do the LAP-BAND. He was mostly worried about having the herniated area affecting the band placement. He will fix what he can and will do whatever it takes so I am happy. This is soooooo great. My excitement for the surgery has gone up 100% now. March 5th is the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! - Jason

Today's the day I find out. I'll update everyone when I get back this evening. -Jason

I wonder if it would be beneficial to bring research stuff with. He isssss the surgeon though and is very experienced (like I said, he was one of the first to start bariatric surgery in the states). Might make me look bad.

Thanks guys. I'm going to fight hard to get the band. I really think that is what will work best for me. Post any more comments if you have some.

Interesting comment. Why did you have it removed? Please keep me informed terrriho about how your surgery went. I am very curious! I will definitely consider what my surgeon has to say. I am just scared because I am scheduled March 5th (I muuust do it that day, it is Spring Break and I will lack health insurance in May when school gets out so I cannot do it another time). What is everyone's experience with other surgeries? Someone mentioned other bariatric ones... I really know of the big 3, band, RNY, d-switch. Thanks guys.

Thing is, he is very experienced. He was one of the first three surgeons who have performed the surgery in the entire U.S. Everyone has recommended him as one of the best in Minnesota. He is at St. Joseph's hospital in the HealthEast system. I think the hardest thing about all this is I have my surgery scheduled March 5th. If I change surgeons, it would be pushed back further. This is the only time I can do it since I am in school. That is the first day of Spring Break and can use the entire week to recover. I just have to talk to him Tuesday. Any tips to mention, please feel free to recommend.

UPDATE 2/13/07 - I will be getting the band and he will fix the hiatal hernia! March 5th is the big day! I posted this as a message, but figure I would put my update on the first post as well. Thanks for the posts guys! --------------------------------- So I am in a predicament. After going through a huge process to get approved (I was denied, then later approved), I was elated to get my surgery going. I am scheduled for March 5th to get a LAP-BAND. However, I did my upper GI diagnostic test and it revealed a hiatal hernia. I was so worried that I may not be able to get the band that I talked to the nurses and they talked with the Doctor. Apparently, if someone has a hiatal hernia, he usually just goes for the RNY... but may make exceptions if the patient is dead set on a band. So I have my appointment scheduled on Tuesday for him and I to discuss my options and decide if I can still do the LAP-BAND (he is getting sent the x-ray films), or if I have to do the RNY (and get the hernia repaired), which may be a safer bet. I am soooooooo scared to get a RNY if need be. I am only a 23 year old guy who is very active. I had lost 80 lbs., gained it back, and now cannot lose anything despite all my hard work. I figured the band would be the the tool that would push me that little bit further to actually see results. The RNY just seems so final... and scary (not in a safety way, but I feel I am too young for it). What do you guys think? I am struggling a lot with this. Thanks.

Thanks so much for the responses everybody! I feel a lot more welcomed here. I see most of the replies were from females, with the exception of I think one male. My Doctor was surprised that I actually came in because the majority are middle-aged women that come in. He then joked that it's either the woman that comes, or the boyfriend/husband that the woman makes go there. Serious and Chubbola... I am with you on concerns being a nurse and telling my patients how to be healthy, but to feel that I am unhealthy myself. I just don't feel right tellng my 275 lb. patient that he needs to lose weight to help with his disease, but here I am 320 lbs. and taking care of them. I am curious, what type of nurses are you/want to be? If all goes well with this, I may want to use my experience and be a gastric nurse of some type. I've always had a fascination for cardiac/ICU stuff, mostly because of my dad's health being on the transplant list. Hopefully, I will eventually become a professor and aid in turning around the nursing shortage. But who knows! Maybe after losing the weight again, I may have some other high aspirations (mountain climber maybe? :rolleyes) So is it recommended I do a journal on here to chart my progress? Does anyone read it or get anything out of it? What else can I do to chart and aid in my own progress? Does anyone have before/after pictures or know a site they could share that would give my family and friends better ideas on what to expect from me? I will start scouring the other forum pages and start my posts there soon. Figured these may be introductory questions . Thanks again everyone! -Jason

Hey everyone! I am excited to be a part of this community as I am very active in forums all over the net. I am a 23 year old college student at Winona State University, MN. I am in my 5th year, completing a BSN Nursing degree with a minor in Psychology. I will be graduating in May and will be working in a hospital in the Twin Cities. A little hx of me... I was a swimmer from kindergarten until 8th grade. When puberty hit during my 7th-8th grade years, I could not get over my large size and could not feel comfortable in a speedo. I quit swimming and joined football from 9th to 12th. During my junior year in high school, I was at my largest weight... 320 lbs (I am 6'2"). Because of this, my senior year I worked hard and hard with a Body for Life program my coach recommended to me. For the three years I worked hard with the BFL program (from senior year in high school to my second year in college), I lost 80 lbs.! I was at the happiest point in my entire life... 240 lbs., met a beautiful girl, changed my major to Nursing (I wassss computer science), and felt that I could conquer anything in this world! I even got a chest liposuction to make my chest tighter/form-fitting and I looked great! Things quickly turned around. Our bodies loooove homeostasis and so when I reached my low weight, my body did not want to stay there. I started gaining weight slowly but surely. It was a process that took another 2 years (to where I am at now), but I am now 321 lbs. again. During this weight gain period, I have done everything under the sun to stop the weight loss and reverse it. Instead, I only slowed the progression at times, but my body kept gaining and gaining. This summer I discussed with my family doctor about my options. He mentioned gastric bypass and I about jumped out of my seat. I left not ever thinking I would get surgery at such a young age to lose weight that I had already loss before. But because I have tried everything, I looked into what options I had. I did not want a "cure" or a "last resort", but something that would WORK for me... and also is not so drastic as to cut and re-shape my stomach (the bypass). Hence, I discovered the LAP-BAND. I have since done a lot of research on it and feel that this may be my best option to aid in my weight loss efforts. My family hx includes everything... heart disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, etc. etc. I already have hypertension (on Lisinopril when I was 22) and mild sleep apnea (dx 2 weeks ago and am using a C-PAP). My father is on a heart transplant waiting list and is in very poor health in his 50's. My relatives are all extremely obese with already five of them having a gastric bypass already, and unfortunately many more who could use that sort of surgery. I know I will have heart disease and will die at a young age if I do not fix my problem now. Being in the health care field, I have seen people in poor health and I know I want to do everything in my power to prevent being sick at an early age. When I talked above about how happy I was at 240 lbs., it was truly the best days of my life. I miss that time. My girlfriend and I have been struggling a great deal in our relationship because of my weight. My activity level is horrible, our intimacy is shallow, and I can't do many of the things I used to do with her. We had broken up once before, but I do not want to let it happen again. She is extremely supportive of me getting this surgery and hopes that my struggles and our struggles together will be solved. I hope this forum will be a great way to tell my story and document my journey through my weight loss. I've already got the wheels rolling and getting all the pre-op stuff out of the way. I am hoping to get my surgery scheduled in March, during my spring break. I would be sacrificing a free Washington D.C trip for this life-changing event. I will be doing my surgery at HealthEast (in St. Joseph's hospital in St. Paul) and am choosing to do it with Dr. Michael Schwartz. I hope to hear many responses from people who are understanding and can help me in any way through this process. Thank you everyone! I look forward to the future! -Jason