isit5yet

Having a period with any frequency is a good sign. Are you charting your basal body temp, or are you not that far along in your pregnancy journey? I was Dx with PCOS in 2001 and know a TON about infertility and fertility treatments. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. I spent years trying to have a baby and finally was able to have a baby after two rounds of shots and IUI. Try not to worry about the cycle days. Celebrate the fact that your period is coming back on its own; that's such a great sign for you!!

It's good to be informed of what can happen, but please stay positive. Try not to get too mired in others' horrific experiences. Every experience and body is different. I debated watching the surgery video before my surgery and thought better of it. I'm glad I didn't watch it; I totally would have backed out It's like when you're pregnant and every person wants to tell you about how hard and terrible their labor was. You almost want to say, "WTF, hush up. You think I want to hear that??" Be informed about the complications, but keep an editorial eye out for what you read. Cheers, Carrie

Trolls are everywhere. Unfortunately, these asshats have the safety of their monitors to act that the jackholes they really are. I've been on chat room since 1995 (starting with IRC), and there are power-hungry moderators and regulars that try to exert power and knowledge that I can only image they don't have in their "real lives."

It's tough for them to monitor their carb intake when weeks 2 and 3 are usually the puree/mushy stage. No staying strong about it. Real advice: My doctor says that at this stage you'll eat items you won't normally eat later. The idea at this stage is to heal, and get your stomach ready for food again. You may still be swollen from surgery. It's about healing now over losing weight. pureed foods will normally be higher in carbs unless you feel like blending up chicken in a blender and drinking it...barf! I'm moving to soft solids from the puree stage, and here are some foods I ate during that stage to help boost Protein amounts: Greek yogurt w/ pureed fruit. Plain lo fat greek yogurt is so packed full of protein. I used organic baby food food for the fruit - it was actually yummy. Campbell's Vegatable Beef Soup. Chew the beef bits well or throw the whole soup in a blender to puree it down. I did pulse blend some chicken to add to other creamy soups - very tasty. Cottage cheese Soft, low fat cheese like Laughing Cow wedges or Babybel Ricotta cheese w/ pureed fruit Egg Beaters Low fat refried Beans w/ low fat cheese and a dab of plan greek yogurt. Plain greek yogurt tastes a lot like sour cream. Edd salad - well blended and chopped w/ low fat mayo Go to the Nutrition / Diet section of the forum for great mushy food ideas. I found it SO SO helpful for recipes and ideas! Good luck! --Carrie

I'm 16 days post op, so my diet is reflective of being in the soft food stage. B: Pure Protein shake and 1 laughing cow swiss wedge S: 1/2 cup Chobani plain greek yogurt with chopped stawberries. 1 Spenda packet. L: 1 poached egg and 1 cup of french onion soup (no cheese or crouton). S: Either 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese or an Amplify Protein Shake with skin milk. (I'll see what I feel like) D: 1/2 cup canned chicken salad w/ low fat olive oil mayo and green onions. 1/4 cup mashed sweet potatoes and carrots (called Tzimmes - Jewish soul food) I'm also drinking some gatorade throughout the day. I was up all night with tummy issues, so I'm dehydrated I hate taking the hit in carbs because of the gatorade, but getting hydrated quickly is more important today.

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm hoping the band with help with behavior modification because I completely, 100% hate vomiting. Since I hate puking, I won't overeat knowing the band is there. I actually hope I never have to get filled and that the idea that it's sitting there and can make me puke is enough to keep myself in check

The smells..oh the smells. My desk is by the kitchen, so I get to smell everyone's lunches. Wish people were horrible cooks and ate things that smelled like junk. When I was pregnant, I hated smelling anything cooking. Maybe the cure is to get knocked up.. ok, not so much heh. After I wrote this post, I've been good about staying away from the office goodies. I also did a food log on Thurs as another way to keep me on track. I didn't want to write it down, so I didn't eat it. I also increased my protein the yesterday and today to feel more full. It's helped. There is a scheduled ice cream party at work today (in 15mins). Seriously, my office loves to eat. I planned my meals around this and accounted for the extra calories. I'll have a scoop of vanilla, and I brought my own pureed, fresh strawberries to put on top, so I feel like it's a treat and I'm not the freak being left out. I think this is a good plan - fingers crossed

Absolutely tell your doctor. Have you already has your pre-op appointment? I had my pre-op appt a week before my surgery and day 3 of a cold with a low grade temperature. I was in the exact same situation as you.. freaking out! On top of my cold, I was day three of antibiotics from PINK EYE that my toddler gave me!!!! I went to the pre-op appt with swollen, red eyes, a stuffy nose, sweaty/clammy and I basically look like crap.. or looked high . I also have asthma and typically my colds go to my chest into a productive cough by the last week of the cold. I 100% knew that if I couldn't get over the cold that with a chest cold and asthma, surgery was NOT safe. I did joke that if I had to be rescheduled after the 2 week pro-op diet, I was going to say F it and get Burger King hehe. My advice: Rest, fluids, rest, fluids, rest, rest, rest! That weekend I drank a ton of Water and took several naps and the cold went away before surgery. Be honest with yourself; surgery is nothing to sneeze at (ha ha, I'm funny). Going under anesthesia is serious and not to messed with. A postponed surgery is much better than a risky surgery and a harder post-op recovery. You'll want to rip your gut out if you have a sick cough post-op, because the deep tissue sutures hurt when you sneeze or cough. Another fact I learned. Good luck... rest, fluids, rest, fluids...drink drink drink!!

I think the 14% APR for the Care Credit extended plan is if you qualify for that rate. My total cost was 16K. We put 5K down in cash (check) from saving, then put 11K on Care Credit. I used the Care Credit 0% APR plan with the 6 month payoff plan. I was going to do the 18 months 0% apr plan, but I found out the day of my pre-op appointment that my surgeon's office only accepted the 6 month 0% plan. I was totally screwed, so I selected the 6 months option. The payment was going to be around $1,800/month. After the snafu, my husband applied for a credit card with no balance transfer fee and 12 months no interest on balance transfers. These types of plans are only available if your credit is accepted. Now we have 12 months to pay it off and we make a $950 monthly payment to get it paid off in 12 months before the interest rate kicks in. We redid out monthly budget and it will workout. We'll just go out to eat less, which will normally happen anyway Hope this info helps! -Carrie

I second the heating pad. Actually, I used those Thermacare pads, and they are great! They give heat for 8 hrs and can be put directly on your skin, so no running to reheat a heating pad

There are two sentences that end in prepositions. Can we now let this grammar crap cease? This isn't about levels of education; it's about Shirley's request for help and wanting to vent. If the grammar is so offensive one has to belittle others, then move along to the next topic.

Good job! G-d, isn't that the toughest thing? I decided at work today that I needed to break up with office snacks.

I'd call your doctor tomorrow. I'm surprised you weren't given pain meds, and Aleve is an NSAID which I hear is a no no. Every dr is different, so I don't want to be too harsh with my judgement. I was taking my liquid Lortab three times a day for the first 5 days. Maybe I'm a wus With no spirometer, practice taking a deep breath for like 10 sections to slowly open up your lungs.

Did the hospital give you a spirometer (the thing to measure your lung capacity)? If so, use it. I know it will hurt, but use it a few times a day. It will get your lungs filled and help with healing. Also, don't try to be a hero - take your pain meds. We naturally want to say we're doing good, and try to not take the meds. We're not heroes; we're healing after surgery. One thing I found was that I was in quite a bit of pain in some areas and then over compensated for the pain and other muscles hurt. For example, my chest hurt, so I hunched over and then my back hurt as a result. The pain meds can give you some peaceful sleep and let you and your body's muscles relax and heal Stay hydrated, take some deep breaths and rest. However, you know on instinct if something is really wrong. Contact your dr if you're feeling that. Take care of yourself! --Carrie Edited to add: During the procedure, the doctor may have inserted a tube/balloon down your esophagus to test the pouch. Because of this, your esophagus may be healing. I know I had this super odd thump-in-my-throat feeling about 2-3 days after surgery. I felt like I was constantly trying to swallow, and it was difficult. Is the sensation you're feeling?

Sounds like you might need to create a new ticker and copy it over your current signature

Hey Oceangirl. I was banded on 2/17 and I still get that left side pain. I have two incisions on that side with my port by my belly button on the right. The left incisions hurt more and feel like a sharp pain in the ab muscles when I sit up or cough. Forget sneezing, I almost pass out from that pain. The doctor told me that it's the are where she places the deep tissue stitches, and then uses the dermabond (blue) on the outside. Maybe that's the same pain you're having? The deep stitches go into the upper ab area, which is pretty painful. It gets better each day; hope you feel better soon!

I'm just venting here because I have to do something else besides walking into the kitchen one more time. I'm two weeks post -op and back at work for the third day, and now I totally resent that my office has snacks in the kitchen. I work for a small software company where there's always chips, snacks, fruit, candy, etc in the kitchen. I'm one week into the puree stage, so I can't go and eat the fruit, which would be my choice. I absolutely hate that this food is available. I did so much better post-op when I was home for 10 days. This just sucks. I'm not even hungry, seriously. Not at all. However, those damn reeces mini eggs look so good. It's a head problem on my side, which I'm aware of. I chewed a stick of gum and that helped. I also know salty foods are my trigger. This has to get easier as the days go on, and in a few days I can move to soft solids like tuna and chicken salad which will help. The sad thing is that I have greek yogurt and some mashed bananas ready to eat, as well as a protein shake. But, I'm sitting on here obsessing about the damn reeces. So now I have to say: F U office snacks; we have to break up. I'll come up with an elaborate story on how you cheated on me to tell my friends about it. FYI: You all reading this who think I'm a little nutty; you'll soon get my humor. It's dry and sarcastic and a tad over the top Cheers, Carrie

I love Fitday. My favorite feature is adding custom foods. I have several things I eat a lot, so I can enter the nutritional value of that specific item (rather than rely on a generic entry) and know that my logging is more accurate.

I was banded on 2/17 along with the hernia repair and am still swollen. I've lost 19 lbs and can't really see a difference in my tummy area because of the swelling. It'll go down soon I'm sure.

I totally experienced this until I started pureed food. Be sure to stay hydrated while having the diarrhea... gatorade and pedialyte popsicles will help keep you hydrated.

Metformin did very little for me, but everyone is different. I have PCOS and the Metformin basically made sure I did not wildly gain weight. It leveled off the weight but didn't help me lose. I started taking it when I started fertility treatments. Another lovely side effect of the PCOS. One thing I will warn you about Metformin... it can cause gas, nausea and diarrhea in the beginning. If you eat too much complex carbs (white processed foods and sugars), the Metformin will make sure you dump it out, and I mean DUMP it out It takes around 2 weeks to get used to the medicine. Good luck!!

Welcome to the site! I just joined and was banded on 2/17 as well. Hope you're doing well today and starting to feel better. --carrie

If anyone reads the Lap-Band documentation provided before surgery, they will see that Allergan states to expect to lose around 35% of the excess weight. The marker of success is subjective.. is it based on what someone's personal goals are, which may not line up with the expectations that should be set? For example, I know I need to lose 100lbs. Based on Allergan's data, I can expect to lose on average 35lbs - 35%. My physician's office provided their in-office data, which shows that on average their patients lose 60-65% of excess weight. So, my realistic goal would be to lose around 60-65lbs of the 100 I need to lose. If I expect to lose all 100, then I'm ignoring all of the research data and setting myself up for failure. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people do this.

The gas is a result of having a gas pumped into the abdominal cavity to make room for the laparoscopic tools during surgery. When you're closed up, the gas gets absorbed into the body and must come out one way or another - top or bottom . Until then, the gas bubbles and pressure hits a nerve in the ab area that sends a painful signal to the left shoulder. It's very weird, but that's how the body works. Maalox and GasX can help get rid of the gas.. burping and farting helps too. Sorry to be so graphic. Burping can hurt because of the tubes inserted into the trach and esophagus during surgery. After a few days, the gas dissipates. I used thermacare heat pads on my should to help dull the pain. The pain med you get after surgery helps too if only to make you sleepy and high enough not to care about the pain

I started my period two days post-op. I'm mean, really? How bad is that! I also had a hiatal hernia repaired when I was banded. At least the pain meds killed any cramps I had I haven't had my usual cravings except last night. My husband sat in front of me with a bag of chips and french onion dip. My trigger is anything salty. Give me triscuits and cheese, and I'm in heaven. I looked at him and said, "Fred, seriously?" He took his snack upstairs. I wanted to leap out of the chair, no matter the pain I'm in, and grab the chips. Of course I didn't, but that was my first challenge.