Dibley Dawn

.....also, i should add that i am trying to make my shake last a good long while. the first shake i had lasted an hour. i am currently on my 2nd and i've been nursing it for 1 and 1/2. this makes it feel like i am constantly putting something in.

ha, i keep re-reading my instructions to see if the Dr. just hid those things about chicken or fish. nope....i guess i can't have it. So, when you are noshing on your chicken, just think of poor old me and how i'll be sucking down another shake and eating some Jello We will get through this, we will get through this, we will get through this.....

my liquid diet is very strict. i can only have 1,000 calories per day and they have to come from the Protein shakes, SF popsicles, SF Jello, veggies, or broth. i cannot have any kind of meats. soooooooo, man this is hard. i'm doing ok though. luckily at my job, it's our busy time of the month, so the day is zooming by. if i can make it through work then home will be a breeze. mmayyybe more hurricane winds than a breeze, but easier than work for sure.

I started my liquid diet today. The first 30 minutes were a breeze, but now i'm hungry. I feel a rumbly in my tumbly I am trying to concentrate on work (because i am at work) and i'm trying not to listen to the music that my stomach is making How did you pass the time in between shakes? I have a couple of ...uplifting and motivational songs on my iPod. when i get hungry or when i get discouraged, i take 2 or 3 minutes and listen to one of those songs to take my mind off of the fact that I'm hungry. what are your tips for getting through this first 2 weeks of shakes. (incidently, i'm drinking muscle milk light in chocolate and it isn't bad at all. i thought it would be gross, but it's actually quite delicious.)

I started my liquid diet today. The first 30 minutes were a breeze, but now i'm hungry. I feel a rumbly in my tumbly I am just trying to drink lots of Water to fill my belly up. only 13 more days after today.

1. go zip lining 2. ride a roller coaster 3. fly in an airplane comfortably WITHOUT a seatbelt extender 4. kayaking 5. repelling 6. wear shorter skirts and tank tops in public 7. buy a pair of high heals, or at least kitten heals. i can only wear flats right now 8. buy a pair of trendy boots...my calves are too big to wear them right now. 9. apply for a better job. so difficult because people don't like to hire fat people. 10. travel, travel, travel and see the world

Yes, yes, yes...i am grieving and i haven't even been banded yet. my 2 week pre-op liquid diet begins tomorrow and my surgery is on may 4th...i am trying to be brave and tell myself that i'm gonna get through this and it'll be better, but i am a huge emotional eater (no pun intended), so i don't know how i'm going to deal with it. i will have to take it one day, one meal at a time. i'm just glad this forum is here. i don't think i would have even considered getting to this point had it not been for the support i have gotten here and the information that others have shared. so thankful for this place.

At this moment, right now, i feel like a death row inmate about to choose my last meal. my liquid diet begins tomorrow, so i have one more meal today that will be eaten in "the old way". this will be the last time i put something in my mouth without thinking about it (without having to PB or get stuck that is). *sigh* while i'm beginning to get excited at the possibility of getting slimmer, i'm still afraid that i will fail like i have so many times before. Anyway, I AM going to go through with this though, and i'm going to do my very best to follow the rules and change my habits. no turning back.

yes, we should get a group of us together...of course we'll have to wait a couple of months until we can eat solid food. either that or meet up at a Protein shake bar.

I don't know about your BMI of 40, but I live in NYC as well and I'm going through NYU medical center. Dr. George Fielding is going to be doing my surgery. I chose him because he himself has the band and I figured if any doctor could know the struggles, the ups and the downs, it would be a doctor who has had it. you should definitely go to the seminar as they will give you all kinds of information regarding what they need from you and what to ask your insurance company. they also have someone in their office that will help you with the insurance stuff. anyway, best of luck in whatever surgeon you choose.

i have no input really, but my surgery is also may 4th and i am freaking out right along with you. i weigh quite a bit more than you, so if there is saggy skin, i'm gonna be lugging that around. i have some of those same fears, but my main fear is what happens after this band is in me for 10 or 15 years...fears about having to have it replace, or fears of it not working. anyway, sorry i have nothing to add, but I am definitely in the same boat with you. currently, i'm having a bunch of "last suppers", eating things i'm not going to get to eat for a while. each bite makes me feel more and more like a death row inmate.

Afternoon update....well, as much as this decision is killing me, I guess there is (almost) no turning back now because I just spent almost $400 :blink:on protein shakes and other things to get me through both my 2 weeks of liquid diet and my first 10 days post op. I have everything i think i need, at least i sure do hope so.

My surgery is scheduled for May 4th, my pre admission testing is April 22nd, and my liquid diet starts on April 20th. Plus i have gained 2 pounds because I am apparently going through the "last supper syndrome of eating everything in sight. yikes.

Hi guys, thanks for posting. I think my excitement at the possibility of losing weight is being overshadowed by my fear at this point. I am just overwhelmed with fear. I am trying so very hard to not let my brain take me to scary places. I'm a little worried about the food part of it and what i will and won't be able to eat, but i'm more worried about what happens when i'm 60. I'm 36 right now, and I don't know what this thing is going to do inside of me, and who knows what kind of insurance i'll have 25 years from now to take care of it. I know that this isn't what everyone else is thinking about, but I'm obsessing over it. anyway, i am trying to push those thoughts from my mind and just tell myself that if worse comes to worse, i'll have the surgery reversed. i hope it doesn't come to that, and I hope this surgery can stop the hunger monster that rages inside of me. I have a lot of weight to lose, but honestly i would be happy if i didn't lose a single pound, i just don't want to gain any more weight. At any rate, we are going grocery shopping today to load up on all the Protein shake stuff that i have to have for my 2 week diet. this is becoming real and i am trying not to chicken out.

What part of the bronx do you live in? I live just across the river from the bronx, near Yankee Stadium in Harlem. I am the last stop of the 3 train. My commute is easy peasy, no matter where i go within the city.

hey guys, sorry it took me sooo long to get back to you all. i had jury duty for a couple of days, and I literally just got home from a meeting, sooooooooo it's been a very long, long day. thank you all so much for your honest answers. they are really, very helpful and i am feeling more and more confident with each answer that comes. really, i am. for instance, i haven't cried at all today, so that is a very big deal. Hi Elizabeth! I live in manhattan and I work in midtown, thought i'm not originally from here...but June is my 10 year anniversary in the city so i will be able to officially call myself a new yorker.

yes, i too seem to be eating everything in sight. i will probably gain 20 pounds before the liquid diet. mine starts on wednesday.

It's weird to me that i am regretting the surgery before i actually have it.

thanks vicky. i have been playing with the idea in my head that if i just NEED to take a big bite of something, then i'll take a big bite of it and spit it out. the swallowing of it isn't what gives me the satisfaction, it's the chomping the huge bite of it. and cravings...the only thing i ever crave is carbs, soooooo i'm gonna have to learn to do without them for a very long while. yes, can you tell i am still trying to wrap my brain around it all? it's so overwhelming.

It's good to know that i can drink a lot of Water quickly if i'm exercising. That really was a HUGE concern. as for having it replaced every 10 or so years...that's like 16,000 per surgery right? I hope my insurance at that time will pay for such a thing. I guess I'd better start saving up money now huh?

I have talked a little bit about this in another thread that I started in the 200+ sub folder, but i'm not sure how many of you frequent that particular sub folder, so I thought I might get more input by asking a few questions here. Please, if you can answer any of these of give me some advice, I would really appreciate it. First of all, my surgery date has been scheduled for May 4th, so just under 3 weeks away. This has unexpectedly sent me into a panic mode where i feel like a death row inmate who has to eat everything in sight before i'm not able to eat it again. I do realize that at some point, I will be able to eat things, but just not as much, or not as fast, and I'll have to chew, and hopefully the band will take cravings away and stop the hunger monster from getting to me. Here are a few of my concerns: 1.Drinking: in the summer, it gets hot here in NYC. I get parched. One of my best loved and favorite activities is just getting a big cold bottle of Water and absolutely downing that sucker in one gulp. I am realizing that this isn't going to be possible to do after the band and it is literally scaring the crap out of me. How do you learn not to gulp big huge glasses of water? 2. do you ever get over that feeling of just wanting to take a huge bite of something? because i'm a super fat foodie type person, one of my greatest joys is just taking a huge bite of something and feeling the grease just ooze and run. (sorry if that's gross, but it's true. a huge greasy cheese burger is just the best thing ever to take a huge bite of) How do you reconcile yourself to the fact that you can never do that again? 3. What will happen to me in 20 or so years? i guess the band will stay in forever, but are there people out there who have had the band for 10 years and still have it? or have you had to have it replaced? am i going to be looking at re-banding surgeries for the rest of my life? I am excited about the possibilities of being ...not so fat (i'll never be skinny), but i am trying to really figure out if this is something that is going to do me more harm than good. Sorry if these questions seem stupid, I am just really scared of what the future holds, and the prospect of really having to change my habits for the rest of my life when I haven't been able to do it on diets in the past, is so daunting. Am i being irrational?

That is wonderful insight Larry. I just can't believe how emotional this is all making me. I had a glass of wine last night and it calmed me down, i went to sleep and woke up with the thought of "i am doing the right thing". Then, on my way to jury duty, i stopped off to get some Breakfast..an innocent looking egg mcmuffin. i sat down and took a bite and then just burst into tears with the thoughts of "i can never just take a huge bite of anything again." that sounds so silly, but I guess i'm kind of a food aholic ...taking a huge bite of something, feeling the greese just smush out and go down is (sadly) very enjoyable for me. later, when i got home i was so thirsty and parched. I made a glass of Crystal Light lemonade and took a huge refreshing gulp of it. I almost downed the entire glass with one swig. this is something I do quite often, just chug Water, crystal light, cold refreshing things, especially in the summer. I won't be able to do that again. I know these sound like stupid petty things, but it is almost like i'm on death row and I have to have all my chugging and gulping before I give up my life and get my (what i'm calling) my Spike Chip. I'm calling the band my Spike Chip after Spike from Buffy the vampire slayer. Some government guys kidnap him and put a chip in his head that causes physical pain any time he wants to drink someone's blood. with all that negative reinforcement, he stops drinking fresh human blood. so this little guy is my spike chip....if i can convince myself to just do it.

I am in the same boat you are in. My surgery is scheduled for May 4th and I am in full on panic mode. i think part of me didn't think that it would be all scheduled and approved so quickly, that i had sooo much time to truly decide (especially because there seemed to be 1,000 hoops that I had to jump through...now i am through all of those hoops and all that is left is the liquid diet and the surgery..soooo). So here i am, 3 weeks from today I am going to go into that OR and my life is going to change. it may be for the better or it may be for the worse. i am anxious and scared and incredibly unsure of everything, but after talking (and crying my eyes out) with my husband, weighing the pros and cons, I am leaning towards going ahead with the surgery. I have no words of wisdom nor can i say anything to calm you because I am scared out of my wits, but as was stated earlier, at some point, i'm going to have to trust that my surgeon knows what he's doing and he's going to do his best to take care of me and not kill me....and I am going to do my best to stick to the rules and do what I need to do to be in an overall healthier place. hopefully

I don't have anything to add, but I read your thread and had to look twice to make sure i didn't post it. We have such similar screen names. anyway, i'm not sure what they would do in that case, I would assume they could fix it and then maybe later do the surgery after it heals. I know my husband had one and they went in and repaired it. He didn't have the band though, as he's a skinny guy, but after it has time to heal, i don't see why they wouldn't just do the surgery. I have read in other places that sometimes they don't know you have one until they are putting the band in, so they repair it and then band you....i just don't know, but let us know how it turns out.

hi Doreen, My surgery is also on May 4th. I weigh much, much more than 229 though and if I ever see that number pop up on my scale, i will jump for joy! I am kinda wavering between uncertainty and certainty, afraid and not afraid, so that is what I am currently struggling with. I hope i can decide for sure before the 4th! are you required to do the 2 weeks of liquids before the surgery? I am and I start that on the 20th of April. at this particular moment I am going through some last moment panic and trying to think of all the things I won't be able to eat post banding...and i am eating those things! NOT the best choice, but like i said, it's panic. at any rate, i wish you the best of luck on your journey.