crash878905

Hi Shauna and Rebecca,

I am on day 5 of liquid pre op and from everything I have read there seems to be such a vast difference of opinion on why and what is the deal with the liquid diet, so I asked my doc yesterday at our last visit before surgery was the liquid diet neccessary for the surgery, was I supposed to be getting a certain amount of Protein or can I eat Water veggies and boiled chicken. He replied If you can't take the liquid diet now how are you supposed to do it after the surgery. So many people do not do the liquid diet preop. It seems a bit unfair, but oh well. Today the weight feels like it is falling off of me. I suppose thats a good feeling, How much have you guys lost in your re op liquid so far.

I know I'm not Shauna or Rebecca, but I thought I'd just add to what you posted... I was banded on July 6th, just 3 days ago. I had to do a preop liquid diet, no food, just Protein Drinks, for 2 weeks. Granted, a few nights I did have some lettuce, onions and peppers with a tablespoon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and on the second to last day I did cheat a little at a BBQ. But for the most part, I stuck to the diet. After surgery, my surgeon requires only Water or crystal light the day of surgery and day 1 post op. Days 2-6 post op is clear Protein drinks and Clear Liquids like broth or herbal tea. Days 7-14 are Protein Shakes with milk. Days 14-21 is pureeds and mushies and last but absolutely not least, 1-2 weeks after mushies I can start introducing regular foods slowly.

With all that being said, for me personally, there is NO WAY I would be able to handle all that without a 2 week liquid diet. Mentally, I wouldn't be able to handle it. I know myself. And if I had to deal with just having surgery and the realization that I wouldn't be having real food (as opposed to fake...? lol) for weeks, I would probably not be able to do it. My surgeon has strict guidelines but I completely trust that he makes the right decisions for his patients. I know 2 other patients of his and they have had great success.

Also, the preop diet takes off some nice lbs! I lost 10.2 in my pre op. So it's a nice jump start for weight loss too. So keep your head up and you'll be in the hospital for surgery in NO TIME! I can't believe I'm post op already!!! A year of thinking and researching and here I am

Best of luck

So I woke up this morning with some pretty uncomfortable pains in my stomach. I took some gas x...didn't help! So I decided to try and have some carnation instant breakfast...turns out I was just hungry! I didn't feel hungry, but my body was telling me to eat. Such a new concept for me LOL. All it took was 2 oz to feel full and content. And what do you know, the pains are gone! And I lost 2 lbs overnight!

So far I'm LOVING my new band! My husband keeps calling me the "bionic woman"...hahaha!

How is everyone today?

Glad to hear you're doing well! When was your surgery again?? Mine was yesterday. I was feeling good yesterday, but last night I started to feel pain. Not from my incisions but because of the anesthesia. My whole body, from neck to heels, are sore. I am a little hungry, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to have my clear Protein Shakes. I did lose 3.6 lbs since the day before surgery! Congrats on your progress so far!

Good luck to all our July 6 banders, we will be pulling for you! lizzy21050, crash878905, Lorelei, Kimiky, and Diana1980 are all tomorrow.

Thanks for the good wishes! Surgery went perfectly today. And to my surprise, I woke up with no shoulder gas pain. Surgery was 7 AM this morning and I just started feeling the gas in my stomach and back just a few hours ago.

This is MUCH LESS painful than I anticipated, but I'm worried that tonight the pain will hit. For any of you out there that believe in the power of prayer, keep me in yours! For those of you being banded later in the month, like I said, much less painful than I anticipated and little gas pains. I have been walking and it really does help.

Have a good night everyone

I had my op today, and I COMPLETELY stuffed up my diet! All was fine!

You need to be kind to yourself, trust me.

Hi Aly, glad everything went well! I think it's just a mix of guilt, PMS, and pre surgery jitters that are getting the best of me. I have to get a hold of myself for God's sake! lol

it's that time of year for BBQ. Even though you shouldn't have those things now ! ! ! You did... So you scratched your itch. So get over it, and don't do it again. In time,,, you will be able to eat good BBQ. But not write now.

So time to move on, and think about your surgery, and plans of what you have in the house for you to have, after surgery.

You lost this weight in the first place, so you will go far if you stick to your plan.

Good Health to you, Shirley.

Good BBQ in the future is definitely something to look forward to

Hi Crash,

Wow, 2 weeks liquid diet pre-op. Whats up with that? I could eat right up to the night before surgery. I think it sounds like you are doing amazingly well. You should be very proud of yourself. I love BBQ also. LOVE THEM! There is no way I could go to a BBQ and not eat. I think you are being WAY too hard on yourself. Remember, the band is a tool to help you control your appetite and learn to eat more consciously. Honestly, I really had no idea how fast I ate or how poorly I chewed my food until I had the band. (That cured me in a hurry). I hope you have an exercise program already started, but if you haven't please start walking as much as possible right after surgery. Yes, it will hurt, but it will hurt less and you will recover faster the more you walk.

Please do not let your Aunt make you feel bad about yourself or your journey. She may actually think she is being helpful. When you need support, turn to your online community. We are people like you who will understand your problems, temptations, successes and failures. Yes, there will be failures, there will be times you think you let yourself down. THAT IS PART OF THE JOURNEY AND LEARNING PROCESS TOO!!! Embrace it! Love yourself right through your flaws. You are very brave to be taking this challenge. This is an entire lifestyle change. You don't have to be perfect. If any of us were perfect we wouldn't need any lap band or any support.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY!!!

Indigostorm

I appreciate the encouragement. I love that I can come on here and get feedback from people who know exactly what I'm going through. I didn't anticipate this being such a mental journey as it is physical. One step at a time, we're all getting there!

Hi, Crash! I'm having my surgery tomorrow, too, and I had a 4th of July mess-up as well--just about on the same level as yours. Remember: the pre-op diet is designed to shrink your liver--and I promise that 1/3 cup of Beans (which is Protein and JUST FINE for a shrink-your-liver diet!), 1/4 cup of potato salad (I'm allowed that many carbs on my pre-op diet!) and even a piece of cake (about the same number of calories as one of the shakes you missed) is NOT going to keep your liver from shrinking.

All in all, you had roughly the same # of calories that you would have had on your shakes and less fat and fewer carbs that you would have had on a regular day before the pre-op.

You did okay.

Give yourself a hug.

Now give yourself another one.

You're going to do GREAT with the band!!!

Thank you for the great adivce... I did hug myself mentally because I am at work lol. I am feeling a lot better... best of luck with your surgery!

Don't be so hard on yourself. Some doctors don't even require a pre op diet. Mine didn't. It was a holiday weekend and I think you did pretty darn good considering. Relax, go have your surgery and try to follow the process. I think your doctor will be pleased that you lost 11 pounds!

And....ignore the naysayers! People who haven't been through this process don't have a clue what they're talking about! Good luck. I'm sure you'll do fine!

Thanks Cindy... I do need to relax! I am feeling a little bit better about it.

sort of a gross question, but i am having surgery tommorrow and just got my period today (which i am grateful for cause i was having a bit of a pregnancy scare)...anyways, how do i handle that on surgery day...i am not a tampon gal and so i usually use pads...but won't we only have our gowns on?

Thank you for posting this, I have my period too and surgery is tomorrow. I normally wear tampons but definitely won't be wearing one to surgery.

My July Band Buddies...

Tomorrow is my surgery date, finally! I completed my 2 week preop liquid only diet. Some days I had some lettuce and peppers though just to chew. I was doing great, down 11.2 lbs. I am assuming I haven't lost more because I have my monthly "visitor" and am very bloated.

Summer is my favorite season. If any of you are from the Northeast, I'm sure you'll agree. BBQs are also my favorite. And, the weekend before my surgery, I had THREE OF THEM.

The first BBQ I had my Protein Shakes and I was fine. The second BBQ was at my house. I had only 1 Protein Shake (as opposed to 4) and had a piece of cake and a cookie. The third BBQ, which was yesterday, was a nightmare. I had 2 Protein shakes (out of 4), about a 1/3c of baked Beans, a 1/4c potato salad and a piece of cake. I feel absolutely terrible to the point that I could cry. I was doing so well. Does this mean I can't do the Lapband and stick with the rules? Am I going to fail?

Just about all of my confidence has dropped. I came into the preop diet feeling so good and not messing up, and 12 days later I cheated. And to top it all off, I told my aunt yesterday that I was having surgery Wednesday. She gave me a look (not a nice one) and said really? You're having surgery???? And said "well, you can't eat what you ate today." I wanted to crawl into a HOLE. Granted, I did not eat as much as I normally would have, but still, I ate when I shouldn't have. I didn't want to tell her about the surgery but my mom told me I should because she thought my aunt would be upset if she found out afterwards. I should've never said anything. The only thing worse than cheating on my preop diet is hearing people say, in lesser words, that they don't think I can do it or it's not a good idea.

I guess you could consider this a confession or me just venting. I hate that I'm gonna go into surgery feeling so badly. I want this, and I don't want to mess it up. I have eaten nothing today because it is my clear liquid day before surgery... and I won't mess that up because of anesthesia, etc. I really hope my spirits lift a little before surgery tomorrow.

Sorry to bring you guys down! Please don't read this as a "poor me" type thing!

Tomorrow is my surgery date, finally! I completed my 2 week preop liquid only diet. Some days I had some lettuce and peppers though just to chew. I was doing great, down 11.2 lbs. I am assuming I haven't lost more because I have my monthly "visitor" and am very bloated.

Summer is my favorite season. If any of you are from the Northeast, I'm sure you'll agree. BBQs are also my favorite. And, the weekend before my surgery, I had THREE OF THEM.

The first BBQ I had my Protein shakes and I was fine. The second BBQ was at my house. I had only 1 Protein shake (as opposed to 4) and had a piece of cake and a cookie. The third BBQ, which was yesterday, was a nightmare. I had 2 Protein Shakes (out of 4), about a 1/3c of baked Beans, a 1/4c potato salad and a piece of cake. I feel absolutely terrible to the point that I could cry. I was doing so well. Does this mean I can't do the Lapband and stick with the rules? Am I going to fail?

Just about all of my confidence has dropped. I came into the preop diet feeling so good and not messing up, and 12 days later I cheated. And to top it all off, I told my aunt yesterday that I was having surgery Wednesday. She gave me a look (not a nice one) and said really? You're having surgery???? And said "well, you can't eat what you ate today." I wanted to crawl into a HOLE. Granted, I did not eat as much as I normally would have, but still, I ate when I shouldn't have. I didn't want to tell her about the surgery but my mom told me I should because she thought my aunt would be upset if she found out afterwards. I should've never said anything. The only thing worse than cheating on my preop diet is hearing people say, in lesser words, that they don't think I can do it or it's not a good idea.

I guess you could consider this a confession or me just venting. I hate that I'm gonna go into surgery feeling so badly. I want this, and I don't want to mess it up. I have eaten nothing today because it is my clear liquid day before surgery... and I won't mess that up because of anesthesia, etc. I really hope my spirits lift a little before surgery tomorrow.

Sorry to bring you guys down! Please don't read this as a "poor me" type thing!

Thank you everyone for the "good lucks"! Keep me (and my new July 6th bandee buddies) in your prayers for Wednesday

Hey Crash - I'm getting banded on the 6th also! My surgeon will be doing the single-incision approach, so I'm hoping to have less pain, but we'll see, I guess. Thanks for posting this question - It was one of mine that I've been having difficulty getting answers for, as most of my friends and co-workers that are (were) obese got By-pass. The thought of all the re-routing just kinda creeps me out.

Good luck! I hope everything goes well!

Lance

I'm glad to see another July 6th person! I was (and still am) nervous about the pain over anything, but I guess no matter how bad it is, it won't last. That's something to look forward to! Did you have a preop diet? As I posted earlier, I slipped up today :/ how have you been doing during the preop phase? Keep me updated on your journey!

Hey crash, I'm getting banded the same day as you! Man, it's coming up quick! I'm getting super nervous lol.. we should keep in touch, be band-buddies Haha.

Lol band buddies! Can you believe in less than 48 hours we will be banded? Crazy!! Did you have a preop diet? I messed up on mine today, I was ok for the first 2 BBQs I went to, and today was the 3rd, but I slipped and had a little potato salad, Beans, and dessert. I feel so guilty.... but, back on track for tomorrow! Please keep me posted on your progress!

Hi everyone, I am having my surgery on July 6th. I have been reading through the site and haven't seen too much on how the pain is after surgery. I'm sorry to say that I am a bit of a baby when it comes to pain. I am aware that this is surgery and it certainly isn't going to feel nice, but it's a necessary step to get me where I want to be.

What are your experiences? Much worse than you expected? Much less than you expected?

Which pain medications (if any) did you take?

Did you take Gas-X or any other medication to help with gas?

Any non medicinal remedies that helped?

Thanks guys

3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To all my fellow July banders that have just been banded:

Was the actual surgery and first few days post op everything that you thought it would be? Anything more? Less? As painful? Less painful? Any realizations you weren't expecting?

Today is my 12th PreOp liquids only diet.... July 6th is the big day! After researching, learning, and thinking about gastric banding, here I am 3 days away from following through with it. Crazy!!!

My surgery will be in about 3 weeks from now. I had my last meeting with my surgeon yesterday and it's like it finally hit me. The whole time ive been so excited... Don't get me wrong, I still am... It's just that it's always felt so far away. And now it seems so real! My new life will be here before I know it! How exciting. But also emotional.

Last night I was laying in bed with my husband and thinking about what my new, healthy life will be like. But then I starting thinking about my body and how it will change. And for some reason I got emotional. This is the body I've always had. This is the body my husband fell in love with. And this won't be my body anymore(after some time and hard work, of course). And trust me, I'm thankful to trade it in for a new, skinny, healthy, shiny one... But for some reason, there are going to be parts of this body I think I may miss.

Did anyone else go through something like this?

It's funny that you posted this because I got emotional too. I am on my 12th day of the all liquid pre op diet. Once my preop diet started, I REALLY started to think about not being the fat girl out of all my friends. I've grown accustom to playing that role. I think what's scary for us is the unknown.... I've been overweight since about 5th grade and now I am 23 years old. So I've been the chunky girl 'with the pretty face' for as long as I can remember. A family member of mine told me that her and her best friend are no longer close because she actually got jealous. She started to see her as competition and was jealous that she hadn't lost weight and now her friend was thin. Sadly, I can see how that could happen.. people get used to you the way you are, and when you have a drastic change happen, it'll take a while for others (and myself) to get used to the change, whether it's good or bad. Anyways, that's just my logic! Good luck with your surgery

Surgery is creeping up (July 15th) so I've been trying to work things in like skipping drinks before and after dinner (holy crap) and chewing 30 times with every bite (forever!) and I'm already getting tired!

chewing 30 times per bite... i'm not looking forward to that. i'm going to look like a cow chewing and chewing and chewing... lol i really liked your blog by the way, lots of "oooh me too" moments.. i hope you keep up with it!

I went to Wal-Mart tonight to gather up post-op food for the liquids and mushies stage and ended up (because of the odd combination of food I was buying) having a chat with the cute, thin 20-something checker about my planned WLS. She was very sweet and encouraging and told me about a friend of hers who had lapband and has been very successful. I guess I've decided (by default) to be pretty open about it.

However, I'm not telling a group of my college friends--we get together every year for New Year's Eve in a different city (this is year 19--yipes, I'm old!). This year we're going to Las Vegas and I kind of want to just show up and surprise them all with my dramatic weight loss (I'm already 30 lbs lighter than they saw me last). Is that just totally ridiculous of me? Well, at least it gives me a goal!

it's nice to get some unexpected encouragement! i think it's cool that you want to surprise your friends, I'm trying to do the same with mine... just keep thinking of that "omg!" moment they're going to have lol when I see my family for Christmas I'm hoping to lose at least 40 lbs... my goal is to see jaws drop!

Good luck...we're all in the same boat...let's hope it holds! LOL

hahahahaha

Wow, ONE jelly bean? You have incredible willpower!

Lol I'm really trying. But today I had a low fat cheese stick... 60 calories. But I made sure I was still within my daily calorie limit.

OK...so it's not just me..LOL! I'm terribly constipated at day three. I hade some "smooth move" tea and that helped me go but now my butt is all irritated. A bit low on energy too but not too horrible.

Hopefully it will get better for the both of us... only 8 days left! And I also noticed that my breath smells very bad... it didn't before... maybe I should drink more Water? I think I'm gonna take some chewable Fiber tablets, they taste good, it'll be like having candy lol

I'm on my second day of a five day liquid diet. It is SOOOOOOOO hard, I must admit I did cheat and have some chicken nuggets for lunch. So far i have noticed that I'm urinating ALOT and I had one BM yesterday and it was liquid. My energy level is kinda of low. I am determined to stay on track for the next three days. My surgery is on Thursday

Now I want chicken nuggets! lol I am having a BBQ this Sunday and I decided I'm going to have a small piece of grilled chicken--plain. The only cheat I did was having 1 jelly bean a few days ago. The way I look at it, chicken is Protein, and at least I'm not having a slice of cheesecake. Everyone is going to be eating bbq food and I don't know that I'll be able to sip on my gross Protein shake while everyones eating bbq chicken! Good luck with your surgery! Let me know how it goes.

Yes,,it's very hard..I did 12 days of the shakes,,,now finishing up my 2 days of clears,,,,my surgery is tomorrow! I had 'digestive problems' the 1st week,,much better the 2nd week,,it's an adjustment. I also felt exhausted week 1, better week 2..hang in there...while I thought every day would get worse, it actually became easier..I've lost 8 lbs before surgery! hang in there and good luck!

12 days! I'm glad you said it gets easier. The things I like about the preop diet (as opposed to not being required to be on one) is that I feel like it's mentally preparing me for what's to come. It makes me feel like I'll be able to handle the liquid phase after surgery. My perception of food has already changed a lot. I was craving tuna fish the other day! Never happened to me before lol. And it also jump starts my weight loss. I'm on day 6 out of 14. an 8 lb loss is great! Did you have any cheats or slip ups? I caved and had 1 jelly bean on day 3 haha. I felt a little guilty. So far I'm down 7.8 lbs.

Best of luck with your surgery, I'll be thinking of you! Keep me posted!