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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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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!!!

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

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!

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!

hahahahaha

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.

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

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.

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!

Is it just me or are you guys noticing your body already changing? I'm into my 5th day of a 4 protein shake a day/ 1200 cal a day diet... 9 more days to go. It's getting easier but I noticed some things about my body. Sorry if none of you like talking about digestion! Just a warning I have 0 gas, none at all. I have had 2 very small bowel movements since I started my pre-op diet. I know I'm only drinking shakes, but shouldn't the protein produce something??? I know a lot of people have the opposite problem and they can't stop going (which I can imagine is rather unpleasant) My energy is kinda... blah. (Again, I know I'm not eating food but doesn't protein=energy?) My skin is breaking out, I feel like I'm 15 again! (which was only 8 years ago, but you get the picture lol) Any strange side effects you guys have noticed since you started? Any veterans with advice? Should I take chewable fiber tablets I have?