NWgirl

I was really only slightly nervous the morning of. Off course, I had the usual concerns prior, but not enough to question the actual surgery. I figured if anything was going to go wrong, the hospital was the place to be with the trained professionals

Woohoo! I waited for two weeks after submission and then called my coordinator because I hadn't heard anything. I'm on the West coast and she's on the East, so she called me back and left a message saying "I have good news, call me." At the time I was hesitant to let myself get over excited because you just never know, and I had to wait over a day to get back in touch with her to find out. I am so glad you got your approval! Did you set a date yet?

I would look around the US a little- seems there's a guy in Colorado who does it for fairly cheap and it seems like true Results is usually around 10k. I have no idea about business practices, etc of these places but have read about other self-payers going to them. If you go to Mexico, make sure to set up a fill doc before. I have heard that it can be hard to find someone.

I know from reading her blog that Lapband Gal was able to go off her blood pressure meds originally but had to start them again. Some things are just genetic, but you don't know til you get there.

Slim Fast does not have enough protein and is high in carbs/fat. I believe they make a low-carb Slimfast that has more protein, but is still pretty high in fat. Look for something with 25+ protein and less than 5g fat and carbs.

the same spot you added your weight loss ticker. Settings > my signature.

This is a link to a ready to drink that a lot of us drink. http://www.premiernutrition.com/protein-shake-nutrition.html Go ahead and look at the nutritional info so you get an ideal of what you should have.

I would be worried about the 10g of carbs and the 3.5 fats. Also, is that 228 calories for a serving? The protein amount looks good... Do you mix with milk or Water, or is it ready to drink? Personally, I would keep looking for something a little better. Look for something around 100 calories for a powder and under 200 for a ready to drink shake. It should be low carb, low fat, and high protein.

The weight loss is something that will be slower than traditional WLS, so no explaining necessary. People will see you eating healthier and becoming more active and they will put those two together as the reasons for weight loss. Only a few people know that I've had it done and I don't care to tell others.

That sucks Can you lose weight now freely? I know with my insurance I was fine to start losing weight immediately because my surgeon only submits the beginning weight. I would take the opportunity to kick butt and get a head start

I don't purposefully watch it, but I like to keep an eye on it. Today it seems like most of my sodium came from my healthy deli meat that I had for lunch- not a biggie for me. I did read that if you drink plenty of Water, it keeps the sodium flushing out.

Just as others said, sleep test is no biggie. Plus it looks like you have 3 or 4 months left til you submit anyways, so you should be okay. I found it was easier to go to a clinic that specialized in sleep studies than to go to the hospital (2+ month wait for hospital, two week wait for clinic).

You need to find out your surgeon's specific plan. Some call for a week of clear liquids, which would be broth, SF Jello, SF popsicles. Others (mine) let you do full liquids, which consist of pureed soups that can go through a sieve, tomato soups, yogurt without chunks or seeds, Protein shakes, SF pudding. I've included the list from my blog of things I would get if I were to do it again. Also, like you said, don't buy too much stuff. I ended up buying a lot of broths but never drank them because I was allowed full liquids and I ended up freezing a majority of the yogurt I bought because I way overestimated the amount I would eat. If I were to do it again, this is what I would buy: General Meds: - sublingual B-12 - Biotin - O-purity Band Multivitamin or Centrum Chewables - Calcium + Vit D & K chews - Chewable or dissolveable Iron supplement - Liquid adult Tylenol - Probiotic Pearls - Milk of Magnesia - Scarzone to put on incision sites after they have fully closed and the steri strips have come off. Stage One: - Peewee Pillowpet to hold against stomach. - Lipton cup-a-soup Cream of chicken - Soups that can be pureed and put through a sieve. - Peppermint tea - Protein powder- Body Fortress chocolate, Vanilla - 3 Protein mix shakers - Yogurt without seeds or chunks. Only two or three cases = 8 to 12 yogurts. - SF syrups - Pillow "chair" Stage Two: - Mashed Potatoes - food processor. I bought a Ninja Kitchen Pulse so I can get rid of some of my other appliances. - Applesauce - Cottage cheese - Oatmeal - Refried Beans - Soups that can be pureed to consistency of cottage cheese.

taking everything out of the band made the band ineffective, bandster hell all over again. Go in for a fill- it won't be the first time he's seen weight regain. Why didn't you start Getting fills again after he emptied your band?

Ask your surgeon where they position the port- mine is about two inches above my belly button to the right. Some surgeon's prefer to place lower or higher.

I was very mature at 17 (lived on my own, full time job, college, etc) but I am not sure my head was in the right spot for this particular surgery. We of course don't know you, but you really need to think about what this type of change entails and if you are ready to 100% commit to it. I am 23 and just got banded, and can say that I feel as if I really exercised all of my options prior to settling on WLS. Just make sure to have a good support network around you for this.

Also remember you are probably not at restriction yet either. Keep trucking along and making good decisions and I'm sure you can be successful.

http://www.fitbit.com/user/224BW9/sleep If you look at the link, it is showing my sleep for last night. You can set the device to either sensitive or normal, and then it will tell you the sleep efficiency and show you how many times you wake up/move a lot at night. I found I could not use the wrist strap to accurately record because I move a lot at night and it would show me as awake a lot. I use the little holder that came with it and clip it directly to my shirt. Pretty painless and a good indicator for me to see how much and the quality of the sleep I'm getting.

Try to look on the New York board, they may be a bit more help to you

I still havent tried oatmeal yet. I have been really focused on proteins and want to make sure I use the calories I have to eat the foods I need.

If I eat a healthy meal with a lot of protein, I am satisfied for 3 or 4 hours as far as real hunger goes. Mental hunger is another thing that you will have to work on.

I heard pineapple juice may help. Have no idea if that has any merit or not

Mine is on my right side. Look for your largest incision to the right or left of the belly button and that is likely where the port is located. Now that my incisions are closed up and not tender, I can press down and feel the top of my port.

I ran across an article today and thought of your post: http://wlsfa.org/4157/wlsfa-funds-its-6th-grant-surgery-is-this-week/ The Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America is apparently awarding grants for WLS. Not sure what the specifications are or how you can qualify, but I thought I'd pass it along so you can take a look.

The fitbit is something worn throughout the day to track total calories... I looked at the website for the Moto Actv, but couldn't seem to find where it says it's waterproof? It also looks like it's more of a exercise/runners watch and not an all day tracker...