lifeisjustbeginning2011

Well, congrats to EVERYONE in July!!! I won't be checking here anymore, but I'll be around on the post op board. In case you missed it, here is the direct link so you can find everyone. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/132493-july-2011-bandsters/page__st__560 Amy

Setback. Out of the four incisions, the largest one (port site) is not healing correctly. I went to the doc last week and got on some antibiotics. Today I went to take off two bandaids and it literally ripped my skin off in two more places. It burns so bad. Tomorrow is one month post op. Hoping this gets better soon.

Be extra careful not to swallow! I've heard mixed reviews about eating hard candy and/or gum and getting stuck.

Yeah!! That's great! I think most of us went through the paranoia of eatng mushies and then on to solids, but I didn't have a problem. I think it is totally normal to feel scared and apprehensive about it. We want to do everything right to be successful. One thing I did was keep to three "meals" a day, and write down my start and end times of when I was eating. I had water or gatorade in between. When I was on mushies, this was really important. When I ate mashed potatoes (and oh how good they were), I was hungry MUCH sooner than if I chose something lower in carbs. I didn't realize how true the "carbs make you more hungry" rule really was! At first, though, eat whatever the heck you want that's allowed. After a few days, you'll naturally start to see the patterns and you'll want to change to different foods. I pureed the heck out of some chicken, mixed it with some tomato sauce, and thought I was in heaven. As I'm going through the process, I'm blogging about favorite foods and recipes at each stage and my feelings in general. The link is below if you wanna check it out. Best Wishes! Amy

YUM!!!! Sounds great!

Congrats! We have a July 2011 group going in this section (post op) if you want to join. It is kind of nice to mingle with people that are in the same stages that we are. Best wishes! Amy

Just try it and see. On my iPhone, there are tutorials (super helpful) in the "more" area. Not sure what phones it works on, but install it for free and see what you find

I like the Mio idea. I tried Crystal light in it too, not too shabby.

The burps didn't hit until the second and third day for me. They were crazy for 2-3 days and then now it is back to normal. Dilaudid AND Lortab? You lucky girl. LOL I just had Lortab. The most comfortable position for me for the first few days was on my back with a memory foam pillow under my knees and a heating pad on my belly. Congrats on getting banded!!! Amy

I know what you mean about the heat. I live in Phoenix. I did laps around my living room for 5-10 minutes at a time. After about a week of this, the dogs finally stopped following me around, thinking we were going somewhere. LOL. I felt really lightheaded, but I did work some Gatorade G2 (the low calorie version) into each day. I, too, never ever got close to the fluid requirements. Most days I still don't. I try, though. It is getting better with time. Even now, 3 1/2 wks later, I'm still pretty tired, but not lightheaded anymore. I started with running a simple errand and came home and totally crashed. I would get to the store and literally not spend 10 minutes there because I was so tired. What a difference a few weeks make! I'm still fairly tired after being out for 3-4 hours, but I'm napping less and working up to more time "up and about." Glad to hear you're doing well. Keep up the pain meds for a few days, I always set my alarm clock to wake me up so I didn't miss a dose. I think I was on them for 3 days, then a dose of Tylenol, then nothing since. Best wishes! Amy

April, Does walking help at all? or make it worse? Amy

Glad to hear that things went well. Thanks for letting us know about your experience! Amy

I'm anxious to hear from you how the fill goes. I've heard it hardly hurts because of all of the layers of fat. Hope all goes well! Amy

I'm probably not the one to ask about protein! LOL I had very little protein (well, um, virtually none) for the first week. I don't like the shakes. I preferred nothing over a shake. Just ate Jello, drank Juicy Juice and somehow I made it. Applesauce was wonderful!! Try to get the no sugar added kind. I got flavored applesauce in a big jug at Walmart. I also took plain applesauce and added crystal light to it....pretty dang good. My only advice is to stay hydrated. If you can get even one protein drink in, you're doing better than I dd! Amy

April, Eeeekkkkk!! ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to fix the car. That's after I called around and got estimates and everything. Turns out it was the fuel pump. Funny thing - this morning I've been on the phone and totally busy - didn't eat anything today until 12:30. Then it hit - I thought I was going to eat my fingers off! LOL. Thankfully I had scrambled egg leftovers in the fridge all ready to go, or I would have overeaten!! Amy

Welcome aboard, Alan! We've got a pretty nifty group here - I always feel better after I read posts. Amy

Hi all, I had quite the afternoon. My car died in the middle of the road right at the start of rush hour (and remember I live in Phoenix, where it was 102 today (I guess it could have been worse, I've seen 118 before). After the car got towed to the shop and I got a ride home, guess what I wanted to do? EAT. I realized it right away and stopped myself. I was stressed out. I had a small amount for dinner and I felt uncomfortable a lot sooner than usual. So --- yes, what we hear about stress making the band tighter is correct! Amy

glad to hear you're doing well.

AWESOME!!! When we don't have restriction, it's all about the willpower! Don't let go of that goal Amy

SAL - Saving Amy's Life.

The one thing I noticed about lunch today was that I thought it was really salty. I'm a cheese lover, so I have to watch the sodium, but today I had a fistful of onion strings from Chili's and WHAM! - hit me like a ton of bricks. So salty!! Even had to take a drink of water while eating (shhh!). Of course, the salt made me want more salt, so I ate more...duh. My doc said that my palate will change post-op -- I'm guessing that's what that was about? Hopefully the palate will start letting veggies in - because I can't say that I've had ANY post-op. My likes are corn and raw carrots - not good choices with the lap band. Someday I'll eat them. Just not today. Amy

I had to wear a diaper for my surgery (or as they called them, "Briefs." LOL But it was a diaper I didn't pee in it during surgery (I was all proud about my dry diaper) and didn't pee until some time after I got home. I've only seen one person on here that had to get a cath. I was really paranoid about that, I soooo didn't want one of those! No thank ya! LOL

Oh my gosh - 4 hours in the same position! You deserve a medal!!! I can't imagine being squashed in a middle seat for that long right after surgery!

Whew....this is truly a test of my willpower. I don't have restriction and ate out for lunch today. Aye. I could have eaten the entire plate (and usually did), but ended up with a palmful of onion strings and 4 small chicken tenders. I wanted to eat everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My tummy isn't grumbling, so I know I'm not hungry, but dang...I just want to open up the fridge and rip open the take out box!! Exhale....I can do this. I am doing this....whew......exhale....I miss the "full" feeling but I know it will come soon. Having to stop mysefl when I'm not full is really hard. I know I'm preachin' to the choir here...

I've been doing the liquid calcium twice a day and now the gummy multivitamins once a day. I just had to buy some because I had quite a few samples of the multis, so I've been taking them since surgery. I have a feeling that I'll be buying iron soon, as well as a possible adjustment in my thyroid med (I'm still very sluggish since surgery). I saw gummy fish oil pills at Trader Joe's last night and I thought they sounded yucky! You're brave!!! Amy