lifeisjustbeginning2011

there's a whole board for sleevetalk, just like lapband...I found some good info there. just got to the bottom of this page under affiliates. good luck with your decision!

lots of recipe ideas here - categories for liquids, mushies & beyond http://www.lapbandtalk.com/forum/74-cooking-baking-and-recipes/

My instructions said sugar free (I bought fat free before I noticed). I'm not a huge pudding fan in general, so I doubt I'll buy anymore, but I'll probably go sugar free next time. I hear it is preferred over the fat free. How ya feeling? Happy 1 week bandiversary today!

Ok, my powdered peanut butter and fat free chocolate pudding was FLIPPING FANTASTIC!!! I put the company's information on my blog, I swear I'm not employed by them. LOL. Link below.

Days 2 and 3 were rough for me. Constantly burping....but now I just burp when I stand up after I've been sitting for more than 10 minutes. I think gas in general stays around for a few weeks, but the really ridiculous stuff, well, only those first few days. For me, anyway. Amy

For those interested, I put the powdered peanut butter info on my blog. I'll also cross post in the July 2011 post op group. Amy

I love my Italian food, too! I looked around in the recipe area here are found some ideas of what people do. I saw one person that made lasagna minus the noodles. They prepared it the same way, layered and all, then baked. I also saw pizza ingredients placed on top of a baked chicken breast that was pounded out a whole lot so it was like crust. It will be a long road for me - I'm not used to cooking at all. I guess creativity is key! I'm praying that I can still tolerate my macaroni and cheese post-op. <crossing fingers> Amy

That's a loaded question! LOL Everyone is so different....I was off of pain meds after day 3, but there is still discomfort. More than anything, I'm just so tired. I guess it all depends on what your job is and your tolerance of discomfort. Amy

well, that willpower didn't last long. I just tried 2 teaspoons of fat free chocolate pudding with 1/2 teaspoon of powdered peanut butter. I ate very slowly...hopefully it won't talk back. The powdered stuff has so little fat that I decided I would try it. so far, so good!

Eeeeek!! Shots after surgery?? YIPES! I got a shot of Heparin in my belly right before surgery, but that was it.

I've searched a lot of the threads here and it looks like PB is just a "use caution" food. Maybe something that should be tried once on regular food (maybe too soon to try it since i'm not starting mushies till tomorrow. Personally, I'm not trying it again for a while. The jar went into the "give away to friends" bag since I have the powdered stuff now. I love me some goooood PB, so I'm still hopeful that I'll try it again in a few weeks once the belly settles down more. My NUT said to use caution with it, just like any sticky liquid like honey, syrup or thick glazes. Everything with the Lap Band seems to be so individual. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm only six days postop! And now, back to my Jello. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I never used ice, but heat is wonderful. Just make sure not to leave it on for too long...10 minutes on, 10 minutes off is what I was told. Feels sooooo good.

I saw the "avoid peanut butter" thing but I thought it was due to being a sticky food and might plug the band, I didn't think of it being such a filling food. I was just trying to get in some protein. The high fat content is what does it I guess. I'll have to change to my powdered peanut butter - much healthier! Painful lesson.

Hang in there! Sorry to hear that but I'm glad you're calling the doc!

Ok....I figured out what happened yesterday. PEANUT BUTTER. It was too rich. I read on a message board that it can cause chest pains. I'm glad that my powdered peanut butter arrived yesterday, it only has 1.5g of fat in 2T and it tastes the same. Ok, so -- as much as I really want to dive in and try every food, I'm going to limit myself to one new food a day. Otherwise, I don't know which ones make me uncomfortable. Man, some of these lessons are painful! Tomorrow starts mushies....today I'm back to applesauce. No pain this morning, just a bit of discomfort.

Here is how I approached the subject. I'm out of work for the summer (teacher), so the work thing wasn't an issue for me. I told only two family members and two friends. I basically told them that my decision was made, and the subject was not up for discussion at any time unless I bring it up. Everyone thinks they know what to say, how to be helpful, etc. At times I really wish that I could talk to people about my surgery (hasn't quite been a week yet), but I get most of my support right here on this board. You guys know what it is like, the daily struggles, etc. That's my two pennies.

Aye!! Setback. I've been totally off pain meds for ~ 3 days and had to take Lortab tonight. I noticed that the port side was painful after noonish time today. It wasn't anything I ate....just a strange gurgling feeling. Gas X didn't do anything but my heat pack helped. Tonight I went to the store to buy a Magic Bullet and my stomach started cramping horribly. What the heck?! I came home, chugged the Lortab, popped a gas pill, and life is good again. But wow.....that was some intense pain. Anyone else have this 'sneak up' thing? I've gotten used to feeling pressure and being uncomfortable, but dang. This was pain. Just venting!

Does a heating pad give you any relief? I'm still using mine quite a bit for incision discomfort (painly the port site). Sorry to hear about the shoulder pain

I cheated. I'm not supposed to have mushies until Friday. Today I ate a half slice of cheese. Very carefully....slowly....and it was a super thin piece...but dang. WILL POWER, AMY!! WILLPOWER!!!! I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, but the guilt is haunting me. And how there's still half of a slice left...sitting all lonely in the fridge... I can make it till Friday......

awesome news!!

Just wait till you POOP! You'll want an award! LOL

Welcome aboard!! I'm surviving until Friday on applesauce and Peanut Butter. I'm pretty sure no one has died from lack of nutrition from that. My stomach has been rumbling ALL DAY today, but I don't feel hungry. I'm eating very little but trying to focus on Fluid intake. Today I had a tiny amount of parmesan cheese (like 1/2 teaspoon, just for taste) and a teaspoon of BBQ sauce after that. It made my mouth happy. My burping finally calmed down yesterday. Sunday was horrible - all I had to do was move an inch and I burped 873 times. Now I just burp when I stand up or change positions, and only two or three times. I'm a chocolate and peanut butter combo lover, too!! If you haven't tried it yet, bellplantation.com has powdered peanut butter that is SOOO good. There's a plain peanut butter and a chocolate and peanut butter combo. I paid $4 for two samples to be mailed to me to try them, then ordered online. Including shipping, my total was $25 for four jars. SOOOO worth it. I should probably put the info on my blog since I keep talking about it. Again, welcome! We're small right now because we're the other half of the group in the pre-op seciton. Once we have our surgeries, we come over here. Although we do visit the pre-op board to provide support to those with upcoming surgeries! Amy

Oh YUM! Aside from the fruit juices and applesauce, no protein intake...but I tried peanut butter (a teasspoon) yesterday and no issues. I'll survive on that until mushies on Friday. Not the healthiest thing, but hey, its protein for now. I think that later on, peanut butter probably isn't a good idea because of the stickiness, but with no restriction now, seems fine. Whew. A change of taste!! Sure beats licking BBQ sauce off my finger like yesterday. LOL

Yep, my incisions are itchy (well, the steri-strips anyway. I don't think there's a thing in the world we can do about it though ( The gas is getting better each day...and yes, just like a broken record, walking and heat do help. I'm finding that Gas-X chewables don't really make a difference anymore. I'm wondering if it is more of the hernia repair issue than gas? Just don't know. All I know is that the more I sit, the more intense it gets.

You can do it!!!! I'll be thinking of you tomorrow (and the group of bandsters). It isn't an easy road, but we were all brought together for a reason. We'll be healthier and happier!!! See you on the post-op side! Amy