lifeisjustbeginning2011

Hot dogs are on my "be extremely cautious" list. It says to take of the outside and go for the inside only, but it should be the low fat kind. In general they're really salty, which will probably bite ya in the butt later when you crave something sweet to balance it out. At least that's what it would do to me. Don't see anything wrong with just a bite or two, though. Amy

I was self pay, and expected more than what my first surgeon was offering. He's well known in the area as being a top doctor. Heck, he TRAINS new docs on Lap Band. The final straw was when, a week before surgery, I went to pay. There was 1,000 added onto the fee (all inclusive total of 13,500) because I have sleep apnea and might have to stay overnight. Umm..no. I literally had just paid 5,000 in cash and 7500 on my credit card. I said no way, refund it all right now. I was PISSED. They refunded everything (minus the 100 initial consult fee) and I moved on. I found another center that offers even more services (a whole year of nutrition and doc visits for no charge) and it was only 12,500. I'm glad I did. You have go on your level of trust. If you doubt it, look elsewhere. Amy

you shouldn't have to deal with pain. call the doc's on call # and tell them you need liquid pain reliever. Calling in a script should be no problem. That's why they earn good money. Don't feel back about calling. You can also take liquid adult Tylenol.

Aye. I PB'd and gagged up 2 chicken nuggets tonight. It was so scary. I ate too fast. Man, it happened quickly. Not even five minutes after I finished the second one, the dry heaving started, but really the whole thing was over in like 2 minutes. It was like choking. Not cool. I did drink some warm water, but man. Eeeeeek. I can't imagine if that would have happened in public.

I sure hope it's fine...because as soon as my fat ass isn't fat anymore, that's one of the first things I'm going to do!!! Amy

I'm still about the same, thanks for asking. I met with the surgeon yesterday and he just said to keep taking the medicine and I can have my fill next Wednesday (once finished with meds). I also got my lab results back from the primary care doc and things look surprisingly good. I posted what Vitamins she tested on my blog if you're interested. In another month or so, she'll do more labs to check the cholesterol, sugars & thyroid, just to make sure things are on the up and up. She basically said she'll test whatever I want her to - my main concern is losing weight in a healthy way, and not putting my body through hell in the process. Amy

Myfitnesspal.com many people on here use this site. You can make your food dairy public so that others can view it and join you as a friend. I like it a lot. It syncs to smartphones (I have an iPhone), so goes with me everywhere. You can print progress reports and your daily food choices to take to your nutritionist or doc. I'm a month post-op, and just beginning to really enjoy this. I log everything - even when I have a not-so-good day. Take a look. You're welcomed to send me a friend request if you'd like. My ID is listed under the ticker below. Amy

Of all places, I found these at TJ Maxx today. However, after doing an internet search, they're available at a lot of sites. Mine are raspberry, orange & strawberry. They are similar to Viactiv. I was looking for the fruit flavors, I'm not much of a chocolate person. If you can find these, go for it. I paid $7.99 for 75. I'll include a link for them on Amazon. They do qualify for the free shipping if you buy 25 of stuff. I'll have two of these in the morning and my liquid for dinner. I take thyroid medicine, so I have to wait 1-2 hours after I take that...so these will go in my purse! http://www.amazon.com/Nutrition-Now-Calcium-Fruit-chews/dp/B00014EDCQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312340559&sr=8-1

Not sure about the ads, I've been seeing a lot of people talking about them, so I know it isn't just you. Gotta love random ads. LOL Amy

Surgery was at 12 pm (surgery center), home by 5pm (includes a 30 minute drive). No walking after the surgery, except to the bathroom to put on my clothes. As soon as I was alert, I was outta there. They said "you heal better at home." Find out where your surgery will be and learn about their policies before you go

HOLY COW!!!!! You're a human dartboard!! Glad you're ok! Amy

Update: Staph infection confirmed. Now on two types of antibiotics and my first fill (scheduled for tomorrow) is cancelled. Amy

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

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