feliciadawn

Ok, so after 7 days of clear liquids, I am now on a full liquid diet for two more weeks. Had some protein shakes and a cream soup today for the first time and they may have been the best thing I ever tasted, and I think the protein did me good since I really haven't had much to speak of for a week! BUT, I am now able to drink twice as much soup as I could before, and I drank my entire protein shakes then looked around for more. I am hungry and now that i'm on the protein, i'm worried the weight loss might stop..also, I'm worried that when I get to solid foods, I will be able to eat everything and won't lose weight. It feels like I could eat an entire dump truck right now. Can you guys tell me what it's like to feel full when you first start on solids?

I was not judging anyone for getting fills or not getting fills.. For me, I would prefer not to have a needle stuck in me and then to have food be even harder to get down. I was simply saying that I would have loved for the band, unfilled, to be enough for me to lose the weight. I realize that the port is there for a reason and that's what the band is for...to be able to adjust it.. still, you gotta admit that losing a bunch without getting a fill would be nice.

Well, I definitely wouldn't call it "hell" at all! LOL! I am feeling great and even better now that I can have Protein. Just gotta find some low calorie protein shakes and watch the cream Soups, I guess. Can't wait to eat solid food. I was hoping I would be one of those who lost a hundred pounds without ever having a fill. I can still hope but...probably not, eh?

Hot apple cider is great too. I like the powdered kind with some added cinnamon and cloves. It's especially good this time of year!

Used mine at Sweet Tomatoes last night and got to eat for the children's price (4.95). The girl who took our money was very nice and curious about the band and how it's working. It was so nice! All I had was soup since i'm on the liquids stage, so I'm greatful for the discount! I think i'll be saving a TON of money on food!

coffee is one of the things I am allowed on my clear liquid diet. Non dairy creamer, you can use powdered, or the coffee mate flavored yumminess in the milk section of the grocery store. My favorite is the amarretto. Just check the ingredients and make sure there is no milk or cream. I know they are full of sugar (er..corn syrup) and hydrogenated oils, but one or two tablespoons a day won't hurt you, and it feels like you actually get something yummy. I also bought some gingerbread flavored and starbucks coffee beans! YUM! Also, I keep reading about how coffee is really good for you, prevents cancer, etc.. One or two cups won't dehydrate you. It seems to actually help with my swelling a little, and gives me energy. Go for it! You'll feel like you got some dessert! LOL!

Hang in there! I still have most of those feelings I described when I posted this, but not nearly as bad. Went out to dinner (for some delicious Soup broth! MMMM!) last night, then walked around Target for about an hour and a half, and felt like I could go somewhere and do some more shopping! A few days ago, that little bit of activity would have tired me out. Today I get to try some drinkable yogurt. Last night I cheated a tiny bit (since today I can have milk anyway) and had a few bites of a cream based soup (watered down with broth) but the milk stayed down really well. I am a tiny bit lactose intolerant, so i'm going to start with soy yogurt today. One really weird thing, although I'm not really in pain anymore, just sore like I did a bunch of sit-ups, and still a little gassy... I think I can feel either my port or the tubing move. If I bend over to far to the left to pick something up or whatever, I can feel it. It feels like it's sort of bumping against my ribs. My doc said it's normal and I might feel it until the scar tissue builds up, but it's very unpleasant, and just WEIRD.

Thank you so much guys! This helps a lot. I was having an emotional basket case moment / panic attack last night...wondering what the H I had done to myself.

I was just banded on Friday in Mexico. Great experience altogether, besides the 7 hour drive back home to Vegas...it was a nightmare. Anyway, before I left, I made beef stew as a healthy food for my pre-op diet. I stuck a few zip-llock plastic containers of it in the freezer. Took it out, warmed it, and strained the broth out. DELICIOUS. It had potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, garlic, rosemary, and a bunch of other herbs, a packet of stew beef from the meat secton. One packet of "beef stew" powder packet in the cooking section of grocery store, and beef broth. The powder packet thickened it up. It's really good and satisfying. Gonna try it with chicken soup next.

my sister and I were banded today by Dr Ortiz in Tijuana (the most amazing doctor in the world, and probably the hottest) 7am, met the driver in the lobby of the very nice Marriott hotel pre op tests, very easy laid in the room for a while, very nice, flat screen tv w/ new age music playing, a fountain on the side stand next to the bed. Very calming and NICE they put some stuff in my IV and a pill under my tongue, got a little stoned walked into surgery room, said hi to the doctors, laid on the table. The anesthesiologist introduced himself, they strapped my arms, then I remember nothing until I woke up, Dr Ortiz was unstrapping me, there was nice music playing and I said "I love you," he said "I love you too" then next thing I remember they rolled me off the "blow up bed" back onto the regular bed, then rolled me back to the room. Laid there for a while feeling whoozy and fabulous. My sister's surgery was before mine, so she was up and around. Chatted a bit, relaxed a little more, went pee like 3 times, put my clothes on and went back out to the lobby. They fixed a hernia for me and I feel like I can take deep normal breaths for the first time in about 10 years. There is pain at the incisions and I think right where the band is - not bad at all. Took some pain meds and it's almost not even there if I lay still. The gas was getting me but took some chewable gas pills and feeling better. Sore and tired, but I walked around the hotel room a lot and it helped, laying down now. Hurts to sit up and down, but not unmanageable. Here's to a new, healthy, life! I love everyone! I'm stoned...can you tell?

My surgery is this Friday (2 days..EEK!) and i've been on two protein shakes and one meal a day, and that meal has been soup this week and lean cuisines last week. Needless to say, I am HUNGRY. I did cheat on the weekend, and after a week of eating nothing but liquid (mostly) what I ate made me pretty sick. Good luck on your surgery! Soon we'll be banded wonders!

You should ask your primary doc for some anxiety meds, just to get you through until after surgery. Maybe even try something calming over the counter (of course, make sure it is okay to take it before surgery.) I considered doing this myself, but now my surgery is 2 days away so it's too late! I will drink a lot of chamomile tea and think calming thoughts. Ugh.

Hi! Mine and my sister's surgery is scheduled for Friday too! I am also very nervous, never had surgery before for ANYTHING, not even a tooth, so I have no idea how i'll react to the anesthesia. Praying and hoping for an easy, smooth, quick surgery with no unexpected issues. Good luck to you, too!

You are probably out and in recovery by now! It's about 7:40am Tues. Let us know how you are doing! Mine is Friday.

Good luck! Mine is Friday. Nervous nervous! I won't REALLY be excited until i'm done with the surgery and back to myself again

Not looking forward to this. Anybody using neosporin to help the incisions heal faster? My surgery is at the end of this month. EEK! I will keep the benadryl in mind.

I don't know about you guys, but I have been fat most of my life, apart from a short stint a few years ago, and apart from my childhood (when I was always a "big" girl, but not necessarily fat) and I have come to the conclusion, after years and years of feeling like I don't fit in, being embarassed that I don't look like the "skinny girls", not being invited to things, or just not going because I felt ugly and fat., that obesity really is the last accepted form of prejudice in our society. It is seen as the fault of the obese person. If you are obese, you are gross and you eat too much and you should excersize more and lose that weight! You are obese and you deserve to be treated differently because of it! It is so, so horrible and wrong. anyone else feel this way or had any experiences with this?

I would also like to know if anyone else feels this bad. I am pre-surgery and would like to know what to expect.

I am almost glad that I will get to be on both sides after I lose this weight. It makes me mad at the people in my life. I know it's natural to be more drawn to people who "look healthy" no matter what their sex,; women are drawn to make friends with other women who look good, men are more attracted to women who look "healthy" (and who are smaller than them, thereby giving them more of a "manly" feeling since they are all insecure and most wouldn't accept a woman who is larger than they are) it's really, really gross and horrible. I am single, I have had a few relationships, and my weight has been a factor, whether in my own mind or their's, in every single one of my relationships. I have forgone dating now until I lose the weight because I cannot fathom, on top of all the other things to worry about and deal with when you are dating, fitting into a restaurant booth or a movie theater seat, not to mention the physical part of it when things get more serious. It's hard not to be angry at the world for the fact that everything is made for a certain size, and if you are over that size, it's just too bad for you - you get to feel like you are less worthy, less beautiful, and less of a person because you are not the average size of the rest of the population. I am hoping with all my heart that the band will help me to lose the weight, feel better about myself, and enable me to start living again. But, I wish it didn't have to be that way. I wish we were all accepted as we are. No matter how much I deny it, although one of the biggest reasons I am getting the band is for my own health, an even bigger reason is that I want to look good, feel good, and be accepted and liked by others.

I haven't been banded yet, scheduled for the end of October in Mexico with Dr Ortiz. I do know,however, that the band is an object. It is supposed to be built to last a long time, but like any other false implant such as hips, knees, etc; it is going to need to be replaced or revamped someday. I know this going in, and for me, it is still less risk than getting a part of my stomach cut out or re-routed. I'm sorry but anytime a bodily organ has to be removed or cut, it is much higher risk than just putting something in. I may feel differently a year or two after my surgery, but for now, this is best for me. My cousin has had her band in for 7 years or so. She had to have her port replaced a month or two ago, a very minor surgery - I have also read that people have had to have the tube replaced due to leaks or that the tube is now too long because they lost so much weight that it now needs to be re-lengthened. Stil, I am choosing the band because it is adjustable, completely reversable, and according to statistics, the lowest risk of all weight loss surgeries.

Glad i'm not alone on this. Maybe the band will actually HELP it! One of the doctors i've seen said it sounded like a form of reflux, and that the band would make it go way. Let's hope!

Hey ya'll. I am scheduled for band surgery next month and for an endoscopy in a couple of weeks to check on this problem, but I was wondering if anyone has trouble getting food down without the band. I have always had this problem. When I eat steak, rice, bread, sometimes even chicken or just anything sticky/hard to chew. Sometimes it will get "stuck" in my esophagus and I will have to either wait until it goes down, or if it won't go down, I have to burp it back up. I am scared because I know this is a problem with the band, but since I already have the problem, I'm worried I won't be able to eat anything at all after surgery! I scheduled an endoscopy to see what's up, but I have a feeling it's just the way I'm built since I've always had this problem. Maybe I have an overly narrow esophagus? I also wonder if I might have a hernia which could be causing this. anyway, if anyone else has this issue, please please please share!

I am not banded yet, and haven't tried this, but I have also heard that papaya enzyme (you can get them in tablet form) helps with stuck episodes.

Wow. I have also broken a toilet seat. So embarassing. Rides have always been a problem for me. I remember when I was about 17 or 18 trying to ride at a fair (can't remember which ride) the safety closure wouldn't close, so had to get off. SO horrible. I did recently go to Disneyworld at my current weight (325) as well as Universal Studios in FL and had no problems at all! Disney is amazing - they really are built to accept everyone and anyone of any size. Universal COULD have been a problem, but I avoided the rides that looked too snug, The airplane ride to Florida, on the other hand, was uncomfortable as hell. If I hadn't had my skinny nephew to sit next to, I probably would have had to purchase another seat, and I DID have to use the seat belt extender. Another embarassment. I have been big and have been having these embarrasing problems all of my adult life except for a very short stint of an 80 lb loss about 7 years ago..needless to say I gained it all back, and now at 31, I have decided to get the band. 1 month till band land!

This is so awesome I have tears in my eyes! I am scheduled to be banded next month, and i've been worrying off and on, reading the dumb horror stories just like you said...but the benefits certainly outweigh the risks, and this post has pushed me even further into excitement and impatience to begin this journey. I can't WAIT.