DawnH

That is awesome! Congratulations! I can't wait to get to that point!

The first few days were really hard for me especially cooking for my family and not being able to eat what they were eating. After that I just had to remind myself it was just for a very short time. After I was banded (Sept.12th) it was nice to be able to look forward to progressing towards more food so it felt like the restriction was being lifted, like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Also I think that it got my stomach ready for eating smaller portions because even with my band only primed (with 1 cc in it from the surgery), I still don't get very hungry. Good luck! Like bromo said, keep your eye on the prize

Ain't that the truth. I have to honest with you when I thought about the surgery the first thing that came to my mind was "NO WAY". I quit smoking and I have to quit bad food the only thing I have left is soda. BUT now I am sort of getting annoyed that I am addicted to my soda. I have 2 cans a day but I can't picture not having it. I search for sales and I panic when I run low in the house or when the vending machine at work is sold out. ARRRRRGH I am fed up and thinking its the best thing to do is quit and it is not going to get in the way of me losing weight. Maybe I will switch over to seltzer first then of all the carbonation. I will miss it dearly. As far as coffee I have to risk the indegestion and have my 1 morning cup. Also how soon can you drink after eating? I am a sipper but I do like to sip a little bit while I eat. No drinking 15-30 mins before and after eating. I drink while I eat too pre-op and it is a hard thing I have to constantly remind myself of.

Another diet coke addict here. I was a regular at my local McDonalds for their 42 oz. EVERYDAY I had one. I had to quit cold turkey, I knew I wanted this more than the soda. I did get a 20 oz while I was on my pre-op and I drank about a quarter of it and threw it away. I couldn't believe I did that but it just didn't even taste worth it anymore. You can do it! You just have to make up your mind what you want . It is worth it, my dr said some people let their soda get flat and then drink it. Yuck!

Haha, that's funny because I was looking at it last night trying to think of what I could eat with hummus but I couldn't think of anything but crackers or pita bread..... sure looked good though

I had to stay overnight too and it wasn't that big of a deal. It was really nice knowing there were dr.s and nurses there if I needed something. Honestly I didn't sleep a whole lot anyways because of the gas pains. I had to call the nurse in a couple times to help me get out of bed to walk around the nurses station to get the gases moving. The hospital beds with the rails are a lot easier to get out of than a recliner or bed at home. I notice you have kids too so it will give you a little rest before you go home and they want a lot of your attention. That is just my opinion Good luck!

Yeah, that doesn't leave much, lol. There is no way I will puree meat either. The thought of drinking meat is not appealing at all! My dr told me I could have lunchmeat since it is soft so that is the way I eat meat and the canned chicken too. I don't really care for fish but it is so high in protein I am going to try to like it, lol. I figure maybe I could find some recipes that may be good. We will see. My hubby doesn't really care for fish either but I told him we are going to try. We lived in Maine for 3 years and that was the only time we like fish becuase it was so fresh it wasn't 'fishy' at all. This weekend was opening of lobster season so my hubby went and he caught 13 lobsters. He only brought 2 home and we cooked them but the house stunk so bad I remembered why I don't care for fish. I am going to try though......

I hear ya about not doing this again! Today was 3 weeks post-op for me too! Have fun watching the Yankees

For Breakfast I am liking plain cream of wheat with milk and a little sugar free vanilla caramel coffee creamer in it, lunch I usually eat 2oz lunchmeat and either a yogurt or cottage cheese, and dinner I like chicken salad and mashed sweet potatoes. Today I had for lunch I had a Gorton's grilled tilapia piece and it was only 80 cal, 3 gr fat and 14 gr of protein!!! I was surprised it had that much. Anyways, a few of the things I have been eating lately. Oh yeah, I snack on the mini babybel light cheese's. What are some of your favorites?

Marebeth, thanks for looking into that! It is frustrating but nice to know how much they all have lost (I looked at their site too) and they survived been at a stand still at some point . It seems like I have seen the same 193 lbs smiling at me from the scale for 3 days now but it is better than the 220 that was looking at me when I started, lol. Patience..... I don't know if you are keeping a food log/journal but www.myfitnesspal.com is a huge help! They have a super easy log and an app for the phone too so you can use it on the go Thanks again! Dawn

I can't really complain because I have lost 26 lbs between the pre-op and post-op periods so I am just going to have to be patient I know it'll come though

One of my incisions is right under the band to my bra and my bra still sat above it and didn't irritate it. I have a short torso (I am 5 ft tall so everything is short, lol) and I was fine. My surgery was 3 weeks ago today and that top incision is the one the glue came off of first and it healed great. My port one is down by my belly button so it is just a small one, about a cm under my bra.

Like the above person said they should give you a checklist at your first appt of things that need to have done prior to getting a surgery date. Mine was super long and I just wanted to get them over and done with so I could get the surgery. My first appt was on May 31st and I hustled on getting things checked off and had surgery on Sept 12th, 3 weeks ago today ...... Here is my list, I know it seems long but I feel like I learned a lot about my body and my health. Good luck! sleep study (2 nights) EKG Pap smear Psych eval (3 appts mandatory) Upper GI Support group Lose 10 lbs. Attend 3 Healthy Weight classes Nutritionist Attend 2 bariatric surgery classes and pass the test at the end of classes Blood work Chest X-ray Start a food and exercise journal

I a in the same boat too. I keep losing and gaining the same pound when I weigh. I just transitioned to soft foods last week. I don't have a fill till Oct. 25th and my band only has 1 cc in it from the surgery so I figure when I am eating regular foods and have restriction I will be good. I am not too stressed about it but it is frustrating for sure! It sounds like a lot of us are going through this phase so hopefully a phase is all it is

I think that is totally normal. I was the same way, did really good up until a couple days before my surgery and then felt like I needed to get in all my favorites before. I didn't and stuck to the liquids but totally felt like it was a battle. After the surgery I sort of felt like there was a light at the end of the liquid diet tunnel, lol. You will feel a lot better if you stick to the guidelines but for sure don't beat yourself up for eating those potato chips. Just keep your eye on the prize . My surgeon said it is not going to kill you to indulge every once in a while. Good luck with your banding!

smkeller, I think you might need to find another hobby......

I only had gas pains 3 times that really bothered me and they were the first 24 hours post-op. They dr.s have to deflate your stomach too and maybe some just spend more time deflating it than others. I just walked the 3 times I had it and it worked it out. It wasn't any big deal for me but everyone is different. Good luck!

I started my period the day before my surgery. It was all fine. I was so embarrassed they had to do the catheter but they were all good and gave the standard nurse/dr answer that they see blood all the time. No big deal. Good luck!

There are co-pays with Standard and NOT with Prime.

I am in a different region than you, Tricare West, but when I went to my PCM they gave me a referral and I have no comorbidities but a BMI of 42. They did refer me only to the Naval medical center here in SD because they had openings at their bariatric clinic but she said they do refer out to civilian if there are no openings. I do have a friend that had to get referred out because of no openings at the medical center and she had no out of pocket expenses. All my appts I had to have at civilian drs. such as the sleep study and psych eval were all approved no problem. Good luck!

I had my gallbladder out 3 years ago and I think the getting in and out of bed pain was the same but I think the lap band was easier sooner EXCEPT for the port spot pain. I am still having pain where the port was and I was banded 2.5 weeks ago. Good luck!

I am glad to see you say it took you about 4 weeks to feel normal! I am 2.5 weeks out and I still have pain where my port is! I read about so many people that are walking miles a few days after surgery and it still hurts sometimes going over a speed bump in the car. It is REALLY encouraging to hear you say that about your own healing.

I was banded on Sept 12th. I STILL have pain in my port area. Is anyone else still having pain there? It has been 2 1/2 weeks and I just thought it would feel better by now. I did have my 2 week post op appt and she felt around my belly and said everything was felt good in there. Just frustrating.....

I know it is frustrating with all the tests, classes, labs, etc that you have to go through but really I think it is essential for the surgeon to know exactly what he is working with. I had a checklist of 24 things I had to do, it took months but I felt so much more informed about my health had I just gone in and had it done quickly. I learned in the sleep study that I have mild sleep apnea. The reason I had to do that is my dr. kept me in the recovery room the night I got out of surgery so I could be monitored more careful while still having the anesthesia in my system. Just one example.... I think the testing is important. That's just my opinion Good luck with whatever you choose!

This is a forum for people with the lap-band or are thinking of getting the lap-band to get support and information from people that have the lap-band. You don't..... you have your opinion, go on a VGS forum and talk about it. I don't think anyone here looking for support cares what your opinion is. You don't have any experience with the band so go be negative somewhere else.