katyana

I'm checking in!! Not going as fast as I hoped it would, but every pound gone is a good thing. Happily, I feel like I am comfortable with my 4x/wk exercise routine, so it will only get better. Name, real or screen~ Carrie Age~ 34 Weight on October 1st ~ 288 Weight on October 8th ~ 286 Weight on October 15th ~ 284 Goal Weight for October 29th~ 270 Exercise Goal for October~ 4 x per week Dietary Goal for October~ fewer carbs Personal Goal for October~ stop caving to the late-night munchies Date Banded~ 9/1/11 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 13 since banding, 38 since start of liquid diet

I'd like to second what Corrigan said. Carol, it sounds like you want desperately to be healthy, but your head keeps getting in your own way. What you need is to work with someone that can help you learn to work with your brain - you and your head need to get on the same page, so you can take control of your body. Think of it is the second and most important step to getting a lapband. Step 1 - band the body, so that you have this amazing tool to help you become healthier. Step 2 - band the brain, so that you can work with this amazing tool properly. You were committed enough to do the surgery. Now follow through and get the help you need to "band your brain", so you can make the lapband work for you. I wish you all the best on your journey... !!

Checking in at 286.8, which is only a loss of 1.2 lbs. I have done well with my goals this week, but I guess I am stalling a little bit.

Ugh, I am so with you. I was banded on 9/1. My regular cycle had literally just ended 2 days before surgery (which was relieving). I started up again on 9/6, and it was **really** heavy for a week, and spotted for another week. Finally that stopped, and then yesterday, started again. Arrrrrrrgggggggghhhh!! I talked to my doctor, and he said that is all normal (hormones are stored in fat, and as fat breaks down, they are released back into your system and mess your cycle up), and that things will normalize in a couple months.

I'm in. My first challenge, hooray!! Name, real or screen~ Carrie Age~ 34 Weight on October 1st~ 288 Goal Weight for October 29th~ 270 Exercise Goal for October~ 4 x per week Dietary Goal for October~ fewer carbs Personal Goal for October~ stop caving to the late-night munchies Date Banded~ 9/1/11 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 13 since banding, 38 since start of liquid diet

Hello all! So today was my first post-OP appointment, and I got my first fill... hooray! Feeling the difference is funny - I can see why I am supposed to do liquids only for the rest of the day, because I definitely have to get used to it. I can feel restriction - if I take two sips of what I am drinking too close together, I can *feel* that my second sip is just barely getting down there. The first time it happened, I was like ... and then I was excited, because I finally knew what the restriction feeling was supposed to be like. I'm going to be all kinds of nervous when I go back to mushies tomorrow. *laugh*

I know, and you're right. It isn't hurting, so I am trying to not obsess over it. I see my doctor for my first fill next Thursday, and I can ask him about it then. My only real fear is he'll be like "Wow, that's not right, we'll have to go back into surgery." Noooooo, I am through the hell, and I am feeling really great!

I'm looking forward to starting mushies tomorrow... 4 weeks of liquids has gotten pretty boring. For those of you also at the 2-week-ish mark, I have a question: how prominent is your port? My bruising is gone, and my incisions look great - no redness or puffiness. But when I am laying in bed on my back, my port is pretty dang prominent - it makes a little hill on my belly, maybe raising the skin up an inch or so. And if I roll onto my right side, it is even more prominent, it makes a... not sure how to describe it. Coming from the top, it goes out and then dips WAY in on the other side of the port. I am just checking to see if that's relatively normal, or if I should talk to my doctor. My concern is, if it is that prominent this early, once I lose weight ... it seems like it will really be an issue.

I took 3 days off, and that plus the weekend was more than fine for me. I also do a lot of sitting at work, so it was important to get up and walk around every hour and a half or so - just for 10 minutes was enough to keep me from feeling bloated. It was easy to just do some minor things to "excuse" the walk (not that anyone in my office cared, but I would have felt self-concious doing nothing while up and around) - I'd go to the kitchen, refill my Water bottle, bring it back to my desk, then walk to the bathroom... that sort of thing. But I can't emphasize it enough: walking is the key. Every time I started to feel bloated or crappy, I got up, and was fine in 5 minutes. It was something I had to keep reminding myself, because it is contrary to my instincts - when I feel crappy, I want to curl up on the couch with a blanket. But dragging myself to my feet, even just standing and taking my first couple steps, I could feel the difference. Good luck to you!!

Yeah, haha. That is definitely not me.

Ah ha! My username is actually "rhapsaria", because this one was taken (I swear, it took me 15 tries to find something open). I just did that, though, and sent you a friend invite.

I'd love to join you guys. I use My Fitness Pal, as well - I just started with it last week. How do you add friends?

I was itching a couple days ago too. I seem to have passed that phase, and now have odd stabs of pain. To be honest, it is starting to freak me out a little bit. For the most part, I haven't had any pain at my incisions since my surgery on 9/1, but then today, I keep getting odd pinching pains at my port area. Sometimes it is when I am moving, but it was also happening when I was literally just sitting at my desk reading an email. Is that just a part of healing?

Mmmm, regardless, the GasX strips have definitely helped me. Mostly, I was taking them when I could either feel a burp that felt "stuck", or there was some intestinal gurgling going on but nothing coming out.

My doctor required a psyche eval as well. What they said was that they want to confirm that we are more or less stable and healthy, mentally, so that we are equipped to make such a major life change.

It is craaaaaazy to me how thirsty I am. I mean, I am consuming between 48-64 oz of straight Water every day, plus 1 mug of coffee, at least 1 110z can of Protein, and several glasses of juice cut with water. This is probably more liquid than I have ever consumed in my life, and I am still thirsty all the dang time. So weird!

I whole-heartedly agree... that fruit punch isopure is horrible. The lemonade one was equally horrible. Happily, I only had to do clear Protein drinks like that for the last 48 hours prior to surgery, so I stuck with the better-tasting milky ones for most of the pre-OP diet. I like the World-Wide Pure Protein (chocolate), and I used the Isopure creamy vanilla powder to blend up with juice and yogurt to make shakes.

I have been trying to keep it to things like ... a protein shake or a glass of juice between meals. I'm not a big snacker either, but I have been snacking in the last couple days because the painful heartburn + nausea is just terrifying.

Whew! I feel better knowing that it is not abnormal, and the baby analogy makes a lot of sense. It was just shocking to me. Especially because I had thought that I would be able to go more than 2-3 hours between meals. Maybe that will be better as I am healing... right now, 4-6oz has me filled up, and I guess it doesn't last very long. Thanks!!

Hello all, I got banded last Thursday (9/1), and in the last day or so, I have been starting to feel hunger pains. I know that's not abnormal in and of itself, but they are *really* weird hunger pains. Basically, I start to feel a little hungry - generally 2-3 hours after I last ate - and if I don't eat something in the next 20-30 min after that starts, it progresses really rapidly to extreme hunger that is verging on nausea... that then becomes heartburning and crampy. A couple bites of Soup or yogurt... maybe an ounce or 2 (still on the liquid diet) quiets it up really quickly, but the extremity of my reaction is concerning me. That was never how I was before banding... I was the person who would go all day without eating and then binge eat like crazy after work. Now on the one hand, that's a habit I have been working hard to change, but... feeling physically sick every time I start getting hungry is a bit extreme. Is that normal? Should I be concerned?

Yes, the 326 marker that I am using as my "start" was my weight the morning I started my liquid diet 2 weeks pre-OP. I am currently 301.

Oooh, you get mushies Thursday? I am jealous - my doctor's program calls for 2 weeks of liquids post-OP. I don't mind it so much, and I am filling up just fine, but I am looking forward to more variety. I think I am going to make a big pot of split pea soup today, and then freeze a bunch of single servings in my little tupperware bowls. I love split pea soup... mmmmm. That should help get me through the next 10 days.

Yeah, in the last pre-OP workshop with my doctor, one of the things they said is that women's hormones get all kinds of screwed up from the surgery and weight loss. They said that hormones are stored in our fat, so as that breaks down, we get "extra doses"... and for those of us for whom pregnancy is possible, they said to be extra careful, because all those hormones result in us being extra fertile. They said they have had a not-insignificant number of patients end up pregnant in the first month or 2 post-OP, which is a big no-no.

I was having quite a bit of heartburn, which the nurse at the hospital told me was normal - it is gas pressure on my diaphragm, she said. So that was hurting as I drank. What really worked for me was getting up and moving. My surgery was Thursday, and beginning Friday, I started a routine of "walkies" (is what mom and I are calling them). Every hour / hour and a half, I get up and walk around for 15-20 min. I am not walking fast, because I am a little stiff and sore, so it isn't like I am clocking miles or anything (and my pedometer died, so I can't even give you a step count, really) - I am just plodding around and around the garden in my apartment complex. But I can't tell you what a difference it has made. It largely eliminated the gas pain and heartburn, and has given me a little bit of an appetite. I feel pretty good, and I am doing really good with the liquids - yesterday was a really good day for me, with 48 ounce of plain Water consumed, plus I hit my 50g of Protein ... only about 600 calories, but I figure that this early, that's okay. I have been drinking a V-8 each day, and I think the Vitamins are really helpful. Anyway, just wanted to share what is working for me. I hope you guys start feeling better soon.

Hi all! My surgery was this morning, and it went so great! Mom and I were discharged from the hospital around 5pm (surgery was at 10:30a --> was pushed back from 8:30a). I was walking around and around the nurses' station, and I am not kidding, it made me feel SO much better. Get up and out of bed as soon as the nurse lets you, because it helps with the gas pain more than you will believe. I honestly have nothing bad to say about my day. The nursing staff at Providence St. Joseph's were incredibly helpful, friendly and supportive. I was a little nauseous in the recovery room, and they gave me something as soon as I mentioned it... and I haven't had even a hint of nausea since I started sipping water and walking. I hope you all have such great experiences! Good luck everyone, and let us know how it goes!!