2012

Yep, Carolinagirl had it, you can shoot her a message, really nice, or she will probably answer on here soon.

Lol, I felt like a dork listing it out like that after I hit post , so I'm glad someone else thought the same. Thank you for the advice, sad thing is I have Zumba and just don't do it, guess I need to pull out the dvds and get going. I love to dance and used to go clubbing all of the time when I was younger and lost 80lbs doing it. I'm just tired all of the time is the main issue, I work a hell of a lot of hours and need to refocus my priorities. And bring on the recipes! A side effect of lap band is learning to cook again .

I had the same problem, I tried whey isolate and soy protein and they both made me sick (bloating, gas) and was surprised that they both did this to me as I used to be able to do both when I was younger. I found some weight trainer websites and found that both cause people gas a lot of times, so this may your problem. I found that pea protein does not make me sick, but it's a taste to get used to, I tried sugar free syrups, but it didn't help the taste much, so this did not last long. But then I found Zoic at Big Lots and the flavors are good (don't care too much for cookies and cream) and this does not make me sick. It is not whey isolate, but if you wanted to give it a try, you could always run this by your nutritionist, mine okay'd it for me since I had problems with the others.

Oh and her other advice was to have a hot beverage 20 minutes or so before you eat to help out with this, I have not tried this yet, and of course it depends on what instructions you were given. My nut. has a rule of no drinking 20-30 minutes before and after a meal, I've heard some say an hour, so I don't know what they do.

Yes, just on this last time and I asked my Nut. about it when I went in for my third fill. I got stuck twice during the week of that time and didn't know what was going on and if I should even have a 3rd fill. So she told me it's common to get tighter during the time of the month because when you swell/bloat, your stomach it leaving less room in the pouch, made sense to me, so I got a small 3rd fill, and have not gotten stuck since my last TOM. I now know I just need to watch out more closely when this time comes around and watch what I'm eating (like softer foods) so I can avoid getting stuck, it's not fun.

Congrats, isn't it great 54 in about 4 months, woot, woot!!

Milk of Mag worked for me after surgery, I gave it 5 days after surgery before I took this step as, like you, I was pretty regular before the surgery, even being on a liquid diet and I feel like crap (no pun intended, lol) if I don't go.

Same here, my stomach grumbles when I'm not hungry and it's really loud, lol.

I was self paid and the thing that helped me make the decision is that I hope this surgery will help me keep it off. I just turned 35 not too long ago and I want this to be the last time. I've lost weight over and over, and it just keeps coming back and more comes back each time. Another thing to take into consideration is maybe try calling your tax adviser because if your medical expenses go over a certain percentage of your income, you get more back on your taxes and my point is that the cost may actually be cheaper than the total you are looking at paying.

Name: Amy Location: Kentucky (Northern, close to Cincinnati) Problem areas: Veggies, Fruits, motivation to Exercise, anything you can teach me is helpful Status: Single, no kids Age: 35

Just a thought Steve, but don't you think it would be easier to mentor on this thread versus PM? I'm sure all of us have similar questions or could learn something new from each other. Like I said, just a thought, but very grateful for your offer to help. You lead the way......

Banditchic, I would definitely check around, the $13,000 (Cincinnati, OH) I paid includes fills and nutritionist visits for the first 2 years.

Yes definitely, I think you are funny and straight up, so that would be great if you have any wisdom you can share! I think the eating part is okay for me, just need to work on the veggies and fruits more as sticking to under 60 carbs a day puts those a little out of reach since they are pretty high except for a few exceptions (love asparagus and raw spinach). And if you have any tricks to get my lazy a** off this couch, that would be nice, lol.

What do you mean? Are you sad or angry all of the time? What is going on?

Raw mushrooms don't go down too well. I have not tried any regular bread, but I do use Flat outs for sandwiches and it goes down fine as long as I take small bites and chew well.

It was about 5 days for me, but walking definitely helps, you have to work the gas out of your body that they pumped in you during surgery. Some say heating pad works too.

I love to snuggle up in my heated bed (mattress heating cover) and the beautiful fall colors, ton of trees around me in Kentucky

Great post and congrats on your upcoming surgery! The 3rd point really hits home, I can't wait until that day. They always put the plus sizes back in the corner and seem like they are hidden when you go to a new store and I hate asking for where this section is located.

Like Patty said above, please try to walk as much as you can, I did not start feeling better until I got up. Even right after I woke up after surgery, I felt really bad, but as soon as I walked around I felt a hundred times better. Although, like Banjo said, I took Gas-X strips the following week after surgery, so not sure if that helped too or not. The strips dissolve on your tongue.

I don't know what Francaise even is, but if you can get something that has sauce, that would be safer. Just like mentioned above, you might get stuck, but sauce seems to help. I always eat chicken with sauce (found some awesome SF BBQ sauce) and only got stuck the one time I ate chicken without sauce, lesson learned.

Hi, if you consider 35 young, I'm on here pretty often . I know when I was your age, I did not consider my age young, lol, but now that I'm here, I don't feel any different than I did at your age. And you're right, I do keep it a secret and have only told my mom, dad, (not my brother), and 2 ladies (older ladies) at work that would be understanding, supportive, and not tell anyone. Let me know if I can help, congrats on your surgery, I had my 07/09/12.

Hi Cooper, I don't have an explanation for the no gummy vitamins, I just have a list that said to avoid Centrum, One A Day, Flinstone, generic store brands and no gummy vitamins. Although, I did find this online, which may help: http://foodladyrd.com/multivitamin-supplements-for-bariatric-patients/. I would think the concern for sugar content may play a role in this advice as well.

I'm a little biased as this was my surgeon, but Dr. Trace Curry has an office in Columbus and Cincinnati. I don't know Ohio that well, but I think Akron is not too far away. I'm in Northern Kentucky, so I went through the Cincinnati office.

People that criticize others for stupid crap like spelling and grammar on a forum like this just need to get a life, period. A lot of these people use their phone and you know all of the messed up messages that come across because your "smart" phone used its own word.

I'm looking for a quality vitamin too (nut. says stay away from centrum, one a day, and several others) and so far I've not had much luck, she did say Nature's Way was good, so I tried the liquid version (pills are huge) and it is pretty gross, so I advise staying away . And for some reason you are supposed to stay away from gummy (per nut.) so I can't even try the Alive gummy version. So I hope some people can chime in with some good vitamins.