myfoursons

This thread is growing by the second.

Don't we wish we had all the answers. It seems that some on this board would like to pretend that they do. The fact is that we don't, no one does. That is why I just try to be kind to people and feel like I am doing what makes me feel good inside. Some may pretend they have all the answers, because it gives them a sense of security in their actions. I find that the people who state they are religious tend to use religion to make excuses to show hatred towards others. In my mind, I can't say if anyone is right or wrong when it comes to their beliefs and I would never try. Thanks for your great contributions to the threads Tired. K, let me think of one more: "If my calcualtions are correct, when this baby hits 88mph, you are gonna see some serious sh*t!"

My doc doesn't recommend eating lettuce or raw veggies until 6 months post-op. I have only had one fill and have had some, but not a lot, of restriction. Honestly, I do feel full faster and longer. It takes forever for me to really get hungry. The feeling of hunger isn't near as overwhelming as it used to be. It is subtle, and I can easily overlook it if it is too soon for me to eat. Hunger used to be almost painful and mind consuming to me before. As far as Protein drinks, I wouldn't see a problem with drinking ones mixed with milk. It is adding extra calories though. I would just do whatever your doctor recommends.

This one is easy, but it is cute: I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way.

I am liberal, I know that. I am heterosexual, but love homosexuals. Not sure what that means, besides I am non-judgemental. Not quite atheist, I think I believe in God. I asked him some advice on whether to be a believer or not, and I am still waiting for him to get back with me on that one. Maybe he lost my number in his PDA.

I don't know if this has been asked before since I am new here. Before I had surgery, everyone I knew that had lap band had the port somewhere in their abdomen, usually off to the side. When I went in for surgery, the surgeon told me the port would be placed in the dead center right under my sternum. The bad thing about it, is during the healing process, the bottom of my bra was sometimes rubbing it. Also, when I sit, I have a "roll" there which was putting constant pressure on the site. So, that wasn't fun. He told me that the port is less likely to flip there, but I think it is too high up and causes unnecessary discomfort during the healing process. (Although, I realize the port site causes the most discomfort for everyone) So, I guess what I really want to know is the different places they place the ports and what everyone thinks about it?

Pixcess...you should check out Profect. Search for it on the internet. I drink that for my protein. It doesn't seem like it would have dairy or soy in it, but you would have to check to be sure.

My port can be felt by touch when I actually feel for it. The docs told me that no matter how much weight you lose, you shouldn't be able to see it. But, I highly doubt that, at least in my case. When I am lying down, my port is lying flat like it should be. When I stand, the upper part of the port tilts outward. I think I can tell it is kind of jutting out when I look in the mirror. But, with the extra weight, it is hard to tell right now. I think when I lose more weight, it may be able to be seen. The thought of that doesn't really bother me though. I would rather have on little spot on my abdomen poking out that the whole damn thing.

Just to be on the student's side...not every excuse is a lame excuse. The responses here seem so one sided, so I thought I would balance it out a little bit. First of all, I am a non-trad accounting student at the University of Kansas. I am also a mother of four boys. My husband works full time and is also in the Army Reserves. I work part time performing audits for a local bank. I also am a "foster parent" for an adult man with developmental disabilities. I am from a family where not one person has graduated college. Actually, I am not sure if anyone from my town has ever graduated college. I was a teenage mother. Noone had ever spoke with me as a teenager about going to college or how to do it. Not once. So, I chose a path that wasn't what was the best for me. I was an honor student in school and was always ahead of myself because of self-education. After I had children, I wanted nothing more that to receive a secondary education. I wanted to provide better for my children. I wanted my children to have a chance to see how important an education is. So now, with about one semester left to get my Bachelor's. There is not one semester that "something" doesn't happen that causes me to miss a bunch of classes. Whether it is my children becoming ill while my husband has to be off on some military orders or obligations that arise from the disabled man that I take care of or whatever. One semester, we had a horrible illness run through our home. Each of my children got it, but not all at once. It hit them one after the other, like a chain. Right after that, my husbands mother died. I had to miss an exam to attend her funeral. I was making a "C" in one of my most difficult classes. (I was a 4.0 student at the time) The instructor pulled me in his office to tell me how shitty I was doing at midterm. I tried to explain to him how my children had been ill and then how their grandmother had died. It was their first loss and it had been very trying at home. Well, I sure didn't get the response I wanted. He told me that I was using my children as an excuse. He said that the other students had sports and clubs and that their responsibilities were just as tough as mine. That was obviously coming from someone that has never had children. Anyway, my point is, sometimes people's lives do run away from them and things can get overwhelming. All I want to do is graduate and make up for any wrong directions I took when I was a kid. I no longer tall instructors my issues because I feel like they do not care. I just do my best and if I can't make class, I just can't do it and no longer ask for exceptions. All this has got me is a GPA that went from 4.0 to 3.42 which is highly disappointing to me. So, I do feel that people should not automatically assume that an excuse is "lame".

Just thought I would stop in and say hi to a fellow lapbander that also happens to be a mom of 4 boys like me. We are also about the same age.

My doc explained that the liquid diet was not only to cleanse the digestive tract, but also to reduce glycogen stores in the liver. Forcing the liver to burn glycogen, by reducing sugar, will actually cause the liver to start to shrink. This actually makes placement of the band easier for surgeons, supposedly. So, my best suggestion would be to stay away from fruit, because your surgeon may be trying to decrease the size of your liver to make the surgery easier. I had a strict list of pre-op things that were allowed. I know the Protein drinks are almost impossible to drink mixed with just Water. I can't tolerate them mixed with almost anything. I drink Profect. If you have never seen this before, it is worth checking out. Very palatable and handy to tote around. It doesn't need to be refrigerated and is in break resistant container.

Hi all! I just found this forum. I had my lap band on Jan. 31, 2007. I just had my first fill of 1cc on February 7. I weighed 245 at the beggining of this journey. I use my high weight before I started jumping through all of the hoops of getting approved because I lost some weight before my surgery date. Anyway, in the whole process, I am now down to 219. So, 26 lbs. Oh, also, I am from Lawrence, KS. I am a married 31 yr. old mother of four. So far, I have not had any complications from the band. The only adverse thing I have felt is what seems to be extended fatigue. Honestly, it isn't like I had a ton of energy pre-op. Well, anyway, I am glad I found this place. It should be exciting to hear everyone's stories.

I have BCBS Empire Blue out of New York. My insurance packet was submitted one day and I was approved the next. It was awesome. The insurance company (the caseworker) even called and congratulated me on my approval! They were wonderful.

When I went through my psychological testing, the psych. said that I show a mild to moderate tendency to be non-compliant. The only thing that changed things for me is he put me on a "diet" and made me come in 3 weeks in a row with a diet log showing that I had complied. This was enough to show that I would comply with what is asked of me after the surgery. He released me for surgery after the second week of compliance. It was really no big deal. Good luck!

You wil do fine! Just think of the liquids pre-op as a jump start to your goal. LapbanderNC is right, afterwards, the liquids will be plenty. I didn't want anything at all, not even the liquids, for almost 3 days. I had to force myself just to get in that chicken broth :0)

like the pain I had right after surgery. It lasted for a few weeks. The surgeon said that the pain sounded like my diaphragm was inflammed. They said that it can be easily inflammed and they probably irritated it during the surgery. Your lap band is right up close to your diaphragm. Did you do a lot of coughing or any vomiting that may have caused the band to rub up against your diaphragm? Just a thought