joe7777

I will see you there. Yeah, i started slowly on solids a bit early too, its going down well. I am anxious for restriction.

One thing to think of, is the band helps change your relationship with food. I TOTALLY know where you're coming from. I too think it will be weird not eating socially...but now i'm accepting it. I am NOT at the stage where i am feeling it personally, but i've read tons of people who say that 1-2 years down the road or whatever, the cravings for whatever they used to eat is gone. Like for example mcdonalds, once you eat real food, get full easily, you realise what garbage it is. Im guilty here, so hopefully i will get the same results. But yeah,thats why i think the band is right for me, at least you can still eat regular food (and when you meet dr. Yau thats what he tells you to do). I dont see this as a replacement for willpower, but more as a tool that helps me feel full...something that i guess i either ate out of, or that i never had. The point is not to deprave yourself, but to enjoy food, in a much lower quantity which is sufficient nutritionnally.

Yeah miranda, i know what you mean. I pretty much didnt eat after day 2. Because thinking of yogurt and cottage cheese made me gag. I used to eat plenty of yogurt, but it seems because i was forced to eat it in the diet, now after a month i still don't want to think of eating it. I think the worst was those joke comments, oh since you are following this diet so well, you could do it without the band. But in reality, the ONLY reason i was so dedicated to the preop diet was because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Usually i would give up because i wouldnt see any changes. But yeah, preop is the worst.

The bullet to me doesnt make much sense. I had Water only day 1. Day 2-4(or 5 or 6 or something), it was Clear liquids. I believe full liquids was only starting pretty much 1 week after surgery. Unless you are starting in toronto that long i dont think you need it. That is my opinion, unless you are bringing it for something else. One thing i would do is prepare for the person who is accompanying you to pickup your prescription. go to the drugstore before, so you know where it is...etc. Basically depending on your meds, they may cause nauseau, you may want to buy chewable gravol or liquid.

do they ever do it? what about endoscopy after a few years or whatever. I hear thats how many people catch erosion.

Oh, and if you are looking for things to do in toronto...don't worry. Theres thousands of things to occupy yourself with.

actual surgery is fairly short. 40 mins to an hour.

So, for all of us done at TLBC on may 4th...1 month is coming up. How is everyone doing? My first fill will be on june 18th as i believe most of ours is. Solids is in 2 days. And i had a question about the fill to the veterans of TLBC: Do they do the first fill under fluoro? I want to know if everything is ok in there. Im not really losing more than i did pre-op and liquids. But i feel good, i may have lost 1 size, because about 3 weeks after surgery i wore shorts that didnt fit before. But i'm definitely not noticeably smaller, but hey...first month, no fill...i'm satisfied so far.

i REALLY hated taking demerol, i think its one of the reasons i took the least amount possible (i mostly used some day 1, day 2..after not too much). Also, i dont want to like pain pills...so im not going to use them for nothing. But yeah, the taste....jeez, if i had to make a recommendation to TLBC it would be to make the medication a liquid med. Some clinics prescribe liquid pain meds. Which makes sense cuz we cant swallow whole pills. Demerol crushed is the devil. i tried to drink it with flavored drinks...i believe mr yoda had a method that was better than what i did. Anyways, good luck taking ur pain meds. Keep us updated.

By the way i have the midband. Found out when i got out of surgery and got the ownership manual lol.

if you are getting banded at TLBC the dr chooses for you. Personally i like it that way (if you request a certain band they will give it to you). But i'd rather let someone who does this for a living and sees thousands of these choose it. They will choose the band that is physically a better match. They wait until you are open, so they can see the size of your stomach ( if you are big your stomach is not necessarily big). TLBC chooses from ALL bands, so i feel that is the best way to go.

lots of celebs with RNY...didnt know bout sharon and the band...i dont know of any others either.

Tell us about it when you're out!

Omg, tell me about it, after surgery and pre-op crap, i wasnt even thinking about food, i was just so anxious to drink something that had taste lol. First thing i had was a gatorade.

welcome, make sure to walk lots (well...a bit, it helps for gas pain). Good luck and speedy recovery

Hey susansilver dont be too upset (i know it sucks) but it happens, i believe i've been to the ER 2 times in my life and it ended up being constipation. as for benefibre, yeah its great doesnt taste like anything or change the consistancy of your drink. What i did was poured a couple teaspoons in a big juice container, so that way when i drink the juice there is already fibre in it. Not that it's hard to add it as you go, but...thats what i do.

Try to move lots after!! It seems easy to say before...but TRUST me after, you dont want to. When i went one lady who did it and worked there told me she had bad shoulder pains because of the gas, because she just wanted to pamper herself and not move etc....my mom was on my case every hour to walk around the room for 2 mins or whatever, i was so mad everytime she made me get up. But then i didnt really have pain...so i guess it might have helped. Also, DONT DRINK OR EAT prior....this may seem like the dumbest thing, im not proud either...but i drank water the morning of my surgery. Thankfully they asked me about it, i felt like an idiot, i had to wait a couple hours. I'm just so happy i actually got it done that day. But really....dont drink or eat, its dangerous because of the anesthetic.

I don't think they gave an official reason. If you are worried about TLBC service don't worry...you are not a patient of your doctor, you are a patient of the clinic.

I have 5, One is port, 2 are sides, and one is one inch above the belly button, then i have one that is TINY, so basically it looks like i have only 4. The small one i seriously think took like 2 stitches, its really small.

Donna D, don't get discouraged, i havent lost really anything since surgery either. Just staying steady, but i dont care, i'm just enjoying food instead of liquids lol. Anyways, once we go for our fills, then it should do some good...hopefully i'm not one of those who needs 3-4 fills before i feel any restriction.

Yes, telling your parents is huge, i know it was for me. As for the age, i just figured, i've been trying to lose ever since i noticed i was getting fat, more seriously in the last 3-5 years, but nothing works...its food that has its hold on me. So anyways, yeah, i think if i didnt do this i'd end up REALLY huge. As for the weight to lose pre-op, depends, does your insurance require a medically supervised diet, does your clinic require a pre-op diet, are you self-pay...whatever. Anyways, the point of pre-op diets is to shrink your liver, the weight loss is a bonus, you will be eating very little sugars, mostly Protein. During this time, you may lose 20, you may lose 5 pounds, as long as your liver shrinks thats important, for the laparascopic surgery, to access your stomach the liver being shrunk helps a great deal. So anyways, once you set everything up and if you choose a clinic, they will likely have a pre-op diet. If it's insurance, then thats their decision. Good luck

Yah, jurema, i sent emails and such, i got a response, its all good...this thread was started at a time when i was VERY mad. Lol, i was just venting, but from some posts it appears it happens, of course they are busy, but i would think that there would be someone there to answer more often...i don't know. Either way, i am in NO WAY regretting my decision of choosing TLBC because of that...its pretty insignificant, but yeah, sometimes its the little things that are frustrating.

Thats really great, congrats on that!

Hey, whats up, i am a student at university of ottawa in canada. I'm 3 weeks out of surgery. Going into 3rd year next year, I know how you feel, about the eating in public thing....i think that as fat people, we think that people are watching everything we eat. I know that i always look at what others eat and i judge people, (i feel like an asshole) Anyways, yeah, i always thought if i would eat well, but then if somebody would see me eat some junk food they would snark and be like, no wonder he's fat...whatever, i think it might be true to some degree, but on my 10 day pre-op diet i thought for sure i'll have to become a lie master (not sure about telling my friends yet). But guess what...not 1 time did anyone ask about my eating changes. I guess people don't really put it high on their list of important things to know, lol its silly now that i think of it, but it's not because i REALLY thought it would be a big issue. I am having mixed feelings about the alcohol, i am for sure not drinking beer anymore, 1. It has a LOT of extra crap, carbs calories....2. Carbonation, not good for the band. I might be tempted to have a low carbonation beer in the summer one day, something like a corona or something, but it will be in a long time. 3. Hard liquor is probably the best bet for drinking, although alcohol still has calories, the more alcohol dense, the better. 4. there is the issue of casual drinking and getting shitfaced...if thats the plan, might not be too good, throwing up is bad for the band, slippage is not fun. I think it's going to be weird not drinking, but my health is more important, plus alcohol is not that great for you in big quantities. (low doses have proven beneficial health effects) But drinking too much...no. So yeah, Hope it helps you somewhat. if you have a questions send me a private message or post on this thread or something. Good luck

It's not even for fills, im only 3 weeks out, but i have questions. But when i do get my fill, i will make sure to call them to confirm. So when you guys call, do you reach a person or just the DAMN voicemail. If so, what time of the day do you call...whats the secret.