Corridor72

Thank you. I have read that as well so I'm going to ask him if that might be a better option for me. I originally had looked into having the sleeve but he felt the lap band would be a better option and since it is the least invasive and most reversible, I decided to do more research and finally settled on the band. I don't like the idea of switching to the sleeve because I really don't want to cut out part of my stomach, but I also don't want to make things worse by having a surgery that could cause more damage. Right now, I don't suffer from any symptoms of gastroparesis so I don't want to do something that will cause me to be symptomatic, if that makes sense. I guess the surgeon and I have lots to talk about.

I have read that as well so I am definitely going to ask him if that would be a better option for me.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I will be seeing the surgeon on Oct. 30th so I will be able to ask more questions and have a better understanding then. I am a nurse so I know what gastroparesis is and though I don't deal with lapband patients in my area of practice, I am familiar enough to know that gastroparesis can be a complication of being banded, which is why I was curious if anyone ever had it prior to being banded and what the outcome was. I do know that there are certain things that can cause exacerbations of gastroparesis, one of those being elevated blood glucose levels. Gastroparesis can and often does improve with better blood glucose control. So I don't know if he suspects that the cause may be related to my weight or something caused by my weight and maybe that's why he thinks it's ok to proceed with surgery ? I do want to know what his reasoning is and whether he's had other patients like me. I want to know, given that gastric sleeve seems to be a treatment used to help facilitate gastric emptying, why would he not recommend that instead? Another possibility is that perhaps he's thinking its medication induced? There are certain medications that can cause gastroparesis and 1 of the heart/blood pressure medications I'm on is on that list. I don't know if he intends to do more testing prior to making a final decision either so that may be another possibility. I was just waking up from the anesthesia when he came in to speak with my husband so I don't remember too much from the conversation anyway and hubby isn't a medical person so he doesn't ask the same questions I would ask if I were a bit more awake. All he cared about at the time was that I was ok and nothing horrible happened during the procedure. He figures I can worry about the rest later!lol...anyway, thanks again to everyone who has responded and if anyone else has any experience with this, I would love to hear about it.

Awesome! I'm getting so excited! I can't believe the time is almost here!

As it stands right now, I have my EGD on Oct. 18th. I will start my pre-op liquid diet on the 25th and then my surgery is scheduled for Nov. 15th, as long as there are no issues with the insurance approval. The surgeon's office doesn't think there will be any issues with getting it approved and says my insurance is pretty easy to work with so I'm hoping they're right about that.

Has anyone ever used Isopure Zero Carb protein mix for their pre-op liquid diet? My surgery is in November and I have to do a 3 week liquid diet which will consist of 4 meal replacement/protein shakes per day and all of the sugar-free no-calorie clear liquids I want. The surgeon's office says slim fast is fine but I'm just concerned about the low amount of protein in those. They only have 10 grams of protein per serving, according to the bottle. That means I'd only be getting about 40 grams of protein per day, which is not enough. Any thoughts or advice?

So I know I will need to take a chewable multivitamin and calcium chewables after my surgery but I don't know which ones are best. Which ones are best as far as nutritional values, taste, and expense?

I've been reading a lot about the different protein shakes and Unjury seems to be quite popular so I just placed an order for the starter kit. I like that they have the starter kit with sample packets of each flavor so you can try them first before spending a lot of money on the big tubs.

So I ordered the starter kit from Unjury on Thursday. It arrived on Saturday! I didn't pay extra for fast shipping either! I've paid for express shipping on other items before and not gotten them that fast!lol...Anyway, I've been searching for a protein drink that I can tolerate for awhile now and hadn't found anything I liked yet. I just tried the Chocolate Splendor and it is really good. I haven't tried any of the rest of them yet but will try them all over the next several days. Thinking(hoping) I've finally found the answer to good tasting protein drinks! Now if I could just find some meal replacement shakes that taste as good I guess my surgeon does things differently during the preop period depending on the patient's BMI. I was initially told that I'd probably just do protein drinks for 3 wks. Now they tell me that I will need the protein drinks postoperatively but that I need full meal replacement drinks for the 3 week preop period.

Where do you get the Torani SF syrups?

How exciting for you! Congrats on your success AND on your date! Enjoy! The sky is the limit!

I'm looking at probably a few more months before surgery but my surgeon and dietician had recommended trying some of the different protein drinks now so that when I have to to start my preop diet, I will have some that I like and can drink. My preop diet is to consist of 3-4 meal replacement/protein shakes per day as well as all of the "no calorie" clear liquids I want. So I have been trying some of the protein drinks. I've found I like the powdered mixes better than the "ready to serve" varieties which, to me, have a horrible after taste. My concern is that I have noticed that, while the protein drinks will definitely provide the protein I need during that time, they lack other nutrients. So where do I get all of the other vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that my body needs during that time? Are there protein shakes out there that have the added vitamins and minerals too? I have to do 3 weeks of the liquid preop diet....

How much of the sugar free jello do you use to add flavor to the drinks?

The Multivitamins need to be chewables, right? Are there particular brands that are better for lap band patients?

Wow! You look great! Good job!

Newbie here. Just dropping a line to introduce myself. I have struggled with my weight for many years. I have tried many diets, losing as much as 75 lbs at one time and then always regaining it all(and then some). I am in the process of jumping through all of the hoops to get my lap band surgery approved. The only thing I have left to do is a couple of more weigh-in appointments with my PCP. I'm told that the surgeon's office will then submit everything to be approved. He is confident that it will be approved. My BMI is 43 and I have hypertension. I'm just doing all of the reading and research I can do to make sure that I can be as successful with this as I can possibly be. I know that the lap band is only a tool and, is by no means a magic fix, but it's a tool that I feel I need to help me reach my goal.

Thank you! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone on here!

My psych eval wasn't too bad. There were 2 tests. One of them was a 384 question "fill in the bubble" type test which was basically just to determine personality type, tendencies toward drug/alchol addictions, suicidal thoughts, and whether or not there is a strong support system. The second one was to determine eating habits. There was also an interview with the psychologist which lasted about an hour or so. They basically want to know that you have a good support system and that you understand what you're getting yourself into. He took the information I gave him and made suggestions on how to be as successful as I can possibly be. I actually found it to be an enlightening and helpful experience