lisacaron

OK so you can do this!! Start your day with some nice warm coffee. Use some sugar free creamers to flavor it up if you like, tea if you like that. They are trying to prepare you for the restrictions you are going to have after surgery, and prep your body for your surgery. Keep yourself always drinking something. When you have your slimfast if you can put it in a blender with some crushed ice and make it thick so it takes you a while to drink it. Even if you are at work they have those new small personal blenders you can use. This is totally doable, most of us have done it in one form or another and as soon as you get through it and have your surgery you will be a pro at after care and you will stay compliant with the Dr.'s orders. Really if you have to chew use some gum, get all kinds of sugar free flavors and chew away don't swallow. Drink flavored Water and always be doing something to stay busy.

Great article. Any time I feel myself slipping off the tracks I get myself back to band basics and remember what I did when I was first banded and reset everything including my attitude

@@beckyparks what does your pre-op diet consist of? It's normal to feel a little weak and light headed as your body is going through a bit of a detox at this time. Though I am banded I found that what helped me was to be doing something every hour. If I wasn't having a shake I was drinking Water, on my pre-op I was allowed to have yogurt and fat free sugar free pudding. You have to make this at home with fat free milk and sugar free pudding mix but it gives you something to occupy yourself while making and it's good. I would wake up and start with usual cup of coffee, but had to switch to decaf on pre-op. Then I would move to my first shake of the day around 8 then I would have some water at 9 and then some yogurt at 10 more water at 11, or decaf tea or coffee if I need a switch up from the water. Even a sugar free ice pop now and then breaks it up and gives you the "crunch" factor. if you can have Soup I would make that my lunch and dinner "option" on that hour and then shake shake shake and water water water. I made it through my 2 weeks. It was the full of Clear liquids that made me a bit bonkers but I made it through. Just keep yourself drinking and eating something and your tummy won't know your hungry cause you will always have something in there. Gum is another awesome way to chew without eating!! You got this!

@@asheyrae you have a very positive outlook and attitude about it and that's a big help in getting past any road block! Best of luck to you, I bet you will do great!

@@Shauny08 my advice is keep going!!! I know the road to weight loss with the band can be frustrating at times. You read and hear about people who are losing 4 pounds a week and your lucky if you lose 4 pounds in the month...and suddenly it can become a big source of frustration. Take a second and check your frustration, what exactly is frustrating you? Are you doing everything you can to help the situation? Or are you relying on the band do to all the work? What is your definition of "restriction"? What is it that you are looking to accomplish? and what have you done toward achieving that goal? Lots of questions....but in asking sometimes we find our answers. When you look at fill level and "restriction" you should not be looking for the band to "stop" you from eating. It is not creating a small container for your food to sit in and tell you OK your full that's enough. What it is doing is slowing down the rate that your food passes from your upper stomach into your lower stomach. Think of an hour glass and the way the sand moves through it. The tighter the pinch in the middle the slower the sand will move. The looser the pinch the faster the sand will move. Also think about the texture of the food you are eating. Are you eating solid foods that you need to chew chew chew? Or are you choosing more softer foods that will slip right on past the stoma and through to the lower chamber of the stomach? Choosing solid foods will help to engage the band and the muscles in the esophagus to signal the nerves to tell your brain that you have had enough after a cup full of food. If you are choosing soft or slider foods then your not engaging your band well and you are not going to get the response from the Vagus nerve to tell your brain your full and you will keep eating long past that cup of food. If your not measuring your portions, try doing that to start. Give yourself 20 minutes no more and no less to finish and once finish walk away from the food. If you are truly hungry have some more, but if you are not after 20 minutes then you are done. If you continue to eat after 20 minutes you are eating into your next meal so stop after 20. You should be satiated for at least 3-4 hours between meals, if your not and you find that you are hungry again after an hour have some Water and asess if you are truly hungry for more fuel or if it's more emotional or mental hunger. If it's the later try doing something else you like to do, read or go for a walk listen to music. If your still hungry then have a light snack. If you find that you are hungry between meals often and it's not head hunger you may need to keep tweaking your fill level until you reach that sweet spot. It takes time to learn how to live in harmony with our band and it takes time to find the optimal fill level that works for you.

@@WheelCrazy I agree with TMF above. Give the Dr. a call and have the placement of your band checked and let the doctor determine how much if any Fluid to remove. You should not be choking on anything in your sleep or need to sleep sitting up. This is also very dangerous, you could asphyxiate if you aspirate (breathe in) the vomit. Let us know how you are doing please after you speak to the Dr.

@@Mikee57 nope give the Dr. a call today. You have probably cause a bit of significant swelling in the stoma and may need to have some fill removed, but let the doctor check your band and make that determination. The best thing to do after a stuck episode is to go to liquids for a few meals to allow any trauma to the stomach and esophagus to heal and swelling to go down. 3 days is long enough to wait and if you are having pressure when lying down and/or sleeping it is time for a call and possibly visit to the Dr. Go to liquids and make the call my friend.

@@jenns_history I agree that this post is very disturbing on many levels. First I would like to address the issues that you are experiencing. As a few have posted above you should not be PBing and sliming constantly. This is not a "normal" thing for banded patients. We do experience it upon occasion if food has a hard time passing the stoma but it is not something that should happen daily or with each and every meal. If you had gotten something stuck it could have caused the stoma to swell and make eating anything else more difficult causing more PBing and sliming with each new thing you consume. The best course of action after a stuck episode is to go back to a liquid diet for a few meals to give the stomach time to heal and reduce the swelling. If this has been going on for long enough that people at your work place are noticing that you are having an issue then you absolutely need to see your doctor and have the fill reassessed and your band checked. As to the issue of your workplace, I find their handling of this situation totally inappropriate and offensive. I'm sure you felt offended and embarrassed. Your employer handled this situation terribly, and their behavior is disgusting, that said you must take some responsibility for what is happening to your body as well. If you are experiencing a medical issue, you should not be in your office or place of work and you should be seeking medical attention. That is what you need to be doing now. Having to run to the ladies room or trash can for every bite is not proper band behavior. So make an appointment with your doctor, and your HR representative!!

@@Kathytej Surgery, any kind of surgery can be scary. Don't worry, it's great that your Bariatric Dr. gave you some insight into what to tell your Gyn surgeon. Everything will go smoothly, and you will feel better without all the pain every month. My misery started with my ovary, and what they thought might be ovarian cancer because of the size of the cyst they found on it. It was about the size of a grapefruit, but it was a benign cyst and they were able to remove it and the ovary without complication thank goodness. Your going to do great, and you will feel so much better once you are out of pain. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing after your surgery ok?

@countrysweet I had my hysterectomy prior to banding. However I wanted to mention to you that I had my surgery done laproscopically and removed vaginally. The two incisions were at the bikini line and very low well under my stomach. They may need to enter via the belly button but you can ask that of the doctor before surgery and advise them of the tubing and banding. If you can let your bariatric surgeon know you are going in for this surgery and have him consult with the surgeon who will perform your hysterectomy so that they can work together to prevent any complications. Best of luck to you my friend! I have to tell you that having my hysterectomy @ 40 was a bit scary but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have ever made. I was in so much pain and experiencing so many issues that the removal of it put an end to. It has been three years since, and I am 100% better.

@@jlj1110 some good advice above. The plication mimics the idea of the restriction (smaller container) of the stomach in the way that the sleeve does. However it does not as stated above involve removing any portion of the stomach instead it is folded in upon itself and stitched in place sort of like a football. There for it does not have a malnutrition component to it. Since there is no removal of the larger curvature of the stomach the glands that reside there are not removed. This is an advantage with the sleeve that the placation does not have. Plication is reversible and sleeve gastrectomy is not. Both my husband and I have been banded with plication and we were able to see the difference in the decrease of volume in the food that you are able to consume right from the start after surgery even without having a fill in the band. If plciation is an option for you I would strongly suggest doing some extra research, though I would tell you that I am very happy I was able to have the procedure done with my band and at the time the study was still in the trial or beta phase. Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes!!

Thank you all for coming out and participating in our group today!! It was awesome to see some new faces and some familiar faces as well. Jyo- your comment made my day. I am glad that you got something out of the meeting and I hope it was a fun time too! I will post the next meeting date soon. As well as a date/location for our first Long Island meeting! Stay tuned!!! Thank you all for your support!!

@@zara gray rowe you got some great advice above. Terry is right on the $ with the symptoms for a slip. Don't look for trouble, the best advice is to avoid trouble by following Dr.'s orders and band basics. Just because you can eat more doesn't mean you should eat more. Try to portion out your meal and when you are done eating see how you feel. If you are truly still hungry eat a bit more. If you are satisfied with it then walk away. If you find that you are hungry again in a few hours, try having a light snack or drinking some Water. If you find that you are hungry often between meals or need to have that little bit more after eating your meal, then it's probably an indication of needing some more volume added to your band. When we first get a fill it can take up to 2 weeks for it to settle around the band, and for some getting a fill can make the stoma a bit sensitive for a few days. Since it's internal we don't feel it other then to feel a bit of restriction. If that goes away it doesn't mean that the band is not working it just means you aren't swollen anymore. The band is still there doing it's job, it's slowing down the passage of the food you are eating into your stomach. So eat take the time to enjoy your meal, and then give it a few minutes after the meal to be sure it's really hunger, if it's not your than done eating. If it is really hunger then eat, but note these things to tell your doctor on your next visit.

@@Christina.Rose have you already ordered your wedding dress in the size 20 and think you might need to take it in up to a 16? When is your wedding? 4 sizes is a lot to take in alterations at some point you will end up reconstructing the whole dress. Depending on the time frame for your wedding your gonna want to try and stay pretty consistent in your weight if you can the closer and closer you get. If you plan to lose a lot of weight right before, try to order the smaller size but maybe an 18 so you can always take it in to a 16 if needed. Wedding dresses can have complicated sizing depending on the material and the style Aline, Mermaid, etc. Always best to check with the seamstress doing the alterations they know and trust me they won't lie to you just to make you feel good I got married at my highest weight ever...but I couldn't have been happier and I still love my photo's even as hubby and I have lost over 60 pounds each

@@Amazongoddess sadly the approval rate has more to do with the insurance company and how fast they move through the process. The person's weight and co-morbitiy really doesn't have much a factor on how fast the approval comes in. Stay on top of your insurance company. Call them up and get a status report. Make sure they have everything they require and get an estimated time from them. The waiting time stinks, but it's a good time to start preparing for your upcoming surgery. Take the time figure out what kind of shake you like the best, try some brands and flavors. Start getting things in order for your surgery, any kind of things you might/need for home. Supplies etc. get your home ready for some R&R as you recover from your surgery. Do things now that you won't be able to do right after surgery like planting or painting or heavy lifting type things. Most of all read up! Alex Brecher has some awesome books out about all the different surgeries and what to expect after surgery. Come back here for support and questions...and fill the time with stuff that keeps you motivated and focused on your journey it really helps make the time fly by. Best of luck to you!! your going to do great!

I was not trying to say that she did or would give them to the kids. Some think they are "health" food but they really are "special" food for those of us that need the higher protein intake. I would keep them out of reach just in case. I have young nieces and they also think I"m eating a candy bar when I have a Protein Bar, and you know they do taste pretty good today. I would rather go and get them a snickers bar then have them eat that protein bar. They might be hyper from the sugar but they won't have renal failure I remember when I was a kid, Protein Bars and drinks really tasted like medicine! When I was 16 I got very sick, and I could not chew or eat anything I had blisters all in my mouth and down my throat. I was also very skinny about 90 pounds soaking wet and now not eating..Dr.'s prescribed some nutrition drink (ensure I think it was) and that stuff was terrible!! I was fearing the liquid diet for surgery because of my experience with that nasty stuff but that was almost 30 years ago and boy has the taste in those drinks changed!!

It's not a good thing that her kids ate all those Protein bars and Protein drinks. It could cause them some serious harm. Do not give your kids these items, it is not good for them to consume such high amounts of protein.

@@Darianna75 I get what you are saying 100% when my husband and I first though about surgery, I went out and purchased a mini fridge freezer that is in our bedroom locked up tight. We have 5 boys between us and they are all grown and they can EAT!! There would be fights in my house over who ate who's food and that was mine, and make me NUTS!! So we keep all "our" food away from them. I do have to say this...eating all that Protein and drinking that much protein in one sitting could defiantly make your kids sick VERY sick. The body can't process all that protein and it won't store it either. This could cause some kidney damage and liver damage if done too often. Hopefully they will never do this to you again, but keep these things out of their reach as much as you would medication or other poisons.

@@DanaKat it is normal to have some "cold feet", your making a change that will affect the rest of your life. If you don't think so, then think again. You will have all your favorite foods again, but you will look at food differently then you do today. You will use food differently than you do today. It is very much a marriage, and you are getting a little ring around your belly to remind you of that commitment. Are you ready to say I do? Do you love yourself enough? These were some of the questions I asked myself before my surgery and the answer to them was a resounding YES. I loved my life, and all the things I could and would be able to do in my new life and I was ready to make that commitment, and let me tell you the truth of it is that just like they say about the first year of marriage, that first year can be tough. You learn every day how to live this new life, with this new WLS partner and some days they are forgiving when you make a mistake and some days they can bop you upside the head for making the wrong choice. So my friend, are you ready to say I do? If so...then don your white gown on your surgery date and I wish you a long and happy relationship with your new life support tool!!

I will give you a bit of reverse psychology here...this worked for my Granddad when he needed to change some of his eating habits due to a heart condition and it worked for me when I tried it not long after surgery on myself. Eat nothing but cookies! Eat them and eat them and eat them till you are sick of them and you won't want to eat them anymore! My story... My Pop loved pickles, (not so bad you would think right? but they are loaded with sodium and that was a big issue for him.) so for Breakfast Nan gave him pickles for lunch pickles dinner yup you guessed it pickles. If he wanted a snack she gave him a pickle. After that he said to her are you trying to kill me?! He never touched another pickle again. I was having a serious skinny cow ice cream addiction. I was eating it every night not just one but 2 or 3. So one weekend I went out and bought a few boxes and ate nothing but that...ate it and ate it and soon I really didn't want that anymore I wanted "real" food...but I stuck it out and ate nothing but the ice cream. I started to feel sick to my stomach and guess what...no more skinny cow craving or even wanting. I don't have the desire for it, and when I have something I do want it's in moderation and I don't go looking for more because I remember how that sick feeling felt and I have no desire to go through that again with anything else

@@HaddocksEyes You are right having surgery is not the easy way out. Having surgery does not make it easier for anyone to lose weight or to keep that weight off. Having surgery does level the playing field, that is for sure. Many of us are obese and it is beyond our "natural" control. Our bodies have grown accustom to eating a certain volume and chemical combination of food, our genes may play a role in the way we store fat and sugar and often the combination of all these factors changes the chemical make up of how our body's metabolism works. Changing that with altering our diets for liquids and/or dieting works and we lose weight. We get on a fitness trend and we trick the body and the weight falls off. Then we go back to reality, and we stop "dieting" and we go back to living and the weight comes right back and often times with a few pounds of friends. Having WLS means making a life style change, not going on a diet. Sure there are some "diet" rules to follow pre-op and then post-op but true success comes from making a change to the way you think about and live with food, and the way you think and feel about fitness. WLS is not a miracle cure for obesity. It is a process that helps the individual prepare and focus on making a permanent life style change. If you are not 100% committed going into surgery it's not going to give you the results you desire. It is up to you, and it is work that will last a life time. It's a labor of love you give your self. Diets end but life goes on

@@ladykatie_ you got some good advice from those above, and I won't even begin to tell you what when or how to live your life. That is something only you can do. I would like to say it's awesome that you are feeling great and having success with your WLS. There are many mental and emotional hills and valley's along the way, and when other issues compound on you as they tend to do, it can feel overwhelming and often prompt larger then life emotions and emotional responses. I think that's more to the point of what the person who was telling you not to make big decisions during WLS was trying to say. I have found for myself that the best way to deal with these kinds of stress's and pressures as they rise up is to take a minute to myself. Even if I have to run to the ladies room and hide in the stall for a moment or two, I will collect my thoughts and my feelings and put them in check. I try to separate out how I am feeling about an issue from how I am feeling overall. If it's an off day for me, issues can tend to appear larger then they are if I focus on them in that perspective. If I put my "day" or myself in check and deal with just that issue then it's taken some of the largeness out of it and brought it down to size and a little easier to deal with. Mostly friend, try to take time for yourself. Get away from "things" and people when you need to and just keep breathing. Deep breathing is a great help for your mind and body. Find time to do things you enjoy, reading, writing, biking, kite flying what ever and make time for YOU, then you will be better able to deal with decisions and things that I'm sure you would rather not have to deal with. I hope everything works out for you, no matter what.

I agree with all of the above posted they are on your side and they want to be sure that you are ready for the changes and the commitment that is required. There is always lots of patient compliance in WLS. They want to be sure that you are mentally and emotionally ready for your surgery. I know when I was going through all the testing I really didn't understand why they had this as part of the criteria, but as I went through the exam and my husband went through it as well I understood more about why this is part of the criteria for surgery and I'm glad that it is. I left feeling even more prepared and committed to taking that step. Not all Dr.'s and insurance companies require this step...but I think they should modify that because though it might not seem to be it's truly a helpful step in your preparation for surgery, and an available option should you face issues on the journey as some do with body image and self acceptance etc. Best of luck to you!!

I agree!! Looking forward to it.

@@Jerseydiva15 don't be disappointed. Take this as a learning lesson and take it back to band basics. Remember how excited you were with the idea of surgery looming ahead and a huge change to your life? Try to remember how it felt to be that 288 pound lady that was just starting her journey. Give yourself a mental reset and a band reset. Take it back to basics. Your starting out right on the liquids, then go to mushy and then soft and then solids. Work on your eating mechanics and your choices. Take some time to plan what you are going to have before you decide, but don't wait till your starving or super hungry to think about it because that's how you end up with what ever. Think about the day ahead, the same way you do in the morning when you choose your outfit for the day. Sometimes your comfy and sometimes you wish you had worn your favorite jeans and comfy sweater or wish you could have stayed in your PJ's all day and you know what...when you get back home you can do those things. So if you have a mishap in a choice remember you can always make a change and do it right! Don't wait for tomorrow or Sunday or Monday take back control with your very next meal and your very next choice. You got this!