lisacaron

Love yourself no matter what and enough to take care of your health and well being! Way to go!

When we choose to have WLS we do this for ourselves because we want to make a change in our life and in our life style as well. Things about your lives from the moment we make that decision will slowly change, and we do in many ways become different. We may always be "who we are" but new sides of our lives are revealed and they may not jive with all our "old" friends. Some people aren't able to accept changes readily. Try not to judge your friend, or ask her to change her ways to accommodate your choices. Remember my friend that this is your choice and your journey, and you can make it work. No matter where you go there will always be that "temptation" and you can overcome that. Be prepared when you venture out or stay in. Look up menu's ahead of time and make your choice in your mind before you get there and when you do follow through. If your salad comes with bread ask your friend if she would like it and if not then discard it or ask the waiter/waitress to take it away or eliminate it all together. When I was first banded there were loads of events that I had to attend, both family and work events. I did not let my surgery stop me from attending and I did not compromise my surgery because of the events. I made sure that I as covered. I purchased a lovely cooler bag and put my shakes in it to bring with me to make sure I had my nutrition. Today I still bring my "lunch" box with me to work and out and about to make sure I always have what I need to keep me healthy and happy and not incontinence anyone else because of my dietary restrictions. WLS is a life style change, and eventually it becomes a part of your life and how you live it and you won't think twice about it you will just be you doing your thing

Sometimes the fill/unfill can leave your muscle a bit sore. Put a little ice on the area that will help. I'm sorry I had to read your post 3x I thought I read due to your attitude issue...and I couldn't grasp why your attitude would affect your fill level...and now I am laughing at myself. Thanks for that!

I will tell you honestly that I use both types of Protein. If you are working out and building muscle, the best way to quickly absorb protein for muscle repair is through a shake or a smoothie. Sure you could go out and eat some grilled chicken or a turkey burger but after an intense work out...ugh I can't eat a thing and shakes/smoothies are life savers On the whole I try to get my protein through whole foods, meats and soy that have to be cut and chewed so that they stimulate my band, but there is a place for shakes and smoothies as well as Protein Bars.

I agree you are on a slippery slope here. One thing could easily lead to another, however I think there is a way around it. Have the TV be a "gift" for a birthday or holiday that you would normally bestow a sizable gift for. Let her know that while you value her and the role she has played in your lives and the lives of your children, money doesn't grow on trees for you either and as you age your worries about money could double with the cost of inflation and instability in the world. Let her know you understand and empathize with her, and that you are looking to ensure your own financial future for your children and their college educations as well as for your own eventual retirement so that your children are not left to be responsible for you and/or your husband. If you handle the situation with candor and finesse you will get your point across and feel good about yourself for gifting someone something they need and want but also standing up for yourself your family and your future. As far as the brother goes, next time this need for something should arise, involve the brother into the "gift" and ask him to contribute.

I use the online support groups and the face to face support groups. Not only from my Dr.'s office but I host them for Bariatric Pal as well. The reason for me is that connection with others keeps me inspired as well as on track and motivated in my own life and on my own journey. It offers me the opportunity to learn, share and give back to the community as well. When your "online" there is so much that's hidden you could be anyone doing anything really, and while that's great for those that need that anonymity I need it to be reality for me. There is a lot to be said for physical presence and face to face communication.

BariatricPal is an amazing resource not only to the WLS community but to the overweight population as well as those who are seeking nutritional support and overall health. There are so many forums and topics covered, and every day the site keeps growing. You have started something truly AMAZING here and we all thank you for being bold enough to take those first steps and include us all on the journey!

Hi friend! You want to be getting in at least 60-80 grams of Protein a day. Protein is something that our bodies can not make and do not hold on to. So you must consume it every single day. It should be the first thing you eat as you plate your food. Salads, and fruits and vegies should be secondary to your protein intake. Slices of deli meats, while they are yummy...are not the best choices of protein. They are usually high in sodium and other by products. Here is a link for nutrition information on deli meats including the protein content and amount per serving. http://caloriecount.about.com/tag/food/delimeat Hope this helps

I love the idea of an A-Z guide toward success after weight loss surgery. It's simple an inspirational!

I don't always have a chance to update but I am on schedule with my planks!! They are working my ABS I will tell you that! Love it!

Did my planks today. 2 sets 20 sec.

From my perspective it seems that many doctors have their usual "schtick" that gives the basic description of the band and how it works to the patients. I realize we are not doctors, but I really do think it's essential for a patient who is banded to understand how their bands work. There are subtle differences in manufacturer and the guidelines for installation by a doctor, and there have been some new understandings in the way the band functions since the days of early banding. There is a bit of a pouch that is created since the band cinches in around part of your stomach though this pouch is not a container in and of itself, it is still part of the whole stomach. Think of the way an hour glass is pinched at the center. If that pinch or narrowing was not there the sand would flow straight from one side to the other as you flip it. Once you add that cinch into the middle it slows the rate or amount of time that it takes for the sand to move from one side of the hour glass to the other. Your band functions in pretty much a similar way. You put food in and it slowly filters from the smaller end of your stomach through the band stoma into the larger stomach at the other side of the band. This slowing down and exerting of pressure on the food particles being pushed through the stoma by the muscles in the esophagus are what stimulate the vagus nerve to signal the brain that you are no longer hungry and have had enough to eat. Now should you start "stacking" bites of food one after another without giving the previous bite of food time to filter through the stoma you are going to get extremely full and perhaps feel sick and want to purge some of that food back up and out. In this case think of a funnel placed into a larger container, you are filling that funnel quickly and to the max, at the other end it can only empty into the larger container at a certain pace and the more you push in from the top the more pressure you exert on the narrow opening at the bottom. If the funnel is flexible and pliable like our organs are, you are going to stretch that bit out to where it no longer fits correctly into the lower container and if you bend it out of shape it's just not going to work the way it was meant to. Continued pressure is going to cause a reverse to the flow and push back out the larger end rather then slowly through the smaller end as intended. For someone who is banded eating mechanics is very important. You want and need to take your time, at least 20 minutes to finish your meals. You want to take a bite, and then chew chew chew, wait for that bite to pass through your stoma and then begin to take the next bite. Put your fork and knife down between bites and pace yourself. Many doctors will tell a new patient not eat and drink together. A good explanation for this is that as you are learning to use and live in tandem with your band and working on your eating mechanics adding the pressure of Fluid on top of food particles that have not yet cleared the band can exert pressure on the stoma which when newly banded or newly filled is often swollen and tender though we do not feel the swelling since it's happening internally unless we are unfortunate enough to get something stuck in the stoma opening. I know much of this was long winded and I hope it makes sense to you. The reason that I chose to be banded was for the fact that it is adjustable to my life style and because of the fact that there was no mal-absorption component and none of my internal organs needed to be removed or re-routed.

I'm in! Starting today! I'll try and post results every day.

I agree 100% let me know if you are able to find out where to have one made!! I love it!

Are you on any pain killers? I know when hubs had recent hip replacement surgery the morphine, and codeine derived drugs had him itching up a storm. Once they changed his pain meds the itching stopped.

@@redhead87 there could be many reasons for the tightness in your calves, but why wait until tomorrow morning to give the doctor a call? If you have a concern and you are not feeling right, give them a call now. It's just a phone call and at the least it will help to calm any fears you have and at the worst it can save your life so please don't wait give them a call and ask their advice. Feel well and please let us know how you are doing.

@@terrydumont46 I'm sorry you are having troubles friend!! I'm keeping the faith for you that everything will be OK after this and the band will remain for you. I also want to say Thank you for sharing your story, it helps all of us to know and understand the realities of what could happen with the band. @@B-52 I think when they say test for the 5 day pouch test it's more of a "tolerance" type thing and I think it originated for those who have a pouch like with the bypass. For us bandsters I think of it like a kind of a "reset" and I do that on occasion as well. Not because I am having any kind of reflux or intolerance to foods but just to "reset" and regain my focus. When I feel myself getting off track, indulging in too many sweets or high carb slider foods, I know I need to get back on track so I go back to the basics.

I didn't have to give them to myself. I got one shot of it in the hospital prior to surgery. The only thing I remember about it was that it burned for a bit but I am sensitive to medications.

Congrats! Good luck with everything!

Awesome you look great! Congrats!!!!

@@redhead87 what @@Junebug36 wrote is right on the $. My advice is don't look for it to happen, or worry about it happening. It's something you don't ever have to experience and you can avoid it. Your so fresh out of surgery, you want to focus on following your Dr.'s orders and healing. Take it slow and drink/eat what ever it is they advised you to and go slowly with it, chew chew chew...allow the bite sip to clear before taking the next one and you are more then on your way to avoiding the disgusting slime Best of luck to you and congratulations on the start of your journey!

@@NYDani The first three days out of surgery are the toughest. You are going to be OK, normal and better then normal very soon. Why are you crying? Is it from pain, fear, what are you having anxiety about? If you are worried because you are not holding down all the shakes just yet don't fear. Try some ice pops, or Italian ices they work wonders for your hydration, they make you feel pretty good about eating them ( I felt like a little kid again!) and they help big time for your internal swelling. Please feel free to Personal Message me I see we have the same Dr. I'd be happy to answer any questions or help in anyway I can.

I agree with @@Colleen C follow what your surgeon recommends. If you are not comfortable with it, knowing that others have different protocols ask them about it. Remember the Dr. is there for you and to take care of you and answer all your questions, don't be afraid to pick up the phone and ask your questions. Good Luck!

@@SkinnyHereICome Before going in to take Fluid out of the band I would question your eating mechanics. The first thing I would do is to give your band a day or two to rest. Go back to your liquid diet for a day and let it rest to heal from any swelling you might have from food being brought back up. Then I would introduce solid foods slowly, and really watch what your eating mechanics are. Are you cutting the bites small enough? Are you chewing them well enough before swallowing the bite? Are you letting the bite clear the band before taking the next bite? If you are doing all these things and you are till having an issue with sliming and food coming back up or getting stuck then you should go in and have a small amount of fluid taken out. Call your Dr. and let them know what's going on sometimes we just need a tiny bit of fluid removed. .5-1cc can make all the difference and keep you in the green part of the green zone rather than closer to the red zone.

@@ErinAZ your concerns are valid. You are going through a big change in your life as much as your husband will be. There are many differences in the surgeries and as @@LindafromFlorida mentioned each person has their own individual journey. Both my husband and I are overweight. In the year we met I had lost 40 pounds and over our years together I put that back on plus 50! We got married in 2012 and I was at the highest weight of my life at 269!! We both were suffering from several health issues, but not the same ones. He is diabetic, I have out of control HBP he needed a hip replacement and over the last three years I had to have as many surgery's and including organ removal. We were failing in our health and that was what really pushed us both to have WLS surgery. We are both banded with plication, and had our surgery 3 days apart from each other so we went through all the same pre-op diet and post op diet and yet we had and have still today a different journey. From meals to foods that make us satiated to work outs. Have you/ would you ever considered having WLS yourself? Imagine how it would be if you were doing it...put yourself in your hubs shoes now and then, and that will help with your perspective on the situation. How would this affect you?? In the reverse he needs to put himself in your shoes and gain some persepctive on where you are at and take a breath before being mean, spiteful or acting out. Ask him if you can't hike and bike and all that would he just leave you behind? Why? Would he do that if you couldn't walk or had some other disability that prevented you from doing those things? Why? Again in the reverse you have to ask yourself would you want him to not do those things if you couldn't do them? Would you stop him from doing what he needs to do for himself because it doesn't fit into your life style? Having WLS takes 100% commitment to making a life change. It is not easy to do as most of us have done it our one way for a long time, but it can be done. So my advice to you is to adapt that mindset for yourself, even if you are not having WLS adapt the mind set of a lifestyle change for YOUR health and YOUR vitality and for what ever goals you set for yourself. It will help you to deal with your husbands life style changes and give you something to strive for in a positive way in your life as well. Best of luck to you both, sounds like you are going to be a great support for your husband and this group is here to support you as well!!