Cassy

Hi Jmegirl! I've seen and tried this yogurt as well. The plain is definitely not the tastiest. They do have it in vanilla but it's a little harder to find so keep your eye out for it. We have Fresh N Easy stores here that carry several flavors of that brand. Also, if you only have the plain then I highly recommend stirring in a spoonful of Smuckers Simply Fruit which has no sugar in it and it tastes great! The Simply Fruit can also be used in smoothies or your cream of wheat or other breakfast cereal and I think it's around 20 calories for a spoonful. It might be a little more but not much.

Hey there Tangeray! What is happening with uptownmami? My mom and discussed that we thought she might have a hard time. If you stress yourself out you will feel worse than you should and she did seem a little stressed. I think I'll dig up her contact information so we can see if she's ok. So far, my only "issues" to overcome have been being able to be in bed for long periods of time while the swelling goes down (I used the ice pack up until about 3am this morning and yesterday the abdominal muscles were really tight. This morning the swelling seems be subsiding and it does feel good to get up and walk around for a few minutes every few hours. Gas hasn't been a big problem either. I've just been taking all the meds he prescribed as they were prescribed and also have adding the GasX strips. I woke up with an allergy headache today because I forgot to get a pill crusher to be able to take that so we'll be going to pick one up today so I can take that and get rid of this headache. All in all, it's what I expected. Tight abdominal feeling, somewhat difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position (recliner or on your back is best) and last night I was finally able to sleep on my stomach for a while without any pain. Today, I'm going to try to get out for a while and walk around and see how I do. I'll post more later

ok< I was banded today and all went well. Dr. K and all of his staff were very professional and attended to my every need. I was in some pain when I woke up, probably a 6 but they give you something stronger than morphine so it kicked it as soon as they gave it to me. I have been using the pain medicine every 4 hours so that I can get up and walk around. I did use the suppository and I highly recommend it because I don't have much gas although I took a GasX strip when I got back to the hotel just in c ase. Dr. K wants you to use an ice pack and not a heating pad so I though I would mention it. Also, the incentive spirometer is a little harder to do than you would think but not unbearable. I definitely haven't been very hungry and when I take the hydrocodone it knocks me out so I"m getting quite a lot of sleep. Not one bit of nausea so far...so all is well. I will post more later. :confused:

I am getting all of my stuff together for my trip tomorrow night to Denver to see Dr. Kirshenbaum for my surgery on Wednesday te 24th of 2008. I've lost almost 20 pounds in the last two months heading into surgery and I think that has all been stress except the last 8 pounds which probably had something to do with the low carb diet that Dr. K has us go on 10 days prior to surgery. It was harder than I thought to come up with $10,000 in cash for the surgery but I did it. Funny...I've never been able to stick to the low carb thing until someone told me that my money depended on it. Basically if he opens you up and your liver hasn't shrunk enough then he will not do it...apparently low carb shrinks your liver by reducing glycogen which is caused by your body using the stored glycogen for fuel and then beginning to use fat for fuel thus the low carb diet is good because it builds muscle while the body is burning fat. Not good for the long term but just what the doctor ordered for surgery. I'm pretty sure I"m ready to go...I've read all the posts, I've got my "to pack" list ready for shoving all my stuff into my suitcase tomorrow when I get home from work and then I'll be ready to go. My husband doesn't seem too phased by it all. He thinks I'll get skinny and then not want him any more. I told him I already have my doubts....hahaha...just a joke there for all of you who have been married for ten years or more. I love him but he sure does get on my nerves sometimes. Anyway, my mom is meeting me in Denver to help take care of me. We rented a two bedroom suite at the Marriott Towneplace Suites so that she has a bedroom and then Steve and I have one that is all in the same suite. Steve will work on his homework while I wonder what I've done to myself. (at least I'm planning for that based on what everyone else on here has to say about the day or two after surgery ...I am ready to go and happily I can say that I've gotten all my important items done at work so nothing will be haunting me while I'm out. I hope to be back to normal by this coming Monday so that I can go back to work, otherwise I'll have to work from home. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll post my measurements and final weight in weight just before surgery on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, the night before surgery I'm planning a get together for the other ladies who are having surgery on the same day with Dr. K. That should be fun. Until next time...

I am getting all of my stuff together for my trip tomorrow night to Denver to see Dr. Kirshenbaum for my surgery on Wednesday te 24th of 2008. I've lost almost 20 pounds in the last two months heading into surgery and I think that has all been stress except the last 8 pounds which probably had something to do with the low carb diet that Dr. K has us go on 10 days prior to surgery. It was harder than I thought to come up with $10,000 in cash for the surgery but I did it. Funny...I've never been able to stick to the low carb thing until someone told me that my money depended on it. Basically if he opens you up and your liver hasn't shrunk enough then he will not do it...apparently low carb shrinks your liver by reducing glycogen which is caused by your body using the stored glycogen for fuel and then beginning to use fat for fuel thus the low carb diet is good because it builds muscle while the body is burning fat. Not good for the long term but just what the doctor ordered for surgery. I'm pretty sure I"m ready to go...I've read all the posts, I've got my "to pack" list ready for shoving all my stuff into my suitcase tomorrow when I get home from work and then I'll be ready to go. My husband doesn't seem too phased by it all. He thinks I'll get skinny and then not want him any more. I told him I already have my doubts....hahaha...just a joke there for all of you who have been married for ten years or more. I love him but he sure does get on my nerves sometimes. Anyway, my mom is meeting me in Denver to help take care of me. We rented a two bedroom suite at the Marriott Towneplace Suites so that she has a bedroom and then Steve and I have one that is all in the same suite. Steve will work on his homework while I wonder what I've done to myself. (at least I'm planning for that based on what everyone else on here has to say about the day or two after surgery ...I am ready to go and happily I can say that I've gotten all my important items done at work so nothing will be haunting me while I'm out. I hope to be back to normal by this coming Monday so that I can go back to work, otherwise I'll have to work from home. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'll post my measurements and final weight in weight just before surgery on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, the night before surgery I'm planning a get together for the other ladies who are having surgery on the same day with Dr. K. That should be fun. Until next time...

All of you who will be in the Denver area on 9/23 are welcome to join us. Dr. K's group will be meeting up at Ruby Tuesday's at 14100 East Iliff Avenue in Aurora, CO on Tuesday the 23rd at 6:30 pm. All family/support members and children are also invited. Just let me know how many will come if you want to join by 6pm so I can get the seating set up. email me and I'll send my contact information to you. The number to the restaurant is 303-368-4757. Everyone is invited ...for any other Dr. K patients or others who are lap band patients in the area. I will be wearing a bright green shirt and I have red hair and black rimmed glasses so you'll have an easy time picking me out. I'll also let the hostess know that there is a group of Dr. K patients coming in so you won't have to be looking around.

HI Carollee, you are not the only one on the 24th. I am having surgery on that day and so are hawki24, mdargen, and uptownmami278. Feel free to email any of us. We have several posts under Kirshenbaum if you search for it in the search field. Take Care and we'll keep you in our thoughts on Tuesday! Make sure to post so we know how you're doing!

Lowbmier: I will be keeping you in my thoughts tomorrow. I do think that getting the GasX strips is a good idea. I feel comforted knowing that Dr. K removes as much of the gas as possible, however I spoke to my mom who has had numerous surgeries and she said that you wouldn't want to be caught in that kind of pain without something available so...better to be safe than sorry. I'm pretty sure you're not going to feel up to dinner on the 23rd or sitting anywhere for too long, but just in case you do the group of 24th'ers and a few others from later in the week will be meeting up at Ruby Tuesday's at 14100 East Iliff Avenue in Aurora, CO on Tuesday the 23rd at 6:30 pm. All family/support members and children are also invited. Just let me know how many will come if you want to join by 6pm so I can get the seating set up. email me and I'll send my contact information to you. The number to the restaurant is 303-368-4757. Everyone is invited ...for any other Dr. K patients or others who are lap band patients in the area. I will be wearing a bright green shirt and I have red hair and black rimmed glasses so you'll have an easy time picking me out. I'll also let the hostess know that there is a group of Dr. K patients coming in so you won't have to be looking around. I am super happy for you and I know that you are in good hands so sit back, relax, and think about your new life! Hopefully we'll see you on Tuesday and if not...please be sure to post so we know how you are doing.

Just out of curiosity, are you putting the heating pad on your stomach? I"m guessing you are but it seems strange.

I have been doing the Atkins, trying to keep it below 20 grams of carbs a day and at worst, less than 50 on the days when I've slipped up which has been twice. Thanks for the info on the meds, that helps

I don't feel horrible because I ate one cookie twice in the same week but other than that I've been at less than 20 carbs per day and on those days I didn't go over 50 carbs. I just felt bad because I cheated at all. Now that I see your post though, I think I'll run out of the house screaming if I even think of eating something I shouldn't eat. Thanks for the wake up call :thumbup:

Email me, we are getting together on the 23rd for dinner with all the girls and families of people having surgery on the 24th.

Aprilapple you are funny as hell! I will be laughing about this every time I think about it.

Just out of curiosity...what were you eating on your own pre-op diet that didn't shrink your liver? I'm on low carb and have cheated once or twice and I'm deathly afraid that I'm going to wake up without my band because of it. Please tell me that you didn't do the same thing I just did ahhhhhhh

My appointment is at 3pm, so if nothing else then I'll definitely see you there. What time is your surgery appt. I'm curious to know if they have us all coming in at once or staggered throughout the day. I woudl think he would prep everyone and then go room to room but who knows. We haven't decided on dinner because I just had the braniac idea this morning and I'm checking one last time to make sure we include everyone that I can find on the site. Are you from Denver? that's cool that you will be close to home or at least family. We decided to stay through the week so I wouldn't have to travel feeling like crap...

One more thing I forgot, I wanted to let you know that I found a really cool site that lets you blog for free and the templates are really cool. the web site is here so that you can set it up ahead of your surgery and then log your progress as you go along. That way you can post it for us to see and we can motivate each other. (if you are interested, some prefer to keep it private) 3FC Diet Blogs

I need to see what the latest pre-op appt is that day so that we can make sure we don't schedule it too early to include everyone I can find on the site. I would think we should be ok to eat at 5:30 or 6:00 so that we are well under our curfew :frown: hee hee It says light snack before 10 so you best be assured that I will eat dinner early and my snack at 9:55pm! I'm finding a few more people that are on our same day so let me check with them and then I'll post a few choices of places and times and we can all vote. Does that work for you? Where are you staying when you're in town? I think it would be cool to bring our support people too. I know it would be nice for my husband and mom to have someone to talk to so if they are waiting in the waiting room at the same time then they will know someone...ya know?

Thanks for keeping the list! You've helped me to find my fellow bandsters. Could you add me to the 24th? thanks!

mdargen, myself and uptownmami287 will be doing our pre-op and surgeries on the same day as you. Woudl you like to join us for dinner on the 23rd?:thumbup:

Just checking for my fellow bandsters on the 24th! I have uptownmami278 and myself. Anyone else? We'd like to meet up the evening before for dinner if possible. We'll Celebrate and motivate each other!:thumbup:

Question... What prescriptions did Dr. K prescribe for post-op? I asked Natalie but she hasn't responded. I want to check on pricing before I go. Also, did he use a catheter? I'm a little freaked out about some other posts I saw where the Dr. used a catheter.

Sorry for the double post, I'm still getting the hang of this... Hi there, yes I did check with Atkinson and he was close to $20K... I said no way because I am cash pay so there's no way I want to be on the hook for that much debt plus interest!

Thanks Mary, I will join you next month. I will be recovering from surgery on the 27th of this month but I will look forward to next month to meet all of you. Take Care and wish me luck!

Thanks everyone for your welcoming comments and well wishes! I need to get used to checking this periodically throughout the day so I can get in on conversation. I'm going to have a hard time concentrating on work this week. I know I'm only going to be thinking about the surgery...I am so excited!!! Shamefully, I might have to take an anxiety pill to get me through the days because I want to scream everytime I think about it. I've been seriously overweight since I was 5 years old so the idea of being thin is enough to make my heart pound out of my chest. Yippee!

uptownmami278: I would love to get together. I am in town starting the day of the 23rd so maybe we could enjoy our last supper that evening before the cutoff time Even though it would need to be low carb, it would still be nice to have a pleasant evening the night before. My husband and mom will be there with me, who are you bringing with? I'll email you tomorrow when I get to work. You can email me also at cassandra.mason@ecommlink.com