kelli130

hey everybody. i'm from the Lebanon area in Indiana. Just northwest of Indianapolis. I was banded yesterday by Dr. Keith McEwen form Community in Noblesville. He was the best!!! I am self-pay so this was a large investment for me. I researched and about two years ago I even went through one of the classes through a large hospital in Indianapolis. I felt like a number there. I decided not to do it at that time cause insurance wouldn't pay and I wasn't that comfortable with it. In the beginning of November, a girl I worked with (she just came on board in July) confided in me that she had the lapband surgery in April and had lost about 60 lbs. She told me about her doctor and I called him immediately and made an appointment. My insurance had a "no weight loss treatments" clause so I went the medical finance way. I really like Dr. McEwen and his staff. I met with the dietician, exercise physiologist, and even had a psych evaluation. As soon as the appointments out of the way, we scheduled the surgery and I started preop diet. I would highly recommend Dr. McEwen to anyone considering this surgery. I had my surgery yesterday at the Indiana Surgery Center. Dr. McEwen requires an overnight stay which was the only was I would ever have any surgery again. I don't handle anest. well and usually get sick. I would have been sick if the nurses weren't so quick on their feet with ice packs and medicine. The nursing staff was great!!! I lost 12 lbs preop. I stepped on the scales before I left this morning, just for giggles, and it said I was up 3 lbs. I know that its all fluids though. My nurse thought 3 was great because she joked that they had given my at least 10 lbs. of fluid. It did feel that was since I was on an IV for 23 hours non-stop. If anyone in Indiana is looking for a surgeon, I highly recommend Dr. McEwen from Community. Kelli:biggrin:

You can do it. I am 14 hours away from my surgery. I am so hungry and so excited I can't stand it!!! I notice that some doctors are much more strict than others. Mine is strict. It is 6-8oz. Bariatric Advantage shakes, s.f. Jello, low sodium broth (as long as they don't exceed 160 calories a day), and my Vitamins. I can't have anything else. It has been hell, but I have done it. I even gave up my diet cokes!! I figure if you can do the preop diet, you will be successful with the band. If you make excuses to cheat now, you will make excuses to cheat after banding. To be honest, making excuses or concessions is what got me where I am today. It's just not worth it anymore. No more justifying in my mind, why I should have "fill-in-the-blank". You can do this! I got excited stepping on the scale every morning. I think I would have dreaded it if I had cheated. You have come this far and you are making a huge investment in yourself. Don't sell yourself short. You deserve to succeed at this. You deserve to treat yourself right. You will not die on the preop diet. You can actually lose weight. You will go into surgery with absolutely no worries if your liver is small enough for surgery because you did everything you were suppose to do! YOU CAN DO IT! GO FOR IT!!! Kelli

you can do this. You have to do it. You will be on the same type of diet once you are banding. (in the beginning stages) i am finishing day 14 today and I have my surgery in the morning. i was told that warm liquids actually fill make you feel full. warm chicken broth or beef broth did the trick for me. i took my Vitamins during this time. I watered down the shakes a bit (use more Water, not less power) and mixed them in a blender and drank them quickly. this preop diet was hard, but you can do it. i broke down in tears on saturday with only 3 1/2 days to go. but i did not give in to my cravings and i distracted myself until the feeling went away. now i'm at 23 hours and counting. you can do it!!:angry_smile: kelli

I have been on the pre-op diet for 14 days. My surgery is tomorrow morning. I am so excited. My surgeon requires the Bariatric Advantage shakes. They are disgusting! But I was able to tolerate them if I mixed them in a blender then put them in the fridge overnight so they would "settle" and not be frothy. I was allowed to have broth. My counselor told me that warm liquids actually make you feel fuller, so I had a cup of warm broth before bed and that stopped the hunger pains. There were two things that were the hardest for me, well, three things. 1. Fixing dinner for my family. (I finally bought convenience foods by week 2 and made them fix dinner themselves.) 2. Going to Chuck E. cheese Saturday night for my daughter's birthday party and serving pepperoni pizza to the kids followed by chocolate cake. (I was good though, only a diet coke) 3. Finally giving up my diet cokes (Saturday night was my last one.) I know this will all be worth it. I feel like the worse part is behind me. I am counting down the hours. My coworker had the surgery last April. She has lost 70 lbs. and looks great. She actually had to have a second surgery 15 days after the original due to slippage. However, even after all of that, she said the preop diet was the hardest part. So I believe it you can get through it, you can do anything. Good luck to everyone with your upcoming surgeries! Kelli