mercedes

I had mine done the 5th of Aug. I was a little scared. But all my real fears were put to rest with wonderful MD's who knew their stuff. It's just not that complicated a surgery. Day 4 and I'm still okay : ) I'm not sorry I did it and I'd do it again in a second! I shouldn't have been as afraid as I was. It's an adventure. I am looking forward to Friday when I can have thicker drinks ; ) Have a nice meal (last supper) tonight and have a good night's sleep! Hopefully all will be better than you expected, like it was for me.

I will do it today!!! Thanks!

P.S. And "NO" my pillow wasn't missing : D

I have enjoyed and learned a lot on this post! I go out for a birthday dinner for the first time this friday (which is exactly 1 week after banding) and I don't get to eat with everyone. My husband was afraid this would bother me, but I don't think it really will. I'll just have a drink of juice and be totally too full for anything else I suppose....but maybe I will have cravings??? First time so I'll just have to find out by experience : ) None of them know I've been banded so they'll just think I'm dieting....again. Good advice about putting the glass far away so that you don't just instinctually take a big drink to wash down a yummy bite! Last night I dreamed that I ate a whole burrito and forgot I had been banded. When I woke up, I was sooo relieved! Stupid dreams!!! Put me in a flipping panic!!!

I thought of another question to throw out there. I am sooooo afraid of PBing or barfing. Deathly afraid, but fear makes me behave!!!! Have any of you gotten sick with food poisoning or the flu? How did you survive that? It scares me. I had surgery on Friday the 5th. I'm supposed to be on Clear Liquids for a week. What is the appropriate calorie intake? The first day I had almost 300 cals. The second day I had 350ish The third day I had 350-400 Today I've had about 400. I am so hungry at times but as soon as I take a few swallows, I feel fine. How did you all do it? How many cals were you ingesting durring the clear liquid phase?

Hi Flygirl, I do have kids and I'm 43yrs old. Their ages 15/13/11/8 and they are all boys. I could not stay down in bed for any time. Befor I did this, I figured I was in pretty good physical condition pre surgery (other than the fat) and I am fairly active (have to be w/ boys) so I really believed that I'd recover real well. Luckily it's been pretty good. Had a bad night last night though. I was soooo hungry that even the benedryl didn't make me sleep through it. I just layed there hoping it would subside. I dozed for a while again but then I had a very bad dream. I dreamed I ate a burrito and forgot that I had a band!!! I was so afraid of barfing or making my band slip. Then I woke up and WHEW it was only a dream!!!! You are lucky that you get to have mushies so soon. I have to wait 2 1/2 weeks more! The cream of wheat sounds good for a thick drink. My first day of mushies I want one sweet thing, those little prepackaged containers of flan. Are you extra hungry at night? Daytime I'm fine. I just take a drink and I'm good...even the no calorie stuff fills me fine. I'm just going to have to take double benedryl tonight so I can sleep through the hunger. Monday morning was my last day of pain meds. (I also took liquid Tylenol.) I feel pretty good. What have you been able to do today? When are you going to get on the scales for the first time? I think I'll do that on Friday. I have 2 nieces that live in the Denver area. What area do you live in? We almost moved to the town that bordes Utah, can't think of the name right off. Kinda near Moab. I'm from Utah but live in the east now (for the past 15yrs).

OOps sorry for the repeat info on the Benedryl! And some of the other stuff too! My post could have been 1/2 as long! Sorry.

Hi Again, I can start having protein shakes and thicker drinks on Friday (1week after). I have to stay on the thicker drinks for 1 week, and then I have one week of mushy food, then I can start real food. Why have you only been out of bed 3 times? The first night I thought I was supposed to get up and walk, so I tried and I felt wooozy and had to lay back down and get my pain meds and sleep til morning! The next day I felt pretty good, just some soreness and pain when I'd try to move after being stationary for a while. The more I moved, the better I felt. Sunday, I flew on a 4hr flight, plus 1hr more home and was ready for bed afterwards but I felt too hungry (1st time) to sleep so I took some benedryl and had the best sleep! Today I felt so good that I went to Target, took my son to a dentist appt., cleaned the kitchen, watched the kids swim (layed there because I needed the rest after all that action!), and then went with my husband to my son's football practice to keep him company. I did drink too much at the practice and I'm feeling it now. Gassy pain or full stomach pain. First time today though so that's way better than yesterday. Hardly any hunger today and that is good news too. How do you feel today? Are you from Colorado? Who was your doc? I would love to stay in close contact w you! I wish I could figure out how to do the ticker thing but I'm too computer stupid I guess ! I've tried, but can't figure it out. I'd ask my husband to do it for me but then he'd know my weight! haha! I took some more benedryl just a minute ago so I'm ready to have another nice night of good rest! Hope you have a good night too!

Hi Flygirl, We had the same band date! Where did you have yours done? I'm feeling so much better today. I had to take a benadryl last night because I was too hungry to sleep : ) But I slept all night, mostly on my stomach and woke up feeling great. The liquids are really filling me today and I don't feel too hungry. I just finished a small glass of beef broth. Mmmmm.

Hi Jodie, I think I remember you posting here that you can hardly walk and that your condition is so bad that it is even very hard on you to type. If you shared that info with your friends, maybe they think that you can't dance anymore and that you wouldn't be able to handle a night out. If you were my friend and had told me of some of the physical disabilities that you were having (and they sounded very severe) I would be afraid that you'd get hurt or collapse while out. So you might need to let them know that you are feeling able to do those kinds of things again and I betcha they'd lose their fear and invite you out. It's worth a try : ) Good luck and have a great day : )

My number one goal is to remain a PB virgin : ) That whole thing scares me to death, but that's what I've needed all along to motivate me....fear.....

Dr. Ortiz says to have some metamusil to curb hunger. You get to start on thicker drinks now, like protein shakes, right? And yogurt too! I was just there for surgery on the 5th, just got home today. I'm getting pretty hungry now too. The first 2 days were easy because my stomach felt restricted. Good luck!

I made it and I didn't die : ) I think I'm going to like it. Banded 8/5/05 Dr. Ortiz Starting weight 171 Goal 130

P.S. I'm going to write a letter to my family (Husband & 4kids) incase something bad happens. Did any one else do this?

Hi Just, I fly out in the morn. to see Dr Ortiz. I hope hope hope I am in as good a shape as you in 2 days! My stomach muscles should be really good too (under the lard) because I have been doing sit ups like never before since Feb and I can really tell too. I hope that I am in good enough shape to come out of this in flying colors as you did. I'm so glad you did.

Hi Guys, I leave on the plane for San Diego and then on to TJ tomorrow morning!! Thanks for all the advise and hope. I do not have an MD lined up for after care as suggested by all here. How bad is that???? The reason is because I am not 100lbs over weight and I never would have been accepted as a lap band candidate in the US. (I'm 50lbs over weight, with a BMI of 30ish) I felt as though my only choice was to go ahead and do it, then just start begging for follow up care after : ) There is a doc in our city that does some lap bands and I suppose I'm going to ask him if he'll follow up when I get back. I sure hope I'm one of those who has few/no problems!!! If you don't hear from me on monday, that means I died.... I feel like I'm about to jump off a cliff into a pool of Water. Just closing my eyes and having faith that all will be well! I'm almost as worried about the plane flight, I hate bumpy scary flights Wish me luck and send your prayers!!! Mercedes

I know how I am. I forget sometimes which things I have promised to keep secret. At least after time has passed I know that this can happen with me. So I try to remember that I am like this and that other people will likely share my secrets with others over time too..... that is if they are interesting enough secrets to tell : )

Hi Sonnie, so scary and also hard to deal with : ( Do You have any advice for us about to have it done? Do you have any clue why you developed such problems w/ reflux? Any advice about doctors or fills or anything? I go to Mexico day after tomorrow and I'm hopeful that all goes well, but it is an expensive risk isn't it!

Hi guys, can I ask, why do you have to do liquids only the week before surgery? I haven't done that and I'm having the surgery this Friday in Mexico. Should I start on liquids now, I wonder, and do them for the next 4 days? I haddn't asked them about it and they never mentioned it???

Hi All, When you say that you can use it or blow it, what do you mean? What do you do when you "use it" to your advantage? What do you do when you "blow it"? How do you avoid blowing it? Thanks Sue for sharing your experiences : )

I have a question, and I know that I will be asking the Dr. specifics on this, but I guess I'd like to hear from you if you know. I have been lifting weights with a trainer since February and I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to do power lifting type lifting again? My favorite lifts are the dead lift and squats but they are very strenuous (sp). I never thought I would enjoy weights, I thought it would be so boring and unproductive. Boy, was I wrong. I can tell such a huge difference in my body and I really want to get back to it as soon as possible after surgery. Anybody been through this? i i

Hi, Can anyone tell me what they know about the different types of bands and how they differ? Does anyone know if one works better than another and why? Maybe there is a place where I could have looked this up, but I missed it?

You all are going to be sick of me. I'm trying the ticker thing again.

I just want to see if I got the ticker from the ticker factory working.

I have another, probably very stupid, question! What is the difference in eating foods that are naturally soft VS chewing something until it is very soft too? What are some foods that seem to stay there and keep you feeling full?