MerryHearted

(( Daisydoodle)) -- I've been through it a few times, I know you are really hurting. Hang in there honey.

Congrats Sheila! Don't worry, the preop time goes by fast, so you'll be banded before you know it.

Goal weights are tricky -- I really want to be at my "ideal" weight of 130 (I'm almost 5'6") and they said to start with a goal weight of 150 -- that will put me in my normal BMI range and I can refine my goal when I get there. For now, I've set up mini goals: Get to my wedding weight (248), then under 200, then back to where I was when I met my DH, 186. THEN I'll aim for that 150.

Yes, who will do your followup care? The cruise I think is fine. I've been on two and cruise ships are very accomodating when it comes to food. Skip the buffet and stick to the formal dining room -- it's so much nicer, you are pampered rather than feeling like you are eating in a cafeteria. Your waiter will bring you what you need, and they have small serving sizes because the meal is served in multiple courses -- just skip some of the courses. But the question of what happens when your surgeon leaves the practice is a valid one -- the band is all about follow up care, getting the surgery is only the first step. If he is leaving the practice, is someone taking his place who will also be banding? If not, will the nurses there still continue to provide fills/unfills? Honestly, you might rather go out of town to a doctor who will be around for awhile -- even if it's a couple hours drive, that stability is important.

ROFL HotLikeHer on the farting -- they are BAD aren't they??!! My doc had me on ibuprofen every 4 hrs for the first three days after surgery -- I literally had to get up at 3 am to make sure I got my dose in. After that they say to switch to Tylenol and only use ibuprofen sparingly as needed. Guess every doc has a different protocol.

Well, consider yourself "ahead" I've only lost 2 lbs in the week since I've been banded (8/31). But that's OK, I'm focusing on healing and getting back to normal -- I have days where I feel great and days where suddenly I feel completely fatigued and slightly nauseated and I need to lie down (not related to something I ate, just comes on all of a sudden) I had my 1 week post-op on Wed and doc told me to start adding in mushies. So right now I'm eating scrambled eggs w/ricotta cheese melted in -- yummmmmy. Does anyone else's port hurt like heck when they get up in the morning? Something about shifting from lying down to standing up sends shooting pains around that area. Ow ow ow ow. Doc says everything is just still tender and healing in there, which makes sense.

That's about it... maybe add some sf jello or sf fruit juice popsicles. After a couple days on the clear liquids I started adding in Glucerna drinks as they are formulated to keep your blood sugar steady for a few hours at a time. But it sounds like you will use the protein stuff for that. Don't forget to have ibuprofen and Tylenol available. I used the children's liquid for a couple days then switched to the regular pills; they are small enough. Best wishes!!

Woohooo!!! Congrats!

I think this suggestion has come up before but not been followed through with because the majority of people on this site have 100+ pounds to lose. (or started out that way)

I haven't told any friends or coworkers. Just my husband and my parents for now. Although I can see how attending OA meetings and not mentioning that you have a band might feel dishonest, as your weight drops off and theirs doesn't. I have wondered about that since I've been thinking of attending a Thin Within support group. I'm not sure whether I'd mention the band or not.

Congrats Jachut!

Might just be total weight lost and not just banded weight lost. My ticker shows my total weight lost, as I started Weight Watchers back at the end of April and lost 18 lbs doing that, then another 8 on pre-op liquid. As far as I'm concerned I worked hard to lose those 18 lbs with WW, so I deserve to count them on my ticker.

You will be OK if you spend two weeks with a little less Protein, while you are healing. In the long run, yes, we need to make sure we are getting adequate protein but don't stress about it during this phase. (unless you are doing it per doc instructions or to keep yourself from feeling hungry) Protein shakes aren't even on my doc's liquid suggestion list. Various dairy products are probably enough to help with the protein aspect. Probably another way that different docs vary in their post-op instructions.

I chose to even though my doc didn't require it for me, because I figured it'd give me a jump start on my weight loss that I would probably not gain back like I always have before. And since my ultimate goal is to get rid of these extra pounds, I went for it. I started off with Optifast + my 5-a-day of fresh veggies & fruit (no dressings or anything on them, just raw or steamed veggies and raw fruit). Optifast made my eczema flare up on my face, so I switched to Glucerna weight loss shakes and those worked just fine. I admit to having a couple "last supper" meals of my favorite things during those two weeks, but not large portions. I dropped 8 lbs prior to and 4 lbs since surgery. Now I'm almost a week post op and frankly the liquid phase isn't bothering me at all. I'm probably still swollen and just not hungry. Plus my pre-op liquids were the Optifast or Glucerna and my post-op liquids are completely different -- Jello, cream Soups, chicken broth, SF fudgecicles and popsicles, a nice latte with SF flavored syrup, etc. I'm actually enjoying it, probably becaues I'm still swollen and not hungry all the time, but when the swelling goes down I'll spend those last few liquid days on the Glucerna again which keeps your blood sugar stabilized. Sorry, I wrote a whole book... sheesh... Good luck on both pre-op and the surgery!!

I'm in! I was just banded less than a week ago, so the first few weeks for me are healing time. Nonetheless, I do hope to lose some weight. I would like to drop 20 lbs This morning, on my home scale I weighed 262 Pic attached of me taken right now by my DH. Although I don't think I'll look any different once I lose 20 lbs. I've already dropped 26 lbs and nobody can tell. Adding an "after" pic of me at 244 at the end of the challenge (-18 lbs)

Western civilization is "overnourished" imho. Google "anti-aging" sometime in relation to very low cal diets. You'll find that the recommended cal level for women on those diets is pretty low. http://www.longevitymeme.org/topics/calorie_restriction.cfm eta: I dated a guy once who was into this anti-aging stuff. He had been diagnosed with diabetes in his early thirties and his doctor pointed him to the anti-aging diet. He was super thin, like 140 lbs, but his diabetes was gone and apparently the diet was working for him. (he'd been on it for a good 7 years or so at that point).

When I went in for my psych consult, the psychologist was so nice! (she had been banded herself). She said it's not so much about preventing people from getting banded, it's about seeing what extra counseling help they might need along the way and screening for depression. I think you will do fine during the consult and maybe you want to sign up for some extra counseling along the way if the binging or compulsive eating are a problem once you are banded. Personally, I did a lot of compulsive eating. I wasn't bulimic, so no binge/purge cycles, but I did pig out quite nicely on a regular basis despite not being physically hungry. That's pretty typical for folks who are morbidly obese and the band is the perfect tool to bring that behavior under control.

My instructions are 2 weeks liquids, then 2 weeks mushies, then I can slowly introduce solids.

Now that I'm banded, I'd be afraid of taking zetacap or anything like it. Isn't that the one that's supposed to expand in your stomach to make you feel full? Well that pouch doesn't stretch much, can you imagine the pain if that stuff expanded in the pouch? ow ow ow

Yep, my surgery was on Wed at Evergreen -- the staff was super nice there from start to finish. I'm still feeling like I got run over by a large truck, but it's slowly getting better. Congrats on having a surgery date and starting the pre-op diet. 20 lbs in a week and a half is going to be a challenge -- best wishes and hang in there! At least with only a week and a half left, the waiting torture is minimal.

Hey DVSABoss -- how'd the psych and surgeon consults go today?

Really, does staying up and moving around really help more than the resting? Is that because you get better circulation or what? Because I've been a total slug yesterday afternoon and all day today. I have gotten up and done a little walking. But I have so little energy -- the pain just sucks it right outta me.

Mine comes and goes, and yes, being overtired seem to be one of the major triggers for me too. Sometimes I have to get up and walk around. If it gets really really bad I'll take a sleeping pill. My doc also offered me the Parkinson's medication but I said no, I didn't want to add another pill to the arsenal. If it ever gets chronically bad I'll probably cave on that though. Frankly, I'm hoping it'll go away or just be more rare when I've lost all my excess weight -- maybe I'll be less likely to be overtired?

That's great Margo!! I just got banded yesterday, and have been sleeping a lot. I keep having dreams that I ate some solid food just out of habit and then I panic thinking I've ruined everything. Then I wake up and realize it's just a dream and I haven't actually eaten anything. Whew! Anyone else with weird bandster dreams now that you're banded?

Congrats Cissy!! The next two weeks are going to just FLY by, hang in there even if it seems like it's taking forever.