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I went for my first ride since being banded and did it feel great! :thumbup: Living in MI the riding season is short and it sure was hard to give up 3 weeks of riding.

Oreo ~ Currently I'm in Jerome(Hillsdale County) for the summer. I have no clue where Greenville is. Yes Michigan is hard to drive in. My home is in the Detroit burbs which is no fun riding in all that traffic. Nice to be in the country for the Summer, except instead of dodging cars I'm dodging deer!

Hi all...Cant beleive this is already day 22 for me and get to begin REGUALR foods! :drool: I'm feeling really good, except for that darn alergic reaction I had to the steristrips is still lingering on. It is much better now and just mostly iritated around the incisions. I've got lots of energy and been walking 2.5 miles per day, which is unbeleivalble. :tt1: My knees used to have so much joint pain that I would be up all night in pain just from an hour of shopping. Oh and I'm off my blood pressure medication! :thumbup: Time to start cleaning out the closet for me too.:w00t: Everyone keep up the good work!:thumbup:

lunanoir ~ Sorry to hear you share my itchiness! Mine started about day 8 also, same timing, interesting isn't it :huh2:. I've got all the adhesive off and am taking a little Benadryl also. Mine also spread to other areas away from the strips. Unfortunately to the bottom of my breasts and the bra is just aggrevating it :thumbs_up: and also along the waist line to where my pant waist rubs on it...I just can't win! Today was my first day back to work :w00t: and had to go to the ladies room a few times to put cream on. Wish I could have ripped the bra off though!:thumbs_up: It is much better than a week a go though, but still itchy! I just hope this doesn't cause the incisions to scar more heavily. Hope you feel better soon.

Greythope ~ I did the same this afternoon by eating a vanilla wafer and it is still stuck there. Live and learn! But now I'm wondering how going on the regular foods stage starting Monday is going to be??? Guess I'll have to chew, chew, chew, chew! Which I've been doing. I guess it will all be trial and error. And is probably why they advise you to only try one new food a day. Oh and about your puffy incisions, do they itch? I ended up with an alergic reaction to the steristrips. Even though the strips are off now I still have a rash and all my incisions are puffy. I sure hope these heal up without scars. I had my gallbladder out a few years back and can't even see those incisions. I was assuming these would be the same, but now I'm not so sure.

Amy ~ On my week of full liquids I was able to have approximately 6 ounces at each meal/snack. My doctor allowed me to include light-yogurt and pudding on the full liquids which was a big help. Are you allowed these? If so, try making a smoothie by mixing your protein shakes with yogurt. Other than that, hang in there its only for a week. Kiki ~ One week of clear liquids, poor thing! I only had clear on day one. Again another example of the differences between doctors. You hang in there too!

I get my first fill July 23rd. I notice some of you are getting your first fill after only 4 weeks, my doctors waits 6 weeks. Then hunger just started kicking in today. I had been able to go 3-4 hours without eating, now it's more like 2 hours. Hope I can make it until then! Oh an lucky me ended up with an alergic reaction to the Steristrips and the rash just isn't going away. This itching is drving me nuts! Using cortisone cream, but that only helps for a while. Any one else end up with this issue? Good luck to everyone with their first fills.

Hang in there it will get better soon. For me day 7 I was feeling fair and by day 10 excellent. Try to add as much protein as you can to those liquids to help ease the hunger...Good luck!

I suggest the Beaumont Weight Control Center in Royal Oak. There are various support groups, lectures, cooking classes, etc.

It's interesting to read the different calorie/protein goals for everyone. My Protein Goal is 75-85 and calories 700-1000. Just started day one of soft foods and after that on to regular foods, yipee! The Beaumont Weight Loss Clinic provides a nice 30 day Nutrition and Exercise Tracker that is check book size; so it is easy to carry along. I'll have to check out the Daily Plate tool.

Helping Hubby, I agree with Rhapsody, as far as Beaumont and Dr. Krause. I was just banded by Dr. Krause on June 9th. I suggest that you contact the Beaumont Weight Control Center to find out when their next seminar is. When I went to the seminar Dr. Krause gave an overview along with Dr. Zalesin who is the doctor at the center. Another thing you need to find out is what are your insurance requirements for the surgery. If your husband works along with the Weight Control Center, they will make sure all the appropriate documentation is being gathered. Not sure how much you have investigated yet, but for example BCBS wanted 6 mos history of a supervised diet, psych evaluation, 5 years of weight history, etc. Good Luck and I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

leepiz....Yes you stay on that cloud 9 and keep your head high. Too bad that more found out than you wanted. Thats why I chose not tell anyone at work. Fortunately with my company you do not have to disclose, alls I said was that I needed to be out for surgery and then CIGNA handles the FMLA and Short Term Disability. My doctor gave me three weeks off. But then I feel bad because my return date starts 2 weeks vacation that I had planned a year ago, just the way the timing worked out. But I know some of my peers are kind of mad. Oh well, I've been with this company for 22 years and deserve and earned the time off. But I always just worry that maybe they will find out they can do without me; I've only been in my current position 10 months. Working for a major company you are just a number and could be released without a thought. Any way aren't children wonderful, what a nice compliment that your student gave you. Take care and have a great journey.

You need to discuss your Protein intake with your dietician. Your protein needs are determined by you ideal body weigth. Based on mine it is 73 grams per day. However for the first couple of weeks, my goal is only 40grams per day.

My Mushies Menu consists of Mashed Potatoes with low-fat gravy, cottage cheese, natural applesauce, baby foods, scrambled eggs, hot cereals, refried Beans & tuna and along with those I continue to include the Soups and yogurt. Thank goodness for the soup and yogurt, it made the full liquids very bearable and was not bad at all. Today was my first day for the Mushies and couldn't wait to wake up this morning to have some Eggs! dinner I was satisfied with the potatoes and gravy. I would also love any suggestions to add to this phase. Not sure about the rest of you, but after one week of pureed foods I move on to Soft foods for a week. Not quite sure what the difference is yet between the two. I'll meet with the Dietician on Monday to review.

I did not have to do a 2 week liquid diet. This first week I am full liquids, about 700 calories a day and they also want me to get in a minimum of 40 grams of protein a day. I've been getting in about 60 grams by adding Protein powder or non-fat dry milk. Don't be concerned about not loosing any weight yet, everyones body is different. And I'm thinking since I was not on a strict diet prior, a lot of my weight loss is probably due to Water loss.

Banded June 9th and have lost 11 pounds since then. I've decided to only weigh in weekly on Fridays; don't want to get obsessed. Right now I am still pretty swollen and hope some weight goes down when the swelling does.

I was banded on Monday and all of the sudden this evening I am experiencing some lower back pain. Has anyone else experienced this? Not sure if perhaps I just bent the wrong way or been sitting too much. I did go walking this evening and out to pick up some groceries, so I have been moving around ok. Just wondering if this is related or just a coincidence. :smile:

Shelby ~ Not sure what side of town you are on. But I went through the Royal Beaumont Weight Control Center and Dr. Krause did my surgery. I would highly recommend the center all the staff and doctors are great. They offer various lectures, cooking classes, etc. too. Good Luck.

Cathychatts: You may want to try Campbells Healthy Request Creamed Soups. They are low in sodium. Make them with skim milk, not Water, for the extra Protein, plus you can also add a scoop of non-fat dry milk too for even more protein, make sure you strain the soups to get the chunks out. I have found them very satisfying. Another good soup brand if you have a Trader Joes in your town, is their Trader Joes creamed soups. Non-Condensed, just strain and enjoy.

My surgery went as scheduled at 8:00AM on Monday morning. No problems or much discomfort to speak of. Except my potassium was low and they had to feed me some through the IV, that burned like hell and made my arm swell up. They kept me overnight, did the swallow test and x-ray in the morning and kept me through to lunch to make sure I could get the Cream of Chicken soup down. All went well and I was released at 2PM. I've had no pain or gas and am mostly just tired. Actually started pulling some weeds from the garden last night and got yelled at by my daughter; really shouldn't have been bending. So for now I am off work for 3 weeks and have my follow up on June 25th. I'm so relived that all has gone well up until now and hoping I don't hit that Band Hell some of you have spoke of. Could really go for a cup of coffee though. Am feeling the caffeine withdrawal headaches. Well that's all for now. Time for my Lab to take me for a walk.

Yes...just sent you a reply....Carol

Just got through reading this entire thread and Mekadig also captured my thoughts exactly with how I am also feeling. I get banded on Monday, June 9th and I had a little melt down yesterday with the same questions of doubt with going through with this, regret and failure. I have not shared my surgery with anyone but my husband. I am very private and don't want to deal with the negatives. All my family and friends are thin and they just wouldn’t understand. So today I'm feeling a little better. Took a drive to my lake house for some relaxation for the weekend to get prepared for this. I know I have made the right decision and am looking forward to this journey and the new thinner version of me. Long2BThin ~ I am happy to hear your surgery went well. I am hoping I have as great of an experience as you did.

After a very long 15th month process, BCBS has finally approved my surgery! Just scheduled my date this morning and am nervous. I meet witht the nutritionist tommorrow to review the pre-op diet. So happy to finally be able to join a monthly club.

Wish us luck.....perhaps we can buddy up on this to share our experiencies.......

Thanks, I'll let you know after the 9th.