newmein2015

Just continue your pre-op diet and remember to breath!! I received my dietary tool on Dec. 23rd. The two weeks prior was my time to EDIT my pantry and refiterator. If you have a family and are responsible for OTHER meals, you probably should start preparing for how you want to handle your diet vs. preparing for others. I'm a single guy so it was a bit easier for me. I wish I had stuck with my pre-op diet instead of succombing to my LAST What-a-Burger, Popeye's chicken or Mexican breafast. While I lost weight, I just barely lost the required 10 lbs.
Quite frankly, I enjoyed the 7:30 am call and the period of time prior to going into surgery. The staff can be very good at calming your nerves and they do start a pre-op IV to help the body prepare for surgery. Post surgery was great, too. No pain. That wore off around mid-Afternoon but was manageable. If you are having hiatal hernia, be prepared for a bit more pain [i didn't] due to the repair and the gas that they use to inflate the stomach. GasXX strips should be on hand and take as needed. I did one about every 2-3 hours and it helped. Also, I didn't lie down until that evening. Sitting, walking and do minimal activities. My niece had her's 2 years ago. She started dusting after her procedure. I did dishes and then a minimal rearragement of one the shelves in the utility room.
Most of all...make it a celebration of what is to come. You are taking a great, first step and the medical staff are really there to make it happen. Be realistic...it will feel lilke someone punched you in the stomach but they will give you a perscription for pain. I barely used 1/4 of the liquid Tylenol.
The strangest thing is that you will begin to feel liquid hitting the bottom of your stomach about 5 minutes after taking sips [or when the operating meds wear off] of Water. The craziest thing is I LOST my appeetite on Dec. 23rd and I still don't have it. The biggest thing I have to learn is that a full stomach trumps an empty plate.
Good luck!

You can do anything for a week

Thank you all for sharing your stories! I just got a date of January 21st and I am so excited! Reading positive stories like these help keep me motivated! Congratulations and best of luck to you all!

Greetings, all!
I had my surgery 4 months ago today! I have had 2 fills, and as of today I have lost 29 pounds! I have reached a mini goal of hitting 180 by my birthday!
After the adjustment, I can eat about a cup of food, and am learning when to not eat one bite too many. I am so happy!

5 months and 50lbs later!

Hey we made it through Christmas with our wacky liquid/soft diets and scary first attempts at chewing and swallowing. How did it go?
I think I am getting the hang of it now. My surgery was the 11th, and after 2 weeks I have lost 11 lbs. I'm finally feeling like I am getting the car I'm learning to operate out of the driveway and am taking it slowly around the block.
The first week of liquid diet was hard and I found myself obsessing about what I was going to eat when I could finally have real food. then as soon as I got the all clear I came down with the flu AND a UTI (is my immune system suppressed?) and stuck with the easy stuff for a few more days.
Last night I went to Christmas dinner at my friends' and decided tonight was the night to eat a normal meal at the table, with a knife and fork, like a human being! It was great. Started off with 2 glasses of white wine (sorry, not giving up my apéritif!). I had about 8 tiny bites of tenderloin, about 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes, 2 tiny nibbles of bread and half a sliver of key lime pie. It took me as long to finish that as my dining companions took to consume huge platefuls of food--and seconds! I put very little on my plate, ate about half of it and I was full. And I stayed full the whole night until I went to bed like 6 hours later!
I am so pleased! Today I was down another pound. I am not craving any foods now.

Well, there is nothing you can do about the past-- it's over. So plan your attack. Here's some ideas:
1) Plan your meals the day before
2) Have a long talk with your family members- they are sabotaging you.
3) Make an appointment with dietitian and insist that the cook/food shopper attend
Good luck-- don't let them ruin your journey to weight loss and good health!

I was banded yesterday (December 18th) and I have made it through night 1!
Thought I would post some tips and tricks that helped me have a successful and relatively comfortable surgical day.
If your surgeon calls in a prescription for you for pre and post-op meds, pick it up the day before, rather than waiting until the day of your surgery. With my surgery just 3 hours away and a 2-hour drive ahead of us to the Clinic, I almost melted down in the pharmacy when there were four other people ahead of me picking up prescriptions TAKING FOREVER! I could have gone the night before. Silly me. A pillow for the car-ride home. Placing a pillow between your tummy and the seatlbelt is a great idea to protect those tender incisions. For surgery day... bring along a tote bag with an extra pair of socks and undies, your I.D. and any medications you are currently taking (plus of course anything else your surgeon has instructed you to bring). You may wish to leave the bra behind (bliss!) as you almost certainly will not be wearing again to go home post-op. Set up your house/bed ahead of time BEFORE you go in for your procedure. This saves you time and makes things easier when you get home. Set up your bedroom with: Tons of pillows in your bed - you will very likely want to sleep in an upright position as the gas will be painful, and sitting up lessens the pain tremendously! A large sippy cup or spouted water bottle to sip sip sip sip sip Water out of through the night. No gulping! Your reading glasses (if used) within easy reach Your phone nearby (if you are addicted to staying connected with the outside world as I am) Your pain meds bottle right on hand, cap unscrewed (you don't want to be twisting with your tummy wounds. Yowch!) Gas-X dissolvable strips. These really, really helped. Kleenex for the tears (if there are any). I had a little cry due to tiredness and pain. Glad they were there. A night light. This is a great help to allowing you to see where you're going when you are woozy from the narcotics and need to pee. An extra warm and fuzzy blanket or comforter. I found I was prone to being cold and the extra warm layer helped. Your caregiver's 100% attention. Your surgery day and first night can be rough, so having someone to love you up and give you what you need is important. :-) Hope this is helpful!
The Professor

I just scheduled my preop testing for December 30th! I'm super excited to be taking this step to better myself. Any advice on how to make the next couple weeks easier would be appreciated! Thanks!