Twilight

Hope it all went fine. It's nice to be on the other side so there is less uncertainty. I'll be looking for your posts. Steph

If you haven't seen my rants from the days leading up to my banding, you're missing out. I was definitely in panic mode. Everything that could go wrong was going to go wrong in my mind. It's normal. When I talked to my coordinator she said that if I WASN'T anxious, overwhelmed, a little terrified, she'd be worried about me. It will all work out and only good things will come from it. Grab ahold of that inner strength that got you to make that first phone call. I don't think it was easy for anyone to do that. It took MAJOR guts. That's the you that will pull you through. You're all going to do GREAT!!

Jill, I was on a two week 2 shake a day diet with one small meal of Protein and vegies. In those two weeks I only lost 14 pounds. So you are doing better than me by far. If you think about one pound of body fat is equal to 3500 calories, you have to diminish your intake by that amount (and 3500 calories is HUGE). You are averaging more than a pound a day so that must mean you are doing great things! And like Danna said, the idea is to get your body ready for the surgery, not lose a ton of weight. You can do this. I know it seems very hard. It killed me everytime I made my kids a pbj or something great for dinner to not at least lick the spoon or knife. Just keep in mind the end goal. The more faithful you are to the pre-op diet, the easier surgery and recovery will be. Deep breaths and one glass of Water at a time. I tried not to think of the two weeks at one shot and it helped. Also, when I got hungry I made myself drink a bottle of water then wait 30 minutes. If I was still thinking about food after that, I knew it was actually time to eat. A lot of what we feel, they tell me, is head hunger...and that's a hard fight. You can do this and you're going to have a great outcome. I'm 4 days post-band and feeling better all the time. Vent here when you need the encouragement or pm me. I'll be around if I can help. Steph

My pre-op was 2 weeks of liquids, my post op is 3 days clear liquids, 10 days full lipuids (meaning I can have strained Soups and shakes), 2 weeks mushies. Then I go in for a fill and have at least 1 week of liquids again. So in total I will be on liquids for 5 out of 7 weeks. I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it when my DH says something flattering for the first time. Steph

My pain in my shoulder has been pretty bad today. I started to think I had slept wrong on it or something because that was the kind of ache it was. Well, I layed down in my recliner this afternoon and layed back all the way where my head was a bit lower than my legs and after about an hour the pain was gone. I was so excited.....but (you knew it had to be coming didn't you?) After about 30 mins of being upright again I'm in pain yet again. The pain meds don't seem to touch this pain so I don't know what I should do. I will be spending my night head lower than my feet and see if that helps. Maybe if I do that AND take more GAS-X the bubble will disappate. At least that's my hope. I've tried showers, head packs, percussion, rubs, and just plain grumbling. Nothing having more success than the others. Steph

Hand is better. I put a thermacare wrap around it and the swelling went down. There is still a little pain but not unbearable. Thanks for the thoughts Steph

Hi all. It's me again with another strange side effect. We had a nice long drive home today. Left about 8am, got home about 6pm. It really is only about 300 miles so it shouldn't have taken that long but I made hubby take me shopping at every town so I could get out and walk off the gas pains. The plus side of that is hubby went Christmas shopping with me AND carried all the bags. With a smile even! I'm marking this one down in the history books. Anyways....on about the last half hour home my hand and arm started to ache. At first it was just a dull throb and by the time I got home it hurt to look at it. Touching it was excruciating. Well I called a nursing friend of mine and asked her if she thought it was something serious and she said no, it was just inflammation from the IV. She told me to put warm moist packs on it 4 or 5 times a day for about 15 minutes each. She said to only worry if it started turning red and the color creeped up my arm. I just wanted you all to know to be on the look out. Honestly the pain was worse than the gas and I didn't think ANYTHING could be worse than the gas. And yes, I still have that too. At least I'm home now, in my own recliner and I can snuggle in and just relax for awhile. I've never been happier for it to be Friday! Hope all are having a great day and good luck everyone next week. I'll be thinkin of ya. Steph

Well....all is well in the frozen north. I guess everything went smoothly. As smoothly as it could after the day I had yesterday. Went to the surgery center at 6. I was the first surgery scheduled. All was fine until I asked my DH if I was sure and started to tear up. Luckily my surgical nurse walked in just then and asked if I needed something to calm my nerves. Oh the joy of meeting a legal pusher :eek:) The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was not seeing anyone that I knew. The surgeon must have come in after they put me out because DH got to talk to him but I didn't. Other than some port site pain and soar shoulder I'm doing alright. My nurse thought I didn't need any gas-x and I thought that was strange. She said she had put some prevacid in my IV so I wouldn't need anything. I did take some gas-x strips an our or so ago and my pain lifted a bit. Went walking through kmart for a bit. It was nice to get out of this closet they call a motel room. Hopefully I didn't over do it though. All in all, I just want to get back to being able to drink enough Water to quench my thirst again. Hope everyone else had a good day. Steph

Okay all, I think I must be the biggest wimp! I was starting to get a little crazy last night thinking about the 6th. Nothing I couldn't stuff to the bottom of the priority list but there was a definite weight on my heart about this. I ignored it and went to bed. This morning I wake up with a tremendous headache. I thought my head was going to explode. Of course I HAVE to ignore that because I only have a half day at work today and I have a ton to do to get ready to be gone Thurs. and Fri. still. Then my son wakes up and he has diarhea. Lord help me, can anything else go wrong? Well, DH says its not problem and everything will be fine, but I can't help thinking that what lousy mother would leave her sick child to go have elective surgery. It's not like it's going to kill me if I don't have surgery tomorrow. So I have to go to work and I'm driving along and the headache is getting worse because I know I shouldn't be going and I know I should be at home with my little one, and I don't want to cancel surgery, and I'm being selfish, and my MIL shouldn't have to deal with this, and I really have gone through hell for two weeks to turn back now, and, and, and..... well, if your head isn't spinning after that, mine was. So I pull over and have a full fledged panic attack. Never had one of those before. It got so bad that I pulled out a candy bar my son had in the vehicle and took a bite....and I chewed....and I chewed....and I chewed....and spit it out. I called my school and said they would have to do something without me the rest of the week and then called hubby to come get me because I was hyperventilating and didn't think I should drive. Well that was 3 hours ago. I took a shower, a bath, and then a nap...and now I feel much better. I called my coordinator and she said, "If you weren't having anxiety, we'd be worried about you." She stepped me through all the reasons I was probably feeling these things and talked me calm. I'm better now and thought I would share this story so that if any of the other up and comers feel this way, they'll know they aren't alone. I almost feel guilty I'm such a wimp, but there is my mea culpa. Steph

I agree with Tomecia, this is really getting real. The hospital called and said I had to be there at 6am and all the other normal yada yada. I can hardly wrap my head around this wonderful thing happening tomorrow. I keep hearing that country song in my head, "I'm with the band." I think that's going to be my theme song. It really does fit the situation I think. Good luck tomorrow everyone! I have a 5 hour drive to make so I won't be on much more today. Maybe tonight if I can't sleep. Steph

I thought the same thing....and that with all the states and the countries I might get confused if I tried. Maybe regions and then under it a listing. Maybe someone with a little more tech savvy can take pity on my poor soul! Thanks you guys. It helps

Now I only have my c-sections to go by, but they pumped me so full of IV's during those that there was a ton of Water in my system. Your legs swell, your hands swell, heck, even my nose swelled...so there has to be weight accompanying that. That's my very unscientific answer. Steph (aka Twi)

Carol, Just wondering how you are doing today. Hopefully a good night's sleep helped the emotions. I know when i have something hit me nothing seems to help like a deep sleep. We're still thinking of you. I hope it is helping. Twi

I'm trying to drink my lunch shake. I've been working on it for an hour now. I just can't stomach them any longer. My Breakfast shake took almost 2. Tomorrow is the last day of shakes and then Clear liquids Wednesday....but I've never been more grossed out! I'm DYING!! I just needed to rant....thanks! Twi

My pre-op was protien shake for Breakfast and lunch and a protien meal for dinner. I was allowed 4-6 oz. of protien and a half cup of vegetables. It seems every doc has a different idea for pre-op. I also am supposed to drink 64 oz of Water a day. This for someone who is lucky to drink 6 oz a week, was a stretch. What I did was each time I felt like I was starving I made myself drink a bottle of water. Then since I knew that my new life would dictate that I couldn't eat for 30 mins after water I wouldn't let myself do so. Usually by that time the hunger was gone. The only time it wasn't was when it was truly time for my next meal. I guess that's what they mean by head hunger vs. true hunger. I don't know if that was a lot of help but my experience.

Carol, I want to say "oh you poor thing." but it sounds so condescending. I feel so bad for you. I really can't put my emotion for you into words. All the stress and buildup we go through to have this surgery done. All the mental rollercoaster riding we do. All the fighting and frustration with our friends and family and all the justifying we go through....and then you are this close. I can just imagine the pain of finding out you have to not do this. And those stupid nurses. How dare they?? I imagine your heart is a little tender now but don't let this break your spirit. I've been thinking about how all the things we have to do with the band.....chew slowly, completely, set down fork between bites....well I've been trying to train myself to do that before my band so that it won't be so stressful after it. And just those few things have been working to some extent on my liquid diet. It does help. Maybe being proactive at this point will help you while your heart heals. Keep coming here and talking to us. You're still a merry loser even if you're doing it the "old fashioned way" (ish...that just gravels my butt!) Twi (aka Steph)

Welcome NewMe! I am also being banded on the 6th. I'm getting a little more anxious every day. It is getting to be so distracting I'm having a hard time focussing on my job. This place is great. You can read about anything you are worried about and ask questions about it all. Don't get discouraged. We are all in this together. Twi

Welcome home Sghatl. Hope you had a great time. Wish I could have gotten away and left all this thinking behind. I'm going to close my eyes and hope Thursday gets here in record time.

Yeah!!! Great Job

When I was pregnant with my last my ladies decided to have a bit of an obese problem of their own. Somehow they were just as sore as my ankles and knees now are. Anyways....someone mentioned the sports bra that Oprah thought was so great. The brand is Enell. Ordered one and loved it. It is very confining and took some getting used to but there was definitely no bouncing. I remember thinking, "Wow, I could probably even run in this thing." If I ran that is. They are pricey (and sizing is a little tricky) but I'm thinking of buying a new one in a smaller size so I can exercise in it during this transition. I would imagine they would be great for horse back. Twi

Great to have you Jill. We have a lot in common it looks like. I am also a public school teacher, however I teach Jr. High/High school math but have for the last 9 years. I am also at the largest I have ever been. Also 5'2 and when i went to my pre-op appt. I topped the scales at 220. Mine at home didn't say I was that heavy but who ya gonna believe??? I like my home number better, but I guess I have to go with the pros. I have surgery on the 6th. Glad to have you join the group! Steph (aka Twi)

I opened them where they are on my computer. Then I right clicked to choose open with > Office Picture Manager. Then I could edit the size down to something reasonable. Around 300 pixels seems to be the best. There may be a better (read easier) way to do it but I couldn't figure it out. The plus size of making them smaller is it makes it much quicker to upload. There are probably lots of programs to do it with, but that was the one that was first on my list. Good Luck

Trying again. Darnit!

Let's see if it does it this time. I can't seem to reduce the size though. It's easier to see in the attachment file

I guess not. I'll have to do some more looking to try to figure out what I did wrong. Anyone with any brilliant instructions, I would appreciate them. Twi