NukeChik

So glad to hear that you're doing good Jim. I was banded yesterday and at this point I think the most pain has come from the blood pressure cuff and the iv insertion and removal!!! It was emotionally taxing for me though cause they walked me to the operating room and positioned me on the table and everything before they knocked me out. I guess I'm not one of those people who enjoys walking to the operating room. It made me nervous while I was laying on the table waiting for the surgeon so the anesthsiologist (sp?) gave me something for that. All I remember is someone saying "He's Here" and the next thing I was waking up in recovery.

My office said to wait a month. I took my last long soak Sunday.

I got banded yesterday and I actually woke up from surgery hungry!! I had a lot of jello and broth and popsicles yesterday. I bought some of the special K protein water because I don't get to do protein shakes until next monday. This is my first week and I can only have clear liquids. Next week I get to have "full" liquids, (i.e. milk and creamy soups). Then week 3 is mushies. week 4 I can start to try to eat normally.

Just wanted to let you know about something that me and my man already had that is really helpful with surgery recovery. My doctor recommended that I sleep at about a 35 degree angle. My man and I bought these sex cushions called the liberator. We have the large wedge and the small wedge. It is perfect to sleep on at night! I would recommend it to anyone both sex wise and lapband surgery wise.:eyebrows:

Well, my fiance woke up with both his arms:biggrin1:. I was afraid that since I did so well yesterday, that I would wake up feeling really bad. I feel great. I slept on a heating pad last night and got A LOT of gas out. Still feel it in there though. No shoulder pain though. Not as hungry today but still want to eat. My incisions look good, I'll post those on the Scar Stages thread sometime soon. I've been taking the arnica montana for my scars and bruises. I think it has really helped with the bruising and probably some of the pain and soreness.

Just thought that I would let ya'll know that I was home. My surgery was at 7:30 this morning, it took about 30 minutes. I got home about 1 pm and that is with an hour drive home! I'm feeling great right now, I hope that I don't jinx myself with that comment. I do have gas and I am ravenously hungry ( my fiance might wake up to me chewing on his arm tonight :heh:) I have no trouble getting up and down from a sitting position. Getting out of bed is a little more trouble. To tell you the truth I felt worse after doing a spinning class than I do now. I will take a pic of my incisions tonight and get them posted on the scar stages page. I've been taking gas-x strips and I have a pretty bad headache I assume from hunger.

Thanks for the shout out! My surgery is scheduled at 7:30 in Dalton, GA (about an hour away from where I live). I'm supposed to be there at 6 am so I need to try and get some sleep. I'm sure 4:30 is going to hit me like a ton of bricks. That is if I can get to sleep with all this nervous anticipation! I'll get back on here as soon as I can afterwards. The nurse told me I should be home by about 2 pm tomorrow. Good luck to all the others that share my day!

My mother who is 5'6' and ranges from 125-160 lbs (i.e. has never know what it is to truly be heavy) told me when I was younger, when I was at the weight that is my goal today. "If you keep eating like that you're going to have to shop in one of those stores for "special" people. :omg: I still bring that one up just to taunt her. My fiance has 2 little nieces ranges in age from 6 years to 3 years. When the now 5 year old was about 4 she patted my lap and tops of my thighs and said so bigggg, and so sooooofffftt. I just had to laugh because she didn't know what she was saying, but I was mortified. I'm 6 feet tall and 265 lbs. I don't have rolls of fat, I just have fat evenly distributed over my large frame. His sister was a professional figure skater, she's about 5 foot nothing and I venture to say not even a 100 lbs. His mother is also 5 foot nothing and tiny. I always feel like Godzirra terrorizing Japan when I'm around them!

I'm right there with ya'll too. Don't get me wrong I do eat unhealthy food too, but usually only once a week or so. We love to eat fish and I'm actually worried that I won't be able to eat brocolli or asparagus after the surgery (actually my two fave veggies) I just eat too much. I have a sweet tooth too and a bread problem. I'm having to pay for my surgery because my bmi is under 40 and I don't have any of the co-morbidities that my insurance company requires. I go in on Monday so this is the last normal day of eating for me. I have to do a liquid diet for 24 hours prior to surgery! I can't wait!

Yeah my Mom is coming (Sunday) to help me after surgery(Monday) and my fiance wanted to go out for my last "big" dinner before my surgery on Monday. I will be on a liquid diet for 24 hours prior to my surgery so I won't get to do it. Its funny, it didn't upset me at all, but he was kinda depressed. I'm glad I didn't get depressed. I was kinda bad last week and ate a lot of the stuff that I know I will have problems with after the surgery, now I'm ready!! I feel so liberated.

Glad to hear you are doing well and dh is treating you good!

Just wanted to tell all ya'll getting banded this week, GOOD LUCK!! Less than an week for me :whoo:

My man weighed about 165 when we got together, he's 5'11" (my goal weight by the weigh (pun intended)). He has risen to just below 200. Some of it was added to his legs and butt which was needed. Most has went to his belly though. Its funny he was so self concious about his weight when I started going out with him, he has gotten over that though and its all my fault. Maybe we'll get back on track. Also I'm self pay so I'm going to have to train him to tell me Stop That!! if I'm not always able to on my own.

I was just wondering if your dh, significant other, or anyone you spend a lot of time with has lost weight due to your surgery. My dh has gained about 35 pounds since he has been with me and we've been talking about how he should lose weight due to having to share his meals with me. Just wondering if this theory usually comes true.

My doc didn't make me go on a pre-op diet, but he does make some patients go on a "liver diet". I think it is based on your bmi prior to surgery. I had my pre-op class last wed and one of the girls was on the "liver diet" she said she was miserable.

I'm 265 lbs, 6 feet tall I wear anywhere from a 16 16W-20Tall, depending on the cut. I usually get into a 16 or 18W, but if its just a tall size I need a 20. Shirts I wear anywhere from an XL-XXL (normal) to 1X (womens) dress shirts 18-20 tall. When I weighed about 190-220 I was a size 14 When I weighed about 175-190 I was a size 12 When I weighed about 165 I was a size 9/10. I've got clothes from a size 20 to a size 12. Can't wait to get into those 12's

My doctor actually doesn't want me to eat salads. He says that the nutritional value is so low on a salad to not waste my valuable space on them. I'm supposed to eat to about a half to 2/3 of my pouch full of protein, then veggies on top of that. I've not been banded yet, but I'm really hoping that I will be able to tell how much room is in the "pouch".

Soozan, Of course if I all had "strict supervision" I could lose my weight without having a lapband. The problem is I'm not capable of doing that for myself for an extended period of time. I can't always avoid pulling into the drive through, or eating that extra, extra donut. I've proven it time and time again. I think that in the future statistics will show that there is a higher number of people who regain their weight loss from having bypass surgery. I have friends and family who have had the gastric bypass and are gaining weight again. Repetivie overeating has resized their stomachs and they can eat more. I have an aunt who is down to 165 lbs (she's 6 foot tall like me) and she eats more than me. She is an obsessive overeater and never dealt with it. She will eventually start gaining weight again. The lap-band is a TOOL and only a tool. The problem a lot of the time is your head. You have to get your head "banded" too. People can still bypass the band and not lose the weight. I don't like the biggest loser by the way. I think it belittles us fat people. I have a lot more to say, but will have to formulate my thoughts a little better. Sorry if I was rambling.

Make, Have you ever tried "Goody" powders. They might actually just be a southern thing, but they work. They work for headaches and are powdered. I know Richard Petty was advertising for them. I would look for them, I think it would probably be a little better than chewing regular aspirin.

When I was going through the approval stage my doc had a list of psychs to go to. Did your doctor provide one to you? They usually know which ones are going to be supportive. My psych eval was good, but my insurance denied me. Self pay, Jan 7, 2008.

I'm local, office is about 30 minutes from home. I will be having surgery about 45 minutes away though in GA.

My self-pay with Dr Ponce will be $13,800. There is a specific list of conditions that you must meet to get that price. Look at his website: Gastric Band Institute - Chattanooga, Tennessee - The LAPBAND® Procedure It has all the information on the cash pay option and what you must meet to get that. It should also be noted that the 13,800 option is for surgery in Dalton, GA. He has offices in Dalton and Chattanooga. The cash pay option does include a year of follow ups and fills, you are charged a facility fee with each fill, They told me how much that was but I can't remember, I have to go back in on Wed, for my Pre-op class so I'll check and get back to you. I went with Dr. Ponce because he has vast experience. I wanted that since I'm self-pay!!!

Tiny, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom and wish you the best in the future.:cry My mother has had a really good prognosis after her lumpectomy. (its been about 3 years now) phowell, Unfortunately for me Mobic is an NSAID, and I'm allergic to all NSAIDs. The only thing I can take otc is tylenol. I really am not looking forward to getting old because I'm sure I will have arthritis and almost all anti-inflammatory meds are NSAIDs. Thanks for the idea though. I should probably look into going to a neurologist for mine, I don't have the stroke like ones you are talking about, I do have a cousin that does though and she has had a time. Plenty of horror stories about going to the ER and trying to explain what is going on with her. I guess its pretty rare.

I really appreciate all the feedback Keep all the replies coming! I was kinda basing my observation that it was kinda expensive based on the "scoops" per container. Looked like there weren't many servings in one container. I will probably just go ahead and order the chocolate, vanilla and unflavored. The chicken Soup seems to be getting very low marks!

Don't be too jealous love, it is hard enough to find clothes that are long enough when being "normal" size (up to a size 16-20 usually). There aren't many tall clothes that are made for people who are tall and wide!