Kalipso2

i just got banded on 04/21/08 but here in the states. i'm kinda a girlie girl and i thought i was going to be one of the people up and running the next day. i chose to stay one night in the hospital so i brought pj's, a change of clothes, my hair dryer and curling Iron lol needless to say, i never changed into my pj's because i still had an IV in and didn't want to go thru the hassle of changing... so i never wore my pj's. i just wore the same clothes home that i did to the hospital... so a waste of packing an outfit. i just threw my hair into a ponytail because i was too sore to take a real shower... so a waste of packing all the hair accessories. pack simple and light! good luck!!

i am day 6 after surgery and days 2 and 3 were really bad for me pain wise but day 5 i started a fever. my doctor doesn't seem to real concerned as he was on his way to a conference and to call his PA if i need something. i think you're doing find... hang in there!

i was banded on 04.21.08 and i'm not sure it's hunger that i'm really feeling... i think i just miss chewing. i almost gave into temptation today. i was going to have a baked potatoe instead of mashed potatoes. i took one bite and it just didn't taste as yummy as i had expected it to so i threw it away. i have one more week of full liquids and then 2 weeks of mushies. i'm really looking forward to scrambled eggs!

everything happened rather quickly for me too. i had all my testing done within 2 weeks and i just had my surgery on 04/21/08. i've never had surgery before so i was really scared about the pain. i felt okay the day of the surgery. i was getting 4mg of morphine every 2 hours (or as often as i needed). the pain wasn't bad as long as i wasn't moving. getting up and laying down hurt like a son of a gun. i decided to spend the night in the hospital since i never had surgery before. later in the night they switched me from morphine to liquid lortab which was MUCH better. i agree, day 2 after surgery is the worst in regards to the pain. i don't know if they numb the inside during surgery and it wears off or what but day 2 was bad. right now i'm at day 6 and i'd have to say i'm 90% pain free and on day 4 was able to sleep on my stomach again. like you, i'm still obsessing about food... even when i can't have it and i'm not even hungry. hopefully that will get easier!

i had my surgery on monday, april 21st. things went good, i suppose. i spent one night in the hospital because i live 4 hours away from the surgeon. i never saw my surgeon or anyone from his office except for right before the operation. is that normal?? i saw (2) hospital residents the morning i got discharged but i don't think either of them knew what kind of surgery i had because when i mentioned "port pain" he touched one of the incisions that was NOT the port. i'm a little disappointed in my surgeon. here it is... day #3 and not even a phone call.

i was a self pay patient and it cost me $13,000. the surgeon has a great reputation and even answers questions on the threads here and maybe that's why i'm so disappointed. i expected better customer service from him. do you think i should contact him?

i just had my surgery on monday too and the gas pains are bad! i thought i read that the gas would be from what they used to inflate the belly and would move to the shoulder but my as is actual "fluffing" lol. i hope that goes away soon!

i want to thank you all for your support!! i mean that from the bottom of my heart. as i was growing up, i learned to hide all my emotions as well as my eating habits. i have always been the "strong" one with my family and friends. it was easier solving their problems instead of talking about my own. when i made the decision to have this surgery i knew i had to open up and tell my family and friends that the person that they've known all these years was not the real me. everyone was shocked to learn about my binging and purging... and they still don't really understand, but that's okay. i have the support of my parents, siblings and close friends... and now everyone here!! i had to ask my family for help and when i saw that no one was going to turn their back on me or judge me it changed a lot of things for me and helped me SO much more than any past therapy session ever has. after all these years of pretending to be strong, i think i might actually feel a bit stronger. a lot of that has to do with reading every one's encouragement here. i've felt alone for so many years and now i feel so much better knowing that there are people out there who have been where i am... who know what i'm feeling... who have given their support to someone they don't know. thank you all!!

my surgery is a week from today and i'm so scared. i think about canceling at least 10 times a day. i've just started preparing for the surgery and i think that is what has me so anxious. i've been a binge eater for years and used to take a lot of laxatives to rid myself of the food i would eat during binging. i have been in therapy and haven't used laxatives in almost a year but the binging has still been there and my weight has increased this past year. i'm now at my all time high. i'm scared about the surger itself. i've never had to stay overnight at a hospital. i've never been put under. i've never had a breathing tube down my throat. i've never even had an IV before. i haven't had a great relationship with my mom. she and i just started talking again this past christmas after an entire year of silence. she and my dad are taking me for my surgery and i'll be staying with them for a day or two afterwards. the hospital is 4 hours away and i'll be spending a lot of time with my mom when we're still on rocky ground. being a binge eater and getting banded is going to be extremely hard. what am i going to do to replace the comfort of binging? i'm afraid of giving in to a binge and having my band slip. help!!!

the first doctor i interviewed has done 2000 gastric bypass surgeries but ZERO lapband procedures... and he made it clear that he's not really all for the banding. i chose to find someone else.

you just gotta love families! my sister is the one who tried to get me to change my mind. kris, just diet. kris, just exercise. kris, you did really good at weight watchers before you gained the weight back. i just let people say what they need to say but its my decision to go thru with the surgery

I'm another April 21st!! It's only natural to be nervous. I can't believe how quickly the date is approaching. I go tomorrow for my pre-admission testing and nutrition class. I'm having my surgery 4 hours away and my parents are going with me. (Yep, I'm 36 and still a momma's girl lol). I've never had surgery. I've never had to spend the night in a hospital. I've never had a breathing tube. I've never had an IV. I just want it over with so I can start enjoying my life again!

a professional therapist should not judge anything you say... even during the friendly 5 minutes. don't be ashamed to want to be healthier.

kinda a long story here... i had a semi-crappy childhood and have spent the past 6 years on and off in therapy. December 2006 my therapist suggested i confront my mom about things... so i did and my mom stopped talking to me for almost a year no matter how hard i tried to contact her. a week before christmas 2007 my mom invited me to spend christmas with the entire family. we're working on repairing our damaged relationship and i've never been happier with one exception. i have asked my parents to go with me when i have surgery which is 4 hours away from home. they have agreed but now my mom is starting to push her way back in control of my life. she doesn't want to stay with my brother the night before my surgery. she's insisting that i recover at her house for more than the one night that i was planning. just not sure how i'm going to handle all this yet.... on top of that... my sister's friend is having the gastric sleeve procedure on april 16th. she's already been on her liquid diet for 2 weeks or so and she's lost 27 pounds already. she is SO excited about her upcoming surgery. she couldn't stop smiling and she couldn't stop talking about it. my surgery is on april 21st and i'm not feeling very excited. i see that i have to drive 4 hours for my pre-admission testing that will last 2 hours and then attend a 2 hour nutrition class then have a physical afterwards before i drive the 4 hours back home and go to work the next day. i'm not excited about having to spend a night in a hotel room with my parents the night before my surgery. i'm not excited that my surgery is at 1:30pm and i'll have to spend the whole morning before my surgery sitting around a hotel room with my parents. i'm not excited about my mom insisting that i stay at their house in my old bedroom that hasn't changed in the 8 years since i've moved out when all i'm going to want is to be in my own bed with my cats. why am i not as excited as my sister's friend? is it because i feel like this surgery is my punishment for being fat... like i don't have any other choice?

I was in the same boat you are.... except my fight with bulimia was more recent. Some may disagree but I lied.

i had been researching for a few months and knowing i was self paying i knew things would happen quickly. i went in for my initial consultation on march 19th and while i was there we scheduled my surgery for april 21st. i have to pay 3 weeks in advance which is this upcoming monday! yes, i'm freaking out. it's a lot of money. should i try ONE more time on my own before surgery? what if i'm not strong enough to make the band work? so yes... we ALL have second thoughts!

April 1--Bunky1965, April 2--MissLady April 3--GiGiRN, ebowling, alicia99 April 4--magic 1127, ColoradoChick April 5-- April 6-- April 7--davisd April 8--Carol422, CinniMae08, carol4784 April 9--Natasha, bft33, lizalee April 10-Turler, , cadencemarch April 11-Lynne (countingthedays), tatt2, LisaB411, Susan{livn4jesus} April 12- April 13- April 14- DaNieLLe (Dshea8285) April 15-Chilly April 16-nurse7263, Bea1128 April 17-Johnst027 April 18-Astrid(scarlettbegonia),JennyLynn, April 19 April 20 April 21 - Kris (kalipso2) April 22 - Pat (Tricia1105), April 23 April 24-Savedbygrace April 25-bling April 26 April 27 April 28 April 29 April 30

april 21st here! i'm excited and anxious!

i was traveling 4 hours for my surgical testing so they were able to do all the testing in one day. i met with a physician's assistant who talked about family medical problems and any medical problems i have (which is none). she checked some reflexes and then had me lay down to push on my belly. she asked what the scar was from on my tummy and i told her it isn't a scar. i have two small circles on my stomach that just never tan. i met with the nutritionist and a nurse who measured me. turns out i'm an inch taller than i thought and i weighed less than my scale at home. my BMI is 35.1. while i'm happy its not the 37.5 like i thought but i was worried of being turned down even though i'm self pay. the surgeon came in and asked if i had any questions. i said "oh i do!" as i pulled out my notebook. i think he was impressed by that. i will be getting the realize band and i asked him about the first fill and he does it with the flouro and fills as much as the person can stand. i met with the psychologist and took the psyc eval. i even got to tentatively schedule my surgery which is April 21. i may have to push it back because i'm not sure i'll have anyone to take me that week. on April 8 i have to go back for my pre-admission testing at the hospital and take a 2 hour nutrition class. i'm excited but oh so nervous!

i had been in therapy long before i decided to get banded (i'm not banded yet). my therapist labeled me as bulimic and i laughed asking how a fat person could be bulimic. i may not be skinny but i have binged and purged a lot in the past by taking laxatives... up to 15 of them a day! this is how i always lost the most weight. i had the pills timed so that as soon as food got to my stomach i'd immediately have to run to the bathroom. i have stopped this behavior and its been 7 months since i have purged although i have had a couple of binging episodes. my point is... you're not alone in this weight loss struggle. there are many of us out here that have the same issues as you do and are trying to handle it too. don't beat yourself up. now that you know what you need to do i hope things become easier for you!

yep, there are a lot of us who fear needles. fortunately, i'm okay with the "normal" drawing blood kinda stuff but i've NEVER had an IV and that's what i'm freaking out about... that and having a breathing tube during surgery. i've never had either so i admit to being afraid but i'm not scared enough NOT to go thru with it!!

my insurance doesn't cover the surgery so i started "shopping around". i contacted all the hospitals in my area but the cost was over $20,000 here in cleveland so i started branching out further. when i realized that i was worrying too much about the cost and not enough about the surgeon, i took a step back to re-evaluate my situation. i choose an excellent surgeon 4 hours away instead of going to Mexico and will end up paying an extra $4,000 just for the convenience of fills. i couldn't find a doctor who would give me fills after having surgery in mexico. yes, $12,500 is a lot of money BUT i think it will be worth it in the end!

i am single and not in a relationship, nor am i banded... yet! before i gained so much weight, i was happy being single and dating a lot but the past few years i've gained so much weight that i stopped dating all together because the thought of someone touching me and seeing me naked horrifies me. i vowed on January 1, 2008 that this year is going to be dedicated to ME. everything i do this entire year will have to do with learning how to make myself happy. it started with me and my mom working thru some of our past problems. i hadn't spoken to her in over a year but since january we're trying to patch things up. in february i started researching doctors and finally decided on one and go in for ALL of my testing on Wednesday. (all the testing is being done on the same day because i have a 4 hour drive each way) hopefully in april i'll be banded and may - december will be weight loss victories. hopefully by january 2009 i will have some self confidence back and then all the single men had better watch out!!

I'm going for my consultation and testing next week. I have a (relatively) low BMI of 36-37. I'm worried he's going to turn me down. Do you know of this ever happening? I have no co-morbities. Thanks, Kris p.s. i will be self paying.

i haven't decided yet whether i'm going to tell people. i have told 2 family members and 2 friends. my family doesn't understand but my friends are supportive. i get the same question "why don't you just eat less?" if it were that easy i wouldn't be in this boat! i do plan on telling my boss that i'm having surgery and need some time off but that's as far as i'm going.