PSTEVENS9

I was banded on April 24th. The soup sat a little heavy on my stomach, but at least I'm not hungry. Perhaps I ate a little too much, but at the time, there was no stopping. I was starving. But, I don't see how it can be much different than the optifast shake. It's about the same consistency, but a little more filling. And about the same calories.

Well, I gave in and had some butternut squash soup. It was delicious. I'm not sure what I'm feeling in my stomach now, but at least it's not hunger! I'm not sure how long I can do this. This is much worse than the three weeks of optifast. At least the hunger went away then. It doesn't seem to be doing that now.:biggrin:

I was banded on April 24th and I'm starving too. I don't know what to do because I can feel myself filling up with gas and my stomach is growling like crazy. Why wasn't I hungry during my three weeks pre-op on the optifast diet and now I am?

I'm on day two of the liquid diet. The first day was awful. I felt light-headed, nausious and I had a splitting headache. Today has been much better. I had a headache in the morning, but it's gone now and the hunger has subsided. I've had nothing but the three optifast shakes that I'm allowed. I think I'll be OK and make it through the next three weeks.:cursing:

No, I use the nose mask. I have a friend who was given the full face mask, but apparently, you have to be reall careful with it. I'm not sure why. Maybe because you're exhaling and then breathing it right back in? I don't remember what he said. But, he didn't use it for very long. I think he went to the nose pillows also.

My understanding about the reason for the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver. My surgeon said this makes the surgery a little safer, since they have to move the liver to get to the stomach. I watch 'Big Medicine' (good show to watch if you're considering this surgery) on the learning channel and I've seen them perform surgery with a large liver and they have to try and move it and keep it out of the way while they do the surgery. Makes sense that it's easier if the liver is smaller. I would think (just my opinion) that some doctors know it is very difficult for people who have difficulties with food restrictions would figure the people will cheat, so why bother expecting them to do this? Other doctors want you to prove you are dedicated to the process, and treat his as a test. And again others, who are just concerned with making the surgery safer?

I'm going to swart my pre-op diet on Thursday. It's an optifast shake, three times a day for three weeks prior to surgery and one week after. I think it will be the hardest thing I've ever done. I had to have blood work done last week and I had to fast for 14 hours. I thought that was tough and it was only a little taste of what's to come. But, I'm determined to do this. The thought of failure is more than I can stand. I keep hearing that I won't be hungry after a couple of days, but I'm sure those couple of days are going to be Hell.:thumbup:

I've had a machine for approximately 12 years and I love it. I get a much better sleep with it. However, when I went in for a checkup shortly after I got the machine, I asked the technician about the checkup. He told me that if they suspect someone isn't using their machine as they should, they can report them to the department of transportation and have their license pulled. So, keep that in mind if you're not using the machine all the time.

Donna, Hopefully, I will talk to you on the SWLC chat room.

Seana, Well, now you're on your way. I can't wait to get the liquid diet and the surgery over. I wish I was starting tomorrow. But, it will come soon enough, I'm sure. Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

Donna, I went in there the other day, but no one was there. I guess I hit a slow time? I will try again.

Donna, Thanks for your invitation. As I get closer to my surgery, I might just need some support. SWLC has a website, much like this one and I have found it very useful as well. I go for my pre-op appointment next week and start the liquid diet on April 3rd. I'm very nervous about the whole thing and I think we all need help through it. I'm certainly not here to upset anyone.

I think it's human nature to support where you had your surgery done. And yes, people need to make informed decisions. But, I felt under attack when I first posted that I had been to CIBO and I've watched the posts ever since. There seems to be a real hatred of this clinic and I don't understand it. Yes, it's a new clinic, but TLBC and SWLC were new clinics at one point also. I think there is more here than meets the eye. I guess my point is, I have enough stress right now trying to get through the next six weeks. I certainly don't want to make someone else feel bad for their decision. I don't think that's fair. If this is a support group, we should support people, no matter where they have their surgery. Not make them worry about their clinic closing in the near future! I know that the written word can be misinterpreted and perhaps that's what's happened with the posts on this thread. Maybe I'm just reading them wrong?

Seana, Congratulations on your surgery. I'm glad everything worked out and I wish you all the best with CIBO. I too went to see Dr. Misra at St. Josephs and I really liked her. I do believe she is a good surgeon and would not have hesitated to have her do my surgery. However, the CIBO clinic was just too far for me to travel for my follow-ups. I know that CIBO is a new clinic, a fact that they never tried to hide. I did not like the fact that it was in an office building and not a clinic on it's own. The people there (Tom and Nisrene) were very nice and treated me well. However, it was me that they would not give the name of the hospital to, something which concerned me greatly. I know that the cost of surgery is $18,000., the same as TLBC in Toronto (yes, TLBC raised their prices to anyone who is wondering). I also heard (from people on this board) that they never met their surgeons until the day of surgery at TLBC. I wasn't impressed with that either, but perhaps I misunderstood the post. My surgery is scheduled with Dr. Mumford at SWLC for April 24. This decision was based mainly on the location of the clinic and the cost. After all, $2,000 is $2,000 and SWLC is an established clinic and much closer to Hamilton. I met with Dr. Mumford and found him to be very informative. This is a big decision for each person and I'm sure you made your decision based on the information given to you. I'm sure it will all work out and I hope CIBO is around for a long time. I feel like the people on this board are close friends with each other and not open to outsiders joining in. Therefore, I won't be posting anything futher here. Good luck to you all.

Tell them you have an abdominal hernia and need to loose a few pounds before you have the surgery. That explains the diet and the surgery and should be enough for the gossips. I do have a hernia and that's what I was going to tell people, but I decided I would tell them the truth. I'm amazed at how people have supported me. I only have one person that poo pooed the idea, but she is a very negative person, so I don't talk about it in front of her. Everyone else has been great!