JanetC

Sometimes you can find them for check out at libraries or for rent at video stores... the try before you buy idea. :couch2: For Mikey & I, we've gone the Play Station route... Dance Dance Revolution!! Yeah, it's corny, lol, but it gets us moving! If you go with DDR, there is some startup costs: the pads. I recommend a more expensive one. Long term you'll save. But after that & the cost of the game (we got a used one for $15, I think), it's free & fun & your kids will join you... if you let 'em win every now & then.

It may be a reaction to the anethesia (sp)... or they may have bruised something during the surgery (I know Mikey was tough to intubate... he was hoarse & sore for days). 5 weeks seems a long time for a bruise to improve though, you might run it by your surgeon or primary care doc... they can check your throat & see if it's red or something. Ok, so I don't really have a clue, lol, but it seems too close to the surgery to not have its origin there. Good luck & keep us posted!

I'm glad you found a local doc. Will he continue to help you? Hope so!! Hang in there & good luck!! :couch2:

We had Heparin both before & after surgery (we stayed overnight)... 3 shots in all. They didn't make us do more at home, thank goodness! The needle was tiny, but I'm not into that!! SOOOOOO glad you're home ok Sunta! Congrats on the banding & on not running screaming from the hospital! :couch2: Hang in there with the gas pains. I know they say walking, but it doesn't seem to do a thing for me... but I keep trying! Gas-X & a heating pad do seem to work... and laying flat. Tea seems to help too, personally I think it's 'cuz it makes me belch, lol (strange, but true). Each person is different, so keep trying until you find something that works for you! I've heard the pains can last up to 6 weeks, but man I hope not!! 10 days of pain & counting.... (( Hugs & welcome back!! ))

Congrats on the banding & weight loss! If you're like me, you're counting days until your first fill!

Wow, it's amazing what a difference a TT can make!! Thanks for sharing those! Ya'll are looking great!

Wow Brenda!! You give me hope! Congrats & happy band-day!

Hi Roger! Hang in there! The way my doc explained it to me is that immediately after surgery your stomach will swell, so you may (or may not) feel some restriction. But after that swelling goes down, the band isn't actually restricting anything... it's just a loose belt around your stomach, it's not tightened or anything. Most of us are on special diets for the first 3-6 weeks. Around 6 weeks we get our first fill (hopefully). Until then, I think we all could eat the house!! At least I know I could! Anyway... don't know if any of that helped, but consider yourself to be in the healing phase for 6 weeks. Ease up on yourself & start learning to take small bites, chew well, don't drink with meals, and listen for your body's signals telling you when to stop. (Not that I've learned any of this, lol, but I'm trying! ) Welcome to the board!

Congrats Julie!! Hang in there! I'm one week out & can't believe how much better I feel! I'm still on pain meds, mostly to save my husband from my complaining, lol. Oh, and Gas-X... lots & lots of it! Seriously Tammy, I'm with Rene... hope you're almost done with the killer phase, but you're gonna get... um... dehydrated? lol... or something! I'm with ya'll about not obsessing. We threw our scale away (it didn't go high enough anyway, lol). So we're down to weighing every 2 weeks when we go to the doctor. It's a start!

Congrats on the banding!! That's awesome news!

Hehe, sounds like you might need more calories, rather then less. Silly nutritionist!! I like the idea of the breath test... I need to read up on those (never heard of 'em before this board, I love LBT! ) Thanks so much everyone for your awesome ideas! So far I've gleaned: 1. Obsess about not obsessing (lol, this one's right up my alley!) 2. Pick small things to tweak & only obsess about one thing until it's a habit. 3. Make a list of future tweaks so you don't have to think about them daily, just add to the list (I use this in other areas of life, makes sense!) 3. Don't kill yourself with rules / diets (I'm SOOOO rebellious, so that's a very wise recommendation). 4. Focus on something other then food... work to become a better me. I like 'em!! I do think at some point I'm going to have to count calories, just to find out what 1000 - 1200 calories looks like with my current eating style (more Protein then ever in my life). But once I get a baseline idea, I really want to throw away my food diary. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful answers & great ideas! I'll let you know how it goes!! For today my goal is... um... to actually do the homework for our psyche group, lol. Ya'll just helped me do one of the assignments! :clap2: Thanks!

That's awesome Scott! Grats!! Mikey's surgery was like yours... a total breeze. I'm more of a wuss, lol. I'm still complaining about gas, lol (1 week out). Oh well, all in all it's amazing!! Congrats on joining the band-wagon!! :welldone2:

Here's some of the Protein I've ordered. We're using them extensively during the liquid / mushy phase, trying to get enough protein in. Mikey's supposed to have 100+g a day, augh!!! Beneprotein (powdered, tasteless whey, 20g a scoop, add to anything): http://www.resource.walgreens.com/search/search_results.jsp?_dyncharset=ASCII&term=beneprotein&section=A&%2Fsearch%2Fsearchbase%2FSearchOptions.resultsperPage=5&_D%3A%2Fsearch%2Fsearchbase%2FSearchOptions.resultsperPage=+&_DARGS=%2Fcommon%2Fnavigation%2Fheader_fg.jsp.1&x=0&y=0 Nature's Best products. I LOVE the Isopure Zero Carb RTD -- 40g protein. I don't really like the taste of the smoothies, but they're 50g protein, amazing!! http://www.naturesbest.com/index.html?section=Shopping&catsec=208&-session=thisSession:66E77B3BDD1AD9D09A6A6584CEA7A0E2 (I buy 'em at Vitamin Shoppe or online.) Bariatric Eating has GREAT protein stuff... I've liked everything I've tried: http://store.bariatriceating.com/proteinpowders.html Our staple protein -- the one we use the most -- is just powdered whey protein (chocolate & vanilla) from Walmart (near the Slimfast in the pharmacy area). 20g per scoop. I use 2 scoops per shake. Good luck getting it all in!!

Ok. I have a weird dilemma. Let me start with some background. Hi. I’m Janet. I’m a food addict. Scratch that. I’m obsessive compulsive. Period. You name it. Give me something to obsess about & I will, lol. Compulsively. :roll: So… I’m trying to break my food addiction. With the help of the band, my husband, surgeon, family, friends & God, I will succeed. (I joined the school of positive speaking yesterday, lol, bear with me. :welldone2:) Most folks starting a diet start… um… how to put it kindly… obsessing. :Banane21: Count those calories! Count the fat grams! Count the carb grams! Count the Protein grams! Count the bites! Count the hours! Count the water! Oh, and don’t forget to weigh!! So you lose one addiction only to replace it with 20. I’ve decided that that is not the life for me. I’d really like to free myself, not sign up for extra duty. That being said, I’d like to see progress happen. And I guess I’d like it to be something I CAN control. In other words, not scale or measurement related. ’Cuz if I hit a plateau, I can’t effect the scale or measurements not changing. I don’t want to get discouraged when my progress slows or stops. I want to see my ticker go go go go go go! Anyone got any ideas? I love hearing the stories from old-time bandsters that say they don’t even really THINK about food anymore. Oh my goodness! What I wouldn’t give! So, I don’t want to obsess, but I don’t want to give up. “Plan your work & work your plan” & yadda yadda yadda. **Sigh** I’m scattered. Sorry, lol. Guess without an obsession I’m lost. Somebody help me!! :scared: Thanks for any thoughts or ideas!

So one way or another the day has passed... how are you doing Sunta? Don't worry, I don't expect you to be on here today, lol, but I'm thinking about you! :welldone2: ((( Hugs!! )))

Wow, everyone's doing so well, I'm proud of us!! :scared: I'm back at work today, sorta, lol. I work at home, so I get to baby myself a LOT. I'm half-heartedly working... probably won't bill too many hours, lol. Oh well. It's a start! Our doctor did the post-op diet really strangely. We add 1 "food" every 2 days. It's bizarre, but I guess it works. We always have something to look forward to. First it was just broth... then broth & juice... then broth, juice & Protein drinks... then... you get the idea. :Banane21: We're up to mashed potatoes with cream Soup. Oh my goodness it rocks!! The gas pain is the worst. I have problems burping (have never been able to do it), so I seem to be suffering more than Mikey (GRR!!!!). Gas-X is our friend! We had our post-op appt yesterday. Mikey's lost a ton! I'm really trying to not watch the scale, though I'll update the spreadsheet. But I don't want to replace my food addiction with a scale addiction. We'll see how long that lasts! :welldone2: Oh well, I'll go update our stats & get back to work. Glad you're all doing well & keep updating! :Banane10:

Now that's some awesome news!! :welldone2:

If there's ANY way you can make yourself wait, I'd see if insurance will cover it. Why? 1. Follow-up care. American doctors often do not want to take patients from Mexico for whatever reason. If they DO take you, they charge you through the nose. 2. Emergency follow-up care. If you do have issues, you have to fly to Mexico. If it's a case of not being able to swallow... can you stand the time in a plane? Folks have found nice people in ER's that will call Mexico & allow themselves to be talked through an un-fill. It just all sounds scary & iffy to me. 3. Paying for follow-up long term. If the surgery wasn't covered, any follow-up most likely won't be covered. Issues probably will be pre-existing or not covered. So you're not just looking at 10k now, but 10k per revision & 100 per fill, etc. Yeah, I painted a worse case scenario. I'm self-pay as well & terrified that we may someday need a 2nd surgery. We've started saving for that "just in case". But if it does happen, I already know my surgeon... and my hospital. They're just down the road. :welldone2: We're self-employed & that's unlikely to change. If I'd had any possibility of having better insurance soon, I'd have waited (screaming, groaning & complaining... but waiting). Sorry to be a downer & remember it's just my opinion. :scared: Go with your gut!!

camomile tea -- for the gas pains. I can't swear that it worked, lol, but a friend recommended it. If nothing else, it got more liquid into me!

I'm so sorry to see you go! And please keep up posted weekly, monthly or something -- as often as you can stand to stop by. If we lose all the wisdom from the board, we become just a bunch of snivelling know-it-all band-children grovelling around in our ignorance. These warriors have fought long term & tired, bloody, wounded, exhausted, they want nothing more then to share their experiences with us. (Don't know why the war images, lol, think I've been watching too many specials today!) I sure hope all of ya'll will reconsider & hang around. Remember that trends come & go... give it a month, this fighting trend is bound to move on. Man I hope so, anyway! (( Hugs Leatha! ))

I had an absolute panic attack in the pre-op room. Poor Mikey was there to hold my hand. I did fine while they talked to me & had me sign things, but then the IV was in & I was prepped for everything... and the doctor was late. So we just had to sit there... waiting.... I started hyperventilating, really worked myself up. Mikey finally got me to listen to him -- I was squirming & about to rip the IV out. He had me start breathing -- VERY important. And talked to me about why I was doing it... what the long term results were going to be. Had me start the "mind pictures" again. He re-convinced me right there, in the pre-op room. And then all the deep breathing got to me & I went to sleep, lol. I woke (barely) when they put me on the table, but not enough to panic, thank goodness. Then the next time I woke up it was done. I did freak out then, but who could tell? lol. Go morphine!! At that point the freaking was that it was done & I hadn't witnessed it, of all things! And that Mikey wasn't in the room with me... I focused on breathing really well so they'd let me OUT OF THAT ROOM!!! (Morphine makes your breathing slow, so they watch you closely. Get your breathing nice & deep & oxegenated & they'll let you out! ) Then I got to my room & Mikey was there & I went to sleep. **AHHHHHHH!! Sweet relief!!** In retrospect, all the panic was for naught. It all went great. I'd already prayed & trusted & planned & anticipated. Not sure why I turned the panic on, but I eventually got through it. All in all, it was worth it. We have hope again. We've been re-equipped to step into the battle lines & take up our swords again in the never-ending battle against food. Long story to say... breathe, pray, hang in there, it'll be over soon & you'll be glad for the rest of your life!! ((( HUGS!! )))

I think it's just Mikey & I that went to Southlake... it's the Harris Methodist Surgical Center in Southlake, across the street from "Southlake Town Center". It's brand new, gorgeous, convenient, etc. http://www.hmsouthlake.com/ Dr Sewell's offices are in the center, as is all of our team: PT, shrink, etc. http://www.lapbandspecialists.com/ http://www.robertsewellmd.com/index.htm I'm not sure if he'll take outside patients, but he's a good guy. We're in Keller as well (377 & N Tarrant). It's about 15-30 min for us, but much better then Dallas or Plano!

Date Banded: 2/15/06 Country: USA Doctor: Dr Robert Sewell Eroded: No

Wow! Why can't you drink the Protein drinks? Allergies? If so, you might try a health food store & see about soy drinks or something. No drinks is scary!! I'd tell your doctor you're not eating at all. Surely he has a viable option for folks that can't do protein drinks!! I know that we're on broth, creamy Soups, etc. Can't wait for mashed potatoes! Good luck!!

liquids wash the food through the upper pouch. So no liquid means you feel full longer. My doc's rule is 15 min before, 2 hours after. Not sure I can obey it! 39 pounds?? WOW!!!! Congrats!