cori in wa

Carol OH, hope the stomach bug goes quickly and that you feel better soon!

Hi all. I live in SW Washington and have been married for 20 years. I have 4 great children ages 18, 17, 15 and 12) and one really dumb but loveable dog. I've worked as a fire fighter/medic, teacher, 9-1-1 dispatcher and I currently monitor and test hearts. Next.... who knows? I'm being banded April 8 by Dr's. Dally and Rubano. Best of luck to everyone!

YEAH YOU!!! You've every right to be proud of yourself.... that is great!

I LOVE your name! I have so many fond memories of my kids on the alicat when they were little. Just seeing your name makes me smile :thumbup: Anyway, so glad to hear you are feeling better! Sorry that day two wasn't as smooth as post op but here's hoping tomorrow will be great!

Hi ladies :huh2: Less than a week... are you guys excited? cinnimae, so glad your cold is better! carol and Carol, how are you ladies? Congrats on the fabulous weight loss! I talked to my doc and altered my diet. I'm eating non-fat or very low fat foods, about 500-700 calories a day and 5-10gr. fat. I've only lost about 8 pounds, but my US this am showed my liver has shrunk considerably.... so I was too happy. Hope you ladies are well and gearing in for the home stretch!

Glad you folks made it through safe and sound. Hopefully the pain continues to decrease and you heal quickly!

Glad to hear you are OK and don't require anything more invasive. Take care!

I've seen that many folks eat these often (myself included) and I find I get tired of the meat-only flavor. I've added pesto or skinny cream cheese, but today I found some sauces that are fantastic! Terrapin Ridge. I got the Hickory Honey, the Ceasar Mustard and the Orange Cranberry and all of them were GREAT as a "spread" for my roll-ups. One tsp is 15 cals and that was plenty for two slices of meat. No fat (trans or saturated), no cholesterol and 3 carbs. I found them at Tuesday Morning (I was looking for a house warming gift.... talk about a lucky find!) for $4.oo each. They are in bottles much like honey, with the pour tip at top. Hope someone else finds and enjoys them as well. PS, website (haven't checked it out, I would imagine it has more info) Welcome to Terrapin Ridge

Thanks for a great recipe! I tried this today as a celery filling. I put the spinach/chicken salad in a larger tube pastry bag and filled the cleaned celery. So yummy!!

Congratulations... you look wonderful! Best of luck with continued success.

My band date isn't until the 8th, but I'm also getting banded in WA. Congrats and best of luck to you!

The wedding ring is a big one. I've not been able to wear mine since 1999. I just keep telling myself "don't get it enlarged, you're going to lose weight!" Swimming. I know I can swim now, but trust me, NO ONE wants to see me in a Speedo and after 10 years of competitive swimming that's all I'm used to wearing. Overalls. I want to wear them because I LOVE them, not because they hide the belly.

Congratulations Kristin! That's a wonderful accomplishment and I bet you feel incredible! How nice to have found jeans that you love that fit well.

Good for you! I mean, not that you fell off the band wagon, but that you acknowledged it, addressed it and are moving on! Here's hoping you are soon in ONEderland.

I've been supplementing my skim milk with one can of Slim Fast low carb (2 grams carbs, 180 cals, 9 grams fat) and one Slim Fast meal options bar (Peanut Butter,19 grams carbs, 150 cals, 6 grams fat). They aren't great, but compared to some Protein drinks/bars they aren't too bad, and they make the hunger bearable. Best of luck to you! The 8th is coming up soon... yeah!!!

dang. You lost two whole people! Congrats on your wonderful success.

Just playing devil's advocate here. I had my pre-op today and my doc went over both procedures once again. I'm still hooked on the decision to go with the band, and he was fine with that, but he pointed out that 6 of 10 people with bypass don't regain their weight. 80% have no or minimal complications (ie, not requiring additional procedures or surgery). There is NOTHING irreversible in bypass. No parts of stomach/intestines are removed, just re-routed. Both have life long ramifications. Nutritional supplements are mandatory with bypass and those who choose not to follow that often have a myraid of issues relating to lack of vitamins/protein. Fills, port care, band care and possible replacement are issues with the band. As well as sticking, slippage, over/under fills. The point is that BOTH procedures have life long follow up needs. Knowing that continued medical care will be a requirement is important when making a WLS decision. In his opinion both are good, solid procedures. He said you have higher mortality rate with bypass because those who opt for bypass often have higher risk levels and comorbiditys. And, in both cases, all too many don't deal with their eating issues before surgery and return to their bad eating habits once they are able. I'm still a fan and proponent of lapband, but at least consider your doctors opinion when making your ultimate decision. Good luck to you!

Sorry I'm not much help, my band date is two weeks out. On the General board, as well as pre and post op you should be able to find the answers to many, if not all, of your questions. Just wanted to welcome you and wish you luck!

Hi Mari and welcome! I also live in Vancouver and work for a doctor (well, several of them, especially when I'm working in the ER!). My band date is (YEAH!) two weeks away. Did Dr. Dally or Dr. Cagle perform your surgery? Best of luck to you and congratulations on the fabulous loss!

Since I'm a protein junkie I've been reading here, planning for post-op (I'm currently on milk only diet pre-op.... holy schmoly, lotsa carbs!). The idea of planning out your food for the NEXT day sounds like a great one. Thanks for the all the great input.

Bet I can make you feel better. I'm on my two-week (actually 15 days!) pre-op diet and I get skim milk. That's it! No Protein drinks, no lean meal. One gal who's done this said she also did chicken and beef boullion, but per the doc, skim or 1% milk ONLY. I'm on day one (long day, since I work night shift) and I'm wondering how I'm going to make it 14 more days.

Congratulations!!!! I've no doubt it feels absolutely WONDERFUL to wear your favorite jeans. I foolishly gave away all my "skinny" clothes (anything 16 and under.... what was I thinking?!) a while back to help me feel better about wearing 18W pants. I'm being banded in two weeks (yahoo!!!!) and I know I'm going to have to shop while I lose. Sigh. I HATE to shop!

Name....... Start (in)....Now (in).....lbs lost.......lbs to go Foofy ....... 16 ........ 14.5 ......... 31 ........... 86 Zannie ...... 23 ........ 18 .......... 100 ........... 84 Nurseamy..... 15 ......... 9.5 ......... 82 ............ 0 Sweethot..... ? ........ 12&13.5 ....... 81 ........... 26 Jachut....... ? ......... 10.5 ......... ? ............. 0 Luluc........ 15.5 ...... 11.9 ......... 38 ........... 37 Steph_co..... 16 ........ 14.5 ......... 45 ........... 58 JulieNYC .... 19.5 ....... 9.75*....... 217 ............ 5 xxlaneyxx.... 17 ........ ? ............ ? ........... 127.9 Shalee04..... ? ......... 15 ........... 43 ........... 60 wombat712.... ? ......... 13 ........... 62 ........... 24 Gkeyt (Gwen). 16.5 .......13.5 ......... 52 ........... 22 jfran................21................14....................97....... ...............15 CoriinWA......... 15............... 15 ................... 2....................... 98 Just to remind myself to check every so often :biggrin:

Congratulations! That is truly wonderful news and I hope your success continues.

I have Providence Health Plan and my insurance was quick to approve, though the whole process took about two months. It seems that each surgeon is a bit different, though many seem to require what I went through. Information seminar Lab work Nutrition Consult Physical PT consult Psych Eval sleep study (HUGE waste of time, IMHO) Surgeon consult Insurance approval (mine took two days. Seriously) Pre-op apt Milk diet (or some form of pre-op diet... mine is two weeks) Surgery date So even throug self pay it can take a bit to jump through the hoops. It largely depends on appointment availability and finding place in the surgeons busy schedule. Best of luck to you!