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China I wouldn't start anything until told. They may change some requirement and what you did would be for naught. I started weight loss to early and I am sorry. In my anxiousness I almost disqualified myself from the program. It is never to soon to learn as much as possible and to walk with us on Saturday mornings. I know the waiting is hard! I have known for months my surgery wouldn't be before October and now I am so anxious! Good Luck!

China, I bought two books, one is Weight Loss Surgery with the Adjustable Gastric Band by Revert Sewell and the other is Eating Well after Weight loss Surgery which is a cookbook written by someone who had surgery. As with all cookbooks there are a lot of things I wouldn't make in there but I 'm glad I have it. I will have to look into the two you mentioned. Opps accountant is here have to get off the computer. Do you have an appointment with the surgeon yet? Mine is Dr. Hoffman and my appointment is August 19th.

China, I was just perusing past posts and on July 3rd you asked about support meetings. I went to my first one last night. I have not been banded yet. They are held on the third Wednesday of the month at 6pm at Buffalo General on the first floor behind the coffee shop. It was very interesting hearing everyones experiences. I am the type of person who can never learn enough. I recommend the meetings for anyone on this journey.

Well I see you got a lot of encouragement and answers already but I will put in my 2 cents worth. Reason's to feel better: You already had the surgery. I am still waiting - at least two more months. Your post gave me a guideline for how I may feel and I learned from that. I am sure I will be depressed and weepy because that is how I tend to get. I will remember it is normal. Other answers to your post have helped me to. So by sharing you are helping others. Good luck. Listen to your body instead of looking at a scale.

Hi everyone, I just came back from walking in Delaware Park and it was very nice. I met new people and some of you on line and had a wonderful talk and visit with everyone. The two miles went very quickly. I encourage everyone to join in if you can.

RE: the book. Would you like to know what to expect? Plus it is more about before and after care.

I'm going to join the walkers this week.

Hi NoPBJ No I do not have a date yet. I haven't officially met with Dr. Hoffman yet. Because of committments I can't have it before September 29th anyway. My appointment with Dr. Hoffman is August 19th.

Hi everyone, I met Dr. Hoffman yesterday. He did my colonoscopy. We only had a total of about 3 minutes interaction but I felt he was a warm caring man. He even asked me if I liked the music in the procedure room. I wish our first meeting would have been in his office instead of his having an intimate relationship with my backside and then telling me to fart to get the gas pains out! Ha Ha. But he did make me feel comfortable. I remember someone being surprised he did Colonoscopys. I guess the GI lab was too because I heard someone ask him and he rattled off a whole list of proceudures he does. He even remembered my appointment to see him was in August. I am so impressed. I did have some horrible gas pains that lasted until late last night. I even had to take a wheel chair to the car cause I couldn't walk but I felt more comfortable being at home "relieving" my discomofort. On that note I got the book someone on this site recommended titled Weight Loss with the Adjustable Gastric Band by Robert Sewell (I love it) and I read about the shoulder pains people talk about and the book explains: A cannula is placed into the abdominal cavity through the skin and muscular wall. The cavity is then inflated with carbon dioxide gas, similar to blowing up a balloon. The pressure of gas creates space for the surgeon to work between the internal organs and the wall of the abdomen. It also explains the reason for the preop diet which many people complain about: To expose the area of the upper stomach requires the lives to be physically lifted off the stomach. The liver is often quite large and somewhat immobile in very obese patients. This can prove to be a major obstacle in working around the upper part of the stomach. To make the procedure safer and easier patients are put on a pre-operative low fat low carb diet to shrink the liver. Makes me want to make that pre-op diet successful! Sorry for the long post. I just thought someone might be interested.

Val, you are an inspiration! If I can lose 28 pounds in 12 weeks once I get banded I will be ecstatic! Thanks for sharing.

You can eat red anything. You may have read I can't but it is for my colonoscopy. Enjoy your red jello and popsicles!

No PBJ you sound in better spirits. At least you got the ticker on your site. I can't even do that! Help.

Loraine, I read you got your band in November of 2007. Do you still like it? I am more worried about not overeating than the surgery.

I am so sorry you had a bad experience. Hopefully things will continue to get better and you will feel more positive about having the band. Anesthesia can be really hard on some people, even worse than the surgery. Good luck and take one day at a time.

Hi Lovingheart, I sent my application in March 12th. I was at the hospital on April 1st so I went up to the 15th floor to check on the application. I was told I would need a psych eval and a TSH so I immediately took care of both. I was invited to the May 1st seminar where we were told we could come in and get weighed and once it was officially recorded we could start on SB Diet. I got weighed on May 6th. Because I was going on a cruise I did not start the diet until May 27th. I had my "3 hour blitz" which was only 2 hours on June 24th. I was assigned Dr. Hoffman which after reading how much every one likes him I was pleased. I have to have a colonoscopy and Dr. Hoffman is doing that on July 10th (because others have tried and not been successful). I go back to the dietician on July 22nd and my first appointment with Hoffman is August 26th. They say you are scheduled for surgery 2-6 weeks later but I am having a big event on September 23 so I do not want it until after that. I have to be in high gear for a few weeks to get ready for it. When you say your first appointment isn't until late August do you mean with the surgeon or the 3 hr appointment with the NP, PT, and nutritionist? I was extremely successful on SB and almost lost too much weight to qualify. I am not allowed to lose another pound. Which is very hard for me. I guess just so I weigh the same at the appointments I will be okay. I plan to go to the July 16th support meeting at Buffalo General. I am trying to learn as much as I can before hand. I love this site.

Lovingheart, are you still out there? I too live in South Buffalo and am in the process of the LapBand system. My doctor will be Dr. Hoffman at Buffalo General. I would love to talk.

Brubear, How can I add a ticker to my site? I found the ticker and everything but can't get it to the site. I don't understand the cut and past this etc. Can you help explain it? Thanks.

How exciting Judy! I am having a tough time being away from home and eating properly. To much time and temptation. I can't wait to get home on Saturday. I am having it on Thursday so I just asked my intern to send me the instructions as I thought I had to stop certain things ahead of time. I am glad I did because I have to stop the iron pills. Yes I am diabetic so I always have suger free jello in the house but of course most of it is red. I live in S Buffalo and go to a woman in West Seneca but Dr. Hoffman wants to do this himself.

Rainwi, Congratulations! Hope all continues to go well. I have to be on clear liquids next week for my colonoscopy. What did you eat for clear liquids?

Judy what happened today? Did you get a date for surgery?

Judy congratulations on the weight loss. Make sure to let us know when your surgery date it. How exciting!

Judy it is good to see someone in this age group. Thank you for your compliment. I guess I am strong in many ways but weak when it comes to will power and foods control over me. I have been told by naysayers that you can gain weight on Lapband by eating to many times a day and I admit I am afraid of that. In fact I haven't told anyone I didn't need to about the surgery just in case I am not successful. I would feel so ashamed.

Judy, I have an appoinment with Dr. Hoffman on August 19th. The NP said it is usually 6 weeks later for surgery. I have a huge PR event on the 23rd of September for which a lot of my family will be in town and I do not want anything to interfere with my mind or body before that so I can't do anything before October or the very end of September anyway. I will tell my family about the surgery then also. (No use worrying the parents till its a done deal - they actually pointed out the article to me because it is said to cure diabetes) I wasn't fond of phase 1 but 2 was good. I am never hungry! To be honest, not being able to loose anymore told my heart - eat something you are not allowed. But my brain wont let me! I bought a bag of popcorn Thursday and it is still sitting here unopened. Plus I am always so full. When I get back I have a lot of results to dig up from different doctors plus check if my test results and psych report which have been sent a second time were received. I swear they loose more stuff in that office! I was thinking of the Delaware Park walkers this morning as I was hiking the mountains of NC while my granddaughter was cross country running. Longing for flat land!

Rain and Brubear, Congratulations. Keep us informed so we know what to expect. I am out of town and so happy to be able to keep in touch by the website. Someone mentioned Dr. Hoffman being out of town part of the summer....for 2 weeks in August he will be involved with his Boards. I have an appointment with him for a colonoscopy on July 10th and my surgery apointment on August 19th. I am so happy I have him for my doctor even if I havn't met him yet. Can anyone tell me how to put the ticker on the bottom of your web page?

Judy, I think certain plans just work for certain people. I do not drink with meals preparing for surgery so if I am full it is all food. I did not go overboard on protein except for the chili which I ate several times. Mostly lots of veggies. AND if I wasn't hungry I did not snack. I know there is a theory but eating when I wasn't hungry got me in this program so I don't want to start the habit plus after surgery it is only three meals. I was just lucky. Now I have to follow Phase 3 to maintain. Good luck.