Blondiee9584

Glad to hear your Surgery went well SCbeachbander.....I have been out of town so I am just now getting back to check on your progress! You are probably still on Liquids...which stinks for the time being but it does really help in the weight loss progress. You should have a 2 Week Check Up and if you are doing well and have not had problems you should be able to move to Mushies. I am now on solid food and have lost 29 pounds...it has been 5 Weeks (today) since my Surgery so that has been about 5.8 pounds a week but I know that is going to slow down. I have got to get back in the Gym....but it is so hard for me to find time. My sisters are going to start going with me so that will help with the motivation! I am going for my 1st Fill next Monday....will let you know how that goes. Gotta get back to work but I will post later! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to you all!! Hope that you are showered with love throughout the day! :biggrin1: :biggrin1:

I don't know where you live but you could try Advanced Surgical Associates in Conway, SC....Dr. Balder or Dr. Anderson. 843-347-3900

When they scheduled my Surgery they had not yet started doing it as Out-Patient in the Rivertown Center yet, and since I am not at all good with pain I decided it would be better for me to stay overnight in the Hospital. I was Self-Pay also since my Insurance would not pay for the Surgery. It did cost extra for me to stay overnight at the Hospital....all together my Surgery will cost about $17,000.00. After the Surgery the food gets boring really quick! My Mom made a variety of Jello Flavors for me and I had a variety of Protein shake Samples that I got from Sue. My Diet pretty much consisted of sugar free Popsicles (there is actually a pretty good variety of flavors at most Grocery Stores), Sugar Free Jello (My Mom did use Splenda to make a few flavors just too see how I liked it....you might want to try that), and Soup! I had Clam Chowder (strained out the Potatoes and Clams), chicken Noodle (strained out the Noodles & Chicken), Homemade Vegtable Soup (Mom made a Large Pot of Soup which I ate off of for days!), and if you are Chinese Food Fan you could get the Won Ton Soup and just eat the broth that they put the Won Tons in (If you like the Egg Drop Soup you could have that and just strain off the Egg Drops). I mostly drank Water, but found out that I really liked the Crystal Light Lemonade for a change. Hopefully all went well with your Surgery today....!!

Hi Janet, Good Luck on your Surgery tomorrow! Today you are probably doing the Bowel Prep....that was very hard for me! I drank as much of the liquid as I could without throwing it back up, but was not able to finish it all. Surgery Day was not bad at all....the worst part for me was trying to find a Vein to get my IV started. My Surgery took about 45 Minutes and then I was in Recovery for about 1.5 Hours. After that they took me up to the Room I would be spending the Night in at Conway Hospital. I didn't have very much pain while I was there....but Pain Medication was avaliable at my request. Just a word of advice....get up and move around as much as you can. I was getting up about every hour to go to the Bathroom and would walk around the Room for a few minutes each time I was up. I stayed Tuesday Night and they released me about 1:00 on Wednesday afternoon. You may want to ask them to give you some Nausea Medication before you leave if you have more than a few minute Drive Home. Once I got home I spent the next few days on the Couch! You are going to have to sleep on your back for about a week and then you should be able to move to your side. You will be on a full liquid diet for 4 weeks after the Surgery....however, at my 2 Week Check-Up Dr. Balder said I was doing good enough to move to Mushy Foods. THANK GOD!! Soup was getting old...no matter how many different flavors I tried! I have been pretty lucky with my Surgery...only had bad gas pains once! (Knock on wood!) I had very little pain once I got home, my incisions are very small and healing well. I still have the Steri-Strips on the incision where the Port is; the other 4 wounds look like small red cut marks. They are going to put a Binder on you after Surgery and it will help hold your Stomach in. I stopped wearing mine after about 2 weeks.... Dr. Balder scheduled me for my 1st Fill on Feb. 20th. I was afraid that until I had a fill I would be able to eat close to what I was eating before I had the Surgery, but that is not the case. For Breakfast I fix one of the Quaker Instant oatmeal Individual Packs and have yet to finish an entire pack. I had 1 Egg and Grits (just enough to cover the Egg) for lunch yesterday and was not able to finish all of that either. Before the Surgery I would eat 2 eggs, Grits, Bacon, and Toast before I would feel full. As soon as I start to feel full I stop eating. If you try to eat to much it will feel like you have a Brick in your Stomach....or atleast that is how it was for me. I have not been to any of the Support Group Meeting yet, but I am going to start getting in the Habit of going. Best of Luck Tomorrow! :clap2: Blondiee9584

Just wondering if anyone in the Myrtle Beach/Horry County area has been Banded by Dr. Balder?? I live in Little River and was Banded by him on Jan. 10, 2006.