Fernando

I made some chili with out the ground beef... I just started with the onion and the garlic and sauteed it and then added some beef boulion (sp) and the puree tomato and chili spices... (full liquid stage) added black Beans for the puree/mushy stage I was told absolutley NO red meat I had permission from the dr. office for this... they actually have told me to relaxe cause I have not put anything in my mouth they have not approved :wink_smile: I gave it a whirl in the blender and was good to go It was wonderfull... so much flavor!!!

When I got back to the park and started walking again I REALLY felt my port!! I took Jr. strength melt away tylenol (so much better then the liquid ibuprofen they gave me) And I tried to turn over weird in bed while I was sleeping once and was SORE for 2 days from that... It should do better... rest those muscles and support them is all we can do... Do not even feel it now though, I am willing to bet at 6 weeks when I get released to do "normal" exercise and start trying to "jog" and do some abdominal I will rediscover it!! Heat will help with the ache too... heating pad or rice bag ... or puppy on lap :wink_smile:

EK, I used atkins shakes at my doctors instance, they provide a more complete Meal Replacement. Choclate sucked but hte vanilla and strawberry were ok. Now I use New whey Protein Bullets New Whey Protein Bullets They give 42 grams of protein and 0 carbs 0 sugars. I drink half in the afternoon and half at bedtime as your body can only absorb so much protein at a time. I got a really good deal off e-bay that made them about a dollar cheaper then GNC. My doc also allowed scrambled eggs, cottage cheese and sugar free/fat free pudding on the pre op diet ALL docs are different though. The first thing I asked the Dr. when he came in that evening to check on me was how did my liver look :tt2: Turned out he said it was nice and small and he had plenty of room to work around with. alot of prople also reccomend unjury UNJURY Medical Quality Protein Supplement: High Protein Supplement Uses Whey Protein Isolate. Great tasting whey protein supplements! I have not tried it but alot of people in my support group have and they really like it. Have to order from internet. Hope this helps, Kim

Welcome!! Im in Va too, Christiansburg, sown by virginia tech. I was banded June 3rd in Radford Loving the Mushies!!! (insert the sarcasm here please) It will go so fast!!!! And the procedure is "cake" :tt2: Good luck, check out the Virginia section of the forums, and let us know if you need anything. Kim

I have also read the website and been very skeptical... they do however have some might tasty looking recipes that I am going to try when I can eat food again!! Not much for mushies and after 14 days its hard to rotate things around!! GL

I know alot us of have had individual experiances and lots of thoughts... so here is mine.... When I dont get enough Calcium my legs kill me!!! I have been taking a chewable tums with calcium in the morning and at bedtime to make sure I get my calcium in... the clacium tablets are like horse pills but I swear by them... or they have choclate and caramel Viactive chews too... Just a thought :tt2: Good Luck, Kim

:party:Jazzy Junes First Fill Lineup:party: :tt2: 7-1 Strikeuptheband 7-2 Cathychatts 7-9 Amisha, Kizzie :couch2: 7-14 Huggie Bear, Long2bThin, greyhoundmom :couch2: 7-15 ginas. :couch2: 7-22 livn4jesus :couch2: 7-23 kkarryall, vzghj3, Cadets71 :party: 7-29 Phoenix, Greythope :party: 7-31 Jules K :huh2: 8-5 Kathystrick

Everything is going great... I was banded June 3rd and am anxiously awaiting thursday so I can graduate to soft foods!!! Dr. Bissell and his staff are GREAT!!! Hopefully once you start the process you will get to meet us at the support group meetings. Good luck and let us know if you need anything Kim

Lilly there is no borderline to it!!!! U belong to us Jazzy Junes:tt2: MUUUH HHHAAAAAHHHH HHHHAAAAHHHH

Jazzy Junes First Fill Lineup :thumbs_up: 7-1 Strikeuptheband :thumbs_up: 7-2 Cathychatts :w00t: 7-9 Amisha, Kizzie :huh2: 7-14 Huggie Bear, Long2bThin, greyhoundmom 7-15 ginas. 7-23 kkarryall, vzghj3 7-29 Phoenix, Greythope

Cathychatts I hijacked your format :Angel_anim: I do not know that I will be as good as you are at this thing though I'll give it my best shot though... not sure how you kept up with all 300 of us!!! kudos and thanx once again.

:w00t:Jazzy Junes First Fill Line-up! :w00t: :Angel_anim: 7-1 Strikeuptheband :smile2: 7-14 Huggie Bear, Long2bThin :w00t: 7-29 Phoenix, Greythope

I agree it sux!! I was banded June 3rd and still have a week of mushies left!! What's better is b4 I am off soft foods I get a fill b4 I can even get to solid foods... then it's 2 days liquid, 2 days mushie, 2 days soft then real food again.... Very many variations out there by each doc... I did go to The Olive Garden with DH and got Soup and mashed the potato in to to a pulp and he dug the mushy cheese out of his ravioli for me :Angel_anim: It was heavenly!! and mushy Cheers on your first meal Kim

gardengrl... u are not alone once the swelling went down and I could start fitting things in I started noticing that I am eating faster and I have felt none of the chest pain or discomfort from it... I can drink a 16.9 oz bottle of Water in less then half an hour... I am not taking more into my mouth then one swallow, but am still drinking pretty fast. One of the girls at the Tuesday support group I went to said she was the same until her second fill and then EVERYTHING changed!!! And now she is back to eating slowly again... so we are not alone. I am not a doctor and do not pretend to play one on tv I just think that once our swelling went down and our bodies are getting used to the band being there our old sensations will come back and with it old habits will try to creep back in until we have restriction... I am scheduled for a fill on July 14th (hhmmmm new thread there?? jazzie june first fill list :Angel_anim:) and am hoping that I am not gnawing my arm off by then... Kim

Welcome back to the game... You have been GREAT at keeping our list and putting so much time and effort into it!! THANX!!!

Wow guyz it's been a month since the last meeting... Hope to see yall tonite at 6:30 at the Hospital :sad_smile: I am 3 weeks out already, and have a fill date of July 14th!!

MMMMM ushies!!! I get to start mushies on Thursday, and I am ready. The liquid thing is just old now.... and I can drink with no problem so 4 0z of Fluid is like... uh yeah :tongue: I can drink a 16 oz bottle of Water in an hour while walking so I know I could fit in more liquids... I am hoping I start to feel a sence of something in my stomache when I get to mushies... I went today and bought a bunch of gerber stage 2 fruits and veggies in the little containers that have the reclosable lid... prolly take most of those to work since I cant eat what is on the menu at work any more... have fridge in office so it's good there. What's weird is I heard lots of ppl at the support group meeting say they have been HUNGRY since surgery and I am not really hungry at all... I hear my tummy growl and know I need to eat I guess I should count myself lucky... Im scared that once I get closer to "real" food in my belly I'm gonna be starving all the time till my fill Ok enough rambles... Will let ya'll know how it goes... only 2 more days!! Kim

Wow Gwen... 70 pounds since October... I only hope I can say that:unsure: I was just banded on the third http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f181/its-really-real-65671/ I typed up a long babbling post if you wanna check it out. I have been reading this site for it seems like forever and now here I am a week out yesterday and I think I am one of the luck ones because several of the people at the support group were talking about being hungry since surgery and I haven't been hungry yet... I am doing my liquid diet and drinking all my Water.... seems like all I do is drink all day.... but im crossing my fingers that I will stay that way and it will stay easy until it's fill time I am struggling with getting in 1000 calories a day right now, I'm sure it will get easier when I get to mushies:drool: I really can't believe it's real quite yet... guess when I get to real food again it will seem more real:rolleyes2: Just trying to stay motivated and hoping for some good weight loss when I weigh in on the 19th:eek: Kim

Hey all I just came from a support group meeting in Radford Va and we gave out the web address for this site and I just wanted to put a post in here where it will be easy for anyone who goes home and looks up the site to find. The Virginia thread is kind of fun to find it is under the *usa support groups* under *virginia*. There is a TON of good information in here and a lot of GREAT support!! If ya'll have any questions or need anything just give a hollar!! Great seeing all of u at the meeting and I'll be there next meeting with my story of my surgery day!!! yay:thumbup:

Well hi Bob :tongue2: glad to have you join our thread!! Hope all is well (escept for the wall ur hitting) My surgery went great, I am back down at randolf park walking the trail... back up to 45 minutes but no where near the distance. I wish I knew what my weight loss was looking like... I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a good scale... I have two and they weight me different and of course the scale at the dr office weights me different too?? So Bob... about this wall... what are you getting in each day?? For me it's a struggle to get any where near 1000 calories... especially on the full liquids. Wait are you the Bob I was sitting next to who was sitting next to who had to wait for over a year cause of the doctor leaving and all?? Ok so what all are you getting in?? I know if one does not get in enough calories each day the body shuts down and will not let us lose any?? That has been a common thing I've read alot on these threads... and as soon as the calorie intake is bumped up the weight starts coming off.... Ok so I'll stop babbling and hollar at ya in a bit Kim

Just pay attention to how much protein and calories you are getting... I know all doctors are different mine was very firm on 5 atkins shakes a day... that still was not even 1000 calories but it was wnough protien... the protein is important to help in healing... Just a thought... you will do good girl... and if you are like me you will be asking him while still groggy and morphine induced about how the liver looked!! You will be done b4 u know it!!! Kim

ch4life... I went on a 3 day 2 nite field trip to new york while I was on my pre-op diet and it was not so bad... As per my dr. I had to drink 5 atkins shakes a day and the days were all scheduled and went by super fast so it actually made it easier!! You will do great... and guess what when the surgeon told me my liver was nice and small and he had tons of room to work with it was all worth it!! Hang tough girl... u can do it!!! If anything just be super good now and do a super shrink for the next 4 days!!! PS I cheated too Kim

AAwww thank you brown bear :incazzato: Just wait till u see this girl 100 puonds lighter!! One pound at a time!!

Heya guyz!! Didn't mean to dissapear on ya. It has been a busy couple of weeks. The New York Field Trip went great!! The 8 hour bus ride sucked!! Can't wait to get this weight off so I can fit in a seat and be able to have wiggle room to get comfortable:blushing: Surgery... Well I was the first one on the schedule for surgery on Tuesday so I had to report at 0615 and let me tell ya they must have been standing around waiting on me to show up. I signed in and as soon as the lady behind the desk had my bracelet printed up and on my wrist they were calling me back to pre-op. I got changed and had 3 people in there at once starting i.v. and asking questions and ordering the hep.(blood thinner) from the pharmacy. All by 0630 mind you. They brought DH in by 0645 and the nurse that was taking me to the holding area walked in right behind him. It was time to empty the bladder and go to the holding area!! So I had time to say hi hunny there are my clothes, go pee, and give DH my glasses and off we were. That takes us to the holding area. The surgeon came in blushing cause he had shorts on under his long white coat and all the nurses were making fun of him:unsure:. I told him he could wear what ever he wanted so that he was comfortable!!! We went over everything one more time and off he goes and in comes the anast. with a tube that he said he had concocted special for me and he wanted to know if I was interested??:drool:DUH Well he injects his special brew and says it'll take about 60 seconds to work and he releases the brakes on the bed and the last thing I remember I was going out of the door way of the holding room. Next thing I know we are in recoverey. All I really remember of recovery is telling them my tummy felt really yucky and they put some stuff in my i.v. Next thing I know I'm in a room and they are asking me to scoot over to the bed... well I try to sit up and for some reason it feels like i've been stabbed in the gut like 5 times:confused2: and you want me to do what. I remember looking at them and asking if they were really serious and then the helped drag me by the sheet that was under me. I dozed on and off in the room and they cam from radiology and told me that it was time for my swallow test.... this is where it gets fun. Getting out of bed wasn't to awful bad... I knew to log roll and use the bed to help me it was when I stood up and when the wheel chair started moving that got me... so I arrive in radiology and Tammy the coordinator for Dr. Bissell is there and she tells me how great I did and that she is gonna peek at things and make sure they are all ok. (was sooo good to see a familiar face there). They even let me stand on the end of the table and then lowered it down for me after I did the swallow test... now the upper gi was not to bad so I was not even nervous about the stuff they were wanting me to drink... well I'm here to tell you it was DIFFERENT... It was thinner and it tasted NASTY!!! between the DRY mouth and that nasty taste It was all I could do not to throw up... It took care of the dry mouth cause my mouth was watering from needing to yack, but that jsut got all that residue in my mouth kicked up... so I get back in the wheel chair and they leave me sitting in the hall for a transport person... trying not to throw up... well they finally show up and let me tell ya this chick must have been a power walker cause we were off.. and I was even worse off... if I had opened my mouth it would have been all over with... well we get back to my room and get me in bed and my hubby and mom take one look at me and immediatley know what is going on and they give me the SMALL kidney shaped bucket... like that would hold anything and get my nurse to bring me another shot of stuff for the i.v. Once that settled down I kind of dosed on and off till around 1 that afternoon while everyone in my room watched a movie on the lap top. The surgeon came in and saw me and asked how things were going and reminded me to get up and moving... and let me know (he had told DH earlier) that he found a hyaetal heornia (sp) and repaired that b4 he placed the band and that I would be feeling that as well. I was like cool I got a 2 for 1 deal!!! He laughed at that!! and I remembered to ask how my liver was and he said it was nice and tiny and he ahd all kinds of room to work with!!! So from there on we got up every hour and did laps around the nurses station and stayed up with the morphine and the nausea meds and just hung out... Until 1030 that night... I got a roommate who was having a hard time of it anyways and they give her an i.v. pump that beeps like an alarm clock every 5 minutes and they tell her to just keep hitting the reset button:mad2: Well we both kept telling them all about it and nothing was done so I got zero sleep and DH had enough and went home around 3am. I felt bed for her though cause she was aggriveted with it too and she had a different nurse even though we were in the same room... but who knows. Anyway back on topic... Dr. Bissell comes in to see me around 0730 and looks at the belly and lets me know that it's normal to be feeling the stitches he put in my stomache at the repair more then the port area and tells me just to be very careful about using my abdominal muscles so that they dont pull before they heal and that he heard that I had been walkign ALOT and he was glad... so was I ready to go home... in this time the i.v. in the other side of the room has gone off like 3 times and I ask if I can PLEASE go home now!!! A little paper work and a visit from Tammy and I'm off for home... Go to Kroger and get my liquid loritab and liquid ibuprofen and we're home sweet home... It has been an ok couple of days ... Sore in the middle of my upper belly right were you would have heart burn... and gas rumbling around but a good couple of days... Mom and step dad left yesterday afternoon, and hubby took kids to a movie so that I could have house to my self and I slept int he recliner in silence the whole time!!! So now it's back to life ... I am working on getting all the Water in and working towards getting all the claories in??? who knew that 1000 claories could be so hard to get in but come on when you have 20z. lite yogurt with 2oz skim mile for a meal that barley puts a dent in it... been drinking my leftover atkins shakes and K2o water to make up for it... plus I got my whey Protein bullets with 42 grams of protein each so I have been getting my protien in!! been splitting the protein bullets up to an ounce 3 times a day so I know that I am absorbing all of it!!! Well sorry this rambled on so long... making up for lost time:wub: Here's to recovery!!! Kim