MistyD65

You can go to SlimFast.com and check out the nutritional info for all the SlimFast shakes. In short, the Low Carb has 20 g Protein, 5 g carbs, 190 calories per can; Optima has 10 g Protein, 24 g carbs, 180 calories per can. So, yeah, there's a pretty big difference, especially if it is protein that you are after.

That comma before the "and" is often referred to as an "Oxford comma." I was taught to not put a comma before "and" unless it was needed for clarity. The AAMT Book of Style for medical transcription says it is optional "unless its presence or absence changes the meaning." The Gregg Reference Manual says to use it. *shrugs* The important thing is to make sure your reader understands your meaning. That's the importance of proper punctuation. (commas give me a headache) lol

I was actually considering refried beans! mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I've seen several people say they can't handle scrambled eggs. Why is that, I wonder? I'm going to be moving to soft foods next Wednesday (yaaaay o/) and eggs are first on the list. Scrambled is about the only way I eat them, aside from hard-boiled sometimes. What if they are more wet-scrambled than dry-scrambled? I'm a little nervous about starting to add foods too Kristen. Part of me wants to dive into a bowl of potato Soup after my appointment with the nutritionist next Wednesday, but I've been on such a low-carb, low-fat diet since my surgery that I'm afraid my body will rebel! I was thinking about going to a restaurant, but it may be safer to go home and eat something. lol And I'd just as soon NOT get my body to craving carbs again. I know my energy level is going to go up once I start adding them carefully though.

Ah, fellow sticklers!! If you have not read Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, I highly recommend it. Your neck will get sore from nodding in agreement with the author. I found myself laughing out loud more than once. :eek: One that I see ALL the time is using "then" instead of "than". But I think my biggest peeve is the misuse of apostrophes. It has become epidemic and even has a name - greengrocers' apostrophe. "Apostrophe s" is for possesives, not plurals!!! **can breathe a little easier now**

My Comcast email is being screwy right now, but I'll get that off to you as soon as it decides to cooperate! :thumbup:

Hi MissBS and welcome to the club! You may be referring to my chart of Protein drinks. I did put some info in paragraph form in a post, but i also have an Excel file that I can send you, if you like. You can send me a Private Message if you want to go that route. The chart only has the Protein Drinks that I looked at - there are so many out there - but it could be a starting point for you. As far as what else you can have during your pre-op, that's pretty much up to what you doctor has told you. I live in Houston, so let me know if I can help you with anything as your surgery day here approaches!

But what about follow-up and support AFTER the surgery? It seems that's as important, if not MORE important for your success with the band. I chose my surgeon because of the post-surgery support he could offer, with a Nutritionist and Life Coach who work through his office. I knew I couldn't go with a "here's your band, now make it work" kind of deal. I'm sure most people who decide on Mexico have done their homework and research about what it means to be banded, and the changes that MUST be made in their lifestyles. But I fear that many won't, especially if it is such an easy matter to set up a surgery date without pre-op visits and other important preliminaries. From reading some posts here at LBT it's obvious that a lot of people went into their surgeries with a lopsided view of what they could expect after the surgery, living with the band. And not just people who chose Mexico. And I step down off my soapbox.

I ran across an old (1993) notebook where I had written down daily advice from Richard Simmons' Day-by-Day Video series. As I read through it, looking for anything I might want to keep, I came across this: use a length of ribbon to track inches lost. I thought it was a great idea, and plan to put it to use. I'm thinking about getting a separate length of ribbon for each place I want to measure, and use a Sharpie to mark the ribbon as I shrink, even add the measurement date right to the ribbon. I think it'll be a wonderful record of inches lost, even more than just seeing the numbers on a chart.

OMG that one made me REALLY laugh out loud!

I'm pretty sure the biggest incision is your port incision. Mine is on my right side. I asked my doctor where exactly the port is, and he pointed to the area just below that incision. And no, I can't feel the port...buried under lots of fat, I imagine!

DWRD, that sound much like my doctor's Soft Food stage, but at 21 days rather than 15. His post-op doesn't mention mushies either.

Vegasgirl, my doctor recommends 40-60 g of Protein a day. I get that with Muscle Milk, Lean Body by Labrada, and Protein Blitz by Designer Whey drinks. That's what I'm living on, aside from a cup of broth each day and water, of course. (oh and 4 ounces of Starbucks Iced Green Tea lol). I've finally settled into a routine with those and my daily totals are 64 g protein, 64 or more ounces of fluid (including the protein drinks) and just under 500 calories. I haven't noticed any hair loss, thank goodness. I'm hungry most of the time, but it's usually just vague and not really that bad. If I space everything out during the day I do fine. But guess what I've learned? Being a little hungry is not going to kill me!

Between Thursday 8/7 - Friday 8/15 I lost 16 lbs.:thumbup: I was losing 3 pounds a day for several days, then I decided to see how many calories I was actually getting..and it was in the low 300s . No wonder I felt so shaky and dizzy by a week after my surgery. I was getting the recommended amount of Protein and fluids, so I went in search of a Protein Drink with more calories. Since I've added Muscle Milk to the rotation of Labrada Lean Body and Designer whey Protein Blitz my calories have gone up to about 500 and I'm feeling much better. It's still low, I know, but it's only for another week and a half. Kind of a funny story..I was feeling SO dizzy last Monday (8/11) that I called my doctor. I was pretty pitiful and ended up crying on the phone. He said I could add some coffee in the morning, but I don't drink coffee, so I asked him if I could have some Starbucks Iced Green Tea instead. When he said "yes" it was like the heavens opened and the angels sang! I went out and got my usual Venti with 7 Splendas, but I brought it home, poured the ice out of it and rationed out 4 ounces each day. I don't think the caffeine in a Venti is really all that much, but I don't want to take any chances. And that 4 ounces is just enough to make my tastebuds and my brain happy. :w00t: I've waved goodbye to the 300's and the 290's and I'm just half a pound of so from saying "so long" to the 280's. I'm excited! :cool2:

I'd wondered about those grilled chicken strips at JitB. I was afraid they would be dry. But I'll have to give them a try in a couple of weeks, when I am able to add them. Wonder what the sodium count is? Probably sky high, like all fast food. My first fill is September 8, 5 weeks to the day post surgery. Hoo!

I haven't noticed pain when laughing. But early this morning I woke up and was laying on my stomach, then raised up my right side a bit(where the port is) and coughed. That made my scar hurt more than it has since the first week. And it continued to hurt for a while, esp when I was getting out of bed a few hours later. It's back to normal now, thank goodness. I still have a bit of the synthetic scab on some of the scars and my surgeon removed the steristrips from my port scar last Friday. Those steristrips are tenancious little buggers! The skin under them is now pretty red and itchy. The itchiest though is right around the margins of where the strips were. But nothing like it was about 5 days after surgery. Oi! I read this hint about removing left-over adhesive...use a pencil eraser, very gently over the adhesive. Works great!

Oh, gosh me too! I just want to shake them by the shoulders and say "WHY?" I think a lot of it is that so many people really don't understand what it is the Band does and how the restriction works. I don't see how you can have something so major done and not find out everything you can about it and have a clear understanding of how it works before hand. When I was looking for a surgeon, I knew that I was going to need someone who would work with me after the surgery, who had a team approach with a Nutritionist and Counselor/Life Coach. The surgery is just a small part of being a bandster. It's the aftercare - and not just talking about fills here - that I think can make the difference between success and failure. (lol Listen to me talking like an old-timer, and I'm not even at 3 weeks Banded yet :thumbup:)

I'm glad to see that my doctor isn't the only conservative one out there. He requires 3 weeks of "modified full liquids" after surgery...basically Protein drinks plus Water, broth, decaf coffee and tea, Crystal Light and other clear, sugar-free things. I get a bit jealous reading posts from people who were eating mushies and soft foods in under a week, but I think I'm going to be glad about it in the long run. I will be well-healed and my Band "set" before any stress is put on it. Plus, my body composition is changing...can you say "ketosis"? lol I think it's going to make it easier to keep eating a small amount once I start adding real food, even before I have restriction. I won't really have a "mushie" stage. Soft foods are next for me...but I'll have to wait 3 days after my official 3 week post-op day to start, because that's when I see the Nutritionist. But I'll make it. I'm really looking forward to some tuna salad, eggs, and refried Beans - not at the same time. lol I'm kinda wary of soft carbs - grits, potato Soup - because I've gotten them out of my system. But I would love to dive into a bowl of potato soup! My doctor suggests 6-8 weeks of the soft foods before finally progressing to Solids at 10-12 weeks post surgery. I've been thinking about what I want to eat after my appointment next Wednesday. I think I should probably wait til I get home, just in case I have a problem...but part of me wants to get something at a restaurant. I'll see what my Nutritionist says. (I'm jonesing for some bruschetta from Olive Garden right now...and not even the bread. Just the tomatoes!:thumbup:)

I was banded on 8/4 and have been on modified full liquids ever since, and will be until next week. That means protein drinks, broth, water...basically clear liquids plus protein drinks. I get a little jealous when I see that others move on to soft foods a week or less after surgery, but I'm doing exactly as my Dr tells me. He wants to make very sure that everything has healed and that the band has "set." Sure, I feel a little bit hungry most of the day, but I think I'm going to be thankful for this extended liquids phase in the long run. It's teaching me what it feels like to be physically hungry as opposed to "head" hungry. After next week I'll be on "soft foods" for 6-8 weeks, then finally to solid foods. My new band and pouch are being treated very gently and, again, I think I'm going to be very grateful for that when all is said and done.

I'm not sure this applies to deciding on fills, but I read somewhere that taking too long to eat a meal can be almost as bad as eating too quickly. That if you take forever to eat a meal, what you ate early in the meal has already started to make it's way through the Band. Potentially, you could eat much more than is recommended, which would have an impact on the first question "How much can you eat per meal." What could be an indication that you need more restriction (the ability to eat too much at one sitting) could actually be just that you are eating too slowly, and don't need a fill yet. :thumbup: Did that make any sense at all? lol

Nope, no liar here either. This was my first surgery ever and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. I did have some painkiller in my IV overnight (not sure what it was), but I was up and walking the halls within several hours of my surgery. I was moving slowly, I grant you, and I took it easy getting in and out of bed. I had liquid lortab for home and took it for about 5 days. Gas pains - I had 'em. GasX strips pretty much took care of the gastrointestinal gas and the abdominal gas settled into my left shoulder. It was uncomfortable and aggravating, but I never really thought of that as surgical pain. Walking and moving around helped that go away. I slept in my recliner for the first week because I was afraid of rolling over onto my stomach - didn't know if it would hurt or not, but I didn't want to find out. My recliner is a GREAT place to sleep lol. Been sleeping in bed since Monday (had surgery 8/4) on my stomach with no problems. Everyone is different, so I think you have to look at each person's experience through that lens. The best we can do is get an idea of what to expect. I'm sorry you've had so much pain, and hope you are feeling much, much better soon!

It comes off slower, but it's going to STAY OFF!!!:thumbup: That's why I got Banded. I can lose weight on my own, but keeping it off is the big problem. And I know it's still going to take some work to maintain, but I'll have this little tool inside that'll be a whole lot of help! I was Banded 8/4, and after gaining a couple of pounds post op due to swelling and gas, I dropped 3 pounds a day for 4 days. That has slowed since I added about 100 more calories a day. I've decided to stop weighing every day, now that the loss has slowed. It was exciting to watch the numbers fall so drastically, but now I know the daily fluctuations are going to start, so why torment myself? Hang in there, follow your doctor's instruction to the "t" and you will be successful!

Well, Deathly Hallows is going to be a 2-parter, with the first part coming out in 2010 and the second in 2011. They *will* be shot back to back. According to the press release, this is purely a financial decision...they are expecting Hallows to make more money in the summer than at Thanksgiving. Potterphiles all around the world are very upset.

Just announced less than 2 hours ago. Warner Brothers is moving the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from this November to next July. :tongue_smilie: My husband is in shock and I'm pretty disappointed too. The "countdown to opening" had just dropped below 100 days, and now this. Well, by then the theater seats won't be the least bit tight anymore. lol

That's just ridiculous.:whatchutalkingabout Just goes to prove that insurance companies are more interested in keeping their money than in paying it back to us when we legitimately need it. Good luck with your appeal.