kristenmh

aubrie: don't fear, you don't have to give up all beer! (i'm assuming you gave it up b/c of the carbonation). you can get beer on nitrogen (i.e. guiness) or hand-pulled beer (which has no carbonation).

remember: the pre-op diet isn't about losing weight, it's about shrinking the size of your liver. stick with the super low-fat, low cal diet and you'll be fine.

ckelley: what are you doing for Protein? make sure you're getting at least 60 grams -- it really, really keeps the hunger at bay. clear liquid suggestins: IDS protein bullets,

banded on a thursday and was supposed to go to work on monday -- i ended up taking an extra day off. keep in mind, i ended up having a hiatal hernia repair so my recovery was slightly longer than most.

i tied the small bites/lots of chewing/no drinking thing prior to surgery and it was tough. the thing about it after surgery -- you physically CANNOT swallow large, unchewed bites. they either won't go down or get stuck. either way, it's pretty painful. so practice now and know that once you are banded, you'll have a little extra help from your band.

you can have that stuff but...your first goal should be to get into as much Protein as you can, then veggies, then carbs. i'm finding that a week into mushies I can barely get down enough protein (about 1/4-1/2 cup) at a time. you may want to start with a mushy protein and after you finish that, if you are still hungry, go for the carbs. typical meal for me has been 1/4 c. of refried Beans or hummus, 1-2 scrambled eggwhites and a sprinkle of reduced fat cheese. i've also been pretty succesful with about 3oz. of flaked fish (sole, cod, halibut).

2 weeks post-op. i've lost 23lbs to date -- about 3.5 this week. (8 total since surgery.) i'm start on solid food next week and i'm preparing myself for the weight loss to come to a screeching halt. my goal is just not to gain anything before my first fill on 9/19.

i'm eating about a 1/2 cup at a time. very rarely am i full with that -- i'm forcing myself to stop eating. i figure the hunger is normal at this stage. i've lost that immediate post-surgery (where a 1/4 cup of yogurt would make me feel like i had had 4 plates of Pasta carbonara), but i'm definitely not ravenous. well, except for yesterday when i had less than 60 grams of Protein. i noticed around 4pm that i was super fatigued and hungry. (drank 1/2 a Protein shake and was MUCH better within minutes.) i think until we get fills, we're pretty much "dieting" on our own, or with minimal help from our bands.

i had a hernia as well. none of my pre-op tests (esophogram and chest xray) showed it nor had I ever had any problem with reflux. i defn. had a longer than expected recovery. the challenge for me was taking deep breaths -- it just hurt so much. my surgeon told me it was b/c of the extra swelling due to the hernia repair. i also find i can't eat as much/drink as much as some other folks seem to be able to at the same point in their recovery. (i'm two weeks out).

also: how well are you chewing? how small of a bite are you taking? i find i still need to chew the heck out of cottage cheese for it to go down. and take bites half the size of what i previously thought was a small bite. (i'm two weeks post surgery as well). eggs, applesauce, pudding and refried Beans go down without a problem. so do belended Soups. i've tried tuna salad (with a good dollop of non-fat yogurt) and i had to stop after 3 bites b/c it hurt.

hi dietpeach, i was banded at NYU and it took me just shy of 8 weeks, from seminar to surgery. it really depends on how quickly and aggressively you can in front of huberman for your psych consult and which surgeon you choose. if you go with dr. kurian (whom i chose and ADORE), she does the nutrition consult, phsycial and surgical consult all on the same day. that cuts down on the wait time. that said, i do believe she only sees new patients on mondays. good luck!

dr. kurian is fantastic! my initial consult with her was on july 12th and her first available appointment for surgery was august 7th. the whole process (from seminar thru surgery) only took me two months and two days.

we're here for you. i do believe medicaid will pay.

hi there and welcome! you're first step should be signing up for a free seminar. you mention you are in LA -- Cedars Sinai has a great program. You can call them and set up an appointment or sign up for one of their educational seminars at Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss. Once you go to a seminar, you'll need to start the process by (usually) going for a physical with your GP, obtaining a nutritional consultation with your surgeons office and a psychiatric evaluation (with the psychiatrist associated with your surgical practice). I know there are more than a few folks on this board who have been banded @ Cedars -- they can definitely provide you with more detailed information. Good luck and congratulations!

Congratulations on choosing Dr. Kurian -- I just saw her today and love her. She greeted me with a big hug and kiss and was so incredibly attentive. (I'm 10 days post-op now). I managed to be scheduled for surgery with her 3 weeks after my consult. Her surgery days are Tuesdays and Thursdays.

you'll be great! at some point, i started to feel totally high and crazy proud of myself for being able to do it. plus: there's nothing like waking up in the recovery room and your doc telling you you had "the most adorable little liver ever"

i did 3 weeks of an all liquid diet. i followed it religiously and lost 15lbs. after the first few days, it was totally easy to maintain. the first few days were rough, tho.

my surgeons office said to wait 5 minutres before and 1 minutes after for liquids. to be on the safe side, i've been waiting 30 minutes after finishing eating to drink something. i love drinking with my meal and was really concerned about this but it turns out it's not such a big deal for me afterall.

welcome home! the Water drinking is a bear at first. i thought i was going to go insane trying to get it all in. (and this is from someone who would drink 10-12 glasses of water a day prior to surgery.) it does get easier. one of my mos exciting days early on was when i realized I had finished a 16oz bottle of water in under 2 hours. woot! take it easy and rest assured -- it DOES get better.

I just had my first "meal" i.e. my first mushie plate of food. (I've been on liquids for 5 weeks now -- pre and post operatively.) This morning I had 1/2 c. Amy's Refried Beans 1 tsp. Salsa (the liquified kind) 1 tsp Reduce Fat Monterey Jack cheese 1 small poached egg Calories: Around 225 Protein: Around 15 grams I ate slowly and everything went down well. I wouldn't say I feel full (at least not the way I remember feeling full), but I do have this sense of, I dunno, something. I could probably eat a little bit more but there is no real desire on my part. I just set the kitchen timer to 30 minutes and am waiting for it to go off so I can have a few sips of Water. It feels so weird to be back in the food environment. A little scary after having such limited choices for the last month+. But also exciting as well. I've planned the rest of my meals for today -- lunch will be 1/4 c. of non fat ricotta with 1/4 cup of homemade veggie bolognese sauce and some shredded parmesan. (If I'm feeling up to it, I may mix the cheeses with an egg and bake it). dinner will be 4oz of filet of sole. I'm planning on today's snack being 1/2 of a IDS Protein bullet and maybe 1/2 c. of roasted apple/strawberry puree.

welcome back and congrats! i was banded last week and i really wasn't prepared for how much of a chore staying hydrated would be. be patient with yourself, sip as often as you can and know it will start to get easier to keep hydrated. i'm a week out and finally can drink almost normally.

i had (and still have) the cotton mouth with the all liquid diet. no idea why -- frequent teeth brushing and mouthwash gargling helped. also helping some: chewing sugar free gum.

i third or fourth or fifth the breathing trouble. i was banded last week and had a hernia repair -- basically, our diaphragm has been stitched up. my doc told me to continue to expect breathing pain for another week or so. my deep breaths kinda feel like they stutter. keep up the pain meds and be patient. it totally gets better.

i disagree with all of the above -- you are healing. this is not the time to try to lose weight, but to make sure you're getting all the nutrition you need to heal properly. you have all the time in the world to lose weight -- an extra glass a milk a day while recovering is not going to make a major impact.

here are my actual expenses (in NYC): psych consult: $275 nutritionist consult: $325 hospital co-pay: $250 PCP co-pay: $80 (spread across two visits) i didn't have any co-pays or OOP for my esophagrams, surgical consults, pre-op testing (ekg, bloodwork, chest xray).