Florida Pete

It really is amazing how much both the pre-op and post-op diets very from surgeon to surgeon. Like my surgeon said for the post-op diet 4 days Clear liquids, 9 days full liquids, then like 15 days mushy foods, and then finally 1 month post-op can start solid foods. I think the rules different surgeons give a slightly different too. For example my surgeon told us to drink a glass of water right before eating to moisten the throat making it easier to swallow foods.

I am three weeks post-op too. I really have been fine for the most part with some port soreness here and there but that could easily be due to sleeping on the port side wrong. The side where my port is is also still puffy which could be still some swelling from the surgery that hasn't gone down yet and also I have caulked up to the port itself being under the skin and my body hasn't adjusted the "space" it takes up to be there. But like Michelle said if there is some redness around your port incision or bruising, plus your having pain or possibly a fever, or having some burning feels around the port area you could have an infection in which case you should get in to see your surgeon today so you can get on antibiotics to fight this infection. If your surgeon cannot see you go to either your pmp (primary care physician) or to an immediate care clinic. Best of luck to you and hope that this really is nothing at all. Keep us up to date!

Next update on my weight loss results are in and I am down another 5.6 lbs! So adding this to my December weightloss and I am at 29.2 lbs for the month. Just less then 1 pound to go to ready my second goal for the month! Feels great! Hope everyone else is doing great for their month also!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the Holiday Hotties and December Diamonds! May all your Christmas wishes come true and we all stick to our pre-op and post-op diets through the holiday celebrations!

I found a nice tool to help with monitoring my food intake as well as how many calories that are burned each day. The online membership is free. You can enter in all the food/drinks you consume in a day and then all the activities you have done for the day and then have reports and conparison charts to see how your doing. Also there are sections to keep track of your weight and measurements so you can monitor your progress as you build your new body!!! So check it out. It's FREE!!! www.fitday.com

Hi Beth, I got the same list of foods for my mushy phase including the same fish. The big thing my surgeon said with the haddock, tuna, and canned chicken was that it needed to be mashed with lots of low fat mayo. So sure bake the haddock and then know your need to mash it up like your making tuna salad.

Glad to help Paulette! I am sure you will do just fine in getting approved. It is a frustrating process but one that you can get through and will be well worth it on the other end.

That works. I am enjoying beans now days. LOL

I am surprised your allowed the protien drinks now that your in the mushy phase. The doc told me no liquid calories once in the mushy phase and on because they just go right past the band and will leave you hungry. But if it's working for you I'd say go with it.

My wife used to be a life and health insurance agent and from talking with her this is the best thing you can do to help in making your decision. Talk to the HR department at your work and see if you can get an explanation of benefits for each of the plans to review. Then in the explanation of benefits see if WLS (Weight Loss Surgery) is excluded or not. This is very very important because many insurance companies will pay for it but that is only if your employer choses a plan that it is "included" in their plan. It's cheaper for your employer to not have it included. Then once you know that it is included go to the insurance companies websites and review the requirements or contact the agent representing your company to see what the requirements are for getting banded. It really boils down to your BMI & comorbidities. A lot of the health insurance companies will not require the surpervised diets if your BMI is high and you have multiple comorbidities. So best of luck on chosing the right insurance plan.

I took more time off due to traveling to and from Mexico then I actually needed for the surgery and recovery. I was off of work Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday. I had to fly over to Mexico on Thursday, had surgery on Friday, and then flew back on Sunday. Took Monday off mainly to recover from getting in at 11:30pm the night before. I was back at work on Tuesday. Really I think 2 or 3 weeks turns this into a vacation and not really recovery. On Friday it will have been 3 weeks since my surgery and I am doing fine. BUT, I have a desk job so it's not very physically demanding. The surgeon had told me no lift over 15 lbs for 3 weeks after surgery so you should take that into consideration with your nursing job depending on what part of nursing you are in. Best of luck!

When do you start your mushy phase? Basically right now I get up in the morning and have a glass of Water. Then once a work have my small bowl of oatmeal. An hour after the oatmeal and before lunch time I will have a glass (16oz) or two of water. Have something for lunch usually either a can of tuna or chicken with lots of low fat mayo. Then wait an hour again and before having another glass or two of more water. Then in the evening have another small portion of food followed up an hour again after eating with either water or some calory free drink. Pretty much I only drink water throughout the day and in the evening I might have some iced tea or crystal lite drink.

Congrats on being banded yesterday! Drink as much water as you can right now. It's really going to help your recovery as well as help get rid of that thirst!

Wow! That's great China! Congrats on the weight loss and the good news at your doc appointment. I know how great that feels to step on that scale and see those numbers dropping. With the end of the month just around the corner I look forward to our next challenge! I think it's great to have these and to share with one another in our success!

Best of luck with your surgery Carol! Brush up on your spanish a little. It will help in going down there. Also the night before your surgery when you get to go out for your last meal go over to the Mexican place across the street. Good food. Of course you can hit up the TGI Fridays right across the street too but hey you will be in Mexico! LOL

Very very cool! I have to say I had a simlar experience last week. I was in a rush and grabbed a pair of slacks for work that have been tight on me and I had stopped wearing them. Well they were loose and I was needing a belt for them!! It is a great feeling and your right NSV!

I cannot speak for the Optifast as I never tried them but the Atkins shakes I would sware by. The reformulated the taste on them not to long ago and are rather good. While I was on my liquid phases and my pre-op diets I really enjoyed having them daily. Heck I almost miss having them now but of course now that I am in mushies docs orders are no liquid calories so bye bye shakes.

Click on your own ticker. Then that will pull up the update page. Enter your pin code and click the update weight button. Once you have entered in the new info hit the "next" botton towards the bottom and your ticker will now update.

My BMI was just a hair over 55 the day of my surgery but is quickly dropping with my weightloss!

Hey Tony, I hardly had any hunger at all until two weeks post-op. But I had been on clear liquids for 3 days and then full liquids for 10 more days. No on the mushy phase. Like Oregondaisy already mentioned the big thing about the full liquids is that you can pretty much have anything you want but that it just needs to be the consistency of what could be sucked through a straw even though you should not by any means be using a straw. While on your clear liquid phase the Special K2O drinks are going to be your best bet. The biggest reason for being on clear liquids is to allow the healing to go well. Then the full liquids to allow the swelling to come down. And of course the mushy phase to let the rest of the swelling come down. Take it slow and don't push yourself cause you can cause damage that could require additional surgery to correct and lord knows that none of us want to go through that again. Best of luck and keep us up to date on how your doing!

Hiya DietPeach! Congrats on your loss! That is just great! Well my first two weeks has gone very well. On the pre-op diet I lost 23 lbs. Since banded I have lost another 19 lbs. I am following the diet very closely and out walking every single day. I am in the mushy phase now and very happy to be in this phase after 2 weeks of liquids. I push forward every day looking forward to the day when I have lost the weight and feel really good about myself. The great part is that I have already had several people at work notice that I have been losing weight. Many of them tell me that can see it in my face. It's certainly a great feeling to be getting the good comments but by no means does it mean that I slow down one bit at pushing forward with my weight loss program. To many times have I delayed this. To many times have I allowed myself to just do what I want. Now is the time to make this happen and become the man I once was. Thin and healthy! So the first two weeks down with much success and many more ahead to continue the hard work and dedication for a better life!!

Being post-op now I can answer this question. No I did not cheat on the pre-op diet. I made sure to follow it as closely as possible and it paid off!!! I lost 23 lbs on the pre-op diet and shrunk my liver giving my surgeon plenty of room to work. The best advice I can give to anyone pre-op is to follow the diet to the T and get out and walk. It will make a world of difference for you.

First off I have to re-itterate what others have said. The band is a tool not the cure. This whole process will be lots of work. Everyone is different also. What one person can eat verse another will be different. But how you make it work is by chosing to eat the right things. Chosing to drink the right things. It sounds like to me you have been testing the band a lot which also can mean that you may have stretched your pouch or caused slippage in your band. One of the rules my surgeon gave me about the band is to "NEVER" have carbonation again. It's not that I cannot drink it but rather it can cause slippage and errosion of the band. Also as you already know you need to chew chew chew your food so that it is broke down when you swallow and doesn't cause blockage. Another big piece of advise to follow is to get real life support that is not online support. Remember how you felt before you were banded and why you were willing to get the band. Because you were not happy. You were willing to change your eating habbits and that is what helped along with the exercise to drop the weight. Now your still exercising but the weight is not coming off so that means you have to change your eating habbits again. You don't have to be on the liquid diets but certain your not going to be losing weight when having lots of soda and 2 t-bone steaks. I really wish you the best of luck.

If you want to join the group just get on over to the Group Page (Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum - December 2008 Bandsters) and join us! The best bandsters group around!!!