bitteroldhag

I agree with you. I have never been a rule follower. In fact, I recently informed the dean that I considered rules merely guidelines. I haven't vomited since I threw up on the rug, but it will happen again. Sometimes the golf ball just has to come up. I don't consider myself a failure for that. It's just a learning experience. I also discovered that I can drink brandy at the moment without any dire results. I often resort to that since I take care of my 86 year old mother who is slowly dying of heart failure, my dog with bone cancer, and my other old dog who just trembles for no reason. He's failing too. They are both 12 years old. I adore those dogs not to mention my mother, and who knows how long she has. I just found out about the bone cancer today. Now I have to make arrangements to have my dog cremated because he has never been out of this neighborhood, and I intend to put his ashes in the backyard so he will be at home when he dies. But the vet thinks he has 3 or 4 months to go and I will make them as good as possible. Okay, let's face it. I'm devastated. I just keep expecting everyone I love to die soon. So to hell with the rules. If I don't lose weight, I have reasons. I'm getting my first fill soon. I have some restriction, but Dr. Rodriguez told me I'd be eating hamburgers at this point. I hate hamburgers, but I had Chineses food for dinner. I couldn't eat as much as I thoght I could. I had to eat the sushi later. But I'm eating like a horse and it's worrying me. I really don't need extra worries right now. Alas. Well, I feel better. I hope you do.

Lord, I've had open heart surgery and had type II diabetes in addition to a host of other problems. (I'm old.) My surgeon in Monterrey covered me on all of this and I had no problems. I don't necessarily recommend surgeons in the U.S. because they don't have the experience foreign surgeons have. I did beautifully and was covered on the heart problem because I went to the big hospital in Monterrey where they had heart surgeons and cardiologists available. In fact, I have dropped one of my heart medications and feel a lot better since I did so. My GP told me I could not go to Mexico but my surgeon said I could. He didn't see a problem and I didn't have a problem. Monterrey is the business capital of Mexico and so it caters to businessmen. It is modern and upscale. We had a very good experience there. It really gets on my nerves that people assume that American doctors are the best in the world. They aren't. There are good doctors in every country and bad ones. Since American insurance often won't pay for bariatric surgery, we have to go to foreign countries to be treated. That's a crime. But I can't fault Dr. Rodriguez and his staff. I highly recommend him and Santa Engracias hospital. I'd like to check in there for a vacation.

I have to say that the facilities in Monterrey were superb. Our local hospital can't even compete. In fact, the largest hospitals in Oklahoma are crummy compared to the hospital in Monterrey. I judge hospitals not only on cleanliness, and you could eat off the floors in Monterry, but in the nurses. Any time I pushed the call button, the nurse was there within 5 minutes max. Usually my call was immediately answered. I learned to say "Pain" in Spanish (dolor) and my nurse took care of that immediately. The hospital was like a 5 star hotel. I've stayed in lots of big name hotels and none were as nice as that hospital. Also the Mexicans are super nice and Monterrey is one of the cleanest places I've ever been. I'd recommend learning a couple of words of Spanish like dolor, agua, gracias, etc. I'm considering visiting Monterry just for fun sometime. I highly recommend Mexico and particularly Dr. Arturo Rodriquez.

Good to hear from you. I haven't lost anywhere near 31 pounds. Wow! I'm impressed. I haven't had my band filled yet (that's next Friday) and I'm hungry so I'm eating whatever I want this week. Also we have two birthdays which we're having early so I can eat some cake and stuff. But I'm hoping that after I get the fill, I won't be hungry. But I may be too stupid to follow the diet exactly. I'll have to work it out. I live in Tahlequah. Let me know how you are getting along. Almost all the other bandsters in Okla., live in wouthwest OK or near OKC. So there aren't many of us eastern Okies here.

I got banded 3 weeks ago and I'm experiencing that same weird energy. I was pretty exhausted before the surgery, but when I got home, I was suddenly totally awake and feeling better than I've felt in 20 years. Then I started taking my usual medicine and the energy went away though I still sleep less than before. In fact, I used to take a nap every day and now I don't and feel just fine. The problem is that I'm bored because I have so much more awake time now. I'm going to have to find something to do.

This explains my "burp." I suppose it was a minor pb. Probably I was choking on the water because it filled up my esophagus. I've just got to learn to chew, chew, chew. But I haven't had a fill yet. Probably I'll be much more careful when I get that.

The eldercare forum address is: http://eldercare.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x Or you can just google eldercare forum. It's a good forum. My mother had a stroke so I moved her in with me. That was 5 years ago and she's doing pretty well. I'm a wreck, but she's okay.

Geezer: You might want to check out the eldercare forum. It's a good place to let off steam and find out stuff about taking care of a very old person. It keeps me more or less sane--well, okay, less sane but functioning. My mother weighs 200 pounds and one day I thought I'd lift her electric wheelchair which weighs at least another 200 pounds with her in it. That hurt. I bought the Cadillac so I could get her in the car easily and it worked. Leather seats are good for old people because you can just slide them into the car. And I got the extra bonus of having an 8 cylinder car that uses premium gas right when gas prices went up. How's that for timing?

You're right. I'm not supposed to drink anything but when something gets stuck I don't care if I wash it through. In fact, that's the point. But usually I wait 30 minutes after a meal before I drink anything.

Just thought I'd post a few things I've learned after having the lap band installed. 1. You get hungry after a week or so. I was absolutely ravenous, but I found ways to eat Protein and still managed to lose 9 pounds in 2 weeks. 2. You really need to chew your food a whole lot. I got hungry and didn't chew enough and, boy, that hurt. It helps to wash the food down with Water. 3. Plan on throwing up at least once. I was doing just fine and got a piece of food stuck. So I drank some water and that went down the wrong tube so I was coughing and carrying on when I just burped up the food. It was just like a baby burps. Unfortunately, I did it on the carpet. This would be most embarrassing in company. 4. Don't pick up heavy stuff for at least 4 weeks. I picked up a couple of cases of Dasani water and sprang a leak or something in my stomach. It hurts a bit, but I suspect it will go away in awhile. 5. Yard work is probably not good for a month or so after the surgery. 6. Deviled eggs are good and they go down well if your family doesn't eat them all. 7. Buy stock in the Dasani water company. 8. fruit juice mixed with water is good. 9. You can drink if you want to expend the calories. I drank some brandy and lived to tell about it. But it's fattening. 10. You can poach anything -- pork chops, chicken, beef--just let it boil enough and you can eat it. 11. My sweet tooth did not disappear. I have a piece or two of candy though and am satisfied. I find chocolate mints do the trick. 12. Taking care of one's 86 year old mother after surgery is a real pain in the wazoo. 13. It is wise to have a Cadillac or other luxury car after surgery. It hurts less, and the air conditioner is good. (I bought a Cadillac on eBay and love it.) 14. Excited dogs are not good when you first come home. One of my dogs jumped up on my stomach which was pretty bruised. He meant well. 15. It is probably better if your cat does not bring in a field rat to live with you while you are recovering. Our rat seems to be doing well and is healthy so far. Of course, I feed it and give it water. Okay, I'm a severe animal lover. I hope to capture it in my net and put it outside. This is much better than discovering it's innerds on my beige carpet. 16. A person can tell if he/she is full if he/she pays attention. If one doesn't pay attention, pain can result. 17. It is difficult to make oneself exercise if one hates exercise like I do. I still haven't managed that, but my friends are lobbying for me to sign up at the fitness center. I figure I can do the low impact aerobics which consist of waving one's arms around. I may sign up for yoga which doesn't involve heavy lifting or jogging on a treadmill. I might be willing to walk sedately on a treadmill, but the exercise freaks always expect so much. 18. Expect your metabolism to change. I have been waking up at ungodly hours like 5:45 a.m. I have spent many years arranging my life so that I could sleep late, and I wake up early! This is disgusting. I hope my metabolism returns to its normal laziness soon since I'm on vacation. I will wake up early when I go back to work. These are just a few of pitfalls of the lapband that I have discovered. Stay tuned for new developments

Well, I must be healing faster than expected because I'm pretty hungry. I expected to feel lousy for a couple of weeks, but after the first week of liquids, I started getting hungry. I'm starting the 2nd week of mushies and have screwed that up royally though it doesn't seem to have affected the band. I'm really anxious for the first fill.

I had quite a lot of pain the first day out of the hospital. Dr. Rodriguez makes his patients stay in the hospital the first night and then sets them free. I was so full of carbon dioxide that I was miserable, but walking helped though not a lot. It took about a week to get rid of all that gas, but I am two weeks out and feeling fine. So I agree, we should tell people there is likely to be pain (dolor in Spanish), but it doesn't last a real long time. Also I thought I'd mention that I didn't get a catheter but they gave me at least 3000 cc of saline solution so I had to pee a lot. I didn't make it to the bathroom every time though I didn't know it until I woke up from the pain medication and found a rubber sheet on the bed. I did make it to the bathroom quite a few times and it was such a relief to pee. Besides the bathroom in the Santa Engracia hospital in Monterrey is a lot nicer than any bathroom I'd ever been in -- all marble and granite and gold fixtures. Wow!

Sorry to hear about your problems, but you seem to have recovered. I wasn't hungry for about a week after the surgery, but I am now. Hunger will return. I liked the not being hungry part better.:cry

Don't feel bad. I lost 6 pounds the first few days after banding and then gained a pound!! I don't think I've lost anymore weight though I only weigh on Saturdays. I'm on mushies but I'm so hungry that I eat a lot of meat which seems to work. I make very soft meat and vegetables for dinner and fail to eat the whole thing; then I'm hungry a few hours later. I've been eating deviled eggs which taste good and are soft. I have to be on mushies for another week though I think I'm failing the mushie test. The thing is I get full when I eat, but it doesn't last long enough. But I get a fill on June 9 so maybe things will improve.

I finally got my lap band on May 11 and have been hungry as a bear for a week. I'm on mushies, but I find that I have to eat meat to get full. I don't eat as much as I did before the band, but I eat often because I get hungry. Does anybody in Oklahoma have any suggestions about this? I got an appointment to get my first fill on June 9. There is a nurse practitioner in Coffeyville, KS who does them pretty cheaply. My doctor, Dr. Rodriguez, sent me to her. That's about all for me.

GreatDame -- I was banded in Mexico last week and the first day or two were fairly painful except the doc gave me some painkillers and they worked. You just have to get the gas out. I'm still passing gas. But I already lost 4 pounds. It may be water weight, but I still lost 4 pounds in 4 days. That may slow down, but I don't care. Eventually, I'll be thinner and healthier. So don't lose heart. Go down there and give it the old college try. I hope you're going to Santa Engracias which is where I went. The hospital is like a 4 star hotel. I've stayed in a lot of nice hotels but never one as nice as that hospital. The worst part of the whole trip was flying on American Airlines. They were just awful, but I got back at them by passing a whole lot of gas on their planes. Flatulence is always a good way to punish people. Good luck.

Hi. I was just banded on May 11 in Monterrey, Mexico, and I told my doctor that I had some protein powder ready to go, and he said not to use it unless I wanted to gain weight! He said when I can eat food to eat beef. My regular doctor told me to eat red meat on occasion because it has amino acids that I need, and I have been doing that for years. What is the protein powder made of? Does it have amino acids? Thanks.

I was banded in Monterrey, Mexico, which is a really, really clean place, except for the smog, on Thursday, May 11, 2006. This is Sunday and I'm still sore, but getting better. I am drinking something all the time. I like milk a lot since it seems to soothe my stomach. I have big bruises on my stomach and, boy, I never knew air could hurt that much. But it's going away though many people prefer to avoid me at the moment since I'm passing a whole lot of gas. I just wanted to check in on this forum since I finally actually got the lap band. I just hope it works. I've already lost 4 pounds in 3 days. I think after a week of Jello, I will never want to eat Jello again. But I'm getting along pretty well. Any advice would be appreciated though. Thanks.

I get egg drop soup from Wal-Mart. They have it in the asian food section in an envelope. It's pretty good. You warm up the soup and add an egg and stir it around. But for hot and sour soup, I'm going to the Chinese restaurant.

I know. I checked that website and it was not a lapband site. So I'm not as naive as I was. But thanks.

I'm going to get the lapband in May so I was looking around OK for a fill doctor. Dr. Ronnie Keith in Norman will do fills. Dr. Hoelstater (sp?) wouldn't do them. Of course, I'm getting my band in Mexico which might make a difference.

That's interesting because the site above is really about masculine problems, not the lapband. Maybe Dr. Kuri's web person messed up. Probably he does a lot of procedures including treating men for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, but those particular treatments don't interest me. They may have just messed it all up.:nervous

Well, I'm an idiot. I didn't check the website. I wonder how many bandsters have erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Not having a penis, I certainly don't. I have noted that there are a whole lot of spams about erectile dysfunction. This must be an epidemic in America. Apparently every man and woman in the country has erectile dysfunction. I think the medical community should investigate this immediately, don't you?

I'm rather unhappy with this admonishment since I'm very interested in various doctors and the services they offer. I certainly prefer to hear from people who have had experience with these doctors, or who have found information that I haven't found. Is there a site where people can discuss the merits of various doctors without remonstrations?

I called Dr. Keith's office and he will do Mexican fills. I have to get all of their material before I will know the specifics, but they are sending me the packet so I'll know before long. Sharon