ItsDani2u

Thanks for bringing this up. I've been starving since the day after my surgery and it's not going away. I even went so far as to suck on some of my four year olds mac and cheese this afternoon (of course, I spit it all out). I day dream of cheeseburgers and spaghetti and bread. I hope this will eventually go away.........but for now it's VERY difficult to just get through the day. I go back to work tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. Hopefully, it will take my mind off the hunger pangs, though. Take care.

Oh! I just noticed you're going down to see Dr. Ortiz also! I didn't catch that the first time around. I will give you a more detailed experience. I went down last Wednesday. It was about a 35 minute drive from the San Diego airport to clinic. They pick you up and drive you straight there so you can get your labs over with right away. They picked me and 2 others up at the same time. We had our labs, met with the cardiologist and nutritionist. That took about 1 1/2 hours. Then they drove us to Hotel Lucerna. It is very nice. No hot tub, though. I was hoping they'd have one! There are 2 restaurants right there. That is where I had my 'last meals'. You can take a $5 taxi ride down to the Revolution which is blocks and blocks of shops. The next morning Mrs. Ortiz picked us up and brought us back to the clinic where we sat in the waiting room for approx. 1 hour while the others that had just had their bands placed the day before, were getting up and ready to be discharged. It's very casual. They call out "who wants to go first". I think, as the beds clear out they take in the new patients. They have 6 private rooms with Direct TV and the beds that go up and down! They had me change into a gown, put on these stockings on my legs. They gave me an ativan and something else. I can't remember what but it's for anxiety. I ended up falling asleep. I was told later by the other patients that I would have been 2nd but since I fell asleep right away, they let me sleep and I was like 5th or 6th to have my surgery. It probably helped me to be later in the day since I ate so much the night before! I remember waking up for a moment and Dr. Ortiz was trying to talk to me but I was out for the count. I was up within 1-2 hours and walking around. I did wake up off and on throughout the night. They will give you sleep meds if you ask for them. Some of the patients took them and slept through the night. The next day you can stay as long as you wish or be discharged around 9 am. I made myself walk a lot to try and avoid the gas that everyone talks about. I didn't have any problems but my friend had a lot of gas problems after her surgery (we went down together). We actually were discharged and went out shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We were tired but we probably would have been anyway by all the shopping we did! Mrs. Ortiz had mentioned dropping off some medication but they hadn't so when I got back to the hotel I called and she drove over We stayed that night at the hotel and the next morning Mrs. Ortiz called my room and we discussed what time I needed to get to the airport. She keeps a schedule. A non-speaking gentleman will likely pick you up and drop you off at the airport. Warning--they drive like maniacs on the freeway!! But we got across the border ok. They border patrol did ask if we had any medications and I told them I had one thing which was the pain meds they had given me. But most people go to the walk-in pharmacies and by up antibiotics and anything else you can think of. So, if you want extra meds, you can buy almost anything in Mexico over the counter. It costs about $22 for Cipro. By the way, the name of the medication I got for anti-vomitting and diarrhea was Phenergan. Some of the others have side effects I am told. The plane ride home was the worst part. However, I flew Southwest and if you tell them you need to pre-board they will let you. It helps to be first on and first off the plane. Make sure you can check all of your luggage because you don't want to be lifting anything. I brought an extra suitcase so that I could check it with all my new stuff and not have to worry about lugging anything around the airport. One more thing. While you're there ask Mrs. Ortiz to take you to the calimax. It's a grocery store. You can pick up these drink pouches for about .30 cents and they are just like crystal light but they come in a lot more flavors. I stocked up while I was down there!

I'll be honest. I didn't do the liquid diet at all before the surgery. I didn't understand why until the day before. The nutritionist explained to me that they want you to lose or stay at the same weight because if you gain any new fat, it will complicate the surgery. The reason it complicates it is because new fat is very slippery and hard to work around once the surgeon is inside of you. So they are trying to avoid you gaining any new fat beforehand. Also, it cuts down on the inflamation. Hence, making it easier to work inside of you. I had my surgery 4 days ago. I didn't seem to have any complications from not following the liquid phase. I went out and had chicken alfredo for lunch and chicken fajitas w/ a strawberry daquiri for dinner the night before getting banded. I don't want to be a bad influence on anyone..just letting you know it can be done! One suggestion, I went to my regular doctor before surgery and asked for non-vomitting medicine. I traveled to Mexico for my surgery and was afraid if anything went wrong or I just happend to get the stomach flu...I didn't want my band slipping. My doc gave me suppositories so that I didn't have to worry about whether I could get it down my throat. Good luck to you!

Thanks. Has anyone heard in the full liquids phase if you can have cool whip? I've heard cool whip and jello is great! Any other ideas??

I'm hungry!! I went through the airport 2 days after surgery and all I could smell were polish dogs and pizza hut. I came home to mac n cheese and polish dogs in the fridge. I'm suffering!!! I want food so bad. I think I will get used to the idea of smaller portions. But, oh man, I can't wait until I can sink into some REAL FOOD.

I'm hungry!! I went through the airport 2 days after surgery and all I could smell were polish dogs and pizza hut. I came home to mac n cheese and polish dogs in the fridge. I'm suffering!!! I want food so bad. I think I will get used to the idea of smaller portions. But, oh man, I can't wait until I can sink into some REAL FOOD.

Can anyone tell me whether you've actually regretted moving out of the clear stage TOO SOON? I had surgery on 4-20-06. I really really want to try pudding and yogurt and Protein shakes. I've read that others are doing it in their first week but I'm wanting some feedback before I try it. Any advice fellow band members? Danielle http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;0;89;0;1/c/193/t/125/s/193/k/f1ed/weight.png