ALuv82

I was only banded Monday, so so far I haven't done too much. My street goes in a circle and one lap is just under 3/4 of a mile. I walked in once lsat night and twice so far today. Before surgery I worked out at the gym with a trainer 2x/week plus tried to do cardio at least 1 additional time. I hope to get back to that soon. They told me after my 2 week check up I could probably get back to the gym for cardio but I couldn't start lifting for 4-6 weeks.

The water weight isn't from drinking water, it's from IV fluids in the hospital. I understand your frustration though. Where did you get banded? I was banded by Dr. Geiss in Syosset.

Hey. Glad to hear everything turned out OK. 1 week already--yippee. Keep going strong.

I'm glad to hear things are going well so far. I was also banded Monday. I'm doing pretty good but I'm rpetty sore around my port which gave me trouble tring to sleep last night. There is some gas pain but it's minimal. I am also not interested in food at all. The nurse told me I could start full liquids the first day I woke up in my own bed which was today, but the dietician who spoke to me before discharge yesterday said 24-48 hours on clear liquids, which means today or tomorrow. I'm not quite feeling up to full liquids yet. I had to force myself to eat my Italian ice this morning. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel more up to putting stuff in my stomach. As for not losing any weight the last couple of days, how long were you in the hospital for? I was over night and got at least a few liters of fluids during that time which could add some weight. I also noticed some differences between different scales I was on. The scale at the hospital was more than 5 pounds less than my scale at home. I wouldn't worry about it took much. The weight will come back off in no time.

Yep, mine was laproscopic. I have a little big of gas discomfort, but mostly m pain is from the incisions and ports. Last night trying to sleep was the worst, then I read someone suggest sleeping in a reclining chair and that helped a lot.

Hey guys! I finally got my band yesterday. Everything went pretty smoothly. In fact, the Dr. said I did "perfectly." My surgeon has everyone spend one night in hospital. He banded 4 other patients yesterday and it looked like I had the easiest immediate recovery of all of them. I hope the rest o my recovery period goes as smoothly. I'm feeling a little blah today. Tired, and my incisions and port site hurt. But I was able to walk my dog almost 3/4 of a mile, so I can't be doing too badly. If any of you out there are interested, I wrote an in depth blog entry on exactly what the whole experince was like from getting to the hospital yesterday until I left today. I know everyone's experiences are different and each surgeon does it a little differently but might be helpful to those of you who are yet to be banded so you have an idea of what willl happen. Hope all of you who are banded are doing well and good luck to those of you still waiting. -Lauren

I was only banded yesterday but I'm still in quite a bit of pain. I am considering myself lucky; 4 other patients were banded by my surgeon yesterday and I was doing the best of any of them in the hosp. I was able to walk almost 3/4 of a mile today, albeit very slowly. But I can't see myself off the pain pills by tomorrow. I hope I'm as lucky as you've been, but if not, I'm still happy with where I am.

So I had my surgery yesterday. Everything went well. In fact, the doctor told my parents it went "perfectly." Recovery wasn't too bad either, once I got over the crying thing I was doing as I woke up. I was walking laps around the unit less than 2 hours after I finished surgery and I'm sure I could have done it sooner, if I didn't have a bunch of visitors. I wrote a detailed blog about the experince if there are any April bandsters left out there still to be banded and the want to read it, or even if you've already been banded and just want to compare experiences. I've been in bed since I got home this afternoon, so I think it's time to take the doggy for a short walk. Hope everyone's doing well with their new bands. -Lauren

Hey. I'm sorry to hear about your scare, but it wounds like everything is going to be alright. That's a relief. Here's wishing you feel better soon. -Lauren

Well, it’s official; I’m in band land. I went to the hospital yesterday, around 2PM (I was the last of the five surgeries Dr. G did yesterday). After checking in, I was taken to the surgery waiting room which was filled with cookies and the not-so-faint aroma of brewing coffee. Now, I don’t drink coffee too frequently, but man did that stuff smell good. Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be bad? Anyhow, I went to the bathroom and then noticed there was a computer with internet access in the room. I sat down and promptly signed on to give you all an update but as soon as I typed in my username and password, the nurse came for me. She handed me a gown, a garment bag and some wipes and directed me to the bathroom to change. I was instructed to take off all my clothing, jewelry, hair pins, etc., wipe my abdomen thoroughly with the wipes, and the put the gown on, open to the back. After I finished changing I went into the prep room where the nurse took my weight. According to that scale I was 297.7. That scale is a little off from my scale at home which told me I was 303 that morning, but I definitely like the Dr.’s scale better. If that’s compatible with the scale at the gym, it means I lost 15.7# on the pre-op diet alone. Although I have a feeling that my bathroom scale is more compatible to the gym scale, that would still mean I lost 10.4# in a week. Pretty nice, huh? Anyhow, the nurse proceeded to ask me a ton of health history questions that I’d already answered twelve hundred times in the last week. Next she hooked me up to an IV in my left hand with lactated ringers solution and an IV antibiotic drip of Cefazolin. I was given an injection of Lovenox in my stomach to prevent clot formation. Around this time Dr. G popped his head in to say hi. Once I was done getting prepped, my parents were brought in to sit with me while I waited for my surgery. The anesthesiologist popped by as well and asked me a bunch of the same questions about my history again. Finally just before 3PM, it was time. I was given an injection of some “happy juice” to relax me. I forget the exact name of the medication, but it’s in the valium family. I was told that after the injection I might not remember anything, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. I remember being rolled into the OR. Some good song was playing, though I can’t remember which one and I started singing along as I sometimes have a tendency to do. I remember the nurse joking with me asking how I new it was karaoke day at the hospital. I was moved from the gurney to the operating table and strapped on. It was, of course, as soon as my arms were strapped down that I got an itch on my nose. The nurse kindly scratched it for me before placing the mask over my face and telling me to take deep breaths. I could hear stuff around me and I was crying. I heard someone jokingly tell me I was making them sad, but I couldn’t stop. I could feel myself being wheeled out of the room towards recovery and I tried to open my eyes and focus on what was going on around me. I knew where I was and what was happening and I wasn’t sad or frightened and while it hurt, the pain was hardly unbearable, but still I wouldn’t stop crying. After a little while my eyes were able to focus better and my tears calmed down. I could see the clock across from me and it was 4:30 pm. My mouth was completely parched and the pain was definitely there. The guy who was with me in the recovery room asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. I told him I was a 6, and he gave me a nice shot of some happy, happy pain meds into my catheter. This brought me down to a 4 so he gave me one more shot and got me down to about a 2, which was nice. He also gave me some ice chips which were just about the best thing in the world by that time. At this point I was awake enough and they brought my parents in to see me. We talked for a little while and I realized I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t until I voiced this concern out loud that I found out I had a Foley catheter in, so apparently I didn’t have to go after all. After a little time spent with my parents, my sister and grandparents showed up. My sister brought me a nice care package with a couple of magazines and some beauty products—and best of all a pin wheel. I haven’t had a pin wheel since I was like, 11. It was purple and silver and not only was it fun to blow on, but it helped me take deep breaths which was good for me. At around 6:30 the pulmonologist showed up to check me out (Dr. G had been by sometime earlier, though I can’t remember when so it must have been shortly after surgery when I was still all doozey-bots) My family left and the pulmonologist checked me out. He told me that someone would be by later in the evening to set up my CPAP for me, but I didn’t have to use it if I didn’t want to. Instead they could give me a nasal cannula with oxygen as long as I didn’t have any problems over night. He also showed me how to use a device called an incentive spirometer to help me take good deep breaths. I was actually feeling pretty good although the pain was starting to come back so I got a shot of Demerol in my arm. Once the doctor was gone I got up and walked a few laps around the unit. I passed by the rooms of some of the other patients and I have to say, I was definitely recovering much better than any of the others. One of the other patients was a girl a little younger than me and she asked me what my trick was for recovering so well. I’m not sure I had one but I think maybe the fact that I worked out regularly before this helped me have more energy, plus the extra muscle mass I had because of it probably helped me metabolize the anesthesia better. After about 5 laps around the wing I sat down in a chair in my room for a little while and tried to read the Self magazine my sister gave me. Just before 8PM I took a couple more laps around the ward then settled into bed to watch House and One Tree Hill. After that I dozed for a while and at around midnight they came to take out my Foley catheter and I was able to put on some real pajamas. They had me walk some more and then I got to go to sleep. In the morning they came down and took us one by one to radiology for our post-op video esophagram. I had to drink a couple of sips of barium which shows up bright white on an x-ray. They used fluoroscopy (a real time video x-ray) to watch the barium go down my esophagus into my new stomach pouch and then through the band into the rest of my stomach. The point of this was to check the placement of the band and to make sure it wasn’t too tight. As it turns out Dr. G. does put a little bit of saline in the bands to begin with, but if the esophagram showed it was too tight they would have had to take some out. Everything must have been good with my esophagram because I got a few more meds and a platter of water and fruit ice. The dietician came by and gave me a brief review of the post-op diet plan I’m going to have to follow and instructed me on how slow I was supposed to eat and drink. The fruit ice went down without a problem and I was discharged around 11AM. And now I’m back home and sharing the experience with you guys. I feel alright so far. My belly definitely hurts, especially in the area where the port is. Dr. G placed my port on the left just below my rib cage. I have a few pictures up of my battle scars, and I labeled one of them so you could see where all the incisions were and where the port lies. And that’s about it. It’s done now. There’s no turning back, only moving forward. Today’s the first day of the rest of my life and I plan on making the most out of it.

Well, it’s official; I’m in band land. I went to the hospital yesterday, around 2PM (I was the last of the five surgeries Dr. G did yesterday). After checking in, I was taken to the surgery waiting room which was filled with cookies and the not-so-faint aroma of brewing coffee. Now, I don’t drink coffee too frequently, but man did that stuff smell good. Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be bad? Anyhow, I went to the bathroom and then noticed there was a computer with internet access in the room. I sat down and promptly signed on to give you all an update but as soon as I typed in my username and password, the nurse came for me. She handed me a gown, a garment bag and some wipes and directed me to the bathroom to change. I was instructed to take off all my clothing, jewelry, hair pins, etc., wipe my abdomen thoroughly with the wipes, and the put the gown on, open to the back. After I finished changing I went into the prep room where the nurse took my weight. According to that scale I was 297.7. That scale is a little off from my scale at home which told me I was 303 that morning, but I definitely like the Dr.’s scale better. If that’s compatible with the scale at the gym, it means I lost 15.7# on the pre-op diet alone. Although I have a feeling that my bathroom scale is more compatible to the gym scale, that would still mean I lost 10.4# in a week. Pretty nice, huh? Anyhow, the nurse proceeded to ask me a ton of health history questions that I’d already answered twelve hundred times in the last week. Next she hooked me up to an IV in my left hand with lactated ringers solution and an IV antibiotic drip of Cefazolin. I was given an injection of Lovenox in my stomach to prevent clot formation. Around this time Dr. G popped his head in to say hi. Once I was done getting prepped, my parents were brought in to sit with me while I waited for my surgery. The anesthesiologist popped by as well and asked me a bunch of the same questions about my history again. Finally just before 3PM, it was time. I was given an injection of some “happy juice” to relax me. I forget the exact name of the medication, but it’s in the valium family. I was told that after the injection I might not remember anything, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. I remember being rolled into the OR. Some good song was playing, though I can’t remember which one and I started singing along as I sometimes have a tendency to do. I remember the nurse joking with me asking how I new it was karaoke day at the hospital. I was moved from the gurney to the operating table and strapped on. It was, of course, as soon as my arms were strapped down that I got an itch on my nose. The nurse kindly scratched it for me before placing the mask over my face and telling me to take deep breaths. I could hear stuff around me and I was crying. I heard someone jokingly tell me I was making them sad, but I couldn’t stop. I could feel myself being wheeled out of the room towards recovery and I tried to open my eyes and focus on what was going on around me. I knew where I was and what was happening and I wasn’t sad or frightened and while it hurt, the pain was hardly unbearable, but still I wouldn’t stop crying. After a little while my eyes were able to focus better and my tears calmed down. I could see the clock across from me and it was 4:30 pm. My mouth was completely parched and the pain was definitely there. The guy who was with me in the recovery room asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10. I told him I was a 6, and he gave me a nice shot of some happy, happy pain meds into my catheter. This brought me down to a 4 so he gave me one more shot and got me down to about a 2, which was nice. He also gave me some ice chips which were just about the best thing in the world by that time. At this point I was awake enough and they brought my parents in to see me. We talked for a little while and I realized I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t until I voiced this concern out loud that I found out I had a Foley catheter in, so apparently I didn’t have to go after all. After a little time spent with my parents, my sister and grandparents showed up. My sister brought me a nice care package with a couple of magazines and some beauty products—and best of all a pin wheel. I haven’t had a pin wheel since I was like, 11. It was purple and silver and not only was it fun to blow on, but it helped me take deep breaths which was good for me. At around 6:30 the pulmonologist showed up to check me out (Dr. G had been by sometime earlier, though I can’t remember when so it must have been shortly after surgery when I was still all doozey-bots) My family left and the pulmonologist checked me out. He told me that someone would be by later in the evening to set up my CPAP for me, but I didn’t have to use it if I didn’t want to. Instead they could give me a nasal cannula with oxygen as long as I didn’t have any problems over night. He also showed me how to use a device called an incentive spirometer to help me take good deep breaths. I was actually feeling pretty good although the pain was starting to come back so I got a shot of Demerol in my arm. Once the doctor was gone I got up and walked a few laps around the unit. I passed by the rooms of some of the other patients and I have to say, I was definitely recovering much better than any of the others. One of the other patients was a girl a little younger than me and she asked me what my trick was for recovering so well. I’m not sure I had one but I think maybe the fact that I worked out regularly before this helped me have more energy, plus the extra muscle mass I had because of it probably helped me metabolize the anesthesia better. After about 5 laps around the wing I sat down in a chair in my room for a little while and tried to read the Self magazine my sister gave me. Just before 8PM I took a couple more laps around the ward then settled into bed to watch House and One Tree Hill. After that I dozed for a while and at around midnight they came to take out my Foley catheter and I was able to put on some real pajamas. They had me walk some more and then I got to go to sleep. In the morning they came down and took us one by one to radiology for our post-op video esophagram. I had to drink a couple of sips of barium which shows up bright white on an x-ray. They used fluoroscopy (a real time video x-ray) to watch the barium go down my esophagus into my new stomach pouch and then through the band into the rest of my stomach. The point of this was to check the placement of the band and to make sure it wasn’t too tight. As it turns out Dr. G. does put a little bit of saline in the bands to begin with, but if the esophagram showed it was too tight they would have had to take some out. Everything must have been good with my esophagram because I got a few more meds and a platter of water and fruit ice. The dietician came by and gave me a brief review of the post-op diet plan I’m going to have to follow and instructed me on how slow I was supposed to eat and drink. The fruit ice went down without a problem and I was discharged around 11AM. And now I’m back home and sharing the experience with you guys. I feel alright so far. My belly definitely hurts, especially in the area where the port is. Dr. G placed my port on the left just below my rib cage. I have a few pictures up of my battle scars, and I labeled one of them so you could see where all the incisions were and where the port lies. And that’s about it. It’s done now. There’s no turning back, only moving forward. Today’s the first day of the rest of my life and I plan on making the most out of it.

I am starving my freaking tookus off. I guess that’s the point of all of this, in a way—minus the starving part. That part is actually kind of the opposite of what this is about, in the long run anyhow. But tonight I am definitely starving. Tomorrow is my surgery which means I was relegated to clear liquids all day. That means all I was allowed to consume were Italian ices, sugar free jello, broth, juice (of the white grape and apple varieties) and water. I’m here to tell you that while I love Italian ices, if I have to eat another one, I will hurl. Or more likely, I will dry heave, since real vomiting requires there to actually be something of substance in my stomach. And what’s worse is that after midnight I can’t have anything at all—not even water. This wouldn’t be so bad if I had to be at the hospital at 7am, but noooooooo. Of course since I’m young and relatively healthy, I get the last surgery of the day which means I don’t even have to be at the hospital until 2pm. On the bright side, that means less time overall in the hospital. I’ll be drowsy for the rest of the day after I wake up and then go to sleep, and before I know it, it will hopefully be morning and I can do my post surgical tests and go home. And even better is that I will likely be in the hospital for less than 24 hours which saves me $225 in copay. But that also means that I won’t stop starving anytime soon. I suppose I shouldn’t focus on that. I have to focus on the positive—remember what I’m doing this for. I’m doing it to take control of my life. And until today it hasn’t been too bad. The worst part of the liquid diet leading up to today was the lack of variety. Everything tasted sweet except the soups. I have a major sweet tooth and all, but this was a bit much, even for me. As the days went by I actually wound up eating less and less. I think day 4 was the hardest; I was still hungry, but didn’t want to eat any more of the foods I was allowed, which meant I didn’t eat as much as I needed and felt crappy. By days 5 and 6 I really didn’t feel much hunger and wasn’t even consuming a full 6 meals anymore, but I still felt good. Of course I was still consuming some meals, which is more than I can say for my broth sipping, ice-pop sucking day today. Man, I’m really starving. Where was I again? Oh yeah, it’s not so bad… Anyhow, it’s almost over. Or perhaps I should say it’s almost starting. That’s what the lap-band really is—a start. But what I meant was the nerve racking, surgery part is almost over. I’ve kept my nerves pretty well in check, actually. I mean, this is a small hospital with a big bariatric department. They do this all the time so I’m fairly confident that I’ll wake up from anesthesia plus one lap band and not minus one leg or with a bald head and my cranium held together by circlage wire or something. And the anesthesia’s not too scary to me either. I don’t know if that’s because in my job we do anesthesia and surgery every day with 1/10th the resources and the patients do just fine so I’m not that nervous, or because I just don’t let myself experience the nerves because I don’t like to deal with my feelings. I would however love to deal with the feelings of hunger I’m currently experiencing. Gah, I need to stop thinking about food. What wouldn’t I do for some of that pot roast my mother made for her and my Dad last night? Especially with a nice buttered piece of challah. God, that sounds good. But I won’t be eating that anytime soon. Hopefully one day I will once again be able to enjoy such a treat—in my new lap-band aided policy of moderation, of course. That’s about it for tonight. I’ll be back on Tuesday with the skinny from the big day. Toodles.

I am starving my freaking tookus off. I guess that’s the point of all of this, in a way—minus the starving part. That part is actually kind of the opposite of what this is about, in the long run anyhow. But tonight I am definitely starving. Tomorrow is my surgery which means I was relegated to clear liquids all day. That means all I was allowed to consume were Italian ices, sugar free jello, broth, juice (of the white grape and apple varieties) and water. I’m here to tell you that while I love Italian ices, if I have to eat another one, I will hurl. Or more likely, I will dry heave, since real vomiting requires there to actually be something of substance in my stomach. And what’s worse is that after midnight I can’t have anything at all—not even water. This wouldn’t be so bad if I had to be at the hospital at 7am, but noooooooo. Of course since I’m young and relatively healthy, I get the last surgery of the day which means I don’t even have to be at the hospital until 2pm. On the bright side, that means less time overall in the hospital. I’ll be drowsy for the rest of the day after I wake up and then go to sleep, and before I know it, it will hopefully be morning and I can do my post surgical tests and go home. And even better is that I will likely be in the hospital for less than 24 hours which saves me $225 in copay. But that also means that I won’t stop starving anytime soon. I suppose I shouldn’t focus on that. I have to focus on the positive—remember what I’m doing this for. I’m doing it to take control of my life. And until today it hasn’t been too bad. The worst part of the liquid diet leading up to today was the lack of variety. Everything tasted sweet except the soups. I have a major sweet tooth and all, but this was a bit much, even for me. As the days went by I actually wound up eating less and less. I think day 4 was the hardest; I was still hungry, but didn’t want to eat any more of the foods I was allowed, which meant I didn’t eat as much as I needed and felt crappy. By days 5 and 6 I really didn’t feel much hunger and wasn’t even consuming a full 6 meals anymore, but I still felt good. Of course I was still consuming some meals, which is more than I can say for my broth sipping, ice-pop sucking day today. Man, I’m really starving. Where was I again? Oh yeah, it’s not so bad… Anyhow, it’s almost over. Or perhaps I should say it’s almost starting. That’s what the lap-band really is—a start. But what I meant was the nerve racking, surgery part is almost over. I’ve kept my nerves pretty well in check, actually. I mean, this is a small hospital with a big bariatric department. They do this all the time so I’m fairly confident that I’ll wake up from anesthesia plus one lap band and not minus one leg or with a bald head and my cranium held together by circlage wire or something. And the anesthesia’s not too scary to me either. I don’t know if that’s because in my job we do anesthesia and surgery every day with 1/10th the resources and the patients do just fine so I’m not that nervous, or because I just don’t let myself experience the nerves because I don’t like to deal with my feelings. I would however love to deal with the feelings of hunger I’m currently experiencing. Gah, I need to stop thinking about food. What wouldn’t I do for some of that pot roast my mother made for her and my Dad last night? Especially with a nice buttered piece of challah. God, that sounds good. But I won’t be eating that anytime soon. Hopefully one day I will once again be able to enjoy such a treat—in my new lap-band aided policy of moderation, of course. That’s about it for tonight. I’ll be back on Tuesday with the skinny from the big day. Toodles.

This afternoon I had my last work-out with my personal trainer, J, before surgery. In honor of this I finally let him take my measurements like he’d been trying to convince me to since I first started working out with him last summer. I though it would be good to have some starting stats, so here they are. Weigh-in #1 Weight- 308.4# (I was actually 313.4# on Mon night so I’ve already lost 5#. Yay me!) Chest- 52.5” Shoulders- 49.5” Waist- 51.5” Hips- 59.5” Thigh- 29.5” Calf- 20” Arm- 21.5” So, there it is, ladies and gentlemen. The numbers don’t lie, but they will change. My next official weight will be on surgery day, then I figure I’ll generally weigh in weekly and take my measurements once a month. Till then, wish me yummy sugar-free jello.

This afternoon I had my last work-out with my personal trainer, J, before surgery. In honor of this I finally let him take my measurements like he’d been trying to convince me to since I first started working out with him last summer. I though it would be good to have some starting stats, so here they are. Weigh-in #1 Weight- 308.4# (I was actually 313.4# on Mon night so I’ve already lost 5#. Yay me!) Chest- 52.5” Shoulders- 49.5” Waist- 51.5” Hips- 59.5” Thigh- 29.5” Calf- 20” Arm- 21.5” So, there it is, ladies and gentlemen. The numbers don’t lie, but they will change. My next official weight will be on surgery day, then I figure I’ll generally weigh in weekly and take my measurements once a month. Till then, wish me yummy sugar-free jello.

I finally started my pre-op diet Monday. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, the pre-op diet is for one week prior to surgery. The main purpose is to shrink my liver. The liver stores energy in the form of fat and glycogen By adhering to this diet which is low in fat and sugar, my body will utilize the energy stores and my liver will get smaller. This helps Dr. G to be able to visualize my stomach during the procedure since the liver can get in the way. The other purpose of the diet is to help prepare me for the liquid plan I must follow for two weeks after surgery, though there are a few differences between the two. For this week the composition of the food is the most important thing and after surgery the consistency is the most important characteristic. The main component of both diets is the liquid meal replacement drinks. The nutritionist who works with Dr. G recommended the Medifast drinks you order online although she did give me a few alternatives such as Muscle Milk Light and Designer Whey Protein drinks. The drinks are kind of ridiculously expensive but I figured since I wasn’t eating anything else and these three weeks surrounding surgery are the most important, I went with the nutritionist’s first recommendation and ordered the Medifast. It’s interesting that chocolate protein shakes don’t taste like any other form of chocolate known to man. Not that my Medifast drinks are completely awful but they’re certainly not chocolatey goodness either. The ready to drink versions are the best tasting. They come in chocolate and vanilla but I only ordered the chocolate. They also make powdered forms that come in other flavors—strawberry crème, orange crème, and swiss mocha. I’d have to say the swiss mocha was the best of the powdered drinks but the ready to drink ones are the best overall. I’m also allowed to have soup. Right now I can eat soups without removing the chunks, although they must be less than 3 grams of fat per serving. After surgery the fat content doesn’t matter so much, but I can’t have any chunks. This is because there will be swelling around the band and solid food will not be able to pass from the stomach pouch they create into the rest of the digestive track. I can still have chicken noodle soup if I want, but only if I puree it, which sounds honestly disgusting. Otherwise I can drink smooth soups like cream of tomato. The other food items I’m allowed to eat are fat free, no sugar added yogurt (though it can have natural sugar from the dairy and from fruit), fat free, no sugar added pudding, skim milk, sugar free Jello, and no sugar added ice-pops. During the first three days of the pre-op diet the nutritionist said I could have saltines, plain vegetables or 1 piece of fresh fruit, but recommended keeping those items to a minimum. Sounds appetizing, right :tounge_smile: But so far it hasn’t been so bad. I’ve been told the first three days are the hardest and I’m halfway through day 3 now. If this is the hardest, I’m sure I’ll be able to make it through. Am I hungry? Of course. Was I craving a piece of the cheese cake or the homemade perogies the people in my office brought in on liquid diet day # 1 (wasn’t that so nice of them?)? Hell yeah! But I haven’t had any head aches or dizziness and I’m not ravenous or anything. I’ve been going to the gym everyday and I don’t have as much energy to push myself hard, but I’m still making it through. And honestly, knowing I can’t have something makes it easier for me. Usually I have an internal debate with myself about whether or not I should eat something. But now when I want it, I know I can’t have it and that’s all there is too it. There’s no debating about it and that means I don’t focus on it as much. Of course I’m still worried about how well I’ll do after the surgery when I’m allowed to eat regular food again. Will I still have so much self control once I have my options back? I hope so, but I guess only time will tell. Five days to Band-land.

I finally started my pre-op diet Monday. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, the pre-op diet is for one week prior to surgery. The main purpose is to shrink my liver. The liver stores energy in the form of fat and glycogen By adhering to this diet which is low in fat and sugar, my body will utilize the energy stores and my liver will get smaller. This helps Dr. G to be able to visualize my stomach during the procedure since the liver can get in the way. The other purpose of the diet is to help prepare me for the liquid plan I must follow for two weeks after surgery, though there are a few differences between the two. For this week the composition of the food is the most important thing and after surgery the consistency is the most important characteristic. The main component of both diets is the liquid meal replacement drinks. The nutritionist who works with Dr. G recommended the Medifast drinks you order online although she did give me a few alternatives such as Muscle Milk Light and Designer Whey Protein drinks. The drinks are kind of ridiculously expensive but I figured since I wasn’t eating anything else and these three weeks surrounding surgery are the most important, I went with the nutritionist’s first recommendation and ordered the Medifast. It’s interesting that chocolate protein shakes don’t taste like any other form of chocolate known to man. Not that my Medifast drinks are completely awful but they’re certainly not chocolatey goodness either. The ready to drink versions are the best tasting. They come in chocolate and vanilla but I only ordered the chocolate. They also make powdered forms that come in other flavors—strawberry crème, orange crème, and swiss mocha. I’d have to say the swiss mocha was the best of the powdered drinks but the ready to drink ones are the best overall. I’m also allowed to have soup. Right now I can eat soups without removing the chunks, although they must be less than 3 grams of fat per serving. After surgery the fat content doesn’t matter so much, but I can’t have any chunks. This is because there will be swelling around the band and solid food will not be able to pass from the stomach pouch they create into the rest of the digestive track. I can still have chicken noodle soup if I want, but only if I puree it, which sounds honestly disgusting. Otherwise I can drink smooth soups like cream of tomato. The other food items I’m allowed to eat are fat free, no sugar added yogurt (though it can have natural sugar from the dairy and from fruit), fat free, no sugar added pudding, skim milk, sugar free Jello, and no sugar added ice-pops. During the first three days of the pre-op diet the nutritionist said I could have saltines, plain vegetables or 1 piece of fresh fruit, but recommended keeping those items to a minimum. Sounds appetizing, right :thumbup: But so far it hasn’t been so bad. I’ve been told the first three days are the hardest and I’m halfway through day 3 now. If this is the hardest, I’m sure I’ll be able to make it through. Am I hungry? Of course. Was I craving a piece of the cheese cake or the homemade perogies the people in my office brought in on liquid diet day # 1 (wasn’t that so nice of them?)? Hell yeah! But I haven’t had any head aches or dizziness and I’m not ravenous or anything. I’ve been going to the gym everyday and I don’t have as much energy to push myself hard, but I’m still making it through. And honestly, knowing I can’t have something makes it easier for me. Usually I have an internal debate with myself about whether or not I should eat something. But now when I want it, I know I can’t have it and that’s all there is too it. There’s no debating about it and that means I don’t focus on it as much. Of course I’m still worried about how well I’ll do after the surgery when I’m allowed to eat regular food again. Will I still have so much self control once I have my options back? I hope so, but I guess only time will tell. Five days to Band-land.

Hey, welcome to LBT. I commend you on taking this step and choosing to get the band. I'm working towards this goal too. I hope losing the weight can help you take back your self esteem and your life but know that it's about more than what you look like and if you really want to over come your fears you will need to comfront them. You will probably be required to see a psychiatrist or psychologist before being approved for surgery and I hope they can help you discover your self worth regardless of your size.

Well the nutritionist that my surgeon uses told me to use the Medi-fast shakes you order online so I just got those and figured I'll have to sweat it out if I don't like it. I have to disagree however with whoever it was who said that getting Protein in isn'tt hat big of a deal right now. Yes, out bodies have plenty of nutrients to utilize already but not matter how much you way your body can NOT synthasize protein. If you don't get enough all it can do it break down the protein already in our body (ie muscle). I would much rather be breaking down fat at this point and the more mucle I have the easier that is to do. So make sure whatever you choose has plenty of protein in it.

Maybe I'm being overly ambitious here since everyone else seems to be sticking to 20# but I'm gonna go out on a limb. Bunny Bandster's July 4th Challenge Bunny's name ------ Bunny's target loss --- Bunny's start weight --- Current date --- Bunny's Current weight --- Bunny's target July 4 weight PharmaGirl ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ?-------------------------- ? NYLady --------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May ----------------------? ------------------------- ? Lingling---------------------20lb (9kg)----------------?-----------------------1 May ----------------------?------------------------? JayTee---------------------20lb ----------------?-----------------------1 May ----------------------?------------------------? MrsMitch ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ?-------------------------- ? ALuv82----------------- 30lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ?-------------------------- ?

I wouldn't say I'm having second thoughts, but I am starting to freak-out a bit. I'm not so much scared about the surgery as I am about how m life is going to change after and whether or not I'll be able to pull it off.

Yay for entering band land. My surgery is coming up a week from tomorrow so it's good to hear all the details. Although my surgeon has is stay in the hospital one night and does the barium swallow the next day.

It's good to hear that you're doing well so far. I'll be their myself soon--My surgery is a week from tomorrow. It's always comforting to read about how others are making it through the early stages. It give me hope. Keep up the good work.