WendyII

Congrats!!! You will have your band in no time.

Lauren - I cried when I woke up too!!!! They were playing music in the recovery room and it was my neighbor's wedding song.

I had two days of clear liquids and then right to pureed. Tomorrow I'm on soft. Honestly, I think that these liquid diets that go on for weeks are a bit overkill. At least it would have been for me. I was ready for pureed. It helped keep me full.

I happened to have one bra that didn't hit that incision spot. It was a front closer.

Can you drink protien shakes yet? I was hungry after about 48 hours. A tbs of yogurt was enough to stop the hunger.

My gas pain lasted about a week. Congrats on your band.

I'm 14 days post op. Swelling is going down but still there. I'm down 13 pounds but no inches around my waist so I'm pretty sure there is still some swelling. I haven't had any shoulder/gas pain in a week. But I've been walking like crazy.

Check out the Barix message boards. I seem to remember them saying something about a recent change with BC/BS of Michigan NOT requiring a 6 month diet. Dr. Nunn told me that if I got everythign to them it might only take about 6 weeks and he was right. Here I found the link to the thread at Barix http://barixclinicsstore.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3449153

My band is from Barix and I have Empire Blue. You should have no problems. Barix is GREAT. My band was done as outpatient. Who is your surgeon?

I had to take the MMPI and then sit with a Psychologist for about an hour, which turned out to be very helpful as he's seen a lot of patients who have gastric bands. Don't worry about it. It's just another hurdle that you have to jump in order to get your band.

I used to live in White Plains but now I'm in Michigan. What kind of insurance do you have? I have Empire Blue still and it was a breeze. I'm not even two weeks out from surgery and I'm down 12-13 pounds and feeling great.

My dad taught me a cure for hiccups that works 100% of the time for me. If you get hiccups, put a little bit (maybe 1/2 tsp) white sugar on your tongue and hold it there with your mouth closed (no talking). It cures my hiccups almost immediatley. Once the hiccups are gone you can spit the sugar out. I have had hiccups three times since getting the band last week and I think it's because I'm taking HUGE bites of things. The hiccups are not fun. I'm going to put a sugar packet in my purse for emergencies.

I got my band a week ago I feel the need to eat often, but I do think it is head hunger. Usually one tablespoon of plain yogurt or cottage cheese does the trick. (I am on pureed foods but cottage cheese seems to be ok.) I think distractions at this stage in the game are key.

This is terrible news, but at least you're in the right place - the hospital. Take good care of yourself and follow doctor's orders.

My concern with not telling people is that I will have a hard time explaining all this weight loss. I've only been banded a few days and I'm down 12 pounds! I'm determined to get 50 pounds off by 4th of July and there is just no way to explain that given that I've struggled with my weight for the biggest part of my life.

I'm tempted to exercise but I figure the next two weeks (until my checkup) will really be the last two weeks of my life where I can sit around guilt free. I'm still walking like crazy. An hour per day since surgery. I'm glad you're feeling so good!

I made a mushy tuna casserole tonight. I used egg noodles, tuna, peas, low-fat cheese etc. If you like these things it's not that hard to make and freezes well. Let me know if you want my recipe and I'll send to you.

Just peeping in to see how everyone is doing. I'm three days past surgery and feeling almost 100% normal. I actually wish I could exercise but I'm not going to push it. My doc has me on pureed starting today so I have a pureed tuna casserole in the oven.

I'm going to be 38 next month and plan on getting back on the TTC wagon end of the year. Good luck to you.

My left shoulder pain is pretty bad although I'm only a few days out.

I'm still waiting for the BM too. I don't want to take anything too violent. I suspect the pain meds haven't helped much.

I drove today. I took no pain meds since yesterday morning. Had no problems.

I'm only two days out. I only had one day of liquid diet to do before the surgery. I have been up and down from 252 to 257 this week. Weighing in this morning at 253.

Well - I've made it 24 hours without throwing up and have managed to consume about 80 ounces of liquid so I think I'm ok. No pain except around the port and of course the gas.

My doc used the Realize Band on me. He's done band surgeries for over 5 years as his primary speciality. My realize band is "second generation". He said he was not comfortable with the first generation bands. He admitted that there is not much difference between my band and the lap band of the same size. He said they also have another size lap band they use for much larger people. He said the bands were basically like coke and pepsi and the only real advantage to the Realize band is that the profile of the port is 3mm shallower than the Lap Band, something you won't notice until you get very thin. He then placed my hand on HIS port from his lapband and I could feel it. In the end I think they are probably the same. They look the same.