SpideyMom

Wow, way to go, everyone!!! :thumbup::thumbup: It's the little things that all add up and make a big difference.

You are kidding me!!! OMG! I had no idea they were so small and so expensive. Well, hopefully they will taste good! :thumbup:

Welcome to the Mayo Banditos, Neil! Glad things are going so well for you. :thumbup: You are one of the first Banditos going through surgery! We'd love to hear back from you about how your surgery went and how you're doing when you feel up to it. There is a thread for "Surgery Stories" that you can post to. My surgery is a week from today, and I'm getting very nervous ... yet excited, too!

Hallelujah, I also ate a big dinner with dessert last night. I had done Slim Fast for Breakfast and lunch, but my dh wanted to make me a special "last supper." It was really good. But today I'm on nothing but SlimFast. I'm also freaking out about this being just a week away!! Skinnybyrd, my 4 1/2 year old son will be at the hospital with my dh, mostly because I have to be there at 6:00 am! My guess is that he will want to stay at the hospital and not go to preschool that day, which I'm fine with. He is a little worrier, especially about Mommy, so whatever makes him feel most comfortable is what I want. I think, personally, it will be very comforting for me to have him there, also. :thumbup: Maclynn, what an interesting post-op diet! I don't believe I have heard of such a short time for liquids. Good for you!

Wow, everyone is doing so well! Sbush, you have given me inspiration! 12 lbs in 8 days is awesome! I got home last night and my dh had made a "last meal" for me -- steak, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cream pie. I really wasn't expecting all that! But, he was being very kind, so of course, I ate it, seeing as today was technically my official start date for the preop diet. So, here I go, nothing but SlimFast and Water today!! WE CAN DO THIS! YES WE CAN!!! :thumbup:

This is a really good idea. I had mine on Tuesday also, and I brought along a whole sack of meds (sad, huh?) and asked which I needed to crush or cut. I was surprised that he said most of them were small enough to take whole. My problem is, I have to take 10 pills in the morning and 12 at night, so I will be spending a looooonnnng time swallowing pills. But, that's one of the big reasons I'm being banded -- to get healthy enough to get off a lot of these meds!!! :thumbup:

Welcome to the Banditos! Congrats on your approval. The same thing happened to me -- BAM! I had no idea it could go so fast. I'm glad, though. :ohmy: Let's get this party started! :thumbup:

Jennifer, I am on my first day of SlimFast pre-op also, but I'm lucky (?) to get 6 cans a day. I had two for lunch. Now I'm starving. My dh wants to cook a big meal tonight because technically I didn't have to start preop until tomorrow. Ugh... what to do, what to do? BTW, I saw you got your insurance approval in 4 hours! I got mine in just one hour. I was told it would take up to a month! I think they must have looked at ours and thought we really needed it, huh? LOL

Melissa, that is awful what your coworker did! I hope you reported it. That person should be fired! I like your analogy about the soldiers ready for battle. I wish I was that organized. *sigh*

What a great thread, hallelujah! I am so excited one minute and then scared to death the next. I started crying at the surgeon's office yesterday. I have had a LOT of surgeries (breast cancer, gallbladder, etc.) and I told the doctor, I wasn't as scared with those because those weren't optional. This is! He told me he would be nervous if I weren't nervous. It's all normal, he said. If you've never had surgery, I can tell you from my experience with the other surgeries, that it is so quick! Once they get the IV started and they give you the sedative, you are off to LaLa Land (whoa, it's a cool feeling as you drift off... :ohmy:) and then you wake up and it's 2 hours later! What a trip! So, obviously I'm not too scared about the surgery part, but I'm scared about this huge, monumental decision that I've made! What if I fail?? What if it does change my relationships with family and friends? (They talk about that in the AP LapBand literature.) What if it erodes or slips?? Yikes! For those of you going in on May 1, we want a full report as soon as you can! :thumbup: Good luck to everyone!

Ooh, scary story -- broken liver. :laugh: I had my pre-op appointment yesterday, and my surgeon was very nonchalant about the pre-op diet. I have to do all SlimFast for 7 days. He believes that if tells his patients to do more than 7 days, they are more likely to cheat. :ohmy: Good luck to you!!! And don't worry about broken livers any more. :thumbup:

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! :w00t::thumbup::w00t::thumbup:

Doug, you're one of the first to go in!! How exciting! You will definitely have to come back to the board and tell us how it all went. John set up a thread for Surgery Stories. (Thx, John!) I was reading about the Biggest Loser contestants in a magazine two days ago and had the same thought you did! But then I had to remind myself of all the times I have been successful at losing but just as successful at putting it all back on! The LapBand will definitely help us keep it off! Hooray! :ohmy:

Welcome to the Mayo Banditos! :ohmy:

Hello, fellow pre-oppers! I started my diet today (though technically I could have started tomorrow) and so far, so good. Of course, I get an invitation to a surprise party at an Irish pub for Friday night, and I think I'm going to have to say no because it will be way too hard to just sit there drinking Water. :thumbup: I haven't told any of the people who would be there, and it would just be too uncomfortable. *sigh* BUT! It's all going to be worth it in a few months! :ohmy:

Glad you liked the Unjury, Melissa. I just bought some Low Carb SlimFast but haven't tried it yet. Only two more days til my preop diet starts! My preop appointment is tomorrow. I'm scared to death suddenly!!!!!

I'm having surgery on Thursday, May 7 and am going back to work on Monday, May 18, at the urging of my boss. She's the greatest! :thumbup:

Congratulations, Lili! I've been thinking of you and wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear you're being so well taken care of! And you're down 16 lbs. now! How fabulous! Thanks for all the wonderful tips! I will definitely get some charcoal tabs at the pharmacy. Continue to take good care of yourself.! :thumbup:) Ann

Congratulations, Lili! I've been thinking of you and wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear you're being so well taken care of! And you're down 16 lbs. now! How fabulous! Thanks for all the wonderful tips! I will definitely get some charcoal tabs at the pharmacy. Continue to take good care of yourself.! :thumbup:) Ann

Woohoo! Everyone is doing great! Kellster -- 5 sets of escalators? My God, where do you work? And how did you do that? I wouldn't have been able to do more than one. Wow. Well, I brought in all the candy from the candy jar today and put it in the kitchen for my coworkers to eat. I also turned down doughnuts and cake on Wednesday! (But gave in to Cookies last night. Booo!) Well, baby steps... baby steps! :thumbup:

Thanks for the tip, Kellster! I will have to stop at Trader Joes! And Deb, thanks for the funny saying -- I'm stealing it also. Don't worry, I'm also as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs! Hang in there!!

Danielle, which protein drinks are you using? I'm just wondering which ones are low-fat and sugar free. So far, I've found Unjury, and I really like it. However, my doc wants me to do SlimFast for a week for some reason. It has much more sugar. I'm going to be going sugar-free after the surgery, so I'll switch to Unjury then.

Mary, I don't think you're in the minority -- you told them the truth! :smile: They just didn't ask any more questions. I'm going to probably say something similar. I don't want to get into a lot of details. But, knowing my son, he'll ask lots of questions. I'll tell him the truth, but keep it simple. I think he'll be most worried about the surgery and overnight stay in the hospital. He will want to stay with me, I know :thumbup:

Jason and Michelle, thank you so much for your advice! I know my son will be very interested in the whole procedure and journey. He is very inquisitive and quite the little caregiver, also. So, yes, I think I need to tell him soon. I'm being banded in two weeks! The only thing that worries me is that he is a worrier... just like me! So, that's why I've put it off. Michelle, I like that title -- the "tummy doctor." And Jason, I doubt either of your children will remember you as big. I don't remember much before kindergarten! BTW, is that your Viper? Wow. Everyone's been so helpful with their advice -- thank you all so much! :thumbup::smile::smile:

Ooh, what great ideas! I especially like the pudding mix suggestion. Thanks! :thumbup: