Juniper

I've heard from my doc that straws are a no-no. I guess it makes you swallow a lot of air or something? Anyway, just thought I'd mention it.

ocotillo, thanks for your words of encouragement. :biggrin: you know, i have lots of little goals in my mind, non-scale goals mostly, but i usually just keep those locked up in my head. heh when it comes to the numbers, though, i'm a long-term planner type person, so my scope of vision is all the way to the finish line! i know that may seem weird, but it's just how my brain is wired. :thumbdown: i've been thinking a lot lately about having to have plastic surgery to remove the "apron", too. but here's a weird question for those who might know... do they have to reposition your belly button if they have to remove a LOT of skin?? i'm a little concerned about that, cuz my belly button is amazingly low on my abdomen to begin with, and i really can't see how they could cut away much of my skin without making it drop even lower! maybe i just don't understand this plastic surgery stuff very well. hehe

You know, Barbie, every other time I've lost weight, I've had to go out and buy new clothes pretty quickly, but for some reason this time, it just ain't happening! I've lost 25+ lbs, and yet I haven't noticed ANY change in my clothes at all! In fact, my stomach still seems swollen to me from the surgery, and my pants are very uncomfortable, what with my port incision being so close to my waistline. I have noticed less Fluid in my feet and ankles, so I'm sure most of what I've lost is Water, but even so!! 25 lbs just seems like it ought to feel different! I'm happy to have lost it, but I'm just wondering when I'll start FEELING like I've lost weight. :crying: Congrats to you, and keep losing those inches!! :biggrin:

Michelle, my 3rd and 4th day after surgery I was super emotional. It has gotten better, but I'm still feeling more emotional than I usually do. I kept thinking it was "that time", but it never happened, just the moodiness. I've heard many times that women can get very moody as they lose weight because we release stored estrogen as we burn fat. So I've tried to prepare myself and my family for the potential roller coaster of emotions that may be ahead. I wish you the best.

hehe, thanks Joe. I usually update on Mondays, since more people post on weekends.

this is a subject that gets me pretty emotional. just one short year ago, i myself thought of weight loss surgery as the "easy" way, and felt that people who had to undergo surgery to lose weight were somehow more lazy than others. now i realize that LOSING weight's not the hardest part. it's KEEPING it off. and that sure, the surgeries help a person lose weight, because it forces you to take in less calories, but that's not why most of us get the surgery. it's because we've lost weight in the past, only to gain it back, and then some, and we're trusting that the band will help us not only lose it, but KEEP the weight off. i'm a cheater because i want to be able to QUIT yo-yo-ing up and down, and causing my body more harmful effects from doing this? i'm a cheater because i want to live a healthy, longer life? i'm a cheater because i don't want to be morbidly obese anymore? nevermind that i'm dieting and exercising right along with all those non-banders...

I have only told my family. And all the doctors and nurses, of course. :ohmy: I've lost weight before, only to gain it all back, plus some, so I decided to keep my band to myself, I guess on the off chance it didn't work for me. Plus, I really don't want to have it be a topic of conversation at work, and have people "watching" to see how much I lose how quickly. I've had the feelings myself that the band was the "easy way out", and I've had to deal with those feelings, so I don't feel like taking on anyone else's issues to work through about it, either. It's my time to focus on me, and I get enough support from my family, my doctors, and of course all the great folks here going through the same experiences with me. :confused:

Hey, Sheena! Welcome! Not boring at all... thanks so much for sharing your bio with us. :confused: Good luck on your surgery, and come back often. We've got a great group here, and very supportive.

Good morning, Mary! Okay, I'm jealous about your thunderstorms. It's another sweltering hot day here in Texas, and it's not even 10 am yet! I'm feeling pretty good these days, too. I slept in my bed again last night, and it was pretty comfortable, so I'm happy about that. I've been a little more emotional than usual since the surgery, but I'm learning to deal with it. Last night I found myself scrounging around the kitchen looking for SOMETHING to eat that wasn't soup, Jello, pudding, or Protein shakes. hehe. I finally settled on some instant mashed potatoes (really watered down, since I'm still only at "cream of wheat" stage) but when I started eating them, the taste wasn't nearly as satisfying as I expected it to be!! It was like... what's that?? My friend food isn't as much fun as I remember him being?? I ended up eating only a few bites, and being done. Of course, not to say it would have been that way with something I really love, like mac and cheese, but it was nice to feel some CONTROL... :confused:

Okay, my fellow Freedom Fighter First'rs... Melinda_205 tessiekay leshers2x2 hot tea and lovely9257 We're down to 2 days now, so I thought I'd make a place for us to come back and share our surgery stories. Feel free to share as little or as much as you'd like. Here's wishing us all safe surgeries and speedy recoveries!!

hey july banders... come on over and join us... July 09 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum

I heard the same thing during my pre-op period, but I heard it was because some people develop mucus around their band, and the warm liquid helps break it up. Interesting to know the tightness changes!!

mine's a little to the right, just about an inch below my natural waistline. looks like i'll be wearing my pants on my hips in the future!

banded on july 1st, and for the 1st week, i was fine... very little hunger. then boom! it hit me! my stomach, so quiet for that 1st week, now sounds like a tractor from all the growling. i'm trying to focus on eating well, but i've never really liked sweets much (it's always been starches that were my downfall), so the Jello and pudding just makes me ill now. and it's not like there's ton of "liquid" foods out there that aren't loaded with fat and sodium!! man, i was hoping it would be another week til i hit bandster hell, but i think i'm knocking on the door as i type... here's hoping that i make it to my first fill in 3 weeks without gaining all i've lost...

marmar, don't rely too much on the negative things you read here. realize it's part of human nature to pay more attention to the negative, and certainly to vocalize it. i mean, how many people ask to speak to a manager because an employee did such an awesome job? i bet for every negative thing you read on here, there are a ton of positive things you don't read.

Just got back from my pre-op! Everything's a go for next Wednesday @ 7:15 am! I'm down almost 20 lbs since May, despite the gallbladder issues, so I'm happy about that! And since I have 5 full days left before surgery, I'm thinking I'll go full liquid for the rest of them. It will give me a chance to really see what I like and what I don't before I'm feeling to ill to try anything. :thumbup: This weekend I'll clean the house, get my "liquids" for post-op organized, pack my bag, and try to relax a little. I'm thinking about renting a recliner, cuz a lot of my Mayo Bandito friends said it was much more comfy sleeping in a recliner after the surgery, and I don't have one. So I guess I'll check into that, too. What's everyone else doing to prepare?

headin, omg, you're going alone? you're so brave! be safe on your journey! and keep in touch, cuz we're all here to support you. :tongue_smilie:

i went to see my doc y'day, and he said everything looked good, and that i should be able to get in the pool the weekend after this! i'm so excited! my favorite thing about summer is swimming, and it's been hard having to stay out pretty much all summer so far cuz of the two surgeries. i tried sleeping in my bed again last night, and i woke up really sore. i guess i'm just going to have a harder time with that than most, probably just because of my body size. on another note, my doc let me move to "full liquids" as soon as i was ready, so i've been doing cream soups for the whole week, so maybe that's one reason i wasn't as hungry. however, last night i noticed that all of a sudden, i could drink/eat about twice as much as before, so rather than 1 oz every 5 minutes, i was doing 2 oz. as long as i take it slowly, everything seems to go down quickly. i can see now why people would have so much trouble with "slider" foods. you could just eat and eat and eat. 1 more week of the full liquids, and i'm on to "soft" foods. can't wait to chew on some chicken. hehe

Leshers, Yeah, the Lap Band has similar online tools now. I really like the little I.D. card you get with the packet that has the message to restaurants about how you can't eat that much anymore. I figure that will come in handy now and then! heh Although, I've noticed restaurants aren't near as strict about who orders off their kids menus as they used to be.

Okay, it took me awhile to make sense of that picture, but I think I finally did. There are 2 sizes: standard, or APS, which will take 10cc to fill (actually a little more), and large, or APL, which will take 14cc to fill. The pictures at the bottom are of the old lap-bands, and there were problems with them that supposedly the new band has corrected. So slim, you probably have the 10cc band, since that is the smaller one.

Hey Mom, My doc uses the Allergan Lap Band. I researched them both, and I liked it better than the Realize band, anyway, so it worked out well. It's a 10cc size. The only real benefit to the Realize band seemed to me to be the "low profile" port. But I just liked the way the Lap Band was put together more, and how it has size options. I'd probably go with letting the doc decided. Once he's looking in there where it's actually gonna go, he'll probably have an opinion as to which one would suit your body better. Best of luck!

Feel free to come join the July 09 group forum! July 09 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum

I second RestlessMonkey's idea that he may have been trying to compliment you, albeit not very well. When I read it, I took it more to mean something like "you've done better than a lot of other people". Sort of a weird compliment, but I didn't immediately take it like he was saying you were gonna fail. Before you get too upset, talk to your doctor, and simply ask "I've been wondering what he meant when he said _____ ". Or just let it go. I mean, only some people could still mean 95%, cuz technically, that's only some of 100%. :thumbup:

Doc, I was banded on July 1st, and I'm still sleeping in a recliner. I just can't get into as comfortable a position in my bed as I can in the recliner, so I've just accepted it for now. I feel tenderness still in my entire abdomen, also. I also had nausea the first few days, but my doc sent me home with some good medicine for that. Talk to you doctor. I'm sure they can help you at least with the nausea. Also, are you tracking how much you're drinking and how often? Maybe you're drinking faster than you think, and it's causing discomfort. I hope you start to feel better soon!!

Hey Barbie! Glad to hear how well you're doing! Get lots of rest and heal quickly, and keep in touch when you can! Best wishes. :thumbup: