TexasMama

I put a wonderful homemade soup (my sis sent me the recipe, which I modified) on my blog. There are pics with the recipe, as well. It's a SUPER way to get iron thanks to the spinach! I made it with ham hocks to give it a wonderful smokey flavor. It really was delicious, like split pea soup but easier, no soaking peas...!

no pooping issues for me so far. Justplaintired, if you're having issues, the absolute best thing to help is Miralax. You can get it at any pharmacy. The small bottle should be fine. I only had to use it twice after my last c-section. It was very gentle and extremely effective!

Chatted with my doctor today about why we have to do liquids and mushies so long. He said the liquid portion of the diet is the MOST important. The longer you are on liquids, the less chance you have of your band slipping down the road. Reducing the amount of motion on that portion of the stomach (by just allowing liquids) will help the band sort of "cement" into place. When solids start, the constriction and movement of the stomach in digestion messes that "cementing" process up...so there you go, folks...something to think about!

Hey sophinator--no worries, you will do great. Yes, my dr gave me the okay to have a light dinner the night before, just nothing by mouth after midnight. The last few days of the first week are hardest, at least, to me, so if you need support, come here to get it!! We can help talk you down from the cliff. I just had my first post-op dr visit and all that liquid is WORTH IT when you get on the scale! I promise!!

I'm so glad to hear your surgery was a success!! You know, I really didn't have a lot of gas pain. I found out about a week before my surgery that my dr is kind of famous for trying to get the excess CO2 out before closing up patients. I had just a bit of soreness in my upper shoulders. My really sore spot was the hernia repair. Fortunately that is going away and now that I am no longer on the Lortab, I can tell my port incision is a little tender. I know what you mean about your little ones. My youngest is just at the tail end of 2 (her 3rd bday is next week) and she's been "Up! Up! Up!" wanting hugs and jumps and I hate to have to tell her no. Makes me sad. I try to make it up by getting down and hugging her anyway, but I don't know if her little princess self is 100% satisfied with that. ROFL. I am eating mostly liquids, but I was allowed to have something--eggs-- after I called his office yesterday flipping out. I had a scrambled egg last night, and today I ate the pulp of a pickle (LOL, my biggest craving--a big, fat, Claussen pickle!! Go figure) and a piece of string cheese. He expects to give me full clearance for cream Soups, yogurt, and cottage cheese for the next week. I really do not know how I am going to go another week without eating some kind of meat! It's going to make me crazy. justplaintired, Lortab is a mix of hydrocodone (Vicodin) and Tylenol. It is an opiate like Codeine but some claim it works more effectively. I don't really like being "loopy" myself, but I felt like Tylenol alone would not cut it! You are brave!!

Good luck!! You will do great!!

Well, I couldn't stand it anymore. I had a half of a cup of Campbell's Tomato soup made with skim milk. It was heavenly. I did so well with it that I called my doctor's office to ask them if I could have eggs for dinner. They said if I could tolerate it, I could have ONE scrambled egg. JOY OF JOYS! I had a bite of hubby's grits, too. I tell you, if they are gonna make you have liquids for so long they need to keep you on a morphine drip. LOL!!

Hi there....anyone on the NW side, around Sea World/Westover Hills?

Hi there--I cannot imagine how frustating this must be! Have you seen an endocrinologist?

Wow. Could not have said this better. Great post. I see posts like the OP's scattered throughout this board. I think it's important to stress accountability. If you get called to the carpet, it's probably for a reason. I'm very new to my band (and vice-versa, I suppose ) but I already know how powerful my psyche is just 6 days post-op. It will always be a struggle. It's how you react to that struggle that counts. Repeat after me: If I work with the band, the band will work for me. If I give up on the band, the band will give up on me. YOU are responsible for you. Good luck.

How scary!! I am so sorry you are delayed but I hope that everything gets fixed so you can be banded!!

I know it's discouraging, but it sounds perfectly normal to me, from what I read about others' experiences. Really, the weight won't be coming off regularly or satisfactorily until you hit your "sweet spot", which could well be your 3rd or 4th fill. This is such a gradual process, and in our daily lives "gradual" is hard to swallow--pardon the pun. I think your body also is completely BALKING at any attempt to lose weight right now. It did it initially because it was programmed to--you were still feeling the effects of narcotics--but now that those have worn off (or at least, to a degree), your body is thinkin', "Hey! Remember me? What is going on here??" and it will fight you. The good news is, it's just INITIALLY. Once you get past that point, your body realizes, hey, this is how it's gonna be, I need to get rid of some of these fat cells so I can keep going at the regular pace. That is when you will really see it. Don't get too discouraged, though. You've done AMAZING so far, both pre- and post-op. You're only going to continue your success. Sometimes that just means "in chunks".

Elle, I am so excited for you! I will be thinking about you tomorrow. You will do great! The first days are actually not hard, eating wise--it's the few days leading up to your first appointment, when your head is "out of the fog" and you realize...hmmmm...I want food!! LOL I am struggling just a little with that, but I'm sticking to the clear diet as much as possible (with the exception of today, yogurt smoothie). I am counting down the hours until I get clearance for something with TEXTURE. Can't wait to hear from you! Good luck!!!

the port incision on me is what is still sore. The other incisions are fine, actually itchy at this point. I'm day 5 post-op. I stopped Lortab as of 5AM. I'm now on regular Tylenol.

:hurray: I love it!! Sooo excited for you! Good job!! Did your doc give you clearance for mushies or does he want you on clear stuff another week?

Hey! Just wanted to hear from everyone to see how you're doing. I'm doing okay--I think the hernia repair is definitely a much more tender spot on me right now than anything else. I'm still taking the LorTab. My nephew's 2nd birthday is tomorrow and we're supposed to go over there. I hope I can make it! I'm mentally okay, but physically, I'm certainly not doing any cartwheels!!

Okay--checking in with you to see how you are doing, you are one week post-op!! Congrats!! Are you feeling better? I hope you are seeing a light at the end of that tunnel!! Hugs!!

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I wrote out what happened to me start-to-finish on my blog. I thought I'd post about it to help anyone that hasn't had surgery yet if they are anxious/nervous.

Soft foods is really anything that isn't fibrous that you will be able to chew well. Your doctor is following the guidelines of the band manufacturer, most likely, along with his own observations. I am not sure why some doctors either ignore this advice, or their patients do. I believe to have success with the band you have to start out the right way. I'm not sure whose mom fixed chicken for them and they just had surgery Monday--that just does not seem like a good idea AT ALL. I would imagine any doctor would say so, but I'm not a doctor myself, so what do I know? Stick to your doc's advice even though it is tempting to watch others move forward. Your stomach is going to be swollen for a while, and your band needs to stay in place. Remember--the #1 cause for slippage is not following the eating guidelines. That means this early on.

I can't believe it! Of course I'm going to be the only one who is banded and hungry. Just had some broth and a popsicle, and that worked for about 20 minutes, and now my stomach is growling. Oh my. This is going to be interesting.

LOL@ both of you!!! I seem to have a quick recovery time from the anesthesia. I was like this for my past three surgeries (two cerclages and a gallbladder removal). I am in some pain still, and swollen, but I am working on trying to get up and moving. I don't really have any desire to eat per se, I mean, I can't see me eating a hamburger or anything. I just wish I could have something more substantial like yogurt or oatmeal. Alas, I will have to wait. I think that the "stomach growling" I am feeling is actually intestinal sounds and I am getting them confused. It's hard to tell when your entire abdomen is sore! The only advice I have for anyone is don't let any time lapse between doses of pain meds, if you're supposed to take your meds every 4-6 hours, don't wait 7 or 8. I am hoping I won't need the Lortab after the weekend and will be on straight Motrin or Tylenol or combination. Taking a nap now. Will chat later!!

Thank you, justplaintired!!

I'm a little loopy, thank you Lortab. Everything went well and hey, guess what? I had two procedures in one, he corrected my hiatal hernia. whoohoo! Didn't even know I had one. There ya go! Going to bed now, will check in later. Anyone else get banded today?

I don't mean to be rude, but if you're 100-110 lbs over weight, I can assure you that you do not look like you need to lose 20 lbs. There isn't a person out there that would. OTOH, it sounds like you might not be mentally ready for this. I'd be 100% sure that this life-changing decision is the one you want to make.

Good news! The doc says I can still do the surgery unless I develop a fever. So I am all set to go tomorrow!! :bananapartyhat: