Unforgettable

Oh Mary, you know just what I like lol the salmon sounds amazing! I am a HUGE seafood person, as well as fruit so it's right up my ally. Happen to have a recipe for that?

My first day was easy-schmeasy. I've had many surgeries in the past, but this was my first laproscopic surgery and I was just amazed and how better I felt in comparison! Day 2 was rough, a little more sore but had some nausea and dry heaving. From then it could only get better. I stopped taking the narcotic pain meds this day. My incisions never really gave me much pain, but the gas pain in my shoulder was absolutely horrible for about 5 days. I just walked as much as I could so it would slowly go away. Good luck to you

As others have said, a decision as big and potentially life-threatening as this shouldn't be one you "settle" for. I know what it feels like to just want to lose the weight and be healthy, and become impatient. I would just hate to see you be forced into a decision that you normally wouldn't make. That being said, this board is AMAZING for support. You see the good, the bad, and the ugly - all of which you need to see! Lots of great advice can be found here.

The reasoning behind your mom's thought is ridiculous! I personally have only told my immediate family and closest of friends so far. Not because I'm ashamed, but because this is a personal medical decision - I wouldn't tell everybody if I had a hysterectomy or something else like that. Unfortunately people tend to feel, especially when it comes to food, that their opinion is superior and will prove to be awe-inspiring to you. I don't want to hear it, and that's why I've kept it to a few people. Now I know some people, when asked, come up with elaborate lies saying the scars are from gallbladder and what not. If someone were to ask me, I'm not going to lie. But not everybody has to know my business.

The Realize-C can hold 11cc. 4cc in the Realize-C is the equivalent of 0cc in the original Realize, which I find interesting.

It's actually quite normal for this to happen, since you went from practically taking in nothing but liquids and very little calories, to eating things of substance. Plus, depending on the surgeon's preference, some bands aren't filled at all during surgery so once the initial stomach swelling from the trauma of surgery goes down, there really isn't restriction at all until the first fill.

Glad to hear you're back on track. Cold feet is normal. Even now after being banded, when I think about how long this will be in my body and the chances of there being no complications 50 years down the line, it scares me. Like you said, can my stomach really handle this for at least another 50+ years? Scary stuff. But I based it on my life now, and if something comes up in the future then I will deal with it then.

I had to do only one day of liquids only, and then I was able to move on to the "Puree" stage. I've been eating cream of wheat with a scoop of protein powder, pureed chili, and my fav is turkey meatballs with sauce pureed. Starting Saturday I get to go to the "Soft Diet" stage which I'll be on for 2 weeks before going to the normal food. I can't wait to eat some delicious salmon on Saturday!!

Keep in mind that on a day to day basis it can be common for your body to naturally fluctuate 2-3 pounds. I always make sure when I'm weighing myself that I do it first thing in the morning, make sure it's around the same time, wearing around the same things, and I only like to weigh myself once a week on the same day - that way there's some consistency. Sometimes, when I think I'm doing really great or really poorly, I'll weigh twice in one week. I've found out over the years that obsessing over the scale can really drive me crazy, particularly because my body is known to fluctuate so often. Once a week is frequent enough to keep an eye on my progress yet not often enough to drive me crazy.

I love the chocolate carnation instant breakfast - it's delish, but one packet only has 5g protein in it so it's not necessarily a good protein source. I've tried a few generic brands - walmart, meijer, etc and the taste just doesn't do it for me. I emailed cytosport and they will send you samples if you just email and ask, so I'm waiting to get my samples before making a final decision because some of them are just so expensive! I've heard enough good raves about Muscle Milk though that I think I'll end up settling on Muscle Milk Light. Just a quick tip, my favorite way to spice up a vanilla protein drink is to add 1/2 of a crystal light sunrise orange packet. It makes it taste like a orangesicle and is great.

Thanks for the tips!! One of my other goals, and one of the "this is why I'm having surgery" moments, came when I was in California at the beginning of this month. Climbed down a beautiful cliff path to get to a secluded beach -it was breathtaking!! The walk back up...I thought I was gonna die and couldn't believe I was having such a hard time. I vowed that when I come back in 2011 (I go every other year) I would be able to climb it without problems.

doodleallday - I love your list and I think I have to agree with all of them for myself!! xemmaleighx - I'm like you, I've been shopping those stores my whole life. While I'm excited to get out of them, the thought absolutely terrifies me because where the hell do I go?!

WALK WALK WALK!! It will help all types of gas pain. I was told that some people reported Aleve to help with it too. I tried it and didn't find much relief. It took probably a full 5 days for all of my gas pains to go away.

It's your decision, although I say give it a try and hope for the best. The chance for complications is relatively low, despite occasional horror stories you hear. However, I can't imagine your insurance right now paying to have it removed since there is technically nothing wrong with it.

There are 2 main reasons for it hurting more. The wrist has tons of nerves to piss off, and the artery is deeper than a vein so you hit all of the nerves when getting an ABG.

I think marko was right on point with his post. I have many extremely large scars (one of them 10 inches going across the side of my stomach) from surgeries as a child and while I have always been self conscious of them, the men in my life that have really cared about me have never had a problem with it - I'm the one with a problem. My plan for dating in the future is not saying too much about the lapband during the early stages but if I feel there is potential for this to become a serious, intimate relationship then I will tell that person.

Hey ladies!! I'm a pediatric RN and I absolutely LOVE my job! I'm in Cincinnati and I don't love that as much lol

This may sound like a stupid question, but what is it about steak that makes it intolerable for many people? It seems like if it's chewed well enough and not too dry there shouldn't be a problem. The thought of not eating steak again makes me sad lol

I think people are entitled to their own opinions but shouldn't push it onto others. Cheating for everyone is different. For some people, any assistive devices other than doing it natural, like pills or surgery, will always be cheating and taking the easier way out. While I don't agree with that thought, I can respect it as long as they can respect the decision that I've made. In the end, this is a personal decision we've all made. Would I lose this weight if I didn't have the surgery? Probably not. Does that make it cheating? I don't really care what it makes it. Call it cheating, call it using my resources, call it what you want...I'm calling it success.

Breathing issues after surgery are very common, especially laproscopic surgery which can cause a "gas pain" in the shoulder and midchest area which each breath. The easiest way to alleviate this is if you weren't given an incentive spirometer is to do several deep breathing techniques. One of the ways I tell my patients (they're kids) to look at it is to practice trying to blow out your birthday candles, or trying to blow a bubble - the concept is just that you are taking a deep, prolonged breath in to help stretch out your lungs. Do this 10 times an hour while you are awake and after a few days it should feel easier to breath. If you don't take deep breaths you risk lots of complications, including pneumonia. We don't want that!!

I just found out this past Wednesday that my surgery date was changed from July 20 to this Monday, July 13...I'm super excited but feel rushed, trying to get to the store and tie up loose ends. I was planning on having the week of July 13 to do all of that. I am so looking forward to the challenges ahead!!!

I just found out this past Wednesday that my surgery date was changed from July 20 to this Monday, July 13...I'm super excited but feel rushed, trying to get to the store and tie up loose ends. I was planning on having the week of July 13 to do all of that. I am so looking forward to the challenges ahead!!!

I'm having it on Monday and I will be 25!

Ok my date just got changed from July 20th to July 13 - woohoo!!!

That sounds like a good idea. Even though I only am required to do the 3 day medifast diet, I am going to try to do my own version of a week long preop diet just to help get my numbers down before surgery. It's interesting to see the variety of diets that different doctors prescribe!