stateofzen

Sometimes they will take a dated picture in place of a doctor weigh in-- you might look to see if you have a picture from '06.

My interview was 20 minutes long-- a complete breeze. We just had a conversation about whether I was currently experiencing any problems (I wasn't), and then if I had any concerns about the banding (I talked about exercise follow-through concerns). I've done psych evals for other kinds of surgeries (specifically organ transplant), and so I can tell you that MOST psychologists who do these are just trying to make sure there aren't any huge red flags that would make you a poor candidate (I'm talking things like body dysmorphic disorder or current drug addiction, etc.). The real purpose is to give you someone to talk to about your follow-up self-care. Depression or anxiety are ok-- not anything to deny a surgery over. Odds are, it is an innocuous loop you have to jump through so the surgeon can cover his butt in terms of liability. :biggrin:

You can use anecdotal evidence to "prove" anything. Everyone hears about that one guy who. . . but no one really *knows* that guy. This is why science is based on population samples and not case studies. Look at the real statistics. They're pretty clear that lap-band is about as safe of a surgery as you can have. Are you 100% guaranteed not to have any complications-- no. But the odds are WAYYYYY with you.

I too had surgery the 17th. I've lost 15 lbs since surgery, but most of that was right away. I've stayed the same for the past week and a half. Since I'm following all of the "rules" for eating, I've decided I'm not going to worry about it. There is no way I can stay this weight forever if I keep doing what I'm doing-- it'll eventually start coming off again. I also had one of my incisions come "unglued" early. I'm on a preventative antibiotic (I asked for it because I worried about infection), but just like Cocoabean said, the treatment is a bandaid :thumbup: Freaky, but I'll tell you my incision is healing just fine, just maybe a little slower.

My nausea and dry heaves were due to the liquid pain killer-- I switched to a cut up pill form and that went away. It was awful while it lasted though, so you have my deepest sympathy. Don't feel bad for being underwhelmed by the band so far-- it sounds like you've had a really rough go of it! But it will get better! You should save a copy of this post now so you can look at it again in 6 months and see just how good it's gotten!

Thanks for starting the thread, Lisa. I'll admit, before surgery I didn't have an exercise program. I did buy a treadmill and start walking a couple weeks before surgery, but I feel like I'm starting from scratch. This week, the first week I've been active since I was banded 9-17, I have walked 3 of 5 days. Two of those days were outside and I'm not sure of the mileage, and one was on my treadmill where I was at 3.2 miles an hour (walked 1.5 miles). My goal is to exercise 5 of 7 days, for 30 minutes at a time. I know I'm slower now than I want to be, but if I can just make myself DO something, I will build up speed and stamina. So, I guess at this point my exercise goal is to walk today and tomorrow, so I can make my "5 out of 7" weekly goal.

Lisa- I put my food stage progression up on my blog here if you want to see: Big Fat Professor: A Little Over a Week In. . . It might not be the exact progression you are on, but it's an idea. I am in soft foods right now and I am eating chicken (canned) in a wet chicken salad. I did put it in my food processor just to be sure I would be able to tolerate it but it is so nice getting protein the old fashioned way :thumbup:

I eat it right off the spoon, with a side of laughing cow cheese. One teaspoon full with the cheese usually keeps me feeling satisfied when I get home from work (my old "binge" time).

My favorite BetsyB advice EVER!

You should be fine, though you shouldn't do heavy lifting (make someone else put the ham or turkey in/out of the oven). By 10 days out you'll most likely feel closer to normal again.

You're going through a lot of changes, and change-- even the good kind-- is really stressful. I found myself really crying at a dumb tv show last night, so I know what you mean.

Thanks for the fish tips! You are all awesome.

That's so exciting! Yay for you!

I think I'll have spaghetti squash with some marinara sauce.

I was supposed to get my first fill today (2 weeks post-op), but since I still have pain and swelling around my port, he pushed it off another two weeks. I had mentioned that I couldn't sleep on my stomach yet because it was uncomfortable, so he started poking around and youch! Said I still had Fluid around my port site and put me off for another two weeks. I realize it is silly, but it makes me feel like my body is taking an abnormally long time to heal, particularly since I'm only 35 and have absolutely no comorbidities. I guess most people he operates on are good to go at 2 weeks, but I'm not :thumbdown: I did find out that he used the LapBand, not the Realize band though. Not that I cared at all, but I was curious This week I get to add soft veggies, fish, and chicken or tuna salad into my diet so I'm super excited about that. I feel like I can go back to low carbing it. In spite of the lack of fill, I'm doing really well with my eating and I know I can do another two weeks, especially now that I get to eat some real food! I can't decide if I want spaghetti squash with marinara or fish and zucchini tonight. I also bought an eggplant to make baked eggplant with feta cheese. Doctor's scale has me down 15 lbs since surgery date, which matches my home scale, so that's pretty awesome! Can't really complain.

I'm pretty sure the port prongs are metal (at least with the Realize Band)-- maybe that's it?

I'd just say I'm going to keep up my healthy diet and exercise and see where my body ends up happy. Just act like you're not that concerned about the weight, just the healthy behaviors, and that what happens will happen. It's really none of your coworkers business If it was a family member saying that, I might tell them that my doctor recommends a "normal weight" BMI and that I'm not there yet, but will stop when I get there, but I wouldn't bother trying to explain to random people who are just uncomfortable with other people losing weight.

Thanks for the tip MissGypsy-- I've tried to grill and panfry before, and maybe bake? Always either over or undercook but I'm going to figure it out.

Hi to the new faces! Ok, folks, I need some cooking help. This week I am very excited to be adding baked fish to my diet BUT, shameful admission ahead. . . I have ruined every piece of fish I've ever tried to make at home. How the heck do you cook fish so that it is done, and soft, and flakey, and not overcooked? I am generally a good cook but fish flummoxes me! First post-surgery appt tomorrow afternoon-- I'll find out then when my first fill is.

I'm still on soft foods post-op, but I had 3 mushrooms stuffed with a low-carb artichoke jalapeno dip and a tablespoon of fat free cottage cheese to cut the heat. I can't wait to have fish tomorrow. I suck at cooking fish, so even though I like it we never buy it for home, but now that it's about the only meat I'm allowed (at the moment) I'm giving it another try.

I do sweet tea made with Splenda, but limit myself to no more than 12 oz a day. Most days I have none, but it's nice to do something non-water/non-powerade zero on occasion and I just find I don't have to make myself drink it.

I was on the spreadsheet last week but am gone this week. That's ok though-- I haven't lost this week so I'm still 12lbs away from goal.

Actually, let me put my .02 as a mental health professional here-- it is absolutely not the original posters responsibility to do anything more than she has. I think she's said numerous times that she doesn't know who the surgeon is-- she's talked to her friend, talked to her husband, and now for her own mental health she is doing the right thing by stepping away. The number one problem of friends and families of alcoholics is assuming responsibility in situations just like this and any Al-Anon or psychologist is going to say the same. The alcoholic's behavior and the consequences of that behavior are absolutely not the poster's responsibility, but the alcoholic's responsibility. Ultimately, the people responsible for uncovering alcoholism is the psychologist who did the psych eval and the surgeon who is doing the surgery. There are ways to discover this if you do a thorough enough eval. It is a sad situation, but brow-beating this woman who seems to have really tried in this situation seems unnecessary to me, and I say that having the utmost respect for you, BetsyB.

Yay Zeniada! Isn't it funny how that happens? My husband made a similar statement to me yesterday. He said in the past week he has really noticed weight loss in my chest area (snort, of course that's what he's paying attention to!), and he's right. My v-neck shirts are so baggy now all of a sudden. But on the scale, I've been the same for a week. So I think our bodies are readjusting themselves even when we aren't dropping pounds.

Citracel + Vitamin D petites. They still aren't tiny, but much smaller than my regular calcium supplement. I cut them in half.