KarynA

You have my prayers. And don't worry, it'll be okay. I don't know about you, but it's stress and anxiety that make me want a cigarette more than anything else, so no worries. The medicine works. Just know that it does and let it. As far as when it'll work - everyone's different... different sizes, different habits, different triggers... so forgive yourself if, for example, on day 8 or 9 (when you're not supposed to smoke anymore), you feel like you have to have a drag. You'll notice that the cigerette tastes really bad and eventually that urgent feeling will go away. You can do it! I promise. I'm right behind you. Not counting a drag here and there, I've been a non-smoker since 9/12/09. And I just got my surgery date - it's 12/4. Yay!

THANK YOU. I thought the day would never come! And I had gotten the call right THEN. If I'm trippin' out about anything right now... it's tortillas. I can never have them again? Ever? Really? I'm hispanic. Its okay - I'll get over it. But I wonder if tabasco and salsa are okay....?....

Okay... I'm kind of chuckling over the "if you're in pretty good shape" comment... because... well... I'M NOT! I DO appreciate getting the benefit of the doubt though! Thank you for that. And honestly, now that you mention it... I recovered pretty quickly from gallbladder sugery last year. And this time, I'm keeping all my internal organs, right?! So it'll be good... ya, it'll be alright. I'll plan on going back the Wednesday after that Friday and if I need more time, I'll just take it. You're doing great, by the way!...

Rachel and kslessar, I just found out that I'm getting banded on 12/4 as well! I hope you'll both stay in touch... My husband knows, a friend of mine at work knows and I plan on telling my boss and sister - but I think that's it. We'll see. I think (or I hope anyway) that it might eventually become obvious.

Great information all around... thank you. It's amazing to me how the time-off afterwards varies from person to person (and how many people have hernias - I never realized). Desperate1, that was a combination of devoted, ambitious and... nuts to be catering a party just a few days later. It's good to know it can be done if necessary. But no. I have a (sedentary) desk job and I'll definitely be taking at least a FEW days. Since I work for a place that closes-up shop for two weeks at the end of the year, I won't be able to take too much time off before then. I guess I'll just have to wait till then to get my fill of trash t.v. .... and heal. Great advice! Omg. I have a date - I just got it. It's Friday, December 4th. (Breathe) Holy crap.

Good for you! You'll certainly get a lot of support HERE and hopefully your husband will come around. I'm sure he will. My husband loves me 'as is' too (God bless him - I don't know how I got so lucky) and only recently figured out just how important this lapband journey was to me. He really had no idea how often I thought about my weight and how many decisions were affected by my size... until I told him. Then one night, I was talking to him and leaning on our island (with my weight on my arms and elbows), and he said. "you do that a lot - are you okay?" and I said "ya, it's just hard to hold myself up sometimes". And then I saw the lightbulb go off. It's hard to be heavy... it's exhausting. He didn't know. Ever since then, he's been really supportive of the procedure....but he's scared too (being that its surgery and all). Maybe your husband is as well. Anyway - best of luck to you!

THANK YOU! I'm gonna copy and paste this into an email and send it to myslef. Lots of good information! You're awesome.

I'll be outpatient as well. I asked my surgeon how long the whole procedure would take and he said, "30 minutes". He also said that he once did in 27 minutes, but that it's usually more like 30 because he likes to take his time and do it right. Then I asked him how much time I needed to take off work. And he said "what time?... Iwe can schedule you for the surgery on a Friday and you can go back to work on Monday.... unless you want some time off and then I can write you a note." Does this sound about right to everyone.... or is my guy a little off?

Congratulations! That's awesome. I'm waiting for my date to be set and thinking that it'll be right about then as well.

I'm HOPING to be December, if not November bandster. I've been taking Chantix since September 12th and... miracle of miracles... it's working. I remember smoking that first week while taking it (because you can) and on the last day thinking that there is no way in heck I'm not going to want a cigarette tomorrow. And I did... but the urge goes away. It really isn't awful. I've actually given myself the 'okay' to have a cigarette a day (originally, I gave myself the okay to have two) and most days, I just don't want or need one... at all. I do feel a little bit depressed (side effect), but honestly, I think that has more to do with the not knowing when my surgery will be. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my experience. Good luck to you... on all fronts! :thumbup:

I don't know if you can take medication (?), but I recently quit smoking (9/12/09) using Chantix. I heard that some people become depressed on it, but it's really working for me and I was skeptical. Also, congrats on the surgery date. I don't know yet if I'll be a November or December bandster... fingers are crossed.