Amaris

Thanks so much! I'm happier now!

Sorry to post this here, but I can't find the information I need nor can I get to the correct forum. I'm not loving the new site! A friend of mine just told me that my personal picture is showing up next to my posts instead of the profile picture that I uploaded. I'd rather not show my personal pic as I've not told very many people about my surgery. I can't find where to change this. Any help would be much appreciated! I can't even find where LBT got this picture from!

I don't care for the Isopure RTDs, but love the Cytomax ones. I ordered a case of them from Amazon.

Everyone probably has different answers to this. I'm only 12 days post-op, so I can't really speak about living with the band. But for the actual surgery, the hardest part for me was the pressure in the center of my chest for a few days. In fact, I had to sleep the first night sitting up, it hurt so badly -- and that was only for five or six hours. After that, I was able to go back to bed. Then there's the time affectionately referred to as "Bandster Hell". Now that the swelling has gone down where the doc placed the band, I occasionally get hungry enough to eat the way I did before surgery, but what I can actually have is very limited (still on full liquids until Thursday). It's pretty frustrating to have gone through all I did to get to this point, and still be able to eat like I did before. But even that's not too bad yet, unless I let myself get too hungry or don't get my Protein in. It's also been difficult to remember that there's no drinking with meals, or for 45 minutes afterward. Some days -- some meals -- are better than others, but I forget at least once a day. As soon as I remember, I remove my drink and follow the rules. I assume this will get easier as I develop a new habit. Someone with more experience may have other things to talk about, buy that's where I'm at. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

I get to start mushies on Thursday -- and I'm very excited! Soft foods two weeks after that. I'm gonna be pretty pissed off if I've gained any weight, because I'm keeping it below 1,000 calories most days. I know this time is about healing and not about weight loss, but still ... I like your walking plan! Hubby and I walk a little bit each day; I'm hoping to increase the time gradually until we're walking for at least half an hour. We also are aiming to get to the gym daily.

Good for you for getting in your protein! I get in about 90 grams a day and I feel pretty good most of the time. We are out of town for the day, so probably won't make all my protein today. Which means I'll probably be hungry later on! I can always drive through KFC and pick up some mashed potatoes, though. Hubby and I are walking just about every day. It does feel good to be out and about, doesn't it? My first fill is scheduled for 30 September, so I still have a ways to go! Hopefully, it won't be too bad!

Kelly, are you getting your Protein in? I was banded on the third, also, and as long as I get my protein in, I'm doing okay. Sure, I can eat more than I could when I came home from the hospital, but nothing compared to how I was eating before the surgery. Good luck and hang in there!

I had the sore neck and throat thing too. It's from being intubated, I'm pretty sure. That was the last surgery pain/discomfort to go away for me.

My doc is very conservative, but his numbers are way better than the national averages for complications, etc., so I guess that's a good thing!

Week Five!!! I have two weeks of full liquids, two weeks of mushies, then at the beginning of week five I can add soft solids, and continue from there.

Sorry to hear that your surgeon's office is being less than professional with you. I, too, had to pay a certain amount up front because my surgeon's practice is not in-network with my insurance, but it was all handled very professionally and I knew it right up front. In fact, when I paid a few week's before my surgery, the receptionist said, "Oh, hon, you don't have to pay until your pre-op appointment." Are you going to a different clinic for your fills? Just wondering, since you implied that you won't be dealing with them after surgery... Good luck to you! I hope all goes well!

I lost 8.8 pounds in the first week after surgery, to bring my total up to 29.4 since I started the pre-op diet on 13 July. The most impressive part to me is that I've been able to drastically reduce my diabetes meds in this short time. I've gone from 5 pills a day and 24 units of insulin to 2 pills a day and nine units of insulin; I expect to completely eliminate those meds, too, as time goes on. Good luck to you! It will be here before you know it!

Personally, I didn't have any problems breathing afterwards, but I just wanted to reassure you that several other people have reported that same thing, so it seems to be normal. I did have a heaviness in my chest that lasted for days. It hurt when I hiccuped. Congrats to you! You've made it!

I'm using Centrum Chewables and Viactiv Calcium chews. Both are okay, but I don't like giving up 65 calories a day to supplements! Not to mention the 15 calories per serving of the fiber I'm supposed to be taking -- three times a day! That's 110 calories that I'm not really eating each day! BOO!

Nope, not a bit for me. The only way I even know where my port is, is that one of the incisions is much larger than the others and the nurse told me it was my port incision. I hope that pain clears up for you soon!