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I am a true bandster now. We arrived at the hopital about 6:15. They had me put on a gown. Then, they put stockings on me and pressure cuffs on my legs to prevent blood clots. Gave me a blood thinner and started me on antibiotics through an IV. The Doc and anestisiologist came in and talked with me. At 8:45 they gave me something to " calm my nerves". Then started to wheel me back and I was out before we rounded the corner. I was suppose to get onto the operating table myself but I was out. I woke up and they told me I was done. I couldn't believe them. By the time I could read the clock it was 10:00. About 11:30 I walked to the bathroom and was able to go so they discharged me at 1:00. I am in alittle pain at my clavicle and around my diaphram. He gave me 2 types of pain pills. One a liquid. My husband has been awesome. I am trying to do things myself like get dressed and get a drink but for the most part he is helping me. I am getting up and walking around. I have to wear these stockings till tomorrow night but am having a hard time keeping them up. With my Doc's plan I will be on solid food in 2 weeks. That's awesome because I know some of you have to wait longer. I also have to wear the bandages 3 weeks. I know some of you already know this but I have written it out so the newbies can learn what to exspect. I feel great and am very excited to get this journey going. I am craving solid foods now but they are bareable. The scale at the hospital said I was down 16 pounds. My MIL's scale still says 18. Since it is most readily available to me I am going with that number.

I am already home from surgery. Everything went great. My liver was great. Of course, I am a little sore. Expecially in my clavicle. I also had a hernia which he repaired. I had surgery at 8:45 and left at 1:00. I had already gone to the bathroom and was able to walk. Now I am home and walking around between naps. He only made 3 incisions. One at my bellybutton, one really close to my left breast and the other is about halfway between on the right side. Only one is visable when I am in my underwear. They all look great and are very small. I have to wear stockings till tomorrow night to prevent bloodclots. Then I can shower too. I will be getting into solid foods pretty qick due to my Doc's instructions.

Jillagould, Go to tickerfactory.com it will guide you through the rest. My goal is 20 pounds by Valentines. I'm having my lapband installed tomorrow. With the liquid diet and stuff I think I can do it. I have lost 18 pounds in the past 2 months without the band. Goodluck to you all.

Well, tomorrow is my big day. I will be banded about 8:30 am. I have had a 2 day liquid diet and am doing great at it. I really don't feel hungry. I can feel the liquids cleansing me out though, Gross. Better then a laxitive and enema though. I feel great on this low carb diet. I have so much more energy. I am waking up earlier and easier. I am excited and surprised I am not more nervous. The only thing I am nervous about is waking up and finding they were unable to place it. I have followed the Doc's instructions so my liver should be in good shape. I am down 18 pounds this morning and hope to be down 20 by morning. Some days I don't lose a thing then others I am down 3 pounds. Thankfully it doesn't go up anymore. I am so excited to have this momentum going into surgery. I have quit regular soda and carbs. The cravings for them have gone down substantially. I still have them if I smell them but the need for them all day has gone down. I have gotten everything in my house prepared. It is clean and laundry is done. My MIL is dressing my son in the morning because I will already be at the hospital. I have my bag packed but need to get some before pictures taken. I also got my hair cut, colored and highlighted. I like to do that before each semester. If I have to be fat I don't want to be sloppy too. My MIL got me some Bath & Body works for christmas. Japanese cherry blossom, I simply love it. I think hubby does too.

Well, tomorrow is my big day. I will be banded about 8:30 am. I have had a 2 day liquid diet and am doing great at it. I really don't feel hungry. I can feel the liquids cleansing me out though, Gross. Better then a laxitive and enema though. I feel great on this low carb diet. I have so much more energy. I am waking up earlier and easier. I am excited and surprised I am not more nervous. The only thing I am nervous about is waking up and finding they were unable to place it. I have followed the Doc's instructions so my liver should be in good shape. I am down 18 pounds this morning and hope to be down 20 by morning. Some days I don't lose a thing then others I am down 3 pounds. Thankfully it doesn't go up anymore. I am so excited to have this momentum going into surgery. I have quit regular soda and carbs. The cravings for them have gone down substantially. I still have them if I smell them but the need for them all day has gone down. I have gotten everything in my house prepared. It is clean and laundry is done. My MIL is dressing my son in the morning because I will already be at the hospital. I have my bag packed but need to get some before pictures taken. I also got my hair cut, colored and highlighted. I like to do that before each semester. If I have to be fat I don't want to be sloppy too. My MIL got me some Bath & Body works for christmas. Japanese cherry blossom, I simply love it. I think hubby does too.

Thanks everyone for supporting me and wishing me well. I should be home by tommorow evening. Not staying overnight. We have to get up about 4 am. That is really early for me. Hubby does it all the time though. I may sleep on the way. It's about an hour drive to the hospital. Guess I'll be in bed early tonite too.

I got my Wii fit a week before christmas and have lost 10 pounds so far. I love it. So does my son.

You can't have control over everything that is going to happen to you. With Bipolar sometimes you can't even control your reactions to it. You can regain control with meds and therapy. The therapy will help you to learn when your in an episode and how to handle it. It will teach you about Bipolar and how to accept it and oneday move on from the shock of being diagnosed. When I was diagnosed I felt like I was in a whirlwind. I have manic episodes where I am ocd and this really knocked me off my feet. I had lost control. I had a great therapist though who challenged me and I feel like I have my footing again. I have found a middle ground where I have some control but also I can handle things outside of my control. I don't rant and rave anymore or lie around depressed. My mood swings have evened out. If you do have Bipolar, it will take time and work but you can get back to your normal life. Maybe even a better one.

My husband and I went for a motorcycle ride this morning. Should have checked the weather first. It was 30 degrees out. Once you get going it feels an awful lot colder. We made it about 20 minutes before we decided to turn around. Stopped at Mcdonalds so hubby could get a coffee. I passed. I am on my preop diet. My surgery is first thing in the morning. I am really excited. The only thing I am nervous about is my liver. I hope it has shrunk enough. I have stuck to his diet plan so I am probably worried over nothing. It has been low carb and low fat. Then 2 days of liquids. I had chicken broth for dinner last night. My MIL made a joke of it. Really, I think she is starting to understand though. I basically told her that it was gonna take different measures for me to lose weight because I have so much to lose. It is not the same as her. She is on weight watchers and only has 30 pounds to lose. I am extremly obese and it takes extreme measures to get to a healthy weight again. I am down 18 pounds today. Not bad for 2 months. I already can tell a difference in my energy level. It has made such a difference going low carb I am starting to think maybe I had an intolerance or something. I'll have to do some research on that. I know not everyone agrees low carb is the best way but I am following my Doc's orders. I pay him alot of money for his advice.

I went through this when I was first diagnosed. Really It should take more than 20 minutes to diagnose Bipolar. Can you see another psychiatrist and get another opinion? I spent atleast and hour and a half with a nurse and Doc. I was devastated when they diagnosed me BP I. At the same time I was relieved that help was on the way. I thought everything would be better with just the lamictal. Since then my diagnosis has changed and I am on 4 meds. I hope you don't have this but if you do your life is not over. I am now going back to school to be a nurse and taking care of myself and my family. I can drive again and haven't felt depressed in probably 6 months. If you wanna do some research on it you can go to NAMI.org. Plus, I am always here if you need support.

Welcome back Meredith. Happy New Year.

Well today's the day. I had set a goal to lose 15 pounds by today. Depending on which scale I use I may or may not have lost 15. I first weighed in on my MIL scale but then got my Wii. My MIL scale says I have only lost 14. The Wii says I lost 18. Since I started with my MIL scale I guess I will go ahead and say I didn't meet my goal. My reason for setting the goal was to help me lose as much as possible and I believe I did that. Losing 14 in 2 months without the band is a decent amount almost 2 pounds per week. My next goal will be valentines. Which is 6 weeks away but I will be having the surgery and the preop diet. I will aim at 28 pounds. I plan to be down 50 pounds by april which is 11 weeks thats 4-5 pounds a week. I am going to visit my brother then and I will have to fly. I want to be in onederland by then. Setting goals is one of the key steps in losing weight. If you aim at nothing you will get nothing. Setting small goals and taking baby steps will lighten the work. It will make the task seem easier. It is a great way to outline where you want you life to go. If you change your mind about that then just change your goal.

Well today's the day. I had set a goal to lose 15 pounds by today. Depending on which scale I use I may or may not have lost 15. I first weighed in on my MIL scale but then got my Wii. My MIL scale says I have only lost 14. The Wii says I lost 18. Since I started with my MIL scale I guess I will go ahead and say I didn't meet my goal. My reason for setting the goal was to help me lose as much as possible and I believe I did that. Losing 14 in 2 months without the band is a decent amount almost 2 pounds per week. My next goal will be valentines. Which is 6 weeks away but I will be having the surgery and the preop diet. I will aim at 28 pounds. I plan to be down 50 pounds by april which is 11 weeks thats 4-5 pounds a week. I am going to visit my brother then and I will have to fly. I want to be in onederland by then. Setting goals is one of the key steps in losing weight. If you aim at nothing you will get nothing. Setting small goals and taking baby steps will lighten the work. It will make the task seem easier. It is a great way to outline where you want you life to go. If you change your mind about that then just change your goal.

Just click on the area that says tickerfactory.com, or just type it into your browser. It will guide you through all the steps.

Happy new year everyone. It is great to feel the fresh start that comes with a new year. Not only is this a new year but a new me. I have had a tough year dealing with my pshyc issues but everything is looking great right now. We finally got the right med combo. I am getting back to being the real me instead of being clouded out by illness. I have battled this for 3 years and am finally feeling like I have made huge progress. On top of that my hubby is working again and we are making financial progress. Getting ahold of our spending. Even saving for this expensive surgery. We are making progress to moving out on our own. Setting boundaries with the folks. i'm exceding expectations in school. Even taking on Goliath (my weight). I already feel like my energy is coming back. I have been taking on huge task and succeding at them. That is why I know I can do this lapband life. I have proved to myself that I can do things that are hard. It is like the last three years have been leading me here, to this decision, to have the surgery and finally get control over my eatting. I have told several people in the past that my fat is my "Scarlet Letter" the outward sign of this problem I have tried to hide. I feel more and more free with every pound I lose. Thank you guys for all your reassurance, support and honesty. I find as my surgery approaches I am getting more reflective of my life. I can feel that this new year I am going to accomplish alot.

I have told 2 people. My MIL and my DAD. My MIL blabbed it all over that I am having weightloss surgery. I didn't want to tell her but I live with her so I couldn't really hide it. My Dad was really supportive and proud of me. I do feel it is a personal issue and no ones business. If you have people you feel will support you it would be nice to have them to confide in. I talk to my hubby about it quite a bit.

Thanks for the pics Linda and Janet you both look so awesome. One thing this band has already done is given me hope. I had totally given up on ever losing the weight. Assummed I would be fat my whole but short life. Looking at your pics I can see there will be a day when I can be healthy and vibrant. I plan to work hard and be down a hundred pounds by next year. Always set a goal. I am down 14 pounds this morning. My goal was 15 pounds by New years. If I hadn't had a goal I know I wouldn't have lost this much. Maybe I'll reach 15 by Monday, my surgery date. Probably will because I will be on liquids Saturday and Sunday. My next goal is 47 pounds by April. I am flying to see my brother in Boston. His wife will be having a baby in a month or so. I want to be in onederland by then. So I am not crowding people on the plane and to surprise my brother. I know it's a stretch but I want to challenge myself. I think It will be a little bit easier once school starts. I will have something to keep my mind off eating. My son will be back in school too. So it will be easier to find time for excercising.

Hey, My surgery is on the 4th too. I only lost half a pound at my last visit. I am proud not to gain. Since then I have stuck to my diet to a tee. I have lost 6 pounds since then. If I gain my surgeon may cancel. I am soo excited too. I can't wait. My nervousness is fading and I am preparing my family for the first week post op. I could be at goal by next year. I am prepared to work hard for it. I am glad you are excited too.

I am glad your family has decided to support you. Don't stress about the seatbelt thing. It is just giving you more momentum to make this change in your life. I plan to fly in april and have a goal set. I will be visiting my brother. I am aiming at being in onederland by then.

The Doc put me on a low carb diet at our first meeting a month and a half ago. Then a week ago he put me on an even stricter diet and in 2 days I will be on clear liquids. I have lost 13 pounds so far. I don't believe it is water weight. I do fluctuate about 1-2 pounds a day and that is the water. My Doc told me if my weight keeps going down my liver is shrinking. If it goes up he will postpone the surgery because that means my liver is storing fat. The first couple weeks I didn't lose because I was struggling with cravings. Now I really don't have them and the weight is coming off. Every Doc is differnt in their pre op requirements. This is just what mine has been teaching me.

Happy Birthday Cheri. I am on my preop diet now and doing well with it. Trying to shrink my liver you know. Down 13 pounds. Hoping to be down 15 by new years but I am cutting it close.I will start liquids on Saturday. My surgery is getting so close. I am less nervous though. I am really sure this is what I need/want to do. I got all the bills straighten out today so hubby doesn't have to fuss with it and I am trying to keep the laundry done because I know I can't reach into the washer machine tub after surgery. I have clean all our rooms in the house down to shampooing the carpet. ( I am also trying to keep busy while school is out). I will have to get to school next week after my surgery and get my books. I don't know how that will pan out. When will I be ready to leave the house? When will I be comfortable enough to get out of pj's and into my jeans? I know I can't drive while on pain meds so my husband will have to take me. Plus I will need help carrying the books. That really is the only task I will have to take care of the first week post op. School starts a week after surgery so I plan on taking my rolling suitcase to carry my books and of course my liquid lunch. I hope the pain will have subsided by then. I always recover quickly from surgery hopefully I will this time too. I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

I have lost 13. Two more pounds and I will have reached my goal. Cutting it close. Gives me something to focus on while schools out and I await my surgery.

I get banded in a week. Welcome to the forums.

Don't be embarrassed to call your surgeon up if you need to. You have paid alot of money and put in a ton of effort to make sure this thing works. If you need to talk to him do it. If your still nervous about talking to him just call and talk to his staff and get their opinion. Remember they work for you. Don't beat yourself up. Focus on what you have accomplished. Also, Don't expect to do this perfectly. We are all gonna slip up but that doesn't mean we are outta the fight. Get back in there champ!

it is a Non scale Victory I believe. A goal you have acheived due to the weightloss that doesn't have to do with the scale. Losing a dress size, crossing your legs, fitting into a seat at the movie theatre. Congrats again.