building_a_new_temple

I, too, was glued shut - had one open up and get slightly infected, but some thorough attention closed it up pretty quickly. I ended up buying some butterfly bandages and holding it shut while it healed to give the new skin some time to get established. RE: the saltwater...while I know we are not horses, when I was a kid, we'd always take the horses to the beach and walk them in the Water if they had any kind of infection on their legs (and they healed quickly and with less scaring). My father INSISTED on gargling with salt water for a sore throat (and it really did help). When I had an infection in my finger, the doctor told me to soak it in hot salt water to draw out the infection. Salt water is nothing but good for healing wounds (though I admit it CAN sting a bit)...it's the nasties in the water you need to be careful of - if you are going to a place where the water is pretty clean, I would encourage you to get in the water:thumbup:! Of course, MY only PhD is in BS, so I can only recommend what I would do. :confused:

I really hope Brandy's acct wasn't suspended just because of this post. C'mon, have a sense of humor! If you can't handle the topic material, don't read it - it's not like the title didn't give away what she was going for!:w00t: Honestly, if we can have a 30 page thread about anal sex in the powder room, what's wrong with a thread about oral sex? Prudes!

Just an FYI, my sites weren't stapled either - I was glued shut. I had one open up and it is taking longer to heal - went back to the center to have it checked out after the weekend (I was banded on the 30th and it opened the 31st of December...new years eve....fell right before a weekend, too, so I was about 4 days without anyone to call/ask). Since I had to wait to see them, I cleaned it carefully with some peroxide (not the best, since it kills good skin and bad stuff, but it was all I had) and put some neosporin on it, then covered with a bandaid. They checked it out on the following Monday and said it looked ok, but since it was red, they gave me another round of antibiotics. I will admit, I only took the antibiotics for two days and stopped because they were making my stomach hurt so bad. For the record, I have never stopped taking antibiotics before - I know it's really bad to do, but the pain was unbearable. But I kept cleaning it, putting antibiotic ointment on it when I covered it (if I was going somewhere wearing pants that came up to the incision), and tried to leave it uncovered when I was home and in pj pants in order for it to have a chance to scab over. So far, it's healing pretty well. Still red, but that is gradually going away, and it is almost closed now.

EEEK! Viv, you're making me nervous! 600 calories a day IS considered starvation, regardless of whether you feel hungry or not. You should ask your nutritionist about this please, please, please! I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but if you eat more, you WILL lose more, because your metabolism will kick up to burn more. At 600 calories a day, it's screaming on the brakes and saying, OK, if this is what I get, I'm gonna hold on to everything I can. Eventually, however, if you maintain such a low calorie count you will begin to lose muscle mass and even bone mass. Hair falls out, etc. I am not a nurse or a doctor, and I don't want to sound like I'm telling you what to do, but as someone who has watched more than one friend suffer from extreme anorexia, I hope you will at least take it to heart and ask a person who IS qualified to tell you I'm wrong and you're right. Or vis-versa.

Got a quick question....and a small confession... So, my best friend from college lives on the opposite side of town from me and so we try to get together for lunch every month just to catch up and get her out of the house (she's a stay at home mom of a one year old and two months preggo with #2). Today we met at the Cheesecake Factory, thinking they would have a nice selection of soups...alas, they only serve one soup a day and today was mushroom. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE mushroom soup - but I like the stuff I can buy in a can from Campbells for 88 cents, so have a hard time justifying an $8 cup of soup! So, knowing tomorrow I am technically allowed to move on to mushies, I ordered some mashed potatoes with a bit of white gravy on the side. Only $4.50 and I knew it wasn't the best choice, but I also knew I wasn't going to be eating much. Here's the question: Has anyone else been so "trained" in their life to clean their plate that they are having a hard time putting down the fork/spoon/spork and leaving food behind? It's not like I kept eating constantly, but I'd keep reaching for the spoon after I'd pushed the bowl away and just nibbling! SO FRUSTRATING!:thumbup: I knew I was going to be extra full, but I was STRUGGLING! My friend finally put the bowl on the other side of the table so I couldn't reach it....how embarrassing that I can't manage that small act of self control! Do any of you struggle with this? If so, how do you handle it?

Hi guys and gals - I, too, was hungry pretty close out of the gate, and had some issues with the trots....but found that if I added a drink flavor with some Fiber in it, I wasn't quite so hungry and it firmed me up. I wasn't able to eat any Protein in the first week because I was on Clear liquids, so that's how I got through the week. Second week is easier with the ability to eat some thicker stuff, but adding Protein powder definately makes it more do-able. My 2 cents.

Some people find that their tastes change after banding, but as far as what you "can't" eat due to digestive issues, there should be no change. Aside from those items that can cause harm to your pouch (soda, for example), your body is perfectly able to process things like it did before the surgery. Remember, lapband is NOT changing your body's actual structure like gastric bypass does, it just changes the shape of one of the structures - the stomach. All the enzymes and gastric juices are still produced and come in contact with your food. This explains why we still have to be watchful of what we eat - we are able to continue absorbing all the nutrients - both good and bad - that we put into our bodies.

Drinking liquids before/during/following a meal makes your food more dilute and "soupy", making it easier to pass through the constriction your band creates. This means you feel full for a shorter period of time, makes you hungry faster, thus defeating the purpose of the band. It pretty much turns all food into "sliders", or foods that pass through the band quickly. My nutritionist also made sure to mention that you need to eat your food within about a 20 minute period because after 20 minutes your stomach begins to break down the food...meaning you can get more in there...adding more calories, etc.

Curious - I, too, was banded on the 30th, and I, too, am experiencing more shoulder pain today. Now, I have had the pain from the get-go, but it has definitely increased. I have tried everything - heating pad, hot shower, boyfriend "burping" me, laying down, gas ex chewables (I stopped with the strips when I realized I could eat my vitamins with no issue - and the chewables seem more potent to me), etc. I have less pain if I stand than sit, but MAN does it hurt when I have to bend down for something! My thought is that it may be possible that because the "gas pain" in the shoulder is actually the diaphram being irritated (so says my surgeon, at least), the act of bending over adds more pressure to the diaphram and increases the pain. Just my thought. I had one small problem soon after surgery - one of my incisions opened up! Of course, with the new year holiday backing up to the weekend, my clinic wasn't open :smile2: So yesterday I went down there and they cleaned up the incision (I'd been keeping it clean and covered) and prescribed more antibiotics. Can't wait to start yogurt so I can replace some of those lost bugs in my intestines! Hope you are all doing well, considering.

Well, I have been on this forum for about a month now, and decided I really want to keep a running commentary on how things got started, and continue with how things progress. And so it begins.... I was born a very sickly child. Sickly as in multiple colds, ear infections, and cases of bronchitis. Because I was so sickly, I was pretty small. Until I turned 5. At that point, my tonsils were beyond bad - they were literally rotting in my throat. The doctor chose to remove them, and my adnoids, and put tubes in my ears. It was a miracle solution to a recurring problem, and I responded almost immediately - gaining weight when I previously could not. So, approximately from the age of 5 I have struggled to keep my weight under control. And when you are going to school and have required Phys Ed classes, it isn't as difficult as when you are out on your own. But by the time I graduated high school I was 5'0.5" tall and 165lbs - a weight I now look back on with desire, but an unacceptably high weight none-the-less. I "tried" every diet out there that didn't require spending excess amounts of money, since I didn't have any extra laying around. I finally found some success with Atkins and lost about 30lbs (down to 180), but I was living at home and mom was paying the food bill, so when I moved out on my own and tried to pay for it...well...once again, it's cheaper to feed a fat person than to maintain weight loss (at least, that's the way it felt in the checkout lane). I was in the pool 3-5 days a week doing laps and learning SCUBA, but it wasn't keeping the weight off, and I slowly regained 20 of the 30lbs I had lost. Three and a half years ago, I met a man and fell in love, and he seemed to love me as I was, so I stopped trying so hard to be "acceptable", and the sh*t really hit the fan in the weight department. I regained ALL of the lost weight, and added about 20 more. I was MISERABLE, but couldn't seem to break the cycle. Every time I went to my closet I wanted to cry - it was full of clothes, but they were progressively getting smaller and smaller. I realized I was spending a fortune - in food, in clothes - to make myself miserable. My back was getting bad - I'd throw it out of whack sleeping funny. My legs were looking liked stuffed sausages in my jeans. And I work with the public, so it's REALLY evident how bad you've gotten when your customers look at you in shock when you can move a heavy item - like, "oh my - how did she just manage to lift that?! She's so fat!" So, a coworker of mine, who was much larger than me, made the decision to have gastric bypass. Around the same time, another coworker much closer to my size had the lap band surgery. I began to get interested. Both women have been highly successful over the past 9 months - improved mobility, improved attitude, and improved appearance. I started asking questions in early November about the lap band (I wasn't interested in rerouting my internal organs, if avoidable), and was really happy with what I heard back - it's reversible, it's minimally invasive, low downtime...etc. I called my mom and asked her what her thoughts were and she started to cry, telling me she'd been waiting for me to make a decision. I talked to my boyfriend and he was totally supportive - he says he loves me no matter what I look like, but that if it means I have a longer, healthier life, I should do it. We want to have kids soon, and I know this will also increase my chances at getting pregnant. There are some people I haven't told - my father, for one - because I am not ready to face their reactions, or because I don't need negative feedback at this time. Others that have found out have been supportive, for the most part. So, at 33, with my loved-ones' support, I have joined the banded bandwagon. On December 30th, 2009, I began my life again. I am sorry if this is a ramble and difficult to follow - it's 345 in the morning and I am still slightly drugged :biggrin: I appreciate if you have taken the time to read this. And if you haven't, well, that's ok too - this was more about me laying it out there and being honest with myself than anything else. I think by saying it out where others can read/hear, I am making myself accountable to me.

I, too, am on clear liquids for a week and find myself craving odd things. Plus, I have a growly tummy - gas? hunger? Whatever it is, when I drink something warm it seems to subside...for a little bit. Made some Chicken Soup today for my bf and made extra broth for me. Popsicles, broth, apple juice, pedialite, and Water have been my best friends. And tea. God bless tea! And if my urge to chew becomes too great, I eat a Vitamin :smile2: - YUM! lol

Ocra - I, too, made it through to the other side. The biggest problem I seem to be having (besides getting up and down due to sore stomach muscles) is a growling tummy! Feel's like "I'm hungry" pains, and goes away when I drink something, but I promptly burp after drinking, so that makes me think it's gas in my stomach. I don't feel like I could eat anything more than the soup stock I'm drinking, but my tummy says FEED ME all day long!

I was banded December 30th, 2009, in Austin, Texas by Dr. Alejandro Esquivel. I was cash pay, and used a low-interest credit card for the process, which scares the hell out of me, but I felt the trade-off is fair - my life for some debt. After blood work, sleep studies, psych exam, etc, it was determined I was a candidate for lap band surgery. I was 5'0.5" and 233lbs, starting out. I have not weighed myself since the beginning of December, so am not sure how my pre-op (2 weeks of Atkins Induction Phase) affected my weight loss. Let me tell you, Christmas was not a whole lot of fun, not being able to even try all the goodies around me, but the payoff is SO worth it... I resisted temptation (and had one little cheat, when my best friend invited us for Xmas dinner and made me an Atkins dessert (not allowed on Induction)). So, my surgery was set for 1pm on Dec. 30 :smile2: I was so excited, and nervous, and was constantly questioning my decision. And questioning whether I should have told certain people (I mentioned in my previous blog that I haven't told my dad). But in the end, I knew this was for ME and MY life, and the life I was building with my partner, who was behind me 100%, and that I needed to do what was best for me, not for anyone else. I got all my ducks in a row for the 30th. I have sleep apnea, but the study was done so late in the game that I needed to borrow a machine from the center I went through, just so they would do the surgery. Luckily, the dollar still seems to speak to people and the possible loss of my cash pay surgery probably said "let's loan her a machine"! So the day before surgery I had to run all over Austin - during rush hour, I might add - just to get a machine that (it turns out) I never even needed to use. Oh well. I then got home, cleaned house like a madwoman - dishes, laundry, vacuuming, special attention paid to the toilet in case it was my not-so-friendly friend after surgery, and took a nice long shower. I had previously put together a bunch of other things I have read about on this website - GasEx strips, sugar-free Popsicles, juice, and some Pedialite (something I thought might come in handy if I DID get sick). I made up the couch so I could sleep there for the next several days, put out my heating pad, had some magazines and library books on a table, some lotion...creature comforts. Stayed up late so the morning would be slept away and I wouldn't be awake, stressing out, before surgery. Got a call at 8am - can you come in early? We want to do surgery at 10am instead of 1pm :eek: Rushed through my morning. BF and I got to the center about an hour and 15 minutes after waking up (it's about a 30 minute drive on a clear traffic day). They rushed me back, started preop stuff...and the doctor was an hour late. And there was someone before me. So I went in to surgery at about 1pm. LOL I remember the nurses coming in to get me ready. And I remember the nurses telling me to open my eyes. Then I was being stood up for my barium swallow xray. Then I was in a wheelchair going home! I slept most of the ride home. Was able to walk up the flight of stairs to our apartment with minimal pain. The worst was going to the bathroom - for some reason sitting in that position wasn't comfortable. I suppose it's the swelling in the stomach. We didn't take "before" pics, so we took them right after I got home. The gas pain was ok - GasEx definately helped, though. My biggest "pain" was strange, and I haven't heard it meantioned here: the day I got home, the DAY OF SURGERY, whenever I would get a tight stomach that felt like I was getting nauseous, rather than needing to throw up, my stomach would growl. Yes, growl. Like severe hunger pain. So, was I hungry? I'd take a sip of water or juice and the pain would go away, but come back a few minutes later. Repeat and rinse. If anyone else has had this problem, I would love to hear about it - is it just gas moving around in there, or am I really hungry? I know I can't eat anything, but putting warm broth in there, or some jello, seems to work much better than just some juice or water. I took a shower the day after surgery and BOY! did I feel better. My port site glue has pulled a bit and I have been bleeding a little from that spot, but it's not open, so I've just covered it with a bandaid. The swelling is starting to go down in my belly, and the bruises are turning lovely shades of yellow. Chicken broth and Lipton hot tea have become my saviors. I bought some pomegranate juice because it was Splenda sweetened, but it's too acidic. If I want something cold to drink, I mix Mango Pedialite with water - about 50/50 - and that seems to work well for me. Last night (the 31st) I switched from GasEx strips, which I ran out of, to the chewable tablets, and have had no problems with them. In fact, I think they work better, tbh, but the strips are great for the initial swelling phase. It is 422, the morning of the 1st of January 2010. I am starting a new decade, a new phase of my life, with a light heart. I believe this is going to be one of the best years of ever, and LapBand is to credit. I know it won't be easy. I know it's going to take effort. But I feel I have the power over my life for the first time ever. And power feels GOOD!

I was banded December 30th, 2009, in Austin, Texas by Dr. Alejandro Esquivel. I was cash pay, and used a low-interest credit card for the process, which scares the hell out of me, but I felt the trade-off is fair - my life for some debt. After blood work, sleep studies, psych exam, etc, it was determined I was a candidate for lap band surgery. I was 5'0.5" and 233lbs, starting out. I have not weighed myself since the beginning of December, so am not sure how my pre-op (2 weeks of Atkins Induction Phase) affected my weight loss. Let me tell you, Christmas was not a whole lot of fun, not being able to even try all the goodies around me, but the payoff is SO worth it... I resisted temptation (and had one little cheat, when my best friend invited us for Xmas dinner and made me an Atkins dessert (not allowed on Induction)). So, my surgery was set for 1pm on Dec. 30 :biggrin: I was so excited, and nervous, and was constantly questioning my decision. And questioning whether I should have told certain people (I mentioned in my previous blog that I haven't told my dad). But in the end, I knew this was for ME and MY life, and the life I was building with my partner, who was behind me 100%, and that I needed to do what was best for me, not for anyone else. I got all my ducks in a row for the 30th. I have sleep apnea, but the study was done so late in the game that I needed to borrow a machine from the center I went through, just so they would do the surgery. Luckily, the dollar still seems to speak to people and the possible loss of my cash pay surgery probably said "let's loan her a machine"! So the day before surgery I had to run all over Austin - during rush hour, I might add - just to get a machine that (it turns out) I never even needed to use. Oh well. I then got home, cleaned house like a madwoman - dishes, laundry, vacuuming, special attention paid to the toilet in case it was my not-so-friendly friend after surgery, and took a nice long shower. I had previously put together a bunch of other things I have read about on this website - GasEx strips, sugar-free Popsicles, juice, and some Pedialite (something I thought might come in handy if I DID get sick). I made up the couch so I could sleep there for the next several days, put out my heating pad, had some magazines and library books on a table, some lotion...creature comforts. Stayed up late so the morning would be slept away and I wouldn't be awake, stressing out, before surgery. Got a call at 8am - can you come in early? We want to do surgery at 10am instead of 1pm :biggrin: Rushed through my morning. BF and I got to the center about an hour and 15 minutes after waking up (it's about a 30 minute drive on a clear traffic day). They rushed me back, started preop stuff...and the doctor was an hour late. And there was someone before me. :biggrin: So I went in to surgery at about 1pm. LOL I remember the nurses coming in to get me ready. And I remember the nurses telling me to open my eyes. Then I was being stood up for my barium swallow xray. Then I was in a wheelchair going home! I slept most of the ride home. Was able to walk up the flight of stairs to our apartment with minimal pain. The worst was going to the bathroom - for some reason sitting in that position wasn't comfortable. I suppose it's the swelling in the stomach. We didn't take "before" pics, so we took them right after I got home. The gas pain was ok - GasEx definately helped, though. My biggest "pain" was strange, and I haven't heard it meantioned here: the day I got home, the DAY OF SURGERY, whenever I would get a tight stomach that felt like I was getting nauseous, rather than needing to throw up, my stomach would growl. Yes, growl. Like severe hunger pain. So, was I hungry? I'd take a sip of water or juice and the pain would go away, but come back a few minutes later. Repeat and rinse. If anyone else has had this problem, I would love to hear about it - is it just gas moving around in there, or am I really hungry? I know I can't eat anything, but putting warm broth in there, or some jello, seems to work much better than just some juice or water. I took a shower the day after surgery and BOY! did I feel better. My port site glue has pulled a bit and I have been bleeding a little from that spot, but it's not open, so I've just covered it with a bandaid. The swelling is starting to go down in my belly, and the bruises are turning lovely shades of yellow. Chicken broth and Lipton hot tea have become my saviors. I bought some pomegranate juice because it was Splenda sweetened, but it's too acidic. If I want something cold to drink, I mix Mango Pedialite with water - about 50/50 - and that seems to work well for me. Last night (the 31st) I switched from GasEx strips, which I ran out of, to the chewable tablets, and have had no problems with them. In fact, I think they work better, tbh, but the strips are great for the initial swelling phase. It is 422, the morning of the 1st of January 2010. I am starting a new decade, a new phase of my life, with a light heart. I believe this is going to be one of the best years of ever, and LapBand is to credit. I know it won't be easy. I know it's going to take effort. But I feel I have the power over my life for the first time ever. And power feels GOOD!

Well, I have been on this forum for about a month now, and decided I really want to keep a running commentary on how things got started, and continue with how things progress. And so it begins.... I was born a very sickly child. Sickly as in multiple colds, ear infections, and cases of bronchitis. Because I was so sickly, I was pretty small. Until I turned 5. At that point, my tonsils were beyond bad - they were literally rotting in my throat. The doctor chose to remove them, and my adnoids, and put tubes in my ears. It was a miracle solution to a recurring problem, and I responded almost immediately - gaining weight when I previously could not. So, approximately from the age of 5 I have struggled to keep my weight under control. And when you are going to school and have required Phys Ed classes, it isn't as difficult as when you are out on your own. But by the time I graduated high school I was 5'0.5" tall and 165lbs - a weight I now look back on with desire, but an unacceptably high weight none-the-less. I "tried" every diet out there that didn't require spending excess amounts of money, since I didn't have any extra laying around. I finally found some success with Atkins and lost about 30lbs (down to 180), but I was living at home and mom was paying the food bill, so when I moved out on my own and tried to pay for it...well...once again, it's cheaper to feed a fat person than to maintain weight loss (at least, that's the way it felt in the checkout lane). I was in the pool 3-5 days a week doing laps and learning SCUBA, but it wasn't keeping the weight off, and I slowly regained 20 of the 30lbs I had lost. Three and a half years ago, I met a man and fell in love, and he seemed to love me as I was, so I stopped trying so hard to be "acceptable", and the sh*t really hit the fan in the weight department. I regained ALL of the lost weight, and added about 20 more. I was MISERABLE, but couldn't seem to break the cycle. Every time I went to my closet I wanted to cry - it was full of clothes, but they were progressively getting smaller and smaller. I realized I was spending a fortune - in food, in clothes - to make myself miserable. My back was getting bad - I'd throw it out of whack sleeping funny. My legs were looking liked stuffed sausages in my jeans. And I work with the public, so it's REALLY evident how bad you've gotten when your customers look at you in shock when you can move a heavy item - like, "oh my - how did she just manage to lift that?! She's so fat!" So, a coworker of mine, who was much larger than me, made the decision to have gastric bypass. Around the same time, another coworker much closer to my size had the lap band surgery. I began to get interested. Both women have been highly successful over the past 9 months - improved mobility, improved attitude, and improved appearance. I started asking questions in early November about the lap band (I wasn't interested in rerouting my internal organs, if avoidable), and was really happy with what I heard back - it's reversible, it's minimally invasive, low downtime...etc. I called my mom and asked her what her thoughts were and she started to cry, telling me she'd been waiting for me to make a decision. I talked to my boyfriend and he was totally supportive - he says he loves me no matter what I look like, but that if it means I have a longer, healthier life, I should do it. We want to have kids soon, and I know this will also increase my chances at getting pregnant. There are some people I haven't told - my father, for one - because I am not ready to face their reactions, or because I don't need negative feedback at this time. Others that have found out have been supportive, for the most part. So, at 33, with my loved-ones' support, I have joined the banded bandwagon. On December 30th, 2009, I began my life again. I am sorry if this is a ramble and difficult to follow - it's 345 in the morning and I am still slightly drugged I appreciate if you have taken the time to read this. And if you haven't, well, that's ok too - this was more about me laying it out there and being honest with myself than anything else. I think by saying it out where others can read/hear, I am making myself accountable to me.

I, too, am undergoing my life-changing, Temple-altering re-birth on the 30th and am glad to see I am not alone in ringing in the new year with ... a glass of water! Congrats to everyone who has been banded this month and those who have yet to be banded - here's wishing all of us the best of luck!