SoccerMomma73

My doc makes you stop 4 days before and stay off for a month after. If I stopped 4 days before I would have started my period the day before surgery and surgery day would have been a flood, something I didn't want to deal with so I stopped the pills about 10 days before and was nicely finished by surgery day. Worked like a charm!

I got the call today confirming my first fill next Tuesday. I have to be healed, healthy, and cold free....I'm going to lock myself in the closet until then so I'm not exposed to anything! (I'm a family practice physician assistant and sick all the time from the crap I pick up from work...keep your fingers crossed I can be germ free for 5 whole days!).:thumbup:

I got the call today confirming my first fill next Tuesday. I have to be healed, healthy, and cold free....I'm going to lock myself in the closet until then so I'm not exposed to anything! (I'm a family practice physician assistant and sick all the time from the crap I pick up from work...keep your fingers crossed I can be germ free for 5 whole days!).

I was released to work after 3 days with a lifting limit of 10 pounds for 4 weeks. I'm at 3 1/2 weeks and feel great but if I forget and lift something heavy my tummy reminds me....Good luck!

I had to stop my birth control 4 days before the surgery (increases risk of blood clots) so I cheated and stopped a week early so my period would be the week before and I wouldn't have to worry about it around surgery time. Worked like a charm!

My surgery was 12/16 and my first fill is 1/12 so 1 day shy of 4 weeks, it seems a lot of people on here at at 4 weeks and 6 weeks for their first and a couple get theirs after 2 weeks! Good luck!

Dear God, my big fluffy pillow to clutch tightly against my abdomen when I coughed...and every time we hit a bump on the drive home....and gas-x....and legging and long shirts (it was a good 10 days before I was comfortable in even an elastic waistband). I joked my first week at work that I would KILL for a girdle, every time I walked my fat jiggled which made everything ache so I have to agree with the person above that said an abdominal binder...I never got one but I wished for one. And my socks with the rubber grippers on the bottom so when walking walking walking WALKING around the hospital I didn't slip (I'm not a big fan of house slippers, I'm always tripping on them so I opted for the non-skid socks which were awesome). And pain medication :thumbup:

Make that three of us, mine was 12/16 and while I was patient at first am starting to get discouraged (fill next Tuesday so I can hang in that long). I was up to 26 pounds but according to the scales have gained 3...I'm tracking every calorie I consume and am averaging 1000-1200 a day AND exercising at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week so I'm assuming it's fluid levels fluctuating...but GRRRR....want those three pounds GONE NOW.... Good luck! We can do it!!

Yup, enjoy not being hungry, soon enough you'll head the other direction :smile2:. Follow your guidelines. My surgeon requires you to drink 64 oz of no sugar added fruit juice mixed 50/50 with water...helps keep your energy level from crashing so low. I think I averaged 500 calories a day the first week...now averaging 1000-1200 (3 weeks post op) but fairly certain I could eat a cow, as long as I took small bites and chewed well!

I've always been heavy and NEVER been able to just walk into a store, any store and buy what I want...I'm going to have to really really watch myself or I'm going to go crazy and spend a fortune on clothes when I get down to the "normal" sizes...I thank God for Lane Bryant but can't wait to NEVER GO THERE AGAIN!!!!!

Seminar Oct. 27, surgery Dec. 16, but I'd been considering it and researching it for years before I decided I could afford it and take the time to focus on me right now (insurance pays a flat $4000 the rest was self pay....single mom, work full time, blah blah blah, all kinds of excuses for putting it off) but once I actually jumped in the pool things went fairly quickly. WISH I'D DONE IT YEARS AGO!!!!!

YAY for you!! It's like waiting on Christmas, you're so excited but the time goes by so slow. GOOD LUCK!!!

I had an easy recovery, not much pain but the walk to the concert, to the seats, etc I wouldn't have been able to physically handle 2 days post op...

My doc requires a 24 hour stay and a barium (YUCK) swallow before he'll let you have anything other than ice chips....I would have done better at home. My aide (who was the sweetest, most adorable young man) kept walking in just as I'd drift off to sleep and waking me up, then asking why I was awake all night...plus nobody bothered to tell me I had a morphine pump or to put the pump near me (they left it attached to the IV pump which was out of reach) so I had no idea I could get anything for pain until about 4:00 am. when I was dying...had I been home I'd have had my pain meds by my side...oh well, it all worked out in the end

Ya know...there may be a future in "crotchless shapers"....I've always wondered how anyone was able to snap the snaps in that area, I suppose I'm just not that flexible, but the crotchless version...yup, that makes sense!! (as long as no manpart bulges slip out)

::thumbup:: started exercising instead of waiting until I was a week post-op and already tired to begin with...(can't say they didn't tell me to!)

:thumbup: You'll be fine! It's kinda like parenthood, you can research it forever, but you never REALLY know how you're going to do until you're thrown in head first. I'm glad you've been reading, you know the basics, you know about bandster hell, you know what you need to do, and you'll do great. Just take a deep breath and enjoy tomorrow then wake up the next day knowing it's the first day of the rest of your life. Good luck Thursday! Can't wait to watch you on your journey!

I'll be 3 weeks tomorrow and while I definitely can eat more than I am supposed to I'm also definitely as hungry as I used to be. I'm trying to eat 3 small (but not small enought) soft/healthy meals, late morning I break out the string cheese and late afternoon I eat a small low fat yogurt...it seems to be the magic combo that will keep me from grazing until my next meal....I don't know what else to tell ya, it will get better, just do your best and be patient! Good luck!

Congrats on the band, what a wonderful way to start the new year! Stomach growling like crazy it totally normal. If you're like the majority of us, in the next couple days the "not really hungry" will give way to "starving" until you get to move up to soft foods and then get your first fill (come on first fill!!!! Only seven ore days!). I'm so happy for you and can't wait to follow your journey!

My surgeon puts you on a protein shake/liquid diet for 2 weeks pre-op. He doesn't care how much you lose, as long as you lose. His nurse said he's had people who lost 2 pounds and people who lost 30....but yeah, I've heard tothers say they had to lose x number of pounds of their surgery would be cancelled so I suppose it varies from doc to doc.

I'm just shy of 3 weeks post op so I can't help you out with a lot of this but I can tell you there are already times when I forget I've had it done. I just feel like me. I've only had 1 bad episode of heartburn, about 2:00 a.m. New Years morning after I'd had snacks I shouldn't have as well as sparkling grape juice...so, no more carbonation for me (luckily I've never been a big soda girl so that won't be too hard). I'm struggling with the liquids with meals issue but it IS getting better every day so I figure in a month I won't even think twice about it. I was on liquids (protein shakes) for 2 weeks pre-op then clear liquids 24 hours pre-op and 24 hours post-op followed by 2 weeks of full liquids, 2 weeks of soft/mushies, then another month of being cautious (no lettuce, peels, etc, most of the things you mentioned above). Weight loss post op varies a lot. The first week it melted off, then my appetite came back (damn the luck), I've continued 2-3 pounds a week but it's not as easy as I'd like it to be and I'm anxiously awaiting my first fill. I've had no complications at all an would do it again in a heart beat simply because it makes me more aware of what I'm eating...so, even if I don't drop 100 pounds this year I'm fairly certain I'll at least continue a gradual decline....definitely worth it! Good luck with your decision!!

The best friend part...it's so true...and I'm still trying to figure out how to replace that friend.... Good luck, it will get better

Congrats and welcome! Keep getting up and around but take it easy for a few days. Fluids fluids fluids and GAS-X!!!!!! Gas-x saved my life! Take care of yourself. Can't wait to follow your journey!

So, basically if you were banded in December you're currently trapped in bandster hell/heck! WOOHOO!!! I seriously was thinking by day 10 that I had so screwed up by getting a band and wasted a small fortune :blushing: THEN I found this website and discovered so many other folks in my shoes....I'm now off liquids and on soft/mushies and while I can definitely eat much more than I'm supposed to (my surgeon says 2-4 tablespoons is a meal????!!!) I'm sticking to much smaller portions than I would have before and at least not starving to death. I was banded on 12/16 and I'm 8 days from my first fill, WOOHOO!!! Still losing, though much slower than the first week, I'll take it! We're tough, we can make it!

You're normal!!! Congratulations! :thumbup: I woke up at 4:00 a.m. on day 7 STARVING and stayed that way for about 5 days. I was allowed cream of wheat and oatmeal on my liquids but make sure you make them fairly thin the first couple times, I didn't thin my cream of wheat out enough the first time and thought I was going to have a heart attack and die for about 3 hours after I ate it, chest pain/pressure radiating up into my left shoulder...It was miserable but eventually did pass. I'd also recommend blending the oatmeal the first time or two so you don't get hung on a chunk. I was also allowed pudding on my full liquids which I fudged and added fat free whipped topping too...that satisfied a craving too :thumbup: I also created a cream cheese/pudding/whipped topping concoction for Christmas that filled me for a while (sorry, no recipe, just a little of this and that until I liked how it tasted). Good luck, it gets MUCH better once you hit the soft stage! And like they said above, get your Protein, it helps :blushing: