montynic

Mamasugar~ glad to hear your surgery went well.

HappyTrucker~ Sorry to hear your incisions are bothersome today. Your DH is right, you don't have to be a hero. Stay up and moving since that makes you feel better, but take your pain meds if your incision pain gets worse. Afterall, you did just have surgery :bored: As for a ticker: 1)go to tickerfactory.com 2)click on "weight loss" 3)follow the steps as they guide you through creating your unique ticker 4) at the end you will have the option to copy the html code 5)paste that code into your signature (under the edit signature option on your user cp). Hope this helps!

OK, I'll move my post over there. That was a great idea.

I am feeling pretty good right now. How about you? i am about to do DH laundry since he is going back on the road on Sunday....I'll be on my own then.

Much love to everyone being banded today..

Glad to hear you are doing so well. I must admit that I am more than a little jealous! It is taking every ounce of strength inside me just to walk from the livingroom to the bathroom and back. I could not imagine doing the DH's laundry. He is waiting on me hand and foot right now. The doctor warned me I was going to have a "very painful recovery" due to the "very large hernia" she fixed. My stomach and incisions are just achy and stiff, as if I over-did an ab workout. My chest and shoulders feel like someone is standing on them, stabbing me repeatedly. I can only take shallow breaths. I'm drinking Lortab every 4 hours, on the dot!

Good luck to everyone being banded today. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

How did your surgery go yesterday? Do you feel any different?

I posted a long thread in our bandster bunny forum with the play-by-play of my experience. You should check it out. Long story short, the surgery went well. It was only 38 minutes. My liver was perfect and the doctor fixed a "very large" hernia. All of my post-op pain is the result of my hernia, not the band. My stomach and incisions are relatively painless; I'm just achy all over, as if I have been down with the flu. My shoulders and chest are killing me! Feels like someone is standing on my chest stabbing me repeatedly. As long as I take very shallow breaths, I can tolerate the pain pretty well. No, I don't feel any different, but I find myself worrying every time I drink anything, thinking: "Is this too big of a drink? Should I be drinking slower?"

Anyways, I can't wait to hear all about yours. I hope it goes smoothly. Talk to you soon. ~Nicole

Yesterday was the day I was scheduled to be banded. I was at the hospital at 5:30 am for 7:30 surgery. About 8 o'clock or so the doctor's nurse came in and said that the doctor was sick and we would have to reschedule. I thought it was an April Fools joke. Nope. Had to reschedule for Saturday. I sure hope that two days is enough time to heal enough to go back to work. I have to go back on Monday. So all was not lost. My husband and I both took the day off for the surgery so instead we took the kids out of school early and took them to Kemah. It is a boardwalk right on the ocean down here in Houston. I have to say it was a wonderful day spent with my kids and husband. I think it was such a nice day that God designed the doc to be sick so we could have such an awesome day together. Seeing their smiles so big their faces hurt was well worth waiting two more days until the surgery. Of course at the time I was mighty irritated. Gotta look on the bright side, I suppose.

I'm sorry to hear about the rescheduling, but happy to hear you got to enjoy such a wonderful day with your husband and kids. I, too, would have thought it was an April fools joke! I will be praying for you on Saturday.

I had my postop check on Wednesday, which was day 15 for me, and I was supposed to start mushies that day. Turned out I got a fill that day instead, so I still had to wait 48-72 hours before I could have mushies. I told my surgeon, I had been REALLY looking forward to mushies! I'm not really hungry, I just want to CHEW something. I have visions of gnawing on a T-bone steak (I never steak like that, lol).

If you're truly hungry, wonder if you should have a fill? I told my surgeon I wasn't really hungry, but I kept reading about "sipping on Clear Liquids, 'try' to get down 8 oz. in an hour or so" - and I could turn up a Slim-Fast and drink it, follow it with another drink. He said since I was apparently feeling no restriction at all, I should probably get my fill a bit earlier.

Okay, so here's a question: I got my fill Wednesday, and I can still drink as much as I want. Is that common with liquids? Will I feel different with mushies? And a confession: I actually made a bowl of Tomato Soup tonight and I could have eaten the entire bowl at one sitting with no hesitation at all. I didn't, because I wasn't hungry, but it was going down, no problem... then I drank a glass of juice. So I'm befuddled!!

Lots of people don't feel restriction until after they have had a couple fills, so I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that you are having no problem holding down large amount of fluids.

Not sure if you guys gave seen it yet, but I started a thread on the bandster bunnies group where we could all share our surgery day experiences (the good and the not so good) in one convenient place... I'm feeling a little better today than I was last night when I posted my experience.

I'm thinking about all our bunnies getting banded today and praying their surgeries go well.

HappyTrucker~ Glad to hear your recovery is going so smoothly. Wish I was as lucky as you are.

Mamasugar (and any other bandster bunnies getting banded tomorrow, sorry for not remembering right now)~ Best of luck on your surgery and I can't wait to hear about it.

Thanks everyone for your support and words of encouragement! I am so excited for tomorrow. I have to leave the house @ 530a to be at the hospital by 7a. My surgery is scheduled for 9a. I will post the experience as soon as I get home.

Good luck to all my fellow 4/1 bandsters... and in case I'm not feeling up to it before the 2nd, good luck to everyone having surgery on Friday!

Good luck with your surgery tomorrow, Montynic!! Thanks!!

Thank you! I will make sure to let everyone know how it goes.

I agree with Spartan. I would talk with the doctor and if he is unwilling/unable to accommodate your request to have your surgery at an earlier date, I would begin searching for a new surgeon. Granted, you may have to travel farther to the new surgeon, but at least you will get banded. I know insurance companies vary, but mine had 4 approved surgeons I was able to choose from.

Good luck and stay strong!

Good luck tomorrow morning! I can't wait to hear about your experience. I will be right there with you on Thursday morning.

Welcome and congrats on starting your journey. With regards to your questions, the best answer is that every doctor is different and you are going to have to wait to see what yours requires... Sorry. I know that's not the answer you wanted. The only real consensus among all doctors is the importance of protein!

Pre-op diets are high Protein and low carb. They tend to range from not required at all to 3 weeks in duration. They serve to shrink your liver and typically either consist of all-liquids (protein drinks, broth, jello) or liquids with a dinner of 4oz protein and veggies.

Post-op diets come in phases/stages. You start with liquids, advance to mushy foods (which is where you could puree your foods, eat baby food, or stick with naturally mushy foods like eggs, tuna, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, etc), advance to soft foods, and then slowly begin re-introducing foods of "normal" consistency that require more chewing.

Hope this helps and good luck on your journey.

Good luck to you both... I will also be joining you on 4/1 @ 7a.

I was never given an access code, but I was able to watch all the my-EMMI videos. Have you tried seeing if you can access them without the code?

Mamasugar~ Good job with the strawberry cake!!!! How are you feeling with 4/2 so close?

I finally get to have mushies a week from Thursday. As odd as it may sound, I am craving scrambled eggies! I don't think I have ever wanted Breakfast so badly in my entire life

Sadly, my thighs still rub together at this point, but when the time comes that they no longer do, I will see what it feels like for me... In fact, I can't honestly say that I remember a time when my thighs didn't rub together... I can't even imagine what it will feel like to walk without that uncomfortable rubbing sensation.

I, too, am being banded on Thursday. I still can't believe it is only 3 days away! Good luck to all of us who are being banded that day...

I know exactly how you are feeling right now! My surgery is Thursday... As much as I know this is the right decision for me, I find myself second-guessing my decision and worrying about all the unknowns... I think it is a normal part of the process.

I know exactly how you are feeling! My surgery is on Thursday. I was not expecting to have all these emotions flare up... Good luck!

I really like the Isopure line of Protein products. There are several different flavors of powders, which I have mixed in milk, coffee, Water, and crystal light. They are very smooth and do not taste chalky at all. There are also bottled drinks in various fruity flavors.

I have been on Ortho Tri Cyclen for 13 years and do not plan on going off it until I am trying to get pregnant.

I think the only way for you to know for sure if your weight gain was related to the pills or the "Freshman 15" is to go back on them and see if your weight loss is slowed. That being said, I think it is important to consider why you were on the pill in the first place. There are lots of birth control options out there, so if you were only taking the pill for pregnancy prevention and are concerned about your weight loss slowing, I would talk with your ob/gyn about other options. If you were put on the pill for other reasons (such as PCOS, ovarian cycts, endometriosis, etc) I would strongly urge you to consider the potential consequences of not going back on the pill and rank those consequences against the potential of slowed weight loss. True, going back on the pill may slow your weight loss, but it will not stop the loss completely. Many women are on the pill and lose weight with LapBand.

I have a question. Where do April 2010 Banders post at the most. In here? In the April 2010 board? In the Group? Or all of the above? Just curious.

Definitely in the social group mamsugar started for all of us... we have about a dozen or so posts there so far. Granted, this thread is getting long and has a lot of posts on it, but the group will offer more.

Hey has anyone else been told that they'll have to have a hernia repair due to acid reflux? My doctor believes I have a hernia and said he will fix it at no extra cost. I hope this doesn't prolong my recovery!

Warmest Regards to all!

Ravyn

When I told my doctor about my recurrent heartburn she mentioned that I probably have a hiatal hernia and that she would fix it at no extra cost during surgery. Apparently it is a very common thing, especially among weight-loss patients, and it does not prolong our recovery.

April is almost here. I just wanted to say good luck to our "pioneer" April Bandster Bunnies who are having their surgeries on April 1st and 2nd.

Best of luck to you and we will all be thinking about you and sending our support!

Montynic, DeeDee, HappyTrucker280, Mamasugar, and anyone else who is this week, we are with you!

Thanks Froggie D! I plan on posting my surgery day experience and tracking my recovery progress as soon as I get home from the hospital and am feeling up to it. I don't think 4/1 can get here soon enough! :w00t: