general_antiope

Welcome!

Hi Tina - wow what a story! And CONGRATS to you for beating breast cancer! YEAH GIRL!!!! KICK ITS A$$!!! Congrats on your baby boy, too! I'm in a similar boat. I was banded in 2004, lost 100 lbs, got the lower body lift, arms, breast lift...and have had a malfunctioning band since year 2. I would get fills for a solid year, monthly, and each month I'd be empty. I had the port replaced, then the tubing replaced, and then I got pregnant. And the band disconnected completely last April! So I gained 65 lbs with pregnancy (beautiful baby girl!), am now at a net loss of 50 lbs out of the 100, but still want to get down at least 80. I just got rebanded on Monday - new model. I had the old 4cc band, so I am starting all over again and taking nothing for granted. What worked last time may not work this time. But I feel like I got the emotional roller coaster of being banded for life out of my system 8 years ago, and now I'm a smart veteran. No hysteria, no fear, no anxiety. We know how this works, don't we? It sucks we're the "do overs" but I think it happens to us because we're strong, and we can handle it. Looking forward to the journey with you. Keep us posted on your progress

What is your vision of "success" other than the scale going down? Clothes? Losing diseases/medications? Feeling better?

How cute, little girls! I have a baby girl right now. I can't wait until she's a toddler and making me run after her, I can't even imagine how fun being 10 will be. I'm with you though - I want to get lean and healthy so she and I can have uninterrupted fun as she grows. Rollercoaster fiend, eh? Got a favorite?

Haha I'm also apple shaped. IT sucks!!! Suits off the rack? LOL no way. Separates are our friends. And never say never about the strapless shirts/dresses. Your life is about to change in a big way, prepare to have your mind blown on big and little things over and over How cool! What kind of dancing do you want to learn with your DH? (and does he know what's in store for him, lol?) Amen on fitting into clothes without bawling in the dressing room! LOL. Yes I miss the energy I had 50 lbs ago. And my knees are starting to complain some mornings too when I go up and down the basement steps...what's up with that?! Can't wait to relieve the pressure on my joints. You'll have to let us know when you start feeling relief. Any kind of clothes you're looking forward to trying on? What kind of dogs do you have?

Yeah I don't know what the heck people are seeing. Some folks are saying there is no join button, or they click it and nothing happens. THen I go to add/invite them and they're already in the group. Thanks for posting your experience, hopefully this will help others join!

Haha I can't get my wedding ring on!!! LOL. I feel bloated for sure. I just drank a cup of coffee and a cup of water. Will really pump the fluids in this morning and see if I can shed some of the fluid today!

Added Twinband and Taliegurl!

Gas X is your friend!

Puree some chicken and mashed potatoes. Take a can of Soup and veggies and puree it up - make sure you're adding juice, stock, anything to whatever you puree to keep it mushy and not dry. Consistency is key here. Meatballs were also recommended by my surgeon, pureed with sauce and stuff. THere's also noodle-less lasagna, where you microwave some low fat ricotta, sauce (can have meat in it as long as it's pureed), and some mozzarella melted on top. how awesome is that? Basically anything you're going to eat on your normal solid diet can be mashed into a shake of some sort, that you can eat with a spoon. Baby food will also work here.

Wow lots of Feb bandsters here!! We have a dedicated group for those of us getting banded this month. Please feel free to join - we have threads on pre and post op support, and general discussion that's a little more organized. http://www.lapbandta...2013-bandsters/ Note: Groups aren't currently accessible on your phone or iPads. This will be fixed in a few weeks, along with a facelift to the Groups area to make them easier to navigate. To Join: Click on "Join this group" and then go to "Group Discussion" under the right side navigation. You can start a new topic or start reading and commenting there!

The group forums don't work on iPads or phones...this will be fixed in a few weeks I'm told, along with an overhaul of the Groups area so it's easier to navigate. Woo hoo!

LOL Cindy...sounds like the stuff I say to myself.

I hate Jello with an unnatural passion. LMAO. I'm on shakes and broth and tomato Soup for my post op liquid phase. It's going well. Yeah the groups aren't ideal here, but Alex tells me it'll be revamped in the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to that.

Hi everyone! I am home and back on my feet. I am so sorry I missed these GOOD LUCK threads, but here we are! Please tell us how your surgeries went!! FEB 5 Rockstar_Jen (Jen) meganb0216 (Megan) ATXveg FEB 6 Redesigned_Curves cksweetpea mg25 ireallywannabthin FEB 7 Spaness2012 (Vanessa)

Today was a good day. My father in law stayed again to take care of our baby, and my husband is getting better from the novo virus which is going around. Red alert, ladies, this novo virus is vomit and diarrhea and is VERY prevalent - would be torture to us newly banded people!! Needless to say, husband sleeps on the couch and we disinfect the bathroom for each other before and after each use. So far so good...neither me or the 3 month old need to share this experience with daddy, lol. I am moving around very well. I'm not risking lifting the baby out of her crib, but picking her up from the changing table or her rocker is easy, and not painful at all. Father in law left this afternoon and DH and I are working in shifts, so he will watch DD while I nap, and then I'll watch her while he naps. It's working out well. I miss my bathtub but will tough it out. Already I am having hunger, but once I start drinking I'm pretty discouraged from solid food. I'm looking forward to the pureed diet (remember, I totally suck with liquids) and am focused on staying on liquids as long as I can. For dinner tonight I mixed 2 TBSP Peanut Butter and 1/2 banana with my chocolate Protein Shake. I not only need the calories but I needed the weight of food. I think I got in like 800 calories today, way better than the last 2 days. Gas X continues to be my hero, and I'm hoping tomorrow I'll start having bowel movements again. (Sorry for TMI, but this stuff becomes necessary lol) How's everyone else doing? Susan, BTW, I'm in the same boat with the scale. I peeked, it hasn't moved. In fact I'm 1 lb up. I'm focusing on protein...pretty sure things will loosen up and weight will drop in the next few days.

I like the visualizations part. Do you mean how you're going to handle surprise donuts/goodies at work? Going out to eat? That sounds VERY smart! I agree it's great to have the support. It's hard being alone. Do you have a support group that your bariatric center offers? Some places have monthly real life meet ups with other banded folks. My doc is in NY and I'm in Philly so I can't take advantage of this. I think it harmed me the first time around being banded...had I had support groups to attend, I might have known I had a leak sooner than I did and lost all my weight, not just most of it. oh this you have to share, when you hit the milestone!!

Bump! How are my ladies doing?? I saw Rockstar_Jen check in - how is everyone doing?

Hello ladies! Updated the first post with our "retro" bandster and new faces. Good luck to Vanessa (Spaness2012) tomorrow!!!!

kateeryn (Kate), can_do (Susan), SaraJ91263 (Sara) are getting banded TOMORROW!!! Let's wish us GOOD LUCK!

That's great news Susan! I have the pain in my left shoulder/neck, too. Last time, it was the right shoulder, lol. How weird is that? Thanks for reminding me about the deep breathing. I'm doing my exercises right now to keep these lungs clear. I've definitely been breathing shallow. How are you feeling, Florida?

The prayers must have worked I woke up feeling a lot better. I can get up out of bed and lay down, walk, bend over, and am almost 100%. I even held the baby and felt no tugging or pain. I'm only on Aleve right now. I even cooked breakfast for my father in law because he's been on baby duty for 2 days now with zero complaints. Day 3 really is a turning point - it's like magic how much better I feel. I was up from 2 - 5 am with bad gas pains - neck and belly. I finally chewed on some Gas X and BAM! In 20 minutes I started letting gas go from both ends hehe. It felt AWESOME. And then I slept hard for an hour before the baby woke up again. I'll nap later today when husband is out of bed.... Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty damn good to be honest. I was worried for a little while that this would be a hard recovery. Cindy, my surgeon didn't say anything about scarring or problems with the surgery, she said it went fine. She says adhesions are unlikely/rare with the tube that was laying loose in my abdomen on my intestines because the silicone is unreactive, so it didn't require anything being cut out. She DID put the new port back in the same spot as the old port. I was too out of it when she came by to ask more about that, but I'll ask her in follow up if she thinks I'll have more leaks/hardware issues. (I better not, because I'm done going through this surgery!) She says the new band I have is 10 ccs and better crafted than the old one. I think I'll go shower and take a peek at the scale. for 2 days I ate just about nothing. This morning, no nausea and I got down a small cup of coffee, half a can of V8 and a half cup of protein shake so far. Even took my vitamins and calcium...feeling great.

The gas in your body gets absorbed. Honestly, ive done this twice now, walking and moving alleviates the pain. You'll burp and fart. It feels so good Laying down in the bed traps the gas. This is why they get you up - even sitting on the bed or standing helped move the big bubble under my ribs. Gas X only helps break up the stuff in your digestive track so you burp and fart easier, so it is more of a support drug than silver bullet solution.

Hi Cindy, I posted in the social groups forum instead of our group because I can't access our group on my iPhone (they'll be fixing that soon). My surgery went well but recovery was a little rough for me. Morphine gives me palpitations and it took 6 hours to find a pain med combo that worked. Vicodin, incidentally, doesn't work for me either. I stayed overnight because I felt awful. Could barely walk. Each time I got up to pee was better. I'm home now and unfortunately was greeted by my poor husband with the worst flu I've ever seen - he's been throwing up non stop and has severe diarrhea. So severe, I literally barely see him. He's miserable and this is making caring for our 3 month old difficult - I can't do anything. I can get up and make bottles, but she is 16 lbs of chunk. His dad was here yesterday and is sleeping over tonight. he's caring for our daughter but I don't know how we're going to manage tomorrow. I don't know how I'm going to get in and out of my tempurpedic...i'm flying solo on medicating myself and keeping up my liquids. We'll figure it out. I'm sanitizing the toilet every time I use it, my husband and I aren't touching at all, and I use hand sanitizer constantly. I hope I don't get his virus. The last thing I need is a slipped band and my doctor 3 hours away, and me in severe pain. Helll noooo. My doctor came in and saw me in recovery, said my stomach organ was very SKINNY which I was so happy to hear. She said she could have filled the band but chose not to, and I'm glad, cause I need more healing time. I'm taking Dilaudid, Liquid Tylenol and anti nausea stuff. I also have liquid colace which I'm afraid to take as I'm in pain, and I hear it tastes disgusting. Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to attempt to make a nest to sleep in and keep my meds close by. Have a good night everyone.