TracieCat

My experience was also vastly different from what you experienced. The session lasted about an hour or hour and a half and it was such a friendly, laid back thing. The psychiatrist I had also had Bariatric surgery herself (she had GP surgery) and so I think that made a huge difference in how she dealt with the session. She was awesome and we just sat and talked about my past with weight loss and gain, what I expect from lapband surgery, health, my relationships with family and loved ones as far as a support system goes, etc. I liked her so much that I asked her if she would be willing to take me on as a regular patient and she said yes and my surgeon agrees it will be a good idea for me to start seeing her. So I need to call and get set up for an appointment to start.

I wouldn't stress about it, same thing happened to me shortly after surgery. I lost alot in that first week, and then it pretty much stopped and I gained back like three or four pounds. I was upset but just kept doing what I was supposed to and lo and behold, the scale started its quick move downward again. :laugh: I gather from seeing folks talk about it, that this is a usual and normal occurrence.

It is already Wednesday after 1am here but dinner on Tuesday was sort of a clean out the fridge day. I had a small portion of eggplant lasagna and some diced chicken with bbq sauce on it. Later today, our dinner will be meatballs that I made yesterday in the oven/crockpot and some green Beans. It is our two niece's Trick or Treat night and we are taking over the meal to share with family. :laugh:

I am just into my second month post op now and so far, haven't had any issues with drinking, other than the fact that I don't seem to have the huge thirst that I had previous to my banding. That issue is something I am trying to deal with as I know I am not getting in the amount of water I should be. I just need to train myself to keep drinking through the day. When I was first post op, I had an issue with only wanting to take teeny tiny sips and I had such a huge fear of throwing up water if I drank too much at one time. My Doctor said to me, "have you TRIED to take bigger sips?". And nope, I sure hadn't. lol. So now I know that I can, I just need to force myself to do it.

Hi Billie, no, no one else from our area has gotten in touch with me. Happily though am going to be meeting some other bandsters that have the same surgeon as I do at my first support group meeting this week. So really looking forward to that. Can I ask, where in Armstrong do you hail from? And how did your nutrition appointment go? Will shoot you off a friend request.

Are those a boxed pudding or ready made? I will have to keep an eye out for them, been wanting to pick up some things in particular for the husband to have in the evenings when he is craving a snack.

My heart goes out to you, I didn't suffer as severely as you are right now, but I also had heartburn and nausea daily after I was banded, after about a week and a half, I finally had that nausea start to take it's leave and now I only suffer from it if I eat too quickly or too much. I hope things improve for you, definitely give your surgeon a call and discuss your concerns with them.

So sorry for what you have gone through and are still coping with, my heart goes out to you.

I am pretty excited, it is finally time for my first fill in my band, I am nervous somewhat but really looking forward to it at the same time. My Doc does by feel only and then my nurse said they will keep me there to drink some Water and make sure I dont get sick and throw up as if I do, that will mean they added in too much Fluid. Also looking forward to getting weighed at the office. Our scale here at home weighs me 4 to 5 pounds less than my doctors office one does. I always have to add on about four pounds to what I weigh here at home. Yeesh, one of these days I will have an accurate scale. Does anyone have any recommendations for a scale that is relatively inexpensive but yet yields good results? Should I go with a digital versus a regular dial scale which I am using now? My Doctor uses a big digital scale that they just recently got in the office. Anyway, will post an update later on how my fill went.

I also do the pumpkin mixed with cottage cheese (not ricotta, haven't tried that yet), some splenda and cinnamon. Delicious.

I saw those at the Netrition website, glad you posted about them, will keep them in mind for later. :smile:

I am from Pennsylvania as well and would love to become a new buddy.... :smile:

Yes, I knew you meant the pudding. I was misunderstood there. lol. I was just saying that your idea to use pudding gave me the idea to try it with Jello Gelatin powder also. That was two days ago, bleh it was awful. I tried SF gelatin powder strawberry in my vanilla Protein shake and I hated it. Won't be trying that again. :smile:

You look great, congrats to you! :smile:

So glad it is a good day for you, that is wonderful! :smile:

The brand I have been drinking is the powdered brand Super Advanced whey Protein. So far have been drinking the Cookies and cream and the vanilla flavors. I really like both of them but there are times when I have a hard time wanting to get anything else into me for the day and I have been making frozen smoothies with them instead of just drinking plain. Mixed with some Water, then I throw that in my smoothie maker with some ice and sometimes half a banana or a few strawberries. YUM. I particularly like the vanilla this way, I also splash in a bit of vanilla extract. I tried mixing in some Jello Gelatin powder into one two nights ago thinking that might be something for variety but I hated it, won't do that again. Next I might try picking up some SF Torani sryup or some from Natures Flavors site to put in the vanilla for a new flavor. :smile: Maybe you could try it as a frozen smoothie and see if you like it that way?

I remember being very nervous as well but was completely put at ease after that first meeting, the Doctor took about an hour and a half with me and in every appointment since then, I usually am there about an hour with Doc and staff. I think it will be fine, you will get in there and once they speak to you and you get to know them on a more personal level, that nervousness will be a thing of the past. As far as what to expect, I can tell you from my own perspective how that first appointment went. It mainly consisted of me interviewing the Doctor and the Doctor interviewing me about what I knew about the Lapband system, my reasons for wanting the surgery, my medical history, we talked about my various co morbidity conditions such as my Apnea and Osteo arthritis and high blood pressure. He asked about my family history and he also wanted to know about my relationships with my family and friends which I really liked, as it gave him a good indication that I had a set support for myself in place already. He proceeded to explain in detail to me the surgery itself, risks, etc. I also received a detailed packet of information to bring home to go through later. Like I said, it was a pretty long visit but the time flew by and by the time it was done, I was happy, not nervous anymore and it really drove home for me the fact that I was making the right decision for myself. I am wishing you all the best. :laugh:

Sounds like you are doing wonderfully and that you have a good head on your shoulders. You will be even more prepared for what lies ahead after surgery since you are practicing now. Congrats on your weight loss too! :laugh:

I was fortunate enough not to have anyone do this to me, the only thing that came close is when a sub Doctor at my regular Cardiologist's office tried to talk me into going with Gastric Bypass instead of Lapband. According to him, people who get bypass tend to keep the weight off better than people who get Lapband. Hmmm, that is the direct OPPOSITE of a discussion I had with my Lapband Surgeon. He happens to do both bariatric surgeries and when we discussed why I decided to go with Lapband, he said he felt I was making the most wise decision as studies show that folks who get Lapband actually keep the weight off longer and are more successful. Add to that he says that the Lapband surgery is far safer than other bariatric surgeries. I trust his judgement far more than I do from a cardiologist who is not in the business or from people with horror stories. I found out later that the surgeon this cardiologist mentioned to me happens to be within the same health system. Pppfffttt, sure explains a whole lot. Thank goodness that particular Doctor is no longer with the office and I only had to see him that one time. No one else has ever tried to throw horror stories at me, although I did have a friend and my Mother at least express some concern until I spoke to them at length and put their minds at ease. Basically it all boiled down to me letting them know that I could either have this surgery and take a chance to open up a whole new life for myself and get healthy, or I could keep getting fatter and die from an obesity related disorder. Try not to let the horror stories get you down, there are going to be horror stories no matter what decision you make in life. Do what is right for you and want you to know I wish you the very best in your journey.

I had a hard time with it until I spoke to my Doctor about it and he assured me that I could take larger sips than I was taking at that time. I was so afraid after reading horror stories about people throwing up after drinking too much at a time. But sure enough, I took slightly bigger swallows (not large gulps mind you) and now it is fairly easy to get my liquids in daily, I usually go over the amount I am supposed to have, once I start really drinking more in the evenings (my usual habit). I don't think I could get down completely clear Water though in that amount, at least not just yet. So I am doing a combination of clear and crystal light and some homemade iced tea with splenda. I also count in my hot tea, which I like to enjoy daily.

I am tolerating it fine so far, I am just about a week away from my first fill though, so no idea how I will do after that, we will see. So far though, am really enjoying having it some mornings for my breakfast. Thinking of trying some with a half half mixture of pumpkin and oatmeal, just to see how I enjoy the flavor. This time of year, I really love pumpkin.

My Doctor is another that recommends three meals a day. And the Protein goal he gave me to shoot for daily is 64 ounces, up until now I was getting most of that by drinking my Protein shakes, usually two a day, although sometimes I was doubling up on the powder to get it done in one shot instead of two servings. That is something I have been having an issue with, getting my shakes in like I should. I just this past week, am finally in the mushies stage of my post op, so at least getting some other sources of higher protein in now as well.

That is a nice idea... I wonder how it would be to try to add some SF Jello Gelatin powder to a plain vanilla Protein shake as well. Maybe a strawberry or Strawberry banana. :laugh: That gave me an idea to try this myself and I haven't yet had a Protein Shake for the day so I might try it out later.

Congrats to you, whoo hoo!

Here is mine, I am a relatively new Bandster, just one month out and also new to the world of blogging. Enjoying learning all I can about both! Life According To Tracie