caffeine

Journey, funny you mentioned that. I had my first checkup today and on my way back to the subway I bought myself a pizza for lunch. It was my first pizza since the pre-op diet. Normally I'd have 2 or 3 pizzas for lunch and gobble them up in no time. This one I munched on really really slowly (technically I should be on pureed but I've been feeling so good lately). By the time I got to the subway, I wasn't done. Instead of waiting by the entrance to finish eating, I tossed it and went back to work. The old me would never have done that. So I totally understand what you're saying and agree 100%. We really do need to unlearn some things.

DEFINITELY ditch the bouillon. Buy yourself low sodium bouillon instead. Or that other thing that tastes like chicken that was mentioned. :Banane20: Limit your salt intake in all things. cynpatt, was that a typo? You've been eating only 600 cal/day and exercising but you gained 54 lbs? In only 2 weeks? That shouldn't be possible. Have you had your thyroid checked? You definitely should see your PCP because those numbers don't compute.

Agreed with vlp. Your doctor *wants* you to succeed and understands these things sometimes happen. Think of him as your health care provider -- not someone who will judge you. Doctors became doctors to help people, not to judge them. Maybe something like Weight Watchers with weekly weigh-ins would be useful? From experience, I can tell you that when I was on WW, I really did "behave" because you know the next weigh-in is less than 7 days away.

Agreed with the comments above. I lost 4 lbs in my first few days after the surgery, but the scale hasn't moved in 4 days even though my food intake has been very low compared to what I used to it. It finally went down by .2 (yes, point two) lbs yesterday. I think it's the fickle nature of weight. I think considering how regimented you sound, vlp's experience will probably happen. It's impossible for your body not to lose weight ... a LOT of weight ... eventually. You didn't mention your clothes. Are they fitting the same?

Apologies! AIG = Big insurance company that received bail-out money. CDS = Credit default swap. Courant = Mathematical institute of New York University. Almost as arcane as Aussie slang. :-) 17 lbs speaks to me. :-) Just out of curiosity, do you think equally well in kg and lbs? In the US, all applied math, science and most scholarly engineering is done in SI (metric) but in day to day life we pretty much exclusively use English units. I take it a lolly means "candy" and not "lollipop"? My friend calls everything sweet a lolly. It throws me for a loop. Naw, actually counseling isn't that far off. A lot of it is problem solving and/or diagnosing. They're just different kinds problems! :-) I once dated a cultural anthropologist. Now that was way off the scale. But it was cool because she was interested in physics and I was interested in anthro.

One of my best friends is from "Nawlins". :-) Yeah, that's totally my experience too. The only time I knew when to stop was like after gorging myself on Thanksgiving dinner. It's still kind of freaky. I get that "I can't stand another bite" feeling way way way sooner than I ever did.

vlp, 60 lbs in 4 months is great. There are millions of people out there who can only dream about your progress. Don't beat yourself up over it. At 60lbs, you're an inspiration to me. Whatever you're doing, it sounds like it's working to me. One thing that helps me a lot is water. It has become an integral part of my life. I made two purchases which I am 100% happy with: Green Vibrance and Alive! multivitamin supplement. In the mornings I make a concoction of Green Vibrance and empty out two capsules of Biotin and St. John's Wort and mix it into a mug of water. It totally fills me up and is a great nutritious breakfast. I'm totally happy with it and don't miss my Starbucks sandwiches one bit. It makes me feel like I'm doing something really good for my body. The Alive! vitamin supplement is what I have for dessert because it's fruity. I'm not big on sweet stuff to begin with, but fruity is great. I mix it in with a big mug of water and add a little rose water and it's a *phenomenal* dessert that I sip while watching Lost, Family Guy, or South Park. When I'm feeling "munchy" or hungry, this is my strategy: 1. Drink a glass of water. 2. Drink a glass of water. If I still feel munchy, 3. A bottle of Ensure. By this point, I'm absolutely full. It's true that sometimes I'm still "hungry" even though my stomach feels full, but by this point, my stomach feels so full that I *have* to wait. And when I do wait, the hunger is assuaged.

Hi Babsy, I thought I detected the Queen's English before I saw where you're from. I have a friend from The Courant who does CDS for AIG. He's from Sydney. It's so weird to see people use kilograms for body weight. All my degrees but one are in physics, so I have a good intuition about kilograms... I can quote the Earth's mass kilograms from memory. I could give an approximate mass for the Sun or Jupiter even though I don't have that memorized because I worked in kg so much. Same for the mass of an electron. It's so natural to think in kilograms. But when I see kilograms for body weight it takes me aback. It's shocking. Such an odd sensation to feel so comfortable with kg for "physicsy" things but feel so uncomfortable with kg for humans. Wow!!! I know that a person should weigh more or less 70-80kg, but I don't have a "feel" for that number. I couldn't tell you if 90kg or 60kg is unreasonable for an avg sized person. Back to our favorite topic. I'm still in my honeymoon. I didn't lose any weight yesterday, but I have to get used to the fact that I'm not going to be losing a pound or two a day like I used to. I'd eventually disappear if I did! :-) Today was interesting. Someone who just finished their PhD in physics with my thesis advisor called me out of the blue (he joined the group after I left so I don't know him) and wanted to know how to get into finance. Had lunch with him at an Indian restaurant. Indian food is something I can gorge myself on. Today I had one samosa and about 1/3 of the food they served. Back in the bad ol' days, I could've easily have finished the whole thing, AND have some nan as well. So I did pretty damned good, but I still can't shake the feeling that I "cheated". Then tonight we watched 4 episodes of Lost. We eat while we watch Lost. I ate about 1.5 cups of food: sauteed tuna steak avocado and onion salad lentil beans taboulli salad and I feel totally stuffed to the rafters; like I cheated. But the fact remains, I could've easily have eaten twice as much before. At least. Yet I still feel like I cheated. I need to really retrain myself -- I'm not on a "diet". I *have* a diet, but I'm not on a diet. I rarely feel starving. When I feel munchy, a glass of water usually does the trick. But I'm still dying of curiosity about what's going to happen when I stand on that scale tomorrow morning. Today the admin assistant told me that my face looked much thinner. She hadn't seen me since before my operation a week ago. When she said that I was elated. This is truly the best thing to happen to me. Why oh why couldn't I have found the LAP-BAND® a decade ago?

Thou art a braggart! :frown: (just kidding!) That's totally cool. I would like to be where you are in about a year or two. You are truly an inspiration for me. It's so funny to think that I have a better shot at getting a 6-pack at 41 or 42 than I did at 21.

Cool! I'm glad it resonates with you. It definitely feels that way for me as well! BTW, off-topic, how do you choose a profile picture and that neat-o BMI ticker from TickerFactory at the end of your post? I'd like to have one too. :frown:

I'm actually almost relieved to hear there's no magic involved. If my current weight loss is post-op surgery, then I'll take it graciously. :frown: I think what really sold me on this thing was the adjustability. Heh. I think your term, euphoria, pretty accurately describes me right now. My wife noticed that my multiple "love handles" are gone. Now I just need to work on that front tire I have hanging off my belly. :thumbup: One of the reasons why it *seems* effortless is that when I *am* hungry, a glass of water or a cup of water is enough to assuage it. I drink the water, and my stomach feels full. It gets rid of that empty pit feeling that can only be scratched by raiding the fridge. Is that the effect of post-op swelling? How many days does it take for that to subside? I'd just like to know so I can prepare for it. Right now I feel like I'm top of the world. Maybe a good dose of reality would be good for me.

Weight lost on pre-op diet: 17.5 lbs (1.6 lb/day). I gained 1.2 lbs during surgery. Probably swelling plus the weight of the band itself. Weight loss with lap-band in 3 days: 6lbs (2 lb/day). In all, total weight loss is 23.5 lbs, but what's truly amazing is how effortless weight loss is right now. Tomorrow I will be under 230, which is what I weighed in the middle of grad school. To me, the lap-band is magical. I know what it does, but there's something else it does which the doctors don't advertise. It somehow makes it easy for me to listen to my stomach. My stomach tells me things, and I never could listen. I always wanted the last few fries on the plate. Or had "room for dessert". Somehow, the lap-band opened up a connection between my brain and my stomach. Actually, maybe I could phrase it this way. The lap-band doesn't make me realize when I'm no longer hungry. It makes me realize when I'm full. There's an important distinction. When you're "not hungry", you can always eat if you want to. It becomes a matter of willpower. And since I am overweight, I already know that my food willpower is ... "limited". But when you're "full" rather than "not hungry", there's less willpower involved. I can FEEL my stomach is full. and it FEELS like I shouldn't be putting anything more in my mouth. My only regret is not doing this sooner. I should've done the band years ago. I see tons of people on the forum who have lost 100 lbs and more. Even though I may not talk or interact with them, I definitely take notice. I totally understand where that kind of weight loss comes from. Whoever this Mr. Lapband was, he was a genius! :frown:

Hey Cathy, If you got a Lap-Band lapband, you almost certainly got the Lap-Band AP, with a whopping 14mL fill volume. It's their 3rd gen model. My surgeon said that Realize is often better for men and LabBand is often better for women. One of the reasons is that men usually have a layer of (healthy to have) fat that never disappears. It's encoded in our DNA just like wider hips are encoded in females' DNA. The Realize bands have a curve that accommodates that layer. I guess it's genetic leftover when we left our caves for a few days to wrestle apes and bring back dead boars to feed our fellow cave dwellers. Please don't tell my friends and family, but I have a passion for Chicago style pizza. In fact, my last 2 meals were a hot pastrami on rye from the 2nd Ave deli and Chicago deep dish style pizza. :-) But I live in NYC, which is also a food capital.... There are a few things that make me sad, like calamari and Chicago pizza, but as they say, nothing tastes nearly as good as being thin feels. I've also heard that people with LB lose the same kind of cravings that we used to have. It's now been a week for you -- are you finding that to be true? I imagine you haven't had your first fill yet. I'm relieved to hear that breathing is painful for others. Nobody warned me about that; I was stressing a little that that I was the only one. The hospital gave me a little breathing exercise device. I'm supposed to hit the 1500 mark. Right after surgery, I think I was able to hit like ... 500. In the evening I got up to 1000. This afternoon I hit 1200. I wonder of there's a LB FAQ out there? Your reply, along with a number of posts I've read here, have taught me a great deal about pre-op and post-op issues. Pete

Thanks Tracy! I hear you about being inside and a part of the OR. I can't imagine what your job must be like. I've always heard that surgeons develop a strange detachment to horrifying situations because if they didn't, they'd be miserable thinking of all the people they work on. The nurses and staff at the NYU Bariatric Center have been wonderful. In fact, one of things I'm going to do today is send flowers to my surgical coordinator because she has been SO wonderful with everything. I think part of the reason is that doctors must have a really awful job -- telling people the most awful thing you can tell someone. And the nurses caring for people who have no hope. But bariatric hospital staff must be different. The office workers, staff, nurses, doctors see people who have suffered their entire lives. We have dieted and rode the weight rollercoaster our entire lives, and suddenly, we are being given the chance to reclaim our lives and really live to our full potential. No more searching the closets for a shirt that doesn't show a roll of fat. No more feeling awkward about having our pictures taken. I'm sure our excitement rubs off them, and I would imagine that even though there's a lot of fat people in the office, it must be a very positive, very good-vibe kind of place to work. Everytime I had to go to NYUMC, I couldn't help but have an out of control smile on my face. :scared2:

I don't know, but according to my packet, the symptoms are: * acid reflux * nausea * vomiting (inability to keep much of anything, even Water, down) If you suspect your band slipped, you should contact your doctor and get an ensophagram, which is a special type of x-ray that shows the position of the band around the stomach. Here are some pictures and more info: http://www.thinnertimes.com/weight-loss-surgery/lap-band/lap-band-complications/slippage.html

Jeri, I see from your profile that you're nervous about the procedure. I have to reiterate what Bob said: Don't be nervous about the procedure. It really is nothing. The pain is minor, and the complication rate is very low, even compared with a totally benign surgery like having your tonsils taken out. I totally understand your excitement because I feel it myself. Best of luck to you!

Hi Lucy, I've been in college for over 20 years now. The first half of my doctorate I dated a girl who was really really really really thin, and that gave me the incentive to keep my weight under some kind of control (I've been stocky my whole life). After we broke up, my weight went up, and it's been steadily climbing (not monotonically) ever since. I'm finishing a 2nd masters in financial engineering, and I can totally sympathize with you about fitting in the desks. I fit, but my belly noticeably impinges on the edge of the desk. It's distracting, uncomfortable, and embarrassing. It's the last thing you need to be thinking about while taking an in-class test. So I totally understand where you're coming from, and I think your reason is totally valid.

Hi Bob! Good to see a fellow guy on the forums. Had my surgery done yesterday. I was actually looking forward to it -- I've never had surgery before in my life, and I'm always looking forward to experiencing everything life has to offer. The whole process was fascinating. Right now, I have very little appetite. I'm not really in pain per se, although I'm "aware" of the stiched up hole in belly. And my throat still hurts a little bit from the tube they put in. I can't really bend down too well, so my wife helps me put on / take off my socks and shoes. I need to ask her to pick things up that I drop. And, to tell you the truth, I'm having so much here at home not going to work, that I don't even think much about the pain. I've been playing with my SqueezeBox music server, downloading good tunes, installing a wireless router, playing some video games. I'm having a blast, so the pain doesn't even bother me. My boss is totally cool and told me I can have the week off. I plan on telecommuting to work on Thursday and Friday and coming back in on Monday. By then, I'll be really looking forward to getting back to the office. I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day, but I was so excited to see my weight drop during the 2 week pre-op diet, that I did. Interestingly, my weight actually *increased* the day of the surgery by 2 pounds. But I think that's mainly due to swelling -- Water weight. Plus they gave me really salty broth at the hospital, and I never use salt, so that's probably water retention right there. I was told that they fill our body cavities with CO2 during laproscopic procedures, so farting and burping are common immediately afterwards, but so far so good. This would be day 2 for me, so it's good to hear most of your pain was the first 2 days. I'm hopeful that I can at least put on my own socks and shoes tomorrow. :-) Pete

Going through all my paperwork, tossing out stuff I don't need. Found my PCP's letter of medical recommendation and thought it might help you if I shared it. These were my co-morbidities: 1. Glucose metabolism 2. Hypertension 3. Musculoskeletal disease 4. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (no study) Diet history: Atkins, calorie counting, self diet, weight watchers, and medication Adipex-P (Phentermine) Impression: Peter is a 40 year old male with a BMI = 38.9 which places him in the morbidly obese category. This has directly contributed to his medical condition such as Glucose Metabolism, Hypertension, Muscularskeletal disease, and Obstructructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, as well as, a decreased quality of life.

Thanks Laura! I wasn't sure if describing my "bathroom problems" were too ... umm personal. But I figure we're all adults and are in the same boat. I have a tendency to "blab". :wub: My wife has the same problem with diet shakes. I can't decide if it's the shake itself, or if diarrhea simply accompanies rapid 2+ lb per day weight loss. I'm thinking it's the shake though. Those things have so much artificial sweetners and chemicals. I haven't researched it yet, but I'd be willing to bet that too much aspartame has been documented to cause bathroom problems. At this point, I can't have any more salads, but my diet is less restrictive in other ways. I plan to never put aspartame between my lips ever again. That stuff is SO nauseating.

Michele, 101 pounds is FANTASTIC. Although it's my first day, and I'm still in pain a bit, I totally understand what you mean by walking on clouds every day. I feel like that right now. I completely understand you. BTW, I once drove a Honda VF1100C from Tallahassee, FL to Sacramento, CA. Passed by Austin. You guys have *great* highways!

Well, I now have a Realize-C in me. All I can say is ... WOW!!! Went something like this: Woke up at 4am. No breakfast. Met my wife, mom an stepdad at NYUMC at 6am. Met with anesthesiologist (scored brownie points by talking to him in my broken Russian) at 7am. Met with Dr. Ren (surgeon) at 7:30am. At 8am, they put me in the OR, which was buzzing with activity. There were 4 people in the room, and I didn't see the surgeon yet. They numbed my left hand with an impossibly tiny needle. It was so small, I literally felt nothing. I mean that. A mosquito bite was more painful than the needle they put into me. At 8:15am, they put the IV in me and started to drip the anesthesia. I started chatting with the anesthesiologist. We started to talk about college. I told him that I've been in college for over 20 years and did my doctorate in physics. We started talking about physics education in Russia vs the USA. He said I could call him "Gene" if he could call me "Peter," since "Dr." such and such was so long (my last name is only 2 syllables, so it's not that bad, but his was pretty long). I laughed. I closed my eyes just for a second and the next thing I knew, I was in a different room. I drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds. I didn't make note of the time. I awoke around 10:30am. I noticed that deep breathing was painful. There was a female nurse next to me. She told me that I'd be released from the recovery room based on my heart rate and my level of breathing, so to breathe as much as possible. I noticed she was reading a book, and although I didn't have my glasses on, I distinctly recognized seeing a carboxyl functional group diagram in her book. I didn't see well enough to see what the rest of the chemical was, but I recognized the COOH instantly. I weakly said "Are you taking o-chem"? She said she just got accepted to Columbia anesthesiology nurse school and o-chem was kicking her ass. She asked me if I knew o-chem and I told her I loved that class. She asked me if I could help her with her homework, to which I said yes, but I drifted back to sleep a second later. There was a young boy on the bed next to me. Maybe 6 years old. Hispanic. He was crying, and I overheard that he had leukemia. I felt really sad for them. He was a cute kid, and his parents looked calm, but you could tell that was just exterior for his benefit. You could see the deep sadness in their eyes. I drifted back to sleep. At 11:30am I woke back up and my wife was there. We spoke for a bit and I drifted back to sleep. I awoke. The boy had stopped crying and was talking to his parents. They were speaking Spanish too quickly for me to understand. The nurses finally moved me to my room around noon. It was private. On my way out, I gave the boy next to me a smile and a thumbs up. He smiled and waved back to me. They gave me some kind of "mineral water" with too much aspartame and very salty broth for lunch. I was told I could go if I could eat lunch, pee at least 300mL, and walk the length of the hallway twice. I had only 2 holes in me -- top was smaller, bottom was larger. I was surprised because I thought they'd be making 5 holes. Maybe I was so faithful to my pre-op diet the surgeon only needed one hole to get the job done? I dunno. Drifted back to sleep. Woke up to the nurse looking at my bottom dressing and noticed that it bled through to my night gown. She and another nurse changed me. A momentary flash of modesty came over me and I felt a little sheepish having someone other than my wife see me in my birthday suit, but I noticed that I was in pain so my mind didn't focus on modesty. I asked for more morphine, which they gave. I noticed my throat hurt quite a bit, and I felt like I had been yelling; I was hoarse. It was due to a tube they put down my throat during the procedure. I listened to Abbey Road, Magical Mystery Tour, and Revolver. I drank their lunch, and noticed I was literally stuffed afterwards. I peed, which made the nurse very happy. I went home around 6pm. For dinner, I had Progresso pot-roast Soup (7:30pm), strained of everything except for carrots and string Beans, which were very mushy. I promised my wife to chew them copiously. Followed by a small cup of coffee. I could barely finish the soup for dinner. I was (and still am) stuffed to the gills. I have a feeling I will never order a venti bold from Starbucks again. Point of information: A can of soup *never* filled me in my life. Strained at that!!! I usually have 2 cans of Progresso soup supplemented by a large salad and oat bran/flaxseed crackers if I have "soup" for lunch. I can hardly believe it. Being full on such a little amount of food is just ... breathtaking. It's an emotional experience for me. It's now midnight. My throat is doing better, although it still hurts a tad. My stomach has a very small dull ache. My wife needs to put on/take off my socks and shoes because it hurts when I bend very far. I need help getting into and out of our sofa. I'm still full and the thought of eating more is simply odious to me. I managed to take all my liquid Vitamins. Dr. Fielding (my surgeon's husband) was 100% correct. This is the first time I've ever had a small amount of food, and with slow purposeful eating, I feel completely satisfied. If anything, I think I might switch to Campbells. Progresso cans are currently too big for me. I just took some more codine for my stomach and throat. Waiting for it to kick in. I never did help the nurse with her o-chem hw. :wub: I'm a "belly sleeper," and need to make a concerted effort to sleep on my back. I was told that deep breathing is important for people with this procedure. Deep breathing is a common painful thing for us immediately after the procedure, but lack of deep breathing can cause infection and pneumonia. They gave me a small apparatus to help me breathe correctly -- I need to inhale in order to keep a ball within two markers for a number of seconds. I can easily keep the ball near the target point for near an amount of time they want, but it's slightly painful to keep the ball there for exactly the time they want. However, I'm getting better at it as time passes. And that is my lapband procedure story.

My surgery was today. It went without a hitch. It's life changing. I feel great. Good luck to both of you.

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose just one co-morbidity? You are making a case. You are basically arguing with someone, trying to convince them that you need something. Even if it says "one" co-morbidity, you want to give them a hundred co-morbidities. You want to show Cigna that if they DON'T pay for your surgery, they will end up paying a SHITLOAD of money to treat your joints, coronary disease, diabetes, etc. Remember: You want to make an economical case, not a health case. An insurance company is a for-profit business. You want them to shake in their boots about not giving you the procedure.

I have to agree with Kate. One co-morbidity you can claim is weight related joint pain. When you pass a certain point, your ankles, knees, and possibly hips hurt on a day to day basis. It was true for my case. It can be true for your case. Just document it with your PCP and bariatric surgeon's coordinator. Another is hypertension. I've never met someone with a BMI of greater than 35 that did not have some form of hypertension. The great thing about hypertension is that although it is a *spectrum* (you can have kinda high, high, very high, dangerous, etc) on most doctor forms, it is stochastic: you either have it or don't have it. If you take something like hydrochlorothiazide, then ipsofacto, you have hypertension. Perhaps it would be appropriate to talk to your PCP about getting you on a "baby dosage" of hydrochlorothiazide? I had slightly elevated heart rate and my doctor prescribed 12.5mg/day, considered a "baby dose". For me, there were no side effects at this level (the main side effect being having to pee a lot).