Sivan

Thanks so much, eldonh. After your reply, I made a very light, 1 cup fruit shake for Breakfast and it took me about an hour to sip down. I feel satisfied and not too bloated or nauseated. I was also wondering about sipping 2-3 liters of Water and 100 grams of Protein a day. I'll have to be hooked up to my sippy water bottle at work. Sivan

I had a similar experience. I got banded on Wednesday. Thursday I was eating broth and Jello and had a bit of gas bit there was no problem. By Friday afternoon, I couldn't eat a thing, I felt nauseous and had gas pains, and just a few sips of anything made me feel like the center of my tummy was going to explode. Saturday I just took it easy. Last night I did explode - from the wrong end - yuk. Now I'm eating yogurt and low fat soft cheese. Tonight I blend a bit of cooked potato into my Soup. I have been reminding myself that as relatively uninvasive as this surgery is, it's surgery. We had something put in our bodies that is a foreign object. We've had holes poked through our innards. And our happy little stomachs are confused. But most of all, we went through general anesthetic that we would have had, had it been a major operation. It can take up to two weeks to recover just from that. I spent more time with the anesthesiologist before the op than the doctors. He made sure that I knew my recuperation time was in a large way dependent on how fast my body threw off the effects of the anesthetic. Thursday I was still pretty drugged when I felt so good (no wonder they want someone else to dirve us home). And I'm pretty sure that's where the nausea came in the next day. I drink when I can. Little bits of Water, juice, whatever. I eat about four mini meals a day. If I still feel a bit hungry, I wait a couple of hours to eat anything more. Yesterday I had a bit too much of the low fat cheese, so now I'll get the smaller size single serving container (I still have the urge to finish evrything on my plate). I'm looking forward to mashed up fish, next. Keep going. It only gets better. there's lots to lookk forward to.

Uh Oh! I was just sitting at my computer after a nice bowl of homemade turkey broth. And it all came out the back end... unannounced! :embarassed: What a mess! Has anyone else lost bowel control in the liquid stages? I remember when I had another abdominal surgery, they kept giving me broth and yogurt and broth so I wouldn't strain my stiches on the toilet. They saw how often I had to call a nurse to get up to go to the toilet so they pushed me up to mushies immediately and it got better. I also suffer from chronic IBS. I want to just get past this part and go on to the part where I just eat a little, chew something, get up and go to the restroom like a normal person and then I can go back to work and my life.

I was banded on Wednesday afternoon. I felt like myself when I left the hospital and when I got home. Then the gas... I'm grateful to the forum that I knew about it. But I also have been having dry heaves. :dizzy: That worries me because I know that excessive vomiting can cause the band to slip. The last time it started was when I dissolved my one daily pill in a 1/4 cup of apple juice. That was it for my whole night. Now this morning I'm afraid to "eat" even my yummy turkey broth. Tomorrow I can have yogurt. Yeah! I had a food dream last night. Mushie tuna sandwich on a whole wheat bread and diet chocolate milk. I could've done better than that before I was banded! One more thing - this is the third time I've tried to get my ticker onto my signature. I copy and paste from the first URL in ticker.com and the forum site tells me I have an invalid URL. I want a cute ticker, too!

"another nasty side-effect of my band" This is not so much a lap band problem, it has to do with issues of a food addict. What you are doing to yourself are the same things food addicts do when they're still trying to control the food and what it does to them. The help you need is not just the initial step of going to your doctor (your health is at least worth the $150), but getting into a good support group or to a good therapist that specializes in eating disorders. You're on the right track by confiding in us. And who am I to tell you all this? After all, I just got banded, too. Many of us could write a book on diets, the books we've read, the doctors we've seen, and programs we've been in. I am pretty sure that any success I have with the band will be because I can no longer fool myself about what the real issues are. It's not so much the food I choose (feel compelled) to eat, or how much of it I consume. It's about why and how I'm feeling at the time; what the food actually does for me. You need to figure that out - soon. And, sweetsue, the name of the disorder you have is bulemia. Admit it, use it, and you'll get help.

And, Chris, I'd love to get on the back of a '67 Harley hog again. There aren't many of them here where I am, but I can dream, can't I.

I am really excited about being banded next week. And one of the reasons I am doing it is just like PeloRojo says: I can still eat the things I like, but I won't be able to eat the quantities I have been. Like my PCP says, "Less food is fewer calories. That is what gives us a chance to lose weight" Also, the biggest binge problem I've had is bread, and I've been told that I won't be eating bread anymore. It's just one big thing I have to give up, and that's fair. But in the meantime I've been eating bread like I usually do - too much of it. Bagels like it's my last breakfast. And with all this bread go the things we generally like to put on it. And I doubt I'll eat those things without the bread. I like my Protein and fruit and veggies. If I eat a satisfying amount of those, I figure I'll never get to the bread and dessert part. I am a bit nervous about the things that are recommended to eat/drink. I can't tolerate milk. Udder pus. We're weaned at the age of two-and-a-half for a reason. Skim milk is the worst thing in the world, especially in coffee, even in Cereal. Then there's Protein shakes. That reminds me of my Slim Fast and Nutri System failures. They're not food. They're torture. So onward to my freezer full of homemade, Vitamin packed broth, and goats milk drinkable yogurt. I'll live for a week, and then on to blended Soups. Then to get individual mini-portion freezer containers so I can cook up a bunch of mushies for the next phase. Then all the dark meat chicken and ground meat stuff I like will come back, but in the smaller containers.

I can't say I don't care about nice, fashionable clothes or being able to wear the boots I bought 2 years ago and can't wear now. But there are things more important to me than the aesthetics of weight loss. About two years ago I went out with a really terriffic guy. We walked a lot and he was very patient, but I couldn't keep up with him. I want to be able to walk without the arthritis pain in my hips and knees that is aggravated by the weight I want to fly to see my family (a 24 hour ordeal) and not have to ask for a seat belt extender and a bulkhead seat so I can use the baby changing table instead of the dinner tray that my stomach prevents from going all the way down. :ip:I'd like to travel for enjoyment and not have these two issues prevent me from it. I want to be able to cut my toenails easily:!: I want to sit with my knees together :censored:Some of the things I want are X-rated...

Oh dear. I just responded to the great prospects for my IBS. Now this. I just spent about 7 days in the emergency room, at doctors' offices, having tests done after trying to pass a 1 cm kidney stone that was just perched at the exit from the kidney. As far as anyone knows, it's still there. Now I drink lots of Water. I gulp water 2 cups at a time, and am worried about my abillity to just sip and get enough in a day. I even have a Nikken filter bottle! I have a referral to have another kidney function test after the banding surgery. I hope I can follow that up again to be sure this doesn't cause problems. Sivan

Thank you all so much for the insight that IBS has disappeared for you. I've had it for about 20 years. The makers of Immodium are going to hate me forever if WLS aleviates it. I've always known that part of the problem is what I eat when I am stressed. But I was worried about the liquid >semi-liquid>mushie diet for the first month. Thanks, and I hope this is another of my medical problems that will be helped through the banding. My op is on Wednesday. Sivan

I get banded on Wednesday. My doctor basically has the idea that not much is going to happen during a short time of pre op dieting, and that that's why we're in this program. My pre op regimen has been more tests. I had all the doctor required done a month in advance. I went to my provider and they decided less than 2 weeks out, that I had to do 5 more tests. One was to pee in a bottle designed by men, for men, and collect it for 24 hours. The results were to be ready over a week past my op date! Another was the famous cardio stress test where they shoot you up with weird yellow drugs and have you do a treadmill session. Well, I had an appointment for Monday evening, got there and they cancelled it, rescheduled it for Friday morning (only four days to op and still needing to get the results to my provider in time), to get there 7:45 am to have it cancelled AGAIN. Their suggestion? - to have it Tuesday morning. Right. I made them find another place to have it done RIGHT NOW! and they did. The doctor in charge of the test couldn't figure out why they even ordered the test. So I went home and ate ice cream.

Hi all! My date is confirmed. January 10. And it works out perfectly with work because my boss and half the office are going to be in Viet Nam and Columbia on business. Things are falling into place too easily for this to be any of my doing... Last night I chose a health club and joined. Yes, I will use it. Money is a great motivator. Water Aerobics twice a week and Pilates once a week. Sivan