I have been floating around the site for a while and thought it was about time to introduce myself. I am Carissa... 22 from Perth, Australia. I had my lap band op on Monday 1st Feb 2010 so am currently 6 days post op.

I managed to lose 11kgs in the pre-op Optifast diet for 3 weeks and to admit, it was the easiest 11kg i have ever lost. I was hungry, tired and grumpy yes, but knowing i was doing it for the operation made it so much easier. I started at 150kg, and at the time of the op 6 days ago I was 139kg. I'm not sure what i would be today but i see my doctor on the 9th for the first checkup so hopefully i can weigh in then.

I have really just been sleeping since I came home on Tuesday. moving about a little bit but mostly sleeping! A friend of mine suggested to place a pillow on my side and try sleeping like that - and im glad she did, soo much easier to rest. My incisions seems to be ok, although there is a yellow-ish bruise-like colouring on the larger incision, but reading around i see this is normal (??)

I go back to work on Monday - have found out some of my superiors opened their mouth so not very happy about that, i told only certain people for a reason!

Well I continue to enjoy weaving my way through this site, plenty of info and general chit chat, nice to know we are not alone

Congratulations on getting banded, and your fabulous weightloss so far.. Sounds like you are doing fantastic. I found that the more pillows I surrounded myself with, the more comfortable I was. You should start feeling a little more alert and comfortable over the next week or so. The bruising sounds normal, you may also find that, that same incision is also the more tender of all. It will be feeling much better soon.

Welcome to the bandhood..

xx Nene

Hi congratulations on your banding ..I am still in the process of making appointment but hopefully I will get done March/April...

I find myself posting more in the Australian Group or I have just found the 60+ group....

Welcome to another Aussie....

Thanks Nene... note more pillows on order, stat!

Majj thanks for reminding me of the Aussie pages... will have to go and say hello down there too. On a side note... I ♥ De-Gas! suffering badly tonight.

Hi there,

Great weightloss so far well done!!!

I am in Oz too, 26yo and will be banded next month!!! I cant wait .. I am getting nervous slightly.. but more excited! I just found this forum..

Are you feeling ready to go back to work? and how is the liquid stage going?

K xxx

thank you :thumbup:

to be honest im ready to do anything i am bored outa my brain!! i know ill be sooo tired/exhausted after work on Monday but i think im ready to begin some kind of normal.

are you on the pre op diet at the moment? where abouts in oz are ya?

im going ok on the liquid diet so far... usually i have an Optifast, sustagen and some prune juice or vege juice or chicken broth and constantly sipping Water throughout the day. i dont think im really hungry but when my housemate makes lunch or dinner i crave the food hehe

Congrats on your surgery! Glad you joined the group! It's a very useful place to be with lots of wonderful people ready to help! The people here have gotten me through a lot of things that my doc couldn't help with because he hasn't had the surgery. It's good to be able to talk with people that have been through it! Take care and welcome! :thumbup:

thanks for the welcome Dawn, you look great and congrats!! im finding this place very resourceful already :thumbup:

Not yet on the liquid diet.. pre op.. I have my last pre op visit next Monday woohoo!!

How long before the op do you go on pre op diet?

I am in Adelaide !

I am getting worried about the pre op diet!

xxxx

i did 3 and a half weeks... dont be too worried... i was sooo ready to have WLS so i found it easier than anything else to stick to because i knew the purpose. it does kinda suck if you are around alot of social events and friends tend to forget how strict you try to be hehe.. i discovered a few things when on Opti and am still discovering... google Optifast variations and it will give you some helpful hits but i found adding flavoured essence to the shakes was nice - orange essence to chocolate shake, coconut essence to vanilla shake etc..

i dunno how you feel but to restrict fruit and vege to me doesnt sound right, so i ate them at my own judgement, just didnt have too much fruit due to the sugar content, but vege everyday and snacked on baby tomatos, carrots, cellery, raddish,... just anything i could easily shove in my mouth to avoid eating other bad stuff :thumbup: i managed to lose 11kg so that kinda says what i did was ok?? hehe anyway good luck!