Hey There,

Just looking for any July 2011 banders. I just started my process, but as that I am "self-pay", I am on a fast track to surgery. Although, not terribly obese (bmi 34), I am using lap band surgery as a tool for continued success after loosing weight. I have always been able to join a program(diet or exercise or prescription) and loose weight.....I've done it several times with several different programs (not a good thing), but I always gain the weight back and more. Now that I am in my 40s, it is harder to loose and faster to come back. No more, I say! I want to be heathy in my future - family history/genetics dictates that I will/can be using a walker or wheel chair from degenerative bones and joints, heart disease, diabetes. I am trying to steer clear of that but still keep seeing myself heading in that direction, so now is the time for further action. Although apprehensive about going under, I am reading all the good things about the lap band procedure and am hoping that it is just a little more than the tubiligation and endemetrial ablasion that I had done last year. At least, I am thinking of it that way, so as to not scare myself too badly!

Lisa B - Northern Virginia

Hi Everyone!

Still feeling great in band land. I was pretty sore yesterday but I feel like a whole new person today. I did not expect to feel this good on day 2. No pain or nausea at all, not even gas pains! I got right out of bed and went for a walk with my daughter this morning. I think reading this thread has helped prepare me so much.

Still praying for everyone thats getting banded this month. I hope for a fast and smooth recovery like mine.

~Steph

I am so jealous, Steph! I've been up and about but not feeling as great as you are. Not sure if hernia repair or liver biopsy is making it worse.

Hi Everyone!

Still feeling great in band land. I was pretty sore yesterday but I feel like a whole new person today. I did not expect to feel this good on day 2. No pain or nausea at all, not even gas pains! I got right out of bed and went for a walk with my daughter this morning. I think reading this thread has helped prepare me so much.

Still praying for everyone thats getting banded this month. I hope for a fast and smooth recovery like mine.

~Steph

Hey, MassMom ... sounds like you're doing great ! Love to hear it !

Welcome to the new July bandsters ... wow, some of you move so fast with insurance, etc !

Shauna - I miscalculated (check my blog) - I start pre-op tomorrow (math was never a favorite !)

Good luck to all our July 6 banders, we will be pulling for you! lizzy21050, crash878905, Lorelei, Kimiky, and Diana1980 are all tomorrow.

Thanks for the good wishes! Surgery went perfectly today. And to my surprise, I woke up with no shoulder gas pain. Surgery was 7 AM this morning and I just started feeling the gas in my stomach and back just a few hours ago.

This is MUCH LESS painful than I anticipated, but I'm worried that tonight the pain will hit. For any of you out there that believe in the power of prayer, keep me in yours! For those of you being banded later in the month, like I said, much less painful than I anticipated and little gas pains. I have been walking and it really does help.

Have a good night everyone

Jenny just reminded me that MUCH earlier in the thread a few of us put together a shopping list for post-surgery. Thought it might be helpful to post again, plus some of you may have suggestions to add to it!

Food:

sugar free popsicles

sugar free Jello

protein shakes

fruit juice/milk/crystal light

soup

Medical:

Gas X Strips

Scar cream or cocoa butter

Ice packs

Heating Pad

Lip balm

OTC Pain reliever

General:

drinking straws (depending on what your doctor says, some say to use them, some say to avoid them!)

hand blender

new set of knives (nice and sharp to cut up food!)

Book, either "Band Wagon" or "Is Lap Band Surgery for Me?" (not sure yet)

small rubbermaid containers to help portion out food

food scale

measuring cups

Shauna - thanks for reposting! I'm on July 11, for next time the "schedule" is revised.

Im not sure what day it is in the US, I can't remember if you guys are before or after us Aussies... Either way my thoughts are with all our pending banders!

I am so flippin jealous of all the folks who get to do short pre-op diets!! I am on Day 7 of 14, and although it did magically get easier yesterday, it still feels like the 14th is forever away!! Going in for my pre admission testing tomorrow, hope to see the last week moved the scale a bit!

Hi Everyone!

Still feeling great in band land. I was pretty sore yesterday but I feel like a whole new person today. I did not expect to feel this good on day 2. No pain or nausea at all, not even gas pains! I got right out of bed and went for a walk with my daughter this morning. I think reading this thread has helped prepare me so much.

Still praying for everyone thats getting banded this month. I hope for a fast and smooth recovery like mine.

~Steph

So great to hear!!

Hey Shauna,

Those first several days do indeed suck. Yesterday on Day 6 it was like someone flipped a switch. I wasn't hungry or affected by people eating around me, and my brain was calm about what I'd be taking in. It was a huge relief!

Such good advice about getting a therapist separate from everything else, I am going to do that too!!

Thanks, Rebecca

First day of pre-op diet and it kinda sucks. Every time I got hungry I started heading for foods I can't have. I did a pretty good job of eating up what I can't have over the last few weeks, but not completely. Maybe I should just give it away or throw it out. Went to the grocery store and man there was a lot of stuff there I wanted to buy! But, I'm determined to stick with it best I can. I may cheat a little and have a little barbeque sauce with my plain white chicken that I'm allowed. Official diet says I can have mustard and hot sauce, but please, who eats those on chicken???

How is everyone else doing on their pre-ops? I heard days 3-4 are the hardest, it's when your body goes into ketosis and some people feel downright ILL, like a mild flu.

Shauna

This is a re-post from the Post-Op thread--I wanted to be sure I came back here and shared for anyone who might (like me) be completely addicted to reading surgery day stories!!

Hi, everyone! I am post-op and doing well! I've been addicted to the "surgery day stories" thread, so I'm going to post my whole story there, but here's the initial version. (I originally said "short version," but then it wasn't. .. . )

Just as we were leaving the house to drop my 14-month-old off with my mother, the surgery center called and asked if I could be an hour early because the surgeon wanted to start earlier. I totally would have, but I live too far away to make it in time. So I started off the day with a "dammit!" moment. And then I got there at the originally-scheduled 11:30 a.m.

Anyway, everyone at the surgery center was really nice. One of the nurses has a lap-band and was telling me how much she loves it as she was wheeling me in. I'm not sure what meds they gave me for the pre-op anxiety, but it made me babble. I was telling them all how different this was from when I had my emergency c-section for my 3-months premature baby and there were 24 people in the OR. And then it took a long time for the anesthetic to knock me out--the nurse anesthetist kept saying "Take DEEP breaths!."

I woke up to someone telling me to take deep breaths, too, because they were administering a breathing treatment for an asthmatic reaction. I was a little freaked out, but pretty soon I could breathe fairly easily again. I still feel some pressure in my chest, but I think it's the surgery gas.

I was given apple juice almost immediately after I finished the breathing treatment and then as soon as I could walk a little, they took me for a barium swallow. Watching the liquid run down through the band was odd.

I got the nurse to give me a dose of pain meds before I left so I could make it through the (way too bumpy!) hour-long ride home. We stopped at Sonic so my husband could get something to eat and I got a 44-ounce iced tea. I'm still sipping on it. I'm incredibly thirsty-feeling, but I also feel like I can't take another sip. It's a weird combination.

I'm staying on schedule with my pain meds and I'm also using the nausea meds, just in case. I am determined to do this right, and for me, that includes having as little pain as possible. I'm taking walks around the house. When Mom brought the baby back, she (the baby, not Mom!) followed me around crying with her arms up for me to pick her up. It made me sad. But now she's asleep (luckily, her daddy puts her down to bed more often than I do, so there was no disruption there) and I'm on the recliner in the spare room with drinks and meds beside me, my laptop on a TV tray in front of me, and streaming Netflix running through my iPad to keep me entertained. My abdomen aches from the gas and the incisions have a sharper pain, but as long as I keep taking my meds, it's bearable.

I keep thinking what an odd thing this is that I've arranged to have done to myself.

But I'm excited about the coming journey!

Oh. And I've started a blog. I'll add it to my signature eventually, but for now, it's www.TexasPrairieHarpy.com. I haven't posted about my lap-band yet--I started with a post about the name--but I will be soon

So, I completed my 6th and final nutrition class today/ tonight / July 6. My doctors medical assistant is sending the preauth to my insurance company tomorrow July 7. She made a comment to me that I know cant sleep over. She said well it looks like you are doing OK and all we need to do is get the preauth sent and schedule your surgery for August. WHAT!? Thats not what I was told when I first signed on. Anyway, I will keep you all updated and continue with my low calorie diet. I was a bit depressed when I left the doctors office so I went and ate fried greasy fat food! Guess what I don't feel bad about eating it either! lol

So I woke up this morning with some pretty uncomfortable pains in my stomach. I took some gas x...didn't help! So I decided to try and have some carnation instant breakfast...turns out I was just hungry! I didn't feel hungry, but my body was telling me to eat. Such a new concept for me LOL. All it took was 2 oz to feel full and content. And what do you know, the pains are gone! And I lost 2 lbs overnight!

So far I'm LOVING my new band! My husband keeps calling me the "bionic woman"...hahaha!

How is everyone today?

wow, I'm impressed july 5th and 6th banders are kicking butt! YEAH! I will be on my way to the hospital at 10:30 for my noon surgery. Never thought I would be soooooo anxious and nervous. I'm in freak out mode, but trying not to show it.

wow, I'm impressed july 5th and 6th banders are kicking butt! YEAH! I will be on my way to the hospital at 10:30 for my noon surgery. Never thought I would be soooooo anxious and nervous. I'm in freak out mode, but trying not to show it.

So nesportsfan, today is your day huh? Don't be nervous, you're going to be just fine! I was so anxious the few days leading up to surgery and now I giggle at myself about it. For me, coming out of the anestesia was the worst part because I was so sleepy and the nurses kept waking me up for blood pressure and to take my temp. You'll be uncomfortable at first, but they give really strong pain meds so that really helps!

Try not to freak out, it'll be over before you know it! I'll keep you in my prayers for a smooth and uneventful recovery (I mean that, I prayed my butt off and I did wonderful). Are you coming home tonight or are you staying overnight?

On another note, this question is for the folks that have already been banded. Has anyone else felt like their band is tighter in the morning? I've read about people experiencing that and I seem to be having that. It doesn't hurt, its just tight.

Thoughts anyone?