Getting my band on July 3rd and I can't help but to be scared. Anyone having this irrational fear of something happening to them?

Plus, I'm 1 week into my two week liquid pre-op diet and I feel like I want to chew my own arm off! Sigh.

No, I didn't have an irrational fear of something happening to me, maybe because I'd survived so many other surgeries by the time I was banded. But I can tell you that you are absolutely not the only person that's ever felt that way, and everything seems harder when you're on a liquid diet.

It's hard to deal with irrational fear. You can sit it down and try reasoning with it, but it generally doesn't listen to reason and doesn't follow any rules of logic. Maybe you could just give it slap upside the head. And then take a deep breath.

It's going to be OK!

Most bandsters did worry at some point I'm sure. Not me. I knew this was my only option. I'd tried everything else. I really only dreaded or feared not being able to pig out with the foods I've loved for years. But, you know, it's OK now. I can still eat them, just not as much.

Liquid diets suck!

tmf

My surgery is in two weeks and I'm not afraid, at all. I am ready to start my life and gain energy. Just say a prayer and you will do fine. Good luck!

I'm sure it just nerves, as I had only 1 surgery in my entire life and that was a long time ago. Being such a big dude, I'm just worried. I tell myself to stop fretting over it. But I'm gonna grit my teeth and get it done. I feel its my only option as this point, the gastric bypass scares the hell out of me. TOO many complications!

Just had my surgery 1 week ago and I'm fine and can do everything I did before surgery except eat. The liquid diet is hard but unfortunately necessary and that hunger will not be so strong after surgery. Try mixing things up throughout the day with sugar free popsicles and Jello. If your drinking Protein drinks or Optifast you can change the flavor by looking in the coffee aisle at your grocery store and find the flavor they mix with coffee. They are sugar free and they have caramel, chocolate, rasberry, hazelnut and they make the drinks more pleasant if they taste different each time you drink them. Use a schedule, like for brkfst have a Protein Drink, for lunch have some beef broth or a protein drink and a little jello, and for dinner do protein drink different flavor or chicken broth an a popsicle and then for Snacks you can find sugar free hard candy, Baskin Robbins ones are really good and you can have another popsicle in a different flavor or jello.

Fear is normal before surgery you wouldn't be normal if you didn't have even just a little but I can tell you I have had 7 surgeries on my abdomin each for different reasons and this surgery was a walk in the park. The pain is there but not terrible and they give you meds to help and the pain it doesn't last long. One piece of advice I have is walk and move after surgery and keep doing it, it makes recovery easier and the pain from gas and the surgery go away much quicker.

Be brave and have faith, you'll be just fine. You are doing something great and brave to improve your life and be proud of that. Good luck!

kendric! i'm getting banded on july 2 and also scared! i'm sure its normal... but i'm also sure it will be just fine! and i'm also on day 10 right now of liquid diet (and right now having to smell someone here in the office making some delish Breakfast and its making me nuts!)... but... we are almost there and looking back... can you believe we survived all these days on just liquids!!?? see how strong you are? just look at the positive and realize that you are brave and strong for doing this! praying your surgery goes smoothly! lets try to relax and enjoy the moment that will change our lives!!! yay!

oh... and dont chew your arm off... you might need that at some point! hahaha

Completely understand Kendrick2000. I was also scared to death, this was my first surgery. I had the surgery on 6/25- this Monday. Everything went great and the pain is way less than I had imagined. ( I am a huge whimp when it comes to pain also.). You will do fine. Just follow all the instructions for aftercare. Take your pain meds, walk, drink water, take Gas X, etc. A heating pad really helped me a lot especially when sleeping. You are completely normal to feel nervous and scared, but just try to focus your mind on the wonderful things that will happen as a result of the surgery. Staying busy with whatever you can find will help too. Wishing you a very fast and successful procedure and an easy recovery!!!!! Hang in there!!!!!!!

you know, i was totally fine until i came across a particular video on youtube describing someone's bad experience. then, i started clicking on all of the related videos to the right and got freaked out because they were all negative. i guess there is such a thing as too much information, lol. what i DID notice was that they were all made months after the actual procedure and these particular folks hadn't seen much progress.

this is my first surgery ever. i'm too far in to turn back now. come on 7/9!!!

I have a 7/10 date and I can't wait. I started the liquids today - bleh! I woke up and was like hey, I'm gonna go make breakfast and then realized i don't get to chew anything for about a month - yikes! But yes, this will be worth it and this is my decision. No one is forcing me to do this - I sought it out - I went thru the 6 months of nutrition counseling - I signed up - I'm not turning back now. Taking the easy way got me fat - the band isn't going to be easy - it will always be easier to shove epic amounts of food in my mouth - but my choice is the band, and I can do it!

you know, i was totally fine until i came across a particular video on youtube describing someone's bad experience. then, i started clicking on all of the related videos to the right and got freaked out because they were all negative. i guess there is such a thing as too much information, lol. what i DID notice was that they were all made months after the actual procedure and these particular folks hadn't seen much progress.

this is my first surgery ever. i'm too far in to turn back now. come on 7/9!!!

I researched youtube a lot myself before surgery. You just have to understand that most people don't review a product unless they have had a bad experience. However, I did see many good reviews and good video blogs about the band when I researched. There are many reasons why some fail at the band and it's not always the band that fails. Many times it's situational. Like other medical issues that interact with the band causing the band to not work well or have to be removed.

So many obese people are obese for the reason that they cannot control their eating habits. Thinking that the band will change that mental state they go ahead and have surgery. In a small minority of those cases, they find out the band did not make the changes they had hoped for and continue eating or want to continue eating as they did before. I doubt we'll ever see any reliable studies showing how many people failed vs band failures vs failure due to other issues? I've seen many posts on this forum where people complain that the band is not working only to admit as the thread progesses that they've been eating slider foods(and processed sugar) and do not work out.

Just be sure that this is what you want and you've tried all other avenues.

tmf

I get banded on July 6 I'm not nervous but I really hate Optifast and the pre diet. I need to refocus and get the diet done

My surgery is scheduled for July 3rd. Im not scared of the surgery iteself, but I am scared about getting nausea. I am on the pre-op diet, which seems a little different than some describe here. It is not all liquid, I can have one small salad, a cup of chicken, yogurt, applesauce and cream of wheat. However, I prefer to save the real food for dinner and do the protein shakes throughout the day. I found myself getting nauseus from just shakes, so I opted to do some veggies throuout the day. This is why I am scared of the post-op all liquid diet.

My surgery is scheduled for July 3rd. Im not scared of the surgery iteself, but I am scared about getting nausea. I am on the pre-op diet, which seems a little different than some describe here. It is not all liquid, I can have one small salad, a cup of chicken, yogurt, applesauce and cream of wheat. However, I prefer to save the real food for dinner and do the Protein shakes throughout the day. I found myself getting nauseus from just shakes, so I opted to do some veggies throuout the day. This is why I am scared of the post-op all liquid diet.

Ask your surgeon for a prescription for anti-nausea meds.

My banding is being done 7/27. I haven't started the protein diet yet. I think I am fearing the pre-op protein diet more than the surgery. My surgeon stressed to me how important it is not to cheat on the pre-op diet. This will get your liver in shape for the surgery. He told me that the liver has to be moved and lifted to apply the band and the pre-op diet will make things a lot easier on him and my liver.

I'm really not scared of having my surgery, and usually I'm a total scaredy cat about medical procedures. I'm taking my calm attitude as a sign that I am totally on the right track. I know this will work for me. I am so ready to get my life back.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you are getting along.

I doing my best not to cheat on the post-op diet, but I have to admit I did eat a small piece of baked skinless chicken breast. I felt shakey and figured it was the least damaging thing I could have. I hope it will be easier after the surgery.