Hello all,

How many people are getting banded in May 2006? I plan to be banded in Boston.

Sherita ~ That is absolutely hilarious!!:pound:Thank you for sharing. I will probably tell that story when they do my first fill.....hope you don't mind. Doc/nurses like a good laugh too. My husband says I talk too much & sometimes he's right. :blah: I talked during my stress test, not the tread mill part, the imagining thing where the make you stay still for 20 min. I'd rather jog!!!

Well, I'm on my way...have to be there at 8am. Wish me luck, will update just as soon as I can.

:clap2: :clap2: GO>>>missnikki & JJinLA!!! :clap2: :clap2:

It's your BIG DAY!!!!

God Bless! You are in My Thoughts!

:pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

I'm soooo excited for you missnikki:clap2: ! Let us know how it goes.

Won't be long and it'll be us Kim ;) :Banane10: :Banane33: !!!!!

anewlife - I'm sorry I was just going over some replys and realized you had replied to me. I also am not a big chocolate fan (more of a pizza girl myself), so I got the vanilla opti-fast. I did not know I could add a little strawberry to it, thats a good idea. I'm on day 6 of 21, and I could use a little variety. Only 1 more week for you, Yaaaa:clap2: . Let us know how it goes.

GOOD LUCK TO BABYJANE AND KARMA2 BANDED TOMMORROW, MAY 11TH:clap2:

I know Cloe, I can't wait! So you are already doing your pre-op diet? I start Friday! My girl 3loves will be right there with us too...

Yeah Jean, those appointments at cedar's are non productive, unless your all out of pain medicine, then have them write you a new prescription. They really need to get better about that wait time in the lobby, and they need to do better about returning phone calls. I switched insurances to have this surgery covered at cedars, but I'm going to go back to Kaiser, they're customer service is much better.

LOL - I agree. On the front end, their customer service is not great. the admin staff are nice, but not terribly organized. But once I submitted everything for insurance approval, things started to happen very fast. My insurance was submitted and approved in less than a week. Once the insurance was approved, they scheduled my pre-op appt for the following week and the actual surgery the week after that.

The hospital experience was extremely easy for me. They took great care of me - I was there by myself, no family or anything. They were very attentive, the nurses were fantastic, the nurse techs were great, it was all very easy - I had no worries at all. Plus, Cedars only has private hospital rooms, which was a big bonus because I couldn't sleep and wound up watching tv all night! You can't argue with the fact that Cedars-Sinai is an excellent facility - one of the best in the country - and so are the professionals who work there.

So if you can put up with the admin staff long enough to get submitted for insurance, you're golden, and then after that you don't have to deal with admin ever again.

Good luck everyone! I was banded Monday and feel pretty good!!! Good luck!

Hello All,

Well, I had my 1st post op appointment. I am down about 12 pounds since surgery - 28 all together.

My energy is returning slowly but surely. A trip to the grocery store for food for the rest of my family put me in kind of a funk yesterday which the scale helped me out of this morning.

Even though I'm not really hungry, I do miss chewing food.:tired

Hey Hippo's Hope - what other procedures did you have done? Are you up for slow walking yet? I am trying to get out and walk a little each day. I usually do it in the morning when I seem to have the most exercise. I'll pm you with my phone number if you want to walk, talk or just want some company.

I am so glad to hear that all the people banded in May so far seem to be doing so well.

Wow, we have a friend moving to London tomorrow so a bunch of us are meeting at a local restaurant for lunch.

I thought about not eating or bringing a protein shake, but decide to calll the restaurant and see if they would blend up soup for me and, guess what? They will! I am so excited. I get to go out to a restaruant!!

Judy Ann ~ 20 lbs

DrewsLou ~ 18 lbs

Hippo's Hope ~ 4 lbs

LindaV ~ 12 lbs

Kim & Cloe ~ My shakes are chilled and ready for Friday. I'm not thrilled about this, but with your support, I can do it.

Poster child ~ Glad to hear all is going well. How are you doing with your water & protein? Gas?

Got banded yesterday, May 9. Everything went great. Came home the same day and allowed to drink anything I could get through a straw. I thought I would have to be clear liquids for few days. This morning I am having coffee and will go get a yogurt smoothie in a few minutes.

I thought I would have to sleep in the reclincer a couple of days, but slept in bed last night. Had to stay on my back and I'm normally a side sleeper, so that was a little weird. The pain isn't too bad, Hooray for drugs. They rule! :heh: :heh:

Wow am I excited to read all of the posts from the May-B's. I scheduled my date for May 30th with Dr. Ortiz. I wanted it to be close to Memorial Day so I wouldn't forget my aniversery date...I tend to do that.

Anyway, I appreciate all the info for the diet reccomendations. I keep thinking about how much I am going to miss food, but when I actually sit down and eat and pay attention to the flavor, texture and the time it take me to eat I fill up lots faster and actually enjoy it more.

I am usually pretty active, but really surprised myself and my friend, when we rode bikes for 12 miles and she was more tired than I was. That is going to help my recovery more that I initally realized.

Congrats to those are recooperating and positive thoughts for all! I read a quote the other day that keeps running through my head, which is "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather the moments that take your breath away" ....just a little reminder to keep working to your goals!!!

Heather "Outdoorgrl"

Welcome back Stitchy! Glad it went well! Let the transformation begin!!!!!