I am in the process of having the lap band procedure done and I had a question. Once or twice a month I like to go out with my friends and have a beer or two. I know the beer has cabination in it so I was wondering if a fruit juice with a liquor would be okay to have (Malibu rum and pineapple, screwdriver)? I am aware that the liquor has high sugar in it, but if I do it in moderations will it be okay. Has anybody tried this?

Beer is actually only very lightly carbonated, in spite of the foam. I can't comfortably drink a Diet Coke but the beer and champagne I've had since banding went down just fine. Can we sing "Tiny Bubbles"?

Champagne? Holy Mother of Nature! That's the one thing I was really going to miss. You mean I can have a lil bubbly if it goes down? Princess loves a lil cham-panny!

OMG!!!!! Alexandra, NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!!!

DeLarla, go untie Lisa THIS MINUTE. You can NOT afford to live on champagne.

Don't MAKE me come over there....

:rambo :dead :speechles

Oh jess we can 'ford eet now, de champanny... we got no-ther job at store dat sells de famous bra!

Waitress... W A I T R E S S !!!!!!!!!!

Let zee bubbles flowwwww.

Joo come to me baby, we have champanny!

I was thinking as I was typing it that I probably shouldn't. Oh well, the cat's out of the bag now.

No one has mentioned the other effect alcohol has on some banded patients. People have reported that drinking makes them much looser, so they can eat more and with less care. While that may sound good once in a while, obviously it's counterproductive. People have also reported having pain the next day after having had only one or two drinks the night before and overdoing it on food.

Sorry to be a party pooper, but there it is.

Thanks to everyone for the information. I have gone back and forth so many times on wanting the band done and one of my main reasons for not wanting it is I wouldn't be able to live my life as I used to. I chose to have the band done because first of all it was cheaper since I have to pay out of pocket (don't get me started on the insurance company) and the other was I heard you can pretty much eat and drink the same things as you do now but in much smaller portions and in moderation.

Well I went to my first consultation on Wed and what they told me actually scared me. I know this will be a lifestyle change, but the do's and don'ts they told me I wasn't sure if I could handle. I know docs can be over cautious sometimes, but since I don't know of anyone who has experienced this surgery I wasn't sure what to think. I mean quitting smoking will be the hardest thing for me then I have to sip Water and eat 6 meals, and take Vitamins etc. It was just so over whelming.

Bubbles are our friend. Had me a nice glass at my daughter's wedding two weekends ago. It was mighty nice. Oh and at her bridal shower about a month before the wedding had me a nice glass of wine and a nice glass of Jamaican Rum Cream on ice.

Can we say sloshed? And the games we played at this shower. Let's just say the cake was anatomically correct. And I have pictures to prove it. LOL!!!!

Putting a rubber on a cucumber while blind folded and being timed was something to see just let me tell you. I broke my rubber but not after letting one fly off the end first. LOLOLOL!!!

GOod time was had by all and the alcohol helped ALOT.

And don't get me started on the Bachelorette Party now. WHOO HOO!! Gracie the room is spinning and I want to get off.

Alex: I had no problem eating and drinking alcohol at the Bachelorette party and did not experience the pain you mention. I still knew when to stop eating and did. The only reason I can imagine that would happen is if you get so drunk that you forget you are banded and do eat way too much. Then the pain the next day would be horrendous. I can't imagine the way alcohol affects the body chemically would make the band loser. THat just isn't feasible in my mind. But I might be wrong here. Yes, It can happen.

Since alcohol is a dehydrator, it is feasible that one might sense less restriction.

Of course, after enough alcohol, one might sense less of a lot of stuff...

I only allow myself to drink when I'm prepared and AFTER I've thought the whole night through. I'm sure to have a solid lunch if I plan on drinking at night because I don't allow myself a full dinner to compesant for the calories. I drink my coctails slowly till nice and buzzed, then I switch to Water. I stay awake till I've had at least 64 oz of water. Then an hour later I have a snack of a dinner, and the next day, no matter how I feel, I start with a long walk and a lot more water. It takes some extra effort, but I didn't want to change my lifestyle either. I also try to stick with Bloody Marys for the Vitamin in the tomatoe minus the sugar, but I'll drink almost anything if someone else is buying (except beer.)

Thank God I gave up the beer bong 2 centuries ago so I don't have to miss it, and now I have an excuse to pass on the shots of Tequila or Jager!

Is it 5:00 yet? Friday - time for Happy Hour!

I just received a call from the Wish Center where I will have my surgery and they scheduled me for surgery on August 23rd. That is a whole month sooner than I thought!

I am scared to death since I will be one of the first people in ths center to have the lap band.

What do they practice on before me?

I need a shot of Yager!

Maybe you're the first one scheduled to have surgery in this center, but hopefully your doctor has done many... right??? Has he or she? August is right around the corner. We'll be here the whole time. Ask billions of questions till then so you're super prepared.

The surgeons there have been doing strickly Gastric Bypass for years. When I went to a seminar in May, they said before they introduced lap band at this location they needed to work the bugs out. I have an online seminar next Wed with the surgeon so I am going to ask lots of questions. As far as I know my surgeon hasnt done any lap bands.

Were you or do you know of anyone one who was a smoker and needed to stop smoking for good before the surgery was preformed?

Tig, I had to attend a mandatory seminar when I first considered the band. The local doctors here make you sit through 3 hours of lecture on band procedure vs. gastric bypass. They went through the pros and cons of both procedures and then made each patient decide which procedure they wanted. The one thing that stood out the most was that regardless of which procedure you get, yes, you have to stop smoking. I'm not sure why, but that part seems to stand out.