Any locals?

[Delaware 0]

hello everyone! I am alive and kicking today. Doing much better than I thought I would. I am a little over 48 hours post op. Trying to get all the liquid and Protein in. I called Sam (the dietician) and he said that I need to take it slow over the next few days and will soon be able to get the 64/64 in.

I had the surgery at St Francis. I could not have asked for a better experience. Everyone there was kind. There is a bariatric section. I pretty much had a nurse to my beckon call. The room was large and private. I hugged the nurse before I left.

I am sore in the surgical sites, but am doing better than I thought I would be able to. I have a lot of gas. It has no where to go. So I am waiting for it to come out the other end. haha. It feels funny that I cannot properly burp. I guess that is something that I will have to get used to. How long did everyones gas last? How long was is until you were able to get the 64 oz in per day that is recommended?

[three sixty six 1]

hey, Delaware! glad to hear everything went well. from what i've read, the gas just takes time to either get absorbed or expelled. sounds mighty pleasant! :regular_smile:

sam is great. i love how he always talks in the third person. "Sam thinks you should not be eating that." haha...

how are you feeling otherwise? do you feel the band? can you tell something's there now? curiosity has the better of me.

glad to hear your SFH experience went well. they don't call 'em Centers of Excellence for nothin! (i hope)... update us when you can.

[hopeinapril 1]

Hi everyone!

Delaware, I hope you are feeling better. It took me a little longer than it seemed to take many folks to feel better. Right now, at almost 2 weeks out, I feel pretty good. I still have some pulling sensations and gas, but I am doing ok.

Hey Lynn:

How are you feeling? I know you are little further along than I am. Are you going back to work this week?

AMC! Your date will be here before you know it. It did seem to go much quicker than I thought it would.

366! I do feel the port. Not from the outside, but I feel a pulling sensation on my abdomen. Of course, I am not completely healed yet either. I can feel the band when I drink too much too fast. I get an immediate pain in my shoulder. I haven't done that too much.

Glad everyone had a good experience at St. Francis. Overall, they were OK. They were a little busy when I was there. I think they were a little understaffed. Overall, I like the annex though. Sam and Maryellen seem nice. I think I will try to hit the meeting on Tuesday night. I think it is a lapband support group.

[lynnt1215 1]

update: Post op was Friday, 4/4, lost 10# since surgery on 3/19, total weight loss since first of the year is 25#.

What meeting is Tuesday night. Maybe hitting a support meeting will do me some good.

I am not feeling any restriction, at least it doesn't feel that I am

Dr. Wynn pushed me up to mushies since I have been hungry on liquids. I find I can still get in 8oz of liquid in about 15-20 minutes and feel no restriction or difference than before. I am following the diet as suggested though. CAlled the office and was told the liquid will just flow through.. so hoping to feel a difference when i really get to the mushies this week

I go back to work WEdnesday, 3 weeks after surgery. I could have stayed out longer, Dr. Wynn said whenever I felt like going back she was ok with.

I can feel my port from the outside, and still feel a bit of pulling internally to the lower left of the port.

Look forward to more info and updates from everyone, and some news on upcoming support groups

[hopeinapril 1]

Hi Lynn!

Congrats on the weight loss! That is wonderful! Glad you are moving to mushies. I'm feeling hungry with just liquids.

The lapband support group is tomorrow (Tuesday) night at the St. Francis Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. They are located in the office next to CHRIAS in Newark. It is from 6-7:30. The title is Behavior Modification Education and Lapband Support group. I see nothing to indicate that they don't welcome everyone. (I know Christiana charges $5 to non-Christiana patients)

It is my intention to be there tomorrow night. I haven't actually been to one of these meetings yet because of the way things worked out for me. But, I believe they are for lapband only issues, not the gastric bypass.

I went back to the office today. I had worked from home Thursday and Friday. I only work until 2 on Mondays and I'm glad. It was stupid stuff like putting paper in the copier that surprised me. I am going to take some tylenol soon. But, it was good to be back!

Edited April 7, 2008 by hopeinapril

[Delaware 0]

Hey guys. I am glad to hear that everyone is doing so well. I must say that the every day I have been getting better and better. I start back to work tomorrow and am looking forward to it.

I have been to a couple of the support meetings with Saint Francis. Most of the people there are people who are waiting to get the band and asking pre-band questions. Alot of the insurances companies require attendance.

But I will try to make it. It would be nice to meet a few fellow banders.:biggrin2:

[lynnt1215 1]

You'll see me there Tuesday night. I even changed my 5pm appt so I would be able to get there.

HopeInApril - last time i saw you was our life skills class, look forward to seeing you again,

Delaware - hope you can make it, we will just have to ask who we all are since we have no pics.

look forward to seeing both of you.

Lynn

[Delaware 0]

Will be glad to see you guys. Hope all can make it!

[Laura_MD 5]

Hi everybody,

I am Laura. I used to live in Delaware, but I now live just over the southern border in Salisbury, Maryland. So I check out the MD & DE boards. I see that a couple of you are on liquids and/or mushies, and you are hungry. We can't have that, so I want to offer a recipe that my husband made for me during my pre-op and post-op liquid weeks. It is pumpkin Soup, but you can substitute butternut squash if you don't like pumpkin. Now don't think pumpkin pie, this is a savory Soup with an excellent flavor that will not remind you of pie. The greatest thing about it is that it is full of Fiber so it really fills you up.

Pre-op, I could eat a bowl and it would last me about 2-3 hours. Post-op, I could eat 6-8 tablespoons and I was full for 3-4 hours. it really is very tasty and very filling. I don't know what I would have done without it!

I hope you enjoy it,

Laura

Pumpkin Soup

1 Large Can of Whole Pumpkin (NOT Pumpkin Pie Mix)*

1 Cup of chicken Stock

2 Cups of Fat Free Milk or Fat-Free, Lactose-Free Milk

2 Tbsp Sugar or 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

6 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary

6 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

3 Tbsp Mild Curry (Optional)

Salt

Pepper

In a large pot, stir the pumpkin, milk, and chicken stock while heating on low. Add the sugar or syrup and stir. If you like curry, add the curry and stir. Tie the fresh rosemary and thyme together with a string and place it in the mixture. Cover the pot and simmer slowly for an hour. Afterward, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the rosemary and thyme or store the pot in the refrigerator with the herbs still in the pot. The soup will be even better the next day infused with the herbs.

* You can substitute a large baked Butternut Squash for the pumpkin if you prefer. Just cut a large squash in half length-wise. Place face-down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350˚ until soft, about 30-45 min. Scoop out the squash and substitute for the pumpkin.

[lynnt1215 1]

the recipe for pumpkin Soup looks great.

For Delaware and HopeInApril - at the support group tonight I'll be wearing a red top and gray sweat pants. It is still so hard to wear anything tight around my waist, the one incision spot get to much friction. even though I can already see a change in how my clothes fit. See you tonight.

Lynn

[Fairysaddle 0]

Hello everyone! I met several of you tonight at the St. Francis Lap support group.

I live in Newark, and was banded on 1/29/08 by Dr. Wynn.

Nancy

[three sixty six 1]

hello hello! it was great meeting you tonight! let's keep this thread going, ok?

[lynnt1215 1]

It was great to meet everyone last night.

Keep up the good work !!

I am off to work today, furst time in 3 weeks, wish me luck!!

I'll let you know how mt day went

[hopeinapril 1]

It was wonderful to meet everyone last night. I really enjoyed the support group meeting. It wasn't quite what I expected. The time went quickly for me.

Well, good news! I have lost 8 punds since surgery. Woohoo! OK, I'm not setting any records, but for me that is a good loss. I'm a little over 15 pounds until I reach my first mini goal. With any luck I will reach that by the end of May or beginning of June!

It's nice to see you on the board Fairy!

Thanks for the pumpkin Soup idea. As I spoke with Sam today, I realized that I have more liquid ideas that I realized. Alas, no early move to mushies for me. But, when I told Dr. Peters that I had eaten some yogurt with no problem, he did say it was OK for that. He did say I could eat some stuff with a thicker consistency. What great news for me! I'm happy that I can eat some yogurt from time to time. I also bought some sugar free fudge pops. They have a few more calories than the ice pops, but not much.

Lynn: How was your first day?

366 - I keep forgetting you work at a law firm. So do I! What kind of law does your firm practice? I work for a defense firm.

Delaware - How about your first day back?

[Fairysaddle 0]

Congratulations on the 8 lbs! That's great for just a couple weeks.

I'm eager to hear how the first day went, too.

I had my first minor PB today. I got stuck on chicken salad (canned chicken) with low fat triscuits. I've been slightly stuck a couple times, but this is the first time I actually gagged. Very little came up, but I guess the muscle contraction was enough to get things unstuck. Not fun.

I've had problems with the triscuits before. I'm trying to decide whether that's a bad thing and I should throw them away, or if it is a good thing and I should have them more often because I don't eat as much.

Oh, I also made it back to the gym today after a 2 1/2 week lull. I just had a few weeks of big family obligations, plus my daily schedule completely changed. I have to start going in the morning right after I get my son off to school. I am sooooooo not a morning person. It's going to be tough getting used to the new routine.