I wanted to start a thread for those of us who are waiting "with bated breath" for our surgeries in March.

I am supposed to start Optifast on February 26th. I am currently waiting for the shipment, including my surgical package to be delivered. Once I get my package I am supposed to call the clinic.

Ever since committing to this surgery (which I am paying for myself via a personal loan) I have been obsessed with reading everything I can about it and about people who have had it. I am still kind of hoping for some kind of "divine word" about whether or not it is the right thing for me to do.

I am "only" 75 lbs over my ideal weight but am type II diabetic. I am trying to figure out if my reason for doing this is my health or my vanity or a combination of both. The diabetes needs to be gone (when I am 20 lbs lighter it is gone) but I am sure looking forward to losing the weight and actually keeping it off for more than 20 minutes...

Ok, So I am Banded on March 20.

I am down 20 lbs which I am thrilled about. BUT, my pants are so tight. I have my chubby checker pants on, the bigg kahunna's and they are still so tight.LOl

I would think by now some swelling would have gone down.

What do you think?

How long has it taken most people to lose the extra fluids?

re the liver thing - what i wanted to ask when they requested I shrink my liver, is how do they know its been shrunk (having not seen it to begin with>>> my pre op diet was rubbish - I was just trying to educate myself into eating 3 times a day, instead of the terrible 'grazing' !

Janine

i Know exactly what you are feeling. I am down 30 lbs and my pants are still so Tight around the waist but so baggy on the Ass and legs??? I don't get it? and a bra ??? forget it I feel like some one is sitting on my ribs with it on. I was banded on the 15 of March and am just starting mushies...I never knew a scrambled egg could taste sooooooo good. I hope things start feeling normal soon......or am I dreaming??? is this the new normal???

I haven't even had a fill yet...not due for that till May 1st.

Am I the only one who is hopeing that I don't need a fill anytime soon? I am praying that I can get by without one for a long, long time. I think it is that I am afraid the something will go wrong (too much fill, need unfill, pain, stuck, etc. etc.) My band is working great at 10 days post op and I am very lucky because I don't feel hungery. I know that I might have some more swelling to get down and that my hunger level is going to increase, I just hope that a fill is NOT in the near furture.

Way To Go Mrs. Husker!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Know It Must Geel Grrrreat To Think....i Am Never Going To See That Number On My scale Again!!!!!

So Happy For Mrs. Husker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs. Husker. You may still have some swelling. It takes about 2 weeks for the swelling to go away. Some more some less. If you are losing good and not having hunger problems they may not fill you. I have a friend that uses the same doc as I do and her weight loss was at a steady pace after one fill. When she went back the next time they said she did not need one. She is just now feeling like she may need another one pretty soon. Some people find their sweet spot before others.

re the liver thing - what i wanted to ask when they requested I shrink my liver, is how do they know its been shrunk (having not seen it to begin with>>> my pre op diet was rubbish - I was just trying to educate myself into eating 3 times a day, instead of the terrible 'grazing' !

I think that surgeons have experience with people with certain BMI's. As a rule most have large fatty livers. I read that somewhere on here. I am sure some may not have large fatty livers, I think they have to go by the rule of thumb. Any shrinking is a plus. It is a safty factor. Besides, we lose weight in the process. Makes sense to me.

I've heard that also. Recommendations are to avoid any NSAID's (including Ibuprophen) as they are stomach irritants and can cause ulcers and possibly erosion. liquid Tylenol or Vicoden was all that I was told to take for pain.

I too got the no asprin lecture + it was written on my meds bottle. I only took the prescribed meds for 1 day and feel much better with just the tylenol.

I had surgery on wednesday and these hunger pangs are killing me! Does ANYONE have any suggestions?

Good luck to everyone!

I also was banded wed. I have not had to many hunger pains, but I am always drinking water. I am not sure what plan your doctor has you on, but I was able to drink protiein shakes the next day. I do not think the pre mixed ones (slimfast) are not very filling. If they were perhaps we would not have needed to be banded. Anyway, I am drinking EAS powder and mix it with soy milk for a whopping 37 grams of protiein per serving. I also drink drink creamy soup-split pea is high in protiein, again thinned with soy milk. Drink them all slowly. Although they are allowed, I am staying away from drinkable yougurt cuz I can not find one that is low in sugar, nor high enough in protein. Good luck. And make sure those cravings are not just in your head!!!

Am I the only one who is hopeing that I don't need a fill anytime soon? I am praying that I can get by without one for a long, long time. I think it is that I am afraid the something will go wrong (too much fill, need unfill, pain, stuck, etc. etc.) My band is working great at 10 days post op and I am very lucky because I don't feel hungery. I know that I might have some more swelling to get down and that my hunger level is going to increase, I just hope that a fill is NOT in the near furture.

I feel exactly the same. My fill appointment is 4/18, and right now I can't imagine getting any more restricted. I hear all the horror stories about the fill problems. I'm almost 4 weeks post-op and barely getting in 5 ozs of pureed food at a time, and struggle getting 1000 cals. Don't think I want more restriction than this. I'd rather not get filled and take the weight off gradually. My concern is when my weight starts to go up and then I will want a fill. Hope my Dr agrees.

Congratualations on your arrival in Onederland. I hope to join you soon!

Ok, So I am Banded on March 20.

I am down 20 lbs which I am thrilled about. BUT, my pants are so tight. I have my chubby checker pants on, the bigg kahunna's and they are still so tight.LOl

I would think by now some swelling would have gone down.

What do you think?

I've taken measurements, and guess where my 20 lbs has come off - 2 " off my calves (the skinniest place on me), my hips, and my thighs. Nothing off my waist yet. It's strange how/where we lose it. It has to come off our gut sometime though......I hope.

Congratulations on 20 lbs gone for good!!

Banded today and I'm in so much freakin' pain. I've got teh liquid Lortab, the heating pad, and the awesoem family support but it just hurts so much worse than I expected. Dear Lord please help me and please pray for me guys (to whichever God you pray) I'm having a horrible time here.

Banded today and I'm in so much freakin' pain. I've got teh liquid Lortab, the heating pad, and the awesoem family support but it just hurts so much worse than I expected. Dear Lord please help me and please pray for me guys (to whichever God you pray) I'm having a horrible time here.

Oh, Medge. I'm so sorry! It is a miserable few days in the beginning, for sure. Glad you have family support. Sounds like you are doing everything right--know that this, too, shall pass. Every single day is better--I'm 11 days post-op and feeling good (except for the fact that I have another whole month of mushies--I'm SO sick of blending my food up I could scream). So the challenges change but they seem to come one after another in the beginning. Good luck to you!

I'm loving the mushies, though yesterday my eating habits could have been better. I was out most of the evening. First I went to a coffee house and I had a small thing of frozen yoghurt/gelatto that they have there. It was about half a cup. I had only had lunch that day eatng wise (slim fast for breakfast) so it wasn't like I was eating a ton. Then for dinner I went with friends to a bar in town. The town went smoke free at the new year and its wonderful! We can now go places like bars and I don't have to hold my breath. Its made me definitely more excited/willing to go out. Anyway, we went to a bar. I had some propel with me so I didn't get anything to drink though I suppose I could have gotten water. My friends, of course, are terrible. They told the waitress that I can't drink alchohol now or carbonated stuff cause I had stomach surgery so even if I did try to order something like that not to let me. LOL. I guess a no thanks wasn't good enough for them. For dinner I had dip. Well dip is a mushie and it had veggies in it. Tons of basic and garlic. I'm not how healthy it was or wasn't though. And with it came tomatoe slices which I didn't eat and some cheese which I did and also some bread. I ate the bread with it because I took the crusts off and that made it rather soft. And then once I put the dip on the bread it was even softer. And I chewed really really well and ate slowly. Now I know I wasn't supposed to eat bread and I feel bad about that, but it wasn't a lot and I figured that I was eating soft stuff to begin with and taking it slow, etc. About as close to mush as I could get out on the town (no soups there). The bread went down beautifully! Then later that night I was hungry again so I had some spinach souflee. And then I had a reeses peanut butter cup!

That is an awful lot of food! I think I went wild with it all.

So today I am doing better. I am going to eat some mush soon. So far I have had some unjury- a double scoop of it actually, and I blended in a bananna and a some strawberry too and ground all that up really well with my hand mixer. And that has kept me nice and full until now.

One thing I did notice last night was that I didn't finish all the dip and stuff because I got full first. So that is nice-- I do at least get full on food (well not ice cream which is why I have to be careful and ration that). I'm still having a lot of trouble with the length of not drinking after eating. Its getting better, but that is a hard one and I think that is going to take me some time. I think with all the junk food yesterday and stuff I just sort of went crazy, being allowed to eat again. I really need to watch that, especially making sure where my calories come from-- that I am getting protien in first and then veggies, etc.

I'm also going to check out some programs to keep track of food and calories on my PDA. That will help me out, since paper and handwriting are not things that I am the best at. I think this band is really turning out to be the tool I hoped it would be. Even if I'm not the best stuff it does make me full sooner, and I have to eat slower so I'm going to eat less of that stuff. And because I do have to think about what I eat (even if it isn't until the next day) I can't just get stuck in junk food binge mode. Sure, I have to do work like make good choices. But it helps me to not make the bad ones. Or if I do make bad ones, to not repeatedly make that same mistake, in large volume.