I am now one month away from being banded so I decided to start my own journal/blog to chronicle this adventure.

Last night I had an interesting dream. I dreamed that the colleagues I used to go to WW@Work with, all went to a seminar for a weight loss diet that involved eating very small amounts but with whole wheat pita. I said that I was not going to go because I was being banded, but I found myself wanting to try it and then being indecisive about getting the band. A reflection of my (as Jack would say) 52nd thoughts.

I yo yo from being so excited to terrified and can hardly wait to wishing it was 2 months away! (Although I have gained 5 lbs since I had my consult - eating all this junk to give in to the cravings).

I am so glad I found the board with all of you. You are all so supportive of each other and seem to genuinely care that we all do well. I know I am making the right decision and reading the posts make me feel that there will not be any surprises. I have confidence in Dr. Yau and the team. I think they too have my best interests at heart and will look after me.

Then...it will be up to me to make this work. I can. I will.

Susan

I was banded by the TLBC gang and experienced moments of sheer blind terror before the operation. Recovering from the operation was really easy and I am ten years older than you, SusanSilver.

Before being operated on I always mention that anaesthesia gives me nausea and the docs then will add something extra into the intravenous pipeline in order to take care of that.

The first few days after the lap band operation I found myself pleasantly coasting on the narcotics which they gave me. The only problem I had was with gas cramps. Ugh! If you make a point of walking around your house these will go away. If you do what I foolishly did, and that is spend your time in bed reading and drifting in and out of a narcotic haze, the cramps will stick around for a long, long time. I suffered more pain from gas than I did from the incisions.

As for the cottage cheese and yogurt, after you come off the post-op liquid regimen that stuff is going to taste absolutely fabulous - and I am not kidding.

Hi Green! Nice to see you here. Thanks for the tips. Today will be a challenge for me as I am going to see a movie with a girlfriend. I LOVE MOVIE POPCORN and I am sure that the smell will be difficult. But I will buy a diet soda and that will fill me up.

1 1/2 weeks until I join the ranks. I am very excited!!! I had to go buy a robe yesterday because I never wear one at home and I need it for the hospital, so I went into Penningtons. You know what. There are a lot of obese people. Not just me and not just at Penningtons! I went to the food court to find my DH and daughter and was just noticing how many people are not just fat...but truly obese. I am so glad that I am able to do this. I don't want to be one of those unhealthy looking people any longer!

When we went grocery shooping yesterday I told DH that it is too difficult for me to cook so we bought lots of microvave entrees and he said he will wing it this week. I am very proud of him. Especially because we bought chicken drumsticks and he made shake and bake which my daughter loves. (Okay the mased potatoes were ready made, but asd he said he is working his way up and tonight will serve a vegetable)!

I adore him!!! :kiss2:

Made it throught the movie! I am excited to see the results I get on the scale tomorrow morning. I of course have been weighing myself everyday, but tomorrow is the official 1 week and I will change my ticker.

I can do this!!!!

My ticker moved!!! Boy that feels good. Worth the dreaded CC&Y. Another week and 1/2 to go.

Last night I didn't think I would make it. I was climbing the walls, but I feel better this morning and getting on the scale definitely helped.

Onwards!

Don't get ticker obsessed, grrl. This business of losing weight is a combination of a whole lot of things or so it seems to me. For sure there is the poundage loss thing but there is also the sudden drop down into smaller sizes, the realisation that you simply are not eating as much as you were before, and there will be an array of other NSV signs. You will notice a difference in your stamina, flexibility.... Your doctor may comment on your BP or say something in the way of 'oh, wow, you've lost quite a bit of weight lately.' This is what my doc said the last time I saw her. I had to remind her that it was because I had the lap band surgery last September and not because I have cancer or whatever! LOL

All of this is to say that you will get plenty of feedback from other sources than your scale during your weight loss journey. I should tell you that I don't own a scale and until the morning of my operation had refused to step on a scale and look at my weight since I was 25 years old. Yep, I had gone for over 36 years without knowing how much I weighed! :heh: Anyhow, when I walked into the operation I wore a size 18W pant and yesterday I bought a size 12P pant. I was totally flabberghasted and so I have been wearing 'em today just to make sure that I wasn't in a cheap dream over the first nice weekend of 2007. And yah, they still fit! (woot)

That is truly an inspiration for me Green. You have done extremely well. Do you weigh yourself now or just go by how you feel in your clothes?

Nope, I still have a phobia about the weigh in. In fact the only times I do get a weigh in is when I go to TLBC for a fill and that is because I am fascinated by their hi-tech scale. The thing gives you a full read-out including BMI and your ideal weight given your height, age, sex, yadda, yadda.... I've been functioning pretty much entirely on NSVs: compliments, how my clothes are fitting and what sizes I can now buy. I prefer to work this way because pounds don't have any visual reality for me and yet knowing that I am carrying a lot of them is going to upset me. This is why I gave up on weighing myself when I was 25. If I weighed 200 lbs, but could fit into a size 8 and have the blood pressure of a baby, I wouldn't care. It is the NSVs which count for me.

And, by the way, here is one change which will really lift your spirits while you are suffering through your tedious pre-op diet, now that I am banded I find that I do eat much, much less than I did before I was banded and I find that I don't miss the nosh. The appetite is no longer there. This has really freed me up and it is this which has helped me lose weight.

Of course you must work on reassessing your eating patterns during your recovery period and this can be quite interesting. I have never been fond of soft drinks and I do like water so I kinda lucked out there.

I've also never been too fond of using prepared foods but since being banded I have become fussy about looking at those Nutrition Facts labels with which our Canadian prepared foodstuffs come supplied. I learned that those great tasting Gardenay soups, the ones I lived on during the full liquid phase of my recovery, are fairly empty of the vita Cs. Eggs are loaded with the Bs. I've learned to avoid the frozen lo-cal dinners, a staple when I first graduated out of the mushie stage; they are low on calories and they are low on nutrients, too.

Of course this new found hobby of mine has often put me between a rock and a hard place. This is because I really don't enjoy cooking - just eating. In the pre-band days I ate a lot of roughage-rich carbs, cholesterol rich protein (i.e. cheese), and fresh vegetables. Healthy but very fattening, especially when eaten in big quantities!

Now I eat a lot of those little tins of tuna that Cloverleaf produces, the seasoned ones with the pop tops, yogurt, tzatziki, baked flatbreads, poached eggs with old cheese and salsa, avocados with fresh vegetables and a home made vinaigette, and stir-fries. I also occasionally make pasta with fresh vegetable but now this meal will last me two to three meals instead of just one.

It is also easier for me than for most lap banders to tinker with my eating habits. My husband works second shift, I am retired, and we have become comfortable with fending for ourselves. This has turned out to be a long post, hasn't it?

So I got over yesterday's hellish day. Not fun at all. I did take people's advice and did et more towards the end of the day and I think that helped. Trying to eat more today.

Last night I was fantasizing about a fresh roll and butter. I was watching tv with Lily and I could see myself going to get that roll, getting out the Becel, slathering it on and taking a big bite. That was a HUGE struggle. I had to keep telling myself that this is not a fad diet I am on, it is for my health and to ensure the surgery will go well.

I am proud to say that I did not eat it and after waking up this morning, my resolve was strenghtened. I am so glad.

Can't stop thinking about LL's friend who died from a massive heart attack before getting WLS. I keep thinking it could be me. I am grateful that I am able to have this surgery. No more MORBIDLY obese for me.

Hmmm..Something strange. I have not lost any weight for a couple of days. I have stuck to this CC&Y diet like glue so I am a little disappointed. I know it's not for this reason but still....The first week I lost 14 lbs. I wonder if my body is in "starvation" mode?

Any guesses anyone?

Hmmm..Something strange. I have not lost any weight for a couple of days. I have stuck to this CC&Y diet like glue so I am a little disappointed. I know it's not for this reason but still....The first week I lost 14 lbs. I wonder if my body is in "starvation" mode?

Any guesses anyone?

I doubt you would be in starvation mode yet. What may be happening is that you are gaining back some of the water weight that you initially lost, but that is being offset by a real loss in fat so the net effect is no loss.

I would not worry about it. Look at the overall picture, 14lbs already is great, you must be able to hear you liver shrinking .

Andrew

That makes sense Andrew. Yeah my liver is sounding like the Wicked Witch of the West (I'm melting.....)

I realized I haven't posted on here for a while. Didn't want to forget. Last night I had a little cheat again. Maybe I am wrong and for others who might read this, don't follow my example, but I feel that my liver must be in pretty good shape from 2 weeks of this cr*p, so I am not terribly worried about it. I will now continue on to the end, only 2 more days and then 1 day liquid and then...taa daa!

There is a great video on this forum that I watched yesterday which shows the whole procedure on the lap monitor. Fascinating stuff. Funny that I feel less nervous and more confident after watching it. I think it is because I see that for the surgeons it is a relatively easy operation. So it will go for me....easy peasy!

Good luck, grrl! I'll be waiting to read all about it!

HI: I read the postings on the difficulties people are having. I am retired and cooking is done every meal for my hubby. I don't know why, but although I felt sorry for myself the odd time, I sat and watched him eat but it never registered that I couldn't eat. It helps that I like cc but I was so desparate for this band that I had made up my mind no matter what I was going to get it. I was and am tired of living a 300 lb life. My objective in writing how I felt, is to point out your original reason for getting the band. Don't loose site of it. At the seminar, it was pointed out that the liver is a very delicate organ and the doctors have to move it aside to put on the band. The liver can be easily damaged so the smaller the liver the better it is for you. Does this little reminder help any of you "in waiting banders"???? I hope so. Doddie

There is a great video on this forum that I watched yesterday which shows the whole procedure on the lap monitor. Fascinating stuff. Funny that I feel less nervous and more confident after watching it. I think it is because I see that for the surgeons it is a relatively easy operation. So it will go for me....easy peasy!

Susan,

Can you please tell me where you accessed the video? I vaguely remember seeing one while doing my research on the matter. I would not might seeing another one (or maybe it's the same one - which is o.k.).

Thanks.