June 2007 Bandsters

[Holliwagz 0]

Hey just wanted to let you all know that I FINALLY have a time!! I am to be at the hospital @ 5:30am for a 7 - 7:30 surgery TOMORROW!!! I'm soooo glad to be off of shakes for a while! I sure hope I don't have to drink them after surgery!! UGH I may post more later! :-)

[quadmom 0]

Real quick-I went to my post-op appt with surgeon today.........I am down 19 lbs in less than2 weeks!!!!!!!!! Yay for me!!!!!! I am so psyched!

[captain danbo 0]

Holli: good luck in the morning. I'm sure everything will go well. I still got over a week togo but the time is going my darn fast.

I have been doing really good with the weight loss and I have been trying to eat like I got the band but I am haveing a hard time with eating slow. Does anyone have any tips for learning to eat slow? I try to make a meal last 30 mins but when it's all said and done it's really like 10-12 mins. I hope I learn so I don't feel sick after the band. Any tips would be a great help.

[captain danbo 0]

by darn fast

[ja9va 0]

Suzzzie one day at a time, after a week goes by you will forget this time of feeling bad! I still have a tender spot in my tummy, however it is not near my port site, but a little down? Not sure why.

ml and others not having bm, I think my doc said to call in two days if I didn't. But I haven't had that problem.

bcrazy GREAT to hear from you, glad all went well. Take it easy on the trips to wally mart!

quadmom great weight loss!!!!!!!

I counted up my caleries today and I am not near where I should be either. My nurse emailed me today and said I should get in 1000 calories a day, but I only got in about 600. She said to eat three meals a day and fit in another mini meal if it is low fat and below 1000. Goal of 60 grams of protien and 64 oz of water/liquids. I think this is harder than all. I may have reached 50 grams of Protein.

I had a fat free broccoli and cheese Soup with 2% milk for dinner. I ate the entire thing which was 8-10 oz, but over an hour time frame. I can feel full. I feel like drinking your Protein Drinks is the only way to get in the protein. Any other thoughts?

It is not easy.... I wish I was more help.

Good luck Holly!!!!

[JackieP12 0]

Hi all. Hope everyone is doing well.

I'm so excited. DH and I went in to one of our favorite pizza places today for lunch. (they also have the best Soup in town). When we walked in it smelled soooooo good!!!! All both of us had was a bowl of cream of broccoli Soup, and we just had the cream broth part, none of the other stuff. That soup was sooo good though compared to the canned stuff we've been eating and the chicken and beef broth. I just had to share this with everyone. Today is the first day we've been in a restaurant since our surgeries.

Suzzie-I didn't drive for a week and I think that was a good decision seeing how your little trip turned out. I drove today for the first time and it felt weird, but good. YES, I'M BORED TOO!!!! I've noticed the grilling smells also. I really miss that about this part of the eating. We used to cook A LOT on the grill, even in the winter. DH and I were just talking the other day saying when we can start soft foods, we're going to get some fish and grill it. YUM!!!!:hungry::hungry:

Congrats Big Baby-Welcome to the other side. Hope all is well with you.

Stefanie42467-DH and I went to our post op appt with the doctor today. He wanted to see our incisions and when DH lifted up his shirt, the doc started removing the strips on his incisions. Then he did the same to me. A couple of mine started to bleed, just barely so he put a bandaid on them. One of DH's bled a bit too, and a bandaid was applied to his too. We were really shocked that he did that because he told us to let them fall off by themselves too. He probably saw how icky they looked and figured we'd be better with them off. The incisions were scabbed over for the most part except for the tiny bleeding. Boy they looked a lot better than I thought they would after looking at the strips that were on there. Maybe your doc will take yours off when you go in this week.

Laura G, MaryLou-I called my nurse and she suggested Milk of Magnesia for the Constipation, that did the trick for me.

Nina S-I was thinking of doing the exact same thing with the roast, but in a crock pot, then blenderize. How did yours turn out? Was the meat in small pieces, stringy? Easy to chew?

bcrazy7-Glad you're doing okay. I had the exact opposite problem-constipation. Are you getting in any Protein? I think that would help with your problem.

Laura G-I might be getting 500 calories if even that and I'm allowed pudding, popsicles, Jello, juices, cream soup (broth only), cream of wheat, etc and I'm just not hungry enough to eat that much. I had to have my hernia stitched up too, and that has given me more problems than any of the incisions, etc. I'm wondering if that has anything to do with my not eating that much.

quadmom-WAY TO GO!!!!!:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: What's your secret??(I mean besides taking care of your kids? That would probably do it alone!! LOL!!)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL BEING BANDED TOMORROW!!!!

Hi Toni-How ya doing?

Jackie

[Nina_S 1]

Nina S-I was thinking of doing the exact same thing with the roast, but in a crock pot, then blenderize. How did yours turn out? Was the meat in small pieces, stringy? Easy to chew?

Jackie - The roast had good marbling & it cooked long enough to be really tender. When I put it in the food processor (even with the carrots & onions), the stringy parts kind stayed on top of the shredding blade but the part that was shredded was in very small pieces. Out of habit I chewed it & partly out of fear that it wouldn't agree with my new stomach but it was easy to chew. I enjoyed it - you should give it a try! Add a little au jus!!

[JackieP12 0]

Thanks Nina- Sounds absolutely YUMMY!!!!:hungry:

[TexasFire 84]

Stefanie42467-DH and I went to our post op appt with the doctor today. He wanted to see our incisions and when DH lifted up his shirt, the doc started removing the strips on his incisions. Then he did the same to me. A couple of mine started to bleed, just barely so he put a bandaid on them. One of DH's bled a bit too, and a bandaid was applied to his too. We were really shocked that he did that because he told us to let them fall off by themselves too. He probably saw how icky they looked and figured we'd be better with them off. The incisions were scabbed over for the most part except for the tiny bleeding. Boy they looked a lot better than I thought they would after looking at the strips that were on there. Maybe your doc will take yours off when you go in this week.

Oh, thank you, Jackie! Because they don't look like they will be falling off very soon.

Oh...I hope, I hope, I hope...

[Holliwagz 0]

Okee dokee guys!!! I am here and READY!!! I went into my Dr office today and weighed just to see how much more I have lost?!?! I was soooo happy to have reached my FIRST goal!! I have lost 30 lbs in 4 wks on my pre-op diet!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO I am so excited I can't hardly stand it!! I just hope and pray that I can average 10 lb a month for the next 6 moths then I will be down 90 by Christmas!?!?!?! Is this a far out goal or is this doable? I sure hope it is cause I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have that much GONE by Christmas! Okee dokee I sure hope I can sleep tonight I am so pumped and psyched!

[cbm818 0]

Wow, I have just (attempted) to catch up since my last post...you have all been very chatty!

I am going in the day after tomorrow...I am so nervous. That is normal, right? I have been eating low-fat, low-carb for two weeks and start Clear liquids tomorrow.

Good Luck to everyone being banded tomorrow!!!

:scalesno:

[thinner1 0]

I had my 2 week post op appointment with my doctor today.

My scale matches their scale. I am down 20 pounds since my first visit with my doctor and down 28 pounds from the time I first visited my primary care physician and asked him to refer me for the lapband.

My doc told me I was doing very good and that I can slowly start incorporating regular food into my meals. He said I could also slowly start incorporating any exercises I wanted to with the exception of crunches which he doesn't feel is a good exercise in general (never heard a doctor say that before!). He told me I was doing the right thing in that as soon as I start feeling pressure in my chest I stop eating.

He said my incisions are doing very well. They are all scabbed over right now. He told me to keep bandaids on them so that my clothes don't pull them off. It's better for the scarring to let them fall off naturally.

He also told me that I have the new AP band. He said he was one of the first ones to use the new band and he has been using it for a couple months now. He told me I have 8 CC small band.

I asked him about visiting a nutritionist and he suggested I wait a couple weeks until I am on regular food a couple weeks.

I told him that I joined this website and he seemed pleased about that. He said I it's good that I am getting info from people who are going through the same issues, emotions I am. So thanks everyone for joining this thread and being there for each other!

[hottytoddy 0]

First of all, congrats to all the "losers"... everybody is doing great!!

Holli - I think your goal is VERY doable... keep up the good work!!

OK.. saw the doc today. Wasn't an appointment just saw him in the Recovery Room where I work when he finished doing surgeries... Anyway, he heard about the sushi night I had and greeted me today with, "I'm not even speaking to you right now!" LOL Anyway, to make a LONG story short...

I'm to be on baby food consistancy foods til I'm 4 weeks post op, then a regular diet. After 4 weeks of regular diet (8 weeks total), I get my first fill.

I asked him about a slip before a fill and if I would even know I had done the damage... He said a slip is a very big deal. He hasn't had one in over 3 years since he started sewing the band in a different way (part of the stomach is sewn to the diaphragm). but before that, he had a patient that slipped her band in the first 24 hours post op. He said she was doubled over in pain and had horrible nausea and vomiting. he knew immediately she had slipped. He said the band is either in the right spot.. or it's not. There is no in between. He said I won't have some strange feeling in my chest or stomach or throat and wonder if I have slipped. He assured me I would KNOW I had a problem if I did.

I also asked about the size of the hole without a fill. I have a 10 cm band. He said with my stomach inside that 10 cm that the hole right now (totally unfilled) is about the size of a dime!!

He also said liquids go right through and all this stuff posted about drinking only a little bit at a time or you will hurt the band is a load of crap and that a lot of people writing on the internet don't know what they are talking about...lol...

It was a most humorous conversation that mostly entailed us arguing... when he left my coworkers asked me when he and I had gotten married cause we sure were bickering like we were... lol That's what happens when a surgeon and a stubborn patient try to have a converstation... and It doesn't go the way the subborn patient wants it to... :scalesno:

[Holliwagz 0]

This is my last post before I become a "BANDIT"!!! Thanks to all of you yet again for getting me this far! I'm sure I will be depending on you to help through the next phase! I had a dream this morning about FINALLY getting something to drink! My mouth is already sooooo incredibly dry I'm about to croak over! UGH I could guzzle a whole liter bottle right now!! MMMMMMMM hehe Thanks again and I will get back in here or have my husband post for me later on today!

[hottytoddy 0]

I'm off to Destin! Talk to ya on Sunday.. be good!!

PS - The Campbell's Select (soup in the box) Creamy Portibello Mushroom Soup is to die for!!!! Wonderful!