Hi all,

Thanks for starting this thread. I will be banded on Oct 15, 2007. Anyone else to be banded on that date? It would be nice to have a buddy to help me through this process. I am married and a mother of 3 grown children. I am 49 years old and need to lose 100 lbs. I would love to hear from you.

Hi,

I just joined and am still trembling at my decision!

My date for surgery is 7 days after yours.

I have 30 kilos to lose, 66 pounds I think, and am pretty scared at this point.

How are you feeling about the prep and surgery?

Coo

Hi fluffy...... I am having my surgery on the 16th, and I need to lose 100 lbs also... I am a little bit older than you and have 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 1 great-granddaughter...

I am self pay and having my surgery done in Denver, Colorado by Dr Kirshenbaum... I will be starting my pre-op diet on the 2nd and he requires a high Protein, low carb diet which is essentially the Atkins diet.... I have been on that diet before so I'm not expecting any complications, however it does require portion control and lately I have been very terrible at that.... I have also picked up the bad habit of grazing all day... I have just about eaten up all of the junk food I have around, so I won't have an temptation laying around calling my name. :confused:

I will be happy to give you support throughout your process.... I'm sure that others being banded in October will be here for support too.... :clap2:

Thank you Nicnaknut for your reply. I would love to have you be my "buddy" through this. It is a scary process, but will be made easier having someone to talk to. I am also self-pay. My husband is wonderful and willing to pay for this. I am so thankful for that since we have BCBS they won't pay a penny! I am having my banding at Topeka, Ks. by Dr. Jim Hamilton who happens to be an old friend of ours. The thing I am most "worried" about is missing the foods that I love. Do you have those feelings too? Thanks again and hope to hear from you again. ----Fluffyinks

Hi Coo,

I meant to say hi to you also when I replied to nicnaknuk. Thank you also for your reply. As you can tell, I am very nervous about the pre-op diet. That will be very hard for me. How about you? I'm not so nervous about the surgery since I have had surgery before and know what to expect. I would love to keep in touch with you. Where are you from? ---Fluffyinks

Hi Fluffy.... Oh boy do I ever have worries about not being able to eat some of the foods that I so dearly love... I have been stressing about Thanksgiving for over a month now.... I will be on the road working my way to Colorado while I am doing my pre-op diet.. We will stop along the way to see relatives and I know they will want to go out to eat... On one of the stops we will be celebrating one of our grandson's birthday and that will have cake and ice cream... Yike's... I hope I can resist... Then in November there is another grandson's birthday and Thanksgiving and then our great-granddaughter's first birthday, then more birthdays and Christmas..... Sometimes I think I picked the wrong time of year to have surgery, with all of the celebrations going on.... I hope yours will be different...

Hi Nacnakut,

Sounds like we have the same worries. I am going to Colorado on Wed. to visit with my daughter for a week. I start my liquid diet on Friday. Not good planning. My daughter is very supportive and wants to lose a few pounds also, so it will be OK being with her. My other problem is that I have a lot of family in Colorado who aren't as supportive. It will be an interesting week. At least I will be busy visiting and hopefully won't be really hungry. If we stick together, we CAN do this. --Hugs

Hi Fluffy

I'm really nervous too - I keep telling myself, WHY are you doing this to yourself? And then I let myself feel.....you know, and then I know why I'm doing this. I'm realy really worried about the vomiting and coping in general post op.:eek:

Even now, I keep telling myself that I "should" be able to lose the weight on my own, but of course I've been trying to do that for 20 years, the usual yoyo story.

Have you started the liquid diet yet?

Hi Coo,

Yes, I am nervous too. The closer it gets, the more nervous I get. Not so much for the surgery since I have had surgery before, but because of the life change ahead of me. food has been such a good friend of mine. I told my husband that it is almost like a death. Do you feel this way too?

I also tell myself that I should have been able to do this myself, but obviously I can't. At times I feel like such a failure.

The other thing I am worried about is that I am a stress eater. Now what will I do when I am stressed??? :eek:

Good talking to you.

It is so reassuring to hear others have been going through the battle with their mind (and pantry) :eek:

I felt like I had lost all self control at times over the last month. I'd find myself eating away all the 'tempting' foods to make the house safe, then going and replacing them with more!

Thankfully, due to intermittently being on Optifast, I managed not to put on more weight, and for some reason now that I'm two weeks pre-op I seem to be finding the optifast easier to manage.

I've heard other bandsters refer to wanting a 'band for their head' ... I can understand that sentiment.

I was thinking about losing my good friend food, and then I realised while food may well have been my constant companion, it's been as much my mortal enemy as my best friend.

I can't wait to get my band and learn to see food for what it is; just fuel for my body that I can forget about most of the time! I feel like Pinocchio saying, "I'm going to be a real girl!" :clap2:

My band date is the 10th, only a few days away. Very nervous. I go the 5th to sign concent. When you start on the diet, if you use slim fast, it makes it taste better to freeze it till it gets slushy.

I am 52 and very worried about not being able to lose weight. I have tried several times in the past year only to shed a couple here and there.

I went to my mothers Sunday and took my can of food with me, mom was the usual mom, can't understand why I won't eat. I want to shed 110 pounds.

Hi Fluffy.... Oh boy do I ever have worries about not being able to eat some of the foods that I so dearly love... I have been stressing about Thanksgiving for over a month now.... I will be on the road working my way to Colorado while I am doing my pre-op diet.. We will stop along the way to see relatives and I know they will want to go out to eat... On one of the stops we will be celebrating one of our grandson's birthday and that will have cake and ice cream... Yike's... I hope I can resist... Then in November there is another grandson's birthday and Thanksgiving and then our great-granddaughter's first birthday, then more birthdays and Christmas..... Sometimes I think I picked the wrong time of year to have surgery, with all of the celebrations going on.... I hope yours will be different...

This is the best time of year to get banded - you won't be gaining weight during the holiday season you will be losing -:clap2: Think of it that way in a more positive light instead of the negative - omg i can't eat - well - that's why you are getting the band cuz you over eat... You can have a taste of this or that the band isn't going to stop you - you can have a bite or 2 of cake - just not those hugh and more than one piece that you had before - you can have turkey - mashed potatoes - stuffing - gravey - pie etc - where does it say you can't - it's just you will be eating alot smaller portions and of course you should be making wise & healthy food choices - low fat, low sugar - this is about a lifestyle change You can learn to reprogram your mind to strip away the guilt that comes with dieting. You have to realize that it’s not that the first slice of cake that will doom your diet – it’s the second or third or whole thing that leads to weight gain.

As to giving our BEST FRIEND FOOD up - is it really your best friend??? it made you (when I am saying you - I do me WE) fat and unhealthy and is robbing you of your life.... It's not your best freind - it is your drug of choice - you have been hiding behind it for most of your life - we eat to sooth our emotions - boredom - stress - cuz it taste good = sertionan increase in our brain - our high... Ya i felt all these emotions too- (i was on pre-op diet for my Sons BD) I just put on my big girl panties and deal with it - We are not weak people - we gotta stop thinking like one - we gotta quit makeing up all these reason we are going to fail before we even start - (this was always my biggest problem)..

You have to listen to your body & respond smartly to your cravings and emotions but over time you will learn how to eat right and mange your craving and that’s when you’ll train your brain to stop obsessing about eating right and punishing yourself – If you stop over thinking you’ll stop over eating..

Dear Fluffy,

I too had the band surgery in Topeka Kansas by Dr Bernsten from Tallgrass General Surgery Center. I was banded on Aug 20th 2007 and all is well with me. I go for my first fill tomorrow. I had no complications and went back to work in 13 days. I only took the pain meds for 2 days and then went to regular tylenol. I now am very hungry all the time, so Im looking so forward to my first fill tomorrow. I would love to keep in touch with you after your surgery. My email is awesometwo@sbcglobal.net Good luck to you in your surgery, I know you will do great. If I can help with anything just ask I will always be there for you.

Nulife

Thank you all for your comments. State UR Worth and Indiogirl, you are both absolutely right. Thank you for pointing out that food has not been my friend. This is why I have failed before, I have always thought of it as comfort, when it has really been poison. I will start today with a different attitude about food. ---Hugs

Neuife2be, I will e-mail you. How did you handle the pre-op diet? I am starting to get kind of excited about it. Good to know there are other "Kansas" bandsters out there.

Hey Fluffyinks we are band-day sisters. I am in soCal and will have mine placed at 8am. My doctor requires a 2 week diet of optifast-like protein powder. I actually have tons of ready-to-drink optifast from trying that method last year near this time (more like January '07). Obviously I didn't have the wherewithall to complete that on my own but with the lapband I think optifast will be feasable for short term fasts after placement. I want to get this weight off as quickly as possible. I've done weight-watchers like forever and know the ropes backwards and forwards. My problem was being hungry alllll the time. This should be cured with the lapband. I will keep you posted as to how my preop is going and you do the same. Meet ya here tomorrow k? God bless you. Valerie