Hey Everyone,

Ive been learning so much from yall over the past 4 months! I have 2 weeks, and I cant belive my time has finalllllllly arrived! Of course Im dealing with the lovely Insurance company who one minute says they cover it 90% then the next minute drops my claim, but I have faith it will all work out. Not stressin over that.

I am SO excited and ready to start this new lifestyle. I am nervous though...

I have been trying to gather from everyone's experiences and suggestions about what to take to the hospital, what to have ready at home, Vitamins to take, foods to take in accordance of course with what my doctors orders are.

I wanted to run by you guys what I have so far and see if you guys had any other suggestions for me... all is welcome.

Pre - op- doctors just wants one day of Clear liquids and nothing 12 hrs prior to surgery. (Ive considered doing low carb one week prior to help reduce the size of my liver, or adding a few days onto the the liquid pre-op)

Hospital- loose clothing, slippers, change of underwear, toothbrush, paste, body wipes, deod., brush, ...?

First days home- Mom is flying down from or home in Oregon , I got a heating pad( someone said they had a bear with hot rocks in it, thought this might work for the insicions), various jellos, gatorades, carnat. instant Breakfast ( although i hate milk, and dairy products), protien shaker, a lounge chair to sit in, should i get straws? ordered queezy pops from Bariatric Advantage

mushy stage: yogurts, Beans cheese, protien shakes, jello's, chicken broths, .....

Vitamins- ordered sublingual b12,chewable Flinstones, and Calcium ......

Entertainment: Movies!

When do you think ill be well enough to go in a car, and walk around target or something?

Sorry for the long post... just know you all are the best and I wanted to thank you.. I had to attend a 'support meeting' prior to having surgery last tuesday and was so dissapointed because out of 22 people that attended, one person was having lapband... all the rest were gastric bypass patients so Ive been able to find a lot of my information here.

Thanks again!

Get some popcicles, they saved me! Don't buy too much of the liquid things, I bought a lot thinking I could eat normal, and you really can't eat much at one time.

Take a pillow to hold over your belly for the ride home, it will help.

You sound like you are well prepared.

Good luck and keep us posted on your journey!

Oh, good idea on popsicles.. will do that.. and your right about buying a lot of the liquid stuff.. i didnt think of that either and will take that into account. and the pillow. ~ thanks again for the great advice.

You sound like the perfect prepared patient. Chapstick and hotel-room size hand lotion if you're a lizzard like me (I live in the desert.) If you go to Mexico, make sure your cell phone works there. They gave me water after surgery, but Doc allowed me the one bottle of Gatorade I brought instead. It was Heavenly after fasting 48 hours. It took me all night to sip it gone, but much, much better than water. I also have cold feet, so I brought new pink fuzzy booty socks that also kept my bare feet clean.

Sounds like you are pretty well prepared! I have heard that some feel good enough to go shopping the same day... I can't imagine that! I was darn sore especially when sitting for any length of time... I really didn't feel up to an outing until day 3 post-op. We did go to the Milwaukee Zoo on day 6 post-op... that was a mistake. I think it would have been fine if we hadn't done such a huge amount of walking over a long period of time. The worst discomfort I had post-op was at my port site... riding in a car really seemed to irritate that area or sitting up straight for a long period of time.

Good luck and congrats!

Darcy

Hi Shae

Sounds like your good to go and fairly prepared. Your in good hands with Dr. McKeen. I asked him about the amount of band patients vs. bypass. His answer was insurance, there's allot who want the band but can't get coverage. Was Sylvia the other pre-bander at the meeting?

Let me know if there's anything I can do? You've got my #

The best to you.

Walk Rest Walk Shop Walk

You are in great hands at the hospital with Dr. McKeen. He came from Colorado and I was the second patient he did at Good Sam. The nurses and everyone were fantastic. I went home early the next morning after the barium swallow to make sure all was OK. My one year anniversary was 12/29. Not a regret at all.

There is a support meeting this Wednesday night. Are you going? I will be there and would be glad to talk to you.

First few days post op was broth (Better than Bouillon) comes in a jar that you can get at Trader Joes (beef and Chicken), sugar free popsicles and propel Water. Just take at you go. Also, GNC carries a clear liquid Protein. It is called Isopure and comes in glass bottles. It really helped when I was feeling a little better and gave me a more energy. I still use it after fills or if I know I haven't eaten enough protein that day or had a PB.

His cell number is on his card and I've even had to call him on a weekend. He is so patient oriented and friendly for a surgeon.

If you need to talk to me. Just email me and I will give you my phone number.

You will do great -- keep up the good spirits and positive thoughts.

Thank you all so much for the responses! Vera, I cant remember the ladies name, I was not able to talk with her, everyone seemed nice though.. Michelle and Sue mentioned that tonight ( I have to attend another meeting) is the last time they will be doing the group. Something about a contract/and personal problems...

All of you have great advice and thank you for being so supportive. Carol, I wont be able to attend tommorrow night but is that a weekly meeting? Are there any other support group meetings for lapband in San Jose/Gilroy Area other than Wednesday Evenings? Vera, Do you attend the Wednesday meetings?

Delarla- Good idea about the chapstick.. and lotion.. I am a lizard too! And your right Darcy, ill try not to overdo it... Truth be told .. my mom and i love to take 100$ to the casino ( havent been in about a year) and I was thinking we could take a drive up to cache creek or the closest one to gilroy and play some 5C machines.. but .. that driving would probably really bother me.. Ill stick to playing cards or something at home with her and my sisters

I think Dr. Mckeen is great too, so far he and his staff have been so great. Carol, I saw your stats, we both have the same starting weight...I hope mine are like that this time next year!

In fact .. all of you have and are doing wonderfully! I cant wait to join the club.

Good luck with your surgery . Keep us updated on your progress.

Good prep job, girl! I wore a Mexican wedding dress to and from the hospital (big and roomy), no bra. Shave your legs the night before, because you may be a little sore to bend for a few days afterwards. Listen to your body afterwards, if it hurts, don't do it. I didn't have any restrictions on driving. Just as long as you're over the anesthesia and not on any pain meds. that might make you groggy.

That's probably a good plan to stay home and play. The belly can be fairly uncomfortable for a few days. So nice that your mom is coming down to see you.

I went on liquids for 3 days before to be sure nothing was in my stomach, hoping to avoid the gas. It didn't really help too much. It did get me in the mindset, though, so I'm glad I did it.

Hope all goes very well. You have certainly done your part!

I haven't been to a Good Sam's support meeting in a year, even thou that's where I met Carol. I seem to be so busy with my kids and work its hard to get up there from Morgan Hill (Ironically I'm going in for a fill in 2 hours). But I can make an effort for next month, and if you want to commute together let me know.

Carol I thought the support meetings were on the second Thursday of the month. Is it combined with the by-pass group and in the trailer?

Congratulations!!!! Be sure to have some liquid tylenol on hand, just in case you need it.

You do sound very well prepared and that's a good sign. If you take any prescription medicines, You might want to ask the pharmacist if they can be crushed and if not, take them to a compounding pharmacy so they can be made into liquids for the first month. Also, unless your doctor told you otherwise, it is not necessary to take sublingual B12. Bypass patients have to do that because of malabsorbtion, but for us, a chewable multi-Vitamin is adequate. Good luck! You are embarking on an exciting, life-changing journey.

Nancy

I am right behind you and taking notes from your list. You sound really prepared.

Lots of good info on here.

I too have been to several support goup meetings and nearly all GB patients. I so wish there were more Banders to meet. Yesterday I went for my two hour Nurtrition class with the Dietician, and three others plus one of the guests were GB patients. Just lonely me (and hubby as my support) being banded. I knew most of what she was saying didn't apply to me. It was a real waste. I had to ask for a list of the diet I should follow. Then all the way home had to tell Hubby which things applied and which didn't. Wouldn't have been so bad except we drove two hours both ways to go to it. I learn so much from here.

Vicki in Indy

Sweetness,

Yes, I understand Sue's husband is ill so she is getting Good Sam and that Michelle was working two jobs (bariatrics and Stanford and Good Sam) and is dropping her parttime job at Good Sam. I will be going to the support group meeting tonite so will keep you informed.

Dr. McKeen and I talked yesterday and I think we are going to arrange the next meeting to be informal (probably at my house as his office is too small) and have a round table discussion of what we would like to see for his support group. He even talked about maybe attending every other are just staying until his questions were answered and then allow us time to discuss. So, I'm thinking one Saturday or Sunday late this month or early next to have this at my house. Probably from 1 to 4 or something like that.

FYI -- I was wrong that he used to work in Colorado, it was Utah. I guess he will actually be going back there a couple of days a month to do lap bands there too. The fee there will be $12500 and will not require all the pretesting. I talked to one of his patients that lives in the Bay Area and she is doing this. It will be done as an outpatient and then a day or two in a local hotel with followup here. So, this might be a great alternative for people looking for reasonable price and great local followup.