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Tomorrow - My New Life Begins



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My name is Angela and I am 36 years old. I live in Gainesville, GA with my husband and 16 year old son. I work in one of the state's largest school district at the central office level. My official starting weight is 230, but I have lost 8 pounds during the pre-op diet phase.

I am scheduled to be banded tomorrow morning (August 15th) at 7:30! :tongue_smilie:

I guess I am having all of the normal feelings.....excited, scared, worried....just lots of emotions. I am worried that I won't be able to eat once it is done, that I will be hungry, pain (I have read many of you have experience a lot of gas pain), how can I manage the pain, what if it doesn't work and I have paid all of this money, how long will it be before I get to buy some new clothes in a SMALLER size,.....all of that kind of stuff.

I do not personally know someone who has gone through the procedure....but I would love to actually talk to someone......so this forum is great! I look forward to sharing my experience with you guys.

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Hi Angela,

First I want to wish you good luck tomorrow, we were all nervous the night before, not sure I even slept a wink that night just worrying about everything I thought there was to worry about. I don't care what hospital you go to, the nurses do their best to calm you down before surgery and the drugs take care of the rest. Before you know it you will be in recovery with another team of awesome nurses.

The first few weeks I got to tell you as far as eating goes, you pretty much don't! You are on liquids and jello's and puddings and anything that slides down easy. I was banded on July 29th and I am in the mushy phase of the diet. It was heaven eating a scrambled egg. They just want to make sure you heal correctly before you start eating "normal" foods. I can tell you one thing, when I saw the scale going down instead of up for a change, I was excited and as long as I am not hungry I don't care that I was just drinking Protein shakes and broth and eating Jello and puddings. The gas wasn't too bad for me, some people are worse than others. Get some gas x strips to use, they really help. Keep walking and moving, the gas will go away. I have lost about a pound a day since I was banded, but I am sure once I start eating normal foods that loss will slow down....it is just amazing that a 1/2 cup of food now makes me full! This is the best thing I have ever done. Good luck tomorrow, don't worry, you are going to be fine.....and when you get home, just take one day at a time.......you will succeed.:tongue_smilie:

Carol

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Hi Angela,

I'm getting my band tomorrow at 7:30 am also. It sounds like we are feeling the same way... a little nervous, but excited to get it over with.

I'm thinking of this as the beginning of a new me. I have lost over 25 pounds on the prediet and can't wait to lose more!!!

Best of luck tomorrow.

Dani

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Angela~

Good luck tomorrow! This will be the best thing that you ever do for yourself! I am one week out and I am so glad to have this tool.

Make sure you have your meds before you leave the hospital, you will be glad that you have them. You need to be sipping your Water and moving as much as possible. The movement will really help with the gas pain after surgery.

I wasn't really hungry until about the 4th or 5th day out from surgery. It is crazy how you will not be hungry and how a little bit of broth will make you full!

Good luck!

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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