I thought I would start a thread so those of us being banded on the 15th can talk and discuss our progress since we are all at exactly the same point in our journeys. Hopefully we can offer advice and support to one another and it will be nice to have others who are feeling "exactly" what we are because they are in the same boat. I hope to hear from you all! Only two more days til Surgery day! I am so excited and nervous, how about you all?

Just over two weeks out and feeling pretty human. Still give myself a twinge now and then, but it feels GREAT to get in and out of bed/on and off the couch normally for a change.

My mush diet ended Thursday and on Friday I splurged with 1/5 of a donut :thumbup:, a handful of popcorn and had a dinner to attend. The dinner was interesting, I have never in my life left food on my plate unless I didn't like it - until last night! I let the waiter take most of my Pasta back and I brought home a doggie bag with at least half the main course. Crazy I say!

Definitely feeling restriction if I eat bread. There's this weird, burning, uncomfortable sensation after just a few bites. Is that what it feels like for others?

Hey everyone, I've been a little absent due to a huge ice storm here in Kentucky. Luckily we were only out of power for 2 days, unlike most people who are still out going on day 6.

Just an update, on day 9 post-op I developed a severe reaction to the skin prep that goes on underneath the steri strips. I have NEVER itched that badly in my life. I wanted to scratch until I was bleeding. Literally my incisions looked perfect on Saturday and then had 2 inches of redness all the way around (all 5) them on Sunday. I had my follow-up appointment on Tuesday and my doctor said it was a delayed allergic reaction, but gave me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case. So far they are only mildly itchy on occasion, and much less red.

At my appointment I had lost 8 lbs in 12 days, but my doctor joked that I couldn't "count" it as weight loss from the band, but due to my restricted diet. I go back on the 17th for my first fill. He gave me permission to go ahead and progress my diet off of liquids. I can pretty much eat anything I want that's chewed well or soft to begin with, but he wants me to go to hard things one week before my fill. I have noticed a little discomfort if I swallow a large bite or eat a little too much, but overall I feel satisfied with way less food than I used eat. I have only minor pain if I over-do it on the lifting or just try to take on too much in one day, but for the most part I'm not bothered by it at all.

To be perfectly honest, I've actually been eating pretty much anything I want, only the portions are a lot smaller. My doctor told me that that the reason we stay on soft food for a while is because of the fear of throwing up. I thought it had something to do with the actual band, but he said it is so the sutures don't come loose due to vomiting. Apparently there's a lot smaller chance of getting sick on the mushy food. I thought that was interesting information to know.

I hope the rest of you are doing as well as I am, minus the allergic reaction. I wouldn't wish that on anyone!!

Mellygirl, I am in Ky too...my power went off in the night Tuesday and just got my power back on Saturday night around 10pm. Still have LOTS of debris to clean up and lots around me still have no power. Anyhow, I am a 1/15/09 bandster too. Go back for my post op visit with the doc this afternoon. I was supposed to go last Thursday but since the ice storm hit, everything in my town still had no electric. So big first "official" weigh in this afternoon at 3pm. I know per my home scales I have lost around 30# total since the preop diet and me cutting out the Mcd's trips started 12/19/08. I am not having any real big troubles...still battling the gas pains and the (sorry) constipation but it is getting better each day. And i am still a little tender around my mid abdomen, and I am on the SOFT diet right now till 2/12. THEN I will probably get an adjustment. I do not regret one second of my choice to have the surgery!!! Teresa

Teresa, which town are you in? I am right between Ft. Knox and E'town. My surgery was done in Louisville at Norton Hospital and my surgeon is up there too. My follow-up appointment with Dr. Kehdy ended up being on the first day of the ice storm and the normal 40 minute drive to Louisville took 2 hours! There's nothing like driving 35 MPH on I-65.

hey mellygirl. I live in Murray in Calloway County (about 45 minutes southeast of Paducah). We got absolutely hammered by the ice last Tuesday. There is still a big portion of our county and the surrounding counties that do not have power yet...they are saying it could be up to 30 days for some of them...) My follow up was scheduled for last Thursday but Murray still had spotty power, pretty much no landline phones working and NO cell service for AT&T (which is my carrier-no landline phone anymore) and my surgeon was closed...he is in Murray at the Murray Calloway County Hospital. WOW...that slow on I-65...that has to be a record or something...lol. I know I always feel like I am on Star Trek in "Warp Factor 9" when I exit at Etown to head to Louisville!! Keep in touch felllow Blugrass sista!!

Hi everyone My Name is Nancy and I was banded on the 15th also everything is going well went on my first post op visit I lost 13lbs since surgery. I will be out of work for 4wks due to a lifting restriction. So I am taking care of myself for once. Hope to talk to someone soon. I enjoyed reading all the blogs.

Teresa - I've been to Murray, it's not too far from us.

Nancy - Welcome, and I'm glad you are taking it easy. I had a 5 lb. lifting restriction for two weeks, and now I have a 40 lb. restriction for another 5 weeks. I overdid it one day and I could really tell. That day I crashed and had to go to bed at 7:00 pm.

hi everyone!

I am wondering the status of everyone's steri-strips?? Only one little set of mine have fallen off -- the rest seem pretty comfortable sticking around for a while!!

Has anyone's already fallen off??

I had 11 steri strips total. On day 2, I lost one and then day 5 lost all but 4 of them on my port incision. By day 7 they had all fallen off. Then day nine I had the allergic reaction. Your incisions should be healed by now, but you may want to call the doc's office and see if you can remove them. I would think they should have fallen off on their own by now.

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all are doing fine. I wanted to know what are you guys doing to make sure get enough protein everyday? Also,do anyone know where I can find a list of fill doctors for Florida? I will be ready for a fill at the end of Feb.

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

Hey Lilli, you may want to try Fill Centers USA, here's a link and you can look it up by your zip code.

www.fillcentersusa.com

Only a couple of my strips fell off by themselves. At 3 weeks post op, took the rest of them off. No problems. One incision had a little scab still and one looks red (I've been applying antibiotic cream just in case), but otherwise no problems.

I haven't had any problems getting in my Protein without nasty drinks or shakes. There have been a couple of low days that I did fill in the gap with a shake, but not many. The trick for me has been protein at every meal, no matter what. Starting the day with 1/2c cottage cheese (14g), yogurt (5g) and V8 (3g) plus some other protein source for lunch and then whatever I ate for dinner has been easily hitting the mark. If I was just a little short, I had a second yogurt for "dessert". It does help to stock your house with high protein foods though. Milk products, tuna, peas, chicken, Beans, etc.

Best of luck to you!

I didn't have steri strips...I had surgical glue and some internal stitching.

Hi Everyone starting on friday I will be on phase 4 of my eatting plan. I can not wait. I feel pretty good but the test will be when I go back to work. I am a nurse and I due the 12hr night shifts. And I am out of work due to my lifting restrictions. :sleep:So does anyone have any suggsetions in how I should plan my meals?

Congrats on advancing your diet! I am allowed to eat anything I want now too, even thick meats and veggies. My doc wanted me to have a full week of regular diet before my first fill on the 17th! As far as planning meals go, I can't offer any help in that area. I am finding that I am eating less than I used to. I don't know if it's a mental thing, or if my stomach is physically making me feel fuller faster, even though my band is empty. Once I have my fill, I'm going to make sure I have 3 high protein meals a day along with my protein suplements (if needed). When are you supposed to get your first fill? I still can't go to the gym for 2 more weeks, due to my lifting requirements. I'm ready to get this weight moving.