This may be too soon or maybe already started but I got my date for December 2nd and thought us December Bandsters should start to follow each other. Any takers? How's the preop appointments going? the preop diet? Any news is good news! (except for the fact that I have to quit smoking!!!!) :blushing:

I have my surgery date for 12/9. I am excited and a bit nervous. I was thinking this wasn't going to hurt alot, but from what I have read I think I need to think that over!

I went today and got a couple of little plates for my food, some small spoons to be sure I am not taking to big of bites.

I also bought some chicken broth. Not sure what else to get. I have my appt with the bariatric coordinator tomorrow and I am hoping she can answer some questions. :thumbup:

Hope all goes well, I will be looking for you on the blog site.

God bless ya !!

hey girl, where you having surgery done. i/m having mine u mass on dec 7, good luck larry

Good luck with surgery Larry! I live right near worcester, but an actually having the surgery in Norwood as it closer to my work for fills, etc.

For all of us December 3rd Bandsters - TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!! YAY!!! :confused:

After reading much of this thread, I'm a little lost. I have only had 1 appt. with the Dr.'s office and I know nothing about gas strips, sippy cups, toddler plates, or anything! Please help! I have a pre-op appt on Monday so I hope they go over some of this stuff with me?

I started my pre-op diet today. I'm just following the adkins diet. No protien shakes for me yet! I want to wait as long as possible for that gross stuff!

After reading much of this thread, I'm a little lost. I have only had 1 appt. with the Dr.'s office and I know nothing about gas strips, sippy cups, toddler plates, or anything! Please help! I have a pre-op appt on Monday so I hope they go over some of this stuff with me?

I started my pre-op diet today. I'm just following the adkins diet. No protien shakes for me yet! I want to wait as long as possible for that gross stuff!

I was pretty lost, as well. I did a search on "lists" in the forum and foind a lot of info about the things you mentioned above. I was not told of many of these things, either, and my only appointment left before surgery is for a chest x-ray. I am now searching the boards every day for anything else anyone suggests.

So far, I have:

sippy cups - to prevent gulping water

toddler silverware - portion control

toddler dishes - helpful with travelling with mushy foods.

gas-x strips - apparently during surgery we're pumped with air and the gas can be painful.

chewable vitamins - swallowing pills is discouraged

liquid pain reliever

magic bullet - or other smaller blender for liquids only stage

food processor - for pureeing, apparently blenders liquify too much

protein drinks - to ensure enough protein, protein helps heal

protein bullets- shots of protein costco?

baby food - jury's still out, i'd rather puree my own

calcium chews

shot glass - for measuring, this is 1 ounce

heating pad - comfort for chest/gas pains

wedge pillow - some have trouble laying flat

stomach binder - no idea what or why

ice trays - to freeze puree, portion control

miralax - for constipation, to make it easier to GO

campbells cheese soup - cause i looooove cheese

Did we ever start our December Group?

Omgosh, I love the list! I'll have to cross-check it against my own, but I was reading it, going "yep", "yep", "yep"... that's awesome thank you. *I don't know that protein heals so much as it staves off hunger and puts your body in a state of ketosis.

We have not yet created a December social group that I'm aware of...

I'll post an updated list later today... must go to work.

Hey I hope maybe I can help. I had my band September 11, 2008. Here is what I have found:

sippy cups - to prevent gulping water (used these for about 2 weeks post op only - best day was when the doctor's office changed their position and allowed us to use straws! I now use a lot of straws!)

toddler silverware - portion control - (a must have - I still use mine especially after a fill or whenever my band feels tight!)

toddler dishes - helpful with travelling with mushy foods. (I bought really pretty small plates a little bigger than a saucer that I use almost every day to eat off of, keeps portion sizes down and makes me feel better)

gas-x strips - apparently during surgery we're pumped with air and the gas can be painful. (I still experience gas quite a bit - flatulence, asked the surgeon recently what he recommended and he said that was the million dollar question! I did find Digestive Advantage that I take as needed for a few days and it helps tremendously, remember this is for after your post op period.)

chewable vitamins - swallowing pills is discouraged (Flintstone chewable Multi-vitamin with Iron is what the doc recommended and I take one every day still)

liquid pain reliever - (Tylenol liquid was my best friend, now I also use childrens chewable aspirin, again don't do this until past your post op period, but I chew 8 as an adult dose)

magic bullet - or other smaller blender for liquids only stage (I bought one, thought I would use it a lot, I haven't used it past the 2nd month post op and even then I didn't use it a lot.)

food processor - for pureeing, apparently blenders liquify too much (Again, I didn't use this much at all)

protein drinks - to ensure enough protein, protein helps heal (Used Carnation Instant Breakfast sugar-free pre-op and post-op, went to GNC and bought protein powder before Surgery and Unjury Protein online wish I hadn't went to the expense did not use either of them. Still use the Carnation if my band is feeling tight.)

protein bullets- shots of protein costco? (Never used this, my friends who had the gastric-bypass procedure do but not my band friends.)

baby food - jury's still out, i'd rather puree my own (Yuck!)

calcium chews (Still do this daily)

shot glass - for measuring, this is 1 ounce (Used about 2 months post-op)

heating pad - comfort for chest/gas pains (OMG a lifesaver!)

wedge pillow - some have trouble laying flat (Recommend but I just used a bunch of pillows and a recliner!)

stomach binder - no idea what or why (They put one on me in the hospital, check with your hospital to see if they use it. When I checked out I asked if I could have another one as the one I had was stained and they gave me another one no problem. This was an absolute must!!!)

ice trays - to freeze puree, portion control (Did not use this either)

miralax - for constipation, to make it easier to GO (I did need this off and on and I still do at times, now I use glycerin suppositories)

campbells cheese soup - cause i looooove cheese (Still do a lot of soup if my band feels tight)

Hi y'all.

Brooklyn girl here...surgery date is December 22, at NYU.

My blog is girlmeetsband.blogspot.com

I have created our group at the following:

December Bandsters 2009 Group

Be sure to sign up!!!

Hi Nola!! Kurian is doing me surgery on Dec 15th! I live in Brooklyn too. Let's try to keep each other informed!

debduck - thank you so much for your wisdom! It helps all of us... A LOT. Please let us know if there are any other "can't live withouts" or "don't waste your money ons"... it's appreciated. Best of luck to you on your journey...

tbird - your post ("two weeks") made my stomach drop!... December's just a heartbeat away.

Edited November 19, 200916 yr by KarynA
Woops...

My surgery date is December 4th, yay! I had my initial consultation on October 16th which included the psych and nutrtional eval, my paperwork was submitted to my insurance company (UHC) on 11/9/09, and I got a call 11/17/09 that I was approved. my BMI is exactly 40 with no co-morbidities. I was shocked at how quickly it happened. I'd heard about the 6 month wait, etc. but there's no wait. I am so excited.

Current wt 225lbs

Goal wt 130lbs

Week 1

Tuesday, December 1: Melinco (tbd), RandaPanda, TheCutestFatty, terriamn, LALALUDE (tbd), great expectations (tbd), oceancity4me (tbd)

Wednesday, December 2: garden-nut, yosemite, Su59, Bobbie0918, austrolatrishy, take charge time, michelleisaac

Thursday, December 3: tbird1211, dmdsanchez, suzycooke, mommymya, sxygma130, Claudean, lapfish, homewith2, ganda

Friday, December 4: kslessar, KarynA, cent, juke

Week 2

Monday, December 7: lackey4, RadioGirl311, HappyMe2009, lpglarry

Tuesday, December 8: Zanath, Veronda

Wednesday, December 9: michelleintheoc, Irishbookworm, subpoptart, nursejojo, skinnybitch, Pam92

Thursday, December 10: msjoachin1

Friday, December 11: Ernieschick. mmh

Week 3

Monday, December 14: j-mae, Drasan (tbd), ceecee3272 (tbd)

Tuesday, December 15: voodoo, BigMomma, slmsister, TinaM, ididit35 (tbd), alilash (tbd)

Wednesday, December 16

Thursday, December 17: librarychick, adagray, TracyW2

Friday, December 18: bren5500; policy34

Week 4

Monday, December 21: hunybear53. abbylamb

Tuesday, December 22: illuminationlady, kimwash71112, NolaLola

Wednesday, December 23: danielle.hurstcrose,

Thursday, December 24

Friday, December 25

Week 5

Monday, December 28: alicia3138

Tuesday, December 29

Wednesday, December 30: TN girl21

Thursday, December 31

Hey all, I went to my first support group meeting arranged through my surgeon's office, the psychologist who did my psych eval facilitates the support group meetings. They have these two times a month and require that you go to at least one meeting pre-op. Anyway, I just want to share how inspiring it was. There was a lady who had lost 220 pounds and everyone else who had the band for over a year had lost 100+. There was one lady who had it since April who lost 58. I'm just so amazed at how successful they all are and how they radiate self-confidence and happiness. Of course, these are the people still going to support group so probably more success in that group. I definitely want to hang w/that group! LOL Anyway, it was just so incredibly inspiring. There are so many people who don't know anything about WLS, but feel inclined to tell you about so-and-so who it didn't work for. It was exhilerating to be in a group of people who know all about it and are living proof that it works. :confused: