Banded Wendi's Journey

5 Days Until Pre-op Diet Begins

So I have days until I begin my pre-op diet. I am scared I am going to be starving but look forward to losing the weight. I bought 3 cases of protein drinks and have a few cans of soup picked out. I noticed all of the doctors have different requirements for the preop diet. My doctor requires 14 days for the diet. Two protein shakes and one can of chunky soup. If you are really hunger and have to have a snack, he recomends only 2 snacks a day and it has to be sugar free...pudding, jello or popsicle. I have to do some more shopping to get ready. I also need to buy my vitamins. Not looking forward to this diet because I LOVE to eat. I had a girl last week tell me that she had the surgery done a year ago and hated it. Said she has had all of the fluid removed from her band so she can eat. She said she felt nauseas all the time and could never eat anything. I know eveyone has their own opions and experiences with this surgery but I am not going to let the negativity discourage me. I am going to succeed at this.

BandedSwords

June 3, 2014

2 Weeks Until Surgery - Day 1 Pre-op diet

Count down begins! I start my pre-op diet today and 2 weeks until my surgery date. EEEEEKKKK!!!! I am worried about being hungry this first few days. I brought a PowerAide Zero, two protein shakes and sugar free pudding. Lets see how this goes. I am scheduled for my EGD on Thursday. I drove out to the surgery center on Saturday so I could make sure I know where it is and to also find a hotel for me and my husband to stay at the night before my surgey. The drive is AWFUL!!! Lots of traffic, construction and really far. I found a great hotel right down the street so that is one more thing I can cross off my list of "to-do's". I weighed myself this morning and I am at 199. I am hearing that you can lose up to 20 pounds during the pre-op diet phase. Fingers crossed.

BandedSwords

June 9, 2014

3 Days Into Pre-op Diet

Well I am now on day 3 of pre-op diet for the lap band. I am hungry and cranky but I am surviving. I have my EGD tomorrow morning. My mother-in-law was supposed to take me but there was apparantly some miscommunication between her and my husband. So after stressing and scrambiling around all night, my sister will take me. I feel so bad for her because she has 3 kids that she has to find babysitters for to keep them over night and to get one of them to summer school. But she is an angel for taking me. Do to the traffic and construction out that way we will have to leave really early tomorrow morning. My husband has me stressed out as well because him and his guy friends are riding their motorcycles to the Biker Ralley in Austin tomorrow. I am trying to convince them to leave tonight because we are supposed to have some pretty severe weather go thru the metroplex tomorrow and the last thing I want is to be put to sleep worrying about him making it safely to Austin. AAAUUGGHH MEN, they think they are invinsible. I had a protein shake for breakfast and dinner yesterday and had a can of soup for lunch. I felt like I was more hungry during the day by eating the can of soup during the day rather than having the soup so I am going to back to having the shake breakfast and lunch and soup tonight. I am still needing the couple of almonds here and there to hold me over too. Welp, back to work. Hope my EGD goes well and pray for them finding a hernia so it will be cheaper on me and my insurance will cover the hernia repair. Fingers crossed.... (I know that sounds very wrong).

BandedSwords

June 11, 2014

25 Days to the Big Day

My story begins. I joined this website two days ago and have read many inspiring stories. I was close to canceling my surgery until I read thru countless success stories. I truely belive the band is a tool and not the "cure" for my sedentary lifestyle as well as the 100 pounds of extra weight on my bones. It started with a lumbar disc explosion that was tangeled in the channel of nerves at the bottom of my spinal column. I lost all use of my right foot, and had a tremendous amount of pain in my calf muscle when I walked. I had the discectomy but the surgeon was not able to get all of the disc fragments from the bundle of nerves. While removing some of the fragments it created more scar tissue which has caused even more problems for me. Praise God I am able to walk, but live every day of my life in pain. I take a handful of different medications for nerve damage and pain. I am ready to be off of this medication and begin to live my life again. I feel like I have lived in a fog for the last 3 years. I researced the idea of the band about 2 years ago but it was just too exepensive and it is a specific exclusion on my insurance. This makes no sense to me, because my pain management dr and PCP both stated my insurance claims would be a lot less if I would lose weight because the problems I am having are exasterbated by my weight. I prayed on this for two years and finally I made an appointment with True Results. I mean you see these commercials on TV all morning and you hear them on every radio station, eventually I just gave in. I had a lunch time appt. I drive to their building and they have a sign on the door that says they are closed until 1:30. Well thats funny because my appt was at 1. Come to find out, they had rescheduled my appt and I didnt get the message. They ended up squeezing me in, but I dont think I got enough time to go over everthing. I was sent to Ft Worth Lap Band to mee with Dr Smith. My friend had surgery with him 5 years ago and she has been a huge success. I ended up actually seeing Dr Ferrara, which is fine, but I thought I would be seeing Smith. OK whatever. Well some of the information I was told at True Results is not the same as what I was told at the surgeons office. True Results said fills for the first year were free then $75 after that and I could get the fills right here, literally walking distance from my house. The surgeon said fills would have to be done at their office, covered 6 months then $150 each fill. Well that is a HUGE difference, but since I was told this by True Results, they said I would want to get my fill by my surgeon rather than at True Results so they would honor the fills free for the first year. I thought I would see the surgeon, and then have surgery. At least thats the impression True Results gave me. I had to see a nutritionist, a psychiatrist, have a sleep study done and have an EGD all before my surgery. More lies. But I feel better knowing the surgeons office is going to do all they can to make sure I am healthy enough for this surgery...so I get it. I had my sleep study this past Friday. They came to the home and hooked up all these wires to my head my face my legs and put a pulse-ox on my finger and also put a web cam on my and then said, ok now go to sleep! REALLY???? I probably slept an hour the whole night. She came the next morning and picked up all the equipment and said when downloading the test results she saw some mild apnea but will have the dr reveiw and call me. I have yet to hear from them...which is really fine at this point because I am not getting a CPAP and refuse to take the second portion of the test. No interested. Everyone has a bit of apnea and I know mine is not severe and will decrease once I lose weight. Had pre-op yesterday at the surgeons office. Got all of the information regarding my diet for surgery before and after and get the instructions for my EGD. My EGD is scheduled for 6/12 and surgery is 6/23. I'm one week away from beginning the prep. eeeeekkkk! Very lengthy post but wanted to have my experiences up to this date documented.

BandedSwords

May 29, 2014

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5 Days Until Pre-op Diet Begins

2 Weeks Until Surgery - Day 1 Pre-op diet

3 Days Into Pre-op Diet

25 Days to the Big Day

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