Tara Anne

Hello all! My name is Tara and I just found out yesterday that I will gladly bejoining the April group Pre-op diet starts 4/18, surgery 4/28.

Hi - I have a question I was hoping some people who have been banded could help me with! I found out my surgery date at my pre-op appt yesterday, which is great news. However, it is a little later than I was hoping for - 4/28. I planned a trip a while back (before I started this process) for a weekend getaway on 5/13-5/15 to Celebrate my 30th bday with my boyfriend. I also suspect this is when he is planning on proposing. So needless to say I really want to go on this trip!! We tried to look at other dates, and the summer is really already filling up, so if we can't go on that date it looks like we may have to cancel all together. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if they were able to eat real foods at 2 weeks (15 days) post surgery - maybe in a restaurant? I know I would have to be really careful what to order, but I was hoping Soup or something would be fine? My doctors only has me on the mushies through day 14, and then introducing real foods, so it seems realistic from their timeline, but I was wondering what the reality was for other people. I go for my first fill/check up post-surgery on 5/11 so that will be done with before we leave. Also, it's a Bed and Breakfast that is very accomodating for special diets, so I know my breakfast there (yogurt, fruit) would be fine, and there's a fridge and microwave, so I can bring yogurt, oatmeal, other stuff with me as back up. I was just concerned about going out to lunch/dinner since my boyfriend will of course get hungry at some point Also, I'm assuming by that point I'll be up and around walking, and be able to do an activity, like kayaking or light hiking? Thank you for any advice/experience you can offer!

Oh I see what you are saying then - and I am incredibly jealous Mine is going to be all Protein shakes and 2 very small "snacks" per day - like 2 ounces deli turkey or a very small fat free yogurt. I guess I can be grateful though that it is only for 1 week, most of the books I read said two. I'm sure you'll do great though - best of luck!

I was diagnosed with PCOS 2 years ago - I found out later that I am alergic to metformin, and that's what lead me weight loss surgery - I needed someting else to help me lose weight/treat my PCOS. I never knew before why it was so difficult to lose weight and I had so many crazy symptoms! I'm encourgaed to see so many good experiences here with people being un-diagnosed - that is so encouraging!!

Best of luck to you! If you made it through the liquid pre-op diet, I would think after surgery should be easier!

I hear you... I kept thinking something would change and I'd be able to really lose weight "this time" but then the more I thought about it the more I realized, if I don't do something more drastic now, I'll be in the same place in another 5 or 10 years, wishing I had done it sooner I'm really hopeful I'll feel healthier and have more energy and just not have to worry about stupid things like fitting in a roller-coaster (which was horrible this winter at Universal Studios!). When do you have your surgery Tammy or have you had it already?

I know this is not the "intro" forum, but I was so excited to see there is a special section for those with PCOS - I just wanted to say hi! <BR>My name is Tara, I'm about to turn 30, and I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago now (actually self-diagnosed, because my hair started falling out in male pattern baldness, and I googled it, then confirmed with gyno and then endo - sadly I had symptoms for over 10 years but my pcp or gyno never thought of it or checked my hormone levels, and I had never heard of it!) I found out I am alergic to metformin, and I've been unable to lose/keep off more than 20 lbs. The PCOS risk factors/complications are what really made me decide to get the surgery - I'm so excited about it and look forward to reading how others experience with PCOS/symptoms has been after surgery/weight loss! Fianlly finished the long process and all my appointments over the last 4 months, pre-op appointment with my surgeon is 4/6

That's a relief to hear you kept yogurt down and it's less than one week after surgery! My nutritionist (and all the surgical group's literature too) talked about greek yogurt alot - she recommend chobani plain or vanilla because it's lower in surgar, but she definitely keeps mentioning greek yogurt as one of the first soft foods since it's high in Protein, so it sounds like a good choice to me Yes, it does seem very much like politics, which ever surgery you choose people are very adament about it being the right one! I definitely see the good and bad side of things here with working at the hospital, I think that's what made me finally take the plunge. One person I know at work got the flu/high fever a couple months after, twice, and ended up in the ER both times because her stomach swelled and she couldn't keep anything down, was dehydrated/vomiting... and yet she still is the biggest advocate and said she wouldn't change a thing and would do it all over again. They took all of her "fill" out, so she could recover from the flu, then got re-filled. So that's reassuring if she went through that and is still happy with it!

Momof3armybrats - congrats on getting your surgery date, that is so exciting! I'm glad to hear the liquid diet isn't too bad! I actually live alone right now (moving in with my boyfriend in June) so that could be a good or a bad thing - good because I don't have to watch anyone else eat, except at work, bad because I'm home all alone with no one watching But I've been practicing with my Protein shakes every day and I'm actually so excited to start the liquid diet, since that means it's finally really happening. I would love to hear how it goes after the 5th! Kristi Twisti - that's great to hear from another person with PCOS that had lap band! I actually saw a lot about WLS on the PSCOS boards at soulcysters, but it seems like a lot of the people over there have had gastric bypass and seem to be very in favor of that surgery, so I came over here looking for more lap-band specific info. I will definitely look for that forum. I feel the same way about the fertility, I definitely want to have children, and with the state of my PCOS I probably won't be able to get pregnant without in vitro, and then if I do there's the miscarriage risks. So I'm very excited that dramatic weight loss can help reverse the PCOS. I actually work at a hospital so I went with the surgical group affiliated here, and I know a lot of people at work who have had it done, so I do feel good about the group/doctors/nurses. I feel good about having the surgery here because I'm so familiar with the hospital. They actually require two monthly support group meetings before surgery (which I went to) and recommend attending for the rest of your life. I'm thinking about going, but it's such a large group of people, the majority of them pre-op and mixed between lap band and gastric - so I'm thinking about looking for a more specific support group for after, maybe a smaller group of post-op people. Just have to figure out how to find one Kristi - how long ago did you have your surgery?

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to everyone. I imagine I'll spend lots of time on here during the two weeks post-surgery that I'll be bored and at home! I just got approval from insurance yesterday (HOOORAY!) after 4 long months of the long process I'm sure you're all familiar with. I go to see my surgeon, Dr. Papasavas (in CT), on April 6th for my pre-op appointment and to find out my surgery date. So excited, hoping they have one available very soon!! I've been reading about the surgery alot, and over the past 4 months, everything has sunk in and I feel like I'm making the right choice for me. The only think I'm really nervous about is being cranky during the liquid diet the week prior while seeing people all around me at work eating A little about me - I'm about to turn 30 and I've struggled with my weight my whole life. Recently diagnosed with PCOS and allergic to the normal medication prescribed, so the side effects of the disease frightened me into looking into something different to lose weight, since the normal ways haven't worked beyond 10-20 lbs. Losing a significant amount of weight can help to treat PCOS, which causes infertility, diabeties, etc, etc... Looking forward to really being healthy and didn't want to wait any longer to make it happen